Lyra listened patiently. Kara couldn’t tell if the cat was smiling or about to hurl a furball.
“Well?”
Lyra sat for a second then stretched her back and stood. “Well…”
“I knew it.” Kara swept up her backpack and stomped off. “I stink!”
Lyra caught up to her. “I wouldn’t say that.”
“Well, what would you say?”
“You just need a little help.”
“Exactly what I was thinking!” Kara looked relieved as she held up her backpack.
“A few lessons with the singing coach and some practice.”
“Oh—yeah…” Kara lowered the backpack.
Lyra cocked her head. “What were you thinking?”
“Uh… I should practice with the choir,” she said, embarrassed now to admit what she was really thinking about.
They headed across the pedestrian bridge. Beyond it, the trail to school wound past the orchards. Kara knew that Lyra would have to turn back once they got there, or else risk drawing attention. That meant if Kara wanted to tell Lyra what was on her mind, she’d have to do it quickly.
“Lyra, have you ever done something you know you really shouldn’t have? Something a part of you wishes you could take back, while another part of you is saying, ‘hey, I’d do it again.’”
The cat’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you asking?”
Kara looked away. If she told Lyra about the unicorn horn, then she’d never be able to keep it; she’d feel too guilty about making her friend an accomplice after the fact.
“This thing you’re talking about,” Lyra prompted, “it can’t be undone?”
It occurred to Kara that she could go to the manor right now and put the unicorn horn back where it belonged. No one would ever know she’d taken it in the first place.
But... she needed it. How could she hope to compete in the contest without using magic? Magic that had been given to the girls. Well, to Emily actually. But it had been given to help all three of them.
“She’s your friend,” Lyra said. “I think you should just talk to her.”
“Huh?” Kara asked, startled.
“Adriane’s just stubborn, unlike someone else I know,” the cat said, rubbing playfully against Kara’s side.
“Yeah,” Kara said, quickly recovering from her surprise. “She should be apologizing to me!”
Lyra sighed.
“I’ve got to get to school!” Kara rushed ahead, anxious to get away from Lyra before she was forced to look her friend in the eye—she knew she couldn’t do that—and tell a lie, even a little white lie like pretending she meant Adriane all along.
KARA COULDN’T CONCENTRATE on classwork. At lunch she only barely heard Emily as the girl went on about the craziness with Mrs. Windor the night before, which, thanks to the picture-snapping reporter, was even more fully reported in the morning edition of the Stonehill Gazette. At least that was one problem solved. No one was going to believe Windor now about what she had seen in the woods.
But Kara’s greatest frustration was that she didn’t have the spellsinging book. If she had been more on top of things, she would have gotten it back from Emily the night before. The time spent with Johnny had seemed to cast another kind of a spell on her, making her feel light-headed with joy, not able to think as clearly as she usually did. Today she could hardly concentrate. All she could think about was spellsinging. And Johnny.
Kara barely paid attention as Heather, Molly, and Tiffany crowded around her, wanting to know all the details about Johnny Conrad. She was the center of the universe, as Adriane had put it, just like she wanted to be...but for how long?
It was time to do something.
KARA MARCHED TOWARD the music building and stopped—then leaped behind a large maple tree. Every time she tried to enter the music room, she couldn’t. She was too scared to make the move. Peering around the tree, she saw the open doors that led from the music room to the track behind the school.
She listened to the uplifting voices of the school’s choir. They sounded so rich and beautiful. A soloist took the lead and Kara sang along, desperately attempting to match the girl’s incredible voice. But every note Kara sang was either flat or sharp, early or late, always somehow just plain wrong. Even when she tried the easier route of singing along with the rest of the choir, she was never once in tune with them.
Kara tried to belt it out like she did when singing along to B*Tween. A few stray dogs ran around the tree, barking. She quickly shut her mouth, looking around. The last thing she needed was for someone to hear her voice before the big contest.
For a moment, she thought about just giving up. Then she thought of Adriane’s triumphant smile, the one she’d give her when Kara backed out.
No, she had to sing at the contest tonight. She had to make it to the final round and prove to Adriane that she was... that she was a star—the blazing star!
Johnny thought she was special, and he should know.
She opened her backpack and took out the unicorn horn. The crystalline horn shone in the afternoon sun, rainbow sparkles running up and down its delicate spiraled curves.
“I want to sing like a star!” Kara said.
She held it tight and tried a chorus of “Supernatural High.”
It wasn’t working—she sounded exactly the same. Kara felt close to panicking. This was her last hope. What was she doing wrong? Maybe the horn worked just for Emily.
I need to focus, like Emily and Adriane do when they use their stones, she thought.
Think musical magic. Magic to make music. Music to make magic. She thought of the book she had found in the library. The strange words of spellsinging drifted in her mind like tinkling bells.
Spellsing as one
And see your work done
“Okay...” Kara whispered. Spellsinging. A musical spell could help focus magic. How hard could it be?
I want to sing like a bird
The best in the world
Make my voice ring
I’m super-stylin‘
Cute, she thought. Not too bad for her first magic spell.
