The thought that the power could be released and could blast someone or blast a hole in the wall made my blood run cold. I stopped searching, opened my eyes and stood up.

“Maddelyn? What’s wrong, dear?”

“I can’t. I can’t do this.”

I walked to the front of the room and ran a hand through my hair, but I wanted to run out the door.

Ruby followed me, but didn’t come too close. “It’s okay. You’re okay. You’re safe.”

She kept eye contact with me, like I was a wild animal cornered in her classroom. Like I was going to bolt at any moment.

Was I?

Should I? No. That wouldn’t help. That wouldn’t solve anything. I had to face the fact that the magic was inside me, whether I wanted it to be there or not. I had to learn to control it, whether I wanted to or not. There was no other choice here.

Ruby smiled. “You need to understand that we can work together to keep that power contained and under control. It’s nothing to be scared of.”

“Nothing to be scared of? I could have—” I sucked in a breath, “I could have killed Tracy. She told me herself.” I wanted to get out of there. I wanted to scream. “I don’t think I can control it.”

She took a tentative step forward. “You can and you will. We’ll face it together.”

I found myself staring at her sandals and her many toe rings.

“That’s probably enough for you for one day, but I’d like you to stick around. Just observe. We were going to try lighting a candle today, so you can watch. You will get an idea of what you can do with magic and see how it’s done. Then we have some theory stuff after that, okay?”

I thought I could handle doing that. I took a deep breath and nodded.

Ruby smiled warmly. “That’s great. Let’s get started.”

Laynee and Shauna each took a candle and holder from a shelf and placed in front of them on their desks.

Ruby asked us all to sit at the same desk at the front of the room and we gathered together eagerly. I had to admit that I was excited. Probably because I wasn’t going to be using my magic.

“Now, I want you to bring your magic out as usual, but pause to imagine the magic turning into a flame inside you. Push it down your arm and into your hand, then down one finger and bring your finger to the candle. Push the flame out and onto the wick. Then let the magic recede inside you.”

Shauna got it on the third try and Laynee managed it after about six attempts. She didn’t seem to be frustrated when it wasn’t working. She sat quietly and kept trying. She had more patience than I did.

Ruby praised their efforts and got them to repeat the task several times till they could get it on every attempt. It seemed so easy, but I doubted I’d be able to do anything like that anytime soon.

I sighed. I had a lot of learning and practicing to do and it was clear that I wasn’t going home for a long time.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───

After we’d had a short break for a cuppa and some biscuits, Ruby turned to Laynee and Shauna as we entered the classroom. “You girls are well aware of our history and I don’t want to bore you, so today you get an early mark. I’ll see you both on Monday.”

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Both girls packed up their belongings and said their goodbyes as they left.

As they opened the door, I saw the ghost of an old man in the hallway and tore my gaze away as quickly as I could. Did he see me? Did he know I could see him?

I cringed. I did not want him ruining this lesson. I wanted to learn everything I could about how it all happened. How magic came to be in our world. How I ended up with the ability to see ghosts and how I could wield magic. Even with all the evidence, I was still struggling with magic being real.

No ghosts came marching through the closed door, but I was sure I’d seen recognition in his eyes.

Once we’d sat down, Ruby clasped her hands together. “What do you know of the history of the Descendants?”

“Only what Anna-Marie told me. She said that beings from another realm came through a portal, but there are different theories about who or what they were.”

She nodded. “They were definitely fae. There are groups of people even today who think that we are witches and have started covens and practice what they believe is witchcraft, but they’re wrong. They’re not wrong about our magical abilities, just about where that magic comes from.”

I frowned. “Does it even matter?”

“Yes. It matters a great deal. It is important to know as much about our history and the origins of our power as we can so we know how to wield the magic properly.”

I couldn’t really understand how knowing who or what they were could have any real effect on how we use magic. But what would I know?

Ruby took a deep breath. “We’re getting a bit side-tracked. The fae that came into our world lived among us and some of them ended up falling in love with humans. Their offspring usually possessed magic, although most were not as strong as their fae parent. After many generations, their descendants’ magic weakened and the fae were worried about eventually losing it altogether, so they sealed the portals and we were left to deal with our magical abilities on our own. So of course, things got out of control.”

I tried to imagine it. It couldn’t have been good. “The Witch Trials?”

“Yes. That’s one of the more well-known outcomes.” She picked up one of the pendants around her neck and fidgeted with it. “The Council of Descendants was formed to lead us. They created a Guild similar to the Fae Guild in the fae realm, dedicated to keeping law and order among the Descendants. They protect Normals and Descendants and make sure the Normals do not know that magic exists. The chaos that would cause is just – let’s just say it wouldn’t be good.”

So we had our own government and police, basically. That made sense.

My thoughts wandered back to the diluted bloodlines. “So, are there Descendants that don’t have any magic at all?”

“Yes. And it’s becoming more common. There are still some powerful Descendants, but some are only capable of some very basic, low-level magic, like what we were doing today.”

“So you’re saying that maybe Shauna or Laynee or I might not be able to do more than what they did in our lesson?”

“It is possible, but I don’t think that’s the case with you girls – especially you and Laynee.”

“Why’s that?”

“I get the feeling Laynee has more power and talent than she lets on. Or maybe she doesn’t know how powerful she is, like you.”

“You keep saying I’m powerful, but how do you even know?”

“A lot of us can feel the power within another Descendant if it’s powerful enough – and if it’s not blocked. There are also ways of gauging someone’s power levels using different spells and crystals to enhance them, and there are some Descendants that have a heightened sense. They can feel someone’s power levels even if they are really low.”

“Really? Is that how you knew about me?”

“Yes.”

“Who has that ability?”

“Kaydan. He is quite talented and his ability is strong.”

“What?”

“He was the one who told us your power was blocked, but I guess something happened to break that block down and your magic burst out of you.”

I cringed at the reminder. I didn’t think I could ever forget what happened.

I also didn’t know how to feel about Kaydan sensing my magic and telling them about it. Then again, if I had that ability, I’d use it too. I was sure something like that would come in handy.

Ruby put a hand on my arm. “The staff at Mirrabooka House weren’t sure what was happening with you – probably because your magic was blocked – but they knew you needed to come here because of your ability to See spirits.”

“What? They knew?”