Lexi

My head felt drained. Like someone had wrung a sponge out, but my brain was the sponge. Words were leaving my mouth but none of them were intelligible. I can only assume they had to do with the fact that I couldn’t really see anything. Then there was warmth. Something so very warm on my tongue and lips. Sweet like honey. A few more minutes went by and my blurry vision finally cleared. Fox was next to me on his knees. Was I on the ground? My hand felt beneath me but the ground was soft and cushiony. I pushed myself up and the pieces fell into place. I was still in the ominous office but was lying on a leather chaise.

I sat all the way up. “Di--did I pass out or something?” I asked Fox whose eyes were glued to mine. Before he could answer, a deep throbbing at the back of my head caused me to groan. “Oh, god. I must’ve passed out and hit my head hard on the floor. All these blows to my cranium can’t be good for my brain.”

Fox made a lopsided smile before he turned to the woman he had introduced as his Aunt Felicity. She stepped forward, but unlike before, there was a softness to her face. “It’s very nice to meet you, Alexia. And I apologize. The pain in the back of your head would be my fault. A slight oversight of the spell I cast to scan your memories and determine any danger.”

For some reason, I was taking everything she was saying very well. “It’s cool. I get it. So, like, the spell leaves the person with a huge headache from the mind-swabbing?”

Fox smiled and shook his head. “Nope. You were right before. After the spell finished, you went down and hit your head. Hard.” He finished by placing his hand on my head and healing it like earlier.

Afterward, I felt like myself enough to swing my feet back onto the floor and slowly stand up. “Well, if anything, I think that little nap did a world of good. I feel super chill,” I said while yawning and stretching.

Felicity let out a small laugh, that ironically set me a little on edge. She waved away my concerned expression. “That would be the special tea I had Fox give you after you woke up. It’s just something a banshee friend of mine taught me.”

Fox cleared his throat as he stood up. “So, uh, what do you think Aunt Felicity? Is my friend okay? Or is she the murderous, raving lunatic I told you she was?”

My face contorted in confusion before I smacked Fox on the shoulder. “What the hell, man?”

He immediately erupted in laughter. “I’m just kidding, princess. Besides, this would all be going a lot different if you were a serious threat. Right, Aunt Fee?”

Mrs. Lancaster rolled her eyes. “Fox, you’re a pain, you know that? But,” she said turning to me. “He is correct. And I apologize if it seemed like an invasion of your privacy. If it’s any consolation, I learned that you are a very smart, compassionate, and capable young woman. And she,” Mrs. Lancaster said turning back to Fox. “Is no threat. Not to us anyway.”

Reading in-between the lines, Fox and I looked at each other simultaneously. Not surprisingly, Fox broke the silence first. “I can’t tell if that was supposed to be comforting or some ominous warning.”

Mrs. Lancaster took a deep breath and then waved for us to follow her to her desk. “Why don’t you two have a seat. Your cousins should be arriving any minute now.”

No sooner had she finished saying the words when the doors to her office swung open. Sabine strode in like she was riding into battle. All she was missing was a horse. I was used to her look of disdain, but when I traced her gaze, I noticed it wasn’t directed at me. Following her line of sight, I found Sabine’s mother looking back at her with a withering expression.

It was all I could do not to shrink on the spot like a helpless bystander caught between two warring lands. Thankfully, Dorian was not far behind her and took the initiative to run up past Sabine. Neither of them noticed me as Dorian greeted his aunt first. “Hey, Aunt Felicity? What’s the 9-1-1?”

She was about to speak when Sabine finally made it up to Mrs. Lancaster’s desk. “Mother.”

Mrs. Lancaster took a deep breath before rubbing her forehead. “Sabine. Dorian. I believe the two of you have met Alexia.”

They both turned to me. Unfortunately, I have this awful habit of displaying exactly how I’m feeling with my face. It was beyond my control. So, at that moment, I knew my face had gone pale and my eyes were as wide as they could go.

Sabine had the fire of a thousand suns in her eyes as she started to move toward me. “Are you kidding m--.”

