"Obviously, but–”
"No, I meant... someone really from the university, Mara, not a student. Don't you think it's super odd how this got onto the university forum? Those are the kind of sites you can't get on without some sort of identification. The security for these kinds of forums have been increased to protect the students. Anonymous account, my butt..."
Liam and I exchange a look, but for a few minutes, Ben gets fully absorbed into typing furiously on his laptop, while Kelsi is taking out every book about witchcraft we've got in the place. She really got even more since last time... I need to be careful she doesn't get a bit too obsessed with them. I let her get a head start and walk into my bedroom for a few minutes, just to change into clothes that are actually my size. With a little smile, I remember Liam's comment, and go for a pair of black leather pants. It's true I have rather nice legs... I pair it with a simple gray T-shirt, but add a little touch of makeup, borrowing Kelsi's once again. I need to ask her for more advice when we finally get a break from all this.
When I get back to our living room, Kelsi is bending over the witchcraft books and taking notes, while Liam has apparently been delegated to making pancakes. He raises an eyebrow once I walk in, though his eyes go down to my tight pants... I send him a little smile, but go over to Kelsi, giving her a hand in helping decipher this new spell. She's already made good progress, actually. It's scary how she almost knows those books by heart... There is some very dark stuff little Mara didn't cover with me that Kelsi actually found, and is surprisingly helpful too.
After a while, Liam brings the pile of pancakes over and we finally take our seats, the four of us eating and sipping our coffees, but most importantly, comparing our finds.
"As we thought, those tattoos are bound to humans to make them some sort of vessel," I explain, checking those details again.
"Did you determine which of the... other witches did that?" asks Liam.
"From the types of runes, I'd say the Water Witch?" mutters Kelsi, spinning her fork in her hand.
"No... the Fire Witch," I mutter.
"What? Are you sure, Mara? But those–"
"I think she used a water-type spell to reduce my efficiency against it. I struggled a lot just to remove one last night. If it had been a type of Fire Magic, it wouldn't have been able to resist me so much. Fire attracts fire, it would have come off almost naturally. This one repelled my magic... but in the end, it wasn’t strong enough. The Water Witch we met looks like she would have done a much better job. I think this spell was made by a Fire Witch, using a water-type."
"Is that even possible?" asks Liam, frowning.
"I took the body of a Water Witch," I shrug. "That's why I struggled so much too, the body wasn't prepared to handle fire to begin with, but it adapted. The elements... They are meant to cohabitate, in the first place. Just because one isn't our main doesn't mean it's completely inaccessible to us, I think... although it does mean whichever witch did this, she was powerful as hell."
His mouth half full, Ben grumbles.
"Ah, this is getting too complicated for a stupid wolf like me. Anyway, can you take it off all those idiots?"
"One by one? It would take a while, and a lot of my energy. Plus, it will be a while before we find them all..."
"The humans still don't trust Mara, either," adds Kelsi. "Just look at all those posts on the forum... The Dark Witch, I mean, the curse made sure the humans are scared of her. They think she lit several buildings on fire."
"Actually... there's that too," I grumble.
"What?"
I grab my cup of coffee, making the liquid swirl inside the cup.
"Those fires spread too fast, to too many buildings. Think about it. That witch couldn’t possibly handle my power well, she could barely fight me. The only reason she overpowered Liam was because she was in my body."
"...Which I care about..." he sighs.
I chuckle, and put my hand on his shoulder.
"Right? The curse needs a powerful and willing host. It won't use a human, but I have a bad feeling about all of this..."
"Why are those witches all after Silver City, anyway?" sighs Kelsi. "There are tons of other places to go! Why do we have three of them roaming around?"
"...They probably think I'm not legit," I sigh. "They want to take Sylviana's spot, probably thinking she should have left it empty..."
"The Royals are power magnets too," adds Liam. "We've had issues with vampires, werewolves, and witches since Nora was revealed to be a Royal."
...Is that all there is, though? Now that Liam mentions it, I do feel like I'm still missing a piece of the puzzle here...
"So, we have three witches at the border looking for a fight, someone who probably isn't on our side either and in the university, and that curse lurking around for a reason to attack?"
I think Ben summed that up well.
