Jenna Black - Faeriewalker - Remedial Magic

St. Martins Press

THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. ALL OF THE CHARACTERS, ORGANIZATIONS, AND EVENTS PORTRAYED IN THIS STORY ARE EITHER PRODUCTS OF THE AUTHORS IMAGINATION OR ARE USED FICTITIOUSLY.

Remedial Magic

Copyright 2010 by Jenna Black - - - ISBN-13: 9781429990790/ ISBN: 1429990791

All rights reserved.

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St. Martins Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Hi, my name is Ethans Little Sister. Actually, no, it isnt. My name is Kimber, but no one really seems to care. Im the brains in the familythe only fifteen-year-old ever to be admitted to Avalon U.but is anyone impressed by my mad academic skilz? Uh, no. Im two years younger than Ethan, and Im in college while hes still in high school, but hes the magical wiz-kid, and Im the family embarrassment.

No, Im not at all bitter about it. Why do you ask?

I walked home from class on a Friday afternoon, a bundle of nerves and excitement, despite the voice of doomor, some might say, the voice of reasonin the back of my head telling me not to get my hopes up. Tonight, I was going to stop feeling like a miserable failure for my lack of magic skills, and I was going to do something about it. Never mind that according to conventional wisdom magic cant be taught. Dee Dee Bishop said she could teach me, and I was prepared to believe her.

I let myself in to my house, hoping and praying that everyone kept to their usual schedules. Dad was a total workaholic, and I swear if he didnt think it would make him an irresponsible parent, hed have just camped out at his office each night. My mom had been out of the picture since I was ten, when she decided she preferred living in Faerie to living in Avalon. And this being a Friday, Ethan was sure to be out on the town with his latest girl-du-jour.

The house was quiet as I closed the door behind myself, and I let out a breath of relief. The one sure way for my magic tutoring plan to fail was for Dee Dee to run into Ethan. Living with Ethan was like having a rock star and a pro athlete all rolled into one in the house. Girls might not shriek out loud and faint when they see him, but its pretty close. When I was in high school, my friends were too young for him to notice, but Dee Dee was eighteen and fair game. If she got caught in Ethans orbit, hed eventually break her heart and shed end up hating me for it.

When the doorbell rangright on timeI had to take a deep breath to calm down. Please, please let Dee Dee be able to help me, I prayed. Just once, I wanted to see my father be really and truly proud of me, to see me standing there, no longer hidden by Ethans shadow. And hell, if I could take Ethans ego down a notch or three while I was at it, that would be even better. My hands were sweating as I opened the door, but I told myself to smile, and my lips obeyed.

Like me, Dee Dee is Fae, though unlike me she was actually born in Faerie and didnt move to Avalonthe only place where Faerie and the mortal world intersectuntil she was twelve. Maybe thats why she was so good at magic, though objectively it shouldnt matter. Magic is an almost sentient force, and though its native to Faerie, technically Avalon is part of Faerie, even though its part of the mortal world, too. But seeing as magic is almost sentient, its possible it likes people who were born in Faerie proper better than it likes people who were born in Avalon. Then again, its positively in love with Ethan, and he was born in Avalon.

I led Dee Dee upstairs to my bedroom, chewing my lip the whole way. Im not usually this nervous, but it was one thing to admit to a powerful Fae that I wasnt very good at magic, and it was another to show her just how good I wasnt. Im not a big fan of humiliation, though I was prepared to endure it if that was what it took to fix me.

I got my first dose the moment Dee Dee stepped into my bedroom, because her eyes went immediately to the collection of teddy bears arranged on a shelving unit across from my bed. The three-year age difference between us was already enough to make a friendship feel just a little awkward, but the stupid bears were something youd find in the room of a twelve-year-old. My face heated, and I hoped I wasnt blushing as hard as I thought I was.

My mom gave me the one on the bottom left when I was ten, right before she left for Faerie, I explained, gesturing at the rather ordinary-looking brown bear with its button eyes and plaid bowtie. There was nothing particularly special about it, but it was the last tie I had to my mother, and that made it precious. Afraid to look at Dee Dee, I plucked the bear off the shelf and fidgeted with his bowtie. It has sentimental value, but my dad somehow decided that because I liked this one, I must love teddy bears. I grimaced at this further evidence of how little my dad actually saw me. Now he gets me a teddy bear for my birthday and Christmas every year. Worse, Ethan had picked up the habit, too, so my closet was full of the bears that wouldnt fit on the shelves.

I risked a glance at Dee Dee and was relieved she wasnt giving me a pitying or condescending look.

Why dont you just tell him the truth? she asked, quite reasonably.

I shrugged and put my mothers bear back on the shelf. I dont know. I guess Ive just let it go on too long already. But actually, I did know, and it was a whole lot more pathetic than that. I didnt want to tell Dad I didnt like the bears because I was too grateful for the scraps of affection he threw my way. So I displayed the bears proudly on my bedroom wall, even though they embarrassed me. How messed up is that?

Dee Dee let the subject drop, for which I was grateful, then moved to sit cross-legged on my bed, beckoning me to follow. I sat facing her, my nerves flaring again at the thought of demonstrating my incompetence.

Where would you say your main problem lies? she asked me. Is it with gathering the magic or with commanding it?

There are two steps to casting a successful spell. The first is to pull magic to you. The more magic you can pull, the more powerful a spell you can cast. Once youve pulled in the magic, you have to communicate to it what you want it to do. Traditionally, thats the hard part. Youre trying to communicate with a force that isnt quite sentient and doesnt speak any language known to mankind. In fact, the words you speak to cast a spell are irrelevant, kind of like the commands you use when youre training a dog. You can train a dog to sit when you say hippopotamus if you want to, and its the same with magic.

I suck at both of them, I admitted reluctantly. I can manage the basic spells any Fae child can do, but anything above that is out of my league.

Dee Dee frowned. Well, I suppose if you have trouble gathering a lot of magic, you havent had a chance to try more complex commands. Maybe if we give you enough magic to work with, youll have an easier time commanding it.

I guess, I conceded, though I wasnt completely convinced. It seemed I had more trouble than most commanding even the scant amount of magic I could pull, and it was hard to imagine adding more magic to the mix was going to help. Still, if Dee Dee thought it might work, I was willing to try.

Is there a particular spell youd like to work on? One you dont have enough oomph to carry off?

There were a lot of them, but one in particular leapt to mind. Telekinesis. It was one of those spells that Ethan was ridiculously good at. The jerk could lift a freaking car with just a couple of muttered words, and it was easy for him. I, on the other hand, couldnt even pick up a pencil reliably.

Dee Dee brightened. Oh, that ones kind of easy, she said.

I winced, because, of course, I knew it was easy. Or at least should be.