Duplicity (Spellbound #2)

by Nikki Jefford

  Gray’s mouth opened slightly.

  “Magic is all mind control, right?” Adrian said.

  “Mind control and spells,” Gray answered.

  “How do you turn invisible?”

  “I imagine it.”

  “So why not imagine appearing in another location? You already have the disappearing part down.”

  Gray twisted her lips. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t tried teleporting before. Adrian made it sound easy. She lifted her head. “Fine, how about I teleport myself to Spain?”

  The skin under Adrian’s eyes wrinkled as he flashed her a bemused smile. “You might want to try something closer to home first.”

  “Florida?”

  “Closer.”

  “California?”

  “Closer.”

  “Seattle?”

  “Mmm, closer.”

  With every response, Adrian’s grin grew wider. It made Gray want to laugh. When she spoke next she nearly did. “Five feet away?”

  Adrian did laugh this time. “That’s more like it.”

  Gray crossed her arms over her chest. “You know, I could just turn myself invisible and jump the five feet then reappear.”

  Adrian nodded. “That does make it sound less impressive.”

  “Still…” Gray grinned. “Teleportation—pretty cool. And I guess you have to start somewhere and make your way to those bigger leaps.” She grinned. “Like Spain.”

  Adrian shrugged.

  “I don’t know how this could possibly work,” Gray said more to herself than him. “It’s not like I haven’t tried a dozen times before.”

  “You know what they say: thirteenth time’s a charm.”

  His teeth were in two perfect rows when he flashed her an open-mouthed grin. This wasn’t Adrian’s real body—or so it was rumored. No one knew exactly why Adrian had given up his true skin, but Gray could venture a guess. Vanity.

  Why else would he encase himself in a body that appeared flawless to the eye? He was about six feet tall, all lean muscle mass, though not muscular in the bulging bicep over-the-top athletic sense. His skin had the appearance of a fading tan that never faded.

  But Adrian’s crowning glory was all above chest level. It was in the rich brown tresses of his hair that begged to be touched. Gray had never seen Adrian run so much as a finger through the silky locks—unlike Raj and Mr. Morehouse, who ran a hand through their hair when they were nervous or uncomfortable or both; or Nolan, the scoundrel, who had constantly swiped his sandy bangs off his face.

  Then there were his eyes, nothing extraordinary color-wise, but Adrian had a way of looking at a person that was at once calculating and intimate.

  “Whatever you’re doing isn’t working.” Adrian’s words startled Gray.

  She blinked several times. “What?”

  He lifted his chin toward her. “You haven’t moved an inch.”

  Gray looked down at her clogged feet then back up. “Why are you helping me?”

  “You returned my powers to me. I am forever in your debt.”

  At least she knew how to break that bond.

  Adrian took a giant step back. “Try it. Teleport across the room to my side.”

  Gray stared at the spot beside Adrian, but she thought of her car outside. The door handle on the driver’s side came into focus as the inside of the shop went out of focus. Gray imagined the night air on her skin. She never even closed her eyes.

  A second later, Gray was standing on the sidewalk beside the Beetle, facing the driver’s side. “No way!” Gray glanced down either side of the road then opened the car door and plopped into the driver’s seat. She wrapped her fingers around the steering wheel and repeated, louder, “No way!”

  She had to show Raj. The Beetle started and Gray took off down the road. With green lights the entire way, Gray made good time getting to Raj’s house. When she knocked, however, his sister informed her that he was at Lee’s.

  Gray’s heart dropped. Of course he was.

  Raj wasn’t the only one at Lee’s. Gray returned home to find a note from Mom that Mr. Morehouse was preparing a romantic Valentine’s dinner for her over at his place.

  Frozen rice bowl it was, then.

  While the meal heated in the microwave, Gray set up a TV tray in the living room and turned on the tube. There were a lot more titles to choose from on NetFlix than there had been ten months ago. Gray was wavering between Glee and The Vampire Diaries when the microwave beeped.

