“I dragged him along,” Aiden told her.
Hanna smiled. “Now that I can believe.”
“I didn’t think you’d be here either,” Dylan said.
Her smile widened and her eyes lit up. Leaning closer, she stage-whispered, “I snuck out the window.”
“Damn.” Dylan looked impressed.
“Wow.” When Aiden had first met Hanna, she couldn’t even walk away from her abusive boyfriend. She’d broken up with Aiden because her parents told her to. But her confidence had grown, and being with her new pack had given her quite a boost.
The selfish part of Aiden wished he had been the one to help her get this strong. He was happy for her though.
Tiago chuckled. “I’ve done that more than a few times.”
That made Aiden think of his offer to sneak over to Tiago’s house and guard him while he slept. So far Tiago hadn’t taken him up on it, and there had been no further sign of his parents.
They made small talk for another few minutes before going their separate ways. Dylan, Aiden, and Tiago loaded their plates with pizza and snacks. Then Aiden ran interference so Dylan wouldn’t intimidate anyone out of the few available seats.
The two kids on the couch offered to leave, but Aiden asked them to squeeze over instead. Dylan and Aiden took the remaining space while Tiago sat on the floor.
The other side of the living room had been cleared for dancing. As pop music thumped from the stereo, Aiden ate his pizza and watched the kids dance. He wondered what it would feel like to dance with Tiago. Not even a slow dance or a sexy dance, just for fun. But he couldn’t dance with another boy.
Tiago was sitting a little too close to his leg, almost leaning on it, and Aiden considered asking him to move. But was anyone paying attention to them? There were a lot of kids in the house and not much room. People would just think they were sitting close due to necessity, right?
Dylan is squishing me into the armrest, and I’m not worried about people seeing that. Aiden scolded himself for being paranoid again.
Soon Maggie called everyone into the dining room so they could watch her open presents. After that she blew out the candles on her huge cake and then passed out slices. When Aiden looked around after getting his piece, Dylan was nowhere to be seen.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Stepping out the back door, Dylan took in a lungful of cold air.
“Needed a break?”
He looked over to see the fox sisters leaning against the side of the house. They weren’t actually sisters, but they had similar looks, and they did everything together. Izume smiled at him. “Us too.”
“There’s just… a lot of people.” Dylan stuck his hands in his pockets.
“I’m shocked you came to a party.” Sakura’s cheeks were slightly pink from the cold.
“Aiden begged me to drive him. Kind of surprised to see you here.”
“Please, we have a social life,” Izume said. “Besides, we like Maggie.”
“Everyone likes Maggie,” Sakura added.
“She does seem to be popular.” Music and laughter drifted from inside the house. Maggie had been afraid of him like everyone else, but she’d never been mean. And more importantly, she’d been nice to Aiden since the first day he came to Shadow Valley.
“You seem to be popular lately,” Izume said. “Big hero, killing the dark fae when the wardens couldn’t even catch him.”
He didn’t feel like a hero. Not when it was his fault the dark fae had been let out in the first place. For all he knew, Morgan was killing people right now, and maybe he’d let more of his buddies out of Faery to help. Dylan shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Now everyone wants to talk to me after all this time treating me like a bomb about to go off.” Of course plenty of people still did, like Warden Bully.
“We didn’t treat you like that,” Sakura said, scuffing a shoe in the snow.
“No, you guys were always cool.” They hadn’t ever talked much, but back in eighth grade when they started Basic Magical Control, the fox sisters had faced him without fear. Had been eager, in fact. Even the teacher had been afraid of Dylan.
Izume laughed. “Well, that’s high praise.” She reached out a finger, tracing little symbols in the air with a tiny flame. “You know you could own this school if you wanted. Now you’re the bad boy and the hero.”
“I wish people would stop trying to talk to me. I got used to being left alone.” Maybe he’d like it if the circumstances were different. Everyone fantasized about being popular, even him. He’d gotten attention last year as well, after being kidnapped and fighting a corrupt warden. It hadn’t been comfortable then either, although he did enjoy being vindicated.
