pte

lent and when she opened the door, she automatically looked into the lint

hile the purchase had more or less been designed to keep the over eager sales clerk away from her while she browsed for items

op of the chimney where the coals would normally go. After ten years of using the chimney to dispose of unwanted spells, there was no telling what sort

. In addition to finding the 'burn to ash' method of disposal handy, Ivy found she always felt b

side the metal can were twists of newspaper. Ivy picked up one of the twists and set the chimney into the fireplace.

upped a hand around the burning paper and dipped down to the bottom of the chimney. She slipped the twist into the chimney a

Ivy inhaled the scent and thought she caught a whiff of ginger as the last of the lint was consumed

ria or burned gold and smelled like peppermint. She had linked the first to an air mage named Madison who was known to work for the Shadow Council. The second she couldn't name, but as those trackers always followed

that grew in vines far from the ground and water mages tended to smell like plants associated with the water like lilies or water cress. It was earth mag

d dusted off the knees of her jeans before replacing the grate in front of the fireplace. With the last of the watching spell destr

lid the middle drawer out and carefully removed the folded clothes setting them to the side. When the drawer was empty, she reached into the very back and pressed wh

close the drawer and claim she was putting laundry away. When creating the false bottom, Ivy had considered hiding the false bottom of the drawer with magic, but had decided against it trusting in good

ped like a lizard, and put everything else back into the small jewelry box. While she was gathering, she added Albert's flash drive as well, ta

settled herself on the center of the bed, opened the laptop and powered it up. As it went through its open

r not so sanctioned activities were limited to talking to her family through carefully hidden Skype sessions when she

ical drawings. Most contained prototypes of items she designed combining magic and technology. "And there are no actual l

The computer booted up and demanded she enter her password. Ivy entered it. The computer ac

sonal or professional was saved on it and if anyone were to check, the computer was re

very boring and related to nothing that contained any words the Council would use to link them, should they ever l

led around 11:30 the following night. She figured that would give her enough time to get home, change into something comfortable and start to process whatever had happened before talking to her fa

heir kind tended to avoid technology whenever possible, there was always the chance someone might get a bright idea and go looking. She didn't think it would take a genius to type in a fe

naged to trace the link back to the building, there was always the possibility they wouldn't be able to determine which apartment the compute

. The backups had been based upon the names of long dead artists instead of fictional characters, albeit with some gender swapping. If her Dorian Gray account wa

before. She felt that if asked if she had contacted the others she could say, not recently, and have it stand

desktop. "Or files, " she amended. Several files were lined up in the flash drive window. Instead of names they had been given the numbers one through four. "I suppose I'l

with the hopes of pairing them with appropriate trainers. The thinking, as outlined in the document, was that if they could be paired up appropriately they could learn basic control as well a

ate schools whose student body was entirely composed of children born into the hidden clans. As those schools were only located in large urban areas that not only had a larger population of such fam

he entire breakdown of the testing, pairing and training system, she went back and looked o

ontrol." Ivy frowned. "Sounds just like cliff's notes." She shook her head and pushed on. After all as she had no children and wasn't planning to have any, there was no re

Shadow Council stating the child's power level and certifying that control has been learned." Ivy continued down the p

ection closely. "Once certification of control has been given, the files are sealed and listed power levels become

ous clans as one unit. In the kitchen she heard the timer ding. Figuring the computer was safe for the moment, she left it where it w

ad on the rack to cool and picked up the raisin bread. It had cooled and she quickly sliced two pieces and popped

be abused. It would be very easy for those with higher power levels to feel that they were more entitled to leadersh

ather than just what you have that is important in the end anyway." She had met several mages over the years who counted on simply being the mightiest in the room to get them through, using the sledgehammer

it down on the bed next to her as she settled herself back in front of the computer. She took a bite of toast and lo

usement. She closed the document down, closed the file marked 'one' and opened the file marked 'two'. This file contained five do

e years ago and that the reviews were done in June so everyone would be ready for fall and the new scho

contained their listed power levels, as she had expected. The third contained the names of their designated trainers. The fourth was the d

id, " Ivy thought takin

Death were blank, a few had been filled in. She shook her head r

were deceased had their information highlighted in red. "For extra gruesomeness no doubt, " she said. "Thanks Albert." She sighed

vels between one at the lowest and twelve at the highest. All of those highlighted in red had levels listed at ten or higher. She shifted he

