Could It Be Magic

by Heather Mar-Gerrison

  Chapter 29 – The ‘sort of’ plan…

  Laars

  Laars couldn’t settle to anything.

  Saul’s ‘sort-of’ plan couldn’t be more concerning. It basically consisted of Saul not thinking about his boyfriend at all while his dad was around. Well, that was just impossible – they were in each other’s minds constantly.

  He tossed his games controller to one side. There was no way he was going to be able to get into a game when he was so concerned about his boyfriend. Worrying about Saul was an all-consuming thing and he just couldn’t think of anything else. Was he okay? Was his father giving him a hard time? Had he broken down his defences and seen the person he’d fallen in love with in his mind’s eye?

  He heartily hoped not. The idea of facing his boyfriend’s angry father was enough to have his legs shaking. The fear was increased ten-fold knowing that he was an all-powerful wizard who was capable of turning him into a frog or something equally as disconcerting.

  What would he do to him, knowing that he’d kissed his son?

  Would he ever be able to forgive him, or would he hold it against him forever?

  Laars had never really been one for worrying about anything – but that was before he’d fallen in love. Saul was now his absolute everything – and the idea that the person who meant more to him than anything else in the world had a parent that didn’t like him was really disturbing. He’d done nothing other than to fall in love. What on earth was so intolerable about that to Saul’s father, that Saul was currently fighting off a nosebleed to prevent his father from seeing him through his mind?

  Laars knew that Saul was suffering, because since they’d become so close and had declared their love for each other, Laars could see everything that Saul could see and vice versa. They could read each other’s minds and therefore knew what each other were thinking, or seeing, or doing. It had taken a bit of getting used to and they had to block each other from certain things for practical reasons – no one needed to share bathroom breaks…

  He rubbed his eyes and got up. He couldn’t let him suffer this shit alone. He needed to go and see Saul.

  A throbbing pain at the back of his skull stopped him in his tracks. Fuck. What the hell was Saul doing to him? Okay, okay. I won’t come to you. I’m just worried about you, that’s all.

  Don’t be… Saul’s voice floated into his mind as clear as anything before he got the low buzzing that sounded a little like an off-station radio. Saul really was blocking him now. Christ, he was good at that…

  Promising himself – and Saul – that he wasn’t going to come looking for him, he decided that he still needed to eat today. Throwing on a semi-clean top and dragging his jeans on, he shoved his feet in his trainers and grabbed his wallet and his keys. He knew he didn’t really need his keys because Saul had the most uncanny knack of unlocking doors with his mind. Still, if his dad hung around all day he’d be locked out until he’d gone and Saul and he were reunited.

  Heading down to the student union bar, Laars bought himself a coffee and a slice of tiffin and then went to sit by the window. He was absolutely sure he’d see him soon because he could see what Saul could see, and he could tell by Saul’s current surroundings that he was heading towards this end of the campus. He’d promised to stay indoors and out of sight of Saul and his father, but he just couldn’t seem to help himself from wanting to be where Saul was…

  Chapter 30 – Soulmates…

  Saul

  “Who is that?” Saul’s father’s eyes narrowed as he gazed across the courtyard into the window of the Student Union bar.

  “Who?” Saul asked nervously. He was valiantly battling his father’s attempts at breaking into his thoughts and at the same time, blocking himself from thinking about Laars and it was exhausting. Not least because it was something he’d never had to do before. Back at home, before he’d met and fallen in love with Laars, his magical prowess was so poor that his mind was naturally closed to penetration. It was only when Laars had come bursting into his life that he seemed to blossom into the witch his father had always wanted him to become.

  The last thing Saul wanted was for his father to realise that he’d finally developed his magical ability. Finding that out would spark his curiosity and he would want to know how and why it had happened – and then he would start picking apart his thought processes and he would see Laars was at the centre of his world – and therefore his inspiration.

  “That redheaded young man in the window. He’s staring at us.”