And it had led to him dating Hanna. Which he didn’t want to think about.
“Sort of weird how things keep happening to you and Aiden. You’re either the unluckiest people or the luckiest,” Izume said.
“The wardens took me because I was powerful. The dark fae came after me and Aiden for the same reason.” He could be honest about that part. The dark fae hadn’t seemed to know, or maybe didn’t care, that Dylan was the one who let Morgan out.
“I’m glad you’re okay. I mean,” Sakura added quickly, “gym would be boring without you.”
“Not this year.” Dylan looked away. “I suck.”
“You don’t suck,” Sakura said. “The class is harder, and you’re there because you’re too good to stay in the intermediate class.”
Dylan shook his head, that awful feeling of failure crawling up his chest. “Everyone’s beating me all the time.” Including you.
Izume snorted. “Spoiled little dragonkin, so used to winning.”
“I’m not—”
Colors burst across the sky.
“It’s happening again!” Izume sounded both excited and afraid. Her shoes crunched in the snow as she sprinted to the door. Yanking it open, she yelled at the party, “The lights are happening again!”
Dylan kept staring at the flickering colors as they spread across the whole sky. It was mostly purple just like last time, with all the other colors mixed in. His stomach clenched. For the past few years, every time something weird happened in this town, it ended up coming straight at Dylan. And Aiden.
He didn’t know if he should be standing there or taking cover.
Kids rushed outside, exclaiming when they saw the lights. Did it last longer this time, or did it just feel that way?
Then the colors slid back down the sky, disappearing behind the tops of the neighborhood trees and houses.
“They’re trying to turn off the barrier again,” Maggie said.
“Better than fireworks!” Toby said. “What a birthday present for you.”
Dylan turned toward the house, looking for Aiden among the crowd of kids in the backyard.
Maggie laughed. “Yeah.” Then in a worried tone, she said, “I hope it’s nothing bad.”
“Watch the wardens and the news brush it off again,” Dylan said. He didn’t see Aiden. Was he scared? Having a panic attack? Or maybe he’d missed the whole thing. Music still thumped from the living room, so Aiden might not have heard the excitement.
“Probably,” Maggie agreed.
Kids gathered in clusters around cell phones, already watching the videos they’d captured.
Dylan pushed his way through them and stepped back into the house.
Where he almost collided with Aiden. “Whoa!”
They both jerked to a stop.
“There you are,” Aiden said. “I was looking for you.”
Without thinking, Dylan blurted out, “The lights in the sky happened again.”
Aiden went pale.
* * *
They were supposed to be practicing transmutation—changing a flower into an apple—but neither Aiden nor Maggie could focus.
“I just can’t help thinking it’s something… sinister,” Aiden said. Kids had been talking about the lights all day, passing around pictures and videos. The newspaper said it was not
hing to worry about and the wardens were investigating, just like last time.
Maggie patted his arm. “I can see why you’d think that. You’ve had terrible stuff happen to you.”
Aiden sighed. “You really believe it’s just kids trying to turn off the alarm?”
She shrugged. “Why not? Maybe it didn’t work last time and they’re trying again.”
Aiden looked down at the white flower in the middle of their shared table. They really should be working on the assignment. This year they were taking Advanced Spellcraft, and both of them were struggling with class, and the spells kept getting harder.
“What if someone is trying to take down the whole barrier?”
“That’s Toby’s theory.” She shook her head, slightly amused. “They would need a ton of power for that.”
“What if they got a bunch of friends? What if it’s not kids but adults?”
Maggie arched an eyebrow. “Uncertified adults trying to run out of town?”
Did adults still believe there was an alarm? Aiden knew people could leave anytime they wanted to, although Mr. Johnson had told him to keep that quiet. “But the wardens would hunt them down, wouldn’t they?”
“Maybe they think they won’t get caught.”
