I had only spent a small amount of time with this woman, but it was clear that Jackie was very blunt and had a much more aggressive personality than me. She said what she wanted, when she wanted, and didn’t hold anything back. A part of me wasn’t sure we would get along and the other part of me wasn’t sure if I even wanted to. Despite that, as selfish as it sounded, right now, I didn’t have any other choice except going along with it, for now.
“I would like that as well,” I said, smiling timidly.
“Great.” She returned my smile. “Well, I don’t think I’ll be of much help in contacting the council, but I may know of someone who can help us. He is known as sort of a rebel to clean magic around these parts, but doesn’t go as far as practicing dark magic. He really just likes to experiment a little here and there. He’s very powerful and is always on the hunt for a challenge. Right now, he’s traveling and won’t be back until next week. In the meantime, I would love for you to stay here with me and for us to get to know each other a little better. Does that sound good to you?”
“Really? You’ll help me?” I was a little surprised that she had offered to help me so easily, especially after I refused to tell her my reasons for wanting to contact the council.
“Of course, and what can I say? I’m always up for a challenge, too.” She paused and looked at me directly. “Because I can tell you that contacting the council will be a challenge and may I suggest that we keep this just between the two of us for now. Like I said before, contacting the council is rare and I don’t know how people would react if they knew what we were trying to do.”
I shrugged. “That should be easy, seeing as I don’t know another soul in this country.”
She smiled. “That brings me to my next point. I think while we’re waiting for my friend to return, you should keep working on developing your powers. Since you’ve had your powers summoned, you must have a teacher assigned to you, am I right?”
My heart squeezed at the word teacher, seeing the image of Abby’s face pop into my head caused my breath to catch. Things had been moving so fast, I hadn’t had much time to think about the Harpers, even though my only reason for being here was to find a way back to them.
Jackie was waiting for my response and I knew that I needed to think of an explanation quick. “Yes, I had a teacher.” I paused, struggling for the words. “But... she... um, she can’t teach me right now. Something came up and she had to take a break.” Great, like that sounded believable.
She had a curious expression on her face, but didn’t ask any more questions, which I was thankful for.
“Well, then. We’ll just have to get you another one. You’re in luck because I happen to know the best teacher around. Let me go call him and see if he’s free.”
He? As much as I wanted to say thanks, but no thanks, I couldn’t. I mean, it sounded like a good idea. It was clear to me that my plan on contacting the council was going to take more time than I’d originally planned and Jackie was right, it would be a good idea to continue learning and practicing my skills. Abby would be okay with this, right? I struggled to push my emotions out of my mind. There was no way I could allow myself to get caught up in them now. Jackie seemed optimistic that her friend could help me in contacting the council, so the best thing for me to do was think positive and hope that she was right.
It wasn’t long before Jackie returned with a large smile on her face. “Collin’s on his way. He should be here soon. Let’s get you set up in the room down the hall. I think you’ll like it there, it was your mother’s room when she was younger.”
My heart squeezed. Not only would I be staying in my mother’s childhood home, but I would be staying in her room! This was almost too much. I grabbed my suitcase and followed Jackie down the hall to the second bedroom on the right. The room was simple. It held a twin bed with a brass bed frame, an oak desk and a nightstand with a lamp on it. That was it. No pictures, no decorations... absolutely nothing personal. A part of me was sad that there looked to be nothing of my mother left behind.
Jackie left me alone for a few minutes so I could unpack the few items I had brought with me. I had brought the two pictures from home that were always on my nightstand—the one of Aunt Rose and I at my high school graduation and the one of my family before the accident. I placed them on the nightstand beside the bed and quickly unpacked the rest of my belongings. It took me ten short minutes to be finished. I sat on the edge of the bed, pulled out my cell phone and dialed the U.S. country code and then Aunt Rose’s cell number. She picked up on the first ring.
“Hi, Aunt Rose,” I said.
I heard a loud sigh on her end. “Oh, I’ve been so worried. It’s so good to hear your voice. Everything alright?” she asked and it was hard for me to ignore the sadness in her voice.
“Yeah, everything is great so far. I’m all settled... into a hotel... a nice one that’s safe.” I bit my lip, feeling horrible for lying to her, but knowing that was the best choice for now. If I was somehow able to make it back to the Harpers, I didn’t want Aunt Rose coming after Jackie, looking for me and demanding answers.
“Good.” There was silence for a moment. “Well, I want you to know that Jack and I miss you already. We’re both really proud that you’re off doing what you want to do, but we’re also sad that you’re gone.”
“I miss you both, too. I’ll call you in a few days, okay?”
“Okay. I love you, Meredith. Please be careful.”
“I will and I love you, too, Aunt Rose.”
I hit the end call button, placed my phone on the nightstand, and then headed back towards the kitchen.
