Shadow Rising

“Theia, where’s your hat?” Mom gasped as I entered the dining room.

I was dressed like a silky meringue, for Belenus’s sake. What more did she want from me?

“I’m not wearing it,” I told her firmly.

“Don’t be ungrateful,” Mom hissed. “William’s paying for your education and providing a roof over your head. The least you can do is wear the outfit he chose specially for you. Go and put it on.”

“Mom…” I began in a warning tone. “You don’t need a parenting book to know how ill-advised it is to tell your seventeen-year-old daughter how to dress.”

She huffed at my sassiness.

Just then, William himself strolled in, flanked by Emerald and Heidi. Mom buttoned her lips. The topic was dropped.

William positioned himself at the head of the table, with Emerald and Heidi taking the seats to his left, opposite Mom. Having literally no clue about seating-arrangement etiquette, I headed for the spot beside Mom, only for William to shake his head.

“Theia, please,” he said, grinning his fake-ass grin as he gestured to the other head seat, the one directly opposite him. “Take the special guest’s seat.”

I did as I was told.

The three bird familiars in the room flew up to a perch beside the doorway, and William raised a glass.

“To my new daughter, Theia.”

At the sound of the D-word, I nearly puked in my mouth. Talk about too much, too soon. This new guy seemed pretty eager to jump into my dad’s shoes.

I caught the look on Emerald’s face. She seemed just as grossed out by him referring to me as his daughter as I was. But dutifully, she raised her glass.

I did the same, clinking it against everyone’s in turn. The sound of proper crystal tinkled through the room.

The Daimon maids started to file in with delicious-smelling dishes, laying them out on the table before us.

“I’ve got a gift for you,” William said to me with a delighted little smile.

I tensed. “You didn’t have to do that,” I said hurriedly. “I mean, the clothes are already plenty.”

The last thing I wanted from William was more neutral-colored hats to cover up my Elkie ears.

“Nonsense,” he said. “It’s only right to welcome you to the family.”

William clapped and the Erlik maid from before scurried in. She handed me a rectangular gift.

My stomach turned to knots. Having people watch me open gifts was my personal hell. Having a ton of people I barely knew watch me open a gift I was almost one hundred percent certain I didn’t want was basically torture.

I squirmed under their gazes. Then slowly, I opened up the gift.

“It’s a spell book,” William said before I had a chance to work it out for myself.

My heart clenched.

“All Mages have one,” Mom added. “Remember how I wanted to get you one when you were younger?”

Remember? There was no way I could forget. Mom had been trying for years to ram my Mageness down my throat. Now she’d found the perfect way to foist it upon me, when I couldn’t refuse. She was sneaky, my mom, I had to give her that.

I looked up. “Thanks.”

As I went to place the book down, something dropped from the gift wrap. It was shiny and caught the light as it fell onto the tabletop.

Emerald spotted it. Her eyes narrowed.

“Is that a necklace?” she demanded, in a voice saturated with jealousy.

I peered down. She was right. William had bought me a necklace with a simple silver chain and a small blue sapphire pendant. It was really pretty, but I couldn’t help the sense of disquiet inside of me. Call it Elkie perception, call it paranoia, but everything just felt a bit wrong. The clothes. The spell book. The jewelry. It felt like my whole identity was being changed without my consent.

“Shall I help you put it on?” William asked.

“Nah, I got this,” I said hurriedly.

I’d squirmed at the feel of his handshake; I didn’t think I’d cope with his fingers on my neck.

I worked the clasp quickly and clipped the necklace in place. It hung down against the shimmery fabric of the dress.

“Don’t you look pretty?” William exclaimed.

Pretty? Nope. All the nopes.

Heidi looked thrilled. “Try a spell! Try a spell!”

This whole meal was making me super uncomfortable. I felt like a circus attraction, a bear in a ballgown expected to dance for everyone’s entertainment.

“The first spell,” Heidi coaxed. “It will be the easiest.”

“Maybe after dinner,” I said.

Mom pinned me with her glare. “Theia…”

Clearly, I wasn’t getting out of this.

I opened the spell book. Straight away, a small tingle spread through me. The book had induced a physical response in my body, like a magnetic attraction.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. The book felt like mine. Heat rose up my throat and I tugged at the collar of my dress.

“Well?” Heidi prompted.

My vision danced as I glanced down at the words on the page. “It’s written in another language.”

“Latin,” Emerald said haughtily. “Obviously.”

“I don’t speak Latin.”

“They don’t teach languages in the forest?” she scoffed.

“Just try,” Heidi urged, interrupting her sister. She looked so excited.

All eyes were expectantly on me as I squinted down at the page, trying to focus. The writing was in loopy cursive that only added to my difficulty. In a clumsy manner, I began to mutter the words under my breath.

Suddenly, a pop came from the candle on the table. It had sputtered, as if dying, before returning to normal.

Heidi clapped her hands. “It’s a fire spell! Keep going!”

My hands started to shake. I turned my gaze back down to the book and continued reciting the words.

All at once, every candle on the table erupted into foot-tall flames.

Heat blasted my face. My heart flew into my mouth as I gaped at the columns of roaring fire.

Everyone pushed back their chairs. Mom clutched her chest. The girls turned their heads away from the heat and the three bird familiars took to the air, flapping their wings and squawking.

Through the flames, I caught sight of William. He hadn’t flinched. He was calmly observing the whole thing, an unmistakable look of delight on his lips. It was as if he already knew what was going to happen.

What the heck… I thought, as a chill ran down my spine.

The flames shrank back down to normal size.

Mom started to clap.

“That was awesome!” Heidi cried.

“Theia, you’re going to make a brilliant Mage,” Geiser said.

“Well done,” Emerald said in a deadpan voice, glaring at me with jealous, beady eyes.

I was too stunned to speak. My heart felt like it was about to pound right out of my chest.

As Geiser got to work on his steak, the knowing look in his eye remained. I got the distinct impression there was something off about him. Something weird.

Mom may have been cool with trading up our old lives for a newer, swankier version, but I was feeling more uneasy by the second.

I snapped the spell book shut. All the candles went out.