Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus

by Lydia Sherrer

  Once Lily had put the car in park and switched off the ignition, there was a moment of relieved silence before they both started to speak.

  “That is the last time I let you drive—”

  “That is the last time I drive you anywhere—”

  Looking at each other, they finished in unison.

  “Next time I can walk.”

  “Next time you can walk.”

  With a heave, Sebastian opened his passenger door and pretended to stumble out, bending over and making retching sounds. Perhaps it was an overreaction, but he considered it his sacred duty to make Lily think twice before getting behind the wheel again while there was ice on the ground. The safety of every driver and pedestrian in Atlanta depended on it.

  “Seriously?” Lily’s voice drifted out from the still-open door, and he heard the driver’s door open and close.

  Straightening hastily, he brushed himself off so that, by the time Lily had rounded the car, he was presentable and ready for the next stage of their adventure.

  “Do I need to take you to a hospital?” Lily asked, tone laced with sarcasm.

  Detecting an upward twitch of her lips even as she attempted to scowl, Sebastian felt a strange, exhilarating warmth inside his chest. He knew she would scoff if he tried to explain it, but he wasn’t usually this—alright, fine—dramatic. There was just something about her that inspired him to greater heights of silliness, as if every scowl, every eye-roll, every twitch of her lips was some great victory. Knowing he could draw something out of her that she normally kept hidden was surprisingly thrilling. Drat, he thought. This was not good.

  “I believe the best way to ensure my continued health would be for you to avoid driving me anywhere until at least April.”

  Now she really did scowl.

  “But let’s not focus on me,” he continued swiftly, grasping her shoulders and spinning her about to face the grand house before them. It was built in the Tudor style of the 1930s and ‘40s, all brick, stucco, and dark wood lines. A “for sale” sign marred the otherwise smooth front lawn. “This is it. Shall we?”

  “Maybe we should call the realtor,” Lily said nervously, attempting to turn back. “I’m sure they would let us in to see the house. You could keep them occupied while I looked for the letter.”

  “I have a better idea,” he said, pushing gently at the small of her back, surprising her into taking a step forward onto the front walk. “Why don’t we just take a look around the outside and see if there’s anything out of place.” He didn’t point it out, but there was an expensive-looking car parked on the street one door down that didn’t look like it belonged. He suspected that, once he got her to the house, things would progress from there.

  Walking carefully through the thin film of slush, they peered in the front windows and tried the door. Everything was locked and dark. Lily turned to go back to the car, but he headed around the side of the house. Listening carefully, he heard a tiny sigh, then the crunch of footsteps following him. He grinned.

  There were no footprints in the slush outside the back door, but it had only started snowing thirty minutes ago, so that meant little. Though evening was nearing, it wasn’t dark yet, so it was hard to tell if the glow he saw was coming from the upstairs window, or from the sky above. It was worth investigating.

  Looking around to make sure Lily was close behind, he stepped up to the back door and tried the handle. It was unlocked. Bingo.

  “There’s someone here,” he whispered, mouth close to Lily’s ear. She shivered, whether from cold or something else, he couldn’t tell.

  “We should call the police,” she whispered back.

  “Are you crazy? It’s the thief. It’s got to be. Do you really want a bunch of mundanes in here with an incompetent wizard who knows just enough to be dangerous? Come now, Miss Singer, we have a responsibility, do we not, to take care of this sort of thing ourselves, without involving the uninformed? It’s for their own good.”

  She wavered, looking uncertain.

  “I mean, if you think you’re not up to it, I guess I could call one of my friends…” he began, but she was having none of it.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Lily said, glaring up into his face. He tried not to be distracted by her pretty blue eyes. “The last thing we need is another devil-may-care witch rampaging around, breaking laws and causing trouble. I’ll deal with this, and deal with it properly.”

  Knowing what was at stake, he made sure no hint of his inward smile showed through the serious expression he gave her. “Don’t let me get in your way,” he offered. “But you might want this.” Holding out his hand, he presented her with his ring of cacophony.

  She looked at him suspiciously. “And why would I need that?”

