Savage Saints (Monsters of Saint Mark's)

“Maybe.” But it’s a tenuous maybe. I don’t think she believes that. “OK. Well, I can only work with what we have. So each letter has a point assigned to it. This is the chart that tells you the value of each letter.” She points to the inside cover of the notebook, which is like a pre-printed cheat sheet. And sure enough, there are all the letters of the English alphabet and they all have a point value assigned.

“Huh,” Talina says.

“What now?”

“That’s not Vincan.” She taps the pre-printed page.

“Nope.”

“Weird,” she mutters.

And see? See? This is what I mean. I’m always the weird one.

“Only the first letter counts. And don’t ask me why. I’m not a philosopher. That’s just how it is. So when you compose a poem you try to get the highest value in your first and last lines.”

“How many words per line? Is it like a haiku?”

“I don’t know what that is, but maybe. Keep it under ten. Otherwise, it’s confusing. And you need to make two different rhymes in each spelling. So you can’t rhyme all the last words of each line, that muddies things.”

“Hmm. I’m not the greatest rhymer.”

“Do your best. Now give it a go.”

“Wait. What kind of spell am I composing?”

“Ask for something you need.”

“Don’t I have to pay for that?” I’ve learned my lesson about free shit. Nothing is free. It all evens out in the wash, as Tarq would put it.

“No. Your goddess pays for it.”

“Whoa. What goddess?”

“The one you were born under?”

I let out a long breath. “I don’t have one.”

Once again, I have succeeded in perplexing Talina. “If you do magic, you have one.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t have one.”

“Weird,” she mutters again. “Then who do you ask for help?”

“No one. I just… mix up a bunch of shit and call it good.”

“But you’ve used words before? In spells?”

“Yeah. Once. But then I just…” I shrug. “Like—I dunno—yelled the words real loud and commanded things to work.”

“What did you say exactly?”

“‘Get out.’”

“‘Get out?’” She whispers something and counts on her fingers. “But that’s not enough points to do a spell.”

“I don’t know what to tell ya, Talina. I don’t have a goddess, and I don’t want one, either. I’m not asking anyone for help. When people do you favors, they always want something in return. That’s the whole reason I’m here.”

Talina sighs. I think my newness is wearing off quick. “As I said, just do your best. Now.” She places her hands on the table and stands up. “While you’re doing that, I’ll go get us coffee. Be back soon.”