Magic Lessons by Justine Larbalestier Read Free Book Online Page B

. .” Jay-Tee trailed off. “Where do these metaphors come from? I mean, why do I see magic the way I do and Tom the way he does? My father never taught me to look for a web. Are we born that way?”
“I don’t know.”
There was a lot she didn’t know. Esmeralda caught the expression on my face. “Why does gravity work the way it does, Reason?”
She had me. “I don’t know. Nobody does.”
“How did life begin?”
I opened my mouth and then shut it again.
“There’s a lot I don’t know about magic or how it works. Most of what I’ll tell you are theories. I happen to think they’re good theories, but I can’t be certain.
“These objects in your hands,” Esmeralda continued, “have all been used to shift magical energy for at least a century. Some of them date back to when the Cansinos first came here, some, like that phallus, considerably longer.”
Jay-Tee caught my eye with a grin, but neither of us laughed.
“The energy rubs off, is absorbed by these stones, pieces of wood and bone. Because they are already imbued with magic, using them lessens the amount of energy you displace from yourself.”
“So that you can live longer,” Jay-Tee said.
Esmeralda nodded.
“So why not use the whole box?” I asked.
“Because it doesn’t work,” Tom answered. “It’s like thinking that if one pill helps your headache, why not take twenty. The medicine bites back. Two is usually the limit, and even then they don’t always work better than one.”
“Have you ever tried to work with more than one object?” Esmeralda asked Jay-Tee.
She shook her head.
“Have you ever made light?”
Jay-Tee nodded.
“Use the tooth and your bracelet to make light. Use only the smallest amount of magic. A smaller amount than you’ve ever used before.”
“Now?”
Esmeralda nodded. Tom sat watching. The expression on his face said he’d done this before.
Suddenly Jay-Tee’s face was brighter: I hadn’t actually seen her do anything, but it was as if a spotlight were pointed at her.
“Enough,” Esmeralda said, and the light went away. “How was that?”
“Easier,” Jay-Tee said. “Much.” She looked at the large tooth in her hand. “Can I keep this?”
“Of course. It’s yours now.”
“Thank you.”
“Your turn, Reason.”
I looked down at the brooch in my hand. “What do I do?”
“Concentrate on the shape of light,” Tom said. “Draw it towards you.”
Jay-Tee snickered, like she thought Tom was being a wanker. “Just think about light.”
I did. The brooch in my hand grew warmer. My body did, too, as if something were burning inside me. The whole room flooded with light.
“Stop!” Esmeralda yelled.
I stopped. The three of them were staring at me.
“Bloody hell,” Tom said.
“Damn,” Jay-Tee said at the same time. They both rubbed their eyes.
“That was way too much,” Jay-Tee said. “Do you not want to live to the end of the week?”
“Really? I don’t feel drained or anything.”
“Have you ever known you were using magic before, Reason?” Esmeralda asked.
I shook my head.
“What about trying to kill him? ” Jay-Tee asked.
“I didn’t try to kill Jason Blake—I lost my temper. The magic just swelled up. It was in control of me, not the other way around.” I hadn’t been thinking of magic at all. It had been the same with Josh Davidson.
When we’d rescued Esmeralda from her strange fight with Jason Blake, that had been magic, too. But until last week— the strangest week of my life—all my magic had been accidental. I itched to know more—much, much more. I had to get into Esmeralda’s library and read every single thing in it— even the parking tickets.
“You only want a little bit of light,” Tom said. “Not the full power of the sun.”
“But it didn’t feel like anything—”
“It didn’t? What about when you worked magic against your grandfather?”
Kind of Esmeralda not to say, When you tried to kill your grandfather . I breathed deeply. “It felt good. But