  As she headed back to the living room with the plated rice bowl, a chill hit her while crossing between the dining and living room. The front door was wide open, and beyond the frame was the dark apparition she’d seen on the street.

  Gray dropped her plate. As it hit the ground, she lifted a finger, but the door didn’t close.

  She took a step back, followed by another. The black-cloaked figure matched her movements and stepped inside. The door slammed shut behind him.

  Gray knew instantly it wasn’t Adrian. She wished it was.

  “Who are you?” Gray demanded. Maybe her firm voice would mask the quaking inside her body.

  The dark figure said nothing. She couldn’t tell if it was male or female, but she was going with male.

  His entire body was cloaked, his head covered by a draping hood.

  Grim Reaper.

  “Are you The Contact?” Gray asked suddenly.

  The cloaked figure nodded.

  “Do you not speak?”

  I speak.

  In her head, apparently. No, not creepy at all.

  “Why are you here?”

  I’m here to correct the mistake.

  There were multiple mistakes happening at the moment; he was going to have to be more specific. Gray glanced side to side trying to decide on the best exit strategy.

  “What mistake?”

  A bone white finger shot out of the black sleeve. You.

  If she could just visualize the interior at Lee’s place, she could get out of there. Mr. Morehouse had a dark oak dining table. The walls surrounding it were brick red. Or were they burgundy? Maroon? It wasn’t working. Gray still stood halfway between the front door and the staircase. Pieces of spilled rice stuck to her tights.

  Very well, she’d try Lee’s room. She’d studied every stitch on her tapestry rug, every scarf draped from the ceiling, and had considered Lee’s bed, namely what had or had not happened in it, way too long.

  The Contact went out of focus. His black cloak turned to red, orange, and green fabric. Gray’s fingers twitched as though reaching to touch them. Then she fainted. Luckily, the impact of the floor brought her back to the present and the figure moving in on her.

  This time, Gray visualized a much closer bedroom: Charlene’s.

  Gray materialized on the floor of the room, got up quickly, then stilled when she heard one of the hallway stairs creak. Her eyes darted to the closet and she dove inside, trying to calm her breath long enough to listen.

  Silence.

  She had to hold her breath every time she wanted to listen. When she did breathe it came out in soft ragged gasps. Then she heard it, another creak. This one closer.

  Please, Mom. Come home. Come home. Come home, Gray screamed in her head. She stopped chanting this plea once she remembered her mother would be defenseless without her powers.

  There was definite movement in the hallway. As the footsteps approached Charlene’s door, Gray visualized the entryway below. She pictured the carpet where it stopped and turned into tile.

  Oh God, he was inside the room.

  Entryway. Tile. Entryway. Safety.

  Gray appeared just beyond the spilled rice. The door was still wide open. She shoved her feet inside her clogs, grabbed her purse from the coat hook, and ran outside. Gray didn’t recall doing it, but halfway down the porch stairs she teleported into her car, backed out of the drive, and sped off as though the hounds of hell were at her heels.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  It was a small mira
cle that Mr. Morehouse allowed Raj into his home after making his daughter cry, a slightly bigger one that he let him go up to her room unannounced. The dozen roses, heart-shaped box of chocolates, and giant stuffed monkey must have granted him safe passage into the House of More.

  The sight of Raj balancing the gifts in his arms was ridiculous and endearing… or would have been if he hadn’t kissed Gray the day before.

  Talk about allowing a Trojan horse right through the gates.

  Lee let Raj come in, but only so she could scold him in private before sending him packing. She gestured to the gifts in Raj’s arms and made a sound of disgust. “I can’t be as easily bribed as my parental unit.”

  Raj set the load down on her bed and faced her. His gaze was intense. Lee looked away momentarily, then right back after reminding herself she wasn’t the one who should be avoiding eye contact.

  “You’re right,” Raj said. “That stuff was a decoy. I have your real present right here.” He placed his hand on his heart. No, it wasn’t his heart. Lee looked closer. There was a square-shaped bulge inside his breast pocket. Now that she looked at it, the small box stuck out of his snug cotton tee.

