A Spell of Time

by Bella Forrest

  I dawdled over to the edge of the waters, wishing I’d brought my bikini. I would have to make do with just dipping my feet in the enticing ocean water.

  Micah swam up to me. “Are you not coming in?”

  Before I could answer, a familiar voice called out my name.

  I turned to see Griffin walking over to me, wearing his swim shorts.

  “Hey, I thought you were grounded?”

  I looked at him sheepishly.

  “I am… Micah helped me escape through the window.”

  “Oh,” he said, his eyes falling on Micah who’d now stepped out of the water. “Well, are you going for a swim?”

  “I would, but I left my bikini at home.”

  “Bi-kini?” Micah wrinkled his nose as he looked down at me.

  “Uh, it’s what girls go swimming in.” I pointed to a group of girls further along the beach. “Like what they’re wearing.”

  “Tell me where it is, and I’ll get it for you,” Griff offered.

  “Nah, don’t bother. I’ll just hike up my skirt—”

  “Where is it?” Micah said, towering over me, his tone of voice more of a command than a question.

  “Um, it’s in the bottom drawer of my big wardrobe. And if you’re going to bother getting it, you may as well bring a towel too. I have one hanging on the back of my chair, near my bed. Just don’t get caught by Aiden.”

  He dashed off, leaving me standing alone with Griff. Griff turned his eyes toward the ocean.

  “Griff, I…” I’d opened my mouth before considering the rest of my sentence. The look on his face was killing me. Disappointment. It was subtle, but I knew him well enough for it to be pronounced for me.

  Unable to bear the silence, I caught his hand and pulled him into the water after me. I began wading into the waters, lifting my skirt up above my knees.

  But we weren’t alone for long. Micah returned about ten minutes later, my towel over his bare shoulder, my bikini scrunched up in his large fist. I left Griff and took both from him.

  “Aiden didn’t catch you, I hope?”

  He shook his head.

  I left the beach and found a quiet part of the forest to change. Returning to the waves, I laid my towel down on a dry patch of sand before wading back into the water. Griff had moved toward Ben and his group of friends, leaving Micah swimming alone in the waves.

  My brother stood up, finally having noticed me.

  “What are you doing here?” he called.

  I grinned and shrugged my shoulders. He looked at me disapprovingly.

  I waded back into the water, toward my brother and Griff rather than Micah, who seemed to be busy swimming. But the werewolf caught up with me in the water as soon as he noticed me. He stopped in front of me, blocking my way.

  “Come with me,” he said.

  “Huh?”

  Before I could object, he pulled me toward him and fastened my arms around his neck. He began swimming in the opposite direction of my brother, deeper into the ocean.

  Great.

  I was beginning to feel nervous at how deep we were swimming. The waters were becoming rougher and rougher and we were nearing the edge of the island’s boundary.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I want to show you how I fish,” Micah said, tightening my hold on him.

  “Micah!” a sharp female voice called. Micah stopped and turned around. Saira was swimming toward us, her bushy brown hair tied up in a bun over her head. She swam faster than I could have expected for such a short-limbed woman.

  “Don’t go past the boundary again,” she said, swimming in front of us and blocking Micah. “Especially not with the princess.”

  Micah looked disappointed but shrugged it off. He turned around and we approached the shore again. I let go of him once we were in shallower waters and swam over to join my brother and Griff. Micah followed me. I introduced the werewolf to those who hadn’t already met him, and we spent the next few hours until sundown swimming around in the cool waves, escaping the heat and humidity of the day, soaking in the warm sunshine.

  Once the sun had set, we built a bonfire on the beach and Micah fetched some fish. Brett also joined us and helped him with the roasting. I made sure to sit next to Griff during the meal, talking to him about anything other than the werewolf.

  I had to leave early, just in case my parents or Aiden checked in on my room. I hoped that they hadn’t already. Micah noticed me stand up and took the opportunity to walk over to me.

