“How’s that my fault?” I hissed, coming to a stop in the doorway so that he almost bumped into me. “It’s not my fault.”
Evan held his hands up then slowly brushed them down my sleeves until he could take my hands in his. He leaned into me, and murmured against my ear. “I’m sorry. I forget how little time you’ve had in our world.”
“Again, not my fault,” I whispered back, stepping forwards, braking our connection.
Evan put an arm across the doorframe to stop me from flouncing off so I stood still and waited, the heat of him at my back. “I know, but if you came back to Texas with me you’d have better access to people who could teach you.”
“I said I’d think about it, but not right now.”
“No hurry,” Evan said, withdrawing his arm barrier, but I got the impression that if he thought there actually might have been, or if I said the word, we’d be in his house the next time I opened my eyes. I let it slide, for now.
“What are you doing?” I asked looking at Étoile and Seren when I entered the living room, Evan only a pace behind me. The sisters were both sat cross legged on my floor watching David who was marking out a large circle with white grains that looked like salt. I hoped he planned on vacuuming.
“We’re going to call Chyler Anderson,” said Étoile, looking up from her pieces of paper.
“On the phone?” I asked. Moron.
“With magic,” Étoile confirmed.
“Ah. Are you sure no one’s thought of that already?”
“I did a divination spell while you were out,” said David, shaking the last grains to complete the circle. “She’s in the area. You can only do this spell in short range.”
“Oh.” Hadn’t my magic covered hers? I was starting to wonder if I should regret having done that.
“When she gets here, we can find out what’s going on,” added Seren, like I hadn’t guessed that part.
“Are you sure this is the right thing to do?” All three nodded back at me. I turned to Evan. “What about you?”
“It’s the best plan we’ve got.” Evan breathed out and his next words weren’t exactly reassuring. “It’s the only plan we’ve got.”
“Why haven’t you tracked her if she’s close by?” I put a big emphasis on the ‘if’.
“I can’t. I don’t have anything of hers to go on. I’ve never met her and I can’t sense her magic. I think something’s masking her.”
Ah. Oops. I gulped. I was the one masking her, but I’d done it to protect her from everyone else.
“How come David could do the divination spell then?” I asked, wishing there was a text book I could reach for rather than having to ask what everyone else clearly thought were dumb questions.
David took it upon himself to answer me. “It’s more general. It doesn’t give an exact location, just a rough area of where the person you’re looking for is. It works within a twenty mile radius. The good news is we were right in thinking she would look for you. I’m glad we found her first.”
“So it’s not specific... which is why you haven’t shimmered in to get her? Like you did with me?” I asked Étoile and she nodded.
David was on his hands and knees shaking more grains into the shapes of strange symbols around the outside of the circle. Seren was following him, stooping down every so often to put a small tea light in the centre of each symbol. When they completed the circle they stared down at what they had done then David nodded, apparently satisfied.
“So, what’s going to happen now?” I asked looking at the thick white lines and the swirls and shapes.
“We’ll do the spell to call Chyler and it will bring her to this circle. These symbols are protective.” David pointed to the ones that looked like spirals then to the others which looked like sand art to my untrained eye. “These other ones represent the elements – earth, wind, air and fire – and they’re part of the calling.”
“Oh.” I really, really needed a text book, and a crib sheet.
“The candles magnify the spell. Seren, I’m not sure these tea lights will be strong enough. Maybe we should get some bigger ones?” David checked his watch. “We won’t do the spell until dusk so there’s plenty of time.”
I wanted to ask why but I thought I’d probably shown myself up as an absolute neophyte quite enough today so I swallowed the question and instead said, “There’s a gift shop on Main Street that has lots of candles and things, or you could try Walmart.”
“Seren and I will go together.” Étoile had moved so fast that I hadn’t seen her come to a stop next to me. “Then David can finish looking through his spell book. See you later.” She swished out of the door, leaving Seren to gingerly close it behind her so that no draught would disturb their efforts.
After we heard the car start up, David settled himself on the sofa with a small leather bound book. It had symbols etched deeply into the creased and cracked cover.
“What’s that?” I asked.
David stopped flicking through the pages and looked up. “My family’s spell book. I’m checking to see if there is anything else I should do.”
“Can’t you just ask it?” I asked, thinking about Chyler’s book and how she seemed to communicate with it.
“It’s not voice activated, Stella.” David had taken on his teacher voice and sounded a little weary.
“Maybe Apple will make one,” I teased before I skirted around the circle and went into my room leaving him to his reading. After kicking off my shoes, I lay on my bed, looking up when Evan paused on the threshold.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
I nodded. “Just tired.” I folded my hands behind my head and stared up at the ceiling making an effort to get my thoughts back to where they had been. I couldn’t help feel something was horribly wrong, not just with Chyler but with the whole situation, but just when the thought seemed close to forming into a fully formed one, it disappeared leaving me a new trail to chase. I just couldn’t add it up fast enough. Was Chyler really Chyler, or was something much more dangerous at play?
