Chapter Ten

                                    

                                          
            
                          
Now that I know what to expect, I'm more or less excited when we get to the zoo and slip through the shimmering gate. But when Miah grabs my hand and doesn't let go, my heart starts doing a frantic tap dance, and any confidence I thought I'd found that afternoon dissolves into a puddle of mushy goo as we walk through the dark zoo to the spot where the other casters and scribes have gathered.
                          
 "I found a couple of really great spells today," he says as he pulls me along. "But I'm sure they're nothing as good as the ones you can write."
                          
 "What are they?" I'm curious, especially now that I know that casters don't always use spells from a scribe they personally know. 
                          
 He grins mischievously. "Wait and see. I want to blow your mind tonight."
                          
 My heart speeds up and I squeeze his hand without conscious thought. "I'm sure you will."
                          
 He looks down at me for a minute, and his hand tightens on mine. Then someone calls out a greeting and the spell is broken. Miah lets go of my hand to wave to his friends, but I try not to mind. Even if he doesn't want to hold my hand all night, he still brought me here, and that fact alone is enough to bolster me up and make me want to fly.
                          
 Everyone greets me warmly, and Jess links one arm through mine. "I'm glad you came back," she says with a smile. "The testosterone was getting to be too much for me."
                          
 Manuel laughs. "Aw, you know you love us."
                          
 She rolls her eyes. "I'd love you a lot more if one of you guys wins tonight."
                          
 Miah winks at me. "I'm planning to. Can't have Shelby thinking we're a bunch of losers."
                          
 Sampson looks at me curiously. "Did you scribe for him, then?"
                          
 I shake my head, trying not to notice the way the guys are looking from Miah to me and back again. "It takes me a little while to come up with good spells," I say, sticking to the same thing I told Miah at the coffee shop. It's not really a lie, I remind myself; they just don't know how long it's taken me to scribe anything worthwhile. That's all changing now, I think, my pulse speeding up as I remember Kelsey and her normie.
                          
 Miah nods. "But I'll be able to use some of her spells next week, maybe. In the meantime, I'm ready."
                          
 Manuel raises an eyebrow. "You aren't going to try to get me to share with you, are you?"
                          
 Miah punches his arm. "Nope. I'm a big boy; I can take care of myself."
                          
 Jess rolls her eyes. "Which means you found more random spells online."
                          
 "Hey, don't knock it," Miah says, sounding a little defensive. "I'm still going to clean the floor with the competition."
                          
 The guys start teasing each other good-naturedly, discussing which of the casters in our group would win if he went up against the others, and I glance at Jess. "Is there something wrong with Miah getting his spells that way?"
                          
 She shrugs. "Not really, but sometimes the spells are duds. It's hard to know who to trust when you don't actually know the scribe, you know?"
                          
 I nod slowly. I hadn't thought about that, but I'm hoping the normies won't care, since they don't know the difference between scribes and casters. A thought occurs to me, and I blanch. What if normies aren't the only ones who see my flyer? My eyes flicker to Miah. Selling spells that may or may not work to the normies is one thing, but I'm not sure if I can get away with selling spells to casters like him. Jess sees my worried look and misinterprets it.
                          
 "Don't worry," she says kindly. "Even the few times he's bought crap spells, he always manages to land on his feet. Nothing can touch that boy."
                          
 I nod, a new fear creeping in. Would it have been better for me to give Miah some of my new spells? But then if they didn't work, he'd blame me; this way, if his spells don't work, he'll just blame the Internet. But what if he gets hurt?