With slightly trembling hands, Vivi flipped her cards over to reveal the Fool and the Empress.
“Holy shit,” Bailey whispered next to her. Vivi glanced over to see the same two figures in front of her. The pledges exchanged excited, nervous looks as they realized what had happened. They’d all drawn the exact same cards.
“The Fool represents an innocent, naïve being at the start of a journey. That’s you all,” Scarlett said, clearly unsurprised by what had just transpired. “The Empress is the goddess incarnate. These are the two major arcana forces you’ll need to channel to cast your first spells, though I’m going to give each of you a different challenge, depending on your respective suits.”
“Will we always need the cards with us to perform a spell?” Bailey asked, still transfixed by her new deck.
“No,” Scarlett said. “The most powerful Ravens can summon the magic of any suit. And, with practice, all of you will be able to perform your own suit’s spells without the cards. At least, those of you who become full-fledged Ravens.” She caught Vivi’s eye. “Because some of you probably won’t make it that far.” She turned to Sonali. “Okay, Sonali, you’re up first. Please turn over a third card.”
Sonali did as she was told, revealing the Queen of Swords, the same card she’d drawn last night. “Ready to conjure the magic of a Swords witch?” Scarlett asked. “Repeat after me: ‘I call to the Queen of Swords, wise and fair. Lend me your power to summon the air.’”
Her voice quavering slightly, Sonali repeated the words. Nothing happened.
“It’s okay,” Scarlett said, sounding unusually kind. “Right now, they’re just words. In order to turn them into a spell, you have to speak with more than your lips and breath. You need to feel the words come out of your heart.” It was something Vivi could picture Daphne saying while trying to con one of her clients, but here in Kappa House, it was enough to make Vivi’s skin tingle.
Sonali took a deep breath, and when she spoke again, her voice was steady and sonorous. “I call to the Queen of Swords, wise and fair. Lend me your power to summon the air.” The temperature in the greenhouse seemed to drop, and the air became heavy, like it did right before a thunderstorm. Vivi could’ve sworn she felt a breeze on the back of her neck, but that was impossible; all the greenhouse windows were shut tight.
Yet to Vivi’s amazement, the plants around her began to sway as a soft but unmistakable wind blew through the greenhouse, building slowly until Sonali’s hair flew out behind her.
No one spoke. No one even breathed until Scarlett smiled and said, “Well done, Sonali,” as if she’d just returned a tricky tennis serve instead of bending the rules of nature. “Bailey? Please turn over your third card.”
It was the Queen of Wands, the Fire sign Bailey had drawn during the first test. “For centuries, new Wands witches have started their magical training with a simple fire-summoning spell,” Scarlett explained. “Now focus your energy on one of the candles and repeat after me: ‘I call to the Queen of Wands. Show me your might by giving us light.’”
Bailey took a deep breath and said, “I call to the Queen of Wands. Show me your might by giving us light.” The final word had barely left her mouth when smoke began to curl up from the wick in front of her, and a moment later, the candle sparked to life. Bailey stared at it in disbelief, then her face broke into a huge smile. “I still believe that worked. How the hell am I supposed to go back to physics class after this?”
As Scarlett made her way around the circle of pledges, Vivi’s heart began to beat so quickly, it was hard to catch her breath. She was desperate to try her first spell and utterly terrified that it wouldn’t work, that’d she be revealed as a fraud, forcing the Ravens to wipe her memory. She couldn’t go back to her normal life after getting a taste of something so extraordinary.
When it was finally Vivi’s turn, she flipped over her third card to reveal the Queen of Pentacles. Even though she’d expected it by this point, the power of the cards still made her shiver.
Scarlett reached into her basket and produced a small pot filled with dirt. “You’re a Pentacles, so your magic is rooted in nature,” Scarlett said, handing Vivi the pot. “I planted a seed in here. I want you to make it grow by repeating after me: ‘I call to the Queen of Earth. Show us your power over death and rebirth.’”
“Okay,” Vivi said, trying to steady her nerves. “I call to the Queen of Earth. Show us your power over death and rebirth.”
Nothing happened.
“Try again,” Scarlett said. “And take your time. You’re casting a spell, not ordering at McDonald’s.”
Vivi took as deep a breath as her nerves would allow and repeated the words more slowly. The dirt remained resolutely still.
Scarlett crossed her arms and looked exasperated. “Do you know what it feels like to tap into your magic?”
Vivi thought back to the moment the sparkler crackled to life, to the energy that flowed through her veins. Another memory sprang to mind on its heels, unbidden. Mason touching her arm. That same spark. Throat tight, worried Scarlett might be able to peer inside her head and see her traitorous thoughts, Vivi forced herself to nod.
“Summon that feeling again.”
Vivi shut her eyes, trying not to care if she looked ridiculous. She reached for the memory of the sparkler once more. She thought about the way her fingertips had tingled. The same way they had when she’d touched the tarot card last night.
It felt like a static shock or that time she’d accidentally touched the low-level electrified fence around the pond by their house in Oregon. It made her scalp tickle. The itch crawled down the back of her neck, ran along her arms and down her spine, like millions of goose bumps all at once.
“Now focus it,” Scarlett said. It sounded as though her voice came from somewhere far, far away. “Think about what you want to see happen. Believe that it will happen.”
Vivi felt something vibrate in her chest, and when she began to speak, her voice sounded rich and powerful. “I call to the Queen of Earth. Show us your power over death and rebirth.” The pot trembled slightly and Vivi gripped it tighter. She could almost sense a faint pulse, like a heartbeat, and an image flashed through her mind—a quivering seed with delicate roots unfurling.
Vivi opened her eyes. Her hands felt shaky, her energy drained, as if she’d just run a long, hard sprint. But in front of her was a tiny sapling, no taller than her pinkie finger, with a single green leaf on top. A plant she’d grown through magic.
* * *
Vivi was on such a high after their lesson that it took her hours to stop beaming. Even Scarlett’s chilly attitude toward her couldn’t dampen her spirits. It was one thing to be told you were a witch. It was quite another to perform real magic. Her already goofy grin widened as she tried to imagine what else she could do with her powers. Could she create gourmet dishes without ever learning how to cook? Transform her dorm room into the height of luxury? Turn her roommate invisible?
But now, as she sat with the other girls in the science library at three a.m., she felt her buzz beginning to fade. For the second part of their training session, Scarlett had sent them off to study spell books that had been enchanted to look like dull, dog-eared organic chemistry textbooks to non-witches. “You have twenty-four hours to memorize every spell in this grimoire,” Scarlett had said. “Tomorrow night, same time, meet me back here for your next test.”