“A cold flame?”
He nodded. “Yes. It’s one of my specialties. I work with ice spells and things, mostly, so this will be easier to teach you, I think.”
“Okay.” This was crazy. And ridiculous. But I was going along with it anyway. What did it matter if my dream-mind-link guy taught me spells? I just liked hearing the sound of his voice.
“So we want to produce a small flame in the palm of your hand so we don’t accidentally damage your house once you wake. Hold your hands together, palms up. We’ll do both hands for now. Good. Now repeat after me. Diente elo, lu mada et tuu, raj turre pergia illa.”
My eyes widened. “Say what?”
He bit his lip. “Right, you… don’t speak Abuelas.”
“I don’t speak what? What is… Abuelas?”
He waved that away. “Okay, let’s slow it down and take it one word at a time.”
I nodded, and we spent the next however long going over each word again and again until the invisible man—Braylik—that always made him leave told Ezryn he had to go. When he disappeared, that ache was so strong in my chest, it brought tears to my eyes.
I took several deep breaths—as deep as my tight chest allowed—then got out of bed and splashed cold water on my face. Once I had my emotions under control, I went to the kitchen to make some coffee. This whole getting up too early, every single day, thing was taking its toll on me; I was exhausted.
As I waited impatiently for the coffee machine to finish, I thought about my mind-link last night. By far, that had been the strangest one. First, Ezryn showed up injured, and then he supposedly taught me a spell like he’d promised the night before. It was totally out there.
Feeling like an idiot, I held my hands cupped in front of me and said, “Diente elo, lu mada et tuu, raj turre… fuck, what were the last two words? Right, pergia illa.”
My coffee finished, so I turned to fix my cup before grabbing a cereal box, milk, and a bowl and spoon, then made my way to the kitchen table. As I ate, I grabbed and read the cereal box, then started muttering the made-up spell Ezryn had taught me, practicing the strange words rolling off my tongue.
The cereal box in my hand suddenly burst into a blue flame, and I yelled out, dropping it on the table and jumping back. I stared at it in shock for several beats before I ran to grab a towel and threw it over the flaming box. The towel caught fire, too.
“Shit! Shit, shit, shit!” I yelled, trying to figure out what to do before my whole house burned down. I thought back to my mind-link and remembered Ezryn saying something about the flame being connected to me, so all I had to do was will it away, and it’d disappear. The spell was an extension of my will, or something along those lines.
With that thought in mind, I closed my eyes and whispered, “Please, please, please go away, flame.” Squinting one eye open, I was surprised to see the blue flames slowly dying.
I stared at the burned box for several minutes before my eyes widened, and I muttered, “Holy shit. Ho-ly. Shit. It worked.”
A weird laugh bubbled out of me, and I stepped closer to the cereal box, lifting the dish towel. There were little ice crystals all over the towel and box, as if the fire had burned cold instead of hot. What the hell? He’d been telling the truth. Ho-ly. Shit.
I decided to try the spell again, but this time in my hands like Ezryn taught me. “Diente elo, lu mada et tuu, raj turre pergia illa.”
My hands were engulfed by blue flames, as if my hands were the thing on fire, only it didn’t burn. That was the other thing he’d told me—the spell was connected to me, so it wouldn’t cause me harm. It would hurt others, but not its source—also known as me.
I willed it away, then stared at my hands in disbelief.
Then a sudden thought came to mind. If this spell was real, that meant… that meant Ezryn was real, didn’t it? That meant everything he’d told me about going to Rueberry Orchard was real, too. Holy shit. Holy. Fucking. Shit.
With my heart pounding in my chest, I scrambled for my phone, immediately dialing Joz. I needed to show him, I needed to know I wasn’t going crazy and imagining blue fire when it wasn’t really there. I needed proof that I wasn’t insane, because if I wasn’t, that meant I had to find Ezryn. I had to.
“Hello?” Joz sounded like he was still sleeping. I glanced at my clock and winced when I realized he’d normally not be awake for another two hours.
“I need you to come over,” I said.
“Is everything alright?” He already sounded more awake, probably hearing the urgency in my voice.
“Yes, no, I don’t know, that’s why I need you to come here.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll be there as soon as I find my pants.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Ew, thanks for that visual.”
He snorted. “I have boxers on, ass. Okay, leaving in two minutes tops.”
“Thank, Joz.”
“Mhm.” He hung up, and I started pacing my kitchen, waiting for him.
Luckily, Joz didn’t live far, so he was at my house in less than ten minutes. I opened the front door and ushered him in before he had the chance to knock.
I pushed him into the kitchen—less flammable things in there—and he asked, “What’s going on? Is something burning, Rhiles? What the hell is that smell?”
Instead of answering, I put a hand on his shoulder to stop him, then I walked into the middle of the kitchen, faced him, cupped my hands, and said, “Diente elo, lu mada et tuu, raj turre pergia illa.”
My hands burst into blue flames, and Joz jumped back, screaming, “What the fuck?”
I willed the fire away, and as it disappeared, I said, “Ezryn taught me an ice-fire spell last night.”
With huge eyes, Joz moved closer, grabbed my hands and turned them over with his. “Wh-what is this, Rhile? H-how did you do that? Where’s the little fire machine thingy?” I assumed he meant the little things performers used on stages and stuff.
“I don’t have one, I’m doing… I think I’m doing magic.”
“That’s not possible.”
I scowled at him. “You’re the one that’s been encouraging this whole Ezryn thing, and now that I have… proof, you’re changing your tune?”
He was still staring at my hands. “Do it again.”
I repeated the spell, and my hands flamed for a few minutes before I willed it away.
“Your hands… they’re not burned. That… how does that make any sense?”
“The magic’s of my own making so it can’t hurt me… or something like that. I don’t remember exactly what Ezryn said.”
He finally glanced up and met my eyes. “Holy hell, Rhiles, that means Ezryn’s real!”
“I know.” A small smile came over my lips. “I know.”
Joz’s face slowly became excited. “We have to go to Rueberry Orchard now!”
“I know.”
“Tomorrow. Let’s leave first thing. I have to go into work today, but we can both call out tomorrow and take the whole rest of the weekend.”
I grinned at him. “Okay. Let’s do it.”
Joz pumped his fist in the air. “Yes!” He grinned widely. “Now show me again.”