Eyes Like Autumn (Seasons of the Magi Book 1)

by C. E. DeRosier

  Atohi stopped me from getting out of bed. “I think you should train your magic more before you go any deeper in trying to heal him.” He put a hand up to stop my protest. “I’m not saying that you shouldn’t, but you’re only going to end up hurting yourself in the process.”

  Johannes rubbed at his chin. “What other choice do we have? I’ve nearly run out of the medicine Doctor Thompson made for him. I have one dosage left that I’ve been keeping in case it gets really bad.”

  “This isn’t really bad?” I asked. How was this not really bad? The poor boy was sweating and shaking like a leaf when it happened.

  "Not nearly as bad as before he was receiving the medication, but it’s clearly getting back there,” Johannes said.

  “Where did the doctor live? We could see if there’s anything of use left.” Atohi leaned back against the headboard.

  “You think I haven’t already checked?” Johannes snapped.

  “Hey, let’s not argue, okay?” Geez, could these guys do anything other than pick at each other? It was exhausting. “Johannes, you had that notebook full of information you gathered. Maybe Atohi and I should take a look at it.”

  Atohi scooted further onto the bed, his legs crossed in front of him and arms behind his head. “We have fresh eyes unlike your crusty old man ones.” Atohi smirked, clearly proud of himself.

  Johannes glared. “I do not have old man eyes, and quit making yourself so comfortable on my bed.”

  “All right, boys, this is clearly not going to be a constructive conversation. So, let’s regroup after I go see my grandpa. I really need to talk to him about what I learned today.” To be honest, what I really wanted to know was if he truly knew about Grandma’s powers. If he was… if he was like my father—if he had shunned her too.

  “You may have trouble with that, sweetheart.” Johannes pointed to Ben's chubby hands wound tight with fistfuls of my shirt.

  “Does he always sleep like this?” I raised a brow when I looked up at Johannes.

  “Only when he's not feeling well... or has a nightmare... or it's cold.”

  “Oh, is that all?” I asked dryly. Looking over at the clock, I realized it was nearing seven o’clock. Already. “Visiting hours end soon, I really need to go if I’m going to see him tonight.”

  Then it dawned on me, I had no car to get there. “And I may need to borrow your car…”

  “You shouldn’t go out there alone, Alice, not anymore. Things are getting increasingly dangerous,” Atohi said with a sigh. “I’ll stay and watch Ben.”

  “What?” Johannes and I said at the same time, utterly flabbergasted that he would offer.

  Johannes shifted his weight from foot to foot. “Brother… you don’t have to do that.”

  “I know I don’t have to, but I want to.” Atohi rolled to his side, pressed tightly against me to lay a heavy hand on Ben’s back. “He’s a part of Zella, and that’s important to me.”

  Gently, we shifted Ben to Atohi. The child whined briefly until snuggling into the warmth of Atohi’s chest. I sighed internally. I’d love to stay here in bed with them, but I needed to talk to Grandpa.

  As soon as I rose from the bed, Atohi shifted under the blankets and smirked. “Plus, I get to put my scent all over your bed.”

  I laughed and pushed at Johannes’s chest to get him from the room even as his chest rumbled in a growl, but he tensed his body and stood in place. “C’mon, Bone Daddy, we need to get going.”