She tried saying the words again, but nothing happened. Then she tried singing them in a rapping rhythm, the unicorn horn clutched tightly in her hand. Suddenly, she felt wind kick up, sending a swirl of magical energy around her, lifting her long blonde hair.
Whoa!
It stopped the moment she fell silent.
Kara tried the spell again, singing the words a little more loudly now, with more confidence and control—and somehow, even though she wasn’t singing what the choir was singing, she was in tune with them, her rhythms in sync, her notes flowing perfectly with theirs.
She felt the horn trembling in her hands as it focused her magic.
An ember of brilliant light suddenly flared from the horn. Kara leaped back, scared. She watched in amazement as the light spread between her fingers, swirling around her hands. The air felt heavy as sparkling diamond magic raced up her arms and swirled around her. Her heart thundered in a chorus of power.
Yes! The jewel was exactly what she needed. Just like the last time, the exquisite power she used with the jewel of the unicorn. Only this time it was stronger—just what she needed to change—
This was wrong! She knew it and fought against its call, but another part of her sang with the harmonies of her magic. Her magic! The power was exhilarating. The wind screamed in her ears, whipping around her in a cyclone of magically charged air.
Her entire form blazed diamond bright as the magic crackled across her skin. The power seemed so much larger than her small frame. How could it stay contained? And once released, how could she control it?
Taking a deep breath, she cleared her mind of anything but the flows and ebbs of the magic. In a few heartbeats, the glow simmered, then grew back to an intense blaze. She could do this!
Kara squeezed her eyes closed and centered her breathing. With a certainty that rocked her world, she locked the magic
to her will.
Kara started to sing. A perfect G note rang from her mouth. She moved to C and F sharp then began running up the scale, notes perfectly in tune, each rising in perfect pitch. Her control was incredible. Her voice became a lilting, wondrous sound, cascading like sweet summer rain as it moved up and down the scale.
The horn blazed with power. The magic inside of her sang for release.
Kara was ready.
She raced up three octaves and with perfect breath control, she hit a triple high C.
The tree trunk burst with an explosive crack!
Waves of invisible force rippled from the horn—and a window shattered in the school!
She heard the choir screaming in surprise.
Kara gasped as she wrestled the magic under control—but somewhere deep inside, somewhere she feared to look too closely, a part of her cackled with wicked delight. A flicker of a smile fluttered around her mouth. The magic was hers.
“YOU CAN GO now, Mrs. Windor,” the desk sergeant said as he opened the cell door.
“It’s about time!” Mrs. Windor clutched a rolled up copy of the Stonehill Gazette, revealing the photograph of her at the Pet Palace, a monkey on her back. “I was nowhere near that house!”
The sergeant looked at her warily. He was a big man with salt and pepper hair. “Uh-huh. Beside the pictures, there were three eyewitness accounts. The photographer, Dr. Fletcher, and her daughter...”
“All of them at Ravenswood are in on this together. I bet it was that Nakoda who dressed up as me for these clearly staged photographs!”
“Ah,” the officer said. “And why would she do that?”
“To discredit me, of course. I know what they’re hiding there! Monsters, I tell you!”
The desk sergeant said, “I’m just stating the facts, ma’am. Now why don’t you go home, cool off, and have a nice long rest? You might even consider seeing a… doctor.”
“That was not me last night!” Mrs. Windor shrieked as she nervously backed out of the building.
The desk sergeant was no longer listening. Instead, he was watching to see if the door might be kind enough to hit Mrs. Windor in the rear end on her way out.
“Whaaaah!” she yelped.
He chuckled as it did.
THE CHAOS CAUSED by Kara’s accidental window shattering blew over pretty fast. No one had been hurt, but a lot of students were badly shaken by the sudden “windstorm.”
The worst of it was that Kara knew she should feel terrible about what she had done—but she didn’t. She carefully tested her new vocal proficiency as she walked down the hallway. Humming a tune under her breath, she heard a familiar light musical ringing and felt a tingling throughout her body. After what happened outside, she couldn’t risk anything louder. She was dying to find out how long the effects would last. As soon as she could get free, she had to find a secluded area to do further tests. She just had to force herself to make it through the rest of the school day.
Finally, the three o’clock bell sounded and Kara rushed to her locker. All around her, kids were buzzing with excitement over the karaoke contest. Kara ignored them all, collecting her backpack and her books as fast as she could.
“Hey!”
She looked up to see Adriane standing there, glaring at her.
“Hey is for horses.”
“You haven't said one word to me or Emily today, and now you're rushing off again!” Adriane said angrily. The wolf stone on Adriane’s wrist suddenly pulsed with hot light as Kara lifted her backpack from her locker. Adriane quickly covered her wrist with the sleeve of her jacket.
She leaned in close and hissed, “Aren’t you even the least bit concerned about what happened to the animals last night?”
“No, should I be?”
“They think some kind of monster might have gotten through the dreamcatcher,” Adriane whispered, glancing around to make sure no one else was listening.
“A monster can't get through. That's the whole point, duh!”
“We need to get a message to Zach,” Adriane insisted, referring to the human boy she had met on Aldenmor who’d been raised by mistwolves. “Maybe he found the Fairy Glen.”
