‘It’s my destiny, Jet. This was always going to happen. I’m not like my family – I’m not pure. I need to do whatever it takes to protect them. Help me, please.’
Jet let out a long, deep sigh. ‘I will teach you on the condition that you never go anywhere without me. I need to trust that you will never put yourself in the kind of danger you did last week when you took off. We must make plans…together.’
‘Last week?’
‘We’ve been back for a week today.’
‘You’ve looked after me, all that time.’
Jet smiled, dimples appearing on his cheeks.
‘Do we have a deal?’ he asked.
I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. ‘We have a deal.’
Jet smiled.
‘And you start teaching me tomorrow.’
Jet groaned. ‘It is tomorrow.’
He was right – the world around us was now cloaked in emerald green.
‘In that case,’ I said, energy returning for the first time in a long while.
‘In that case, we need to get some rest – magic can wait,’ mumbled Jet, his eyes closing.
I nodded and watched my friend who had saved me, who was still willing to do whatever it took to help me, fall fast asleep.
‘Thank you, from the bottom of my heart,’ I whispered before snuggling against him and letting sleep claim me.
Chapter Ten
‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ asked Jet for what felt like the hundredth time.
All day, he’d been trying to talk me out of learning dark magic. All day, I’d been telling him I’d made up my mind and that I had to harness every power I could before my family’s trial in six days.
I rolled my eyes and clamped my lips together.
‘Okay,’ said Jet, holding his hands up in defeat.
Excitement and dread mixed together inside me in equal measure.
We stood in a round clearing deep in the bush, and above us the waning moon shone down weakly. Jet looked around the space and his gaze landed on Boy, who sat on the boundary, his eyes fixed on his master.
‘Learning black magic is about harnessing the powers of the dead,’ he said.
I gasped, remembering the dead sailors who’d poisoned me with their dark magic.
‘Most people, when they die, they move on, past our world. But some, some get stuck. Perhaps they couldn’t let go, or perhaps others held onto them too tightly. Whatever the reason, their souls linger. It’s these souls that search for…you – their leader.’
My skin prickled. I zipped up my jacket, but it did nothing to remove the chill that hovered around us.
‘It’s these souls – the dead – who can be summoned,’ said Jet.
I gazed around myself, the shadows holding shapes where only moments ago there were only trees.
‘Do you feel that?’ he asked.
I nodded, no longer trusting my voice.
‘Talking about them draws them closer. You…you draw them.’
My heart started racing. Jet stepped closer and took my hand.
‘Tonight, I’m going to teach you how to summon the dead and how to send them away again. If you don’t send them away…they won’t go.’
I shivered and rubbed my arms, but the night around us was too cold to fend off.
‘If last week was anything to go by, the dark creatures will try and harm you again. So you’ll need to send them away quickly.’
I pictured them attacking me, filling me with their poison.
‘Still sure you want to do this?’ asked Jet.
No!
‘Sure,’ I said, my voice cracking.
‘It’s critical you send the dead away quickly…to stop them from hurting you.’
I reminded myself that I wanted to learn this, needed to learn this.
I nodded. ‘What do I do?’
Jet stood taller, his breath white in the cold night air.
‘It’s simple, but difficult at the same time. To call the dead, you cast a spell. And then you make yourself feel as you do in your darkest moments.’
Suddenly, it made sense – why they came for me when I was feeling the most vulnerable, the most threatened.
‘How do you just make yourself feel like that when you’re not in danger?’ I asked.
‘You remember how you felt in those darkest moments. Once you feel these memories, really feel them, as though they were happening, the dead will come.’
My stomach flipped, but I made myself speak, ask the most important question of all. ‘How do you get rid of them?’
‘To get rid of them, you have to do the opposite. You must think of memories that made you happy, when your life was at its best.’
I held my arms, willing myself not to shake.
‘Sure you want to go through with this?’ he asked.
I nodded, but my voice betrayed me when I spoke. ‘What if I can’t remember?’
Jet raised his eyebrows. ‘You can still kill them off, one by one, like we did in the boat. Otherwise…they will keep coming. It’s dark magic, Eva. You need to know what you’re playing with…what will play with you…what will stop at nothing to…kill you.’
A gust of wind stirred in the trees, making me jump.
‘Have you…done this before?’ I asked.
Jet nodded. ‘My parents taught me, when I was younger. Our family descended from a line of fire witches, similar to you. But my family were never pure white witches like your family.’
‘Not all of my family,’ I reminded him.
I thought of my family again like I had all day. Even though I was still recovering, they needed me. The time for being scared was over.
‘Let’s do it,’ I said, my steady voice returning.
‘Have a go. If something goes wrong, I’ll step in until you’ve got the hang of it. Okay?’
‘Okay,’ I agreed.
He let out a long, deep breath. ‘Close your eyes and repeat the word “vocatio.”’
‘Vocatio,’ I said quietly.
‘Now remember a time when you felt helpless, scared and all alone.’
I closed my eyes and before I could even seek a memory, one was there, waiting for me. It was the moment I saw my family being arrested, taken away.
My heart began thudding in my chest.
‘That’s the way. Now try and feel how you did in the moment. Can you