  “Because I seriously doubt you’ll be able to move quietly in that outfit,” he nodded to her heels, heavy coat, scarf, hat, and other accoutrements.

  Though inclined to be huffy, she accepted the ring. He hardly ever needed it anyway. He’d had a lot of practice sneaking around over the years.

  After she’d put it on and rotated the band, he bowed, extending an inviting arm toward the back door. He was fine with letting her go first. That way he could keep an eye on her and their surroundings at the same time. Not that he was going to tell her that. He didn’t have a death wish.

  The back door, well tended and oiled, didn’t make a sound as Lily opened it, and they crept into the dimness within. From what he could see, they’d entered a back hall that opened up into a sort of den on one side and a kitchen on the other. Both rooms were predominantly empty, the furnishings having already been sold at the estate auction. Yet the rich wood paneling and ornate mantelpiece told of antique architecture and the old money that could afford it.

  Tapping his companion’s shoulder, Sebastian pointed in front of them to the shadow of a staircase winding up toward the second floor. Lily nodded, and they started forward.

  Sebastian was very glad of his ring, as Lily’s movements looked about as stealthy as a hippopotamus in heat. While he’d witnessed her grace and poise firsthand, that had been when she was being herself, in her own comfort zone. Forced into an adventure completely outside her experience—and in heels, no less—it was no wonder she moved with less than ninja-like skill. While her gumption was certainly endearing, he really ought to teach her how to sneak properly someday.

  Wait, no, he thought, shaking his head. There would be no someday. She was a wizard, and he was a witch. The two did not mix. Once they’d found what they were looking for, they’d go their separate ways, and that would be that. He was annoyed at the pang of loss that thought brought.

  A sudden movement in front of him jerked him out of his reverie, and his hand instinctively shot out, catching Lily before she could fall backward. She must have missed a step in the dark as she mounted the stairs. Thanks to the ring, her flailing display didn’t make a sound. With a thankful glance behind her, she continued up the stairs, he close behind, alert for any more slips.

  They reached the top of the stairs without further incident and crept down the paneled hall toward a sliver of light visible under a door. When they reached it, Lily put up a hand, halting him. He waited patiently, watching as her lips moved, probably casting a defensive spell or preparing some other kind of wizardry.

  Finally looking up, she nodded her readiness and reached for the doorknob. Her sudden movement caught him off guard and for a second he hesitated, torn between his instinctive desire to protect her and his knowledge that she was the wizard and probably better prepared to face whatever awaited them.

  His hesitation cost him. Before he could react she was already moving into the room. Surging forward on silent feet, he tried to catch up, swinging the door fully open just in time to see a ball of fire headed straight at her from her blind side.

  With less than a second to decide, his brain reverted to instinct and he dove, knocking her aside just in time for the fireball to engulf him instead.

 
Chapter Four

  Not So Bad After All

  “And? What happened next?” Sir Kipling demanded, rising from his catloaf position in a rare show of interest.

  Sebastian, of course, didn’t understand him. But even the plaintive meow he undoubtedly heard didn’t register, so thoroughly was he lost in his own remembrances as he stared blankly at the floor.

  Lily herself felt a bit shaken. Remembering was one thing, but hearing it from her friend’s point of view was another thing entirely. Of course, she knew he was prone to exaggeration, but still…his avid descriptions had made her blush more than once as she kept her head down, filling bag after bag while he regaled Sir Kipling with their harrowing tale. She suspected he’d rather forgotten she was there. Not that her own storytelling was any less revealing. The question was, were either of them going to do anything about it?

  “Sorry, did you say something?” Sebastian asked, finally recalling his surroundings.

  “No, but Sir Kipling is rather annoyed with you at the moment.” She smiled. “I think I’d better take it from here. We have a long way to go yet and that kitchen isn’t going to clean itself.” She pulled the strings of her garbage bag shut, tying it off and setting it beside the row of similarly stuffed bags by the door, awaiting their final walk to the dumpster.

  Looking over his shoulder, Sebastian adopted a look of mournful despair. “Lil, have you seen my kitchen? I don’t think it’s a matter of a long way to go. I think we’d better just burn it down and build a new one. I scrubbed for minutes and minutes, and it looks just as bad as it did before.”

