the process of removing someone’s magic, something so intrinsically tied to their essence? That’s not only delicate work—if it’s done gently—but it’s not easy. It takes incredible power, incredible strength, and someone just—did that.”
Someone just did that.
I shudder.
Who could even be capable of doing magic like this? And who would want to?
And who could be next?
Chapter 8
I try not to talk about what happened to Maddy, but she ends up getting it out of me anyway a week later during our usual phone call.
We try to talk on the phone at least once a week so we can stay up to date on each other’s lives. The past two semesters, I had a lot of crazy stuff going on. Maddy’s school life is exciting, but it’s more of a regular kind of exciting. You know, big exams and parties and who’s dating who. That kind of thing.
“So…” She sounds hesitant. “I’ve heard some… rumors…”
Ah, crap. I suppose I should be grateful they’re not rumors about Roman and me? Or me and the other three guys?
“Are you okay?” she asks, concern clear in her voice. “I heard that—that it happened in your class, to one of your classmates. The stories…”
“It wasn’t fun,” I say, because there’s no reason for me to beat around the bush, but I’m not going into details either. “It was more the fact that it came out of nowhere that made it so scary. Nobody was bleeding or anything; it wasn’t gruesome. It’s just that… someone stole magic from a student without being caught or even noticed. There were over thirty people in that room, and none of us saw anyone acting weird. Whoever it was got away scot-free, and I don’t even know how they did it.”
There’s a pause while she absorbs that, and then she asks, “Has it happened to anyone else?”
“No. The professors are on alert, and we were all interviewed by Hardwick about it. But nothing.”
“How’s the student doing? The guy whose magic was taken?”
“Tom. I hear he’s okay.”
That’s… a bit of a lie. I haven’t heard much, actually. I just know his parents have come to visit him, and that he’s being dosed up by the medical staff with painkillers and potions to help keep the pain at bay. I’m not sure whether it’s because of all those things in his system, but apparently, he’s been quiet, not really talking.
“It could’ve been a freak accident,” I venture, trying to reassure her. “Our magic sparks to life inside us suddenly, so maybe his just… unsparked somehow. I’ve never heard of that happening before, but as my Theory of Magic professor always says, our understanding of magic is far from complete. It can still surprise us. Case in point—Unpredictables.”
“Yeah.” Her voice is quiet, and I can picture her nose scrunching up in my mind’s eye, the way it always does when she’s not buying my bullshit.
I sigh. “Even if it was a deliberate attack, Mads, it’s possible it was just a one-off. Some experiment gone wrong or something, even. Nobody has any suspects.”
“I suppose,” she says slowly. Nope. She’s definitely still not convinced. “Just… I hope you’ll be careful.”
“Of course I will be. Promise. I’m… I’m sorry that I’ve seemed pretty reckless the last few months,” I say, forgetting for a moment that the last few months were actually the least reckless I’ve ever been, considering I spent them unconscious in bed. It was the months before those that were the problem. “You know I’m not going to do anything to risk myself on purpose, right, Mads? I’m always going to be there for you, okay?”
“I know.” She makes a little noise that tugs at my heart. “I’m not—I’m not worried about you, Ellie. I mean, I am, but not about what you’ll do, more like… everyone else.”
“What’s that mean?” There’s a layer of worry underneath Maddy’s tone that sets my internal alarm bells ringing.
She sighs, filling the phone with static. “Over here at Neptune, people are starting to talk. The students are really divided. At first, everyone was really against what Johnson did, calling him a psycho and saying he was unhinged. But now, some people are starting to say he might’ve had a point, that maybe there are problems with Unpredictables…”
My chest constricts.
Ah, fuck. I mean, it’s bad enough to know there’s a portion of the magical population out there who despise people like me. Whoo. Fun. But to have my sister have to listen to that…