  Lee swallowed. “Raj…”

  “Lee, let me say something.” He took a step closer. “I love you and only you. The only reason I had that moment with Gray is because I thought of her as a part of you, but you’re right. The two of you may share a past history, but you’re separate entities now and that is why I won’t ever see Gray again.”

  Lee blinked rapidly. She was still processing the ‘I love you and only you’ part.

  Raj reached into his breast pocket and held out a square box wrapped in shiny pink paper.

  Lee took it. Like she could resist seeing what was inside. She tore the wrapping and tossed it onto her bed with the rest of her bounty. Beneath the pink paper was a red box. She removed the lid. Inside, a sterling silver heart was nestled over white padding. Lee pulled it out. Half the heart was solid silver; the other half swirling lattice. On closer inspection, she found that the two sides of the hearts lifted up like ladybug wings to reveal a message hidden inside: I love you.

  When she next glanced at Raj, he was grinning. It wasn’t the gifts or the words that got her, it was the look in his eyes. More than words, that look made her feel like Raj’s one and only.

  Tears slipped down Lee’s cheeks, and Raj’s smile dropped. “Lee…”

  “It’s okay,” Lee said, half laughing. “I’m crying because I’m happy.”

  Raj didn’t look convinced. He pulled out several tissues from the box on Lee’s nightstand and dabbed gently at her face. Lee wrapped her fingers around his wrist and stilled his hand. She was close enough to hear the breath Raj sucked in.

  “Raj,” she said, staring him directly in the eyes. “I love you, too.”

  He dropped the tissues. Lee moved in first. The heat of Raj’s mouth felt good against her cooling cheeks. Raj grasped Lee’s arm in a tight embrace as they kissed.

  Lee pulled away.

  “But Lee…” Raj stopped speaking when she shut her bedroom door.

  Crouching, Lee rolled the bottom drawer of her dresser open, pushed aside the socks covering her spell book, and set the hard-backed tome on top of the dresser, opening to the place she’d bookmarked: the silencing spell.

  Lee knew it worked. She’d tried it on herself. The first time she cast it, looking into a mirror, it had only lasted a minute. With practice, she was up to fifteen minutes.

  “Lee, what are you doing?”

  “I pulled out a silencing spell,” Lee answered, her back to Raj. “No one will be able to hear us.”

  Raj’s sucked in a breath. Lee turned slowly. “The only drawback to the spell is it creates complete silence in the affected area.” Lee looked around her room. “That means once it is cast, neither of us will be able to speak.”

  Then again, talking wasn’t really what Lee had in mind.

  Raj studied her a moment. “Are you sure?”

  Lee grinned. “You’re not going to fight me on this?”

  Raj shook his head slowly. “It’s your decision.”

  Lee set the silver heart on top of the open spell book. “Wait here,” she said. She walked down the hall to her bathroom and pulled out the jar she’d stuffed in the cupboard below the sink. Fertility spells were a dime a dozen. Preventing pregnancy, on the other hand, was a recipe much harder to come by. But Lee had finally found the protection spell she was looking for and prepared it a week before the anniversary of her death.

  The herb mixture was still stashed where she’d left it beneath the sink. Lee unscrewed the lid on the jar, smelling chamomile and peppermint as she did. She slipped the jar under the faucet, filled it with water, and quickly drank it down.

  Before returning to her bedroom, Lee removed the nazar from around her neck. If she kept it on, she risked having the evil eye counter the infertility spell she’d placed over herself. Not good.

  Raj was standing in the same place she’d left him.

  Lee took up the hand mirror beside her jewelry box. She held it at her side and walked up to Raj. There was no hesitation in her steps, no falter in her words. She looked him straight in the eyes. “From your lips to your toes, a mute silence grows.” Lee smiled. “Oh, yes, and you have fifteen minutes.”

  Raj’s eyes widened. He mouthed, I love you.

  “I love you, too,” Lee said, then lifted the hand mirror to her face and recited the chant.

