The witch rapped the glassy air between two of the girls. “Nice work,” she said. “A little watery-sounding. Your breath must have betrayed nerves. Still, not bad for your first try.”
There was, I admit, a small glow created by the words “Nice work,” coming from the witch. I suppressed it.
“What are you doing here?” I said to Sparkle as the witch poked the air.
“I—I don’t know,” said Sparkle. She was doing the now-familiar gesture of clutching her cameo.
“Oh, right,” I said sarcastically. “No clever plan at all. Nothing that involves being … a witch.”
Sparkle wet her lips. “No!” she said. “Nothing like that. I just—I just got this feeling, okay? Like there was something I was supposed to do over here by the T-Bird.”
The T-Bird.
Of course.
“The phoenix,” Sarmine said reverently. She left the pentagram and crossed to the statue, her heels squishing points in the dirt. Devon and the zombie girls watched as Sarmine raised her hands reverently to the bird’s head. She closed her eyes, running her fingers over the head of the transfigured elemental. Silence filled the air.
“It’s not it,” said Sarmine.
“What?” I saw shock on Devon’s face, too. The T-Bird made so much sense.
“I can’t be positive, but … it doesn’t have that elemental feeling. It feels like plain metal.” Sarmine looked at Devon, bound in the pentagram. “Well, there’s one way to find out. Time to get the demon out of there. He knows.”
“No!” I said sharply.
“No?”
I pointed to the bowl inside the pentagram. “He’s not tied into Devon right now. You want him loose?”
The witch’s face went rigid. “A loosening spell? Why would you do that? What kind of idiot—?” She composed her face. “We have to let him out regardless. He has to transfigure the phoenix and harness its power before it explodes. The power can only be contained safely if the phoenix is in its proper form.”
Devon shook his head wildly. There was fear on his face as the demon realized he had failed one of his tasks. “I don’t know where it is.”
“That’s your third task,” Sarmine said. “You must.”
“I was so sure it was the phoenix. I know it’s near. I can feel its presence here in the school. It’s lonely and cold and hard.”
“It’s got to be the T-Bird,” I said. “What else would it be?”
“I don’t know,” said Sarmine. “What else would it be, Hikari?”
Sparkle backed away from us. “How do you know my real name? Are you a teacher?”
“I didn’t recognize you when you were six,” said Sarmine. “But you can’t hide anymore. Tell us where the phoenix is. You’re the one who summoned a demon to hide it. You’re the one who knows.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Sarmine whipped out her dragon-milk wand, scattered a white powder in front of it, and flicked it at Sparkle, slamming the girl backward. “Tell us,” she said.
“What are you doing?” I rushed toward the witch, but she forestalled me with a flick of the wand.
“You stopped me before. You won’t stop me this time, Hikari,” said Sarmine.
“Stop calling me Hikari!” shouted Sparkle. She clutched her cameo necklace as she fought off Sarmine’s force.
“What do you have in that charm? Dragon scales glued to the back? You were always a scaly sort of hag.”
Sparkle was staying upright only by a huge effort. We all saw her nose suddenly flick back to its crooked form.
“Ha!” cried Sarmine. “It’s keeping your nose job on, isn’t it? How’d you figure out that spell?”
“Envelope to me … said not to open till I was fifteen … then I could have the nose I always wanted…” Sparkle’s eyes darted, and the words were an effort. “Followed the weird algebra problem with rhubarb and horsehairs and then suddenly this happened.” She gestured at her straight nose.
“So her mom left her a spell?” I said.
“Not her mom,” said Sarmine. “Considering the source it was vaguely clever. All Kari had to do was an amnesia spell on herself. Ten years ago after she transfigured the phoenix and had to hide until its rebirth, she made herself forget almost everything. Made herself think she was six. And then—”
“Because witches look on the outside like the age they feel inside…” I said.
Sarmine nodded. “For all practical purposes she was six.”
Sparkle was pale. “It’s not true,” she said.
“Probably dropped herself off at her grandfather’s with a note from ‘Mom,’” said Sarmine. “‘Take care of my daughter’ et cetera. Is that right? You live with your grandfather?”
“I do…” Sparkle shook her head wildly and I admit I felt kinda bad for her. “It’s not true! I’m not old. I’m not!”