I relaxed my limbs. I didn't need them.

I ignored my lungs. I didn't need them.

I felt out for the streams of power below me. I focused on the smallest strand I could find. It had to be small. It had to be small or it wouldn't matter. In an effort of pure will, I commanded that lone strand to my hand. I didn't ask, I didn't request, I commanded.

The fine gold strand snapped forth like a whip.

I couldn't control a trans.m.u.tation. I had no idea how. But this spell didn't have to be pretty. Willing the mana in, I let it do as it pleased. Just as Sadie had predicted, the mana went haywire inside me. It bounced around my insides like an unattended garden hose. Intense shots of pain scoured their way through me. Sadie had said that I needed an image for a trans.m.u.tation. A vivid one was best. I thought back to Tyrone and my first cast, how it felt, my state of mind, the terror. It didn't take much effort. I had plenty of terror to work with. And when it felt right-when it felt just as it did that day-I extended my right hand behind me and willed the spell loose.

If you read The US Navy Diving Manual (and yes, for some reason survivalists in the middle of the Nevada desert have copies of it), their only advice about protecting yourself from underwater explosions is keep as much of your body out of the water as possible. What does an explosion feel like? Imagine a punch to your face. One of those juicy wet ones that breaks your nose and gushes blood all over your shirt. Yea, a good ol' fashioned fight-stopper. Now imagine that crunching sensation all over your body-and imagine it doesn't stop. See, you're made of water too, so that punch is going to flow deep down into your core. Every organ is gonna take its share. Every nerve. Every cell. And it's not done there. You see, shock waves do something called spalling too. At any spot in your body where there's air inside you-lungs, gut, ears, or belly-the wave decelerates and shreds tissue. Your body doesn't feel that kind of pain right away. It's simply too much to handle. Your brain has to itemize it first. It'll send you the bill later.

But the spell worked. The blast nudged my body forward, and my limp form floated across the circle's threshold. The invisible structure buckled, the containment spell fractured, and thousands of gallons rushed out in every direction. My body plummeted five feet to meet concrete. The impact knocked the wind out of my lungs. I coughed and gagged for air at the same time I spit out mouthfuls of blood.

I wiped a hand across my face. Blood was seeping from both nostrils, and my ears were playing two dissonant rings. The damage to my body was bad. I wasn't going to be walking away from this one. Another bout of coughs brought up more blood and tiny pieces of tissue. I didn't know what they were, but was pretty sure I wasn't supposed to be spitting them out all over the floor.

The pain was astonishing, but I was breathing. My limbs slowly returned to life. I looked this way and that. There was no one around. Only Sadie. I crawled over to the soggy lump lying on the floor beside me. Sadie had fallen face down. That had saved her life. The vomit had ended up on the floor rather than backing up into her lungs. Weary as I was, I managed to flip her over on her back. Her face was a mess, a mottle of burst blood vessels and rapidly developing bruises. I tried to check her breathing, but I couldn't hear anything over the ringing. I was cursing in frustration when I felt the second wave of puke shoot into my ear.

Gross, yes, but d.a.m.n good news for the both of us.

I rolled Sadie on her side so she wouldn't choke.

Sadie lay there gasping for a few moments and then curled up into a ball. Another good sign. She could still move and feel. She wasn't paralyzed. I looked down at her hand and smiled. Sadie was still cradling the juice box. I shook my head, after all that, she had still managed to hold on to it. Taking the juice box from her hand, I grabbed the straw and punched it through. It was oddly cathartic.

The adrenalin draining from my body, I pa.s.sed out on the ground.

I woke with a gasp to the sound of ruffling paper.

I was in a strange bed...again.

Under nice crisp sheets...again.

In a lot of pain...again.

It felt like I'd gotten worked on by a jackhammer, but I could hear the ruffling of paper. I sighed in relief. The blast hadn't deafened me.

"Ah, so you finally awakened. And not deaf either-only dumb," she said dryly. "I was beginning to worry. This periodical was an amusing read the first two times through, but I feared boredom would seize me on the third."

I coughed to clear my throat. It tore like Velcro.

"That would be totally unacceptable," I whispered. "My company is many things, Ms. Bathory, but boring? Never."