  Lee lay wrapped inside Raj’s arms. Out of all the feelings and emotions she’d expected, she wouldn’t have guessed peace, but here she was—the most content woman in the world.

  For the past ten minutes, she and Raj lay together not speaking, and it wasn’t because of the silencing spell. That had worn off a little too soon.

  Lee stared at the rainbow of colors draped across her ceiling and let out a deep, contented sigh.

  Then, her cell phone rang.

  Lee pulled back the covers and snapped into her clothes before her feet hit the floor. The name “Charlene” appeared on the display screen.

  “I’ll be right back,” Lee said to Raj and stepped into the hallway. That ought to give him time to get himself composed and out of her bed. Lee was surprised by the lack of anger or frustration she felt at seeing who was calling. She didn’t even scowl when Gray spoke without saying hi first.

  “Is Mom still there?”

  “Yeah, I think so.” Lee made her way to the bathroom and snatched her nazar off the counter. Not the best place to leave it.

  “Good. Make sure she doesn’t come home tonight.”

  “Why?”

  “Her contact paid me a visit at the house.”

  “You’re kidding. What did he want?”

  “I think he’s upset that she lied to him. I didn’t really want to stick around and find out, know what I mean?”

  A quick glance in the mirror revealed Lee’s mussed-up tresses. She smoothed her hand through her hair. “Mm-hmm.”

  “It’s spooky is what it is. The guy looks like the Grim Reaper.”

  “Really?”

  “And he doesn’t speak. Not aloud, anyway. He talks inside your head.”

  “Creepy.”

  “Way creepy. So, you’ll make sure Mom doesn’t go home?”

  Lee headed back to her bedroom but paused three feet away from the door. “Yeah, of course.”

  “Thanks.”

  Say good-bye, Lee told herself. Instead, she asked, “Do you have someplace safe to go?”

  “I’m headed to the magic shop.”

  “I said ‘safe.’”

  “Don’t worry, I stopped by earlier. Adrian thinks we’re working together.”

  Lee backed away from her door. “Working together on what?” Silence. “Gray?”

  “Look, I had to earn his trust. And what does Adrian love more than anything?”

  Lee swallowed. “Vengeance.” She took a quick last look at her door before retreating down t
he hall to Mr. Morehouse’s office and shutting herself inside. Lee braced herself against the sturdy oak desk against the far wall. “You’re going after Nolan, aren’t you?”

  Gray didn’t even try to deny it. “Don’t worry. He won’t get hurt. And I’ll be killing two birds with one stone. I taught myself a blackout spell. Once Nolan’s dealt with, I’ll use the same spell on Adrian while I get his blood. Then I’ll fill the vials, return the pendants to Holloway, and get the heck out of Dodge. I know that will make you happy.”

  Lee stood up. Her first instinct was to protest, but the truth was she did want Gray to leave town. It was for her own good, anyway. There was nothing for her here. A stab of guilt knifed its way inside Lee’s chest. “Don’t go into the shop alone. Let’s meet tomorrow after school. We do this together and then we can go our separate ways.”

  “I’m going in tonight,” Gray said. “It’s not like I can go back home, and Adrian’s not on the premises. I’m still on European time. Night is my day. I’m going in.”

  “If Adrian’s not even there, why exactly are you going in?”

  Gray’s voice evened out. “I need an object closely tied to Adrian in order to perform the blackout.”

  Lee tapped her fingers on top of Mr. Morehouse’s desk, then stopped. “I’m not gonna talk you out of this, am I?”

  “Negative.”

  “So you’ll just go in, get a trinket, and get out?”

  “That’s it—deadly dull compared to our much crazier capers this past year.”

  “Fine, promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

  “I won’t do anything you wouldn’t,” Gray said with a chuckle, right before hanging up.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Gray parked her car around the block and then walked to Adrian’s shop front. The street was now entirely deserted. Inside, the store was shadowed in darkness, not even a fixture light left on to brighten the displays.