Fox quickly stood up, grabbed Sabine by the shoulders, and forced her to sit in the armchair farthest from me. “Cousin. So good to see you.” The usual chipper in his voice was replaced by a dry, sardonic one. “How about you calm the hell down? Some of us don’t have the patience to deal with your shit today.” He finished by seating himself in the armchair between Sabine and me.

From the narrowed gaze Mrs. Lancaster was giving everyone, it was clear she was assessing how best to proceed. She took a deep breath and stood up from her desk. “Dorian, why don’t you have a seat at my desk. I think it’s best if all of you are sitting for this.” Once Dorian was seated, Mrs. Lancaster lifted her hand and a dark red dome appeared over the five of us, covering the entirety of the office. She then began to pace, seeming to choose her words carefully.

Sabine slammed her hand onto the armrest of her chair. “Mother!”

Mrs. Lancaster cleared her throat before facing us. “I’ll begin with what I am sure about. Alexia, here,” she said gesturing towards me. “Is not what we would consider a typical witch. For one thing, her magic has only just manifested. While it is not unheard of, it is completely unprecedented for a witch of her considerable power. I assume, the three of you came to the same conclusion?”

Fox, Dorian, and Sabine all nodded in response.

Mrs. Lancaster cleared her throat before continuing. “I wish it were as simple as figuring out why her magic has only just presented itself. However, there is something even more disturbing. Unlike every other witch who possesses one force of magic, Miss Drake, for whatever reason, has two within her.”

A cold calm settled over the room as Dorian and Sabine shared in my wide-eyed and pale expressions. Everyone was doing a terrible job of keeping me at ease.

Sabine noticed Fox’s lack of surprise. “You knew about this? What the hell happened to teamwork?”

Fox rolled his eyes and put a hand up to stop her. “Easy, Sabine. I’ve known for, like, thirty minutes.”

Mrs. Lancaster snapped her fingers and locked eyes with her daughter. “Enough, Sabine. If you cannot control your outbursts, I’m going to have to ask you to step out. Perhaps you’ve failed to take into account how Miss Drake might be feeling.”

All eyes were back on me. Whatever tea I had been given was quickly losing effect. Luckily, everyone looked back at Mrs. Lancaster as she moved to lean against her desk directly in front of me. “Alexia, I know this is all very new to you and I promise we are going to do everything we can to make this as easy as possible. As I mentioned before, every witch has a force of magic born within them. It grows and ages with the witch, increasing their power as it does. However, in your case, you have two forces of magic. One has been with you since birth, but for whatever, was locked inside of you. Inaccessible, yet growing.”

Dorian leaned forward in the desk chair as his eyes scanned over me. “Locked away? Until when? With her level of magic, it would take an immense amount of power to not only bind her magic but to keep it from leaking out or even driving her crazy.”

Sabine shot a hand up from where she was seated. “Hold on. One traumatic bit of information at a time, please. You said one force of magic has been with her since birth. What about the other one?”

Mrs. Lancaster crossed her arms and looked up for a moment. “The second force of magic is new. It’s a little hard to wrap my mind around. The first force of magic is derived from the same source as all magic. The second, however, is not only new to Alexia, but to existence. It’s as if the magic was sourced straight from Alexia and is very raw. Infant-like some might say. At this point, it is most likely to react only on instinct and necessity, as is normal for witches in infancy when their magic first manifests.”

To my right, Fox took a loud and sudden breath. “Sorry,” he said blinking rapidly. “I forgot to breathe for a minute there. But, how? How is that even possible? Is that possible? Has this ever happened before?”

Everyone in the room, excluding myself turned to Dorian. His eyes shifted from one person to the next. “I don’t need to look into the past to tell all of you that this has never, ever happened before. Not since the dawn of magic, itself.”

Mrs. Lancaster began pacing around the office again. “The only thing I’ve been able to deduce from Alexia’s memories is that both forces of magic became evident around the same time starting around midnight two nights ago.” She turned to me. “During your first run-in with an entity.”

Fox cleared his throat and tried to subtly shake his head at Mrs. Lancaster. “Last night. Remember, Aunt Fee? I told you she entered the 13th Hour for the first time last night.”

The intimidating woman placed her hands behind her. “Yes, Fox. Unfortunately, that was not Alexia’s first experience with an entity. A few minutes after midnight two nights ago, Alexia awoke to a terrifying presence in her room. Isn’t that right, Alexia?”

