But oh, the results were breathtaking.
On Ms. Terwilliger’s coffee table (which was now on fire) sat a set of five perpetual motion balls. I used a transmutation spell on them, forcing them out of their spherical shape and breaking them apart into thin, sharp razor blades. They broke free of their strings and came at my command. That was the easy part.
The hard part was, as Ms. Terwilliger had told me, actually attacking someone. And not just making them slip and fall. That wasn’t so bad. But an actual physical attack, one you knew would cause direct and terrible damage, was an entirely different issue. It didn’t matter how terrible Alicia was, that she’d tried to kill me and wanted to victimize Ms. Terwilliger and countless others. Alicia was still a living person, and it was not in my nature to show violence or try to take another’s life.
It was, however, in my nature to save my own life and those of my loved ones.
I braced myself and ordered the razors forward. They slammed into her face. She screamed and frantically tried to pull them out but in doing so lost her balance and went back down the stairs. I heard her shriek as she fell into the basement. Although I couldn’t see her, her magical lantern orb merrily followed her all the way down.
My triumph was short-lived. I was more than dizzy. I was on the verge of passing out. The heat and light from the fire were overwhelming, yet my vision was going dark from the exhaustion of casting a spell I was in no way ready for. I suddenly just wanted to curl up there on the floor and close my eyes where it was comfortable and warm. . . .
“Sydney!”
Adrian’s voice jolted me out of my haze, and I managed to peer up at him through heavy eyelids. He slipped an arm around me to help me up. When my legs didn’t work, he simply scooped me up altogether and carried me. The dragon, who’d suffered no permanent damage from the kick, clung to my shirt and scurried into the bag that was still draped over my shoulder.
“Where . . . Ms. Terwilliger. . . .”
“Not here,” Adrian said, heading swiftly toward the front door. The fire was spreading over the walls and ceiling now. Although it hadn’t quite made it to the front of the house yet, our way was still thick with smoke and ash. We both were coughing, and tears ran out of my eyes. Adrian reached the door and turn the knob, yelping at how hot it was. Then he managed to kick the door open with his foot, and we were free, out into the clean night air.
Neighbors had gathered outside, and I could hear sirens in the distance. Some of the spectators watched us curiously, but most were transfixed by the inferno that was Ms. Terwilliger’s bungalow. Adrian carried me over to his car and gently set me down so that I could lean against it, though he still kept an arm around me. We both stared in awe at the fire.
“I really did look, Sydney,” he said. “I couldn’t find Jackie in the house. Maybe she escaped.” I prayed he was right. Otherwise, we had just abandoned my history teacher to a fiery death. “What happened to Alicia?”
“Last I saw, she was in the basement.” A sickening feeling twisted in my stomach. “I don’t know if she’ll get out. Adrian, what have I just done?”
“You defended yourself. And me. And hopefully Jackie.” His arm tightened around me. “Alicia was evil. Look what she did to those other witches—what she wanted to do to you guys.”
“I never saw it coming,” I said bleakly. “I thought I was so smart. And each time I talked to her, I dismissed her as some dumb, scattered girl. Meanwhile, she was laughing and countering my moves every step of the way. It’s humbling. I don’t meet many people like that.”
“The Moriarty to your Holmes?” he suggested.
“Adrian,” I said. It was all I needed to say.
He suddenly did a double take, noticing my attire for the first time tonight now that the jacket had come open. “You’re wearing your AYE shirt?”
“Yeah, I never wage magical battles without—”
A small mewling noise suddenly caught my attention. I searched around until I spotted two green eyes peering at me from under a bush across the street. I managed to straighten up and found that my legs, though weak, could support my weight again. I took a few halting steps toward the bush, and Adrian immediately ran to my side.
“What are you doing? You need help,” he said.
I pointed. “We have to follow that cat.”
“Sydney—”
“Help me,” I pleaded.
