When we pulled apart, he pressed his forehead to mine. “Shall we be off?”
“Yes, please.”
I pulled the door open, still grinning at Atohi.
My breath stalled in my throat as I turned to leave and spotted a malevolent pair of gleaming red eyes staring back at me from within the trees.
Whatever this creature was, it had a large canine skull, no flesh or muscle, with fangs that glistened in the moonlight. As my eyes adjusted rapidly to the dark, I could see the eyes were actually small, gleaming dots set in the eye cavities. His body was that of a human, though taller and wider, but judging by the exposed spinal column running from the base of the skull to where it disappeared into the collar, the rest of him was just as skeletal.
A low growl rumbled through the clearing—but from behind me. Atohi, now in his wolf form, shouldered past me and started growling and snapping his jaws ferociously at the creature, daring it to try and come any closer. It laughed loudly before it morphed into a shadow and melted into the darkness of the woods.
Atohi nudged me back toward the house. I didn't need to be told twice. I ran through the doorway, locking it after he got in.
“What the hell was that thing?” I raked my fingers through my hair.
Atohi hesitated for a moment. “That was Johannes in his Magus form.”
“What?” My blood ran cold. “You can't be serious. That thing was terrifying.”
It was hard to picture Johannes, with his pretty face and lithe body… and flesh… could turn into something so spectral.
“I brought salt! That will help, right? I read that salt wards off evil spirits.” I immediately started digging through my bag and grabbed onto the container with shaking hands.
Atohi slowly slipped it from my hands and pushed some hair from my face. “Alice, breathe. Salt may work with evil spirts, but Magi are not spirits.”
My face burned with shame. I definitely made myself look like an idiot.
“How did I even get mixed up with all of this?” With a groan, I dropped onto the couch and pressed my face into a cushion.
Atohi place the salt back in my bag and then sat beside me, rubbing my back with those large, warm hands of his. “Maybe he just can't accept that she's gone. I know he loved her too.”
“What?” I turned my head toward him, not quite sure if I heard him correctly.
He shook his head, his face scrunched as if he were in pain. Atohi walked away, heading up to his room with heavy footsteps that seemed to echo in the small house. As soon as he was gone, I pressed my face into a pillow and screamed. Would it be bad to lie here until I feel better? Ugh, probably. I forced myself up to check on Atohi.
I crept up the stairs and found him bent over his desk as he tinkered with a tiny rocking horse that moved on its own, little bells chiming from around its neck. I took a moment to look around at the various furniture and baubles in the open room. A small black ghost doll that sat slumped against a jar caught my attention. It reminded me of Johannes, of the ghoulish frame of his Magus body.
As threatening as Johannes was becoming, I couldn’t shake the thought that there had to be a reason for all of this. It didn’t make any sense for him to risk so much for nothing. “Do you think he wants to use me to heal himself? Maybe there’s something wrong with him…”
“Can’t be,” Atohi said without looking at me. “One of his powers allows him to absorb life from Fae. Faeries,” he amended. He set down his tools and glanced at me. “That’s how he maintains his youth.”
What? “So, Johannes… kills these Fae?”
All I could imagine was Johannes’s large ghoul form towering over a pixie as it snarled back at him.
“Essentially, yes. They turn into an energy he uses to sustain himself.”
I tugged at the cuff of my sweater. “You know, if he needs me to heal someone, maybe I should just do it, if I’m able. Maybe it’s for that little boy. What’s the harm?”
I didn’t understand why I couldn’t use these powers, if I even had them, to help people. I mean, I definitely needed to learn how to use them, but I wanted to use them for good, if I could.
Atohi finally turned and looked up at me. “Stop, Alice. You don't know what that entails. Paean powers drain your own energy when you use them. Small cuts or even a broken finger won’t take much from you, but bigger things will drain you until you die. It’s dangerous.”
I floundered for what to say back to him before settling on, “Fine but we really need to get you out of here, Atohi. How can we break this curse?”
“I couldn't ask you to do that for me.” He turned back to his wooden horse, pressing down on it slightly to let it rock and jingle the little bells.
“You're not asking it of me. I want to do this, Atohi.” I leaned against his back and wrapped my arms around him, relishing in his warmth. He was always so warm. “What do we need to do?”
“He used an object to curse me.” He rubbed a hand over the scar. “The only way to break it would be to destroy it. It's likely being protected in his home.”
I didn't want to go back there, but I had promised Benjamin I would return. The earnest look in his eyes, there was no way I could dream of breaking it. I could do this. I could figure something out.
“Alice, I can tell what you're thinking. You don't need to go back there.” He squeezed my arms.
I shook my head. He had been brave for me so many times. I could be brave for him too.
“What does it look like?”
“Alice, please reconsider.”
“What does it look like?” I pressed. “I don’t want to be a scared little girl anymore. I want to do this for you.” With Johannes, I had just run, trying to flee from it without facing it head on. But, with Atohi… He made me want to be strong. A confidence in myself was being built with every bit of information he was giving me about who I truly was and the things my family was capable of. The things I was capable of.
