“It’s a Ruby Falls coin,” he whispered. “It’s been charmed for good luck, and has the date when we first met and the date of this Christmas on it. They say if you keep it in your pocket, the person who gave it to you will always have you on their mind.”
“Uh oh, you may become distracted.” Alison giggled.
“I know it’s not terribly romantic, but I want you to always be safe, always be lucky, and think of me every time you stick your hand in your pocket.”
Alison’s mouth curved into a smile and she put both hands on his strong jaw. She kissed him sweetly, first on the lips, then once on the nose. She could feel his eyelashes flutter against her skin, and it sent butterflies into her stomach.
“I love it. It’s seriously the perfect gift from you.”
“Good,” Tanner exclaimed, pleased. “I am not usually a very good gift giver.”
“I like how you admitted that after you gave me the present.”
“Well, you know, I had to put that out there in case you hated it. Give it sentimental value.”
Alison giggled as she put the coin in her pocket, then reached over to take his hand. They rode along the bumpy, winding road in silence for several moments before Tanner turned toward her.
“I was wondering…are you planning on going to the Christmas mixer?”
Alison smiled. “I am. We were all going to go as a group.”
“Excellent, then I guess I will see you there. You will have to save me a dance.”
“My card is mostly full, but I’ll see what I can do.” She laughed. “You can have every slot on the card if you would like it.”
“I have to admit, that would make me very happy. I don’t really want to share you with anyone.”
Alison’s heart fluttered, and she squeezed his hand tighter. “Funny you should say that, because I feel exactly the same way.”
28
Mara Berens sighed as she walked into her office and pulled off her coat. It had been a long morning, taking the class to Monticello, but she was proud of them. Not a single incident, even when left to their own devices. At the beginning of the tour, she had been a little nervous, seeing that twinkle of mischief in Ethan’s eye as he whispered with one of the boys from the prep school. But when Luke led him to another part of the house, she assumed she’d made it through another near-crisis by the skin of her teeth.
She put her purse on the desk and sat down behind her computer to pull up her email. Most of it was either junk or things that didn’t need to be taken care of until the break. There was one email, though, from a contact of hers in Charlottesville. They were worried. Some of the elves had sensed more dark magic moving toward or inside of the town. They wanted her to come out and do a sweep. They hoped that whoever it was had left as quickly as they had arrived.
Mara leaned back in her chair and rubbed her chin, thinking about the dark magic trail Izzie had found out of nowhere. Her magic was progressing at a speed that Mara wasn’t sure she could manage on her own. It would only be a matter of time before Izzie found out the truth regarding who she was, and who her parents were. While Mara had known she wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret forever, she hadn’t thought it would come to light that soon.
She glanced at the box on her shelves and sighed, walked over, picked it up carefully, and placed it on her desk. She swished her wand at her door closing it and locking the handle. She waved her wand over the box, whispering the spell to open it. When she heard the clunk of the lock’s release, she slowly lifted the lid and stared down at the three memory balls inside. The dark spots pulsing on them had grown. The orbs now showed more darkness than light. She sighed and shut the lid, rubbing her face again.
She had never seen anything like it before, and had no idea what it meant for Izzie’s parents or Izzie herself. She was trying very hard to protect Izzie, but she couldn’t slow down the progression of her magic. Her only option was to keep Izzie close and make sure that no one in the dark community had access to her. She had sensed some confusion in Izzie the past few weeks, and she wondered if the spell was losing its efficacy. Castings like that didn’t last forever, but what concerned her was what would happen to Izzie once she remembered. Those memory balls weren’t covered in darkness for nothing.
Mara yawned and stretched her arms high as she waited for her soup to heat up in the microwave in the staff room. She had been dabbling with cooking, and her first attempt at Squash and Corn Chowder had been absolutely amazing. She had jarred up the leftovers, given some to Professor Fowler, and brought the rest for her lunch. The food from the cafeteria was starting to give her indigestion.
