Neophyte / Adept by T.D. McMichael Read Free Book Online Page B

prepared to forgive you. These were her words: “Halsey needs to
learn certain things for herself. I cannot help her. Neither should you.” But
since when did she ever say anything that didn’t mean a bunch of different
stuff.)

 
    They got us all together. Halsey, we’ve been talking.
We want you back. You need to get out of there. Things are really starting to
jump up.

 
    Our magical training isn’t over. It’s beginning. We start combat and
fight mechanics. Real sword and sorcery. Where have you been?

 
    ------------

 
    From
    To

 
    Becca, all that I can say is one, congratulations,
we knew there had to be some point to all of this, right? And that, secondly, I
have been undergoing the same kinds of shocks to the system myself.

 
    I am not coming back. I’m sorry if that hurts, or if I sound like I’m being a bitch or
something, but––that was then.

 
    I’m changing. I’m a different person now. But I’ll
tell you what. You keep practicing. And make sure you get good. We will see
each other again. I’m almost certain of it. When we’re both Virtuosos and we
can cross oceans in our minds.

 
    I will fly over the countryside with you one day.
But I think we need to go our separate ways. Tell those bitches I said hi and
that I miss them.

 
    I miss you too, Becca. But what I’m doing here is so, so important. I could no more let it
go, walk away from it, than you could stopping the continuation of your own
self-discovery and magical education.

 
    We were born with Powers. It’s time we learned to
start using them. Blessed be. I love you.

 
    Halsey

 
    ------------

 
    From
    To

 
    Sisters forever. Your bitch for all time. Go do your
thing. It’s a date, kiddo.

 
    Wherever. Whenever.

 
    You know where to find me. This is Becca signing
off.

 
    ------------

 
    I had tears in my eyes. I missed those bitches. But we each
had things to do. I think I got up and washed my face in the bathroom, and then
I stepped out, and looked out, over the street, and the shops below. My balcony
afforded spectacular views. I could see the sun, risen more fully. Fingers of
light crept into my room. Becca. She
was off, learning how to duel. Real magic. The things we had only heard of, but
never actually seen.
    I realized my time had come as well. I would not be learning
in a safe environment. I was three days from a reckoning. I was three days from
the end of my world, and the start of something More.
    * * *
    Ballard’s email was waiting for me, when I came back in. It
just said, “I’ll be here, waiting for you, when you get back.” I sent off a
quick reply. It was time to go see him. The only problem was, word had gotten
out about me. Not that I was a witch with unexplored supernatural powers. That
was still secret.
    The fact was, the Vespa I had rented had been destroyed last
summer, in an attack by zombies. Lennox’s mentor’s house had nearly gone up in
flames; it was still being restored. Which meant that my ability to lease a motorini had been compromised, I feared,
forever.
    There was no way around it. I had to go out and ask my
landlady to call me a taxi. I slipped her next month’s rent, and the month
after; I had no idea how long the Gathering would be taking place. She jabbed
me with mind darts. Why did I feel like I owed her a thousand apologies?
    It would be ten minutes. She put her hand through the tray
under the plexiglass, and grabbed me by the wrist. I felt a jolt go through me,
that had nothing to do with any kind of spiritual connection. “I know why you
are here,” she said, in her strange, eerie voice.
    I shrugged obtusely and tried to pull away, but she wouldn’t
let me go. She just held on, with her fingernails digging into my skin.
    “I need a room,” I said. “That’s it. I swear.”
    She released me and her eyes blazed with a fiery light;