He made it sound all so chivalrous, just a man worried about someone he cared for. But I knew better now, knew how quickly he used and then discarded people. I’d been fooled by the caring act too many times before.
I pushed on his chest. “I’m starting to think that you don’t want me to learn anything. You like being able to torture me.”
His gaze was on my lips. His leg was bent, resting in between mine, and damned if I didn’t wish he’d bring it forward, just a couple of inches, because even though I shouldn’t want him, there was no denying that I did.
There was something very right and very wrong about our chemistry. Or the way I felt alive when he was around. I’d spent too many years hiding out in Salem, and now my body went crazy anytime it got adrenaline. I should be swinging at him right now, and I was wetting my lips instead.
“I guess that’s one way to describe your relationship. Not sure I’ve even seen quite this mode of torture,” Oscar said, laughing as he walked past us. I hadn’t even heard him walk in.
Hawk straightened. I readjusted myself, feeling like a kid who’d just gotten caught doing something bad. Not that I would’ve actually done anything, so I was not sure what my problem was. Just because an attractive male got close, it didn’t mean it was my fault I was attracted to him on a cellular level.
I stood and, with an awkward nod to Oscar, made my exit.
19
It had been so sunny, but the minute I stepped outside the broker’s office, it was as if a storm cloud, a dark, mean one, hovered overhead. It was too cold to rain in Xest, but it looked like it would be one hell of a snow day. I picked up my pace, hurrying to Zark’s before this thing unloaded on me. The cloud was drifting the same way I was walking, but I luckily made it to Zark’s before it dumped its foul weather onto me.
I tucked my bag away under the bar.
Gregor was already there, giving me a smile. “Beautiful day, huh?”
“It was, but not so much now. Looks like there’s a storm about to let loose.”
“Really? I didn’t see that coming. Oh well. So what have you been up to? How’s it going over at the broker house?” He came over and leaned on the bar next to where I was standing.
“It’s okay. Not the worst. I’m sure you’ve heard all the gossip, but it’s not as bad as all that.” The way people stared at Hawk, if I didn’t downplay it a bit, they’d imagine he was about to murder me.
“Yeah, I’ve noticed you hold your own with him.”
“Not that big of a deal. I swear.” I grabbed the towel off the bar, looking for something to wipe down or anything other than this conversation. Gregor was a nice guy, but when he looked at me like I walked on water, it was a bit much to swallow.
He followed me as I worked my way along the bar top. “You know, I’ve been meaning to ask if you want to go get that…”
Zark slammed the door open, walked in, and gave the crowd a stare-down. “Who brought the black cloud? You know that’s not allowed here. You have a black cloud, you stay home or go somewhere else.”
He scanned the crowd.
No one spoke.
I leaned closer to Gregor and whispered, “What’s he mean by brought the black cloud? Clouds just happen…don’t they?”
“That cloud you saw when you got here, someone must have brought it when they came. Maybe they thought your good luck would rub off on them.”
“You mean that cloud that is overhead right now isn’t bad weather?” The one that seemed to be moving with me for my walk. Oh, no. I saw where this one was heading, and I wasn’t going down because it wasn’t a sunny day. Not this time.
“A black cloud doesn’t move like a normal cloud, not even for the fifth wind. It follows a particular person, and it’s easy to spot because it seems to stagnate over a person no matter where the wind is blowing.”
“Speak up!” Zark said loudly. “Who brought the black cloud, and don’t lie. It’s been hovering over here for ten minutes already.”
Gregor’s brows dropped as he looked my way. He wasn’t the only one. Most of the people in the room were starting to look at me too. It was like a contagion that was spreading until all eyes landed on me. Someone might’ve come in right before me. Maybe they’d been walking here a few minutes in front of me? It was possible. It wasn’t necessarily me.
Zark followed everyone else’s gaze and settled on me, the lines on his face growing deeper by the second. He crossed the room.
A clap of thunder rang out so loud that it felt like the building shook. One of the regulars I knew by face got up and started edging his way toward the door, as if hoping no one would notice.
Zark saw him. I saw him. The entire room saw him.
It couldn’t have been me. I was good luck. Everyone thought I was. Was everyone wrong? For once, I was the beacon of light? Right?
Zark looked around again and then back to me.
“Tippi, can I have a word with you?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Another customer, this one near the far wall, headed toward the bathroom. There was a back door in that direction. It was such an obvious ploy. I didn’t even bat an eye when he quickly dodged to the exit instead.
I walked around the bar, thinking we’d go in the back to talk.
Zark walked toward the door. “We should talk out there,” he said.
He opened the door and waited. Outside, the darkness of the cloud loomed overhead and ate up our shadows. Everywhere else, the sun was shining.
“Let’s walk a ways down the street. I don’t want patrons listening in.” He was looking up as he said it.
He walked to the end of the building and waited. Okay, that wasn’t that far. He’d be hard-pressed to notice a change that slight, even if he was staring upward with an eagle eye. But if he wanted to go any farther, I was going to have to fake an ankle injury. I couldn’t lose this job. Not with immigration looming. And to lose it over a storm cloud? That was insane. We were probably going to be buried in snow soon, and I’d be out of work? No. I wasn’t taking the hit for bad weather.