Another series of coughs cut my pithy banter short.

"Water please," I begged.

"What, not coffee? Dieter, I am shocked," Rei teased.

I opened my eyes. Even that effort hurt, but the pain's rewards were substantial. Rei was wearing a summer dress straight out of the J. Crew catalogue. The soft black cloth pressed in against her skin in all the right places. As she returned from the sink, her milk white skin soaked up the dull moonlight. The sight made me wonder if blowing myself up hadn't been such a bad idea.

I drank the water with care. I could barely manage to swallow.

When my throat was agreeable, I asked how Sadie was.

"Alive, breathing, and cursing you," Rei replied. "Not actual spells, mind you, but she holds you responsible for her dance with death. She calls you a reckless maniac."

I sighed with relief.

"Dieter, she was less injured because she had the common sense to wear her robe. They did tell you they are charmed, yes?"

I stared at Rei blankly.

She shook her head in disbelief. "One wonders how you have survived so stupidly so long. That blast should have killed you. You are most fortunate, Dieter."

"No, I'd be fortunate if I was attending Harvard right now...and by the way, what gives?"

Rei c.o.c.ked her head.

"No nurse's outfit? Rei, I mean come on, give a guy a break."

"I'd be delighted, Dieter," she said with a broad smile. "How many breaks would you like?"

I shivered. Her fangs still made me freak.

"What time is it?"

"3AM. You have been unconscious and vulnerable for the past twelve hours."

"Okay," I said rising. "Enough lying about then."

Rei leaned forward and pushed me back into bed. "Hold still, my most fragile ex-package. We can't have you dying of internal bleeding...people would talk."

"Internal bleeding?"

"Indeed," she said, gesturing to bag of light red fluid. "You pee blood as we speak."

I felt down to my nether regions and blushed. There was a tube in my wee-wee. Rei smiled gleefully.

"You know, Rei..."

"Yes, Dieter?"

"Well I'm like totally cool if, you know, if you wanna take a swig. I mean, no judgment."

Rei's smile cooled. "They say you are bruised all over, but with the vigor of your tongue, I have trouble believing that." Rei looked at me mischievously, and with a flash, slapped me on the chest. The pain from my many bruises soared to a new level.

"Ooouuch!" I whined.

Rei giggled to herself. "Oh shoot. The medics were telling the truth." She shook her head sadly. "To think of all that clotted blood-such a waste."

Rubbing my chest, I looked over at the nightstand.

"What are you reading anyway?"

"A monthly called M. A. D. Magazine." I raised an eyebrow. She had p.r.o.nounced each letter of MAD independently. This girl needed a cable TV subscription, ASAP. "During our last fencing practice, Sheila informed me that my humor was a bit...stale. I am endeavoring to update my jargon with this journal on modern humor."

"They still publish that thing?" I asked. "You should read The Onion instead."

Rei scrunched her nose in disgust. "I am allergic to onions and uninterested in their affairs. I will stick with this M. A. D. Magazine." Pouncing on her p.r.o.nunciation was oh-so-tempting, but I decided to let it go.

"To each her own, I guess. Hey, I didn't know you fenced."

"Dean Albright insists that I attend club activities. I would have preferred to join the kick-boxing club, but my tryout did not go as planned."

I cringed at the thought.

"But I have no worries. Fencing is most amusing. I learned sabre techniques as a child, but Sheila convinced me to attempt epee this season. I never imagined I would so enjoy poking things."

"Yea. Imagine that. Still, it's good to hear that you managed to carve yourself a niche."

Rei stifled a giggle and shrugged. "It is not that enjoyable. Most of the opponents are slow and stupid, and dueling Sheila is most...annoying. I partic.i.p.ate because Dean Albright insists." Rei glanced at the clock. "We have talked for too long. The nurse already thinks I will be harmful to your health, and you must rest and recover if you are to not flunk out of this inst.i.tution.

"Fine," I grumbled.

"Dieter, I do have one last question before I release you to your slumber."

I yawned.

"Sure, Rei. Shoot."

"Well, I am most curious about your choice of trans.m.u.tation..."

"What about it?"

"Why did you choose the juice of grapes?"

Oh, for the love of...

"Well, somebody already did water to wine," I said burying my head under my pillow.