  “Pfft,” Saul spluttered as convincingly as he could muster. Fuck! What the hell was Laars doing there? He was supposed to be laying low – or even better, hiding under his bed or in his wardrobe or something.

  Hysterical giggles started to bubble up inside his chest at the thought of Laars literally hiding in the closet and he had to shut his mind down before he laughed out loud. His mind raced. What should he say? Saul took a deep breath and for the first time in his life, he lied to his father through his teeth. “Oh, he’s just one of the History students.” He said as airily as he could pull off under the circumstances, “He stares off into space like that, most of the time.”

  His father raised an eyebrow, “Really.” He drawled. He clearly didn’t believe his son but could find no reason to actually disbelieve him. After all, Saul had always been an open book. His father had always been able to tell when he was lying and since he had no idea that the love of his life, Laars, even existed, due to him just about given himself an aneurism in defending his mind, he wouldn’t even suspect that he might be lying. “He’s a good-looking boy.” He acknowledged, “Unusual colouring. He reminds me of someone.” He added, his frown deepening.

  Saul coughed, “Oh?” he asked.

  Nigel Blackthorn’s attention was suddenly back on him with such full force that Saul felt a little light-headed. He could feel his father’s mind manipulation attacking his brain. “He looks like…. Never mind.” He looked back at Laars, his eyes narrowed to slits, “What did you say his name was?”

  Saul’s mouth went dry, “I didn’t.” he said, “I don’t know what his name is.”

  Nigel’s mouth was set in a grim line as he studied Saul like he was a bug under a microscope, “No,” he said slowly, “You didn’t, did you?”

  “He puts me in mind of an old friend of mine.” He said softly, “Arthur Zanelli.” He added, “He was a brilliant man. Married to a lovely girl. His death was never fully explained...”

  Saul’s jaw dropped. Zanelli? No way... and an unexplained death? What the actual fuck did that even mean? Fighting to keep his face straight and his mind protected against his father’s constant probing, he looked at his father blankly, “Well, I don’t know anything about that.” he said as uninterestedly as he could manage, “Shall I, uh, show you around the place?”

  Nigel frowned, his penetrating gaze fixed on his only son, “Yes.” He said, “I suppose you should. I haven’t got long before I have to get back home in any case. We’re extremely busy at the moment. Your sister is getting married during the Christmas break. I’m sure your mother has already informed you of this?”

  Saul’s jaw dropped and he shook his head, “No.” he said, “It must have slipped her mind. What’s the date of the wedding.” Even as he asked, he knew what the answer would be and he knew that was why his mother had failed to inform him. She wouldn’t have known how to tell him that his sister’s birthday was going to overshadow his twenty-first birthday – something his father wouldn’t even consider to be of any importance.

  “It’s the twenty-second of December,” his father said, “We expect you to be there.”

  Saul’s heart dropped like a stone in his chest. He was disappointed of course that the wedding was, unsurprisingly on his birthday but that wasn’t what was concerning him. He was more worried for his sister. Marissa hadn’t long turned nineteen, being less than two year younger than himself and therefore, really quite young to be getting wed, “Who’s the lucky ma
n?” he asked.

  Nigel’s eyes narrowed at his son, “What do you care?” he asked suspiciously, “Unless you wanted him for yourself, of course?” he added unnecessarily.

  Saul gazed steadily back at his father. He wasn’t going to let him talk down to him now that he was free of his regime, “I’ve always cared about Marissa,” he said, holding his head high, “and she’s always cared about me. Why wouldn’t I be interested?” He was bristling at his father’s attitude. Why the hell couldn’t he just be like everyone else’s dad and be happy for his kids no matter who they fell in love with? Or maybe he was fooling himself and more parents were like his father with his outdated attitude than Laars’ wonderful mother. What did he know?

