by Shay Cabe
Right before lunch I hear my name come across the loudspeaker. With a heavy feeling in my empty stomach I head to the office. Getting called to the office here is never a good thing. When I open the door a woman I’ve never seen before is standing there, wearing an ill-fitting skirt suit that’s this eye watering, vivid, peach color glaring at Ms. Maple like she wants her to combust in her cushioned chair.
Ms. Maple is as calm as a cucumber and doesn’t have a single hair out of place. The woman is immovable in my opinion.
“Nora, thank you for coming. This… woman is a member of the local children's services. She’s supposedly investigating your living arrangements because of your father’s absence.” Children services my ass. She has witch council written all over her and Ms. Maple isn’t fooled anymore than I am.
How did they know he was gone?
Dad is selfish and vain but he wouldn’t get on the bad side of the council. He enjoys being important to them too much. So that leaves the question, what does this woman actually want?
“Evanora, darling, I’m sorry to pull you out of these mundane studies but our office had a report that you were living alone with no adult supervision. By law—“
“Ms. Hazard is my acting guardian. I’m sure Ms. Maple can call her for you,” I interrupt.
The saccharine smile on her face vanishes and cold anger takes its place. The smell of annoyance is bitter in the air and the static of magic is thick enough to raise the hairs on my arms.
“Did you say Ms. Hazard?” she asks with a bit of hesitance. Yeah, Ms. Hazard has that effect on many people. Something I’ll never understand, she’s more southern sweet than Ms. Maple.
“I did yes. I’m sure the paperwork is in order,” I respond.
Her eyes dart around the room. “Since Ms. Hazard isn’t here, then I will have to demand that you go with me.”
The smell of honeysuckle and home baked bread wafts in as the door opens. “I don’t think so, ma’am. Here are the guardianship papers, the travel itinerary for her father and also, my attorney’s number if you’d like to call him to verify everything,” Ms. Hazard says breezily, waving a stack of official-looking papers in the woman’s face.
The smile is genuine on Ms. Hazard’s face but the look in her eyes is anything but happy. There’s an unspoken threat there in that witchy glow. Whoa, Ms. Hazard is a badass in disguise.
The woman shuffles through the papers and looks displeased that they exist. I’m rather happy they do, I have no idea what kind of bullshit this is, but it doesn’t bode well for me. Anything the council is involved in doesn’t bode well for anyone. Mom fought the corruption of it and lost her life.
It’s the main reason I hate the council in its entirety.
My mom was a powerhouse, there’s no doubt about that but she was too nice and wanted to always do the right thing. Her biggest mistake was that she had faith in others feeling the same way. It was a fatal one, and it's why my faith in people is practically zero.
Although I do have my fair share of morality and often attempt to do the right thing—most of the time, I also believe that sometimes you need to do the wrong thing to achieve the right result. Hypocritical sure, but it works for me. I don’t think most people are good; I think only some of them are.
When it comes down to it, I’ve had the same plan for years. It kept me moving forward in my darkest moments. The desire for revenge pushed me to be stronger, fight harder. Unlike my mother, when I find the people who sent a shifter to murder her, I don’t have any mercy to give them.
“Do you have an estimation on his return?” the pretend children services woman asks, looking a lot like she sucked on a super sour lemon. Ms. Hazard turns up the potency of her smile and snatches the papers out of her hand.
“No, but as you can see everything is taken care of. Please, feel free to contact my attorney with any other questions. As someone in your field knows, it’s not good to interrupt a child’s school day for such frivolous things.” Mic drop. Ms. Hazard is already cool in my mind—now she’s notched up to completely awesome.
It’s almost enough for me to forgive her for dragging me to live with the guys knowing what they’re up to.
“Well, ahem,” she clears her throat, “thank you for your time,” she says none too happily, adjusting her too tight blouse. With a look full of her desire for retribution she turns and walks out the door. The whoosh of magic follows her. She’s packed full of charms and dormant spells and the one she tapped, to make her grand exit, is a transport spell.