I sat on the bar stool and glanced around the small kitchen, taking in the light yellow wallpaper that was sprinkled with small blue dots. There was a large collection of plates on the wall to my left, and a side door on my right that I’m guessing went out to the backyard or garage. I watched as Jackie made us some lunch. She asked me questions about my childhood, mostly what it was like growing up with Aunt Rose. She wasn’t too inquisitive about how or when I came into my powers and I thought that was weird. Nevertheless, I figured she just wanted to get to know me—the real me—and not the witch side of me. Just as I was about to ask Jackie a few questions of my own, I heard the front door slam.
“I’m here, Jackie. Where’s the fire?” a male voice shouted from the front of the house.
“In here, Collin,” Jackie called.
I heard a loud sigh and then heavy footsteps coming down the hall. My eyes were focused towards the open door in the kitchen where I knew he would enter. A few seconds passed and a tall, lanky guy with black spiked hair walked in. He looked to be my age, maybe a couple years older. He didn’t even notice me at first as he walked straight towards the refrigerator. “Okay, Jackie. When you called me you sounded as if it were an emergency. Please tell me you have something exciting going on.”
He didn’t make eye contact with Jackie, either, as he opened the refrigerator door and began to scan the shelves.
“Well, I have a new student for you.”
“Ha, ha, real funny,” he said.
“I’m afraid it’s no joke. She’s a little older than most of your students yet she’s still young in her powers.”
“Fan-tastic. This should be interesting.” He sounded annoyed. “Well, when do I meet this older, but immature, little witch?”
Jackie scoffed in frustration and I tried to contain my laughter. “Well, if you turn around and act like a respectable young man, you could meet her right now.”
His body froze for a second in the bent over position it was in, before slowly returning to a standing position. As he turned around to meet my gaze, I mashed my lips together even harder, trying not to laugh. For some reason, his sarcastic and free spirited demeanor made me feel at ease.
“Hi, Collin. I’m Meredith,” I said, a tiny smile breaking my lips.
“Oh, I’m... I don’t know what to say. Sorry about that. Thanks for the heads up in letting me k
now she was actually here, Jackie.” He turned and gave her a quick glare before returning his focus back to me.
“Don’t blame your rudeness on me. You’ve dug your own grave, I’m afraid.” Jackie shook her head and continued making lunch.
Collin quickly crossed the room and extended his right hand. “Really, sorry. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You can quit trying to be all gentlemanly—I think it’s a little late for that now,” Jackie said, laughing a little herself.
Unlike Jackie, Collin was interested in when I’d become a witch, what spells I knew, and why I had such little training at my age—the questions were never ending. He didn’t seem to pry too much when I gave him short and non-descript answers and I was thankful for that. I tried to be as honest as possible without revealing too much information about my past, the Harpers, or about me being an Astoria. It would have been so much easier if I could just tell them the truth about everything and maybe one day I would, but not yet.
He seemed interested in why I had come to London and after reminding myself how Jackie told me to keep quiet about wanting to contact the council, I actually told him a version of the truth—that Jackie was my mother’s sister and that I was visiting and staying with her temporarily.
When Collin was finished with his questions, he sat back and tapped his finger on his chin as if he were analyzing me. “Well, you seem to have an interesting story. I’ve never taken a student on at your age, but we can give it a whirl. Are you available to start training tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow’s good.” I smiled half-heartedly, not sure how I was feeling about agreeing to this. A part of me thought that replacing Abby with Collin was a sign of me giving up on the Harpers; I had to remind myself that I was here in London for one purpose—to find a way back to them.
The next morning I woke early and ate a large breakfast, preparing for the day’s training with Collin. I wasn’t sure what to expect, or how intense the day would be, but I wanted to be ready when he showed up. Over breakfast Jackie and I talked a little more about the family I never knew. She told me that I had my grandmother’s eyes and my grandfather’s smile. It was strange when she talked to me about them, and maybe even a little sad, because deep down I knew that I would never know them. I wanted to ask her why none of them contacted me after the accident, but I didn’t want to bring up anything depressing or cause her to become uncomfortable. I’m sure they all had their reasons, right?
Overall, she seemed happy and excited about me being here, and coupled with the fact that she was so willing to help me find a way to contact the council, I didn’t want to do anything that would make me sound like I wasn’t appreciative.
She told me that she would be in and out most of the day, offering to pick up some special groceries for me while she was out, and asked if there was anything else I needed. Before she left she wished me luck with my training and told me to have patience with Collin. At first I wasn’t sure what she meant, but when he showed up at noon it became very clear.
“Good morning, love,” he said, walking right passed me and into the kitchen. After making himself two sandwiches, he sat down at the kitchen table without saying a word to me about training, or apologizing for showing up at noon. There were no lesson plans, no discussion on what we would be learning, nor did he ask me if I had any questions. Nothing. He just sat there and stuffed his face! If it were Abby, we would have already been training for hours by now. She would have had a regimented lesson plan and we would’ve been all set up at our designated training spot. She would have refreshed my memory on the previous day’s training before starting a new one and asked me if I had any questions before we got started. My heart sank, remembering her training style, her patience and her sweet encouraging words. I knew I’d always appreciated Abby, but there were times where I didn’t feel like I showed her enough gratitude. Now, after seeing what other teachers were like, it made me realize, I had taken her for granted without ever meaning to. It was hard for me to understand why I was so upset by his actions when part of me didn’t even want him to be my teacher in the first place. Maybe it was the fact that he acted so nonchalant about it all. I just wasn’t used to someone being so careless with their instruction of a student.
