by K. C. RILEY
My mind was made up. I crept past everyone, down the hall, and past the foyer close to the library. If I acted fast, I could have the spell book in hand with no one knowing any better.
I reached for the door knob to the library.
“Can I help you, Miss Maverick?” Louise’s voice slithered over my shoulder.
Busted, I froze. I didn’t know what to say. And on top of that, I panicked. “Uh. No...I mean yes. I was just looking for the bathroom. This place is so big.”
The people from the funeral poured into the hallway. This just wasn’t the time to heist a spell book. Especially without somewhere to hide it. So I hadn’t thought it completely through. But when would I get another chance?
Louise was about to say something.
“You know,” I said, cutting her off. “I can hold it. I’m just going to go. Thanks.”
There was no doubt in my mind the woman knew something. Both manic and disappointed, I exited the house and was soon sitting next to Kai back in his car with Ezra’s monkey paw in my lap.
“How’d it go?”
“It’s over,” I said, holding onto Ezra’s box, the only real solid lead I had to anything.
“So, do you go everywhere with that thing?” Kai asked.
“No, not usually.” I smiled at Kai and quickly changed the subject. “So, where to?”
Ezra’s monkey paw would have to wait until I could figure out what I was going to do about a car. Poor Josie had her hands full with Mason. I couldn’t ask her to take me to Shadowick Lake. And Cassie was busy trying to help the both of us. I couldn’t ask her either. I thought of Kai, but the poor guy had been through enough.
Kai grinned. “How does Chinese sound? Liz? Are you there?”
“What?”
“Chinese. How does Chinese sound?”
“Great,” I lied, desperate for a new plan.
“Okay, Chinese it is.” Kai grabbed his phone and placed an order for BBQ Spare Ribs, Chicken Dumplings, and a House Fried Rice with two Dr. Peppers. He started the car and maneuvered around the limos parked in the way before we were back on the main road to downtown.
We both sat quiet, me scurrying through everything that was going wrong in my life and wondering if the answers were sitting in my lap. Or were the answers in the spell books down in Mrs. Ellington’s cellar?
I glanced at Kai. “Sorry.”
Kai’s dimples lit up as he glanced back at me. “For what?”
“I haven’t exactly been present. We’re supposed to be talking. Right?”
“It’s okay.” Kai steadied his hand on the steering wheel while focusing on the road. “I can tell you’ve got a lot on your mind.”
“And then some. Just curious. When do you think I’ll hear about my car?”
“Mmmm. Won’t be until tomorrow. I’m sure they’ve already closed for the night.”
“Right.” With a sigh, I went back to staring out into the darkness.
We drove the rest of the way in silence. I suspected each of us wanted to say something more but didn’t know exactly how.
Kai glanced over at me, and then at the box. Again.
“Are you going tell me what’s in it?” he asked.
Who knew Ezra’s paw would be the ice breaker? “Well, since you asked. How much do you remember about the night at the lake, and Ezra?”
“You mean the creepy glowy guy that dragged Norah’s sick, crazy ass back to the hell she came from?”
“Uh...yeah.”
“I remember most of it, I think,” Kai said. “When Norah took over my body I could see into her mind as much as she could see into mine. I saw what your aunt did to your family, to your brother. And I know what Ezra did to protect you, your mom, and his village. I’m sorry.”
There was something relieving about Kai knowing what happened to my family without me having to dredge it up.
“Yeah. Thanks.” We both dipped into an awkward silence again. “So, you know what I am?” I asked hesitantly.
Kai smiled. “A badass water conjurer?”
“Hardly,” I said, smiling.
“You’re more powerful than you give yourself credit for.”
“And how would you know that?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I feel like I know you. Like I’ve always known you. From the very first time we met. It’s hard to explain.”
“I get it,” I said, trying not to bring up what little I knew about our so-called past lives in the Garden of Eden.
“I’m also pretty sure you’re a part of The Secret Society of Souls.”