Aiden tried to read the spell instructions again, the words blurring together. “Doesn’t the barrier also keep the town hidden? So if it goes away, regular humans can find Shadow Valley?”
“Yeah…” Maggie’s eyes got wide. “Ohh, that would be bad. The barrier is actually part of the treaty, so if someone dispels it, that’s technically a violation.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the mundane—um, US government—can come after all of us.” She lifted her hands. “But I’m sure they wouldn’t. I’m sure they’d understand if it was just a small group causing trouble, and the wardens would put the barrier back up right away.”
Aiden pressed a hand to his stomach, imagining tanks rolling into Shadow Valley.
Maggie took his hand. “Forget I said that. Don’t worry about it.”
“How can I not?”
“We’re sort of like another country. They wouldn’t just attack us. They’d talk to us first. And the mayor could explain it was criminals. I’m sure they’d understand.”
Aiden told himself the United States probably didn’t want to declare war on a bunch of monsters over a misunderstanding.
Maggie squeezed his hand. “And like I said, it would take a huge amount of power to destroy the barrier. It would take the equivalent of all the wardens to do it. Maybe more.”
Aiden felt an anxiety attack trying to gain steam and took slow, deep breaths. “So this person, or people, will keep trying and not get anywhere? And the wardens will catch them eventually?”
“Exactly.” Maggie smiled.
The teacher stopped in front of their table. “How are you doing over here?”
“Um…” A guilty blush rose to Aiden’s cheeks.
“I understand the theory,” Maggie said. “But I’m having difficulty with the practice.” She glanced over to include Aiden. “We both are, actually. Can you help us?”
Aiden tried to focus. If there was a bunch of people planning to destroy the barrier and possibly cause a war, there wasn’t anything he could do about it. His grade in Advanced Spellcraft, well… at least he had some control over that.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“I was definitely not made for the cold.” Tiago wrapped his arms around himself as they stepped through the knee-high snow.
“You mean Wisconsin isn’t a jaguar’s natural habitat?” Winter wasn’t Aiden’s favorite either, but he appreciated the beauty of the snow-covered woods. Most of the forest was sleeping, the hum of energy he’d gotten used to in the warmer months was now little more than a whisper.
“Heh. The wolves love this. And the werebear. They give me crap in Practical Senses about how useless my fur is.” Tiago’s breath fogged in the air. “You know what jaguar paws were really not made for? Running over snow.”
Aiden bit his lip, picturing Tiago in animal form as he floundered through the snow.
They reached their favorite clearing. Several snow angels dotted the area, most of them crossed with tracks both human and animal. They used to use the clearing for practicing their magical skills, but there hadn’t been much practicing over the past few months. Not with magic at least. Spots of packed snow showed where he and Tiago had rolled around on the ground.
“I know something that’ll warm you up.” Aiden reached for Tiago and pulled him into a kiss.
It was actually warmer tonight than it had been the past week, which was why they were out here. It had been too cold even with the lure of a romantic walk and a long make-out session.
Tiago wrapped his hands around Aiden’s waist, pressing them as close as their bulky coats would allow. Their tongues and lips slid against each other, and Aiden started to sweat a little inside his coat. Tiago made this little growly noise that always drove Aiden wild and nipped gently at his lower lip.
“Whoa.”
The voice cut through the night like shattering glass. Aiden stumbled away from Tiago in horror, turning to face the far end of the clearing.
Where Dylan was standing.
He saw us. Oh God, he caught us kissing. No, maybe just saw something but didn’t get a good look. We can explain it; we can convince him it was nothing.
But the shocked look on Dylan’s face said it all. His mouth hung open, eyes wide.
“Um, hi,” Tiago said.
Aiden couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. His chest tightened, heart going a million miles an hour.
Dylan closed his mouth, swallowed. “So, uh…”
It was all over. Dylan was going to be disgusted. Hate him. Never want to talk to him again.
“Please don’t hate me.” And as if things couldn’t get worse, Aiden’s eyes burned with tears.
Dylan blinked. “Why would I hate you?”
