“Good…GRAVY,” Dunder hissed. “Ms. Wright, that might be the best, most effective firebolt spell I’ve ever seen! Scratch that, that I’ve ever heard! It was so hot that the flame was invisible until impact! How the devil did you do that?”

“Old family trick,” Isis said.

“T-teach me how to do that, please,” Zachary muttered as his turn came. Isis pretended not to hear him as she moved to the back of the line.

Gorfin, the brownie who had been placing the balloons, appeared alongside her after placing the last one for Mr. Zachary. “Filled her with hydrogen, just like you said,” he whispered. “Almost worth it just to see old Dunder jump, but Ari said there’d be something in it for me.”

Isis pulled out a gold coin–one of her very last-and gave it to him. “Hopefully I only have to do this once,” she said.

“And how did you do it, lass?” Gorfin said. “Was real enough to set your sleeve on fire, at least.”

With a quick look around–everyone was watching Zachary flail about with tiny sparks, trying and failing to hit the balloon–Isis pulled back her sleeve. Rather than her dead yew wand, she had a small pistol in her hand, still smoking from the muzzle. The five other rounds of incendiary tracer .32 ACP that she’d loaded were still visible, their blue noses nestled in the cylinders.

“You’d think they’d have noticed,” Gorfin said. “These rich kids strike me as the kind who go duck hunting.”

“People see what they want to see,” said Isis with a shrug and a smile.

  • Like what you see? Purchase a print or ebook version!