  The shock that was written on his face gave me the advantage I needed to overpower him. I could be full of surprises too.

  ~~~

  Johannes deposited the keys to his car into my hand as we reached it. I arched a brow. “You’re letting me drive?”

  “Your car finally died, correct? You didn’t have your car with you when I picked you up earlier, and I’m sincerely surprised it hadn’t left the land of the living far sooner. So, you may have this one to use as you please.” He cleared his throat and looked away from me, hands placed on his hips.

  At first I was too stunned to speak, but then a grin twisted my lips as he finally looked back at me.

  “What?”

  “You don’t have to keep up that tough act. Just admit you want to do something nice for someone.” I teased him. He was doing the same thing he had done to Atohi back in the day, making himself look big and imposing when on the inside he was just trying to help.

  He scowled. “Get in the car. We’re going to miss visiting hours, remember?”

  “Johannes,” I spoke as we got in and started driving towards the hospital. “Why have you been doing so much to help me and my grandfather? The gifts, helping rebuild the house, letting me use your car…”

  He was quiet. Just when I thought he was going to ignore the question entirely, he finally responded. “Because I wanted you to look at me the same way you did when I’d given you the dress on our date at your grandfather’s.”

  I whipped my head around to look at him. Was that really true?

  “Alice, eyes on the road,” Johannes admonished. While I knew he was concerned about our safety with his words, a part of me wondered if he also didn’t want me to look at him while he made such a raw confession.

  “I loved when you smiled at me and true happiness and appreciation sparkled back at me.”

  “Johannes, it wasn’t because of the gift that I looked at you that way. I was excited to spend time with you and get to know you. Until I found out everything you were hiding from me, I was happy. You treated me like a pawn instead of talking to me.” My voice broke. I didn’t want to talk about this right now. I was still aching from everything that happened, both physically and mentally.

  “I… I hadn’t meant to make you feel that way, like I was using you. I just…” He wiped a hand down his face. “I made a series of mistakes trying to handle this situation alone.”

  I was shocked that he would admit he was wrong in any capacity. We lapsed into silence, the hospital now in view. I pulled into the parking lot and shut off the car but made no move to get out.

  “Johannes… I just want you to know, you don’t have to keep trying to buy my affection. I’ve… learned a lot of things today, and I’m not going to just disappear. Ben and Atohi… and you, you’re all my family now, and we’re in this together now.” I stuck my pinky out towards him, but he only looked at me bewildered. I rolled my eyes. “You can’t break a pinky promise. So, I pledge to you, my undying honesty,” I said with as much dramatics as I could muster.

  Johannes shook his head with a laugh. “You sure are something, Alice.”

  We linked our pinkies together and squeezed, giving each other a soft smile. I tugged his hand to my chest suddenly. “And you have to promise to be completely open and honest to both me and Atohi from now on. We’re a team now.”

  “I promise.”

  ~~~

  The view that greeted us when we entered Grandpa’s room was him leaning back in his bed, snoring with his mouth slightly open. “You've got to be kidding me...” I muttered.

  “So much for rushing here to make sure you could talk to him.” Johannes sighed but still took off his jacket to sling over his arm.

  “Would it be wrong if I practiced my magic on him?” I looked at the IVs coming out of his arms and the large bruises from when he fell that still marred his fragile skin.

  Johannes closed the thick door to prevent the nurses at the station and patients as they passed by from hearing anything. “Does he know of your abilities?”

  I shook my head. “No, but I think I've been healing him without realizing it. The day I visited him in the hospital, and you were there… You boosted my magic when you touched me, didn’t you?”

  Johannes nodded. “I wanted to gage how much magic you had at that time, and to see how much a quick blast would heal him.”

  “When I was younger... my mom got really, really sick. I used to beg my dad to take me to see her every single day.” I could remember how excited I was to vis
it her in the hospital and give her some drawing I did or a piece of candy I'd saved just for her. Nothing made me happier than getting to see her back then. “After talking to my dad, I realized, he knew about what I was capable of. He knew I could’ve healed her, but he let her die. All because he was ashamed of me.” I nearly choked on the sob I was holding back.

  “Are you afraid your grandfather will react similarly to your father?” Johannes placed a hand on my lower back and caught my gaze.

  “I could never to do that to you, Ali.” Grandpa's eyes brimmed with tears when I finally made myself look at him after hearing his voice.

  I slowly asked, “Grandpa... Did you know about Grandma Maggie's powers?”

  He nodded. “Yes, but not until later in our relationship. Just before our wedding, she said she had something to confess to me, and she looked real worked up about it. I was scared she was going to tell me she had a secret family or was already married.”

  I glanced briefly at Johannes, but he wouldn’t meet my gaze.