  “Minutes and minutes, huh?” Lily asked, lips twitching. “Why don’t you spend more than a few minutes at it and you might make some progress. Go on. Shoo.”

  With the face of a condemned man, Sebastian rose and wandered back into the kitchen. Lily shook her head, smiling as she snapped open a new garbage bag and got back to work. She was secretly relieved it was him in the kitchen and not her. She wouldn’t touch that sink with a ten-foot pole.

  “Now,” she said to Sir Kipling, “where were we…”

  About a year and a half ago. Oh yeah, and impending doom:

  Lily screamed. No one heard it but herself, of course. Maybe that’s why Sebastian called his ring the ring of cacophony, because you could make as much noise as you wanted without bothering anyone. Completely ridiculous, of course, just like its owner. Why had he pushed her aside? Her ward could have easily shrugged off such an attack and here he was being an idiot and throwing himself in the path of danger.

  These detached musings flashed through her mind even as she snapped her mouth shut, reluctant to look yet desperate to know. Heart pounding in her throat and a heavy weight of grief already crushing her lungs, she turned toward the fading blaze, expecting to see a charred corpse on the floor…and was astonished to see a very frazzled but unsinged Sebastian standing there, hands upraised in an involuntary attempt to protect his face.

  “What in the world?” she asked before remembering the ring. Twisting it, she looked up in time to see a shadowy figure in the middle of the room raise glowing hands, preparing another attack.

  “Watch out!” Lily cried, surging forward so her defensive shield caught the second bolt in its tracks, not a foot in front of Sebastian. Fortunately for them both, the attacks had little power behind them—another sign of this wizard’s amateur skills. With half a mind on her protective spell, she jerked Sebastian behind her before moving forward slowly, circling the figure and looking for an opening.

  “What happened back there,” she yelled behind her over the roar of another ball of flame.

  “One-shot ward.” He yelled back. “Friend gave it to me. Not sure where he got it. Amazed it worked.”

  He moved away and she had no time to question him further, not daring to take her attention off her quarry. Hoping he stayed out of the way, she carefully cast several bolts of pure energy, wanting only to disable, not injure. They fizzled out before they reached the figure. So, he knew how to defend as well as attack, she thought. At least he wasn’t totally incompetent.

  Suddenly, Sebastian’s form came diving out of the darkness. Her opponent, as focused on her as she was on him, didn’t see him coming and was tackled to the floor by the taller, heavier man.

  Scrambling to the door, Lily fumbled for the light switch. With a frantic flip, the lights came on, revealing Sebastian, triumphant, kneeling on the back of a young man who lay flat on the floor. The man’s hands were crossed behind him and Sebastian held them firmly, his loose coat belying the wiry strength of the frame beneath.

  “Mr. Blackwell!” Lily cried, hurrying forward. “Don’t hurt him. Let him up.”

  “After he just tried to kill us? No way.” He emphasized this with a jerk of his knee, putting more pressure on the young man’s back and eliciting a cry from his captive.

  “Owow! Get off me!”

  “Not a chance, you little creep.”

  Finally rounding the pair, Lily was horrified to see that the young man was even younger than she’d guessed. Gangly, with a pimple-ridden face, he couldn’t be more than sixteen or seventeen years old.

  “Good heavens, let him up, Mr. Blackwell. I insist. He’s just a boy!”

  “A boy who tried to roast your face off,” Sebastian protested.

  “Srr-y,” came a mumbled apology. The boy’s face was squashed into the floor, making it hard to speak.

  “See, he’s sorry. Now let him up,” Lily said.

  Grumbling, Sebastian straightened and hauled the boy to his feet, keeping a firm grip on his captive’s arms. “No funny business, or I’ll knock you out,” he warned.

  “Jeez, lighten up,” the boy mumbled, casting a dirty look over his shoulder.

  Ignoring their exchange, Lily took stock of the room. It was empty but for them, a small lamp, and a pile of books. It looked as if the boy had been sitting there, reading, when they’d burst in on him. Papers were scattered about, some blank, some covered in badly drawn dimmu runes—the written form of Enkinim, the language of magic.

