Jacinta closed the gap between them, striding forward, Silas backwards, until he was against the wall. Her hand was shaking, but the wand remained against his neck, tip glowing, pulsing, with magic. “Stay the fuck away from me, you creep. You were planning on taking me somewhere to kill me, right? Is that how SEE captures supernaturals now? Teleports them to some pocket dimension and—”

  His hands were raised, head flattened against the brick.

  “Hold on! I was just going to give you this.” He had something in his hand—a few bills. Fifties.

  Jacinta remained in-place for a moment, eyeing them, before snatching the bills, running her fingers along the fabric. Flat—no traps, nothing. Her wand remained at his neck.

  “I thought you said twenty percent.”

  “For the trouble, I think you earned a little more.” His lips were curled.

  She didn’t move. “Fuck you, but yeah. Thanks. Maybe this’ll pay for a few therapy sessions while I consider the fact that I went into a whole other universe. Now. You’re going to leave me alone, right? Never, ever come back?”

  Jacinta tried to remember how they even got to the world in the first place, but her memories were scrambled. She blinked, scowled. Shit. How—

  “How did we end up there?”

  Silas cleared his throat, staring down at the wand. “My transposition device. It glitched.”

  Jacinta squinted. He smiled awkwardly, shrugging.

  She tried to remember the truth spell. Maybe the Atlas had it on-hand—

Magical Abilities:

[[Click for more details]]

General witchcraft:

[[Spellcasting:]]

[[Potion-making:]]

[[Divination:]]

[[Enchantment:]]

[[Illusion:]]

[[Conjuration:]]

[[Abjuration:]]

[[Transmutation:]]

[[Blood Magic:]]

  She internally clicked on the divination class. A list of information popped up.

Divination

(Mastered):

N/A

Divination

(Expert):

N/A

Divination

(Adept):

N/A

Divination

(Apprentice):

-Tarot

-Visions; dream interpretation

-Crystal-gazing

Divination

(Novice):

-Runes

-Tea Leaves

Divination

(Unpracticed):

-All other indexed forms of Divination. [[Click for list.]]

  Okay, not what she was looking for. Would it be a general spell then? Divination was in part about parsing the truth, though…right?

  She really didn’t have time for this.

  Her grimoire burned a little. She ignored it, slipping the cash into the opposite pocket to it. “I know you’re lying. That’s what you and the rest of SEE are best at.”

  “Says the witch who doesn’t exist.”

  Jacinta’s eyes widened. Silas chuckled, shrugging. “Hey, I won’t tell. Promise. Cross my heart and hope to die. I screwed up; I’d be down bad if they knew. So we both just go our separate ways and pretend we never saw each other and don’t dig up this dirt, alright? As for the whole…alternate universe stuff—keep it to yourself. If the rest of the world finds out…I’ll know who said it.”

  His eyes flashed with a warning. Jacinta exhaled slowly, shoulders dipping.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “If I have any SEE agents breathing down my back, I’ll know who sent them.” She lowered the wand, but didn’t pull its tip away. “The money’s not enough, Silas. I need you to tell your guys to back off the investigation on me and my friend. And on Francesca. And I need info on her.”

  He laughed. His eyes swirled. “Oh? You think you have enough of a foothold to make a deal with me?”

  “You want the entire supernatural population of New York City to revolt and steal those…what—transposition devices?” That she remembered, and she was glad for it. “And use it to…well—hijack other universes. Or something.”

  Silas snorted; he wasn’t impressed. She glared at him, his raised brow, his stupid smirk. “Nice try. How about this.” He put his index finger on the wand’s tip to lower it—it shocked him. Jacinta chuckled; he shook his hand out, sparks flying off his fingertips. “Ow. I give you info on Doña and you give me info on the supernaturals in the city.”

  Jacinta hesitated.

  Silas sidestepped away; Jacinta followed him with the wand. She paused, thought. Okay. Well, Doña was apparently a leader of a coven…and led a double life. Doña was just…a sweet woman who lived a quiet life—

  Apparently…well, that was a lie. But why? What was she hiding?

  To give information in return, though…? Maybe she could lead Silas and SEE astray. Plant red herrings, false trails—

  “Phone number?” Silas raised a brow, holding his phone in his hand. Newest model, sleek cover. A thorn of jealousy hit her side; she swallowed, pushed it down, and took out her own phone: several models behind, cracked screen, old case. She gave him her number; she gave him his in return. He texted her—

  It’s me.

  “I didn’t agree to the offer yet.” Jacinta hissed, saving the new contact.

  “I know. But you will, I’m sure.” He slid the phone into a pocket, folding his arms across his chest. “You want to know about sweet little Doña’s double life. After all…you’re just her cleaner. Right?” He was seeing right through her, dammit.

  Jacinta exhaled slowly, jaw clenched. She didn’t bother answering.

  “Anyway. I need to get back to work. Call me when you’re ready to discuss our deal in greater depth—and then I’ll maybe try to drop the cases on you, your friend, and Francesca.” He spun away, about to walk off, but Jacinta stopped him.