He couldn’t resist. Supporting me with his arm again, he helped me walk across the street toward the cat. It ran ahead between two bushes, then glanced back at us.
“It wants us to follow,” I told him.
So we did, cutting through houses and streets until when we were about four blocks from the bungalow, the cat dashed off into a park. Whatever energy I’d had when I started after the cat was long gone. I was panting and dizzy again and fighting hard to resist asking Adrian to carry me. Something in the center of the park caught my attention and gave me one last burst of adrenaline to run forward.
There, lying on the grass, was Ms. Terwilliger.
She was awake, thankfully, but looked nearly as exhausted as I felt. Tears and smudges suggested she’d been through quite an ordeal. She had managed to escape Alicia, but not without a fight. That was why we hadn’t been able to find her in the house. Seeing me, she blinked in surprise.
“You’re okay,” she said. “And you found me.”
“The cats led us,” I said, pointing. All thirteen of them were sitting around in the park, surrounding their owner—making sure she was okay.
She glanced around at them and managed a weary smile. “See? I told you cats are useful.”
“Callistanas aren’t so bad either,” I said, looking down at my satchel. “That ‘pain in the ass’ screeching saved me from a face full of acid.”
Adrian put his hand to his heart in mock horror. “Sage, did you just swear?”
Glancing over, Ms. Terwilliger noticed him for the first time. “And you’re here too? I’m so sorry you had to get dragged into this mess. I know you didn’t ask for any of this trouble.”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Adrian, smiling. He rested a hand on my shoulder. “Some things are worth the trouble.”
CHAPTER 24
I FELT PRETTY BAD about burning down my teacher’s house.
Ms. Terwilliger, for obvious reasons, seemed to think that was the least of her problems. She wasn’t sure if her insurance would cover the damage, but her company was pretty speedy in sending someone out to investigate the cause. We were still waiting to hear their verdict on coverage, but one thing they didn’t report finding was any sign of human remains. Part of me was relieved that I hadn’t actually killed anyone. Another part of me feared we hadn’t seen the last of Alicia. What silly comparison had Adrian made? The Moriarty to your Holmes. I had to imagine that being hit in the face with razor blades and then left in a burning building would make anyone hold a grudge.
A little investigation eventually turned up Veronica at a Los Angeles hospital, checked in as Jane Doe. Visiting her comatose sister became the greatest of Ms. Terwilliger’s priorities, and she harbored hopes of possibly finding a way to undo the spell. Despite how busy she now was, my teacher still managed to urge me to meet her coven, and I agreed for a few different reasons. One was that it was kind of impossible for me to act like I didn’t want to wield magic anymore.
The other reason was that I didn’t plan on being around.
I was still resolved to go with Marcus to Mexico, and the week flew by. Winter finals were a breeze, and before I knew it, it was Friday, the day before our trip to Mexico. I took a risk by telling my friends goodbye. The safest thing would’ve been to disappear without a trace, but I trusted them all—even Angeline—to keep my secret and feign ignorance once the Alchemists discovered they had a runaway. I told Trey as well. No matter what had gone down between us, he was still my friend, and I would miss him.
As the day wore on, the dorm grew quieter and quieter—aside from unen
ding Christmas music playing in the lobby. Not wanting to exclude other religions, Mrs. Weathers had also set out a menorah and “Happy Kwanzaa” banner. Tomorrow was officially the last day before everyone had to be out, and a number of people had already left for winter break. I’d finished my own packing, which was light. I didn’t want to be burdened down with excess luggage since I really had no idea what to expect in Mexico.
I still had two people I needed to say goodbye to: Adrian and Jill. I’d avoided them both for very different reasons, but time was running out. I knew Jill was just a flight of stairs away, but Adrian was more difficult. We’d been in touch a couple times after the fire, simply to sort out some details, but he’d soon gone silent. No calls, no texts, no dreams. Maybe I should’ve been glad. Maybe I should’ve welcomed the chance to leave without any painful goodbyes . . . but I couldn’t. My chest ached with the thought of not seeing him again. Even though he was the reason I was leaving, I still felt like I needed some closure.
