The Beginning Of The End

Chapter 21

"What took you so long?" Noah asked as we walked up to them. He was standing with Andrew and Thalia, who must have joined them at some point, a little way away from the others.

"We lost Charlie."

"How did you lose Charlie?" Thalia asked, a smile playing on her lips. "That's like, the name of a comic. 'We Lost Charlie'."

"It's not funny!" I said angrily. "We need to find him."

"Need to find who?"

We all turned to look at Tyson, who had wandered over from the other group of people. I glanced at Jaylon to see him staring at Tyson.

"My brother," I said in answer to his question. "Tyson, this is Jaylon. Jaylon, Tyson."

Tyson nodded to Jaylon, who held out his hand cautiously. Tyson took it and Jaylon nodded slowly..

"You were right," he said to me, though he didn't look away from Tyson, even as he released his hand. "I can feel it, the magic."

"The what?" Tyson asked, stepping back away from Jaylon.

"They don't know, do they?" Jaylon said, sounding disappointed as he turned to me. I shook my head.

"Louisa?"

I turned to Thalia who was standing very close on my left side.

"I have a way you might be able to find Charlie," she said quietly.

"Really?" I turned to her, giving her my full attention now. Jaylon was talking to Tyson about something, and Tyson was shaking his head. I felt as though I should help, but I gladly went with Thalia as she lead me over to the long table covered in books and gemstones and candles and things.

"Locator spells were one of the first spells Lucas taught me," she said, her voice soft as she picked up a gem I recognized as Topaz. "There are hundreds of different ways to do them, probably even thousands. Each witch has to try different ways until they find one that works well for them, then they can change it up a bit to make it the best fit for them, and unique from any other."

"So can you use one to find Charlie?" I asked hopefully. "I know he's just lost in the library, but it's huge and I'm worried about him. He doesn't always do so well in situations like this."

"Of course," she said, smiling at me. "I know all about wanting to protect younger siblings. Why do you think I kept the families magical bloodline a secret from them for so long?"

"I didn't even know up until a month or so ago," I said. She nodded and set the Topaz down, picking up a half burnt, blue candle instead.

"Finding people is a lot more difficult than finding an inanimate object or something," Thalia went on. "I convinced Lucas to teach me to incase I ever needed to find my siblings. It's easiest with people you know very well."

"Do you know Charlie well enough?" I asked, and she looked up at me in surprise.

"No, you'll be doing it," she said, holding the candle out to me.

"But you just said it was more difficult," I said, frowning. "I've barely started learning magic, you expect me to find my brother?"

"Sometimes being thrown in at the deep end is the best way to learn," she said, striking a match and lighting the candle before handing it to me. I had no choice but to take it.

With a deep breath, I asked, "So what do I do?"

"Close your eyes," she murmured. "Find your focus, clear your mind."