“You’re making no sense.”
“I get that. Just please believe me when I say I have my reasons,” he said, his voice deepening.
She nodded slowly. She couldn’t deny that the ring felt good on her finger and that the metal against her skin was slightly warm.
“People are going to talk,” she said.
“When don’t they?” he asked. “Besides, after your theatrics yesterday at lunch I would have thought you didn’t care about what people thought or said.”
“You are so weird.”
He kissed her hand, his lips brushing the ring and her finger. “You really have no idea.”
“So, enlighten me,” she said.
He jumped down off the wall and turned to her. “Illuminet cor meum!”
She gasped as the ruby began to glow brightly, light radiating outward from it.
“How are you doing that?” she asked.
He smiled. “It’s simple, I commanded my heart to illuminate, and so it has.”
“So, this is a fake ruby, a trick ring?” she asked.
“Oh no, the ruby is one hundred percent genuine. The ring is a family heirloom. It’s been passed down in my family for centuries,” he said.
“How do you get it to stop shining?” she asked.
“I command it to conceal my heart. Occultabo cor meum,” he said.
She stared at the ring in awe as the light was instantly snuffed out and it returned to looking like a normal ruby. She had no idea how he had pulled the trick off, and part of her didn’t want to know. It had been magical and she didn’t want to ruin that illusion. Something else was sending chills through her, though, that had to be addressed.
“This ring has really been in your family for centuries?” she asked.
He nodded solemnly.
“Why on earth would you let me wear it? It’s too valuable, too precious to you and your family.”
He smiled. “Why do you think?”
Her head was spinning.
He stepped forward and placed his hands on her waist. She put her hands on his shoulders and he picked her up and lowered her to the ground, her body sliding against his.
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
“Yes, you do,” he said softly. “You may not be sure, and that’s alright. I am. And I would have married you last night if you had been willing.”
“How on earth can you be sure? You don’t know me. We met less than a week ago. This is not how life works.”
“It is for me, for my family. We always know. We know in an instant.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “That’s why you were so upset, why you said that you couldn’t lose me again.”
He nodded. “I know you don’t understand this, but one day soon you will. I’ve already given you my heart. This ring just symbolizes that.”
“And your grandparents?”
“My grandfather gave this ring to my grandmother on the day they met. So, by my family’s standards, I’ve been moving incredibly slow.”
This was crazy, all of it. Love at first sight was a fairy tale, at least, that’s what she’d always believed.
Dad always said with Mom it was love at first sight, the thought popped into her head. But they had been older, in college. This was insane, she and Mal were in high school. She couldn’t be expected to decide something that would affect the rest of her life. Not with less than a week of knowing him. Not when her life was already in chaos.
“But, what if I can’t give you my heart?” she whispered. “What if ultimately I can’t make the commitment you can?”
“If that’s true, then I’ll spend the rest of my life alone, loving you.”
She shook her head. “That’s too much pressure.”
“I’m not trying to pressure you. I’m just making myself clear,” he said, echoing what she’d told him the night before. “I want you to know this isn’t temporary, what I feel for you. When I tell you I am not going anywhere, I mean it. The only thing that will keep me from you is if you banish me or death takes me. And even if you send me away, know that I will spend the rest of my life looking out for you, even if only from afar.”
“What am I going to do with you?” Opal whispered.
“That, my love, is entirely up to you,” he said.
Looking in his eyes she knew he was telling the truth. It was as though she could feel what he felt and it took her breath away. His arms were still wrapped tight around her. This was madness. And she was falling into it. She thought of the book he had handed the librarian the other day after that amazing kiss. Romeo and Juliet. Young lovers who had gotten married. It had ended badly for them.
But it doesn’t have to end badly, the words were there, whispered in her head.
“Ask me properly,” she whispered.
He loosened his hold, took both her hands in his, and sank down onto one knee. “From the moment I saw you I belonged to you, and nothing on earth, in heaven, or hell, in this life or the next can change that. I vow to protect you with my life, to shelter you with my love, and to never take back my heart from you. Opal Grant, will you do me the honor of consenting to think about being my wife?”
He was staring up at her, waiting, hoping.
“I will,” she whispered.
He stood and took her in his arms and kissed her. A moment later they were engulfed in a cloud of butterflies which circled them. There had to be hundreds of them.
“How is this happening?” she breathed.
“Magic.”
12
What just happened? Opal asked herself as she sat down. She was still reeling from it all. Part of her was convinced that it wasn’t all real, that in time Mal would lose interest in her. Then she’d look down at the ring and feel a jolt as she felt the strength of his feelings for her again.
She was afraid of one day hurting him. She had realized, though, that if he was willing to take that risk then she had to be, too.
With everything that had happened to her in the last day she found it nearly impossible to sit still during biology and her notes looked more like doodles than anything else. The next class was even harder because she grew more and more excited and freaked out as they got closer and closer to lunch. She’d see Mal again. What would it be like, laying eyes on him for the first time after everything?