  “Hmm,” he replied, “It’s a young man that works for me at the Pyramid. His name is Lawrence Goodman. He has good prospects, he’s an intelligent young man, he’s got good connections and his magical skills are good, if not excellent. I’m satisfied that they’ll make a good match.”

  And that was all that mattered to him – a good match. Not a love match – that just didn’t seem to make any difference to him.

  Saul knew that his father had never really loved his mother but knowing that hadn’t made growing up in house where there was little to no love easy – far from it. His mother had loved the children but their father had been absent for most of their childhood and their teen years had been strained as both children worked their way through puberty as best as they could. Marissa had been easier to mould and had accepted that she would be married off to some other family of good repute. It hadn’t been so easy to do the same with Saul. Not when their only son and heir had turned out to be as gay as gay got. Still, Lawrence Goodman was a good man – and someone that he knew his sister loved – because she’d loved him for as long as he could remember – secretly, of course, because neither she nor Saul ever gave anything away at home about their feelings for other people.

  Since leaving the magical community, Saul had become comfortable in his skin and now that he’d found his reason to live and breathe, he was revelling in the freedom he had to express the love he felt for Laars.

  “Laars?” his father’s thunderstruck voice suddenly punctured through his thoughts. Fuck! He’d let his guard down.

  “I beg your pardon?” he asked pleasantly as he battled with his heart rate to return to normal and looked from left to right in a bid to back up what he said in reply, “Did you say there were cars?”

  Nigel grimaced, “I thought you’d spoken.” He said, eyeing his son with even more suspicion, “I thought you said a name.”

  Saul shook his head, “No.” he said firmly, “I said absolutely nothing.” And I’m going to think of absolutely nothing, too, for the rest of the day...

  *

  Finally, after another three hours of constantly shielding his mind, Saul’s father gave up and left and he was finally able to shoot over to meet Laars.

  “Are you absolutely sure he’s gone?” Laars asked, his eyes searching Saul’s.

  Saul nodded, “Definitely.” He said, “I can’t feel him trying to poke around in my head anymore.”

  Laars looked utterly outraged, “How fucking dare he?” he spluttered, “It’s none of his fucking business!”

  Saul looked smug, “No.” he agreed, “It isn’t – and he didn’t get anything on us. I batted every single one of his mind attacks right back at him. I’ll bet he’s got one humdinger of a migraine.” He grinned at his boyfriend.

  Laars held his arms open and Saul crossed the distance in a heartbeat and melted against his boyfriend, “Good.” He said with feeling.

  “I love you.” Saul murmured as Laars kissed him.

  Laars held him a little tighter, “And I love you, too.” He whispered, “So damned much.”

  “Oh, my God.” Saul pulled away from his boyfriend and gazed at him in wonder. His face was a mixture of embarrassment verging on mortification, surprise bordering on shock and out and out happiness. “You know what this means, don’t you?” He asked.

  Laars looked back at him blankly, “Um, no.” he said.

  Saul nodded, “This has to mean that we’re soulmates.” He breathed.

  Laars blinked, “Soulmates?” he repeated.

  Saul nodded, “Soulmates.” He confirmed, and in that instant, Laars knew it was true. Saul hadn’t said a word but he’d heard him deep inside his head – and felt it deep within his bones. Soulmates. Of course, they were. It was written in the stars. It was carved in his heart. Fuck. What the hell was the matter with him? He was getting all romantic about it…

  “How?” he asked, “Why?”

  Saul shrugged happily, “I have absolutely no idea how I was able to stop him from finding out about you today but I did it – and I did it because we’re soulmates. I’m absolutely sure of it. I think you were subconsciously helping me.” He said with a delighted laugh, “Were you?”

  Laars nodded, “I think I must have been.” He said, a look of wonder on his face, “I tried checking in with you a couple of times and all I got was what sounded like a radio that had wandered off its station, you know?”

  Saul leaned in and was treated to a toe-curling kiss from Laars, “Soulmates.” He murmured between slow, open-mouthed kisses, “Always.”

