“Her family has magic users in it.”
“Who else knows about magic, about you?”
“Ginger, Seth, a dozen others at school.”
“Are their families magic users, too?”
“No, but they unfortunately witnessed something in Kindergarten. It was an accident, before I learned to completely control it. Since then it’s become one of the worst kept secrets.”
“Tuesday in the auditorium, that’s what you thought I’d heard rumors about,” she realized.
He nodded. “That’s what I was expecting you to ask about, not the other.”
She was still trying to take it all in. The reality of magic was still settling in. It explained a lot about him, but not everything. He’d said what he had to tell her also impacted why he’d tried to get so close to her so quickly. His conversation with Hannah at lunch still echoed in her mind as well.
“What does the fact that magic exists have to do with you giving me that ring so soon after we met?” she asked.
He winced. “I planned on waiting to give it to you, but, as it turns out, I don’t think I have that much time.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m going to be dead by the end of the year.”
14
Opal sat up, heart pounding. “What do you mean?” she demanded, staring at Mal.
“Unfortunately, I’m not the only one of my kind, and for as long as we have existed, we have been at war with one another.”
“Why?”
He sat up slowly, looking as though it pained him to do so. “One side believes that magic should only be used for good, to help, and comfort. The other side believes that magic should be used for anything, but particularly to control people and situations. One group wants to protect the world. The other wants to rule it.”
“And you’re one of the good guys.”
He nodded. “Just like I told you.”
“How did you get caught up in all of this?” she asked.
“When you first exhibit the ability to use magic, you are given a mentor. Either someone your family knows or someone who finds you. The training usually begins when someone is around five. I started a bit sooner because I needed to learn to control what I was already doing.
“As a student you’re called an Apprentice. When you are no longer seen as a student you are given the title Magician. Then you experiment, learning new types of magic that haven’t been done before or have been forgotten to the ages. When you master new magic you’re given the title of Wizard which is as high as you can go on the side of light. On the dark side of things they’re called Apprentices, Tricksters, and Sorcerers.”
“How long does all that normally take?” she asked.
He stood up slowly as though he didn’t expect his legs to support his weight. She stood as well, reaching out slightly in case he needed help. He took a hesitant step and it looked like his knee buckled.
He caught himself and she put his arm over her shoulder. “Where do you want to go?”
“I want to sit on the bed,” he said.
He felt frail, but he didn’t put much weight on her as they slowly walked over to the bed. Once there he sat down on the side of it with a groan.
“On average a magic user stops being an Apprentice and becomes a Magician in their late twenties. If a Magician ever becomes a Wizard it’s when they’re much older, around their sixties. It can take decades to learn new magic.”
“So, you’re an Apprentice,” she said.
He grimaced slightly.
“What?”
“Actually, I’m a Magician.”
“Given what you just told me, aren’t you about ten years too young?”
“Even though I didn’t use magic to do it, I became a Magician the day I killed a Trickster. That’s tradition. And, a fairly rare occurrence. Most Apprentices could never beat someone so much further along than themselves.”
“But you’re special,” she said softly.
“That’s one way of looking at it,” he said wryly.
“So, that’s why you run all those experiments, learn as much about science as you can?”
“Yes, I’m on the quest for new magic.”
“What happened between you and the Trickster?” she asked.
“I thought Ginger told you. Mr. Clarke was the Trickster. He attacked me and I killed him.”
It was still hard to hear him say it, but she had an idea there was so much more to the story than she’d heard.
“She told me what happened on that day, but not why.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “There are rules in my world. Some of them are iron clad and neither side breaks them. One of those is that Apprentices are safe until they reach the age of eighteen. There is an understanding that until the age of eighteen an Apprentice could actually go either way, to the light or the dark. Any magic taught to them while they’re young is neutral. And, regardless of who mentored them, at eighteen they are given the choice of who they want to be. Very few cross over to the opposite side, but it does happen. Apprentices are also forbidden from hurting each other. A thousand years ago all the magic families were nearly wiped out when they started going after each others’ children. That’s when the laws were laid down to ensure that magic wasn’t lost to the world. Anyone who dares break that law is subject to swift and terrible punishment.”
“And yet, Mr. Clarke attacked you,” she said. “Why?”
“He had been harassing me all year. My mentor and he were rivals. Mr. Clarke made my life a living nightmare. And he didn’t limit it to just school. He would find ways to torment me outside of school, but he never quite crossed the line far enough that I could prove he had broken the rules. It did occur to me, though, that someone like him probably had even less self-control when he was young.
“I did some digging and I figured out that he had broken the rules. Twenty years ago there was a kid at our school named Greg. He was not a magic user, but he loved to do magic tricks. Wanted to grow up and be a stage magician. He even entered the school’s first talent show and won. Two days later he was murdered, by a magic user who thought he was one, too. Mr. Clarke and Greg were classmates and I finally discovered that Mr. Clarke was the one who had killed Greg.”