I swallowed down the lump in my throat. “You can just call me Lexi,” I said before I began to think back. “You mean my night terror? I get those all of the time.”

Mrs. Lancaster slowly shook her head. “I’m afraid to say everything you experienced was all too real. It was also the first instance of your birth magic presenting itself. No doubt the trauma of being attacked forced her magic to defend Alexia against this entity. The purple of your magic marker represents a creative mind, an eagerness to heal, and a readiness to connect with others. The other magic—the new one—is bright green, signifying its need to develop. That it is just beginning to grow. Like two cats, the magics need time to get used to one another before they are able to bond. Right now, your birth magic reacts to outside stimuli that it determines as threatening and then intervenes. The other magic knows only how to respond to what you desperately need. So, both moments you rewound time, it was the new magic reacting to your need to have the situation reverse itself.”

Dorian stood up and slowly stepped from behind the desk, keeping his eyes on me the whole time. “You’re saying she has time magic? That’s what this new magic is?”

My nerves were shot at this point. I needed an IV of whatever that tea had been. “Wait. Don’t the three of you have time magic too?” I asked pointing between Dorian, Fox, and Sabine.

Fox put a hand up to stop Dorian from coming any closer. “Ease up there, Dor. You’re freaking the girl out with your stalker gaze. Actually, you’re freaking me out too.” Fox turned in his seat to face me. “Technically, the three of us have affinities for the past, present, and future. But the most we can do is peak into time, and as you’ve seen, amplify some of those abilities with our magic. Also, let me make it clear, time magic is not a thing. Time is a very fragile and volatile essence in the universe. I mean,” he said gesturing and turning to Dorian. “How many witches have we seen over the centuries try to bend or manipulate time?” Fox didn’t wait for a response but rather turned back to me. “It’s impossible. Every witch that has ever tried has destroyed themselves. It always leads to death. Every. Single. Time.”

For the first time since I had met her, Sabine spoke in a calm and, possibly even, sympathetic tone. “After the last death, the Department of Metaphysical Security declared it illegal for any witch to attempt to alter time again.”

Suddenly, Mrs. Lancaster ran to the computer at her desk. After typing a few keys, she raised a hand and moved her fingers in different shapes while her eyes glowed red. A few minutes later, her printer shot out a sheet of paper. She quickly inspected whatever was printed before looking up with wide eyes. “Dear, god. It’s all connected.” Mrs. Lancaster shook off the shock she had been pulled into and snapped her fingers. The paper in her hand went up in flames and dissipated into ash.

Before anyone could ask what was happening, she moved to the phone on her desk. After dialing a few numbers, she spoke with an authoritative tone. “Knox, I need you up here immediately. What? Yes! Right now!” She slammed the receiver down and crossed her arms. “Alright, here’s what’s going to happen. The three of you will begin training Lexi at once. With the raw magic inside of her, she’s a danger to herself and everyone around her. Luckily, the magic we need to be most concerned with is the one that has aged with her. It will be much easier for her to gain immediate control. But at the moment, her magic will deem anyone who even mildly distresses Alexia as a threat and kill them.” Dorian and Sabine’s faces both twisted in confusion, but Mrs. Lancaster continued. “The other magic still needs time to grow within her. The one good thing we can take away from this is that however Lexi’s time magic works, it doesn’t set off any of the protocols we have set in place to detect anyone trying to tamper with time.” Fox put a finger up, but Mrs. Lancaster shot him a sharp look. “Now, I'm going to have Knox develop another Clock Keeper for Alexia to control her entry into the 13th Hour. I don’t need anything from any of you except a nod to let me know that you each understood everything I have said.”

The four of us simultaneously nodded our heads before Mrs. Lancaster snapped her fingers and the dark red dome around the office blinked away. “Alright, the four of you can go. I expect one of you to be at Lexi’s side at all times. I will push Knox to be finished by this evening, but if not, you can expect to have a sleepover, Sabine. Is that understood?”

I was fully expecting Sabine’s hateful retort, which is why I was surprised when she softly nodded her head and looked at me with sadness in her eyes.