  “Wait. Your name. Is it actually Silas? Or is it some quick coverup?”

  He leaned back, cracking his neck. “It’s Silas. If I was stuck in another world, I wouldn’t be there without my name.” He casually walked off, as if he hadn’t just traveled to another universe…and returned. This wasn’t new to him. Not at all. Right.

  Still. God. That happened.

  As if the last few days hadn’t been traumatic enough.

  Jacinta slid her wand along her bra’s underwire, watching Silas leave.

  That…really did just happen.

  She made it. That was all that mattered.

  She was home.

  At least, she hoped so.

***

  “Alright, Grimoire. If you’re so interested in showing me the magic, then show me it. Cleaning spell.”

  Jacinta set out the materials: the broom, pan, sponge, soap, duster. She had her hands on her hips and stared down the matchbox, back in her apartment, the cluttered kitchen. Oregon was asleep, Banu was out, and Ivy was in her room, as always. Probably smoking some home-grown weed, judging by the smell. Nymphs did grow the best herbs…all types of them.

  The grimoire unfolded into a book. She reached over, tugged on the thick leather cover. Jammed. Seriously? She exhaled. “Alright, look. I’m done with these games. I get it, I’m not a good witch, but I’m the last witch in the family line. So work with me to help me get better.”

  The book’s pages ruffled like it sighed, and it opened to the page she needed. Good. Jacinta smiled, patted the paper, and read the spell mentally a few times, practicing the awkward parts. Magic could be spoken in any language, any tongue—most Eastern witches resorted to Latin, of course. Her grimoire was a mix of Latin and Spanish, primarily; scribbled over, updated—generations of angry women, mostly women, in her case—deciding what was best. Ink, pencil, blood. Some mothers and daughters were fighting beyond generations—she chuckled at the details. Fresas, chamacas, cabrónas, putas—a lot of name-calling. Apparently having a foul tongue was hereditary.

  She didn’t see any writing from her mother, though. It was as though she didn’t even exist. The book was a catalogue of generations, but nothing. Nothing of her was left behind.

  Jacinta mentally shifted gears. She was reminded of the stick in her shirt.

  “Alright—Atlas, the wand. You figured out what it does yet?”

Now wearing—

Wand.

[[While in-use—

-10% increased chance of magic success.

-15% boost in general spellcasting, enchantment, and abjuration.

-20% reduced skill in transmutation and conjuration magic.

-Migraines from overuse.

-Reduced physical energy; general lethargy

  She snorted. “I’m already tired enough. The wand’s not doing much.” She pulled it out and spun it in her hand, the little gnarled thing, reminded of an Arborem’s antlers.

  Jacinta still couldn’t get over the fact that she had traveled to another universe…and that they all existed. Anything.

  Silas. She still had questions.

  No. She didn’t trust him. Not at all.

  She rubbed her temples, pointed the wand out, and read the spell aloud, specifying the tasks for each object. It was a homemade spell, off the regular magic books—which gave it an imperfect charm. The cleaning tools rose and began to do their work. Jacinta’s head buzzed; her fingers twitched, but she smiled, seeing the magic work. The sponge floated, foamed, and slid across the dishes in their narrow sink; the broom swiped across the floor; the duster glided along the walls and shelves.

-Mana reduced 10%

-5% closer to Apprentice class in General Spellcasting.

-78% remaining until Apprentice spellcasting—currently Novice class in spellcasting.

  So this was a rough approximation of practice and skill. It was cool to see, admittedly; weird, though. The world wasn’t categorized like a video game, she supposed; people's skills cut into stats and quantified—but the Atlas sort of set it into that type of logic.

  Either way, she enjoyed video games and leveling up; there was the hit of dopamine…

  “Good job, grimoire.” She leaned over the table, setting her hands flat, arms straight. “You think you can show me a spell that can produce some money?”

  Her gaze flitted back to her room. The pills she took from Doña. She could sell those…

  First—money from Silas. She pulled out a chair, sat, and flipped through the bills. $350 total—okay, that was…a lot. More than she made in a week. She exhaled, thumbing through them, double-checking. She counted right.

  Was it worth the hassle? Absolutely not.

  Still, she’d take it. There was most of her rent. She re-checked the grimoire, setting it on her lap, flipping through the pages. She practiced a few other spells; something to turn an apple into an orange (worked halfway—it tasted nasty); something to charge her now-dead phone immediately (which raised it by 2%, so she considered it a win—it was a spell Gregory sent her, some adapted spell to help light candles fast); something to put the items away (which mostly worked. The broom almost broke a cabinet on the way into the closet—too much power for too small a spell, whoops).

  She got a few skill percentage increases, which was cool to see, but it was no dedicated training session. She sat back down, a little shaky from the magic, and glanced at the ceiling. Doña. Silas. Olivia. Another world. Greg.

  She grabbed her phone to call Greg and ask how he was, but Olivia’s face appeared on the screen with the photo she demanded Jacinta set for her contact—she and her giant, full-faced smile, her hair braided down to her thighs, her clothes always surprisingly fashionable…in spite of being secondhand.

  Jacinta smiled and answered the call.