Allie Beckstrom 09 - Magic for a Price Read Online Free Page A

corrected. “No, we did not die for each other. We died to kill Jingo Jingo. Isn’t that right, Ter?”
    Terric didn’t say anything.
    “Don’t care how you want to remember it, Shame,” I said. “I want to know what you can do with magic before we are in another life-or-death situation.”
    “Did I mention I hate this idea?” he grumbled.
    “Don’t care.”
    “Let’s be done with it then, Son,” Maeve said. “It should only take a minute or two.”
    She obviously wasn’t in the mood to deal with delays either. Shame had killed Jingo Jingo, and changed greatly to come back from that. Her boyfriend, Hayden, was recovering in one of Kevin’s bedrooms, heavily medicated and missing a hand.
    It had not been a good last few days.
    “We need someone to Ground,” Maeve said.
    Zayvion held up his fingers.
    “Good.” She walked around the edge of the table to stand at the foot of it. “Zayvion will Ground and I will Block the room.”
    Shame clapped his gloved hands together and pushed up out of his chair. “Fine. I’m starving anyway.”
    Maeve looked surprised. “Didn’t you just eat?”
    “Dying makes me hungry.”
    “Shamus. Don’t,” she said quietly.
    “Die? Not planning on it. Once was enough.” He didn’t say it like he was angry or worried. Just maybe…resigned to the way things had turned out. “The sooner we find out that Terric and I cast magic
exactly the same as we always have
, the sooner I can eat something, or hell, get a damn smoke.”
    Zayvion positioned himself near the door.
    Terric, who still had a case of the glowing gorgeous, moved to stand in front of Shame.
    I wasn’t sure where, exactly, I should be. Didn’t even know what good I was since I couldn’t use magic.
    “Shamus and Terric,” Maeve said, “I will tell you each what spell to cast. You will do so, in the order I tell you and at the smallest level possible. If it becomes too difficult, tell me immediately. We’re going to see what you can and can’t do alone, then together.”
    “Bullcrap,” Shame said, shaking out his hands as if getting ready to arm wrestle. “You’re going to test to see if we’re Soul Complements.”
    “Ah, Son, no,” Maeve said. “You already took that test.”
    “When?”
    “When we died for each other,” Terric said softly.
    Shame glared at him. “I didn’t die for…”
    Terric held him with a patient gaze.
    Shame shut his mouth. Must have finally figured out there was no use denying it when we all knew the truth.
    “Terric,” Maeve said, “let’s begin with you. Please cast a small Light spell.”
    I decided it was time to find a wall, and walked to the far end of the room, at the head of the table.
    Zayvion drew a glyph in the air, but didn’t pull magic up into it yet, holding it ready for when or if Terric or Shame slipped.
    Terric traced a Disbursement, waited for the Proxy to connect, and drew a small, beautiful spell of Light that looked like a lacy globe. He called magic into it, and the globe became visible, glowing in front of him with a butter-soft light.
    “Can you control it?” Maeve asked.
    Terric nodded, then made the light grow to the size of a basketball, then shrink to a pinpoint.
    “Let it go,” Maeve said.
    The light winked out.
    “Shame, please cast a small Light spell.”
    Light was one of the easiest spells to cast, and usually one of the first anyone learned. It really couldn’t do much harm.
    Shame drew a Disbursement, set it free to Proxy, and as soon as the returning ribbon slipped around his wrist, he traced a basic no-frills Light spell. It popped into existence with a snap of red, then rolled into a hot orange flicker.
    “Control it,” Maeve said.
    Shame whispered and the light became a single candle flame; then he said another word and the light roared out into a heatless fireball.
    He extinguished it with a flick of his fingers.
    “Very good.” Maeve sounded relieved. Was she that worried that they wouldn’t be able to handle