abilities. They’re usually taught in apprenticeships… somehow.” A frown creased Darien’s forehead as he apparently realized how thin that sounded. “They’re regulated under the Common Powers Act, which says if an act is illegal to do with your body or a weapon, it’s illegal with a power. And if not, then not.” The frown deepened. “A bit more about historical persecution. Not much. A bit of a joke, really. Why is there so little? Why didn’t I realize how little there is?” Silas could practically see Darien’s curiosity struggling to emerge.
“A lot of practitioners work day and night to keep us seeming boring and ordinary and not worth the time.” That was a secret, but not a deep one, and the boy was about to go a lot farther into that world. Silas waved his hands. “Science is exciting. We’re sending rockets into space. Antibiotics work. Technology is big, big, big!” Then dropped his voice. “Powers are little and uninteresting, the punchline for jokes.”
“But they’re not. I mean, shit, look at me!” Darien held out his arms, the spirit marks dark up and down them.
“No.” Silas could hear his voice go cold. “They’re not.”
“Talk. Don’t stop.” Darien hugged his knees up against him.
“I’m not going to give you a history lesson. But most people with powers are detected mid-adolescence— fourteen, fifteen— when those powers emerge. Someone shows up— a teacher, coach, mentor, neighbor— to decide if they have enough power to need guidance and apprenticing.”
“Neighbor? Did you— were you supposed to guide me?”
“No!” Silas sucked a breath through his teeth. “That was a coincidence. Back when we lived next door, you were just a kid. It was only when I came home for my father’s funeral—” That I made a huge mistake.
“I remember. You were there just a couple of days and you were so sad.”
“I was—” Devastated. Not thinking straight. Fresh from gaining my full abilities at twenty-one, and arrogant and grieving and— No, there really were no excuses. “My mentor had just started a power transfer.” The less said about how, the better. “Then my father died. I was shaken, and there you were, the little kid from next door, with signs shimmering in you of power waiting to emerge.”
“So I am some kind of magic freak.”
“Watch your mouth, kid,” Silas snapped. The word freak didn’t get thrown at him much, now he had power and status, but he’d heard it enough when he was younger. “You had potential. Lots of it.”
“So why didn’t any of those coach types find me? I swear, no one even mentioned it.”
Silas sighed, and forced himself to say the words. “Because they couldn’t see it. Because I hid your powers.”
“You what?”
“I didn’t mean to. I only had two days home, and there you were, an appetizing snack for a demon, and my mentor was dying and I had to get back to him. I didn’t have time to do more.” I didn’t have the sense, or the understanding.
“Shit. Wait, unpack that. Demon snack?” Darien’s eyes went wide.
“Demons are, well, demons. A tale for another time. But one of the things they crave is human power, human energy. A youngster on the cusp of their powers, before they come under a mentor’s protection, is always at risk. A magnet for ghosts too, if they encounter one. So I put a ward on you, to hide what you were, figuring that would keep you safe until someone could come and take you in as an apprentice.”
“You call this safe?” Darien smacked the thickened boat tattoo on his arm.
“No, of course not. But it wasn’t supposed to last long. I sent word to the local Guild hall about you, to get someone out to look.”
“No one came!”
“I think they came and couldn’t see your talent, under my wards. They thought I was wrong.” He’d couched his message in qualified terms— I believe, in my opinion —so they wouldn’t think he was showing off, identifying a gifted twelve-year-old.
“So they thought I had no talent, and then…”
“And then you turned twenty-one, and my wards, protecting you till you were grown due to how I set them, decided their job was done. And there you were, suddenly unwarded, full of power, and…” And hungry things moved in. “A demon would’ve been worse. This is just ghosts.”
“Just? My head’s full of them!” Darien lashed out suddenly, a kick that hit Silas’s thigh and made him flinch. “You did this, you fix it! Now!”
Silas caught Darien’s ankle, and tried for