I should have known to trust my intuition. My bad.
~
“Stella. Stella, wake up.” A hand shook me lightly for the second time.
I cranked open my eyes and stifled a yawn. Being woken up was only slightly more annoying than realising I’d fallen asleep and wasted who knew how much time. Evan was hovering over me, a mug in his hand.
“I made you coffee, sleepyhead,” he murmured and I felt the bed press down where he sat. “Though given the amount you drink, I’m surprised you can sleep at all.”
I made a noise that was half yawn, half groan and deeply unappealing. “How long have I been asleep?”
“A couple of hours. It’s nearly dusk, so I had to wake you.” He was looking at the other side of the bed with fondness, like he regretted not just climbing in and curling up instead. “Perhaps I shouldn’t keep you up so late. How about an early night tonight?”
I smirked and shuffled onto my elbows so I was sitting up. I smoothed my hair then rubbed consciousness into my eyes. “Easy, tiger. I don’t usually sleep in the afternoon. I must have been really tired.”
“We should take a vacation when this over. I’m partial to hot places.”
“Anything to get away from Wilding, huh?” I couldn’t help say it.
Evan shook his head. “I’d be with you anywhere and I know we don’t have to talk about it now, but just tell me you’re still considering coming back with me. I’ll make sure you have a good life. I’ll protect you.”
It was a warming idea and I leaned over to kiss him, because I really couldn’t get enough of him. “I haven’t said no, have I?” I grinned.
“No, you haven’t.” Evan stood up and stretched and I could see the muscles under his shirt work to keep up. As far as sights went, I’d add it to my list of things to see every day of the week. Too bad he had his clothes on. Oh, scrap that thought. I still needed to get up. “They’re ready and waiting for us in your living
room,” he said, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards and I knew he knew I was blatantly admiring his physique.
“They’re planning on cleaning up, right?” I asked as I followed him out and he just laughed.
My furniture had been pushed back against the walls and the circle exactly as it had been when I’d taken my impromptu nap, except the tea lights were gone and in their place were thick stubby candles, their blood red hue in stark contrast to the white lines.
Étoile, Seren and David were stood in a way that picked out three corners and David motioned for me to take the last corner.
“What about Evan?” I asked. I looked behind me. Evan hadn’t come any further into the room and was instead leaning against the wall with his arms folded like he was waiting for the show to begin. He was drinking my coffee.
“Not a witch, remember?” murmured Étoile.
“Oh, right.”
“You don’t need to do anything,” said Seren. “David will say the spell and he’ll draw power from us to fuel it.”
“Stand here and look pretty. Got it.”
Étoile smirked.
“Are you sure we should be doing this?” I asked, just as David opened his mouth. “I mean, won’t she be pissed off that we’re just summoning her? It’s not like we’re giving her a choice.”
Seren shrugged. “If she’s innocent, she needs help and we can help her.”
“And what if she’s not?”
“All the more reason to find her,” Seren replied.
I felt my stomach drop a little more. When Étoile mouthed, “What is it?” I just shook my head. I didn’t have a good feeling about any of this but I couldn’t protest. There was a piece of me that agreed with them. Whatever Chyler was going through, she did need help.
When Étoile, Seren and David raised their hands to waist height and spread their hands until we were almost touching fingertips, Étoile on my left and David on my right, I followed them. When David started speaking I stared at the flickering candle closest to me, trying to ignore the looming dissatisfaction I felt. It didn’t matter that I’d masked Chyler’s magic if they’d found a way to find her. I tried to quell the anxiety and tell myself that maybe they were doing the right thing. I couldn’t help Chyler indefinitely. She needed much, much more than me.
I could feel the air rush past us to centre in the circle and it built up like a mini tornado, absolutely fixed to one spot. Not a single grain of salt moved from its place and just when I felt like I might get sucked in too, the tornado parted so I could first see long blonde hair then a body then, finally, acid pink heels.
“What’s going on?” came Chyler’s plaintive shriek. “Where am I?” She wheeled around, rooted to the spot until she fixed on me. “You! You did this? What have you done?”
Chyler took a step towards me then stopped as she came to the edge of the circle, her eyes flickering to the symbols and their lit candle centrepieces. She held her hands up, touching it like she wasn’t sure if she could move past it.
“You summoned me?” she snarled, her voice furious. “I told you to back off. I told you not to tell them about me!”
I glanced quickly in either direction. David had his eyes open but they were slightly glazed with concentration. I could feel power move between the four of us like an open electricity circuit, fizzling and hissing. Étoile and Seren were still but watching Chyler as she jabbed a finger at me.
“I told you nothing good would come of the witches. They aren’t here to help me...” Chyler broke off and her entire body shuddered so fast it was like she was giving off a tremendous vibration. Her voice stuck in her throat and she went rigid for a second before the vibrating started again, like she was having a fit standing up. I could see the whites of her eyes as her irises rolled back.