I froze, not sure if my memory was about to be wiped from existence. But why would it? I hadn’t said a word about The Society to anyone.
“How?” I asked.
“One, through some of Norah’s twisted memories, and two, before Norah took over my body, they had asked me to join. That’s where I was going the day I bumped into you at your school’s library. There was supposed to be a secret entrance inside or something.”
“Wow. What stopped you from going?”
“You. I wasn’t sure when I would get the chance to meet you again. And so I took the one I got.”
It would have been a complete lie to say that Kai’s voice didn’t send warm fuzzies throughout my body.
“By the time I was ready to go back, Norah had already gotten a hold of me.” The warmth in his voice, however, took a quick left turn. “I want you to know that I remember what Norah did, what I did, to that poor server girl at Mrs. Ellington’s Ball. If I could take it back, I would.”
The elephant in the car had finally reared its head. I was never good at dealing with emotions; mine, or anyone else's. But this was different. Kai was hurting, in many ways more than me.
“You can’t blame yourself for what happened to that girl. It wasn’t you.”
Kai’s voice cracked. “Yeah. It was.” The vehicle slowed and Kai made a right onto Main St. and stopped at a red light. “If I had been stronger, Norah never would have gotten inside of me, to begin with.”
Guilt and regret permeated the air in the car. My breath shallowed.
“That’s not true,” I argued.
The light had already turned green when the person behind us honked.
A few blocks further and Kai parked in front of his bookstore.
I had seen it many times on the way to Vye’s. The entire outside looked like it hadn’t changed in over a hundred years. But that’s what gave most of the stores and weathered buildings in downtown Shadowick their charm.
The forest green brick looked almost black at night while the gold trim of letters that spelled out Books above the doorway glowed from the light of the store’s outdoor lanterns. It also looked like the front red doors and all the display windows had been bordered up with newspaper so no one could peep in.
I couldn’t help but feel happy for Kai. Buying an old bookstore had to have been the coolest thing in the world.
I unbuckled my seatbelt and was about to tell him so, but halted.
My heart quickly crumbled as a tear welled and ran down from Kai’s cheek.
It was clear that everything that had happened to him was because of me. But how was I supposed to fix or change any of it?
I placed Ezra’s box on the floor when Kai turned off the ignition.
The light from the lamp post on the sidewalk reflected in the pools that continued to well in his eyes. He turned his face slightly so I couldn't see and unfastened his seat belt as though he was about to get out of the car. But he didn’t. Instead, he faced forward and stared out of the window. The tension was stifling. I needed to do something, anything, to lift it and breathe.
Kai tried to steady his trembling hand as he gripped the steering wheel. “The girl that died. I killed her, Liz. Me. I would never hurt anyone. But I did.”
“That’s not true.”
Kai was the kind of guy that wouldn’t hurt a fly. It just wasn’t in him.
I had to do something and so I ran my hand do
wn the back of his head, entangling my fingers through his hair. It was awkward, trying to reach and comfort someone in a car. But it didn’t matter, at my touch, Kai broke down in my arms and sobbed at my shoulder.
I held him until he had gotten it all out.
“What is that?” Kai whispered.
I wasn’t sure if he could see it, the warm pink light that glowed from my body. It was the first time I could see my aura without Sister Maria poking a needle for a horse into it. The pink light had completely enveloped him.
“It’s beautiful,” Kai said. “It’s like I can feel you inside of me. You’re an empath.”
Witch, empath, conjurer, even the Queen of Hell and Shadows. I realized they were all just words with little meaning. I had no idea who or what I was. Still, Kai was right. I could feel his pain as though it was my own. As though I was him. And somehow feeling his guilt and shame shifted things.
The heaviness in the car lifted.
Kai’s sniffles quieted and he whispered something in my ear. The spark of his cheek brushing against my own shortened my breath as the dream of our kiss, his fingers lacing through mine, was all I could think about.
