Magaestra: Found: An urban fantasy series

Magaestra- Found


Katherine Kim


Magaestra: Found © 2021 Katherine Kim. All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, at katherineukim@gmail.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, or events is entirely coincidental.
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Cover by Sabrina Watts at Enchanted Ink Studio


To my family, who didn’t murder me during lockdown.


1
Faith smiled to herself as she dropped her bag on the rustic cabin porch, the feeling of fresh air and wild places and dusty old magic pressing into her skin like the embrace of a long-lost family member.  It seemed as if this place had missed her as much as she had missed it. She laughed at her own fanciful thoughts and started digging in her pocket for the key.
"Come on, sis, I bet this place needs airing out something awful," Faith turned to look over her shoulder at where her sister Christina– Crissy– was struggling with the bags.   Her mahogany dark hair was pulled back into a messy bun, though Faith knew that when it was released it swept down her sister's back like a damned dream, making her look like royalty.  Like a queen when she was all glammed up and making an effort.
Faith's own black hair was more like their mother's had been: stick straight and boring as hell.  Her slight frame and general failure to gain any sort of athletic ability were from her mother as well.  It was infuriating, especially when they had both wanted to take gymnastics classes and she watched Crissy doing cartwheels and handstands while the coach had very kindly offered to keep her in the classes though she would never, ever compete.  Ever.
Crissy took more after their father, with her sparkling smile and outgoing personality and athletic ability.  He had looked like a fairytale prince, they both agreed, and Crissy looked like a fairytale prince's daughter.
Faith wasn't jealous. Usually. She had other skills that made up for it. And, of course, she had her mother's gifts as well.  They both did to an extent, but Faith got the greater share, just like Crissy got more of their father's athleticism.
"I bet it does, it's been shut up for ages.  When was the last time we were up here?" Crissy laughed as she managed to finally free the strap of the duffel with all her clothes in it.  She glanced around and smiled when she saw her daughter dancing around the half-wild lawn and picking buttercups and dandelions. "I think Kaylee was a toddler.  She was just starting to walk, remember?" Crissy pulled another bag from the car and walked up the steps to the porch.
Faith snickered.  "I remember. She kept landing on her butt and you kept freaking out that she was going to get hurt."
They both turned to look at the girl in question, not quite five years old and adventurous and eyeing a tree as if considering its climbability.  Hell, she probably was. The kid didn't know the meaning of the word fear.  Or, unfortunately, the meaning of the word careful.
Faith jiggled the key in the lock again and something finally clicked and the door swung open at last, blasting her with stale air as if the cabin had been holding its breath. "Why haven't we come up here more often?"
"Because it's a pain in the ass to organize while juggling my kid and both of our schedules?" Crissy laughed.
"No more excuses!  We do this more often from now on.  Oof, let's get the windows open. I hope we cleaned out the fridge, whichever of us was up here last," she wrinkled up her face to express her opinion on the mustiness.
Still, as the sisters hurried around, opening windows and shaking out blankets and curtains, Faith found herself smiling.  The cabin had barely changed since she was a girl. She felt an unreasonable joy surge through her when she looked at the ancient sofa.  It was lumpy and patched where her mother had tried to cover up a small hole caused by lord knows what childhood antics. The extremely seventies floral print of the patch clashed perfectly somehow with the rust-colored sofa fabric and the cheerful quilt thrown over the whole mess to try to make up for the sins of several generations of children.
The rest of the cabin was similarly shabby but just as well-loved.  Three small bedrooms held five beds between them, each with its own small collection of quilts and worn bedding.  The kitchen was full of chipped cups and plastic bowls with scratched pictures printed on them, and a coffee maker that was at least twenty-five years old but somehow still worked.
And neither she nor Crissy had ever considered replacing any of it since they came into their inheritance.
"Mom would be so mad that it's been so long," Crissy said softly as if she read Faith's mind.
"Yeah.  Remember how much she loved coming up here every summer?  Man, we must have been out here every weekend from the time school ended till we had to go back in the fall," Faith laughed at the memory of weekends spent running wild with Crissy through the small section of woods that belonged to them.  "I think we were the only kids at that school who showed up at the end of summer unrepentantly wild."
"Well, it sure didn't help