Alexis slumped on the bench and glared at the girl standing with her hands on hips and brows forming a ‘V’ shape as she scowled right back at her. Beryl, sitting beside Alexis, covered her mouth with one hand and looked away as she tried to stop laughing.

“This is taking the piss!”

“No swearing!” Beth, the year one student said. “Just try it again, it’s not that hard!”

Alexis grumbled and looked at her roommate for support but found none there as Beryl’s shoulders shook with silent laughter.

“Fine,” she said, rolling her eyes as she sat up straight.

The dew damp ornamental gardens were a place of quiet solitude and it had been suggested, quite firmly, by Millicent Buttle that they would be a good place to get in some practice before classes started. Which was when she informed Alexis that she was getting a tutor, the eleven year old, Beth.

With irritation written clearly on her face, Alexis once again tried the gestures she had been practising for the past ten minutes. Nothing happened. No surge of energy or tingling across her skin. No rush of euphoria or panic as the spell took effect.

She rubbed at her eyes with one hand, the lack of sleep and the stress of the previous night had taken a toll.

“It doesn’t work,” Alexis said.

“You’re not doing it right!”

“Maybe you’re not teaching it to me properly!” Alexis snapped back, which only deepened the little girl’s scowl and raised peals of laughter from Beryl. “That’s it, I bloody give up!”

“Swearing!”

“I’ve never slapped an eleven-year-old,” Alexis grumped. “But I’m getting close to doing it now!”

“Maybe we should take a breather,” Beryl said, diplomatically.

“Won’t do much good.” Beth threw her arms into the air and stormed off throwing a final scowl over her shoulder as she departed.

“She’s a little bitch,” Alexis murmured.

“Be nice.”

Alexis knew she was being harsher than she had any right to be, but it rankled having a girl six years her junior explaining something to her like she was an idiot who could barely manage to tie her laces together.

She waved an apology at her roommate and sank back on the iron-framed bench, resting her chin on her fist as she sulked. Despite her mood, there was no way she could deny the sense of peace that seemed to linger over the gardens.

Waist-high hedges formed corridors through the gardens with gaps between to allow a person to wander amongst the flower beds that were full of colour despite the lateness of the year. There were the cream-white flowers of the Winter Honeysuckle, mixed in with the violent heart-shaped leaves of the pansies.

There was a golden yellow carpet of buttercup-like flowers running along the edges of the gardens, and a pinkish-purple of the Winter Heather. Grey stone plinths dotted the area with small, cherub-like statues atop each.

It was a far cry from any garden that Alexis had ever seen and just being free of the usual crisp packets and discarded cans and bottles raised it well above the local park where she had grown up. For the very first time since she’d arrived at the Academy, she felt a little bit at ease.

Though that feeling didn’t last very long as Beryl said, “Try it again.”

With a weary sigh, Alexis lifted her right hand and extended only the index and ring fingers, crossing over the forefinger and pinky behind them. She sucked in a deep breath of the chill morning air and slowly moved through the movements that Beth had been showing her.

Her fingers moved well, the movements precise and executed exactly as they should have been, but when she finished, nothing happened.

“See!”

“Keep doing it,” Beryl said. “Don’t think about it, just get familiar with the motions.”

Alexis rolled her eyes but did as instructed, focusing on ensuring that each movement was correct while Beryl began to speak.

“I’ve been thinking about Lisa, the girl from the showers.” She glanced at her new friend, noting the fierce expression of concentration she wore. “She’s going to be fine, by the way.”

“That’s good,” Alexis replied, absently, only half listening.

“Everyone’s talking about the Crawler, and wondering where it came from.” She paused. “There’s no one admitting to having one get loose.”

Alexis grunted, showing exactly what she felt about that. Like anyone would admit to anything after someone had been hurt.

“We’re being told that it was an accident, but you know what?”

“What?” Alexis’s tongue had appeared from between her lips as she concentrated, the pink tip just barely poking from between them.

“There’s wards and stuff, yeah?” No reply from Alexis, so she continued on. “Well, the wards are supposed to stop stuff like that wandering in, but what if someone released it on purpose?”

That did get Alexis’s attention and she stopped her hand movements to dart a quick look at Beryl, considering what she’d said. After a short moment, she resumed her hand movements.

“Maybe,” Beryl continued. “Someone should be asking who might have a reason to want Lisa hurt.”

“What kind of nutter would do something like that?”

“I could name a dozen without much thought,” Beryl muttered. “You’ve got to remember this isn’t a normal school. The people who come here don’t always follow social norms or even laws of the outside world.”

Which was a terrifying thought, and one that should have given Alexis pause, but instead it had her thinking. The world was full of assholes who thought they could do whatever they wanted. She knew that. How much more entitled would those same people feel if they could wield magic to help them get what they wanted?