Those are costly and there’s always a danger involved in their use. The possibility of your legs ending up a different place than the rest of you is entirely, probable. They only work around seventy-five percent of the time. Her using one for such a wasteful thing, shows how mad she is about not getting her way. Either that or stupid.
Am I wrong about what my father is up to? It seems strange that they came looking for me when he’s their gopher. I turn a questioning gaze to Ms. Hazard, I’m positive she knows more than she’s letting on.
“We’ll talk about it after school,” she reassures me, lightly squeezing my upper arm. That’s her subtle version of a hug. It's also her telling me there's more to the story and I’m probably not going to like it.
Freaking fantastic. The drama is like an endless sandpit sucking me in.
Without a word, I turn and head to the lunchroom. Why not take me aside now and tell me? Why do they always put it off until later and then come up with an excuse to not tell you then either? Is it like some super secret adult rule? Either way, it’s a stupid one. I’m sixteen going on a hundred, I think I can handle whatever is going on without having an emotional breakdown in the secretary’s office.
“Nora, wait,” Ms. Hazard’s voice stops me in my tracks. I turn to face her and cross my arms.
“I forget what it's like to be a teenager sometimes. Boys differ from girls and are easier to put off,” she says in complete honesty. “Your father has no intentions of returning. He says it’s protecting you.” I don’t miss the flash of doubt in her eyes. She doesn’t believe him anymore than I do.
The fact that he’s not coming back doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it would. There’s a little sadness there and maybe a small ache because he’s abandoning me… but not what it should be. “Are you sure you’re talking about my dad?” I ask, thinking there’s more to it. I’ve never known him to do anything that didn’t involve some form of self interest. Not in my entire life. Even taking me from here to ‘protect’ me was just as much to protect him.
“There are a lot of things about this that doesn’t sit right but fate always has a hand in things.” She’s speaking of fate like she knows even more stuff that I don’t. Her sight was always a pain in the ass, that hasn’t changed.
“That's the status quo with you adults,” I say after staring at her for a few seconds. I have a helluva lot more faith in her than my dad, but that’s still not the fountain of faith most have in their parental figures.
“I’m not saying I won’t tell you, now is not the time. I’ll see you at home for dinner. I’ll be out until then,” she says leaning forward to hug me for real this time.
That brief few seconds of being encased in her scent reminds me of mom and I sigh with the good memories it evokes. She pulls away and waves as she heads towards the front door. With a distracted smile on her face she steps around the guy standing at the top of the three stairs that lead to the exit.
The first time my eyes flick over him the second time, they get stuck. Other than the Hazard boys he’s one of the prettiest guys I’ve ever seen. Thick black hair, tousled in that way that magazine cover models can only pull off. Light green eyes stand out from his pale face. He’s dressed down a bit, a button up light blue shirt and a pair of dark skinny jeans but I can tell by looking at him he comes from money.
Considering he’s here at this school, it's old money.
The skin on the back of my neck tenses as I feel a
presence come up beside me. “My brother knows how to make an entrance, doesn’t he?” I keep my eyes on the candy in the doorway but know the witch-boy at my side isn’t a threat.
I have to admit, his brother is hot. Denying that would be a lie but I’ve already got four hot guys to deal with, the last thing in the world I need to do is add another.
“I guess,” I finally say, shrugging and turning to walk back towards the lunch room. I’ve pretty much missed it but I’m hungry and will deal with being late to the next class.
“Whoa, you’re seriously not going to go all slut-spastic on him?” I stop and look at my slightly unwanted companion. I give him a critical look over. He’s immaculately dressed, his hair is styled perfectly. Even his white shoes are spotless. I’m pretty sure he and his brother are fraternal twins.
“Nope. Sorry to disappoint you.”
“I’m not disappointed at all. It means we can be friends,” he says it with a smile on his face and laughter in his green eyes.