I made my way to him, avoiding looking up.
He was, though.
“Tippi, maybe you should take the day. I don’t want any of this nasty business sullying your reputation.” He made a shooing motion, as if trying to get me away from the building as fast as he could without touching me.
“That’s not my cloud. I should probably stay.” I didn’t have a black cloud. It was bad weather. If I left and it cleared, it would be my cloud forevermore. What if I left and a gust of wind pushed it along with me? My reputation would be sullied in all of Xest, and I couldn’t take another hit in that department.
“No, no, you should go and rest up.” He inched forward, still trying to shoo me. “You should take the night off—full pay, of course. I insist. You look tired, and you don’t need this additional stress.”
There were only two choices: (A) walk away with some dignity, or (B) refuse, run back into the bar, and have them drag me out while I left nail marks in my wake. It was tempting for sure.
“Okay. Maybe you’re right.” I nodded for a few seconds, not moving as I looked upward. “I’ll see you tomorrow, though, right? I come in for my shift?”
“Of course.” He nodded, but not vigorously. It was a little bounce, like his chin had hit a speed bump it was forced to get over.
I edged a few feet away, walking backward, nodding and waving at Zark as he watched.
He hadn’t taken a step toward the door. He was standing and watching me, smiling and waving back, as if enjoying the shade of the dark cloud above.
I had to move. If I didn’t, I’d look like I thought it was my cloud. Maybe if I walked very slowly. I crossed the street and made my way down the block at a pace that would lose to a turtle. I didn’t look up until I was a mile away. I didn’t need to. I knew it was still over me by the brightness of the street ahead of me and the lack of shadow where I walked. Still, I glanced up. There it was. The black cloud.
I turned around and looked back toward Zark’s. The sun was shining brightly. I looked ahead to nothing but sunny skies.
The only place the sun wouldn’t shine was over me.
Shit. It was mine.
Bautere was staring upward as I approached.
“You’ve got a dark cloud,” he said as I neared.
“It’s not mine.” It didn’t matter what anyone said; I wasn’t claiming this thing. No way.
“It came with you.”
“I don’t care. It’s not mine,” I said, walking to the center of the clearing. “Why? Are you afraid of practicing with me?”
I’d hiked up here first thing this morning, just to be out of the broker building before the sun broke and the black cloud became obvious. Now even the great Bautere didn’t want to come near me. I’d wander around the wall next, not that I knew what to do about that either.
Bautere laughed deeply. “No, you’d have to bring something a lot darker than that cloud to scare me. Are you ready?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Was I ready? I was never really ready. Wasn’t sure I ever would be. That was the problem.
He crouched and then lunged at me.
I shot up at the last second, soaring a good ten feet in the air. Instead of rotating in midair, I fell again, crashing into the snow and rolling to a stop.
I sat up and smiled. I’d failed again. But not completely. For a moment there, I’d felt like I was flying. Black cloud be damned. I could do this. I was going to do this.
“Looks like the witch is finally learning to wield her magic,” Bautere said
“I guess I am.” I got to my feet, ready to try again.
I weaved through another alley, making my way to Zark’s without an audience. After how much progress I’d made at practice, I’d walk out of this alley, and the sun would shine down on me. And if it didn’t, it was because it wasn’t shining on anyone. There was no way I still had a black cloud lingering.
The first step wasn’t good. Nor were the next ten or twenty. It was sunny everywhere but where I walked.
It would go away. I’d keep walking and it would disappear. Walking was even easier today, as I was clearing the way like I was Hawk. No one wanted to get anywhere near me.
I got to Zark’s a few minutes later. The place was empty. It was the same shift I always worked, but something was definitely different. Even if the place had been packed, I’d have known something was wrong with Zark as soon as I walked in. His smile, normally lit from the reflection off all the coin he was bringing in, was dimmed.
Gregor was smiling. He glanced at his father and smiled wider, as if he could balance out the vibe in the empty bar.
“Tippi, we need to talk,” Zark said.
I tucked my hands in my pockets and nodded. I couldn’t take the look on his face for too long. The flat eyes that didn’t sparkle with coins.
“I know. It’s the cloud.” There was no more denying it. I had a cloud.
“You know, sometimes it’s a fluke and they hang on to the wrong person for a little bit before they realize the mistake,” Gregor said.
Zark didn’t acknowledge him. “I saw it heading this way with you. Who knows how long it might last? I can’t afford to have it here.”
“I get it.” I kept nodding, not sure what else to do or say. I couldn’t blame him or even be mad. What else could you do with a person haunted by a black cloud? This place had never been so empty.
“I can pay you to leave if you want?”
I shook my head and took a step back. “No, that won’t be needed.”
I was fired. What did you say when you got fired?
Zark didn’t know what else to say either, as he started bobbing his head as well. Or he knew exactly what to say but didn’t have the nerve to tell me to get out because of who I was associated with. Looked like I was going to have to kick myself out.
I hooked a thumb toward the door. “I guess I’ll get going.”