She walked over to the window and looked at the field where the students were practicing Louper. They wore their virtual reality headsets and moved all over the pitch. She smiled, remembering when the first SNM Louper team had won a championship. The feds had swarmed them, wanting to know all about the game, and telling them to keep it up. The money they made had been well spent on maintenance and remodels of the property.
One of her favorite things to do was sit in the stands during a Louper game in the warm, crisp spring air rooting for her teams and just enjoying the sport. In reality, she didn’t really care about the money it brought the school. She loved the comradery it created. She watched Luke high-fiving other players, laughing, and joking with people who had gone out of their way to bully him during freshman year because he was a shifter. The game brought people together and helped to take away some of the stigmas that the kids dealt with on a regular basis in high school. She only hoped that Luke stayed himself and didn’t let their negative influence overcome him.
The microwave beeped, and she walked over and used a towel to pull the bowl out. She stirred the soup, grabbed the crackers, and headed to her office to enjoy her lunch in peace and quiet. She set her bowl down and laid a napkin across her lap, then blew on a spoonful of hot soup and took a bite, closing her eyes and savoring the flavor. The shuffle of feet in the hallway caused her to pause, and she watched two arguing young men walk by.
“I don’t really care what his political affiliation is. I think we have a duty to support the candidate running for governor because he is the first openly magical wizard to run for the seat.”
“That makes no sense. You elect officials based on their credentials, and if their beliefs closely align with yours. This guy might be a wizard, but that doesn’t mean he believes in truth and justice the way others do.”
The day went by fast, and before they knew it, people were heading to the talent show. It was a huge affair, and the entire school was attending. Alison had finished getting ready. She had let Kathleen smooth her hair back into a low ponytail with a red ribbon tied around it. Alison arrived at the auditorium early, and now stood backstage and tried to wait patiently for the event to begin. It was a packed house.
She listened to the different acts as they performed. The first student up was a magic act that included a dog his parents had brought through a portal for the event. He was funny and made the audience laugh, especially when the dog answered any question the student asked. The next couple of acts were comedians, some funny and some not, but the kids in the audience were good sports about it, laughing even when they struggled to find the humor. The next performer was a bit off, and Alison could hardly figure out what was going on.
The boy had come out as a tap dancer, using his wand to create symbols in the air as he danced across the stage. The problem was, his wand was just a little off, and it sent him running all over the stage. By the end of it the teachers had to come up and calm the magic down, and they let the boy know that acquiring a new wand would probably be the safest route before he came back after winter break.
“All right, a round of applause for Troy and his magically tapping feet.”
The audience applauded gamely, still thrown by the mess they had just witnessed.
“Next up is Alison, a sophomore who will be singing the great jazz tune Round Midnight by Thelonious
Monk.”
The crowd clapped, and Alison heard Kathleen and Ethan cheering from somewhere in the middle of the crowd. She walked to the center of the stage and stood in front of the microphone, just like during rehearsals, and cleared her throat. She felt a bit more than nervous. Her stomach was doing flip-flops, and her heart beat wildly. She scanned the audience, seeing all the excited energy out there. By that point, everyone knew she was blind, and she could make out a few whispers as people marveled at how well she got around.
It made her even more nervous, but at the same time, she knew they would be kind if she completely sucked. She scanned the front row and found Izzie’s happy energy sitting next to Tanner’s familiar swirling soul. She could see that he was proud of her but nervous for her at the same time.
Izzie sat forward in her chair and waited until Alison was just about ready to start singing. She pulled in enough energy to create a tiny spell, and discreetly flicked her finger. Alison was immediately surrounded by dancing lights. She knew her friend would be able to see the magic’s energy, and she wanted her to remember the night she had sung for the faeries. Alison looked around at the shimmering energy and smiled, thinking immediately about Izzie and the fae. She took a deep breath and relaxed, nodding as the piano started to play.
