"Where the hell have you been?" Jeanie bellowed.
I took a step backward then was frozen in place by yellow magic. Jeanie stood before me, screeching loudly and incoherently, but I couldn't even process what she was saying. Then, she was joined by Nicole, and I wasn't sure who to focus on.
"I couldn't find you." Jeanie's anger had taken on a note of fear. "I…Lexie, I was so scared."
"I'm sorry," I whispered, glad that she was worried about me and not angry that I'd spoken to her precious Gram so rudely.
She sank down onto the couch and buried her head in her hands. I waited for her to ask again, to press me where I'd been and why she hadn't been able to find me.
"And talking to Gram like that…I…Lexie… You can't do that!" Jeanie sighed. "I just don't know what's gotten into you. Ever since you've gotten magic—"
"Surprised you noticed," I said, unable to stop myself.
She gave me a sharp look. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Saying more would only dig the hole deeper, so I kept my mouth shut.
"Fine, Lexie, just…fine," Jeanie said, rubbing her face. "You're grounded for two weeks. I don't want to hear about you acting out again, all right?"
"Yes, ma'am," I said, knowing those were the only safe words right now.
"Go to your room," she said, sounding tired and old.
The magical bonds that held me upright disappeared, and I stumbled forward, wavering for a moment before high-tailing it up to my room. I quietly shut the door behind me and flopped onto my bed, staring at the ceiling.
Gavon was a Separatist from that crazy secret world John Chase had created. New Salem, he'd called it. He was a descendent of the Separatists. And he'd figured out how to tear a hole into this world.
The rational part of me knew I should tell Jeanie about him, but…I wasn't sure what would happen then. I needed time to sort through all these new pieces before the adults took them away.
More than anything, there was a middling thought in the back of my mind, a truth that I wasn't quite ready to accept. Because if it weren't true, I might not be able to handle it.
Instead, I sat up right and held my hands out, expecting to see my old book on John Chase and the Separatists appear.
Nothing happened.
I took a deep breath. Perhaps I was simply too emotional. My pulse calm and my mind clear, I summoned my book to me.
Again, nothing happened.
I frowned, trying three times in succession.
Still nothing.
I tried to bring my pencil case to me.
Stubbornly, it remained in place.
The magical hum under my skin was gone, too.
Then I remembered what being "grounded for two weeks" meant in magical terms. And worst of all, my magical books had been hidden away where I couldn't get to them.
"I hate being grounded!" I bellowed.
"That's the point!" Nicole called back.
As per the rules of my grounding, I could go exactly two places—school and home. And since we were still on break for Thanksgiving until Monday, that effectively left me chained to the house for the long weekend. Jeanie still couldn't look at me without grinding her teeth, and though Nicole's anger had lessened somewhat, there was still a clip in her voice when she spoke to me.
I hadn't realized how dependent I'd become on my magic to keep me occupied. Marie had gone to the Black Friday sales, and Jeanie disappeared early with a warning that if I left the house, she'd know and extend my grounding to three weeks. I was already aching to get my books back, so I heeded my warning.
First, I attempted to work on my history homework, which took a lot longer when I had to do it by hand. After I finished a terribly written essay, I moved onto science homework but got bored after the second question. I stood and walked to the window, staring out into the distance.
I spotted a figure in my backyard and grinned.
After barreling down the stairs, I nearly flew out the back door when I remembered Jeanie's warning. So I stood there awkwardly and waved to Gavon. "Hey!"
"Hello there, jailbird," Gavon said, turning his head to the side. "I just wanted to check on you and make sure you were okay after your little…"
"Hissy fit?" I asked, with a weak smile. "I'm still headache-y but nothing too bad. Not that I could tell anyway. My magic's gone."
"Grounded, hm?" Gavon said with a smile. "I suppose you should've expected that. Frankly, speaking that way to a Clanmaster should've resulted in worse punishment. In the days of John Chase, you would've been put in the stocks or hung upside-down by your ankles."
"Doesn't make it any less sucky." I chewed on my lip for a moment. "Hey, do you think you could… I magically hid my books under my bed and without magic, I can't—"
"They're sitting under your bed," Gavon said with a small flick of his wrist. "As are a couple new ones to pass the time. How long until you're free?"
"Two weeks, but…" I panicked at the thought of not seeing him for two weeks. "But I still want to…train."
"Going to be awfully difficult for you to defend yourself without any magic, Alexis."
"I mean, maybe not spar but…" I glanced up at him. "I have so many questions. About New Salem, about you, about…"
He considered me for a long time before he glanced at the sky and sighed. "All right. But only if your aunt says you can leave the house. No sneaking out."
I nodded and grinned at him. "I think my rule-breaking days are over."
"Good girl."