“I saw his picture, in the one trophy case,” she said. “It was him doing his magic act. My mother was his assistant, he was levitating her,” she said with a gasp.
“Really? That I didn’t know,” Mal said, clearly startled.
“So, what happened?”
“I went to class that morning and when he started yelling at me I told him that I knew what had happened to Greg. I had some pretty strong protection spells up in case he tried to attack me with magic. Honestly, I half expected him to deny it or try to strike some sort of deal where he’d back off and I wouldn’t tell. Instead, he did the one thing I wasn’t ready for.”
“He attacked you physically, without using magic,” she said.
Mal nodded. “He was a big guy and strong. He hit me so hard I couldn’t think straight to use magic on him. He kept going and it was all I could do to keep myself alive. The pain was so bad. I heard my own skull crack and I thought for sure I was dead. I saw him throw Seth and another guy like they were ragdolls. I blacked out for what turned out was only a few seconds. When I came to I knew I had only one chance for survival. I took it.”
“I’m glad you did,” she said softly.
“I still almost died from the injuries I sustained. The adrenalin got me out of the classroom before I collapsed. I was in the hospital for weeks trying to heal everything that had been broken. Then, when I got out, my mentor and others came to my house and performed the ceremony officially recognizing me as having achieved the status of Magician.”
“And since you’re no longer an Apprentice, does that mean you’re in more danger?” she guessed.
He nodded. “I still have until I’m eighteen to officially declare for one side or another, but I no longer have th
e protections of being an Apprentice. I’m fair game to whoever wants to come after me.”
“That’s awful!”
“I’ve been mostly left alone. Attaining Magician status so young threw a lot of people. Plus, I know some on the other side have held out hope that I’d switch alliances when the time came.”
“But you won’t, right?”
“I have no intention of fighting for the other side.”
“It’s good that people are leaving you alone,” she said.
He hesitated. “That seems to be changing. Which brings me to what I was saying.” He dropped his eyes. “I’m sorry. When I told you that you didn’t have to make a forever commitment to me, I should have told you that it would likely be impossible for you to do so.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Some very powerful Tricksters are coming after me and I expect that I’m going to be killed in the not so distant future,” he said, his voice cracking slightly.
“Don’t say that,” she whispered, shaking as the specter of death seemed to raise its head yet again. She sat down next to him as her legs turned to jelly.
“It’s true. I don’t expect to live out the year, but I won’t go quietly. And I’ll do what I can to protect you. Once I’m gone, though, you won’t be in any more danger.”
She glanced down at the ring on her finger. He followed her gaze and closed his hand around hers. “You’ve probably already guessed that the ring is magic. If something were to happen to you, it would enable me to find you as long as you have it on that finger. I realized I had put you in danger and I had to take steps to protect you.”
“That’s why you wanted me to have the ring,” she said, disappointment washing over her.
“I needed you to have it. How else could I keep track of you? I’m afraid, though, that everything I’ve done has only put you in more and more danger.”
“You feel responsible for me,” she realized. She felt suddenly hollow inside.
He nodded.
She stared at the ring with a sigh. “At least it was a very pretty proposal.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked, frowning.
“It’s silly. I just...I believed what you said. It was foolish of me. I should have realized there was something else going on. I mean, who falls in love that fast? I get it now, though. I just hope that we can work things out so you won’t feel you have to protect me.”
He stared at her hard for a moment. “Is that what you think this is all about?” he asked.
She nodded.
He shook his head. “I was always going to give you the ring. Everything I said was true. It just happened a lot sooner than I planned. That wasn’t just because I needed to protect you but also because I wanted to be as close to you as I could in the time that we have. Even if we can’t spend the next five decades together, even if all we get is five months or even five days or the next five hours, I want to spend them with you. I want to get to know everything about you and I want you to know everything about me.”
He kissed her and heat raced through her, setting her blood on fire as she kissed him back. Then she pulled away. “You better be telling me the truth, about actually loving me and not just wanting to protect me. I need to know now, one way or the other.”
“You still doubt how I feel about you?” he asked.
She nodded.
He gestured at everything around them. “No one has ever been in this room before. It’s my study, my sanctuary, the only place I can truly be myself. This is a sacred place to me, and the idea of sharing that intimacy, letting someone see everything that I am has never crossed my mind until now. Not even my father comes into this room.”
“I need you to be clear,” she said.
He cupped her face with his hands and stared into her eyes. She could see little sparks of lightning flashing in his.
“There were a hundred ways I could have proven to you that magic exists. Opal, of all the things I could have done, all the places I could have taken you, I teleported you to my bedroom.”
It was as though a dam broke inside her and wave after wave of emotions crashed over her, leaving her weak and shaking. She kissed him hard and he crushed her to his chest. He fell backward and pulled her down with him.