  “I’ll take you back now?”

  “Yes, please.”

  I said good night to Griff and the others, annoyed that I couldn’t stay for marshmallows. Micah helped me climb on to his back once again and we headed back to my penthouse. I held on tight, my breath coming harsh and uneven as he leapt up the branches. I closed my eyes and buried my head against his back, scared one of the branches might gouge my eyes. When he stopped, I looked up. We were now parallel with my window. He took a giant leap that made my stomach flip and gripped hold of the window sill, pulling us both inside.

  I was relieved to see that my door was still closed. Hopefully I had arrived just early enough to not be caught.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “When will I see you again?”

  I found his question odd. As though he was now expecting our meetings would be a regular occurrence.

  “Tomorrow, after school, I guess,” I said.

  I heard voices in the corridor outside.

  “Go. Now!” I hissed.

  He climbed back out of the window and hurled himself back onto the tree a few meters away. I closed the window and dove into bed, pulling the covers over me up to my forehead.

  My door creaked open.

  I’d made sure to bathe in the showers on the beach before leaving, but hoped the scent of ocean wasn’t still on my skin.

  A weight pressed my mattress down. Too heavy for my mother. It was either Aiden or my father, but I dared not look up. I continued pretending that I was sleeping.

  I felt a hand on my forehead, brushing hair away from my skin, and then a gentle kiss.

  My father stood up, walked across the room and then clicked the door shut.

  I breathed out slowly. If I’d arrived back even a minute later, he would have caught me out of bed. I didn’t think I could have borne the disappointment in his eyes that I’d betrayed his trust yet again.

  Chapter 26: Rose

  Micah was keen to see me most days after school. It seemed that he didn’t have much of an agenda of his own. While I gave Griff first priority on my time, since he had more homework than me to complete that week, I ended up seeing more of Micah than I’d expected.

  I agreed to meet Micah at the bottom of our tree. I’d recommended this rather than the penthouse since he hadn’t exactly made a great first impression on my father, although my mother didn’t seem to have any objection to him.

  One evening, we ended up walking by the lake—somewhere I hadn’t been with him before.

  I still didn’t feel I knew much about this werewolf, and I wasn’t sure why he was interested in me so much. I also wasn’t sure why I’d agreed to spend so much time with him. Caleb still being very much on my mind, I began to wonder if I was just using Micah as a distraction. As some kind of rebound. Still, he was a good distraction. When I was in his company, it was easy to get lost in conversation. There were still so many things about him and the supernatural world I wanted to know.

  As we approached the boathouse, I stopped in my tracks. I gripped Micah’s arm, pulling him back. He looked at me questioningly.

  “Wait,” I breathed.

  I crouched down in the bushes, pulling Micah down with me. I stared through the leaves, barely able to believe my eyes.

  Our headmistress, Adelle. She was making out with… Eli?

  All the other girls in my class were convinced that Eli would never get himself a girl—after all, he’d been a bachelor for several hundred years already. Now, w
atching him locking lips my teacher, it was shocking. It took me a few moments to pick up my jaw from the ground.

  I dared not whisper in case they heard. I pointed and we began retreating. There was a snap. Micah had just trodden on a branch. My eyes shot toward the boathouse. It was too late. They’d spotted us.

  Adelle looked mortified as she disentangled herself from Eli. I wasn’t sure why Adelle would look so guilty. It was embarrassing, yes, but it wasn’t like she was doing anything wrong.

  “Hello, Rose.” Her cheeks were almost as bright as her hair.

  “Hi, Ms. Ardene,” I said.

  She smiled awkwardly, then, wiping her lips with the back of her hand—smudging her lipstick even more—she gripped Eli’s hand and they walked away into the woods.

  “We may as well go sit there now,” I said, once they were out of sight.

  I leaned against the windowsill, staring down at the blue water lilies beneath us. We both stood in silence. I glanced up at Micah. For a change, he wasn’t looking at me. He too was staring into the water.