  “What is all this?” she demanded, hands on hips.

  The boy looked away, a stubborn tilt to his chin.

  “Don’t make me tell my companion to hurt you,” Lily threatened. She would do nothing of the sort, of course, but he didn’t know that.

  “And if you lie, I’ll know,” Sebastian whispered in his ear, making the boy shiver.

  “Okay, okay. Lay off. I don’t know why you’re asking. My mother sent you, didn’t she? So you already know everything,” he said with a glare.

  “What?” Lily glanced at Sebastian, who shrugged in confusion. “No. No one sent us. We’re here to get back our books, which you stole.” She pointed accusingly at the pile at their feet.

  “Huh?” Now the boy looked just as bewildered as they did.

  Lily rubbed her temples. “Why don’t you start at the beginning, alright? And if you promise not to attack us, we can all sit down comfortably while you explain.”

  “Uh, okay…so can you let me go already?” he said after a pause in which Sebastian did not loosen his hold.

  Sebastian glared at Lily, as if all of this was her fault. She glared right back, and finally he gave in, letting go and stepping back.

  The boy brought his hands around to the front, rubbing his wrists and casting more dark looks over his shoulder, which Sebastian returned with much greater effect. Cowed, the boy sat down, looking at his hands. Lily sank to the floor to join him, while Sebastian remained standing behind, looming over them with arms crossed like some wrathful genie of old.

  “Let’s start with your name,” Lily said gently, trying not to let her annoyance show. What she really wanted was to throw this snot-nosed kid over her knee and whip the tar out of him for the trouble he’d made. But that was off the table, as was hiding and hoping it all went away. So talking seemed the best option—the less, the better.

  “My name is Seth. Seth Humphrey.”

  “Alr
ight, Seth. My name is Lily Singer and this is—“

  “I already know who he is,” Seth cut in, glaring at the floor in lieu of looking upward at the man standing over him. “He’s the guy I hired to help me find my letter. The guy who betrayed me.”

  “Whaaaat?” Sebastian’s arms dropped in astonishment. “No way. You’re just a kid. That guy was a man.”

  “You mean like this kind of man,” Seth said, lowering his voice to a convincing baritone, a smug smile on his face.

  “Why you little—” Sebastian started forward, but Lily held up a hand, stopping him in his tracks.

  “Let him explain,” Lily said sternly, then gave Seth her death glare, the one she usually reserved for students caught with food or drink in her library. “Explain.”

  The boy wilted under her gaze. “My mom hates magic. She’s embarrassed to even be related to wizards. She knows I’m…I’m one of them but she thinks if she just ignores it I’ll forget about it. But I can’t. I have to learn magic.” The earnest pleading in the boy’s voice tugged at Lily’s heartstrings, but she tried not to let it show on her face. She needed the whole story first.

  “When uncle Osbert died—”

  “Wait, he was your uncle?” Lily interrupted, confused.

  “Well, no, not exactly.” Seth shrugged. “We were related, second or third cousins maybe, Mom never told me. But he was the only one in the family I knew of who was a wizard. I only found out because I overheard Mom complaining about him one time and I looked him up and begged him to teach me magic. Dad thinks she should let me learn if I want to, but he’s just a normal guy, so Mom thinks he doesn’t have a say.

  “Anyway, we’d been exchanging letters, because Mom would kill me if she caught me on the phone with him, and then…he died.” Seth choked up, sniffing and swiping a sleeve across his eyes. Lily waited silently for him to continue, not wanting to intrude. “So, yeah,” the boy finally said, “he’d promised to destroy all my letters after he got them, just in case. I know it’s silly but I was paranoid Mom would find out. The thing was, I’d sent him a letter a couple days before he…before he died, and I didn’t know if he’d had time to…you know, get rid of it. I managed to sneak over to search the house, but his stuff was already gone. Mom hates this place. She couldn’t wait to get rid of everything. I was terrified she’d find the letter so I did an online search and found this guy,” he jerked a thumb backward at Sebastian, “and hired him to find the letter first.” He fell silent, staring at the floor.