“It begins to tell ‘round midnight
‘Round midnight…”
The crowd was silent as they listened to her bluesy voice sing the song with ease. She closed her eyes and swayed her shoulders, listening to the chiming of the piano keys. She felt right at home up on that stage and stopped worrying about all the people in the audience.
She opened her eyes, grabbed the mic, and growled melodically into it. It was one of her favorite songs; the one her mother would hum whenever she was doing dishes, cleaning, or taking care of her. She could remember her mother’s deep sultry voice singing her to sleep at night, and she suddenly felt like her mother was there with her on the stage singing along.
The piano went into a longer solo performance as Alison breathed deeply, letting go of her inhibitions and fear. She jumped right in on the last two verses, almost sad that the song was coming to an end. She put her hands by her sides and tapped her leg as she closed her eyes.
“Let our love be safe and sound
When old midnight...comes... around....”
The song ended with just a few extra notes on the piano. The whole room was absolutely silent, and she slowly opened her eyes, wondering if they liked it. Before panic set in, the whole room jumped to their feet and exploded in applause and cheers. Alison chuckled, smiling widely and bowing. She brought the house down. Ethan ran down the aisle and tossed her a bouquet of flowers that everyone had chipped in on. Alison saw him coming and smelled the blooms just before she saw the flicker of energy flying toward her. She caught them and waved again, taking her leave from the stage.
29
The band on the stage in the grand dining hall rocked out. They were a group of older students who were pretty popular amongst the students, covering all the latest hits of Earth music and throwing in a couple of songs of their own. It was finally time for the Winter Mixer, the last big hoorah before the students headed off for their Christmas break. The whole place had been elaborately decorated, including a ton of the Christmas trees that Horace spent so much time growing each year. They were his pride and joy. He had decorated each and every one of them himself.
The tables had all been cleared out, and the hall was decorated from top to bottom with garlands, ferns, mistletoe, and a huge tree right in the center of the room. Magical lights were strung from floor to ceiling without wires, hovering over the surfaces and glowing brightly from the trees. By the walls floated stockings with every student in the school’s name magically written at the top. The ceiling had been glamoured to make it look like it was snowing, and the floor, though clear, looked like you were walking across a frozen pond.
They had gone above and beyond for the mixer. Even Mara had joined in the fun of decorating, putting aside her worries and stress to try to enjoy the holidays. She used to love them so much. As she stood watching the students mill around, she couldn’t help but think about Leira as a young girl bounding down the stairs, ready to see what Santa brought her. She smiled at the memory and sent a surge of energy to her granddaughter. She chuckled when she got one in return.
She could only imagine what Yumfuck was doing to prepare for the holidays. They didn’t have Christmas on Oriceran, but over the years the troll had really gotten into the season. She suspected it mostly had to do with all the food that came around at that time of year. She still had the Christmas card from last year framed on her shelf in her office. It showed Leira, Correk, and Yumfuck dressed in Santa suits and wearing Santa hats, and Yumfuck had a long white beard. Leira and Correk looked completely out of sorts, and Mara still wondered what Yumfuck had had over them to get them to pose for a picture like that.
Whatever it was, it had to be something good and juicy. Horace walked up next to Mara wearing a well-fitted suit for once, and a bow tie with reindeer on it. He smiled at the decorations, proud of another year’s hard work.
“Horace, you did fantastically,” Mara gushed.
“Thank you, Ms. Berens. It was my pleasure.”
They looked at the door when they heard thundering footsteps. The students were flooding in now, and the dance was about to kick off. Everyone was dressed to the hilt. The boys looked more than suave in tuxedos, and some had added a holiday touch of their own like a red bow tie or reindeer socks. The girls wore floor-length gowns and carried the small nosegays Mara had gifted to every girl in the school just for that event.
