Bell, Book, and Sandals
Page 28
Have you ever had someone tell you something that just couldn’t be true? And seem so very, very sincere about it? It leaves you in a moment of flux, wondering who to believe and where that leaves you in the reality of your world.
I sat there in that moment trying to convince myself this was all a lie. That I needed to get up, pack my bags, and get away from these people as fast as I could. But I couldn’t. Part of me knew the truth when I heard it. Things happened to me all the time that I couldn’t explain. Deep down I knew they were right about one thing; I was different.
But a witch? Really? I didn’t know if I was ready to get aboard the crazy train.
“I know this is hard to believe, Max,” Van said, sitting down next to me. “It’s never easy when you’re brought into this world this late in life, but it’s true. You are a supernatural being. You are a witch.” She gave me a small smile. “It really isn’t a bad thing if you think about it.”
I looked at her for a moment. “Are you saying you’re a part of this, too?”
“Yes. I am.” She glanced over at Danny. “We both are.”
“So…you’re witches, too?”
“Good Gods, no,” Danny said quickly. “Witches are so pedestrian.”
“Thanks, buddy,” Jensen said sarcastically.
“Well, it’s true. Witches are just humans that have mutated into something else. We come from a long line of purity.”
“Right,” Jensen said, rolling his eyes. “Like there’s anything pure about you.”
I ignored the boy’s bantering and studied Van for a moment. Whatever was going on, she believed it. She wasn’t lying to me. She wasn’t playing me like the dumb blonde I thought they were. She was telling me the truth. I could sense that with 100% clarity. That only left one question. What was she really?
Her smiled became less forced as she realized I believed her.
I sighed, taking it all in. I wasn’t human and neither were my friends. “What are you?” I asked Van, curiosity getting the better of me.
“I’m a pixie,” she told me in all seriousness.
I couldn’t help myself. A laugh escaped my lips. “Like Tink? Aren’t you a little tall?”
The look she gave me stopped my laugh completely. “I can be small when I need to be. But I’ll have you know, contrary to popular belief; this is the normal size for a pixie.”
“Oh,” I said, completely thrown off by her.
“And I’m a Trickster,” Danny told me proudly. “I am the only one on the West Coast.”
Hmm, a trickster and a pixie? I’m sure there was a joke in there somewhere. I mentally shook myself when I realized I was buying into all of this. Where was the proof? Was this real or was I suffering from a concussion somewhere? These were way too many things for me to answer right now.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Van said. “I was thinking it the first time I was told I was a pixie. You want proof.” She turned from me, concentrating on Jensen’s apartment around us. She waved her hand and just like that,…flowers bloomed everywhere.
Reds, yellows, oranges, pinks, and whites all swirled together, every shape and size, closing in on us like a floral shop gone wrong. The scent was cloying, too many mashed together to be enjoyable.
“Great. Now my apartment will stink for weeks,” Jensen said, closing his eyes. He took a deep breath and the flowers were gone. I would have never even known they had been there if it wasn’t for the lingering smell permeating everything. Jensen was right. He’d be lucky if the smell ever came out.
I tried to focus on the bigger picture here. Van had made flowers appear and Jensen had sent them away. This was real. They had powers, and that meant I did, too. I turned and looked at Danny. “What can you do, Mr. Trickster?”
His smile was bright enough to power the whole city. “Oh, I can do a lot of things,” he said mischievously. He gave me an exaggerated wink, and suddenly I was no longer in Jensen’s apartment.
My jaw dropped open as I took in the sights around me. I was sitting alone on a park bench in the warm evening breeze, staring up at the Eiffel Tower. Dusk was setting in and her lights were just beginning to glow.
I stood up quickly, glancing around at the people strolling in the icon’s shadow, enjoying a memorable evening. I couldn’t believe this. How had I arrived here? Could Danny really send people places? This was amazing.
I was in Paris!
I mean, I had been here before, but…to get here by magic, that just made the experience even better. I stepped forward, wanting to live the moment. After all, who knew how long Danny would let me stay here. I mean if he could send me, he could bring me back.
As I moved forward, eyes on the sparkling tower, I felt hands clamp down on my arms. I jumped, seeing nothing around me. I was standing alone on a path in the park. I tried to move again, but the hands held firm, keeping me in place. What was holding me?
If witches, pixies, and tricksters-oh my!-were real, didn’t that mean other things had to be real as well? Something must have seen me pop in. Something too eager to have a little fun with the new witch on the block. I could only imagine what kind of terrible creatures stalked the night here.
I panicked, lashing out at the fingers curled around my arms, digging my nails in. Maybe my powers weren’t something I could control, but I was a girl, and I knew how to use a manicure.
“Oh, damn it, Maxie,” a voice cried out in front of me. “I didn’t want you to run into the coffee table.”
Paris rippled around me, the scene melting into nothing more than a blur. Suddenly it dropped away, leaving me staring straight into Danny’s face. “What…” I began, looking around Jensen’s living room, confused. “What happened?”
“I stopped you from cracking your head open when you tripped over the coffee table.”
“But…you mean…” I stammered, glancing at Van and Jensen standing nearby. “I was here? The whole time?”
Jensen nodded as Van spoke, “You never left the living room.”
I was stunned. “But I was in Paris, near the Eiffel Tower. I could hear the people. Feel the evening breeze.” I looked at all of them, eyes wide. “I could even smell the scent of fine food drifting in on that breeze.”
Danny shook his head. “Never happened. It was only an illusion. You’ve been here the entire time.” He watched the disbelief skitter across my face and smiled. “That’s what I do. I trick people. I can make them believe anything I want.”
“Anything?” I repeated, trying to cope with the meaning of the word.
He shrugged, stepping away from me. “Pretty much.”
Van grabbed my hand, pulling me back to the couch. As we sat back down, she watched me with sympathetic eyes. She knew what a shock this was. “Enchantment Cove is a safe haven for Supernaturals. Everyone who lives here is one.”
“Everyone?”
She nodded. “Yes, everyone. It was no coincidence you found your way here, Maxie. You are one of us.”
Twenty Three