Never surrender.
We’re so beat, dude.
The witch doesn’t have infinite energy.
First of all, she’s a healer, not a witch and second, she doesn’t need infinite energy. She needs just enough for me to start feeling like a total dick, which she has accomplished.
I shifted all my body parts back to normal and held my hands up in surrender toward Maddie. “I give up.” Then I told Cynthia, “I’m sorry. I was rude. I know you and Ellen are doing everything you can.” I tried for the most sincere tone I could muster, which was tough, because I still didn’t trust Cynthia. She had lied and I didn’t understand why.
Cynthia nodded once. “You’ve been through a lot and it’s not over yet, so I can understand the frustration. I’m sorry so much is being asked of you all. If there was any other way, believe me we’d try it.”
That at least wasn’t a lie. She wanted to help Lucy and believed that Elyse, Wyatt, Maddie and I were the best bet.
“Okay,” I said.
“Now, if Miss Sinclair would be so kind as to drop these very impressive shields, we can continue,” Cynthia said.
Maddie waved a hand and poof, no more shields.
Everyone took their seats again. Elyse reached over and held one of my hands. Wyatt was still watching me suspiciously out of the corner of his eye and Ellen had her creepy, silver eyes trained on Maddie. I’d wondered about Ellen’s eyes before. They were clearly for more than show and I’d figured they were a permanent magical upgrade. By the way she was staring at Maddie it was obvious her shiny peepers provided more than just the normal sense of sight.
Cynthia took a deep breath. “There is a reason why Ellen and I can’t be the ones to enter Lucy’s memory.” She paused and looked at Ellen.
“We’re safe, the room is sealed,” said Ellen.
Interesting, they were both worried someone may be eavesdropping on our meeting.
“It’s the Cabal,” said Cynthia. “If either of the two of us were to be incapacitated, I’m sure the Cabal would strike. None of us would ever wake up and it would be assumed that we failed and were killed in the attempt.”
“They could do that?” I asked.
“Oh yes, very easily. Lucy’s hospital room is currently warded by very powerful spells that require both Ellen and I to be conscious. I wish it wasn’t so. I do not like sending people into danger, especially when they haven’t been fully trained.”
“Hey, I’m fully trained,” said Wyatt.
Maddie put a hand on his arm and shook her head. I’m pretty sure it was the touch and not the headshake, but the kid grinned like an idiot and shut right up.
Cynthia held her hands out. “So, it is up to you four.”
“I’m in, of course,” I said. “But I don’t know about sending the girls.”
Elyse snatched her hand out of mine and folded her arms, leveling a look at me that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Stupid Orson.
“The girls?” said Elyse.
“That came out wrong. I only meant it in the way that you’re, you know, both . . . Well, for starters, Maddie is new, she—”
“Stop,” Elyse said. “You sound like an idiot. Listen very carefully, Mr. Reid. If Cynthia feels that the chances of success go up if we come along, then we are going. As for being new, you’ve been a shifter for less than two months. I’ve been one my entire life, and as for Maddie, did you just miss the moment where she locked you in a bubble and made you her bitch?”
Wyatt belly-laughed, the kid didn’t even try to control himself. Heck, I couldn’t blame him. If I were him, I would laugh at me too.
And while I would never voice this out loud, because she would kill me, Elyse was damn gorgeous when she was angry. She was also smarter than me, more experienced than me, and I would be lost without her.
“You’re right, one hundred percent,” I said.
Elyse narrowed her eyes, not sure if I was placating her or I truly agreed.
“I’m serious,” I said. “Everything you said, I agree.” I held up a three-finger salute. “Scout’s honor.”
“You were never a Boy Scout,” said Elyse.
“Yeah, but I could’ve been,” I said, grinning. “I would have rocked that uniform.”
“You’re such a dork.”
When Wyatt finally got his laughing under control, he clapped his hands together. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
We were ready to go within an hour. The healers, under Ellen’s direction, inked both Elyse and Maddie. Two additional hospital beds were added to Lucy’s room and it was starting to get a little cramped. Wyatt retrieved his battle-baton and started arguing with one of the healers.