Slipping my eyes slightly out of focus I gasped. I could make out the shape of something not quite corporeal seeming to edge from her body. This thing took on a translucent shape and I got the impression of dark, wavy hair and a face that was closer to its thirties than Chyler’s teens. The eyes fixed on me and it made a hideous screeching noise through its shadow of a mouth. Through my fear, I got the impression of two distinct auras. Two witches.
“Stella,” Chyler gasped, her hands clawing at her throat like she was being choked. “Stella, help me. She’s in me. I can’t stop her... I can’t... Stella, please!”
The ghost woman whipped her way around the circle, Chyler in the middle, as if it was trying to find a way out and then, without warning, we were blown back by some unseen force, the salt circle scattered and broken, the candles skittering across the floor to snuff out. Étoile and Seren had hit opposite walls and were scrambling to their feet. I was on my ass looking up and David was flat on his back as Evan darted forward, his chest heaving like he was taking a great gasp of air in readiness to pummel Chyler. I wondered if he could also see the dark presence that was coiling about her body, in wisps of smoke and shadows.
“Oh, Stella, help me,” was Chyler’s last wail as the thing wrapped around her, invaded her, and they both winked out of existence.
Evan was by my side in an instance.
“What the hell was that?” I gasped. Étoile and Seren seemed to have shaken themselves to their senses and David had gotten to his feet and was walking a little awkwardly over to Seren, straightening his glasses then rubbing a hand through his hair, his face guarded.
“That was an imposter spirit,” said Evan, pulling me up so I could dust myself off. I was covered in salt sprinkles.
“Say again,” I whispered.
“An imposter spirit. I’d guess a witch. She doesn’t have her own body so she took someone else’s.”
I gaped at him. “You have got to be kidding me.”
Étoile was shaking her head. “I’ve seen it before and it all ties in. Damn it, I should have seen this! We knew that Chyler was dabbling in dark magic. She must have called something up, or let something through, and it got into her. I bet it attacked her mother too.”
That made my stomach turn over and I leant against Evan. Étoile had voiced exactly what my mind was trying to process. The schizophrenic nature of Chyler had been puzzling me. She behaved like a frightened, desperate young girl one minute; defiant and devious the next. I wondered if I had been speaking to both of them at times, but which one had sought me out? I could understand if Chyler needed help, but what would a spirit want from me?
“I can’t believe I let her get away.” David slapped his hand against the door in an unexpected fit of pique that made me jump. “I didn’t make the protection symbols strong enough. I was just expecting a weak kid. She shouldn’t have been able to blow her way through that or even disappear.” He turned to the sisters. “Whatever we’re dealing with, she’s incredibly strong.”
Seren nodded but when she turned to me her face was hard. “Stella, I think you’ve got some explaining to do.”
Étoile nodded. “She obviously knew you. Did you know she was here? Have you been helping her?”
I took a deep breath and nodded, preparing to be bawled out. “She came about a week ago, just before you all got here.”
“Did you know what she was, what was inside Chyler?” asked Evan.
I shook my head. “God, no. No!” I put my head in my hands. What had I been thinking not telling them? I’d been thinking about how glad I was to see Evan and the relief that he was alive. How happy I was not feeling afraid every day. How I liked magic not dominating everything I did. No wonder I’d sympathised with Chyler, I was trying to protect her from the damage I’d been dealt, but I’d been saved from it and I should have trusted the people who were there for me. I felt hot tears prick at my eyes and the shame of feeling so stupid.
It was Étoile who stood in front of me, pulling my hands away from my face. Softly, she said, “Stella, we need to talk.”
Uh-oh.
Ten
The kitchen table was rapidly becoming my least favourite place in the house. At least
it was right now. We were all sat round it, them staring silently, questioningly, at me.
I breathed deeply. I could feel the cabinet doors begin to rattle in solidarity with my anxiety, but it wasn’t until the glasses flew out of the cupboard and dashed towards the floor that Étoile took my hand in hers.
“You can control this,” she said. Out of the corner of my eye the glasses hovered a foot from the floor seemingly unsure of whether to smash or not. I saw Evan nod at them and they floated back to the cabinet that my magic had pulled them from. I forced myself to, to pull my magic inside where it belonged, and around me the doors began to settle down. It didn’t escape my notice that this was the first time in a long time that I’d been anxious enough for something like this to happen, but as far as accidents caused by me went, this was small fry.
“Tell us what happened,” Étoile urged and I didn’t need her to add: so we can fix this mess.
I forced myself to meet her eyes. “Like I said, Chyler came to see me a week ago and she was afraid. I told her I would look into things and that I would try and help her.” I pulled back from Étoile to spread my hands across the table and leaned forward. “I had no idea you were looking for her then and she was terrified.”
“But you knew when we came to visit,” Seren protested. “We told you we thought she would try and get in touch with you.”
“And I bet you didn’t tell me the whole truth either.” I threw the words at her like an icy slap.
Seren had the good grace to look guilty.
Unruly Magic Page 15