He disappeared in a puff of purple, and I spun and ran back upstairs. I released a loud sigh of relief when I saw a pile of spell books under the bed. I'd amassed quite a collection already—the original primer, the book on the Separation, and a couple odds and ends that Gavon had given me when I'd asked. Even though there were a few new ones, I picked up the Separation book. The first time I'd read it, I'd thought it a fascinating study of some event that had happened over three centuries before.
But now, I was searching for clues.
April 1st 1692. At the request of Guildmaster Chase, Johanna, his daughter, presented an idea to the Salem Guild to use a Magical Space as a prison and performed a demonstration. She was able to create a habitable space before her magic gave way, and she fainted from exhaustion.
April 10th 1692. Johanna, Abigail, and Hannah Chase demonstrated how a Magical Space could be enlarged to the size of a town until their magic gave way.
April 15th 1692. A second attempt was made with Johanna and sisters, plus three brothers from the McMahon family. John Chase toured the world for ten minutes before the six Magicals gave out.
April 18th 1692. Ulysses Mark suggested the Magical Space could be created permanently by a coven of Thirteen Magicals.
April 29th 1692. A coven of Thirteen Magicals attempted to construct a permanent Magical Space. Their attempt failed.
May 1st 1692. Separatists obtained list of potion-makers and non-magicals living in Salem. Fifty deaths accounted for. Guildmaster Chase determined Magical Space must be created at all costs.
May 13th 1692. One hundred and sixty-nine magicals—a coven squared—gathered in Salem. A Magical Space was created and the world called New Salem.
May 15th 1692. Guildmaster Chase determines the world is habitable by eating from the magical plants and drinking from the well placed in the world. He declares the war between the Guild and the Separatists must end.
June 12th 1692. John Chase and seventy Warriors attacked the Separatists, capturing them with the help of a clever potion-maker by the name of Loren David. He developed a potion using iron dust to trap the Separatists in their camp.
June 13th 1692. Trial of Separatists. All sixty Magicals found guilty and sentenced to life in New Salem. James Riley sentenced to death by potion, and it was done. John Chase sealed the portal between worlds and perished.
I sat back, watching the sun shine outside my window. When I'd first read that passage, I'd been more focused on how James Riley had gotten what he'd deserved (and the juicy poetic irony that he'd been captured and executed by a potion-maker). I'd thought the Separatists had gotten off relatively easy. Having a brand new world created and all of the amenities that they'd ever need included? At first blush, it had sounded to me like Chase had been too lenient.
Having actually been over there, it really was a prison. Even more surprising was someone as brilliant as Gavon could've grown up in such a place. Until he'd made that tear, he'd never known what the sun felt like, or the waves of the ocean. He didn't even know that electricity existed, or coal-burning machines. His whole world was stuck in 1692, just because his ancestors decided to run amok.
It was no wonder he decided to try to figure a way out.
At least Gavon wasn't three hundred years old. I wasn't sure how long magicals lived, but I knew they weren't immortal.
Still, I had thousands of questions for him, but as the sun set, I didn't even bother to get up. I knew I'd just be making things worse if I even broached the subject of leaving. But I was starving, so I closed my book and carried my questions downstairs.
"…She can't possibly be serious. We haven't seen him in…in years!"
"It's not him she's worried about, it's Lexie. She's powerful."
I stopped mid-step on the staircase, recognizing the hushed voices of Nicole and Jeanie.
"So, what? Gram thinks Lexie could take over as Clanmaster?"
"Of course not. That's silly." But the way Jeanie phrased it, it didn't sound all that silly.
I folded my arms across my chest and pursed my lips. If that woman was pissed off at me because she thought me a threat, she had another thing coming. The last thing I ever wanted to do was take over a big group of Magicals—let alone Magicals who had ignored me for the first fifteen years of my life.
I'd thought it was because they hated my Warrior magic. But were they actually afraid of me? Did they think I was more powerful than someone as formidable as Gram?
"But we're… None of us are allowed back?" Nicole sounded stunned.
"Just for now. Just until Gram figures out…figures out what we're doing with her."
My excitement evaporated in an instant. They weren't letting any of us back? I could understand why they'd ban me, but Jeanie and my sisters?
"She's not… She's a good kid, Jeanie."
"I know that. But she's not acting like it right now."
I chewed my lip and looked at my hands, expecting them to start glowing before I remembered I had no magic. Perhaps the punishment fit the crime after all. Just like Gavon was dealing with the aftermath of decisions his ancestors made, Jeanie and Nicole were having to deal with my mess. It wasn't fair to Gavon, and it wasn't fair to them.
Instead of continuing downstairs, I turned and walked back to my room. Later, when Nicole brought me a sandwich, I made sure I was working on my homework.