“Look, dude, when I went in last time I showed up in Lucy’s dreamland with the clothes I had on, so I’m taking the baton and keeping my fingers crossed that it will be there when I land,” said Wyatt. “Now back up, you’re crowding me.”
Cynthia did one last ready check.
“Ready,” I said.
“Ready,” said Elyse.
“Ready,” said Maddie.
“Let’s kick the tires and light the fires, big daddy,” said Wyatt, getting a giggle from Maddie.
“I love that movie,” said Maddie.
“Really?” said Wyatt. “We should totally—”
Whoosh!
I was falling.
Maybe I was getting used to the falling bit. It seemed almost over before it began.
My feet hit solid ground and my three friends thudded down around me in a semi-circle.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Elyse began, before being cut off by the blaring horn of a double-decker tour bus that was about to flatten us all into road-kill.
I reacted on pure instinct, kicking out with my foot. I connected with the front fender of the bus and as the jolt traveled up my leg I heard bones cracking, but I succeeded in sending the bus careening out of our path into a line of parked cars. Oops, I hoped everybody was insured.
Maddie spun in a tight circle. “Um. You guys, we’re in Hollywood, this is Sunset Boulevard.”
She was right. We had landed near the intersection of Sunset and San Vicente. I could see the famous Viper Room just up the street. More horns blared and tires squealed as cars zoomed around the crashed bus and the four of us.
“What the hell happened to Vegas?” Wyatt asked.
“The better question is, where the hell is Lucy?”
CHAPTER 13
Lucy and Penny spent the drive back from Vegas pointing out cars to each other. It seemed that every ten miles or so, Lucy would change her mind about what kind of car she would buy. Penny, on the other hand, never wavered. She was going to buy a white Jeep Laredo with tan interior and accents.
“I will look so bitchin’,” Penny explained. “Top down, hair blowing in the wind and I can totally tan while I’m cruising around town.”
“I’m not sure I want to go with another convertible,” said Lucy. “I mean I loved, absolutely loved, my Rabbit, but I think it’s time to move on to something more, you know, adult.”
Morgan snorted.
“What?” Lucy demanded.
“More adult? Really? Aren’t you the one who says that adults are both boring and annoying?”
“No,” Lucy said. “That’s just my parents. Other more mature people are sexy and exciting.”
Oooh, I know who you’re talking about,” said Penny. “And I agree one hundred percent, the man is fine.”
“Wait, are you guys talking about Marcus?” Morgan asked. “He’s like my dad’s age. That is gross.”
“Um, your dad has a beer belly, wears black socks with sandals, and is going bald,” Penny pointed out. “Marcus looks thirty at the oldest, and could totally rock it as an underwear model.”
“Yeah, but looking thirty doesn’t make you thirty. He’s got to be pushing forty-five,” said Morgan. “And dating a forty-five-year-old is sick.”
Lucy ignored the jibe a
nd pointed out her window at a passing sporty two-door. “That one, that’s what I’m going to buy, a Mazda RX-7.”
“You’ll look so hot driving an RX-7,” Penny agreed. “What color?”
“So, we’re not talking about how disgusting it would be for an eighteen-year-old to date an old dude?” Morgan said.
“No,” Lucy said, and told Penny, “I think red or maybe that really pretty metallic blue color.”
“Red is definitely your color,” said Penny.
The girls successfully ignored every attempt Morgan made to change the subject back to inappropriate dating practices. He finally gave up and concentrated on the road.
After they had dropped Penny off, Lucy asked Morgan to drive down Van Nuys Boulevard.
“Why?” Morgan asked.
“I’m going to buy a car and Van Nuys has a bunch of dealerships.”
“Now? You’re going to buy a car right now? Don’t you think you should talk to your parents and maybe get your dad to go with you?”
