Shift

SEVEN.2

In her defense, Kayden was still in a state of shock.

Two days earlier, "magic" had just been a construct of her imagination, nothing more than what she could find in a movie or a card trick. And even after Blaze had proven to her that magic was in fact real, she had not been prepared for what had happened as she had been lying on her bed listening to the rain: for the deep pressure that had built in her stomach, for the uneasy rumbling in her skin, and then for the complete and terrifying darkness that had blinded her. Before she could cry out, her bed had vanished beneath her. And then some strong force had pressed against her body, preventing her from even forming a scream for a few painful seconds until she had landed, jarringly, in a rather nice, but completely foreign, kitchen.

That trip, added with Blaze's confession that he might have messed up the spell, did not put her in the most forgiving of moods.

She tried to comb through her messy hair with her fingers as she followed Blaze through his apartment. Apartment is definitely an understatement, she amended silently as she passed room after room. Whatever Blaze's father did for a profession, it paid well. Or can wizards just magick up money? she wondered. Life would be so much easier if you could just wave a wand and conjure up a hundred dollar bill.

Blaze led her through a pair of French doors into a spacious study lined with bookshelves. Thick leather spines with glinting golden titles winked down at her. She couldn't help but let out a soft "Whoa" as she craned her neck upwards, taking everything in.

Blaze made a beeline towards one shelf and plucked a navy blue book from its place. Kayden felt a slight tingle in her fingers as she watched him hold The Booke of Advanced Magick and she knew she still wouldn't be able to touch it.

The boy flipped the cover open, gripping the pages with his rough fingers to begin searching for the right spell. However, he had only turned a single page when he stopped. "What the hell?" he muttered.

Kayden approached him, peering over his shoulder as he flipped through more pages. She had seen the book only the day before, along with all of its tiny scribbles, complex diagrams, and lengthy lists. However, that all was gone, as if someone had taken a magic eraser and wiped out the entire book. Instead, the same uniform message appeared on each page in a blocky, official typeset:

Due to a volatile change in magic flux, all spell books have hereby been suspended. Please refrain from all forms of magic until further notice.

- The Congregation

The message was followed by four scripted signatures.

"What does that mean?" Kayden asked, her eyebrows scrunched.

"I don't know." Blaze rifled through a few more pages, but was greeted with the same message on every page. He stared at it for a moment longer, his face guarded, before shutting the book, replacing it back on the shelf, and walking out of the study.

"Where are we going now?" Kayden asked. She knew she sounded petulant, but she was growing tired of following him.

"To my room," he answered, glancing back at her. "I want to check something online."

Online? Kayden thought skeptically. She doubted that whatever was happening would be on the front page of MSN, but she kept her mouth shut and followed him.

Kayden had never considered herself a neat freak, but Blaze's room was absolute chaos. The floor, bed, and every other surface was covered with a liberal helping of clothes, so much so that it was almost impossible for her to see anything but black and navy fabric whichever way she turned.