Atohi's rebuttal faltered as he saw the determination in my face. I wanted—no, needed to be able to do it. Atohi had such a wonderful fire raging in him, driving him forward. It was inspirational. I wanted to be like him.
“You look just like her when you make that face.” He laughed to himself. “It's a small trinket in the shape of a sun.”
“Like your scar?”
“Similar. He had placed it on my bed. When it hit me, I felt strange, but didn't know the effect it had on me until I went to leave.” He looked away from me, jaw clenching. “No one came looking for me. It was as if he'd wiped me from history.”
“Zella never came?”
“No, not once. I would sometimes wander the edge of town to try to catch a glimpse of her, but it seemed she was avoiding me.” The wetness that lined his eyes made my heart break. It was so clear how much Zella meant to Atohi, and it filled me with a hot rage to know she’d abandoned him when he needed her most. He was all alone, had been all alone, for so long. But, not anymore. I’d be here for him.
That settled it. I would break the curse, even if it was the last thing I’d do.
~~~
After a quick shower and a bite to eat, I headed to the hospital to see my grandfather, praying that he would be alone this time. A chill ran down my spine as an image of Johannes's Ghoulish form popped into my mind, and I imagined it leering at my grandfather from the corner of his hospital room. It was still so difficult to believe that was truly him—that the man who had so politely greeted my father, who had been so warm and taken me on a lovely coffee date… had the ice cream shop stay open late to make me feel better…
I nearly ran into a cart full of breakfast trays when lost in my thought. I quickly apologized to the CNA, who scowled at me, and ducked my head down as I finished the walk to Grandpa’s room. Geez, get it together, Alice.
“Ms. Barlow?” I snapped myself out of my thoughts to turn to see who had called me.
“Oh, Renee, how are you?” It was a nurse. She was almost always here when I ca
me to see Grandpa around lunch time.
“Good! Actually, I was hoping to catch you. Your grandpa has been doing so well, even better than before you came to town. I think just having someone living with him has done wonders. All of his labs have come back good. We just want to do a bit more monitoring and he should be able to go home…” She frowned and stopped. Surely she was remembering what happened. “We have resources available if you need help with housing.”
I swallowed heavily and nodded. “Thank you.”
She squeezed my arm before leaving to continue her rounds.
I couldn’t blame her for her enthusiasm. It really was a good thing for him to be able to leave, but instead of being able to return to the comfort of his own home, he’d have to stay at Granny’s until the repairs were finished.
I tried to snap myself out of it by giving myself a few quick pats to my cheeks. Think of good things. Suzanne’s friendship... Atohi’s smile... Cake… Cake with Suzanne and Atohi. There, smile is now back in place.
When I rounded the corner to get into room 12, Grandpa was just about to take a bite of food.
“Hey, Ali-Gator.” He smiled and pushed his meal tray out of the way for my visit.
“Hey, Grandpa, you know you can still eat when I’m here, right?” I laughed. “How are you feeling today?” I pulled a chair over to his bed and sat down.
“I'm all right. They're giving me the good stuff now.” He pointed to an IV attached to his arm.
I laughed, feeling the stress of the last twenty-four hours melting off from seeing his smiling face. Once all of this was over, maybe I could convince him to move away from here. I didn’t want to introduce any more stress than absolutely necessary, but I couldn’t help wondering if Grandpa knew something about the Magi and the Fae. I needed to decide how to bring it up.
“Why the long face? Do you want me to share?” He reached for the IV, pretending to pull it from his arm.
“No, Grandpa, but I think you might need to be cut off,” I deadpanned.
He slapped at my hand playfully when I reached toward the machine. “No need to be rash.” Grandpa smiled. “There's something different about you, Alice.”
“Is it bad?” I touched my cheek as if something was actually going to be there.
“No, just... different. You don't have to tell me what happened, but just know that you can, if you want.”
“That means a lot.” I squeezed his wrinkled hand. “I'm not sure how I'm going to get through work in the…” Oh, God. I’d completely forgotten about work until now.
I would get a good opportunity to finally ask Cole what the hell was going on the other day, since with everything else going on, I hadn't had a chance to dwell on it. But was I really mentally prepared to open up that can of worms?
Chapter Ten
Getting myself out of bed had never been so hard for me as it was the next day. I had washed my clothes three times at the inn, but I could still smell a lingering stench of smoke and fire. Compared to my usual self, I'm sure I looked a mess.
As I walked through the school’s halls, I tried my best to ignore the snickers of a group of teens standing near my classroom doorway. I resisted the urge to touch my face to see if there was something smudged on my cheek or forehead.
“Good morning.” I smiled at them.
All except one greeted me back. I recognized him as the elder brother of Samuel Evans. He glared at me with such an intense fury that it startled me.
I opened the door to the classroom where I’d been teaching—then let out a yelp as I spotted something huge and black dangling from the ceiling. Behind me, I heard the kids laugh and run off.
Once the lights were on, I could see it was a Halloween prop witch dangling from a rope. Around her neck, pinned to the rope, was a sign that read “Janafield Witch Trials.”
I couldn't even stop the torrent of tears that stung at my eyes. If it weren't for my grandfather, for Atohi, I'd have packed up and left this town and never looked back.