"Indeed," Rei said with a frown.

Chapter 18.

SICK DAY.

A breeze greeted me when I woke the next day. The sun was trickling in, and I could make out the room better now. It was a step above the hospital in Vegas. Two nice leather seats for visitors. A plasma TV hanging from the ceiling. Even a fan. And it looked like I was still on campus. A large 'E' was carved onto the door to my room. Eikhorn had said that Susan Collins was in the school's infirmary...I was probably in the same place.

How many serious injuries did they have to deal with around here?

I tried to lift myself up on the pillow, but moving around still hurt quite a bit. My body felt like it had rolled off the side of a mountain, and my skin was mottled with bruises. An IV of clear fluid dripped into my arm, and that 'other' tube was still reaching into my bladder. Fumbling around, I found the patient call b.u.t.ton and pressed it. A few moments later, a nurse came in and asked how I was doing. She even offered to take my lunch order.

My gut felt broken, so I declined, but I did ask her how Sadie Thompson was doing. She said Sadie was doing all right but was bruised up like me. Hearing that, some of the tension left my body. I couldn't bear the thought of another death on my hands. Sadie would probably never want to talk to me again, but at least she was okay. The nurse told me I would have to stay for another day. They wanted to make sure the bleeding had stopped before releasing me. I thanked her and spent the next few hours fading in and out of sleep. A knock on the door roused me later that afternoon.

"Come in," I said wearily.

I heard the latch turn, followed by a big thump, and then the door was knocked wide open. I lifted myself up. It was Sadie. She was sitting in a wheelchair. Her face was a mixture of blacks and blues-but she was smiling.

"Holiest of s.h.i.ts, Dieter," she exclaimed, "that was freakin' awesome!"

She spun her wheelchair in a circle.

I looked at her uncertainly. "Um...thanks?"

"I thought you were just a newb! What systemic did you use for that trans.m.u.tation? How did you manage to conduit that much mana without erasing your modulation matrix? And most importante, why grape juice?"

Not the response I'd expected. It looked like Rei had been pulling my leg...stupid vampire.

"I'm really glad you're okay," I said.

Sadie waved her hand about as though she was dismissing a fly. "That's why we wear robes. Now come on, tell me!"

"Sorry, Sadie," I said with a shrug. "I don't know any of the words you're using, and I really didn't plan the whole thing out like that. I just did what you said and visualized the manaflow. At first I imagined a little trickle, but that didn't feel right when I tried it. I realized the leyline was way bigger, like a river or something."

Sadie nodded eagerly. "Yea, that's because the leyline here is epic. You can feel it can't you? The campus is built right on top of the largest manaflow on the entire East Coast. It's called The Great Eastern Flow."

"The Great Eastern Flow? Huh. Well, anyway, I just visualized mana coming up into my hand. I guess I should have picked a single strand. I didn't know that so much of it was going to, um, respond. Is that the correct word?"

"It's a pretty good way of putting it. What you did was construct an extraction field. Life is like a natural magnet for mana, but the strength of that attraction is usually really weak. One thing that makes a mage a mage is our ability to direct our own internal supply of mana around our core. An energized core attracts nearby mana by resonating with it. When you resonate, we call it 'forming an extraction field.' You can focus the field on a single strand mana or scoop a bunch of strands at once."

"So it's like electrifying a magnet with current?" I asked. Electrifying a magnet makes it many times stronger. All you have to do is wrap it in copper wire and hook the wire up to a battery. You can even attenuate the magnet's strength by modifying the flow of the current you pa.s.s through it.

"Rights. It's just like electrifying a magnet with current. The same basic principles apply, but the equation is different. So what did you do next? Explain what you were thinking."

"Well, I was focused on attracting the mana stream, and-"

The door banged open again. The whole gang stormed in to the sound of sticky shoes. Monique stood huffing and puffing at the fore. Angry eyes danced between Sadie and I. Sadie started to wheel away towards the window. A tangle of tubes and wires, I had no such recourse. I pulled up my covers instead.

Monique raised a finger into the air. "A swimming pool worth of grape juice?" she asked rhetorically.

Dante was hiding just outside the door. He was stifling a laugh.

The b.a.s.t.a.r.d.