“No. They made me sell my last car, so they don’t get a say in my choice of a new one. Besides, I need wheels immediately, I need to be mobile.”
“Okay, but do you know anything about buying a car? What if they try to, I don’t know, take advantage of you?”
“The price of the car will be listed and I have a purse full of cash. How exactly will they take advantage of me?”
“I don’t know, maybe the list price will be too high? Do you even know how much an RX-7 is supposed to cost?”
“No, but it doesn’t matter. I have a lot of money and I can always magic up some more.”
“You aren’t serious?” said Morgan, shocked.
Lucy frowned. “Of course I am. This wasn’t a onetime deal for me. I plan on making piles and piles of cash. Marcus said he would help me figure out all the tax and business stuff I need to know. I’m sure he’d be willing to help you too.”
“I don’t want Marcus’ help. To tell you the truth, I don’t know if I ever want to see Marcus again.”
“That’s your deal—there, there, there,” Lucy said, bouncing in her seat and pointing at a used car lot with rows of shiny sports cars. Morgan whipped across a lane of traffic, pissing off the drivers behind him who honked and flipped him off. Morgan just waved in return.
“Look,” Lucy squealed, opening her door to get out. “They have an RX-7.”
“Lucy, I really think you should talk to your folks.”
“I don’t want to talk to my folks,” Lucy snapped. “They would only be stupid about Vegas and the money. I’m buying a car, are you coming?”
“Yeah, okay.”
Lucy was right. When she pulled out a stack of money and told the salesman she would be paying cash, everything became very easy. An hour later, Lucy drove away in 1986 Red Mazda RX-7. It was two years old, but Lucy didn’t care about that. It looked amazing and it drove like a racecar. Lucy was ultimately glad that Morgan went into the dealership with her because the manager, a guy with slicked back hair, a gold chain and a moustache, tried hitting on her.
As if!
Lucy had cuddled up close to Morgan to keep the creep away. She hated using Morgan like that, but wasn’t that what best friends were for? Morgan made her promise to call him after she got home and discussed things with her parents. Lucy tried to play it cool, but as she pulled up in front of her family’s condo she chewed her bottom lip. Her parents were going to flip.
“Here goes nothing,” Lucy said, checking her hair and make-up in the mirror.
“Where did you steal the car?” Jason shouted from the front door.
So much for easing them into the idea, Lucy thought. By the time Lucy had pulled her bag from the hatchback and walked to the front door, both her mom and dad had joined Jason on the front steps.
“Lucy, whose car is that?” her mom asked.
“And why are you driving it?” her dad added. “I don’t know if our insurance covers red sports cars.”
Lucy lugged her suitcase to the stairs and dropped it. They were blocking the front door and her luggage was heavy—it had to be all the shoes, Lucy thought.
“Can we go inside please?” Lucy asked. “There’s no reason the entire neighborhood needs to hear our business.”
“After you answer the question, young lady,” her dad said in perfect dad voice, folding his arms. “Just who does that car belong to?”
Lucy huffed. They could never make it easy on her.
Fine.
“It’s my car. I just bought it, like, fifteen minutes ago,” said Lucy, a challenge in her voice.
“What?” her mom asked, totally confused.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” her dad said, and then he made the sound. It was a sound he had perfected during her teenage years. A sort of snort, mixed with a sigh, mixed with a cough. It was the sound he reserved for the times when Lucy had really screwed up. It never failed to send her right over the edge of patience and reason.
“I’m not being ridiculous,” Lucy said. “It’s my car, I can show you my paperwork if you’d like?”
“Lucy, that’s a twenty thousand dollar car.”
“Thirteen thousand actually,” said Lucy, cutting her dad off before he could start rambling. “It’s an ’86, and I got a deal because I paid cash. Any more stupid questions or comments? Because I’d like to go inside and take a hot shower.”
“Watch your tone, young lady,” her dad said. “Where exactly did this windfall of cash come from?”