  “After she told me, I thought she was just wantin’ to call off the marriage, that she’d decided I wasn’t what she wanted after all.” Grandpa wet his lips before he continued. “But then she showed me her magic form, and I just couldn’t believe what I was seein’! She was so gorgeous,” he marveled.

  I swallowed heavily around the knot that had formed in my throat as I listened to his story. Johannes stood impossibly still beside me. I wasn't even sure he was breathing.

  “I'll be honest, I was shocked and a little scared. But, she was the light of my life, and I was willing to accept anything that she told me, even if it was witchcraft.” Grandpa took a deep breath, visibly composing himself, before continuing. “She begged me to never mention it to anyone, but she didn’t want to continue on without me knowing, and we never talked about it until your dad found out about it. He was so distraught…”

  “But, why was dad so upset?” I moved closer and grabbed his hand. I could feel the tingle of my magic moving through my fingers but reined it back as best I could.

  “I just… I tried talking to him about it, but he told me if I couldn’t see the evilness of what was going on, then I was just as bad as her.” Grandpa squeezed my hand harder. “I talked to Maggie about it, and she wanted me to agree with Thomas…”

  “Nothing was more important to her than your family. She didn't want your son to turn against you too,” Johannes said, staring straight at my grandpa.

  “Yes, that's exactly right. I loved her so much. Are... Are you like her?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I have her powers. I told Dad, and he was just so angry, Grandpa.”

  He reached up and tugged me into a hug. I squeezed him, doing my best to avoid his IVs. He pressed a kiss to the crown of my head. “I won't do it again. I don’t want to ever lose you, Alice.”

  I slowly pulled away and wiped his tears away with a shaky smile. “That means so much to me.”

  “You really do look just like her. A beautiful angel.” Grandpa pointed a finger at Johannes, leveling him with as stern of a look as he could muster. “Now, you better be kind and good to her, or you'll have to face me, young man.”

  Johannes and I laughed, finally clearing some of the thick tension in the room. Grandpa looked scandalized that we would take his threat so lightly.

  “All right, Gramps, there’s a huge thing we’ve got to take on, and I need my powers in tip-top shape if we’re going to do it. How would you like to be my ever-appreciated test subject?” I gave him a sheepish but hopeful smile.