Finally, Collin finished both of his sandwiches, sat back in his chair with his hands interlocked behind his head and just stared at me. “So, where should we start?”
Was he really asking me that question? How was I supposed to know? He was the teacher.
“Well, where do you usually start with your students?” I asked, trying not to sound too annoyed. “You must have a routine or at least a regular training area, right?”
He looked indifferent, shrugging his shoulders. “Yeah, I have a place, but we can do this wherever you’d like.”
I could feel my blood starting to boil. He was acting so casual about all of this. He was the teacher. He was supposed to tell me what to do and where to go!
“Let’s just go where you normally train,” I said, trying to keep my composure. The more time that passed, the more I was regretting agreeing to this.
As he stood up and headed for the door, I rolled my eyes and grabbed my coat. I was beginning to realize that this day was going to be very interesting.
We walked to Collin’s training spot and my thoughts drifted to the Harpers again. I was missing them now more than ever. I missed Annette and Samuel’s wise words, Abby’s training structure and caring demeanor and Blake’s comfort as well as his reassurance.
“So was this teacher of yours any good?” Collin asked me, pulling me from my thoughts.
“She was the best.” I couldn’t help but smile. She could wipe the floors with Collin and she probably would, if she knew how he was treating my training and magic with such disregard.
“She?” He snorted in disgust.
Was he appalled that my previous teacher was a girl? Could he really be that pig-headed? “Yes, she is a she.” I fired back. “I’ll have you know that she is the most amazing teacher out there. She could probably teach you a few things.” I hated that I was being petty, but he asked for it.
He scoffed. “Ha. Wouldn’t that be interesting? Maybe one day, if I ever meet this amazing teacher of yours, she can show me a few things.”
I rolled my eyes, but didn’t say anything in return. Instead, I just smiled, hoping one day that Abby and Collin would meet and she would wipe that smirk off his face.
Finally, we arrived at an old abandoned warehouse. It had broken windows, falling bricks, and looked like if you blew on it hard enough, it would come crumbling down. I had a hard time believing this place was safe enough to walk in, let alone train in. This couldn’t be where we were having our lessons... could it?
“Here we are, sweetheart,” Collin said, opening up his arms to showcase the place.
First it was love and now it was sweetheart? These endearing terms were getting old, fast.
I took in a deep breath and followed him towards the building, the entire time, glancing around to make sure no one saw us entering.
“Is it safe to practice here? I mean, besides the fact that it looks like it could collapse at any second, we’re still kinda out in public, don’t you think?”
He waved off my worries. “No one comes close to these buildings anymore. I think the city will end up tearing them down soon. Besides, this is where I always have my students meet me and we’ve yet to get caught.”
Yet to get caught? Yeah, that was comforting. Who did this guy think he was? Abby would have a meltdown if she knew my new—correction, temporary—teacher was so uncaring.
With much hesitation, I followed him inside. We entered a large empty room. Since most of the windows were either missing or had been broken, there was a lot of natural light spilling through. I guess I could see the appeal in practicing the craft here. The place was large and open, allowing lots of space to work with, even if that space felt like it might not be the safest spot in the world.
&nb
sp; “Okay, let’s see what you’ve got, love,” Collin said, stopping abruptly and turning to face me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I glared at him, wondering if he would get the hint. Collin reminded me of the guys I’d gone to school with back in Marblehead. Well, with the exception of Roger. Most of the guys at our high school were overly confident, almost to the point of cocky and were too thick-headed to see it. It was hard to pinpoint what bothered me most about the guy standing beside me. The fact that he was calling me all of those stupid pet names, or that I felt like he wasn’t taking his teacher role seriously.
“Where’s the lesson plan?” I asked, looking around the empty room.
He laughed at my question, making the irritated mood I had been trying so hard to bury, come right back.
“Lesson plan? Not sure what you’re talking about, love.”
I wanted to rip that smirky smile right off of his face. This guy was insufferable! “Never mind. Let’s just get started. What spell should we start with?” I asked, still trying to remain calm.
He chuckled like he was having fun with this. “You’re really serious about this, aren’t you? That’s so cute.”
Serious about this? Cute? Was he kidding? Of course, I was serious! Why was he laughing? Did he think me being miserable and irritated was funny? Well, if he was having so much fun, then I wanted to have a little fun, too.
“Come on, my eager little warrior, let’s start over here.” Still laughing, Collin turned his back to me and began to walk across the room. Perfect victim. I focused my eyes on him and envisioned him floating up towards the rafters above us. A few seconds later, Collin’s feet were off the ground and he was quickly floating up towards the ceiling. His legs were dangling and he was making groaning and grunting noises. It took him just a second to put it together and he turned his head towards me.
“You better put me down. I may not play as nicely.” A wicked grin stretched across his face.
Crest (Book #2,Swift Series) Page 7
