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Jackson had always insisted there should be an order to our learning process and that some of the spells were too intense for the younger witches, but seeing as how we were now faced with a potential danger beyond anything we’d thought was possible, I figured people were going to have to grow up a little bit faster. Besides, if the Parrishables came looking for us, I wasn’t going to be able to hold anyone’s hand; chances were that the rest of the twitches were going to have to fend for themselves.

So, one by one, we attempted to perfect everything we’d been taught. This proved to be excessively time-consuming, though, as not everyone was catching on as quickly as I’d hoped.

“Everyone get ready!” I yelled out. I watched as each group of two slowly faced each other, standing a few feet apart. As I paced across the backyard, I noticed Fallon mocking me when he thought I couldn’t see. Ignoring him for the time being, I went back to the matter at hand. “People on the defensive, relax your body and get ready for the attack. Spell casters, quiet your mind and focus on what you’re about to do. Remember, if there’s no power behind your words, the magic itself won’t be powerful.”

I counted down and watched them go.

“Aeromus une cyclenae!”

Immediately, groups all around me gave the spell their best shot. A few came close to having the desired result. Jasmine was the first to perfect it, sending the wind-whipping spell to Sascha. Before Sascha could react, she was immediately caught up in a twister of air, making it impossible for her to see. Once the wind died down again, the look on her face was priceless. To say Sascha was unhappy to be a magical guinea pig was an understatement.

“Do you have any idea how long it took me to get my hair to lie flat this morning?” she screeched through clenched teeth.

“You’re kidding, right?” Jasmine asked, a smirk on her face.

“Hadley?” Sascha asked, looking to me to back her up. And to be honest, under normal circumstances I would have. You don’t mess with a girl’s hair. But this might’ve been the only time and place where fashion couldn’t be our first priority.

“Sorry, Sascha,” I said. “Jazzy’s right.”

“It’s Jasmine,” the dark-haired girl chimed in.

“You knew we were training, Sascha. Best to ponytail it up in the future.”

Sascha’s mouth closed into a tight line and she turned away from me angrily. My pulse raced slightly as I wondered if I was making an enemy out of her. I still wasn’t used to people not just blindly following me. At school everyone liked me. Even Trish, who I knew secretly wanted to take my throne, would’ve done anything I asked her to and would respect me for it. Here, with the rest of the Cleri, I was still proving myself to them. And right now it felt like I was failing.

I took a deep breath and continued. “Okay, so Jasmine was the only one to execute her spell properly that time, which means the rest of you need more practice,” I said, growing frustrated. It had never been very difficult for me to pick up on our lessons. Maybe it was because I’d grown up creating my own spells or maybe it just came naturally to me, but the others paled in comparison. Ordinarily, I would’ve tried to be more understanding, but we didn’t have the luxury of time right now. Somebody needed to push them to their limits.

“Switch partners and try it again,” I yelled, not giving them time to recover.

They did as they were told and I called for them to begin. A few seconds later, I was enveloped in a rush of air. I tried to cry out, but it was difficult to breathe with the wind forcing its way down my throat and up my nose. It lasted only about ten seconds but it was long enough.

When I was able to see again, I looked around for the culprit. I heard snickers, which led me to Fallon, who was facing my way and looking smug. There was no doubt he’d done it. And the thing was, he wasn’t even trying to hide it.

“Whoops,” he said, shrugging innocently. “Guess my aim is off.”

“Or not,” I said, my body beginning to buzz with anger. I closed my eyes and let the fire that was building inside slowly fizzle out. It would be pointless to waste my energy on Fallon and it wouldn’t set a very good example for the others. When I’d calmed down, I opened my eyes and stared straight at Fallon. “Let’s try it again!” I shouted.

“Had, we’re all tired,” Jinx said lightly, arms hanging limply by her sides. Sweat had matted down her usually pristine bangs, and her chest was heaving. “Can we take a break? Maybe get water and something to eat?”

“Yeah. I think some of the little ones might need a chance to catch their breath,” Emory said, motioning to a few twelve-year-olds who were sprawled across the ground.

“Come on, you guys! We’ve barely gotten through the first few charms and there are still people who don’t have it down perfectly yet,” I said, placing my hands on my hips. I tapped my black sequined booties on the ground impatiently. I was running this training session the way I would run cheer practice—and I wasn’t even making them do flips or stunts. If you asked me, they were getting off easy.

“Look, I really need you guys to rally so that you’ll be armed and ready for whatever’s coming next. Because the fact is, they’re coming. Whether we’re ready or not.”

We all knew I was talking about the Parrishables, but none of us wanted to say it out loud. That would make it all too real.

That prompted a few people to sigh as they stood back up to get into place. The others groaned and followed suit. Then they all stood there silently, waiting for me to tell them what to do next. I called for them to go back to the disarming spell, which was meant to take away an object from our enemies. I watched as Jasmine knocked a book out of Sascha’s hands. It flew with such force that it fell apart at the binding as it hit the side of the house.

“Great job, Jazzy—sorry, Jasmine. Now if you could just rein in your power a little you won’t have to worry about knocking anyone else out at the same time. Unless of course you want to, in which case, let it fly,” I said, nodding.

As I turned away, something else flew past my head, narrowly missing the tip of my nose. “What the hell!” I yelled, jerking my head back in Jasmine’s direction. But she was just as clueless as me and shrugged in response.

“I must be off today,” Fallon said, a hint of a smile on his face. “Or maybe I’m just too powerful for my own good.”

My face grew hot with anger. I should’ve known. After all, our little truce couldn’t have lasted forever. “I don’t remember mentioning that I wanted a nose job,” I said to him nastily.

“Really? With a schnoz like that? My bad.” He said it as if he hadn’t just tried to take my head off.

“How about you try to control yourself a bit, huh? I’d hate for your magic to fizzle out prematurely,” I said. “I mean, imagine how embarrassing that would be for you.”

The smile remained on his face, but I saw his lip twitch just a tiny bit, letting me know that what I’d said had gotten to him. I smiled back. In the end, Fallon was still just a little boy trying to show off in front of his friends. Go ahead and give me your worst, I challenged him silently. There’s nothing he could throw at me that I couldn’t handle.

“Do it again,” I dared.

He studied me and then looked around at the others, who were all waiting to see what was going to happen next. I knew I’d backed him into a corner and wondered if it had been a wise decision.

“Screw this.”

And with one last look, he thrust his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and started to walk away.

“Where are you going?” I asked, my eyes boring into his back. The rest of the coven had begun to look at each other questioningly.