“And how do you propose we do that?”
“We can use the portal or the d-flies—”
“We can’t open the portal, and now you want a long-distance dragonfly call to Aldenmor? That’s the last thing I need right now!”
“And just where were you when that ‘windstorm’ hit?” Adriane asked suspiciously, rubbing her gemstone as if it irritated her.
“Uh… getting stuff done…” Kara held the backpack behind her, as far away from Adriane’s wrist as she could.
“What has gotten into you?” Adriane demanded.
“Me? What about you, Miss I’m-So-Gonna-Sing-With-Johnny!”
“Yeah, okay, I got a little carried away. But I’m over that.”
“Oh, really!” Kara scoffed.
“Look, you have to get this concert back under control. Gran is getting really annoyed.”
“You were the one who put Johnny and his people at Ravenswood,” Kara pointed out. “Don’t come crying to me!”
“This is your show, superstar! You need to get over to Ravenswood right now and finalize a million details.”
“I can’t… I… I’m busy.”
Adriane’s eyebrow rose. “With what?”
“I’m going to…” Guilt flashed through her. There might be something dangerous at the preserve. The girls had no idea what was going on in Aldenmor. They needed to talk to Zach. And there were a million details to deal with before the concert.
Kara sighed. All she really wanted to do was lose herself in the dream of Johnny and her sharing the spotlight, singing before a crowd, basking in their love—
Shouts and screams broke her thoughts. Hundreds of kids were suddenly pouring out the front door of the school.
What now? Kara thought as she followed and bolted from the building.
Suddenly, everyone turned to look at her. Silence fell as the crowd parted like a sea to reveal a long black limo parked by the curb. Johnny leaned on the car’s trunk, grinning as the horde of fans flocked around him.
Laughing, he signed notebooks, articles of clothing, even one kid’s arm. Then he looked right at Kara.
“Good luck with the contest, everyone. We’ll be seeing you all at the show tomorrow.” He raised a fist into the air. “Ravenswood!”
“Johnny!” the crown yelled back. “Johnny!”
“Let’s hear it for the other star of this concert. The one responsible for the entire show,” Johnny said, holding out his hand in Kara’s direction. Kara walked through the crowd in a daze.
Johnny opened the rear door for Kara to climb in. “Your coach awaits, princess. Where to?”
“Home is cool.”
He hopped to the other side, and in seconds they were off.
Kara was startled by the cheers and cries from behind them, and shocked when she looked back at the expressions on the faces of so many kids; they were calling Kara’s name just as often as Johnny’s. Many looked at her with the same awe they had reserved for the singer.
From the corner of her eye, she glanced at Adriane yelling something. Ooo, she must be so jealous! Smiling to herself, Kara turned and settled back in her seat.
“You know, anyone who tells you it isn’t fun being a star is either lying or crazy.” Johnny smiled as they drove on, heading toward a scenic road that skirted the woods and fields surrounding Stonehill.
Kara nodded. For a moment, she had been the one so many people were looking at with adoration...
“But I’m not a star, I mean, like you are,” she said self-consciously.
“Don’t be so modest,” he said. “You put this whole show together. Everyone in this town knows you’re special.”
That pretty much was true, Kara thought. Not to brag, but the facts spoke for themselves. She'd been the most popular girl in school even before all this stuf
f with the concert started.
“The way I figure it, sometimes that light’s already there, inside a person,” Johnny mused.
“What light?” Kara asked.
“The light that makes someone shine like a star. The only difference between the people who make it and those who don’t is doing whatever it takes to make the whole world see that light.”
Kara raised her chin and tossed back her golden hair. “I want to make the whole world see what I’m about.”
“There you go,” Johnny said, his voice once again sounding like music, a perfect, enchanting song that made her feel better about everything. She felt more confident than she had in days. She had done the right thing taking the horn. She knew that now.
Johnny continued, “You’ve got to play to win. And why take the long road around if someone’s pointing out a shortcut?”
Thinking about the karaoke contest, Kara couldn’t have agreed more.
Cool as it was listening to him, being with him, Kara had something more urgent to do. She had to practice for the audition! Luckily, Johnny had to get back to Ravenswood for a round of interviews. She asked to be dropped off near the orchard. She could walk from there.
Johnny signaled to the driver and the limo stopped by the side of the road.
Kara smiled as she hopped out of the car. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Anytime,” Johnny said, rummaging in a bag. “Wait… Here, take this.”
He placed a small locket on a slim gold chain in Kara’s hands.
“I was given this before my first big show. It brought me luck.” He shrugged. “Now you can use it to bring you luck.”
“Wow. Thanks.” Kara clutched the locket in her hand. She felt like she could have anything she wanted.
“I thought you might like to have it with you for the first round tonight. Not that I think you’ll need it—I know you’re gonna knock everyone out.”
You’ve never even heard me sing, Kara thought, suddenly horrified. Then she relaxed. After all, she had the unicorn horn; plus, she was learning about spellsinging, her secret weapon. And the locket sealed the deal.
Spellsinger (Avalon: Web of Magic #5) Page 5
