There was a loud banging on the door. “Hey, Snoe, you in there?” Chase asked.
Parkins’s eyes widened. “Leave now,” he whispered.
He passed Snoe a transporting charm, but there was no way in hell Snoe could use it. He didn’t have nearly enough magic; it was one of the high-level charms. He glanced at the thick piece of paper. Even if he tried, he’d probably die trying to use that amount of magic.
Snoe opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to get the words out. “I can—”
The banging on the door got more persistent.
“Snoe, you little shit, get out here,” Dash shouted, his voice laced with anger.
Parkins pulled out his own transport charm glancing at Snoe with worry in his eyes.
“Why are you still here? Go,” he whispered.
Snoe was to allow no one to know of his lack of magic. It was why his father never took him to any of the meetings or let him use magic in front of others unless it had to do with plants.
“I can’t,” Snoe said.
Parkins looked confused before his face morphed into anger. His thick grey eyebrows dipped down, and his thin lips curved into a frown.
“You would rather die? The last of the Blake pure bloodline gone?”
That wasn’t it, but as Snoe opened his mouth to stress he didn’t have the capabilities, the words got stuck in his throat. His father’s teachings of not showing weakness kept him from uttering anything.
“I will not let my old friend’s child die,” Parkins said as he roughly grabbed Snoe’s arm and burned the charm in his hand.
Magic wrapped around them both, and Snoe’s small room disappeared as they transported to who knew where. Colors swished past them at a dizzying pace. Snoe had never transported before. The moment his feet touched ground, he fell down, unable to hold himself up. His brain felt as if it had been hit by a bat, and his stomach turned with unease. There was no way Snoe could keep the contents of his stomach down. Bile burned the back of his throat, and his back arched as he threw up until there was nothing left.
“Was that your first time?” Parkins asked.
Snoe couldn’t answer, too busy dry heaving, now that his breakfast was on the ground. His head hurt and spots danced in his vision as he tried to orient himself.
“Throwing up, no,” Snoe said. “A little warning would have been nice.”
Parkins ignored his sarcastic remark. “Young Master Blake, come on. They can track that spell if they want to.”
Snoe squinted as the afternoon sun burned his eyes. He shielded them as Parkins heaved him up from the ground. Snoe’s legs wobbled slightly, but he got them under control after a few seconds of deep breaths.
“I can’t believe Alister never made you teleport. What have you been doing for the past few years?” Parkins asked.
It was an innocent question, but it made Snoe queasy all over again. Parkins shook his head as he grabbed one suitcase and pushed the other into Snoe’s hands before he tugged Snoe along. Snoe couldn’t answer that. They made it a few feet away before Parkins bent down, placing another charm to the ground. He whispered words as the charm burned. Magic fizzled in the air before dissipating.
“What was that?” Snoe asked.
Parkins raised an eyebrow at Snoe’s question. Great, it was one of those things Snoe was supposed to already know.
“You’re kidding, right?” Parkins asked.
No. “Where are we?” Snoe decided a change in the subject was for the best.
Parkins shrugged. “Somewhere still in witches’ territory but close to the border of the shifters’ land. What’s important is that you’re a few hours from New Spark, which means no one should come looking for you out here.” He stared at Snoe for another second or two. “There is a human town a few miles east of here. It’s small, but as long as you don’t use magic, you won’t stand out. Remember, never use the Blake name, and don’t bring attention to yourself no matter what.”
Never? Shouldn’t be too hard since Snoe hated his last name anyways.
“Hand me your phone and any other electrical devices you have,” Parkins demanded.
Snoe pulled out his cell phone and tablet, passing them over to Parkins. He took off his smartwatch and handed that over too. It was everything he had. Parkins placed them on the ground and walked away to grab a rock. He came back, raising the rock high over his head and then bringing it down, smashing Snoe’s things to pieces.
“Wha—”
“Magic isn’t the only thing they can track you by,” Parkins said.
Right, duh.
After destroying any connection Snoe had to the outside world, Parkins pulled out another transporting charm. Before he could disappear, Snoe reached out and stopped the older man from abandoning him. “What do I do?”
Parkins looked more annoyed as time ticked by. “I don’t know, but they weren’t wrong in saying you weren’t ready for the position as leader.”
The words stung more than they should have. Snoe never wanted the position, but Parkins had been on his side—at least he used to be. And now the man saw who Snoe was, and that he was weak.
“Can you, um, I don’t know, transport me into town or closer?”
Parkins brushed Snoe’s hand away.
“No, there is a limit. Transporting charms take a lot of magic, and even the most powerful witches can only pull it off three times a day every so often.” Parkins’s head tilted to the side. “You should know this already.”
Snoe probably had been taught about it, but once he’d realized his magical ability wasn’t all that great, he’d stopped paying attention. Not to mention, he just didn’t have any interest in things he wasn’t capable of.
“Right,” Snoe said.
Parkins nodded, taking a step away from Snoe. “Remember what I said. If you want to live, then live like a human.”
Magic crackled and Parkins was gone, and Snoe was left standing in the middle of a forest he’d never been in before. Snoe shoved down the panic that threatened to take hold of him, grabbed his suitcases, luckily one was smaller the others and he put it on top of one of the bigger ones and dragged them around the forest, moving what he assumed to be east.
Hours passed, and Snoe still hadn’t made it to town. His feet hurt, his arms ached from pulling his stupid suitcases, and he was more than in need of a hot shower. One of the wheels on a suitcase broke, and the others were filled with mud. Snoe sat down on the ground, leaning up against a tree and trying to catch his breath. He closed his eyes and breathed in the fresh air. It differed from the air he’d grown up around. It wasn’t so stuffy.
The sun was going down all too fast, and the weather was easily going from moderately warm to cold in a matter of minutes. Snoe wrapped his arms around himself, rubbing his hands up and down, trying to create some friction for warmth.
“This is my life, not a dream,” Snoe said out loud.
He wanted to laugh at himself but couldn’t muster up the action. It simply wasn’t there. He’d just rest for a little while, was what Snoe kept telling himself, even as he felt himself drifting off. He would get up and find his way to the human town and figure out what the hell to do next.
Something wet and cold pressed up against Snoe’s cheek, pulling him from the sleep he hadn’t planned on falling into. Snoe opened his eyes, blinking away the fogginess as he stared into the black eyes of a doe. Its ears perked up as it pressed its nose to Snoe’s cheek once more.