  Grandpa rolled his eyes. “As if I’d ever say no to that face.”

  ~~~

  I slumped up the front steps of Johannes’s house. My body felt heavy and lethargic after using magic I was unused to. Johannes had me try to focus on different parts of his body, learning to actually control where my powers were going and just how much energy it was sapping from me so that I didn’t release too much.

  While I was incredibly tired, I couldn’t deny the electric current that ran through me in a refreshing sort of way. I looked down at my hands to see if they looked any different from usual but found nothing.

  “I feel… strange? Not in a bad way, just different.” I looked up at Johannes as he unlocked the door and shut it behind us.

  “Your magic is settling throughout your body. Now that you’re using it, you’ll start to build up reserves, and it’ll be easier to call upon.”

  We both looked around the house, just now realizing how dark it was inside. That’s strange… I'd thought for sure I’d come home—I mean come to Johannes’s home—and find Atohi and Ben coming up with some sort of prank to play on him.

  “Maybe everyone is asleep already?” I offered with an unsure shrug.

  Johannes clicked his tongue. “Perhaps Ben, but Francesca hardly sleeps. She runs up my electric bill every time she stays.”

  We were nearly at the stairs when a loud thump sounded from above us. Johannes surged ahead of me, racing up the stairs, and fearing the worst, I followed on his heels as quickly as I could with my tired body to a room I hadn't yet been in.

  “Benjamin!” Johannes called as he rushed inside.

  I wasn't prepared for the sight of Ben with his arms wrapped around a beast that had to be nearly eight feet tall with deep-black fur and glowing yellow eyes. Hands with slightly hooked claws cradled Ben close to the beast’s chest. He was bipedal and looked every bit a werewolf.

  “Hi, Papa and Mommy!” Ben squealed with delight.

  The beast's ears flattened against his head, and he let out a little whine that sounded suspiciously like when a dog was caught getting into something they were definitely not supposed to be in.

  Johannes pinched the bridge of his nose. “Brother, what are you doing?”

  “Atohi?”

  I was completely shocked as I approached the absolutely massive bipedal wolf. I’d never seen his Magus form. He was stunning. Before my eyes, he changed back to a human, with Benjamin still clinging to his neck.

  Johannes sighed and picked up a shelf from the ground as well as the knickknacks that had fallen.

  “Silly me, thought you'd stop destroying my things once you got your body back,” he muttered bitterly.

  “Johannes, they were just having a bit of fun,” Chesca said from her position on the bed where she sat cross-legged.

  “And what is this?” Johannes asked, waving his hand over a mess of various miniscule gears and wiring. “Was this the clock in my bedroom? And the one from the living room?”

  “Uncle Atohi made me something!” Ben wiggled until Atohi put him down. “And Auntie Chesca, too. You both have to close your eyes. No peeking, okay?”

  “Promise.” I couldn't keep the smile off my face. Ben seemed so very happy, a stark difference from earlier when he was afraid of losing me. Atohi was being wonderful with him, and it was making my heart soar. I thought they both needed each other as much as I needed them.

  “Okay, you can open!” In his little hand was his bunny, now sporting a bow tie and top hat. “Watch this!” Ben put it down and ran to hide. It immediately began strutting around his room like a toy soldier to find him. I could hear the soft whir of the gears moving inside it. The bunny circled Ben when it found him, its foot thumping. “It can find me! We can play hide and seek.”

  “Wow, that's so amazing, Ben. Did you say thank you?” I asked as I hugged him tightly.

  “Yes! I made something for them, too.”

  Neither Atohi nor Chesca could hold back their snickers as they held up sock poppets that seemed to have very expensive cufflinks for eyes.

  Johannes covered his face with a hand. “Those are my favorite socks, aren't they?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  I stared at the ceiling, trying desperately to fall asleep. Between Ben's big doe eyes and his whimpering pleas, Atohi and I had been suckered into staying the night in Johannes’s many guest rooms. Though Johannes had made us sleep in separate guest rooms.

/>   The day wore heavy on me. Nothing was simple anymore. Tomorrow Atohi and I would be looking over Johannes’s notes to see if we could find anything he'd missed to find the doctor. Hopefully we could get that taken care of first thing—damn it. I had work in the morning.

  I flailed around in the blankets before pressing a pillow against my face and screaming into it. As much as I hated to do it, I needed to call in tomorrow. There were much larger things at play that needed my attention. Hopefully John would understand. He knew that something was going on in town.

  But if anything good had come out of today, it was that I knew my grandpa would stick by me. I needed to have that constant in my life. Maybe someday I could even introduce him to Atohi and Ben…

  I groaned and threw the pillow away from my face, I was tired of being alone with my thoughts. Johannes would surely be asleep by now. Maybe I could slip into Atohi's room. With a toss of the covers, I got out of the warm security of the bed. A shiver ran up my spine from the cold flooring beneath my feet.

  I opened the door and immediately ran into a hard wall of muscle. I looked up to see Atohi’s face.

  “Oh, I was just coming to find you,” I whispered quietly. Why did it feel like a breath of fresh air just to see him?

  Atohi laughed. “Guess we were having the same thought.”

  He shut the door quietly behind him, and I was only too happy to hustle back to the warmth of the bed with him. The man was a furnace, and I wanted to share some of that heat.

  “Did everything go okay with your grandfather?” Atohi asked after he settled in and tugged me against his chest, my back pressed to his front.

  “Yeah, a lot better than I thought, actually.” I tapped my fingers against his wide hand as I debated asking him about what my grandpa had said. Screw it, I’d ask. Especially when I’d been chastising Johannes for so long about sharing his thoughts with the rest of the class, so to speak. “Did you really encourage Grandpa to ask out Zella?”