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In two sleeps, Hattie will turn thirteen, and she will have to prove to the entire congregation of gifted clans in Los Angeles that she has what it takes to become a witch. A healing witch. A real Gom.
And she’s gonna be amazeballs, of course. I mean, it’s her birthright. Healing magic flows in her blood, as it flows through our parents’ blood, because we, the Gom clan, are descendants of the Cave Bear Goddess—the patron goddess of service and sacrifice.
I’m a normal, non-gifted person without a lick of magic. I’m a saram.
Ah, he’s a Tokki—an infusing witch.
All witches get the same gifted mark on their wrists when they do magic, but it reveals itself in different colors depending on which clan they belong to.
The mark is also how we can tell which patients are gifted a...
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If they’re saram, we have to make sure they don’t know we heal with magic. The infusers make special me...
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Before I know it, my eyes are burning and I quickly wipe them, embarrassed. Ugh. Classic me. This is what my best friend, Emmett, calls my “leaky-bladder eyeball problem.” You see, I have a slight issue controlling my tears. When I’m sad, I cry. When I’m angry, I cry. When I’m frustrated, I cry. I’m basically really talented at crying.
“As soon as I’m old enough,” she says, “I’m gonna run for Gom elder. And when I do, mark my words, I’m going to shake up that place. The whole secret-society thing is so outdated.”
The gifted community is really paranoid about their secret getting out into the saram population, so the Gumiho clan (they’re the illusionists) use their glamour magic to hide us in plain sight. Genius, really.
The Miru clan are protectors descended from the Water Dragon Goddess.
They have either superhuman strength or speed, which make them ideal for protecting our secret portals and entrances.
The large hexagonal chamber is full to the brim today, with witches from the Gom clan, the Samjogo clan, the Miru clan, the Gumiho clan, and the Tokki clan all sitting in their respective pews, which fan out from the center.
Each block of pews ends with a polished bronze plaque brandishing the clan’s motto, beneath a tall statue of their patron goddess.
The icons are made out of materials that match their clan’s colors—jade for the Tokki, blue lapis for the Miru, gol...
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Of course, the Horangi clan’s pews are empty. The sixth clan hasn’t been allo...
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The world has five sacred elements—wood, earth, water, fire, and metal. If a witch can harness the perfect balance of all five, he or she can channel the power of the goddesses and wield the specific magic of their clan.
The catch is that witches are born with only four internal elements. Which is why they must wear the fifth element—the one they lack—around their wrist.
A Gi is kind of like a car key. Each witch needs their fifth element to start their car, but the particular car each clan drives (i.e., the type of magic each clan can do) is different. ...
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“Mago Halmi, mother of the three realms, mother of the six goddesses, mother of mortalkind and all creation,” Mr. Pyo starts, holding Mira up into the air with both arms outstretched. “Today I humbly present to you this child of the Samjogo clan, descendant of the Three-Legged Crow Goddess, for your divine blessing.”
The Samjogo clan chants their motto, Leadership and Wisdom,
“Her dominant element is water!” Mr. Pyo announces first, as a swirling tornado of liquid materializes above the cauldron. “The symbol of abundance and grace. How fitting for a seer.” Everyone cheers in approval. The water tornado disappears, giving way to a glowing seed that grows into a tree in front of our eyes. “Her subdominant is wood,” Mr. Pyo calls out. “The symbol of compassion and growth.”
The cheering continues as the third element reveals itself—a pyramid of solid bronze, shimmering as if it had been dipped in glitter. “Followed by metal. The symbol of strength and power.” Mr. Pyo beams almost as bright as the pyramid.
Finally, a blazing bonfire appears in the pyramid’s place, levitating above the cauldron with its hungry flames. “And finally, fire. The symbol of transf...
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“Sometimes you gotta burn your fingers to enjoy the s’more.”
Tokki clan, and Kindness and Heart isn’t their motto for nothing.
THE BUILDING NEXT DOOR TO THE H-Mart is a noraebang. Norae is Korean for song, and bang means room.
So a noraebang is a song room—aka a private karaoke room.
Unlike the Gom, who, despite being healers, can’t heal their own bodies, the Gumiho can glamour themselves.
It has to do with their beautiful patron, the Nine-Tailed Fox Goddess.
That’s why they’re so good-looking and why so many of them become K-p...
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In fact, all but one of the BTS membe...
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Their saram clientele would be none the wiser, but his top is a dead giveaway that he’s a Miru protector. Provide and Protect is their clan motto, and blue’s their color.
Professor Ryu finally opens the envelope, revealing this week’s glamour-reveal song. “‘Fake Love’ by BTS,” she announces, to which everyone fist-pumps and grins. It’s an oldie but a goodie. “Now, when we get to Jimin and Jin’s hook,” she explains, “we just need to replace the words fake love with secret life.
I’m so sick of this fake love secret life, fake love secret life, fake love secret life I’m so sorry but it’s fake love secret life, fake love secret life, fake love secret life
Fix! Graci Kim is an army
“There’s no food like knowledge,”
Tokki witches have the ability to infuse food with magic.
“A two-step enchanted safe lock involves the burning of hair and a password repeated three times.”
“But if you want to be extra safety-conscious, some witches go one step further. They have a two-step lock and also require that a few gifted tears be dropped on the hair before it’s burned.
Gifted homes are pretty special. Eomma says it’s because they witness so much magic they become a little magical themselves. The walls breathe and the floors listen, and sometimes they whisper into our ears while we’re asleep. Certain parts of the house—usually the ones we use the most—absorb so much enchantment that they come alive as spirits, or sin.
The door-sin, the kitchen-sin, and the toilet-sin are the main ones, but sometimes you get others, too.
The house-sins protect our homes, but you have to make sure you say something nice every time you use them or they ca...
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emotions are bad for your health. They give you wrinkles.
The infuser supposedly sources it from some old Greek dudes who work out of the Empire State Building, and the stuff really works.
The Haetae is a uni-horned lion beast, and one of the most-well-loved creatures in our culture. He’s Mago Halmi’s guardian pet, known for two things: his incredible loyalty, and his ability to manipulate time.
Magic is bad news.
Before becoming divine, our patron goddess was a mortal bear who wanted more than anything to be reborn in Mago Halmi’s image.
She prayed to Mago Halmi for her wish to be heard, and the mother of all creation entrusted her with a challenge. If the bear could survive a hundred days in a dark cave with only a bundle of mugwort and garlic to eat, her wish would be granted. The story goes that our bear ancestor was so devoted that, on the twenty-first day, Mago Halmi turned her into a beautiful goddess. That’s how she became the patron of service and sacrifice.
Most protector-clan witches are born with either superhuman speed or strength.
Noah’s dad is a Taegwondo grandmaster and comes from one of the most well-known protector families in the Miru clan.