It’s not about closure, Sydney. You want to see him. You need to see him. And that’s exactly why you have to leave.
Finally, I took the plunge and called him. It took me so long to work up the nerve that I could hardly believe it when he didn’t answer. I resisted the urge to immediately try again. No. I could wait. There would still be time tomorrow, and surely . . . surely he wasn’t avoiding me?
I decided to hold off on talking to Jill until the next day. Telling her goodbye was just as difficult—and not just because of what she saw through the bond. I knew she’d think I was abandoning her. In truth, if I stayed and ended up with Adrian, I’d possibly be caught and never be able to help her at all. At least if I was away and free, I could try to help her from the outside. I hoped she’d understand.
Waiting on her gave me the opportunity to take care of an unwelcome errand: returning Malachi Wolfe’s gun. I’d never gone to his home without Adrian, and even though I knew I had nothing to fear from Wolfe, there was still something a little unsettling about going to the compound alone.
To my complete and utter astonishment, Wolfe let me into the house when I arrived. All was quiet. “Where are the dogs?” I asked.
“At training,” he said. “I have a friend who’s an expert dog trainer, and he’s giving them some stealth lessons. He used to work for a local K-9 unit.”
I didn’t think it was in the Chihuahua genetic code to ever be stealthy. I kept that to myself and instead stared around in amazement at Wolfe’s kitchen. I’d expected something like a ship’s galley. Instead, I found an astonishingly cheery room, with blue-checkered wallpaper and a squirrel cookie jar. If someone had asked me to describe the most unlikely Wolfe kitchen out there, it would’ve looked something like this. No—wait. On the refrigerator, he had some magnets that looked like ninja throwing stars. That, at least, was in character.
Adrian’s going to flip out when I tell him. Then I remembered I might not see Adrian for a very long time. That realization killed whatever amusement I’d just felt.
“So what do you need?” asked Wolfe. Peering at him, I suddenly had a strange feeling the eye patch really was on a different eye from last time. I should’ve paid more attention. “Another gun?”
I returned to the task at hand. “No, sir. I didn’t even need the first one, but thanks for lending it to me.” I removed it from the bag and handed it to him.
He gave the gun a once-over and then set it inside a drawer. “Fixed your problem? You can still hang on to it if you want.”
“I’m leaving the country. Bringing it over the border might cause me some trouble.”
“Fair enough,” he said. He grabbed the cookie jar and took off the lid, leaning it toward me. An amazing scent drifted out. “Want one? I just made them.”
I was really regretting not being able to tell Adrian about this. “No thanks, sir. I’ve had more than enough sugar these last few weeks.” I felt like I should have a frequent customer card for Pies and Stuff.
“I thought you looked better. Not all skin and bones anymore.” He nodded in approval, which felt really weird and slightly creepy. “So where are you two kids going?”
“Mexi—oh, Adrian’s not going with me. I’m going with someone else.”
“Really?” He slid the squirrel back across the counter. “I’m surprised. I always figured when you two left here, you went home and had your own private ‘training sessions.’”
I felt myself turning bright red. “No! It’s not like—I mean, we’re just friends, sir.”
“I had a friend like that once. Silver Tooth Sally.” He got that faraway expression that always came on when he had an anecdote to share.
“I’m sorry, did you say—”
“Never met a woman like Sally,” he interrupted. “We fought our way across Switzerland together, always watching each other’s backs. We finally got out alive—just barely—and she wanted to come back to the States and settle down. Not me. I had dreams, you see. I was a young man then, drawn to danger and glory. I left her and went off to live with an Orcadian shaman. It took two years and a lot of vision quests to realize my mistake, but when I got back, I couldn’t find her. When I close my eye at night, I can still see that tooth sparkle like a star. It haunts me, girl. It haunts me.”
