Dark Waters (Elemental Book 1) by Rain Oxford Read Free Book Online Page B

wall-to-wall,
floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and a single table in the center. Logan Hunt stood
at the table, facing away from me, and was talking into a large iron bowl. He
wasn’t speaking English, but exactly what it was or what he said, I had no
idea. After a moment, the headmaster stopped his foreign speech and set the
bowl down.
    “Come on in, Devon,” he said, not looking at me. He
waved his hand slowly over the bowl and the contents were engulfed in a strange
blue fire.
    Even without consulting my Deciphering Creepy
Wizard Magic for Dummies handbook, I knew blue fire wasn’t a good thing. Maybe
he is just burning ethanol.
    With a gesture of one arm, he indicated the books
surrounding us. “What do you think of my little collection?”
    I took a moment to study the books as he left the room.
Next to massive volumes of physics and mathematics were occult classics and
ancient, leather bound grimoires. He was gone only a couple of minutes before
returning with a decanter and two glasses on a tray. The stuff he poured into
my glass was quite close to scotch, but wasn’t; though it was strong and good.
    “You have alcohol on school premises, Headmaster
Hunt?”
    “This is a university, not a preschool. Any books you
recognize?”
    “Only a few names. It’s a bibliophile’s dream,” I
said. “Quite a range of topics, too; works on mathematics and physics next to a
book on how to hex your enemies with a dead chicken. With a little bit of
everything else in between.”
    “Ah. Then you put your faith in the arms of science,
not in the arts of magic?”
    “Of course. I mean, I’ve picked up enough about
religion and magic to be able to appreciate the philosophical and psychological
meaning behind it, but physical reality relates to what is physically real.
That’s where science comes in.”
    The headmaster smiled. “The difference between the
objective and the subjective? Which is reality?”
    He sat his half empty glass aside. Not on anything.
Just aside. In the air. About four inches above the surface of the table. Four
inches. Above.
    “Eef!” I said, setting my glass down carefully on the
table.
    “Simple,” he said. “Reality is objective, but the way
we perceive it is subjective.”
    I made a sort of choking sound. After an entire day
of seeing everyone around me do magic, I shouldn’t have been surprised, but
this felt more real. I thought I understood and accepted the paranormal world.
This was different. This wasn’t a game.
    “No, not a trick. A certain flexibility in reality,
if you will. A compromise between the objective and the subjective. Now, to
business. The records of our students and faculty are entirely confidential.
From the time we hear of their names to the time they leave our school, their
association with the school is absolutely private. Not even the wizard council
knows who our students are.”
    “How big is the wizard council?” I asked.
    He understood what I meant. “Unfortunately, they have
the final say in every matter in this country when it comes to us. If a wizard
comes into his power unknowingly and threatens our secrecy, the council hears
about it and kills him. My schools are my attempt to get to them first. The
child of a wizard is likely going to be one, so if I can keep tabs on my
students after their graduation, I can watch for those children who end up in
dire situations.”
    “And you let other paranormals in to promote harmony
between the different races? I get that. Why am I here?”
    He picked up a yellow folder from the table and I did
a double take. The bowl was gone and the folder was in its place. “These are
police reports and school records of five people,” he said, handing it to me.
“Four of them were wizards and one was fae.”
    I opened the folder to find the death reports, along
with pictures, of two women and three men. All of them had twin punctures in
their throats. All of them were drained of blood. All of them were found in
their own