Chapter 33

Jordan, Emma, and Dalton all stood in my living room with mixed expressions. They exchanged glances and I could tell they were having difficulty figuring out how to answer my question. Surprisingly, it was Emma who turned to me and spoke first. “Have you ever heard of a Tone spell?”

I shook my head. “I did hear someone singing though. I was pretty sure the voice was male, unless one of you sing tenor?”

“You heard singing?” Dalton asked.

I nodded. “Male voice, singing in a language I didn’t understand or recognize.”

She pulled out her cell phone and went to the bedroom.

I looked at the others. “What was that all about?” They exchanged another look. “Will someone talk to me, please? Did I do something wrong?” I looked around at the apartment. “Did the spell go awry?”

“No,” Jordan said. “No, it went off the way you intended. We all felt it.”

I blinked. “You felt it?” I glanced at Emma and the bedroom door that hid Dalton from me. Those two still had their power, though they couldn’t use it. I looked at Jordan, and a thought sprang up. “You don’t think...?”

She shook her head, immediately understanding where I was going. “No, I’m not getting my power back. I think it’s the same thing that draws me to you when you forge a bond with a new Fonte.”

“So, you didn’t hear anyone singing?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No.”

“If you had sung along with the voice you heard, your spell would have been stronger,” Emma said in a small voice that said she was still in shock.

I shook my head. “But the spell was a simple alarm spell. It didn’t need any kind of strength to it.”

She shrugged. “Sometimes the boost makes it more difficult to tear a spell down. If another Magi comes along later with harmful intent, they could tear down all your defenses before coming in.”

The front door opened. Sammi, and Vanessa came in with arms full of baggies. They set them on the counter and then looked at us as we watched them. They read our expressions. Sammi frowned. Vanessa straightened up and stood akimbo. “What happened?” the Therapist asked.

I shook my head. “Nothing. We’ve been working on protective spells for me to cast on the apartment.”

They studied me for a moment. “Okay,” Vanessa said. Sammi looked like she wanted to ask more questions but Vanessa pushed her toward the bathroom. “We’re going to clean up.”

After they closed themselves in the bathroom, I turned to Emma. “Other than what you just told me, what does this mean?”

The bedroom door opened and Dalton came out. Her expression looked grave. She went to the front door and stopped with her hand on the door knob. “I have to go,” she said.

“Wait,” I said, moving closer to her. “Whom did you call?”

“Austin,” she said. “I wanted to find out whether or not Lawson had obtained a warrant for your arrest.”

Something about her tone suggested she wasn’t being honest with me. I wanted to call her on it, but before I said anything she continued. “I also got a call from my Captain at the Dallas Sheriff’s Office. He wants to see me tonight.”

I nodded, not sure what to say, and stepped back. She left without another word. Someone’s phone rang then. Emma pulled hers out. “Dammit,” she muttered. “I’m late for work. I’ve got to go to.”

“Hang on a minute,” I said, frustrated.

Emma stopped like someone had grabbed her. She turned and blinked at me. “I’m going to be late if I...”

I shook my head. I may have unconsciously stopped her but I wouldn’t keep her for long. “Just give me a quick explanation. What’s a Tone spell?”

“It’s just what you described,” she said. “You hear a voice while casting. If you sing along, your spell is stronger.”

I shook my head. “But that doesn’t explain why Dalton almost freaked out and why you’re so ready to run.”

Emma looked away. “I shouldn’t really say anything. All I know is from rumor anyway.”

“Then tell me what the rumors say,” I said, trying to calm myself down.

She looked at me and blinked. “Rumor says only Guild members use Tone spells.”

I shook my head. “I’m not a Guild member, and even if I were, why does that scare you so much?”

She looked me in the eyes. “Rumor also says the few Tone spell casters the Council has caught have all been killed. Not banished. Killed.”

“Why would the Council kill Tone spell casters?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s what I’ve heard.”