It too was a spreadsheet containing the same basic information. Again there were lines coded red. Ivy scanned the

e pattern held. "Oh god, " she thought wondering if her few bites of toast were about to come back up. Someone was killing children. That had to be t

nd wiping her hands on her jeans again. "Don't

files inside the number three file. The first five were labeled with the years 2009 through 2013. The sixth file was labeled Chambers. Ivy s

ath certificate. Aaron Anderson had died shortly before his sixth birthday in a car crash. Knowing she had to look, Ivy slid Aaron's certificate to th

2009 folder. The more she saw, the more the pit of dread grew in her belly. She moved through the rest of the years in quick succession, after all there was only one thing on each fo

yone else." She

g on to file number four. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She tilted her face towards the ceiling and let

pounding as she clicked on the file labeled Chambers. The documents this file contained were also

r deep breath and let it out slowly. While she, Rose, Max, Danny, and Alex had been raised as siblings, they were in fact cousi

ame was Violet and that she had adored playing the piano, she knew absolutely nothing about her father, not even his name. It didn't even appear on her birth certificate.

d that her mother had died in a car accident. Ivy closed the file and one by one pulled up the documents with

and aunts. In addition to the ball of dread rolling around in her belly, Ivy was beginning to feel small licks of anger, like flames on a newly kindled campfire. While small, she knew they ha

s in the large vegetable garden out back. She remembered Uncle Johnathan picking her up and swinging her up and through the air in a big circle, his big booming laugh sounding like thunder and vibrating through her b

er building about ten miles away, but the cemetery remained. They had returned to Longleaf ye

ming back. She was annoyed that she had to wear her stiffly starched dress with the itchy lace, white tights that bunched between her toes and

in the ground during the winter and the weather had started turning cold a few weeks prior. He explained about the timing of planting seeds as well. S

No other tree seemed quite sturdy enough to contain them. Remembering the large oak that had fallen the winter before and been chopped up

f the window watching people parking in front of the house, bringing in covered dishes. Breakfast had been a hurried affair that morning and all five of them wer

l off the plan without getting caught. She remembered slipping off her squeaky, too tight sh

e knew where all of the squeaky boards were and quickly made her way to the landing. She crouched in the doorway just out of sight and had a good vi

that each individual hair was standing up like a porcupine, while her grandmother's had been lacquered into a shell by hair spray. Something

s and that those without magic should never find out about those who had magic. The books filled with images from the witch trials had been used as evidence and had given her nightmares for weeks. Mrs. P

thinking more clearly." The cake was placed on the counter and the two women returned to the front room. Her grandmother murmured something that sounded vaguely appropri

ractive, although she couldn't quite process why. Instead, she had picked up a chocolate cake and some forks before returning to the upstairs playroom. No one questioned the switch and they had eaten themselves

oger's document and then Uncle Johnathan's. As she remembered, they ha

. "Having her die in a car accident would be very strange, " Ivy said, her voi

ide and gather odd bits of plants she saw growing beside the road as well as to deliver covered dishes to those Father Francis put on the prayer list. Once Ivy's great-uncles die

remembered that their grandmother would only ride in the car when they were all going to church, even when their uncles were alive to drive the car. As an earth mage, she felt better with her feet on or

When the family was split up, the car had been donated to the church and sold at an auction. It's nearly pristine condition had garnered quite a profit and enabl

r grandmother had died as a result of an automotive accident. Ivy realized the flames of anger had died back a little and all she felt was tired and a little numb.

document marked 'thoughts'. "Yeah, I have a few thoughts myself, " she muttered as she opened up the

. "Two, the deaths occurred no earlier than their assignment of a trainer and no later than three days after t

hrough everything just for confirmation. For now, she was willing to trust his determi

at least some of the

ght, " Ivy said as she

t some members of the Sha

neither statement was beyond the realm of possib

lvement need to be identified and set to work with highe

the thought and several names had been added. She didn't know any of them, but guessed them to be qualified trainers. She noticed that tw

rt found them untrustworthy, " Ivy reminded herself.

established under the watch of someo

th statement. There were only five names Albert had put on the list. "Ivy Chambe

eed to possess. Ivy shook her head as she scanned the list of requiremen

o not only not kill children, but to have a home where children aren't killed. I suppose I ought to be flattered, " Ivy thought. She rubbed

jected the flash drive. Once it was safely capped and set to the side, she went to her control panel and cleaned out the document's history. She

d, she wanted to at least pretend she hadn't looked at the contents. Not stashing it with the l

l glass bowl. In the glass bowl were several flash drives. Some she used on a regular basis, others had been giveaways she picked

e had taken several meetings in her living room. Which was why all her furniture had washable cushi

then congealed as the bread cooled making the bread just look greasy. She frowned and felt

ich instead, "