“Alice, are you okay?” Principal Eldris rushed in. “Oh—good God.”
He gently guided me out of the way, then pushed a chair over and climbed up to retrieve the witch.
I shook my head. What was the point in lying when I had muddy tears of saline and mascara running down my cheeks?
Principal Eldris turned the witch over in his hands, scowling. “I’m so sorry about this, Alice. I will investigate who did this. I won't stand for it happening in my school.” When I couldn’t find anything to say, he tucked the witch under his arm and said, “I’ll just give you a few moments.” He left, closing the classroom door behind him.
I sat at my desk and cupped my face in my hands. I didn't know how long I sat there like that, but I was roused from my solo pity party as the heavenly scent of hazelnut coffee filled my senses.
I looked up between my fingers and finally pulled them away from my face when I realized it was Sue. She held two steaming cups in her hands.
“You have no idea how glad I am to see you,” I breathed.
“What happened, sugar? Eldris looked more pensive than usual.” She leaned against my desk.
“Some kids snuck in and hung up a fake witch. Rumor has it that I bewitched Johannes, and, you know, just kidnapped a child.” I grabbed a tissue from my desk and tried my best to wipe my face.
Sue sat on my desk and handed over the coffee she had gotten for me. “I’m not trying to make you feel worse, but why do you care so much what people think? You know you aren’t doing anything wrong. You’re not a witch.”
“But, I am, Sue… Or at least, likely am…” I threw away my sullied napkin and started fiddling with the plastic tab on my coffee lid.
“So, that’s what this is about.”
I looked up at her shyly, like she’d unearthed my diary sans the lock. It was hard for me to fully accept that I might actually be a magic being. What someone could call a witch.
“Hey.” Sue brushed my bangs from my face and smiled at me. “No matter what, you have to remember you are totally amazing. The only thing that’s different about you being a Magi is that you have some kick-ass powers. Okay?”
Suzanne was right. That wonderful woman was always right. “Ugh, what did I do to deserve such a great friend?”
“I am pretty damn amazing. Now, give me some more details on the night with Atohi.” She waggled her red brows.
I blushed and couldn’t keep the smile from my face as I thought about him. “Where do I start?”
I accidentally bumped my mouse, bringing my monitor to life and revealing that—of course—the kids had been up to more in here than hanging up a plastic Halloween witch. I spun it to show Sue the collage of cartoon witches that had been placed on my home screen.
“Okay, seriously?” I sighed through my nose.
“I think you should go home. Do you want me to tell Eldris? Or I can give you a ride home?”
“Thank you, but no. I need to work and distract myself.”
“Buzz me if you need anything, girly. And I anticipate full details later.” She squeezed my shoulder and left.
After carefully navigating the changes to my computer, including but not limited to renaming all of my programs to the correct names instead of famous movie and TV witches (I hadn't even known that many existed), I found my fingers hovering over the keyboard, wondering if I dared to search Magus on this computer.
I dared.
Most searches turned up nothing I hadn’t already found, until I put in a description of Johannes’s ghastly frame. I stumbled upon a website that looked more like a GeoCities guestbook from the earlier days of personal websites. The signatures were full of people giving testimony about having seen the creature or things similar to it. Some included drawings that looked clearly ghoulish, but not quite like Johannes. But none had any real information.
I briefly glanced down to the clock on the monitor. I still had roughly ten minutes before the kids would show up.
“Origin of Mag
i.” I read the title of the website quietly to myself. Okay, this could be interesting. With shaky, eager fingers, I clicked the link. This could potentially give me so many answers, this—was blocked by the school’s firewall.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I groaned.
“Is someone else giving you trouble?” Principal Eldris said from beside me. I nearly jumped out of my seat. When the hell did he show up?
“Oh, no, just having internet trouble.” I gave him a smile that I’m sure didn’t reach my eyes.
“Here, scoot over. I’ll enter the administration password to get you through.”
“Oh, that’s really okay. I can just look later.” I tried to wave him off, but he chuckled and wheeled my chair to the side to allow him access.
My heart thundered in my chest as his deft fingers tapped across the keyboard. I couldn’t let him see what I was looking at. Not when he’d just helped me get rid of a witch prop. I didn’t want him to think the witch rumors were warranted.
How did I fix this? I panicked. As soon as the website popped up, I reached with my foot as subtly as I could and hit the power strip. The screen went black. I could only pray he didn’t see it before I turned the computer off. He paused, brow furrowed.
“Oops, sorry, my foot got too close to the button.” I smiled and swallowed heavily.
Principal Eldris stood to his full height and cleared his throat. “Right, just let me know if you need any help.”
As soon as he left the room, I sagged in my chair.
“Great…”
~~~
Minutes before the end of the school day, a notification popped up to alert me to an email from Principal Eldris.
Come to my office before you leave.
Oh great. The email everyone wanted.
As soon as I dismissed my class and organized the chaos they’d left behind from their presentations on leaders in history, I locked up and headed to the principal’s office. Why did the walk feel like a hundred miles?
Eyes Like Autumn (Seasons of the Magi Book 1) Page 12