  “Do you have family?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “Not anymore.”

  “What happened?”

  He took a deep breath and paused, running his tongue over his lower lip.

  “I left them in my realm when I was banished. I haven’t seen them since.”

  “You were banished?”

  “Yes. Most of us in Matteo’s crew are outcasts.”

  “I see. Do werewolves live forever?”

  “No. We live a long time, often as long as witches. But not forever.”

  “Why exactly did they ask you to leave?”

  He swallowed hard and shifted his feet on the floorboards. “I was in love with a girl I had no business being in love with.”

  Huh. I remained silent, not daring to urge him to continue even though I was burning with curiosity. As it turned out I didn’t need to.

  “And she was in love with me. Or so she said. But she was the daughter of our chieftain. She already had a betrothed…”

  “I’m sorry,” I said.

  “I had to either leave, or be executed. I still remember the night they caught us. The fear in my family’s eyes. I didn’t have time to pack anything. I just had to sail away in a boat. Leave and never return. I had no idea how I’d survive. I’d never been outside my own realm before. By some mercy, I came across Matteo and his crew. They gave me a cabin in their ship. The rest is history. They’re my family… and now, the people here in The Shade.” His eyes roamed me again.

  “Do you think you’ll ever see your family again?”

  “No.”

  “But you came to Earth via the werewolf realm, right?”

  “Yes. But if anyone had caught me there, I wouldn’t have gotten out alive. Mona put an invisibility covering over all of us as we made our way to the hidden gate.” He shook his head again, as if clearing his thoughts. “Anyway, she… they… are all gone now. I won’t ever be going back there. It’s my past.”

  Silence fell between us again.

  “I know what it’s like to love someone you can’t be with,” I said. I didn’t understand why I would tell Micah this, when I hadn’t even told my own brother.

  He turned to look at me, an eyebrow raised. Coaxing me to continue.

  I didn’t feel comfortable speaking Caleb’s name out loud somehow. It just didn’t feel right. So I just said, “We fell out over a… misunderstanding. To be honest, I’d rather not talk about him either.”

  “That’s okay,” Micah said, holding my hand. “I understand.”

  I gave him a faint smile.

  We left the boathouse and walked around the lake a bit more before heading home. It was getting late now, and to avoid another grounding, Micah carried me on his back the rest of the way home.

  He stopped at the foot of my tree at my request. I checked my watch. I had ten minutes to get my butt upstairs. I looked up at Micah. We hadn’t spoken much since our conversation in the boathouse. I found the look in his eyes unsettling. He looked… restless somehow. As though there was something he was hiding, something he was bottling up.

  “Well, good night,” I said and turned to leave.

  Strong hands gripped my shoulders and turned me around.

  Before I could make sense of what was happening, Micah gripped my jaw and drew me closer. His lips pressed against my cheek, the tip of his hot, rough tongue brushing against my skin.

  I staggered back, reaching up to where his mouth had been. His hazel-brown eyes looked fierce.

  “Good night,” he growled.

  He spun around and sprinted away. I stared after him. His limbs began transforming and he hit the ground on all fours as he pounded away into the distance.

  That boy is wild.

  Chapter 27: Rose

  I wasn’t sure what to make of Micah’s kiss. A part of me felt deeply uncomfortable about it. I was glad that we were having tests that week. I could bury myself in study and avoid thinking about both Caleb and the werewolf.

  In my free time, I found myself going on longer walks by myself, deliberately avoiding the parts of the beaches where the werewolves tended to gather. As I walked along the beach one evening, on my way back home, I heard a gruff voice behind me.

  “Hello.”

  I whirled around to see the ogre.

  “Oh, hello, Brett.”

  This was the first time I’d really spoken to him since I’d met him the day they arrived on the island.

  He stood at the entrance of a large cave. I’d forgotten that he lived on this side of the island.