When the bell finally rang she dashed to her locker. She threw her books in, grabbed the lunch she’d packed for herself, and slammed it closed. She turned around and Mal was three feet away from her. He closed the gap in an instant and kissed her hard. He let her go after a few seconds.
“I love you,” he said fiercely, not even bothering to lower his voice.
“I love you, too,” she said, joy flooding through her.
She had never said that to anyone but her parents and it felt crazy and wonderful all at the same time. All she wanted at that moment was to sneak away somewhere with Mal. She forced herself to just try and breathe and be calm, though. She wanted him to be able to be around her friends even though those relationships were nothing compared to what the two of them shared. Still, she knew that it was good to have friends and that the girls she was getting to know were worth the effort.
Plus, she was feeling an excitement deep inside that was threatening to overpower her and she knew that it would probably not be wise for her and Mal to be alone just then.
She took his hand and they walked to the cafeteria. Ginger, Annie, and Hannah were already seated at a table and Opal and Mal sat down with them. Opal was achingly aware of the way that Mal’s leg was pressed up against hers. A moment later she could feel his hand on her knee and it sent shivers through her.
“I missed you in homeroom,” Ginger said, looking at Opal.
“It was a rough night last night. My aunt collapsed and we were in the emergency room until really late,” Opal said, reminded that there was more going on in her life than her newfound status with Mal.
“Is she okay?” Annie asked, eyes wide.
Opal shook her head. “She’s unconscious still and the doctors can’t figure out what’s the matter or what caused her to collapse.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ginger said.
“I was going to be at the hospital this morning, but they’re running a lot more tests so they told me I couldn’t see her until later in the afternoon. Instead of sitting around worrying I decided to go ahead and come to school.”
Hannah hadn’t said anything yet, but her eyes were fixed on Opal’s ring. “That’s a beautiful ring,” she said at last.
Opal couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her face. “It’s been in Mal’s family for generations,” she said.
Hannah’s head jerked up. She was blinking rapidly. “Are you...are you engaged?” she asked.
“Sort of, yes,” Opal said, feeling breathless as she said it.
Ginger and Annie stared, clearly stunned.
“You’re kidding us, right?” Hannah asked.
“No,” Opal said.
Hannah locked eyes with Mal. “She’s the one?”
“Yes,” he said, suddenly serious and intense.
“Does anyone else know that?” Hannah asked, voice matching his in intensity.
“Unfortunately.”
“Which is why you gave her the ring now?”
He nodded.
Opal stared from one to the other. They were having a conversation that she felt like she was only hearing part of. She glanced at Annie and Ginger and neither of them seemed to be quite following either.
“Does she know?” Hannah asked.
“There hasn’t been time yet.”
Hannah whistled. “That’s a really gutsy move.”
Opal was on the verge of asking them what on earth they were talking about when Ginger suddenly spoke up.
“You won’t be getting married until after high school, right?”
“Right,” Opal said hastily. She wasn’t sure they’d ever get that far, but if they did it would be after a couple of years.
“That’s what she thinks,” Mal said.
She turned to protest and he winked at her. She punched him in the arm.
“Ow,” he said, rubbing it.
“You deserved that,” Annie piped up.
“Probably,” he said grinning.
“Well congratulations, you two. Oh, and by the way, congratulations on getting into the talent show,” Ginger said. “I saw them posting the list right as I got out of class.”
“You didn’t tell me you got in,” Opal said.
“I didn’t know,” he admitted. “Frankly I’m a bit surprised they put me on the list.”
“They were probably too afraid not to,” Ginger said, then turned beet red. “I’m sorry, forget I said that.”
“No, I was kind of thinking the same thing,” he said.
“Well, however it happened, congratulations,” Annie said.
“Thank you.”
After lunch Opal’s afternoon seemed to drag by. She kept hoping Mal would show up in the library during her study hall and was disappointed when he didn’t. When the bell rang she headed to her locker, eager to get out of there and to the hospital to check on her aunt.
Mal was waiting for her and a couple minutes later they were on their way to the hospital.
“I missed seeing you in the library,” she said.
“Sorry. I had a mandatory meeting with one of the school counselors today.”
“Why?”
“To work through whatever issues I had on Tuesday or because of Tuesday, I’m not sure.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
“At lunch today, what were you and Hannah talking about? You were telling her that you hadn’t had time to discuss something with me.”
“That’s true, but it’s a long story. Let’s wait until after the hospital,” he said, voice tensing up.
“Is it a bad story?” she asked.
“Not really, I mean, it might be to some people. It’s hard to say.”
“Okay.”
“You’ll be the judge of it, I guess.”
It was clear that he really didn’t want to talk about it until they were done with everything else. She told herself that she could be patient. Her thoughts turned to her aunt.
