“Four more?” asked Conner. At least he didn’t rub it in.
I bobbled back over to our table, drinks in hand this time. Delivery done, I flopped next to Brann and took a swig of the black stuff. “So, what’d I miss?”
Brann looked at his book, then at me, then back at the book. Sighing, he pulled a bookmark out and marked his page. “The twins are obsessed with work shyte, per usual.”
“So? What are you reading up on there?”
“The History of Dark Magic.”
I raised my eyebrows and let out a low “hmm...” to let Brann know I was interested, though I was still gauging how interested I actually was. Brann sucks up knowledge like a Hoover eats dirt. He’s absorbed more facts in his twenty-four years than folks who’ve been alive for centuries (and oh, yes, there are plenty of those!). I don’t like the term ‘intellectual’. But Brann? True, he’d never been to University, formal, but he is sharper than any Trinner you’d ever run across. You could say he turned Dark Magic into a science, only really, it’s more like he could turn science into Dark Magic. Either way, he was always getting the best out of both worlds. Brann was born with naturally awesome abilities, which eventually led him to Cóis Dara. Edna helped Brann finesse his skills and everything seemed to fall into place. He learned to levitate an object in two days.
It took me two years to learn to teleport a meter away.
Was I jealous? Absolutely.
Here’s the funny thing. I worked so hard to do the very simplest spells. It takes every ounce of magic in me. But Brann? He avoided magic whenever he could. He said the difference was that his was Dark Magic. The good news was that he could draw power from every living thing around him, to conjure almost limitless power.
The bad news? Limitless power. It was utterly intoxicating. It was like dope, was how Brann put it. If he wasn’t careful, he’d be hooked worse than the biggest junkie in Dublin. The more dark magic that was summoned, the darker it got. The darker you got, too.
“Keegan, did you hear me?” Brann asked.
“Sorry, I tuned out after ‘history,’ but I do have a question for you. Did you notice any crows or ravens on your way here? Black birds? I think they followed me. And just now, I got this creepy vibe at the bar.”
“Hmm.” Brann rolled up his left sleeve and touched one of his tattoos. The rune glowed faintly as he rolled his sleeve back down. His eyes turned black and he quickly surveyed the room. “Curious.”
“What? What is it?”
His eyes returned to normal and he looked at me. “Nothing.”
“Nothing? But even I could feel it.”
Brann hesitated, and gave it another whirl, eyes closed this time. Concentrating. Extending his consciousness, focusing on finding even a wisp of energy from other realms. Then, he shook his head again.
“I’m fairly certain that those birds are simply normal birds. And I detect no magical creatures among us.”
“Just ‘fairly certain?’ That’s... less certain than certain certain,” I said.
“My magic has been, ah, misbehaving recently. Hard to control,” Brann muttered. But he looked a little off, like he had a bad dose. “My senses are thrown slightly... off.”
“Hmm.” Brann didn’t say it would be all right for sure, which was unnerving in the what if he’s wrong sense. The only reassuring aspect was in the at least he’s not sugarcoating it sense.
The silence made me fidgety. So I guzzled my pint, and said “Hey, Brann, care to make a little wager?” I pulled out my coin from... well, wherever the hell it goes when I make it vanish. Anyway, “If I win, you stand the next round. If you win, I have to buy again. How’s that?”
“Fine, whatever,” Brann said. “I call heads.”
“Heads it is then! Here we go.” I felt confident I would win. Gambling is the one thing my magic always works on. Usually.
I flipped my coin, and in that moment, it seemed the laws of physics made a special malfunction just for me. The coin bounced off my arm and landed on its edge, just standing on the table. It wobbled. Which way would it fall?
It didn’t. Instead, it rolled, right off the edge of the table. The coin proceeded to roll through the bar. My first reaction was to panic, and I charged after it. However, my tall, gangly self wasn’t exactly well-suited to a high-speed chase of small object in a crowded room. Not only did I bash into people along the way (most of whom spilled drinks on me), I then fell flat on my face and tumbled along the coin’s path.
That’s how I found myself face to face with a delightfully stylish pair of black heels. Wowsers.
Not that I would call it a fetish, or anything like that, but... I canna deny it, I do appreciate a nice pair of pumps. Forgetting my coin for a moment, I stared at the shoes, admiring their craftsmanship and allure.
“Hel-lo there,” I mumbled to the shoes.
A Girl Walks Into a Bar...
- Keira -
After I decided to follow Katie’s advice and hit a bar, I had to go through four Uber drivers before someone finally agreed to pick me up. Just for a ride to the more active side of town. Much to my chagrin, the first three drivers bailed. It was as if they looked at my location, and then immediately declined. Please, it’s a perfectly nice house, I thought at first.
Then I remembered what Edward said about the general view of my family, and by extension, my estate. But I’m not creepy. I can’t help it if my ancestors were! Fortunately,