There was a soft pop and Alexis jumped as a small orb of light appeared in front of her hand. It flickered with a soft golden glow in the early morning light and she blinked at it in surprise as Beryl clapped excitedly.

“You did it!”

“I did!” She didn’t know who was more surprised by that, her or Beryl. “How?”

“You were overthinking it,” Beryl said, beaming widely. “Magic is innate to us. It’s like the air around us that we breathe in. We don’t have to think about breathing to do it, we just do. It’s the same with magic, we don’t need to overthink it, we just do it.”

“Seems too easy,” Alexis murmured, watching the little light orb suspiciously. “If it’s that easy to do why don’t more people do it by accident?”

“They do.” Beryl’s smile faltered at that. “It happens all the time. Mostly, something happens that is barely noticed by most people, but for those creatures that are sensitive to it, well, it’s like a beacon’s been lit.”

She didn’t need to explain what happened after that. It had been something Annabelle the Healer had said in passing, about how her gift would attract the attention of something that would devour her soul.

While she knew little about the variety of supernatural creatures, Beryl had mentioned a few the day before while showing her around and hinted at others. What little she had shared had made it clear, that they weren’t necessarily friends of witches.

“Okay, well, now what?” Alexis asked, nodding at the ball of light bobbing on the air.

“Try it again,” Beryl replied. “We’ll keep doing it until it comes naturally to you or until classes start which gives you about fifteen minutes.”

Alexis laughed and waved her hand through the little ball of light which popped with a soft rush of air. She leant forward and sucked in a soft breath of air before she began again, Beryl watching beside her and chatting about inane things to help keep her mind distracted.

****

Poppy Baker-Wells was a slim young woman of seventeen. With silvery-hued hair that was combed back over her head, ending just above the nape of her neck, she had a striking appearance that had drawn the attention of men, and the occasional woman, since she had been ten years old.

She well knew how they saw her and had used it to good effect over the years to ensure that she always got what she wanted. When her looks were not enough, she also had the natural talents of a witch and the backing of a coven to ensure that her will was done.

Few it was that dared to oppose her and of the handful that had, she could name but two that still lived and then only because they too had powerful family connections that helped protect them. Her father had often, laughingly, referred to her as his favourite little viper. A name that she had adopted as her own.

Her companion, Asher Chapman, had been a loyal follower since they were both little. Like her, his parents were part of the Pendleton Coven, and they were one of the strongest covens in England. A fact that Poppy enjoyed a great deal for it allowed her to do pretty much whatever she wanted.

Within reason.

While there were few rules for the covens, there were some, and though she may often try to skirt those rules when it suited her, some even she would not dare risk breaking. Which is why she had to be careful while still a student of the Academy which had rules stricter than any she was used to.

“Can you tell me,” Asher asked, boredom lacing every word, “Why are we wasting our time here?”

“You have better things to do?” Poppy asked, eyes flicking to her companion for a moment before returning her attention back to her target.

“I was going to watch the trainees doing their morning workouts.” Asher leered and then scowled as Poppy didn’t respond. “But I would settle for having a coffee.”

“Go then,” she snapped, waving her fingers in his face. “Just stop talking! I’m trying to think.”

Asher rolled his eyes and leaned back against the window frame. A slim youth, he worked hard to maintain his physique knowing that those in his family had a predisposition to gaining weight early and not losing it. Which was something that he absolutely detested.

He turned to follow her gaze out through the window and across the open lawn to the ornamental gardens. There, seated on a bench, sat the new young witch and his lips twisted up into a smile.

“Ah.”

“What?” Poppy snapped.

“Curious about our newest witch, are we?” He snorted and leaned in, casting a quick glance around to ensure no one was close enough to overhear. “She can hardly be a threat to you, not after being here barely a day, so I have to wonder if she’s the shiny new toy for you to play with?”

It was Poppy’s turn to laugh, a silvery musical sound that hung in the air between them. “How little you think of me, dearest friend, to imagine that I would be interested in street trash. You couldn’t wash her enough for me to even touch her, let alone have her in my bed.”

“Nobody said anything about your bed, darling,” Asher leered.

Poppy gave him a playful push and ran her hand down his arm before stopping at his forearm and digging her nails in hard enough that he felt them even through his blazer. He winced but knew better than to pull away.

“Be nice, cousin,” she said. “Else I shall have to remind you just who will be ascending to the coven ranks first.”

“I jest, cousin,” Asher said, face going still before the angry glitter of her eyes. “As always, I offer nothing but the greatest respect to you.”

She released her grip on his arm and stepped back, turning her attention back to the window and the target of her attention beyond.

“Find out what you can about her,” she said. “Seduce that roommate of hers if you must.”

Asher pulled a face at the suggestion but wisely kept his silence as he watched Poppy as intensely as she stared at the girl below.

“Whatever do you want with her?” he asked, after a moment’s silence.

“In good time, cousin,” she said. “In good time.”