  “Mmm,” Laars murmured, “I’m convinced, my little witch,” he smiled lazily at Saul, “I think I need a repeat performance of that kiss, just to be sure, though.”

  Saul laughed. His heart almost bursting open with utter joy.

  Chapter 31 – Demi-angel…

  Laars

  “My sister is getting married over Christmas.” Saul was lying across the sofa in Laars’ dorm, with his head resting in Laars’ lap as they watched the small TV that they’d managed to acquire with a little helping of Saul’s magic.

  Laars, who had been stroking his fingers through Saul’s amazingly silky hair, looked down at him lovingly, “How do you feel about that?” he asked.

  Saul shrugged, “To be honest, I was absolutely sickened to begin with. I thought my father was pushing her into a marriage that she would never be happy in – but then I realised who it was that she was marrying – and actually, I couldn’t be happier for her. It’s a guy I know. Lawrence Goodman – someone we both went to school with and she and he have been inseparable from the first time they ever met.”

  Laars smiled, “Soulmates.” He murmured. “Just like us.”

  Saul bit his lip, “Well, not just like us.” He said, “Her boyfriend doesn’t have flaming red hair and green eyes. No one is going to bat an eyelid at their union. Ours, though…” He bit his lip. They still hadn’t taken their relationship to the next level for fear of the light that they were just about keeping in check whenever they got a little carried away with each other, would spill out for all to see and they’d be found out.

  Laars hadn’t really been able to understand what Saul was so worried about to begin with, but that had all changed when he’d gone home for a couple of days the previous weekend and confessed to his mother that he and Saul had fallen in love and were now boyfriends…

  “Sit down, Laars,” his mother said gently, “This might come as a bit of a shock.”

  Laars frowned at his mother but sat down. His whole life was becoming one big surprise after another – one more wasn’t going to make a whole lot of difference…

  “What?” He asked, “What are you about to tell me?”

  She took a deep breath, “I’m uh, I’m…” Suddenly he knew exactly what she was going to say, because he heard it in his mind, just like he heard everything that Saul was thinking moments before he said it, “You’re a witch!” He gasped, in shock but then he laughed, “Of course you are.” He said, shaking his head at the way his life had changed so much in the last few months and just how easy it was to now believe that his own mother was a witch. Why had it never occurred to him before?

  But wait. Hang on a minute, it had occurred to him before – when he was only four or fi
ve years old and was transported magically to safety, while his father perished in the ball of fire that was their car. “So, if you’re a witch… what am I, Mum?” he asked, even though he was actually slightly afraid of the answer. He didn’t want to be a demi-demon as Saul had feared him to be just before he left to meet his father.

  His mother smiled, “You’re an angel, sweetheart.” She said, smiling lovingly at him, “Well, a demi-angel, anyway. My father was a descendant of one of the oldest and most powerful demon clans.”

  He blinked, “And what the hell is one of those?” he asked, “Because my boyfriend seems to think I’ve got the colouring of a demon.”

  She laughed and nodded, “Yes,” she agreed, “You have – but that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with your magical blood. Sometimes red hair just comes from two people with very different colouring to each other. I’ve always had the darkest hair and your dad had very blonde hair – that does sometimes create red-haired offspring. And we were lucky that in the human world it really wasn’t of any concern – apart from perhaps not being quite on trend.” She smiled apologetically.

  Laars rolled his eyes but he couldn’t help the grin from spreading across his face as he thought about Saul and his fascination with his green eyes and bright red hair, “He loves me.” He said, “Even if I do look like a demon.”

  She smiled, “And so he should,” she said warmly, “he’s got an absolute diamond in you.”

  He sighed, “And I have in him, too.” He said, “I love him. Mum.”

  Her eyes widened slightly, “But it’s so soon…”

  He shrugged, “It might be – but I know the way I feel about him – and I love him. I’m in love with him.”