“If it goes away, stop by. Maybe I can hire you back.” He lifted a shoulder and scratched his jaw, as if it weren’t beyond impossible.
I smiled, as if that made me feel so much better.
I waved toward Gregor, who wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me either.
I was only a couple steps outside of Zark’s when Gregor called my name and chased after me.
“Hey, I hope you know this doesn’t affect our friendship at all, right?”
Even as he spoke, people were crossing the street to get away from me. I hadn’t thought we were actually friends, but I couldn’t afford to lose any right now, especially with the list of fifty I needed for immigration. It was bad enough I’d just lost my job.
Another wave of people parted as they approached us. Still…
“You sure?”
Gregor waved toward the people giving us a wide berth. “Definitely. Black clouds happen to everyone at some point.”
They did? Then why was everyone acting so weird? “You’ve had a black cloud?”
He tucked his hands in his pockets, looking around the now-empty street. “Uhm, well, not really. I’m sure I will at some point.” He ducked his head, and then shrugged before looking at me. “Even if I don’t, I don’t care if you do.”
“Thanks.” With a sea of people running from me, it was nice to have someone not ebbing and flowing with the tide. He wasn’t a bad-looking guy, and he just got a little cuter.
“Can I come by and say hi sometime? We’re friends, right? I’d hate to think we’d never hang out again.”
“Definitely.” Black cloud or not, I felt a little less bleak.
“Maybe a cocoa tomorrow night?”
“Sure.” How could I turn down a guy that was so set on being loyal to me?
20
I walked Xest for a good hour, trying to shake the dark cloud, before I gave up. The broker’s office was silent as I walked in—until the monkeys started their funeral procession music to the beat of my step. They’d been practicing that one—a lot. They didn’t need the directive to stop this time. Once glance did the job.
Zab smiled, but it was the pitying variety. Bibbi was giving me straight-up pity, sans the smile to water it down. My situation was so bad that apparently pity had outranked fear.
Musso glanced up and looked around the room and then back at me. “So she got fired? So she’s got a black cloud? Not the end of the world.” He grunted and went back to work.
“You all know.” Who needed a newsflash paper when gossip traveled at the speed of light?
“Zark posted a sign on his door that you were gone and it was safe to come back about a half an hour ago,” Musso said.
“So you got fired?” Zab asked.
I dropped into Belinda’s old seat, afraid to get too close to anyone in case it was catchy. “Yep. The tides seem to be turning. I was good luck, and now I’m bad. So bad that he offered to continue to pay me to stay away. It was too humiliating to accept.”
Although I’d thought of it, right after, the thought of food occurred to me. In the end, the shame of getting paid to stay away beat out hunger, especially when there were usually crackers or rolls at the tea station here. Wasn’t sure if that logic would hold up after eating nothing but crackers for a month. Looked like I’d find out. At least there was no rent to pay, but that would probably change too if this black cloud didn’t go away.
“How does a person even end up with a black cloud?” I asked the room in general.
Musso shrugged, not bothering to look up from his work. “It happens. You probably did something you didn’t even realize.”
“Did you open an umbrella inside?” Zab asked.
“Or spill salt that wasn’t being used in a puddle?” Bibbi asked.
“Break a mirror? That would do it for sure,” Zab said.
The monkeys broke into something suspiciously close to a murder-mystery theme song. They were getting better. If their timing wasn’t so horrendous, I might appreciate it.
�
�Not. Now.”
Their playing screeched to a halt, literally.
“Always suppressed. We’re artists. We need to express ourselves,” Speak No Evil said.
I ignored the glares coming from the band and turned back to Zab and Bibbi, since Musso had already moved on. “I didn’t do any of those things.”
Zab started drumming his pencil on his desk. “Well, they do sometimes just spontaneously appear. It could’ve happened by pure dumb luck.”
“Are bad things going to start happening now?” I waved a hand. “Forget I asked that. I just got fired. That’s obviously not a good thing.”
I slumped forward, my forehead in my hand. That was when the silence hit me. The black cloud had followed me here. Had it scared all the people away?
I squinted an eye open. “Why is it so empty here? Has it been empty all day?”
So much for not paying rent. I might be homeless and jobless soon. I felt something invisible and furry brush against my hand right before a wet tongue licked my nose. Even Dusty pitied me.
Bibbi started fidgeting and suddenly needed to go into the back room. Musso was following her before she was out of the room, mumbling about how she messed up the tea station every time she touched anything. Zab watched them leave like they’d taken off with the last lifeboat on the Titanic.
“Zab?”
He stopped drumming his pencil as if he’d given up the fight. “We were busy, but not overly so. Probably just a lag about this time.”
Musso walked back into the office. Now that he’d handled the tea problem, he’d give me a straight answer.
“Musso, was it busy before I showed up?”
Without a pause in his step, he said, “The place was packed until someone saw you. They came in and said, ‘The Nowhere witch is heading this way and she’s still got the cloud.’ We cleared out in under two minutes.”
“I should leave. I don’t want to ruin business for you guys too. It’s bad enough I emptied out Zark’s.”
The Nowhere Witch (Tales of Xest Book 2) Page 12