I frowned. “I don’t think the Orcadians have vision quests, sir. Or shamans.”
Wolfe leaned forward and shook a finger at me, his eye wide. “Learn from my mistakes, girl. Don’t go to the Orkneys. You don’t need some mystical vision to see what’s in front of you, you hear me?”
I gulped. “Yes, sir.”
I hurried out after that, thinking that being in a different country from Malachi Wolfe might be a good thing.
The next morning, I prepared to tell Jill goodbye, but she beat me to it and showed up at my door. It was the first time we’d truly spoken since the morning after that last dream with Adrian.
She walked into my room and frowned when she saw the suitcase. “You’re really going?”
“Yes. And I’m sure you know why.”
She crossed her arms and looked me straight in the eye, without any of the reservation she’d shown last time. I had trouble holding that stare. “Sydney, don’t leave Adrian because of me.”
“It’s more complicated than that,” I said automatically.
“It’s really not,” she said. “From everything I’ve seen and heard, you’re just afraid. You’ve always controlled every detail of your life. When you couldn’t—like with the Alchemists—you found a way to seize back that control.”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting control,” I snapped.
“Except that we can’t always have it, and sometimes that’s a good thing. A great thing, even,” she added. “And that’s how it is with Adrian. No matter how hard you try, you aren’t going to be able to control your feelings for him. You can’t help loving him, and so you’re running away. I’m just an excuse.”
Who was she to lecture me like this? “You think I’m lying about how awkward it is for you to see everything that happens between us? Every intimate detail is on display. I can’t do that. I can’t live like that.”
“Adrian’s learned to.”
“Well, he’s had to.”
“Exactly.” Some of her fierceness mellowed. “Sydney, he brought me back from the dead. It’s the greatest thing anyone can or will do for me. I can’t pay him back, but I can let him live his life the way he wants to. I don’t expect him to shelter me because of the bond, and I’m not going to judge him—or you. Someday, he and I will learn to block each other.”
“Someday,” I reiterated.
“Yes. And until then, we do the best we can. All you’re doing by leaving is making three people miserable.”
“Three?” I frowned. “I’m helping you.”
“Do you really think I’m happy when he’s miserable? Do you think I like the darkness that crawls over him?” When I said nothing, she pushed forward. “Look, I don’t have the same physi
cal reaction to you that he does, but when he’s with you, he’s so full of joy . . . it radiates through to me, and it’s one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had. I’ve never been in love like you guys are.”
“I’m not—” I couldn’t say it, and she gave me a knowing look. I tried a different tactic. “Staying here is dangerous, especially with him. The Alchemists might find out about everything—him, my tattoo, Ms. Terwilliger, and God knows what else.”
“And if they don’t find out, look at what you get. Adrian. The rest of us. Magic. The chance to uncover their secrets. I know you love this life. Why would you give it up? You’re too smart to get caught. We’ll help you. Do you really think Marcus and his Merry Men can do that much fighting when they’re always on the run?”
I shook my head. “They’re like me. They understand me.”
She was obstinate. “They aren’t like you at all. They talk. You act.”
It was so surprising to see her like this, so confident and so much wiser than her years. It was also a little irritating. If she was so wise, why couldn’t she understand how much was at stake?
“Jill, staying is a big risk—in all ways.”
“Of course it is!” she exclaimed, her eyes flashing with anger. “Any life worth living is going to have risks. If you go to Mexico, you’ll regret it—and I think you know that.”
My phone rang, cutting off my next response. It was Eddie. He rarely called, and panic seized me.
“What’s wrong?” I demanded.
He sounded mystified. “I wouldn’t say anything’s wrong . . . just surprising. Is Jill with you? You guys should really come down. We’re outside”
He hung up, and I was left totally confused. “What’s up?” asked Jill.
“Something surprising, apparently.”
The Indigo Spell b-3 Page 33
