Smoke and Mirrors Read Online Free PDF Page B

the air.
    “I know the theory behind how summoning works, and I can create and close a circle as well as anyone else in my class,” she said, and in a tone that conveyed the unspoken ‘ How stupid do you think I am? ’ loud and clear. “It’s the power. I’m an illusionist—all elemental spells give me trouble.”
    He tilted his head in question, forehead wrinkling. In answer, she held his gaze as she lifted her hand with the sage. It burst into flames.
    Cormac straightened, eyes widening. Everything, from the flickering fire, to the crackle of charring sticks, to the pungent, earthy scent added to the already considerable miasma of aromas in the store, gave the impression that it was quickly burning to nothing more than a tiny pile of ash.
    Then she blew on the ash, and a cloud of miniature, flaming butterflies launched from her palm. Their wings brushed against his cheeks as they flew by, stirring his hair, then winked out of existence. As each butterfly disappeared, the sage came back into view like a picture coming into focus, appearing to turn solid in her palm again once the last one was gone.
    He shut his mouth, realizing it had gone slack.
    “Fair enough,” he said, giving her a stiff nod.
    A spell so finely woven, one that seamlessly blended olfactory, visual, audio and tactile impressions on a target, took considerable skill. He hadn’t seen illusions that fooled his finely tuned senses so thoroughly in more years than he wanted to think about, and that it had come so easily to her made it clear that she had mastered the art. Such power was dangerous in the wrong hands.
    He eyed her intently over the rim of his cup, leaning closer to her. A surreptitious sniff told him that the fire and butterflies were not the only illusions she had cast. She smelled of coffee— his coffee—and nothing else. No soap, nor sweat, nor skin, or any of the thousand microscopic particles of the city she should have picked up on her way to his shop. Was that the only thing she was obfuscating? He couldn’t help but wonder whether she had done something to alter her appearance as well as her scent.
    Next time she came to his shop, he would be more prepared to deal with her prestidigitation.
    “If you can’t conjure, that’s one thing. You obviously have the talent to secure yourself a decent position in a coven, so what are you worried about?”
    “No one will hire me without a diploma from Blackhollow. And I can’t graduate without a familiar.”
    Cormac shook his head, frowning. That wasn’t how he recalled things being done back when he bothered himself with the affairs of magi. Granted, that had been decades earlier, so he supposed it was possible their requirements for entry into a coven had changed with the times, much like the rest of the world. Instead of interviews by senior members of the coven and making the potential cast a few things to show a measure of skill, now they required background checks, drug screening, and diplomas (oh my).
    “ That still doesn’t explain why you’re set on finding yourself a dragon. Why not something a little less dangerous? At the very least, one less likely to eat you.”
    Her voice wavered, but she lifted her chin and didn’t flinch from giving him the answer he was looking for. “Because I’m broke and I’m desperate. I’m a sorcerer, not a mage, which means I need a familiar who can protect me until I get accepted into a coven.”
    Cormac went still. Kimberly either didn’t notice or chose to ignore the sudden surge in ley line energy that swirled to life around them. She continued on as if he wasn’t activating protective glyphs, one after the other. It was all that held him back from directing them at her.
    “Before you ask, my teachers already know what I am. It’s the other students and their parents I’m worried about. If I had a choice, I’d take anything, even a brownie or a wood sprite, just to pass my final exams. The problem is that I need a strong