“Because you saw…” Aiden’s throat closed and the first tears left cool tracks down his cheeks. Tiago gripped his arm and Aiden stiffened, but what was the point? So he let Tiago pull him into a hug.
Snow crunched, and then Dylan was only a few feet away. “Dude. Is this why you didn’t want to get back together with Hanna?”
“No,” Aiden said against Tiago’s shoulder. “Well, maybe a little.” He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. Clinging to Tiago, Aiden’s head tingled and he fought a wave of dizziness. It was hard to breathe, and when he drew a deep lungful of cold air, he choked on a sob.
“Hey, man.” Dylan’s voice, as soft as he’d ever heard it. “It’s okay. We’re cool.”
It took a moment for the words to sink in. Aiden turned his head, watching Dylan out of one blurry eye. “Really?” He could barely dare to hope.
Dylan smiled, though it looked a little forced. “Yeah, really. It’s not… what I expected, but I’m not gonna freak out on you, okay?”
The little spark of hope in Aiden grew, as tender as a new leaf. He took half a step away from Tiago and his legs shook. “I-I need to sit down.” Sweat cooled all over his body and a whine rose in his ears. Aiden sagged, and Tiago guided him gently down to the snow.
Aiden blinked to clear the dark spots and tears from his eyes, looking over at Dylan, searching his expression. Dylan looked a little worried. Not like he was trying to hide his disgust. Except for the paranoid fear gnawing at him, Aiden had no reason to doubt what Dylan had said.
Tiago kept an arm around him, his boyfriend’s body an anchor of support. “You okay?”
“Had a little panic attack. It’s going away now.” Aiden’s voice shook. He focused on taking regular breaths and not frantic little sips of air.
Tiago kissed his damp forehead. “Okay.”
Something crossed Dylan’s face, a slight tightening around his eyes. Grossed out? Confused? “Um, sorry for making you freak out.”
“What are you doing out here?”
Tiago asked. It sounded a bit demanding.
Dylan’s eyes tightened again, but this time it was an expression Aiden knew well—a flash of anger. But Dylan got it under control. “I thought it would be fun to sneak up on you guys. I thought you were practicing, not”—he waved a hand—“doing that.”
A hysterical giggle escaped Aiden, and Dylan smiled.
Tiago tightened his arm around Aiden. “So we’re all cool? ’Cause if not, I’m gonna have to kick your ass.”
Aiden tensed, but Dylan only laughed. “Relax, Cat Boy. I’m not a homophobe.” He shrugged, turning uncertain. “It might take a little getting used to. Were you really scared I’d freak out?”
Aiden nodded. Dylan was didn’t-hate-him okay, but was he really okay okay?
Dylan scooted a little closer and put a hand on Aiden’s shoulder. “You’re still my friend no matter what, okay?”
Aiden swallowed against a lump in his throat, but it was the good kind. His eyes stung a little. “Thanks.”
“I was actually jealous of all the time you were spending together.” Dylan snorted. “Turns out you were making out the whole time. No offense, but like, I’m fine with not being part of that.”
The comment got Tiago to chuckle. “Sure you don’t want to join us? You’re pretty hot.”
Dylan flushed bright red. “Uhh…”
“I know, I know. It’s mean to tease the straight boy.” Tiago kissed Aiden’s temple again.
It felt like Tiago was marking his territory, or rubbing it in. And Aiden found that didn’t bother him. What did bother him was the cold snow dampening his pants. “We should get up.”
“Yeah, my ass is freezing.” Tiago helped Aiden up, and they brushed as much snow as they could off their pants.
“I’ll let you get back to… whatever,” Dylan said. “See you tomorrow.”
Giving them privacy or making a retreat?
* * *
The next evening when Dylan picked up Aiden for school, Aiden gave him a shy smile but wouldn’t quite meet his eyes. Sliding into his seat, he huddled in on himself. It probably wasn’t from the cold.
Zen and the Art of Major Magical Control Page 9