“Thank you,” he said. With another breath, I felt him release the weight of that girl’s death he had been carrying on his shoulders as he sat back in his seat.
With my heart pounding out of my chest, I repositioned myself back into my own seat.
We were just friends. The dream slash nightmare I had of kissing him was nothing more than that. And yet, holding Kai in my arms felt just as natural as holding Jake. Albeit, in a different way I couldn’t quite explain.
“You ever get the feeling we’ve met before? I mean like in another life?” he asked.
“Uh...maybe.”
“I don’t know. There’s something about you, being around you, close to you, I can’t explain.”
The temperature in the car rose at every word that uttered from his mouth. Kai, in his own way, had become more than alluring. He was now tempting and distracting. How or when things changed, I couldn’t say. I was on dangerous ground. There was an energy between us. Something old and ancient, a connection lost but not entirely forgotten by either of us, judging from the way he looked at me.
Kai leaned in closer, and then closer, his eyes still wet and sparkling from the light of the lamp post. I couldn’t break the tension, the attraction, not until a loud knock at the window startled the crap out of me.
It was Cassie’s aunt, Sheriff Johnson.
Kai put the key into the ignition and wiped what tears were left from his eyes before rolling down the window.
“Evening.” Sheriff Johnson poked her head down and quickly scanned the inside of the car. “Everything okay, here? You guys seem a little upset.”
“Sheriff,” I said, grateful Ezra’s box was no longer sitting in my lap. “Upset? What? No. Not at all.”
“We were just talking,” Kai stuttered. “Waiting on some Chinese food I ordered.”
“Yep. Just talking,” I repeated like an idiot.
Sheriff Johnson’s voice was cool and confident. Like she knew something we didn’t but wanted to test us anyway. “Uh-huh.” She cocked her head to the side. “It’s Elizabeth, right? Cassie’s friend?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Yeah. She told me all about you. How you lost your mom and started school at All Saints sometime around early October.”
I wasn’t sure where Sheriff Johnson was going, but it was as if I was being interrogated for a crime I had no idea I had committed. There was no way Cassie had told her a thing. At least, I hoped not.
“And where’s that cute boyfriend of yours?” Sheriff Johnson’s brows furrowed. “You know, the one from that dance you were supposed to be practicing for. Now, what was his name? Scott? George? No. Wait.”
“Jake.”
“That’s it,” Sheriff Johnson said, mocking me. “Jake.”
I slid my hands under my thighs to stop them from shaking. She knew something, or at least suspected. But this wasn’t the time to lose it. “He had a family emergency back home,” I lied.
“Home. And where would that be?”
What was her problem? “Jacksonville,” I quickly answered. “He never talked much about his family. Private. You know?”
“Right. Private.” Sheriff Johnson then glanced at Kai. “And you are?”
“Kai Mitchell, ma’am. I own the bookstore here.”
“And just how old are you, Mr. Mitchell?” Sheriff Johnson asked.
“Nineteen, ma’am.”
“And already an entrepreneur. Funny, you look familiar.”
“You may have seen me on TV. I talk to dead people.”
“Shut your mouth. You’re right. A celebrity psychic right here in our little old town of Shadowick. Go figure. And you own a bookstore,” she said like she didn’t believe him.
And our little old town? Hadn’t she only been here for like three weeks?
“Turning it into a healing center. You know tea, yoga, meditation, that kind of thing.”
“Well, Miss Lizzy, you sure do know how to pick them.”
My body and face heated red. “We’re just friends,” I gritted.
“Sure. If you say so,” she said chuckling. The woman had no filter. Besides, what did she know?
An Asian guy with headphones covering his ears pulled up in front of us on a bike. He held a white grocery bag in the air while bobbing his head from side to side. “You ordered?” he yelled.
Kai nodded from his seat.
