I let out a yelp and jumped backwards, but Jake had grasped my hand in his, and yanked me toward him, trying to stab me once more. Pain coursed through my injured wrist, but I ignored it.
“Help!” I shouted, but I knew the odds were so low that anyone would hear. We were too far from the street, and even so there would be no one around to hear my cries.
Jake’s eyes narrowed. “Shut up! The less you fight, the sooner this will be over.”
“You’re not going to kill me,” I muttered. “And even if you do, you’re not going to get away with it. I’ve sent a text to my boyfriend telling him where I went, and why. He’ll know.”
“Oh, and your boyfriend’s going to stop me, is he?” Jake laughed.
“Yeah, he is,” I heard Jason say, and I turned to see him launching himself toward Jake, who let go of my hand in shock.
“Look out, he has a knife!” I shouted, but it was too late. It was like everything was happening in slow motion. A grin formed on Jake’s face as he lowered himself and extended the knife toward Jason’s abdomen. Jason’s eyes widened as he saw the weapon, but his momentum was moving him too quickly toward Jake; there was no way he could avoid the knife.
I was about to see my boyfriend being stabbed to death in front of me.
“Propelloroa,” I shouted, using my magic for the first time in days. I had no idea if it was even going to work. What I did know was that if it did, I was going to be in huge, huge trouble. But none of that mattered. I didn’t care. The Witches’ Council could do what they wanted to me, so long as it meant Jason would still be alive.
As soon as I felt the burst of energy expelling from my body, I knew my magic was working fine once again. Jake was suddenly thrown to the side, as though he’d been hit by an invisible wrecking ball. Jason stumbled to the ground and I rushed to him.
“Are you ok?” I asked. I glanced over at Jake quickly; my spell had completely knocked him out. Jason looked up at me in surprise.
“What on earth just happened?”
“I… uh… nothing? I don’t know,” I started, but Jason shook his head.
“No. No, something happened. He was going to stab me, and then you pointed at him, and you shouted something, and now he’s lying over there like he’s dead. Oh God, is he dead?”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. He shouldn’t be, anyway. But you’re right. I did do something. Jason, there’s something I need to tell you.”
I looked into my boyfriend’s eyes, and I could see the trust in there, mingled with curiosity. Still, I’d felt so bad about hiding this from him for so long that I couldn’t look at him while I told him. “I’m a witch.”
“You’re a… you’re a what?”
“A witch.”
“Like, Harry Potter? Well, I guess Hermione. Except, Charlotte would be Hermione. Wait, I’m rambling, aren’t I?”
“Like Harry Potter, yeah. I know spells, and I can use them. I can also speak to animals.”
“Wait, for real?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Always have been able to. It’s how I managed to get so much information about the smugglers. Barely any of it came from Richard Steele’s daughter; it almost all came from Lucy herself, and the three birds. Coolidge, Cherie and Hehu are their names.”
Jason grabbed his head. “Do I have a really bad concussion or something? Because seriously, I can barely believe what I’m hearing right now, and yet it makes perfect sense. And even if I didn’t believe it, that guy is lying over there passed out. I should grab his knife,” Jason said, getting up and moving over to where Jake was still lying motionless. He carefully picked up the knife and brought it back over to where I was, then sat himself gingerly back down.
“I’m going to call you an ambulance,” I said, taking out my phone.
“No, call the cops, first,” Jason said. “I’m fine, physically. I’m just… actually, I’m just shocked. Give me a minute to process this.”
I called 9-1-1 and told them where to meet us, then called Chief Gary to let him know what had happened. He promised he was on his way, and I sat down next to Jason. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it,” I said quietly. “I wasn’t allowed to. I wanted to. I wanted to tell you so badly. But we’re not allowed to tell anyone who’s not an immediate family member.”
Jason looked at me. “Why not?”
“We’re supposed to keep ourselves secret. And I mean, I can understand it. Do you really think the reaction if the world at large found out about us would be that great?”
Jason gave me a small smile. “I imagine it would be pretty similar to what happens in X-Men.”
I laughed. “You’re such a boy. But yeah, I think you’re right. So the Witches’ Council takes these sorts of things very seriously. We’re not allowed to use magic in front of non-humans.”
“Do you refer to us as muggles?” Jason asked, and I giggled.
“No,” I replied. “Maybe as a joke from time to time.”
“This is so much to get my head around. And Charlotte, she’s a witch too?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Sophie isn’t, but her mom is. Because her mom is, Sophie’s allowed to know about us. Also, Charlotte can’t talk to animals. She can control the weather, which I can’t do, but she uses her magic very, very rarely. She’s better at it than I am though.”
“As I would expect her to be. I’m going to start calling her Hermione.”
“She’ll probably love that,” I admitted.
“So what’s going to happen now?” Jason asked. “I mean, you’ve told me about the magic. You’ve broken the rules. What are they going to do to you?”
I shrugged. “I honestly have no idea.”
Chapter 21
It didn’t take too long for me to find out. A few hours later, the police came by, arrested Jake and took our statements. Then afterwards, Chief Gary came and scolded me for not calling him before coming here, and Jason and I had a long conversation–I found out that he’d woken up twenty minutes after getting my text, immediately went to Jake’s house and had the same neighbor tell him what she told me–and drove home in the same car. There was a letter sitting on the dining room table addressed to me, but without a postmark on it.
“It just appeared there,” Bee said, staring at it suspiciously. “About two hours ago. I wouldn’t touch it. I don’t trust anything magical.”
“I’m magical, Bee,” I said, exasperated.
“Exactly,” Bee replied, flaunting out of the room.
“Wow,” Jason said. “You just had a conversation with the cat.”
“I did,” I replied. “Although sometimes I think my life would be easier if I couldn’t speak to this particular cat.”
“I heard that!” Bee said from down the hall.
“You were meant to!” I shouted back, and Jason shook his head in amazement, going to the kitchen and grabbing himself a drink of water.
Sighing, but deciding Bee wanting to keep all the kittens was a battle for another time, I opened the letter with apprehension.
The page I pulled out of the envelope was blank, but as soon as I looked at it, words began to appear on it, as though by magic. Well, technically, it was magic, I was sure.
Angela Wilson,
You are being summoned to a council to be presided over by the current board of Witches and Wizards, due to a recent infraction of the Witches and Wizards’ Code, Article 23.1 of the 5th directive. Please present yourself to the Council at the following time and place:
Willow Bay Library, Upper Floor
September 29th, 7:00pm
The upper level of the library will be enchanted so that no others may enter. You will not be allowed to present witnesses in your defense.