“My whole life, when I wanted a taste of something magical, I had to play a videogame or roll a bunch of dice in an RPG,” said Wheeler. “But Danny’s given us rides around the world. Or at least to places around here, but instantly. And that was cool, don’t get me wrong. But that’s, like, a transportation spell. Very convenient, but I want to see some really major combat spells.”

“There are no ‘spells,’” said Danny. “Just persuasion.”

“Yeah, well, I want to see a windmage persuade him a tornado,” said Wheeler. “And clants. I want to see a stonemage turn stone into a walking monster, like the Incredible Hulk.”

“A tornado’s a terrible thing no matter how it comes into existence,” said Danny. “And your stone clant isn’t going to care who it tramples.”

“I know that,” said Wheeler. “And I deplore it, abhor it, I roar it—”

“As you bore us,” said Hal.

“And we ignore you,” added Laurette.

“I didn’t make the magic come back into the world,” said Wheeler. “Can I help it if it’s exciting? All those extras in the movies who run screaming from Godzilla or wave like idiots when the aliens come to blow them up in Independence Day—sure, they get squished, they get barbecued, but they were there.”

“You’d buy tickets to anything,” said Sin.

“I would,” said Wheeler. “Once.”

Danny sighed. “I just wanted to go to high school.”

“Why?” said Laurette. “I mean, we’re glad you’re here, but why would anybody in his right mind choose to spend your days like this?”

“Sitting in the woods?” asked Pat.

“Down there in Parry McCluer,” said Laurette.

“Come on, Rette, you’ve got the system sussed,” said Xena. “You’ve got the teachers and the principal eating out of your hand, the office staff loves you, your grades are good, and you’ve got a great body. There is just no reason why you should be allowed to hate high school.”

“Because it’s not how I’d spend my days,” said Laurette. “If I had a choice.”

“But Danny does have a choice,” said Pat.

Danny was thinking that if Laurette came from one of the Families, her ability to make people from every group like her might be considered a sign of manmagery. Then Pat turned the conversation back to him, and he could barely remember what they’d been talking about. He was that sleepy.

“High school is boring,” said Danny, “and if anybody cared, you could finish the whole curriculum in a year. It’s mostly just a tool for keeping kids out of the work force and out of criminal activities for at least half the day. But I swear it looked like the coolest thing in the world when I was reading about it in young adult novels.”

“Young adult novels,” said Pat, “are no closer to reality than Wheeler’s videogames.”