Izzie’s group walked through the door. Izzie, on Luke’s arm, waved at Horace. She wore a long silver-sequined spaghetti-strap gown, silver heels, and a white faux-fur wrap was draped around her shoulders. Sparkly earrings dangled from her ears, and her hair was back in a bun and wrapped with a red ribbon. Kathleen walked beside them in a tight black dress that fit snugly to her hips and flared out at the knees. The fabric underneath was bright red, and her hair was braided down her back. Her look was topped off with very cherry lipstick.
Emma giggled, waved at some of the other students, and held the front of her dress up as she walked. It was green satin and fell loosely to the floor. Her shoes were the same color green, with little red bows embroidered all over them. She had her hair pulled halfway back, and ringlets cascaded over her shoulders. She walked with her arm through Ethan’s, surprised that he looked so sharp. He had left his baggy clothes in his room and almost looked like James Bond.
Aya and Peter walked behind them. Aya was wearing a shimmering red gown that was way out of her normal comfort zone. She had put in contacts, and wore satin gloves that reached her elbows. Her hair was down and straight and shimmered under the Christmas lights as she moved. Mara smiled at them and waved. Everyone looked absolutely amazing.
“I wonder where Alison and Tanner are?” Mara whispered.
“They are coming in now,” Horace replied, nodding at the door.
Mara put her hands to her mouth and gasped at just how gorgeous Alison looked as she clung proudly to Tanner’s arm. Her hair was pulled up on top of her head, and sections had been tucked under to create a perfect silver bow. She wore a long gold dress, sequined from the bottom of the flowing skirt all the way up the sleeves. The dress’s wide neckline was cut high across her chest and stopped at the edges of her shoulders. The back of the gown was fashioned from a sheer gold material, letting her skin shine through all the way to the curve of her waist. Her makeup was beautiful, with flecks of gold glitter covering her eyelids and a light shimmering gloss on her lips.
They all looked so grown up. They immediately jumped into the party, dancing with each other, laughing, exchanging little gifts they had picked up in the kemana, and just enjoying each other’s company. Izzie was in seventh heaven because Luke danced with her for the entire night. Ethan and Peter made their normal rounds on th
e dance floor, cutting through couples and dancing the tango to almost every slow song. Emma and Aya stayed near each other, giggling at the upperclassmen who eyed them from across the room.
Emma walked over to the Christmas tree to look at all the beautiful ornaments. David walked up beside her and put his hands in his pockets.
“It’s really beautiful, isn’t it?”
Emma looked at him for a second and shook her head. “David—I didn’t even recognize you! I think it’s the first time I’ve seen you without your hat.”
He chuckled and scratched his head. “Yeah, I think it’s the first time in school history I’ve been seen in public without it. My friends were starting to question whether it was a Joe Dirt situation. I assured them my hat was not connected to my skull.”
“And you don’t have a mullet, which is a plus.”
“There is definitely that.” He laughed.
“I love Christmas trees. Every year since I was a baby, we’ve gone out to the Christmas tree farm and picked one out, cut it down, drunk hot cocoa or cider, and decorated it with Christmas music playing in the background. It’s one of those traditions that just stuck, you know?”
“We do something similar, but last year my mom bought a fake tree, and it was weird. I don’t think she will use it again.”
“Aw, that’s sad.” Emma giggled.
“Hey, I was wondering…would you like to dance?”
Emma looked up at him, slightly surprised, and nodded. Everyone watched in shock as David took her hand gently and led her onto the dance floor. They had never actually considered Emma a girl whom David would ask out, but once they were dancing, they fit together almost perfectly. Izzie, resting her head on Luke’s arm, looked at her friend and winked. She was happy to see that the girls were having a good time. Kathleen was dancing with Ethan and they were arguing about something, but that just meant they were growing their friendship. The two argued like an old married couple, but everyone knew they were there for each other.
Wary Is Her Love: An Urban Fantasy Action Adventure (The School Of Necessary Magic Book 3) Page 17
