Claws (Rewritten)

Thirty Two

Adelyn

It was official - my summer was going to be spent in the libraries of Orléans, reading every single spellbook they had on offer.

I'll admit, I got a little carried away once Chloe and Caleb left, and before I knew it, the one-spell-a-day rule was out the window. Whoops.

There was just too much to try-- too many spells I had to test. I mean, one of them could pull water out of anything. Literally anything! The stain on the carpet had absolutely nothing to do with that one, or the empty glass beside me that had once been full. I just needed a little more practice, is all.

There was a whole section of the book based around manipulating nature in ways I'd only ever dreamed about as a kid. I could make a flower bloom from a seed within moments, I could alter the colour of a butterfly's wings (still had to find one, first, and it was way too cold outside to even attempt that spell, just yet) - the list was endless. And, according to the book, if I continued to practice healing spells and made it my speciality, I would eventually be able to bring people back from the brink of death--maybe even further. Though that was getting more into necromancer territory. How cool is that?! Dr. Frankenstein eat your heart out.

The only problem with this spellbook, minus the drawback of wanting to do nothing but read it and reread it for eternity and forget about my other responsibilities, was that there were so many different branches of magic I could follow. It opened up a whole world of possibility for me, and I felt I could quite literally do anything.

In my coven, I'd been brought up to believe that a witch should focus all of her energy into one aspect of magic and make it her speciality. After all, a witch who could control a raging fire with just a thought was a lot more useful than one who could barely light a candle. But how could I choose just one? Don't get me wrong, healing spells were amazing and unbelievably useful given my accident-prone friends, but then again, so was colour-coordinating my houseplants to match my mood for the day.

Speaking of the coven, I couldn't believe the nerve of my matron, Victoria. I mean, seriously. I'd been gone for almost two years and all she wanted was for me to bring her the strange pendant we'd faced last year. I regretted telling her about it, in all honesty, but at the time I just wanted to do my part and help the others figure out what the hell it was.

And her lack of faith in my friends was getting frustrating. She'd tried to stop Caleb from visiting me many times over the course of my life - stealing letters he'd send and telling me that none had arrived - but thankfully Caleb had more faith in me than that, and at my silence he came to investigate. Once I figured out Victoria's involvement, I introduced the vampire to the world of smartphones and taught him all about the art of texting.

That was one of the main reasons why I'd moved out of the house that most of the coven shared. I'd never had a friend before, given that the other witches I lived with were more like annoying sisters and strict teachers, and I'll be damned if my overprotective matron took that away from me. Usually it was only the older witches who moved out for some privacy, but I can be very, very annoying when I want something  and Victoria thought it best to let me move across the street rather than face my wrath.

It was also a pretty significant reason why I'd agreed so hastily to accompany Caleb to this city. Otherwise, I'd only feel trapped there. I'd never get to experience the world. I saw my chance and I took it.

To be completely honest, I was scared to go back to the coven for holidays and reading weeks and over the summer, just in case they didn't let me come back to the city. Just in case they decided to cut my freedom short and stop me from seeing my friends. So I stayed here.