They tell me about the rumors surrounding her. She’s royalty from the fae realm, of course, but she’s trapped on Earth since the portals were all destroyed a year ago. Several fae have been abandoned here, but she and her brother are some of the most notable.
She’s been dating a wolf shifter on and off but still follows Jarron around, hoping he’ll change his mind eventually. She’s apparently really nice to most Minor sups, though. She and Janet did a project together in charms one year, and she treated her like an equal.
That makes me reconsider the devil horns I picture on her every time I see her now. She’s just power hungry, not evil—and maybe even just desperately trying to find a place to belong now that she’s been displaced from her own world.
Still not a fan of her tactics but, it does help me understand her a bit better.
“I’m glad she has some redeeming qualities,” I say, and Janet smiles.
“I totally get why you don’t like her,” she adds. “I wouldn’t in your situation either.”
We pack up and head to our classes. I’m getting the hang of everything—mostly. I’ve become an early favorite to the witch that teaches potions. It’s easy, and I don’t have to spend much time focusing on the lessons.
Madame Terry doesn’t care in the slightest when I spend my time reading ahead and checking out additional materials on creating new potions from the back of the class while others are working on remedial potions. She’s invited me to join a more advanced class and doesn’t understand why I declined. I don’t want something that’s going to take too much of my focus from what I really want to do: find my sister’s killer.
There are some perks to being good with potions, though, and I intend to use what little strengths I do have. I’m just not sure how yet. I’ll figure it out.
I’m not allowed to use any magic that manipulates a student’s free will, but I am allowed to use defensive spells and potions. I haven’t told anyone about the research I’m doing, not even the teacher, but based on the knowing looks she gives me, I get the feeling she’s got an idea.
So, when I slip into my lower-level potions classroom early in the morning to check out a new book from the tiny library and found a new book sitting conspicuously on top of the shelf, I slid it beneath my other books without delay.
Madame Terry winked at me as I departed.
I take my seat in History of Worlds and flip open the new books.
POWER TO THE POWERLESS. Major Defenses for Minor Supernaturals.
I blink. That’s a bit on the nose for what I’d been expecting. I suppose Madame Terry does know exactly what I’m after. Or maybe she’s just heard about who I’m dating and expects this will be useful.
I crack open the book the moment Mr. Thomas begins droning on about the portals around the world and the creatures that have come through them to now reside in our society.
This is another class that’s easy as pie because I learned this stuff when I was growing up, and this class is geared toward supernaturals or humans entirely new to the idea of multiple worlds. Some of the other students are trolls and barely understand the language. There are also a few young fae that knew there were other worlds when they came here but nothing about them. I’m one of two humans in the class, and that’s probably half of the human population in the school.
I flip through the old textbook, only stopping to jot down the due date for an essay assignment. It’s not a potions book, surprisingly, but there is a section of potions in here.
The book is specifically created for low magic beings going up against majorly strong beings. There are even a few inspirational stories about some of the most powerful non-magical beings in history.
Then, there are another three hundred pages with lists of spells and potions and charms and objects that can give strength to the those with limited magic.
Each page is dedicated to another form of magic that does not require base magic to acquire or use, but they are impressively advanced.
Some of the objects, I’ve heard of but are in the possession of influential supernatural families. Like Excalibur, a sword that has killed many wizards in the past. Now hidden away by the Chancellors, a society of wizards. Or the Gem of Oriziah, a stone that can only be used by the magicless because it steals the magic from any supernatural within a twenty-foot radius, which I know is held in the caverns of the Egyptian temples and protected by several societies of supernaturals.
There are lesser objects, though, that the book advises can be used to create spells for those lacking magic, like siphons or fae gemstones. Those can store magic for anyone to use—if they know how.
Finding those objects and learning to use them would take years of sleuthing and practice. Or lots and lots of money. The thought does inspire interesting ideas, though.
By the time I make it to my next class, I decide to focus on reading through the potions in the book since those will be the only reasonable things I have enough ability to use in this situation. If I were to stay in the supernatural world for long, I’d dedicate myself to mastering them all, but I won’t be.
So, potions it is.
Potion one: flight.
My parents have made potions like this before. Or transportation potions. They’re dangerous and tricky and only last a few minutes. Not quite worth my time.
Next,truth potion.
Potentially useful and something I’d already considered. I know the basics of how these work and what would be required, but I didn’t have detailed instructions until now. I can’t really use one of these until I have more to go on, though. If I were to give one to Jarron, he’d know the moment the spell ended, and if his answers lead me nowhere, I’ll have lost the trust of my only Elite in.