“I’m guessing everyone goes gaga over him?” I ask. He nods and loops his arm around my shoulders. I step back out of his grasp, it's a bit too early for the whole invasion of personal space. “I’d think they’d do the same over you too, considering you’re twins.”
“Sure, some try but don’t worry, I’m not a boob guy. You could say I’m more of an ass guy,” he says winking but keeps his distance. The realization of what he’s implying, thankfully, hits me quickly.
He’s gay.
He wiggles his eyebrows at me and I can’t help but respond to the playful and slightly hopeful smile on his face. He’s got one of those open ones that are infectious and annoyingly pretty. I like him, I might keep him around. We’ll see, I’ve never been good at making friends and I tend to say awkward stuff that makes the ones who do brave in their attempts to get close to me, run away.
“Let’s grab some cold, probably bad food and be late for our next class,” I say, heading towards the lunchroom. He follows me.
“Aren’t you worried about the competition?” he teases.
“Nope, my testosterone headaches are boob guys.”
“Guys? Do tell,” he says, lowering his voice for dramatic effect.
“Gossip whore, eh?” I ask rolling my eyes but thoroughly amused.
“Isn’t everyone?” he counters. He’s not wrong. I might not spread gossip, but I love hearing it. It's nice to be reassured that other people do stupid stuff just like me. Makes me feel more human and only a little guilty. Not guilty enough to stop listening to it when it comes my way, though.
“Some childhood friends that want to be pains in my ass, is all,” I explain vaguely. My instincts tell me he’s genuine and probably a good friend to have but we met like five minutes ago and I’ve never been fast at forming relationships with people. This guy is the third-base friend in five minutes while I’m the first base type six-months in.
“No tales of… orgies?” He wiggles his eyebrows again and lightly shoulder bumps me.
“We haven’t even made it to first base yet, perv.” He laughs and opens the door for me to the lunchroom. I feel Phoenix before I see him and slightly cringe because I know he’ll say something.
And of course he does.
“Yet,” Phoenix says stepping into our path. He was on the other side of the door eavesdropping, apparently. Why he waited when I can see that the lunchroom is empty, I don’t know but it’s safe to assume he waited for me. I’ll carefully ignore the fact that I’m slightly pleased by this.
“Never,” I say breezing past him.
“Who’s your new friend?” Phoenix asks eyeing—whatever his name is—up and down.
“I’m Teddy, my parents call me Theodore and I hate it but they won’t let me change my name to Esmerelda.” Ah, so that’s his name. I thought my mom was bad at picking names. I’d have never pegged him as a ‘Teddy’. “You must be one of the testosterone headaches.”
I bite my lip to keep from laughing. Yeah, Teddy and I will get along. Maybe this friend I can keep because whether I want to admit it to myself or anyone else, I need a friend.
“You gotta love Nora’s pet names. It shows you how much she likes us.” No one can miss the emphasis he put on ‘us’. Trying to stake his nonexistent claim. I wonder how dumb he’s going to feel when he realizes it’s absolutely necessary.
“I’m surprised you didn’t whip it out and pee on her,” Teddy muses joining me at the lunch counter. This time the laugh escapes me.
I look over my shoulder at Phoenix when he doesn’t come back with another sarcastic comment and see him staring at Teddy in contemplation. The minute he realizes he isn’t a threat the tenseness of his shoulders ease and he turns to me with a smile of triumph. Phoenix has figured it out already, somehow, and doesn’t look like he feels dumb at all.
Why do I feel like I gave him something I shouldn’t have?
His eyes hold mine steadily and the humor in them softens to something deeper that makes me feel like giving him a hug. I don’t, obviously—he’s still partially on my shit list but the urge still exists.
“I’ll see you after school, Nora,” he says, blowing me a kiss and walking away.
“That’s one sweet piece of—“
“Teddy!” I exclaim.
“What? He is. You lucky minx you. What do the other ones look like?”