“Well, I’m not going to keep you,” Sheriff Johnson continued. “Just be careful. There’s a lot of weird things happening around here lately.” Sheriff Johnson’s gaze stopped at me as though I was the root of it all. “Especially, at night.” She was about to leave when she poked her head back down through the window and smirked. “You know, speaking of weird, we got the strangest call a few weeks ago.”
This was not happening. I already knew where she was going and was about to go into cardiac arrest.
“Something about two dead bodies missing in the woods. Duke and Charlene. Oh, and another dead body supposedly stuffed in Mrs. Ellington’s library closet. Go figure that.”
Kai went as white as a sheet And I almost fainted. Me and my big fat guilty mouth. I never should have made that call. I was in way over my head.
“Now, neither of you wouldn’t know anything about any of that would you?”
“No, not a thing,” I said, trying not to pass out.
“No, ma’am,” Kai stuttered.
The Asian guy, growing restless, raised the bag of food up in the air again and pointed.
“Yeah. I’m sure it was just a prank call. We didn’t find a thing at either place.” Sheriff Johnson smiled. “Is that from Golden Ginger?”
“What?” Kai asked, still white as a ghost.
“The food. Is it from Golden Ginger?”
“Uh, yes. Yes, it is,” he said.
“Mmm. They sure do have the best chicken dumplings. Anyway, I best be going. You all enjoy. And be careful.”
“Yes, ma’am. We will,” Kai stuttered again.
Sheriff Johnson finally left and Kai quickly rolled up the window.
We both sank into our seats.
“Jesus Christ,” Kai said.
“Yeah. And then some.”
13
Kai opened the door to his bookstore and turned on the lights. “It’s a bit of a mess.”
The smell of fried rice and dumplings should have stirred my appetite, but I still couldn’t get Ezra’s monkey paw off of my mind. I was glad, however, that Kai was back to his cheerful self.
Used books were stacked everywhere, even on the floor where I tripped.
“Be careful,” he said. “Sorry.”
The store had good bones. I could see why he fell in love with it. Red brick walls were lined with wooden shelves. And the old Persian rugs that were laid out across the dark wooden floors gave the space some char
m. The light of antique lamps warmed every cozy nook and corner of the place, and toward the back, a circular metal staircase opened up to a loft.
“I’m reorganizing everything. The place won’t be ready to open for another month.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“This way.”
I followed Kai up the stairs to the loft that overlooked the store. Regardless of it being comfy, the blood in my face drained. Kai placed the food down on an old coffee table that looked familiar. So did the two armchairs and the green gothic sofa that sat around it. They were all from my dream.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I lied.
What if the dream I had of kissing Kai was some kind of bad omen to stay away from him? Maybe being around me wasn’t a good idea.
Kai took the food out of the bag. “You know, it’s okay to sit down.”
“Right,” I said.
“Should I fix you a plate?” he asked kindly.
“Uh, yeah.” It was getting hot in the room.
“Okay. You’re acting weird. Is this about what happened in the car, me sobbing like an idiot? Or…?”
“What? No! Of course, not.”
“Then, what is it?”
“It’s like you said, I just have a lot on my mind.”
“Yeah. I can only imagine what you’ve been through.” Kai handed me a plate.
I sat it down on the coffee table and instead slurped on my soda still wary of the couch I was sitting on. Kai plopped down next to me.
“So...?” he said.
“What?” I asked, paranoid.
“You were going to tell me what was in the box. Ezra?” Kai forked a dumpling into his mouth.
“Oh. Right,” I said, taking another slurp of soda. I chanted over and over in my head that there was no way I was going to kiss him. I wasn’t Norah. We were just friends and nothing bad was going to happen. Sucking him to death was all just a bad dream.
“Ezra, the box,” I said, fumbling over my words. “I need it to get Jake back.” Hearing and saying Jake’s name out loud brought me back to my senses. “Someone bound my abilities, at least what little I have until I can ascend to full power. I need to find out who did it in order to break it. If I can free myself, I can help save Jake. The box contains a way to get in touch with Ezra, back at Lake Shadowick. But...”