  “You wanna come in?” His meaty hand beckoned me over.

  As much as I’d been assured by everyone that he wasn’t dangerous, my heartbeat doubled as I walked toward him over the boulders, slowly and cautiously. His appearance was so imposing, I couldn’t help but feel nervous.

  He was grinning from ear to ear as I stepped into the cave, looking down at me with sheer delight.

  He lumbered further into his home, leading me forward. I glanced around. There was a mound of straw in one corner with a heap of dirty clothes at the end of it. And in the center of the cave was an axe, a saw, small carving tools, a log of wood and half of a chair.

  Brett looked at me sheepishly. “Sorry there’s nothin’ for a princess to sit on yet,” he mumbled. “I need to work faster. I don’t get many folks visiting me, you see.”

  I took a seat on his straw while he sat on the floor opposite me.

  I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact I was sitting next to an ogre. I hadn’t even known such things existed until recently. I remembered my father reading stories involving ogres to Ben and me when we were younger, but I’d thought they were nothing more than that—stories. Then again, it wouldn’t take much getting used to, having grown up with vampires as parents.

  I looked at his work in progress on the floor, admiring his handiwork.

  “That’s looking pretty,” I said. “How long will it take you to complete it?”

  He shrugged. “Going slower than I’m used to. I don’t have as good tools as I did back home. I had to leave them all,” he said, wiping his runny nose with the back of his hand.

  “I’m sure we have extra chairs if you need any. The witches are good with that sort of thing. And what about getting you a more comfortable bed? This straw seems spiky to sleep on.”

  “I like creating my own stuff. And I like straw too. It’s good for itches. You should try it sometime.”

  “Hm, maybe I will.”

  I stood up and crouched down closer over his half finished chair. I was impressed by how delicately designed it was—there were beautiful etchings in the wood around the seat. I wondered how long he had been laboring over it.

  “So this is what you do with your time?” I asked. “You create beautiful things.”

  He cast another wistful glance at his half-finished chair and sighed. “Yeah, well, it was my job before. When we were back on our
own island. Captain Matteo gave me the job of creating things. ’Cos I don’t like to fight.”

  “Fight?”

  He eyed me. “Yeah. Like when nasty people tried to enter our island. I don’t like it.”

  “Oh, okay. I understand.” I reached out and patted his leathery forearm. “I don’t like fighting either.”

  A pang of sadness hit me as I looked once more around his damp empty cave. It occurred to me how lonely this creature must get, being the only one of his kind on the island.

  “Have you always lived alone?”

  He looked taken aback by my question, as though the answer should be obvious. “Yes.” Then he chortled and shook his head. “There isn’t anyone who’d want to share my cave with me.”

  I paused, looking into his face. It was innocent, good-natured. Much like a child.

  “We need to find you a pretty girl ogre to keep you company, Brett.”

  He blushed. He actually looked sweet—a word I’d never thought I’d use to describe an ogre.

  “Agh,” he said, waving a hand dismissively. “Girls are trouble…”

  I giggled. “But have you ever had a girlfriend?”

  “G-girl…” He paused, frowning. “Saira is a girl friend.”

  “No. By girlfriend, I mean like a lover. A girl you’re in love with.”

  He furrowed his brows as though deep in thought. “No. I have never had that.”

  “Then how do you know girls are trouble?”

  He looked away from me, as though hoping that avoiding my eye contact would also avoid the subject. His expression was not unlike a four-year-old trying to hide from an uncomfortable question.

  “Well?”

  “Fights always start when they’re around.”

  “That doesn’t have to happen. There are lots of couples who don’t fight.”

  “Yeah, well, you don’t know about girl ogres. They’re mean.”

  There wasn’t much I could say to counter that argument. Brett was the only ogre I’d come across, and from what I’d learned about ogres so far, Brett was an anomaly. Most ogres were cruel-hearted beasts, and that was why Brett was an outcast. He didn’t like violence.