“I’m sure if you hang around me long enough, you’ll see.”
“How come there’s so much tension there, and not the good kind either?” He seems genuinely curious so I answer him.
“They've got a lot of ho baggage.” It’s mostly a lie and tastes bitter in my mouth. The bond is a living, breathing thing and now that I know what it is, I can’t deny it anymore.
I’m just as much theirs.
“Four guys that look like him? That’s incredible and the subject of a dream or two I’ve had.”
I laugh again and it’s one of the many I share with him throughout the day.
Chapter Eight
“Teddy, if you stopped staring at his ass you might be able to get out the door,” I tease, poking him lightly in the ribs. Teddy laughs and winks and grabs my hand to drag me out the door. I’m still a little uncomfortable with the level of touchy-feeling Teddy has but I’m adapting and not willing to alienate him by pushing him away every single time. Although, despite that thought, I still do at times.
“I can’t help it, I’m a butt connoisseur.” I roll my eyes and laugh.
“If by that you mean you have to look at them all, then sure.”
“Every butt deserves a look, especially the soccer team.”
He pulls my arm through the bend of his elbow and pulls me closer; I let him because I know nothing will come of it and it doesn’t feel as uncomfortable as it did. He’s wearing me down. Teddy is a walking, talking erect penis, but he’s sweet and thoughtful. He’s also great at getting me to laugh and laughter is something I’ve been short on lately.
I like it.
We pull up short and Teddy tenses. Frowning, I look up and discover his brother standing a short distance ahead of us. Teddy admitted earlier that they’re fraternal twins but that lately they weren’t close anymore. Abraham—I think his parents had a thing for presidential names—is hyper focused on his witch studies and Teddy is afraid it’s of an even darker nature than their parents. He also said his brother abruptly changed over the summer after going to a camp for witches that only invited Abraham and was arranged by their parents.
Apparently, he only recently discovered that his family are dark practitioners and is pretty positive his brother is following in their footsteps. Something that worries him. Practicing dark magic isn’t forbidden but some more powerful spells are because of what they require to fuel them.
Sacrifice.
Teddy is the complete opposite. He’s a naturist which means he’s all about plants and animals. Witches with those abilities are always fun loving and sweet. It’s literally programmed into their DNA.
/> He didn’t share what his brother’s specialty is, and I didn’t ask. He asked mine, and I hedged around it. How do I explain that I’m a mix of several? That’s rare enough as it is and will garner attention even though my mother was the same way. I have more traits than her, technically more power. Then you toss in the other ones. Yeah, I’m totally not going to tell him about those.
Teddy and I are definitely becoming friends, he’s the kind of person that I need in my life and I’m stupid enough to pass it up—but we’re not at the die-for-each-other stage, we’re more at the play-pranks-and-hope-for-forgiveness stage. Maybe one day I can trust him with something like that, but not right away, not even close.
“You’re expected home before dinner,” Abraham says, breaking the telling silence between the two of them.
“Yep,” Teddy says pulling me the other direction. Instead of towards the parking lot he pulls me to the park beside the school. We sit on the swings next to each other and I keep my mouth shut and let him process whatever is going through his mind. The look on his face is pensive and occasionally a flicker of worry makes him frown.
Finally, he turns to me and says, “He’s fucking weird, right?” I reluctantly laugh but it's a short, small one. This is him venting and I’m the kind of friend that will let him do just that, whether it's talking or sitting here watching the cars drive by. With a deep sigh he starts to swing back and forth and I join him.
After a while he stops and spins in place, his eyes full of sadness and thoughts that I can’t read, not even in his scent. The slightly burnt smell of anxiety is covering everything else up.
“He used to be different, I mean… don’t get me wrong, he’s always had a bit of a dark edge to him but he used to laugh and smile. Now he’s always a grouchy asshole and I feel like our parents are the one who made him this way,” he says with sadness thick in his voice.