I nodded. “Go to work. Be safe.”

She nodded and left.

I suddenly felt alone. The two most experienced casters I knew were gone, just like that. I looked at Jordan. “Do you need to leave too?”

She shook her head. “No.”

I glanced at the closed door. “Do you think Dalton was being honest about her phone call?”

Jordan stepped closer to me. “I think she did call Austin, but probably to find out more about this tone spell thing.”

“So, you don’t know anything about it?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I know there are a lot of different types of magic, but I’ve never heard of that one.”

“Do you believe anything Emma said about it?”

“I believe that she believes it’s true,” Jordan said. “But I also know that rumor has a way of either exaggerating the truth or being completely wrong.”

“Rumor was pretty spot on about how a Padrone can order about a Stirpe,” I said. “And Emma’s fear was real. She probably believes either she’ll be killed alongside me if the Council gets involved or lose her powers all-together if I’m killed.”

Jordan pressed her body to mine, drawing my eyes out of the long ranged stare I had to her. “The key word is ‘if’,” she said. “IF the Council gets involved, and IF the rumors are right.”

I wrapped my arms around her in a hug and kissed her. “Thank you. I’ve had so much on my mind lately, I don’t need something like this added to it.”

“Don’t forget what else Emma said though,” Jordan said with a slight wiggle of her body along mine. “Should you sing along with that voice you hear, the spell you’re casting will be stronger.”

“IF that rumor is true,” I said with a grin. “The one thing rumor didn’t say was what brings on the voice. Why did I hear it this time but not every other time I’ve cast a spell?”

Jordan thought about it and shrugged. For a moment we both stood there thinking about it while holding one another.

Vanessa and Sammi poked their heads out of the bathroom. “Is it safe?” Vanessa asked.

I tried to smile but was too worried about this new revelation to make it as bright as it needed to be.

Jordan nudged me. “Stay busy. Keep your mind off it for now.”

I took a deep breath and let it out as I nodded. “You’re right.” I went to the counter and looked at the baggies.

All of the baggies were marked according to which building they came from. Jordan helped me arrange them in a layout similar to the complex, according to the map I had printed out.

Cassandra and Katrina returned from their supply run and it looked like they got a lot more than I asked for. Katrina pulled out bags of different sized Styrofoam balls and said, “Cut ‘em in half, paint ‘em green, and you’ve got tree tops.”

I looked around at the art supplies. “You didn’t buy any spray paint.”

She shook her head. “No, the acetone would melt the Styrofoam, big time. It would be a mess, and unusable. I’ll paint them by hand with the jar of water based paint I bought.”

Cassandra had five foam boards. “Fit four of them together as the base for the map and use the fifth to make the buildings. Or, well, at least their roofs.”

They also purchased more markers than I thought would be needed, not to mention several jars of paint and paint brushes, a roll of plastic, glue, string, a pad of construction paper, scissors, glitter, a triangle set, and several rulers.

I suddenly felt like I was back in kindergarten and we were going to make cut-outs of different things to decorate. Doubt about this project crept into my mind. How well could a kindergarten project like this work? The model at the school looked like it had been built by professionals.

“Seth?” Katrina asked, looking at my face. “Is something wrong?”

I blinked and looked around. Everyone looked my way. I couldn’t doubt myself now. They needed me to do this right. I looked at Katrina and said, “Not anymore, thank you.”

She smiled and held out the set of triangles and rulers to me. “We need you to mark the streets and buildings”

I took the equipment, gave her a quick kiss, and then set to work. The most difficult part about drawing out the basic plan was trying to get it roughly centered. Once I had that figured out, I marked off a couple buildings and worked my way out from there. Keeping the lines light made it easy to erase them if I messed up.

When I felt comfortable with the placement of something, someone else either glued cut outs in place, or painted the street or grass. There were no fewer than three of us working on the map at any given time, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, and all intently focused on what we were doing.