Free Magic's Child by Justine Larbalestier

feel it. I zoomed closer, the feel of her got stronger, but then the texture wasn't right. The light flew apart, exploded into dusty particles, into nothing. Not Sarafina.
     
     
It wasn't her. Hadn't been her. Hadn't been anything— which didn't make any sense. I saw something familiar, a faint trace of magic. I recognised it but couldn't place it. I searched through the lights that were farther away. Still no Sarafina.
     
     
I stood up, feeling the thickness around me giving way slowly, more resistant than before. I concentrated, trying to find the real world. I heard what could have been a myna bird calling; somewhere, not far, cicadas buzzed in chorus. I saw the barest edges of a path and pushed my limbs along it, as though I were moving in low gravity.
     
     
I wondered what the gravity of pure magic was.
     
     
"Ray gun." I heard someone call. "Raise them. Read arse. Rea-son!"
     
     
"Jay-Tee," I said. Through the wavering texture that surrounded me I could see the faint dust of Jay-Tee's magic.
     
     
"Sarafina's not here," I said. The words moved out of me slowly, glittering in a spiral pattern that wove round and round until it disappeared out of sight. So beautiful. Before they'd gone, Jay-Tee overlaid them with more words of her own. There was no spiral or glitter to them. I heard nothing.
     
     
I continued searching for Sarafina, striving to listen for more words from Jay-Tee, but they reached me only in tiny fragments. "Mer." "Ont." "Elp." "Ezon." I could feel vibrations, like a butterfly's wings beating against a soft cloth. They weren't from this world: they had to be from where Jay-Tee was.
     
     
I wasn't strong enough to search for my mother in Cansino's world and stay aware of the real world. I focussed on Sarafina. And found her. I recognised the movement of her magic, the undulating Fibonacci waves. She was away from here. And in motion. Not alone. Another magic tumbled around her, stronger than that of my mother. An entirely different flavour. I said its name.
     
     
I forced myself to open my eyes completely, to reclaim daylight.
     
     
"What did you say?" Jay-Tee screamed, hurting my head.
     
     
"Jason Blake," I said. "My mother is with Jason Blake."
     
    10
Following Magic
"No! How? Where?" Jay-Tee spluttered. She couldn't believe it. Not him. Not here. "Why would he be here? What would he want with— "
     
     
Reason took off at a run for the main road. Jay-Tee easily kept pace, without even remotely needing to use magic. Reason was moving like Reason again, not like she was under a spell. Jay-Tee grabbed her arm. "Reason? How do you know he's got your mom? What's going on?"
     
     
Reason shook Jay-Tee off, jumped the low stone fence, and stuck her arm out for a taxi. Two women walking by in office clothes turned to stare at them. Jay-Tee ignored them. "Reason! Tell me what's happening!"
     
     
"I have to get to Sarafina!"
     
     
Several cars drove by, none of them yellow. Jay-Tee wondered if they even had taxis in Sydney. Maybe they had gypsy cabs, but she didn't see any black limos drive by either.
     
     
Reason moved a little farther out onto the road, waved her arm some more.
     
     
"Reason, where are we going?"
     
     
"I'm not sure."
     
     
"What do you mean you're not sure? What do you mean you saw him ?"
     
     
A taxi pulled up, painted red, blue, and white. Only the small light on top made it look remotely like a cab. What was the point of a taxi that didn't look like a taxi? Why wasn't it yellow? Reason climbed in and Jay-Tee scooted after her.
     
     
"Where to, girls?"
     
     
"Ah," Reason said. "Er." She paused, turned to Jay-Tee, like Jay-Tee had some idea of what was going on. "This is going to sound weird, but I'm not sure exactly where to. Can I just give you directions?"
     
     
Jay-Tee thought it sounded very weird, but the driver turned around and grinned at them. "What? You're not going to tell me, 'Follow that car'?" One of his teeth was metal. Jay-Tee