“I know I told you guys I was spending the weekend at Penny’s, and I was actually with Penny, so it wasn’t a total lie, but we went to Vegas and I won a shitload of money.”
“Language,” said Lucy’s mom, glancing at Jason.
Jason was standing with his mouth open and eyes wide. He had witnessed Lucy pull some crazy stuff over the years. Apparently her showing up in a sports car had blown his hormone-addled brain.
Lucy’s dad looked like he was having a stroke. His mouth opened and closed without any sound coming out and he was blinking really fast. He recovered and started yelling weird, half-formed phrases.
“You?”
“Penny?”
“Las Vegas?”
“You’re eighteen.”
“That’s illegal.”
“You won money?”
“Gambling?”
And Lucy’s favorite, “Impossible.”
A few days ago Lucy would have agreed with her dad, because winning almost one hundred thousand dollars using magic was an absurd impossibility—to the uninitiated. But Lucy was now one of the initiated. One of the select few who not only knew magic was real, but also how to wield it. Well, kind of wield it. Marcus was going to help her take care of that part.
Lucy reached into her purse and pulled out her remaining roll of cash. It was smaller, but still quite impressive.
She waved it in front of her family. “Oh, it’s possible.”
“You’re grounded,” her dad blurted out.
Lucy laughed. “You can’t ground me, I’m eighteen.”
“My house, my rules, remember? And you’re not keeping that car.”
“The hell I’m not,” said Lucy, stuffing the wad of money back in her purse.
Lucy!” her mom shouted.
“Sorry Mom, I didn’t mean to offend Jason’s sensitive ears. And as for the whole ‘my house, my rules’ BS, I don’t think I’ll be living under that particular form of dictatorship anymore.”
Lucy grabbed her luggage and started dragging it back toward her car. Marcus had a mansion, she was sure he would invite her to stay. Lucy thought about all the stuff in her room, especially her CD collection—oh well, she would just have to replace it all. It’s not like she wouldn’t be able to afford it.
“Lucy Maddox, you come back here this instant,” her dad demanded.
“I don’t think so, Daddy, your little girl is moving out. And don’t pretend you aren’t secretly relieved. Think of all the money you’ll save. I m
ean, you guys have been on my ass about getting a job. Well, I figured out a different way and it pays much better.”
“Lucy, please,” her mom cried out, her voice cracking.
Lucy almost stopped, her mom sounded so sad. The fact was that Lucy loved her parents, but she was done living by their rules. Lucy had done more than win money in Vegas, she had stumbled headlong into—even though it sounded corny—her destiny. That was the best way to describe it and the path leading to that destiny didn’t start here in North Hollywood.
“I’ll call you when I know where I’m staying,” Lucy called over her shoulder. She didn’t turn to look at them, unsure she could handle that.
Lucy was struggling to lift her suitcase into the hatchback when a second pair of hands grabbed it and helped her.
Jason.
Lucy smiled at her little brother. His bottom lip trembled and he was blinking back tears.
“Don’t go,” said Jason. “Not like this. Mom and Dad, they . . .”
Hey,” Lucy ruffled his hair. “I’m not moving to China, just over the hill. We’ll still see each other all the time. I promise.”
Jason lost the battle and tears started rolling down his cheeks. Lucy didn’t want to leave the kid crying, so she reached into her purse, pulled out a hundred-dollar bill, and held it out. He just stared at it.
“Go on, silly, take it. You can buy a new video game or something. Oh, you can also have any of my CDs.” Lucy said happily.
Jason continued to stare at her until finally Lucy stuffed the bill into his front pocket. Then, as an afterthought, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Lucy didn’t look at the condo. She didn’t even know if her parents were still standing on the stairs. She slid into the front seat of the RX-7, turned the engine over and unintentionally peeled out as she popped the clutch and sped away.
Lucy could taste the saltiness of Jason’s tears on her lips. She vigorously rubbed her hand across her mouth and switched the radio on, cranking the volume up to a deafening level.
Lucy: A Paragon Society Novel (Book 3) Page 13
