The Lost Witch

Chapter one

"I don't use magic."

The principal stared across his large desk, his eyes dark and unblinking. With a neutral expression, his attention turned towards the thick file that rested across his desk. After a few seconds that seemed to stretch on longer than it should, his attention was back on Paige.

It was an odd statement coming from a teenage witch, especially one who had just days ago transferred from a boarding school for supernatural delinquents who misused magic. After four years at Solace Academy, a reform school for supernaturals, she was allowed to return to her hometown and attend the local high school for her senior year.

Mr. Mendes cleared his throat. "According to this file, you're a witch."

Paige Davis shrugged her shoulders, her raven-dark hair flowing over her shoulders as she leaned heavily against the cheap wooden chair she rested on. "Like I said, I don't use magic." Paige preferred not to use magic, but she didn't always get a choice in the matter.

She didn't think now was the right time to talk about the magic she felt right now as she stared at the judgmental principal. Magic hugged his frame, it almost appeared electrified. She was familiar with this type of magic. Her new principal was a thunderbird.

Her dad, Shane, turned towards the principal, his easy-going smile trying to smooth over any tension his daughter caused. "Mr. Mendes, Paige has a . . . complex relationship with magic."

Mr. Mendes nodded and for the first time since Paige met him, he looked rather sympathetic. "I can see that," he said. "I can't imagine it would be easy."

Paige snorted and squandered the sensation of magic down deep. If she was going to survive being here, then she needed to get a grip on her own magic. Easier said than done. She was never good with control. "No shit. Not easy becoming a witch." Magic was hereditary, so Paige always had it inside herself, but she just didn't know it. She was a late bloomer and after her magic manifested four years ago, she learned the truth. She was a witch, a fact that she and her adopted family didn't know until that moment.

"I'm sure. I do know your unusual circumstances put you well behind fellow witches your own age." He looked down at her file again. "The world was not on your side, Paige. Despite being hopelessly behind your peers, you caught up remarkably fast. Your teachers were impressed with how well you not only adapted to your new status, but also your apparent natural ability to wield magic."

Paige felt herself sink into the chair and didn't acknowledge his statement. Magic shouldn't come so easily to someone who lived with it for only four years. She found it hard to block it out some days, although it's better now than it was last year. Everywhere she looked, there was some kind of magic. Some kind of supernatural creature.

Sensing magic was an unusual ability. She wouldn't wish it on anyone.

"Purefin High is a public institution, catering to both humans and supernaturals. As such, we have a zero tolerance for misuse of magic."

She rolled her eyes and glanced out a nearby window, her bright blue eyes scrutinising the view below. His window oversaw the quad; stone floors, beautiful carved pillars and stone benches, rose vines crawling up the side of the building.

The first bell must be due to ring soon. The quad was rapidly filling with students. There was a shapeshifter high in the sky who decided to fly around in the form of a hawk. Wolves prowled through the courtyard and witches levitated in and out open windows.

Paige turned back to Mr. Mendes. "I'll try not to break your school."

"Paige." Shane held a strong warning tone in his voice.