Tav reluctantly disentangled themselves from Eli and made a few more lines with the obsidian blade, following the pattern Kite had taught them. They were learning ritual magic, circles, and other small enchantments.
Cam drummed his fingers against the cement, feigning boredom. “Doesn’t the Witch Lord have more important things to do than defacing public property?”
“Witch Lord in exile,” Tav corrected him. “And it’s an empty title now that the monarchy has been disbanded, the Heart has been freed, and the Coven is empty.”
“It’s not empty,” said Kite dreamily. “The Coven welcomes all who love knowledge.” She sighed. “One day we will excavate the library from the soil where it is buried.”
“One day,” agreed Eli. “I know you miss it.”
“There will be trouble.” Kite’s lilting voice whispered of harmony even as she spoke of unrest. “Not all the witches are pleased that you took the power of the Heart away from them and that their rule has ended. Clytemnestra and the children are reckless. You may be needed to keep the peace. You can’t stay here forever.”
“I know.” Tav extended one arm and gently tugged aside space and time, showing their companions. A glint of bone-white marble peeked through the door. Then Tav closed it, carefully sewing the seams shut.
“Show-off,” muttered Cam.
Kite had gone back to crooning as she etched designs onto the ground.
“You think this will really keep the protesters safe?” asked Eli.
“It should.” Tav frowned again.
“It will,” said Kite. “The magic will hold.”
“What if they go outside the lines?”
“We can only do so much.” Tav shrugged helplessly. “I was at the meeting. Black Lives Matter is holding a rally here tomorrow afternoon. We don’t have the power to cast protective spells over the whole city, so this will have to be enough if the police get involved.”
“It’s good,” said Cam, getting serious. “It will help, Tav.”
“And I’ll be there, too,” they said. “If things get out of hand. I can still heal.”
“Yes, we know you’re a superstar.” Cam rolled his eyes, but couldn’t disguise the pride in his voice. “Want to finish this before sunrise? I’d rather not get arrested tonight if it’s all the same to you.”
Tav’s lips twitched into a smile, and they finished the design wordlessly, the only noise the scrape of obsidian on concrete. Then they stepped back to survey their work.
Outside the protective circle, the ghost was watching. It couldn’t cross the wards. Tav had seen it approach when they started. No one else had sensed it, not even Eli. Tav wondered if some of Eli’s own magic had been lost when she returned the Heart to its home. They hadn’t said anything about it. They just enjoyed the feeling of her body against theirs.
Tav raised their head and met the ghost’s gaze. They stared at each other for a long time — the monster who had suffered the loss of his home and family and had lived for generations taking revenge on anyone who crossed his path. And another kind of monster, a witch-human hybrid who had finally killed the witch responsible for the ghost’s pain. Who still had battles to fight.
Now Tav knew why he had followed them, protected them, fought with them. They were family. For the first time, Tav could see the faint outline of wings extending from his back, a memory of flight. Tav’s own wings had moulted a few days after the duel with the Witch Lord, but they could feel them under their skin, ready to be set free again.
Tav nodded, once, acknowledging the ghost’s presence. The hint of a smile played at the corners of his mouth, and then he vanished. Tav had a sense that this time, he was gone for good. They hoped he had found peace.
They turned back to their companions, to their best friend with a waxed moustache and a ponytail that suited him really well. To their lover with crocodile eyes who used blades to coax roses out of the earth. Who knew Eli would be such a romantic? The other night she had surprised them with a bouquet of allium flowers and asked if they could go back to the purple fields together. Tav had said yes and tried not to cry.
Their eyes fell on Kite. They knew Eli wanted to take Kite to the fields with them. Tav wanted that, too, but it would take time. They hadn’t known Kite as long and were only beginning to learn her silence and song, to speak the language of her hair. So they flirted and brought her zebra mussel shells and handfuls of pink salt, and listened to her tell stories about a civilization on the moon. They were excited to see where that would go. In the meantime, Eli and Kite spent time alone together, climbing buildings to watch the stars and tell each other myths and taste each other. Tav didn’t mind. They felt loved.
The apartment was a little crowded, but they were making it work.
Tav turned back to the spells etched into the pavement. Tomorrow was important. They had told their mother about the rally, and she said she was already going. She seemed relieved to have heard from them.
They spun the blade in their hand and grinned.
Tav wasn’t done changing the world. They were going to build a new one, brick by brick.
Acknowledgements
The Feels
Thank you to the Dundurn team, who gave love and attention to this book during an incredibly difficult time. I wrote and edited The Boi of Feather and Steel in my pyjamas, often in bed, struggling with depression and anxiety during a global pandemic. I would not have been able to finish Tav and Eli’s story without the thoughtful feedback from my editor, Shannon Whibbs. (P.S. I think we can all agree that the cover is gorgeous, and that Sophie Paas-Lang is a genius designer.)
Thank you to my mother for reading to me when I was a kid, for giving me so many stories about girls having magical