They drove past a witch museum and halfway down the street passed a restaurant sign that featured a witch on a broomstick. She’d noticed a bunch of stuff like that around Coffins when she’d went with the girls for coffee, too.
“There sure are a lot of witch-centric things,” she commented.
He chuckled. “In Hollywood everyone sells maps to the movie stars homes and tours of the walk of fame. Out here, it’s all about selling the witch stuff, capitalizing on the town’s history.”
“Where once they weren’t celebrated, they were killed. That’s weird,” she said.
“Life changes and so does public opinion. At one point actors were not held in the highest esteem, but all that’s changed.”
“You think they were real, the witches?” she asked.
“I think there could have been one or two magic users involved somehow.”
“That’s an odd way to put it,” she said, glancing at him.
“Is it?” he asked.
She turned back to the window and saw an old woman walking. She was wearing a pointed hat and had an ancient cape over her shoulders that had embroidery of silver and gold threads on it.
“She looks like a witch,” Opal commented.
Mal glanced out the window. “She is. Self-proclaimed, at least. She’s fairly famous around here. I’d steer clear, though, if I were you.”
A minute later they were parking at the hospital. As they walked inside Opal glanced down at the ring Mal had given her, marveling at how quickly things seemed to change in their relationship.
They checked with the front desk and found that her aunt had been moved to the Intensive Care Unit. Tanya still hadn’t regained consciousness and when Opal walked into her aunt’s room it hurt to see her hooked up still to so many machines.
Mal put a steadying hand on her shoulder.
“I can’t lose her,” Opal whispered as she walked up to the bed.
“You won’t,” Mal said.
She’d never had a chance to ask him when he’d seen something similar to this before. She touched Tanya’s hand for a moment and then sat down in one of the two chairs in the room. After a moment Mal took the other one.
“You don’t have to stay,” she told him.
“I’ve got no place better to be. Besides, I want to hear what the doctor has to say.”
A nurse walked in and sized the two of them up. “Has the doctor talked to you yet?” she asked.
“No, we just got here. We were told she was going to be undergoing tests all morning so not to come until later in the afternoon,” Opal said.
The nurse nodded.
“Is she going to be okay?” Opal asked anxiously.
“I’ll get the doctor,” the woman said, turning and leaving the room.
“It must be bad or she would have answered me,” Opal said, fear rippling through her.
“Not necessarily.”
After what seemed like an eternity the doctor came in. He shook both their hands then turned to Mal with a frown. “Are you the young man that suggested we screen for certain toxins in her system?” he asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“I don’t know how you knew that, but we did find some rather odd things in her system, any one of which on its own couldn’t be responsible for what happened. Together, though...I’m just not sure.”
“Mal’s dad is a pharmacist,” she spoke up.
The doctor nodded absently as he looked over his chart. “Anyway, it is my opinion that once these chemicals pass through her system that she could wake up.”
“How long will that take?” Opal asked.
“A day or two. A week at the outside.”
“A week?” she sque
aked.
He nodded. “That’s our best guess at the moment. All the other tests we’ve run on her have come back negative.”
“There’s no chance she’ll wake up today?” Mal asked.
“Given that we don’t know what’s wrong with her anything is possible, but there’s been no changes in her vitals that would suggest that.”
“Thank you,” Mal said.
The doctor nodded. “As soon as there is any change we will call you,” he said.
He left and Opal looked at Mal, at a loss as to what she should do.
“She’s stable and there’s really nothing you can do here,” he said finally. “If you want to stay, we’ll stay.”
“I really don’t want to. Hospitals freak me out. Is that bad of me?”
“No, not at all,” he said, taking her hand. “Even if you were here for the next 72 hours there’s no guarantee that she wouldn’t wake up while you were at the cafeteria downstairs or taking a walk to stretch your legs. We’ll come check on her every day and once there is some indication of change, we’ll stay.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“No problem.”
She got up and squeezed her aunt’s hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Aunt Tanya,” she said, wondering if she could even hear her.
They left the room. They were halfway to the lobby when Mal paused. “I just want to ask the nurses one more thing about medications. You go ahead and I’ll meet you at the car,” he said.
“Okay,” Opal said, happy to keep walking and get out of there. It was like she could feel the walls closing in around her.
Mal turned and went back toward her aunt’s room and she kept going. A minute later she was outside. The air was cool and it felt good on her skin. She walked toward the car. She was almost to it when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye.
Opal turned and saw the old woman with the pointed hat that she had pointed out earlier to Mal. He’d said she thought she was a witch. The old woman was walking, her eyes on the ground. Opal sped up to get out of her way.
A moment later the woman seemed to leap forward. She wrapped bony fingers around Opal’s wrist and lifted dark eyes to stare at her. Opal jumped and tried to jerk her arm free, but the old woman’s grip was like a vise. Heat seemed to pulse out of the old woman’s hand and into her arm.
Now You See Me Page 11
