Page 51 of Overwhelmed By Magic
Which is less than nothing.
I hold back a snarl, nearly ripping off my assistant’s head as she stumbles into the office with the stack of papers I’ve been waiting for. She’s adorable but still not what I need. No one has measured up to Silas but that fucker had to quit and grow a family. I still resent him for not being able to do both but after a conversation about morals and differing ideals, he resigned.
He’s been long since dead, the human not living up to the years a Magila can survive. I mourn his presence if not just for the fact that he so easily disappeared into the background when I needed him too. Keeping control of the rising Praestes until he left the spot Mother Nature needed him was the ultimate goal anyway so as much as I wish things had ended differently, it’s nice to know that I’m still in charge of how essence is regarded.
My every waking moment is to keep the truth locked down. It doesn’t belong in a world like this and as a former Praestes myself, I know the damage true essence can do. Mother Nature might have thought she was giving the world a gift but she was only condemning my home.
I won’t stand for that.
I clear my throat and greedily swipe the Grimrose reports from her, her shocked expression annoying me as I hurry to my desk and begin pouring over the pages. My excitement soon turns to dread as I dial a number and mumble ‘get here’ before hanging up.
Seconds later, Eugene is stumbling into my office, eyes wide. “Yes?” He skims the same documents and then frowns. “What do you mean they found Mother Nature? That’s not possible. That was sealed a hundred years ago!” He continues to read, picking out the same information that I did. “Pink essence? Silas is back?”
That human thought he was sneaky, keeping that tidbit to himself. However, I notice everything. So many people believe that Mother Nature only accepts the pure or those without essence. That isn’t true at all. She accepts those she deems worthy of her presence but the words in those books in that room will derail everything I have built.
Everything.
Add in the fact that she was grooming Silas to become the next Praestes and my place on the council would have been destroyed.
That pink essence is definitely not Silas’ but it means that she has returned and appointed another.
“It seems that a human was appointed to Grimrose Academy, one that apparently exhibits many of the same characteristics as Silas,” Eugene reads, his face scrunched up in confusion. “I thought we stopped sending humans over there years ago. The last one-”
I glare at him to shut up, knowing that my assistant is cataloging every word. I don’t trust her enough yet not to spread this information throughout the school. “Get out.” The words are meant for her but I can’t remember her name. Eugene skitters out as well, which is just fine because I need a moment to process all of this.
The pages are full of incidents that have happened throughout the week, this Skye Bardot, the center of every last one.
But it’s the last paragraph that has me on edge.
The human sent here has been claimed. He has the essence signature of five Magila.
I continue reading, my blood running cold when I see the names of those that have claimed him.
Stellan. Jade. Harlow. Rumi. Ambrose.
Two of those Magila shouldn’t even be alive.
I scramble through my desk, pulling out other packets I’ve received over the years. In each one, someone details that Rumi and Ambrose are still there. It wasn’t a fluke that I felt Rumi’s essence during the last couple of graduations.
I’ll have to be more vigilant to keep them away from the perfectly curated system I’ve built.
However, if they’ve already found Mother Nature, there might not be much time.
Especially if they find out what Ambrose is.