“When you touch me, when you kiss me, it’s like I feel electricity. Is that the magic that makes it feel that way?”
“I don’t know,” he whispered. “I’ve never kissed anyone but you.”
He trailed his hands down her arms and her skin tingled. She brought her lips back to his and her entire body grew warm and felt like it was on fire.
He rolled over, pinning her beneath him. He trailed kisses down her throat and she closed her eyes and let the sensations wash over her. He kissed her again and then nuzzled her ear.
“You don’t even want to know what I’m thinking right now,” he whispered.
“Try me,” she breathed.
His fingers played with the hem of her skirt. “Why couldn’t you have just married me the other night?” he asked with a groan.
“Because it wasn’t the right thing to do,” she said.
He went completely still. A moment passed.
“And neither is this,” he said with a sigh.
Abruptly he sat up.
She grabbed at him. “We can kiss a little more,” she urged.
He passed a hand through his hair. “No, we can’t. I need you to go home.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because that’s the right thing to do,” he said, his voice husky.
She stood up slowly, wishing that they could go on kissing for the rest of the night.
“We were just kissing,” she protested.
“Yes, but it wasn’t going to stay that way. And, let’s be honest, I don’t think either of us is ready to be a parent.”
“What?” she asked, startled.
He smiled faintly. “If we kept going that way, you would’ve ended up pregnant tonight.”
“How could you know that?”
“Hello, Magician. We can sense these things. Besides, even if that weren’t true, you going home is still the right thing to do.”
“Just because that’s true doesn’t mean I have to like it,” she said.
He caught her hand. “Neither of us has to like it, but someday we’ll be grateful that we waited.”
“What if you die before that day comes?” she asked.
He squeezed his eyes shut. “Then at least I know you’d never forget me.”
She touched his face. “If you disappeared tonight and I lived to be a hundred, I’d never forget you.”
He opened his eyes. “Promise?”
She twisted her hands in his hair. “Only if you promise not to die,” she said, and then kissed him. When she pulled away she saw that his eyes were glowing neon blue with sparks that seemed to flash in them.
“You do love playing with fire,” he said, shaking his head. He glanced at a clock on the wall. “It’s time we get you home.”
“Why?”
“Because, if my calculations are correct, your aunt should be waking up right about now.”
“How do you know that?” Opal asked.
“Because she was attacked with magic. I think someone was aiming at you because of me and accidentally got her instead. I’m sorry. I promise you she will be fine, though. I was able to get the doctors to run the tests I needed and I was able to counter the magic when I stayed behind in the hospital tonight. She’ll be waking up anytime now.”
Opal stared at him, stunned. “Someone was really trying to hurt me because of you?”
He winced. “Yes, I’m so sorry. You see now why I couldn’t wait and had to give you the ring the next morning?”
She nodded mutely, thoughts tumbling around in her mind.
“Who is it?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted.
Another thought occurred to her. “You said Mr. Grossman was in the hospital in a coma, that you put
him there. Was it the same thing?”
“No, what I did is a bit more...permanent.”
“He’s a Trickster?”
He nodded. “I don’t know why he hit on you, if he somehow saw me with you at the store, or maybe it had nothing to do with me. Either way, I couldn’t let that stand.”
“Do you think what happened to my aunt is retaliation for that?”
“The thought had occurred to me, but I’m not sure yet they’re connected. Are you okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah, it’s just a lot to take in.”
“I understand. Here, I’ll walk you home.”
“Are you feeling better?” she asked. “You seem to be.”
“I’m at about seventy-five percent. More than enough to walk my girlfriend home,” he said.
“Fiancée,” she corrected.
“So you are,” he said with a grin.
He led her out of his room and downstairs, but she didn’t really see any of the rest of the house. Most of it was dark. When they made it to her house she stopped.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ummm...the door is locked and well, you didn’t take my key with us,” she said.
He smirked and twisted the knob. The door opened.
“I thought you locked it,” she said.
“I did. Locks? That’s one of the first things we learn. It takes more than a deadbolt to keep out an Apprentice, let alone a Magician.”
“Good to know,” she said, realizing it was probably not the time to bring up the fact that he had just made her feel less safe.
Inside the house they moved into the kitchen. She needed a glass of orange juice. She checked her phone. There were no missed calls. She grabbed the bottles off the counter that held her vitamins and shook them out in her hand.
She turned around and her cell phone rang.
Startled, she dropped the tablets on the floor. She made it to the kitchen table and snatched up the phone.
“Hello?”
“Miss Grant, I’m calling from the hospital to let you know that your aunt has regained consciousness.”
“Oh, thank heavens,” Opal said. “Can I come see her?”
“No, she’s resting and you can come during visiting hours tomorrow. There’s a chance the doctor might even release her.”
Now You See Me Page 13
