And tried not to cry.
CHAPTER 14
Lucy pulled into a gas station not far from her parents’ condo. She needed to call Marcus, so she went inside the small mini-mart, bought a Diet-Coke and asked for the change in quarters. The payphones outside weren’t too gross and in working order, so she dialed Marcus’ home number. After the fifth ring Lucy was worried that maybe Marcus wasn’t home. When she was about to hang up, he finally answered.
“Hello, Lucy,” he said in his smooth, deep voice.
“Hi,” Lucy chirped, ignoring the weird way Marcus always knew who was calling. “I almost hung up, I thought you might not be home, but you answered, so I guess you’re home. So hi—I mean, how are you?”
Lucy was sounding like a stupid, little, infatuated girl. She had to act way more cool and mature if she wanted to impress Marcus.
Marcus chuckled at her flustered state. “I am wonderful. You are back in Los Angeles.”
“Yeah,” Lucy mentally kicked herself. “Yes, I am in LA, we returned this afternoon. And I’ve made my first purchase, a new—well, a new-used car, a Mazda RX-7.”
“Congratulations, you deserve it.”
“I also realized that I can’t go back to my old life,” Lucy began slowly. “My parents, they live a very . . . “She didn’t know the best word to describe her parents and their boring, normal life.
“Mundane,” Marcus offered.
“Yes, that’s it, they lead a very mundane life and after Vegas, after the things you showed me and what I experienced , I just can’t even for one more day go back to that life.”
“I understand perfectly,” said Marcus. “You have discovered that you are special. The truth of it is that you belong to a unique breed of human. You, my dear Lucy, stand above the rest of humanity, including your family. You should not feel bad about this, just as people with blue eyes don’t feel bad that they were born with a genetic trait that gives them an eye color different from over fifty percent of their fellow citizens. Luckily, there is a small sub-culture that I count myself among who have blazed a trail for you to follow.”
“A sub-culture?”
“Of people who can harness magical energy.”.
“Oh, right.” Logically it made sense. Lucy’s interaction with Piper proved that magic and people who were more than human existed. “And I get to join?”
Marcus laughed again. “Lucy, it’s not a private club that requires membership. You are one of us simply by virtue of your birth.”
“Cool.”
“Yes, it is quite cool.”
Lucy felt better. If she was part of this community, then asking to crash with Marcus seemed appropriate. “So, I’m standing at a gas station payphone, I told my parents I was moving out and, well, I was hoping I could stay with you.”
The silence that followed was so long Lucy worried her time on the payphone had run out.
“I don’t think that will be possible at the present time,” said Marcus.
Lucy stopped breathing. Her stomach cramped into a painful knot. Had she misread the situation? In Vegas, Marcus had all but said they would be together. And just now he said she was special. Why was he rejecting her?
“Oh,” Lucy said quietly. “Okay, I’m sorry, I thought . . . it’s no big deal, I can find somewhere to stay.” Lucy was starting to feel panicky. She had no idea where she would spend the night. A hotel? She had money, so she could stay in a hotel and then tomorrow figure out what her next step would be.
Lucy,” Marcus said, almost shouting. Oh, he had been saying something.
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
“I said that I took the liberty of preparing one of my properties for your use. I know it was presumptuous of me, but your choice concerning your family situation is not surprising and I wanted to make sure you were taken care of. It’s a very nice two-bedroom in the Hollywood Hills.”
The panic was replaced with euphoria. Marcus had a house for Lucy to live in. He wasn’t abandoning her after all.
“I’m sure it’s awesome,” said Lucy. “So, this means that you’re still going to teach me more magic?”
“Of course,” said Marcus. “I’m looking forward to it. And when I’ve settled some business and personal matters, we can discuss your permanent living arrangements. I would be delighted if you considered the Bel Air house. It is rather large and I think having you as a housemate would be interesting.”
Oh yeah, he wanted her. Lucy smiled, the next weeks and months were going to be the best of her life, she just knew it. Marcus gave Lucy the address and directions to the Hollywood house. It was located on a street above Sunset Boulevard—Penny was going to die with jealousy when she found out.
Lucy drove straight there. It was at the end of a narrow lane. She found the spare key right where Marcus said it would be and let herself inside. Lucy left her luggage sitting by the front door, drawn by the floor-to-ceiling windows. The sun had set and LA spread out before her in a sea of twinkling lights. Lucy figured out how to get the windows open and stepped out onto a stone balcony. A cool breeze was blowing in from the ocean. Lucy leaned against the railing and closed her eyes, letting the sounds of the city wash over her.
“This is the life I deserve,” she whispered.
A phone started to ring and Lucy jumped at the unexpected noise. Nobody but Marcus knew she was here, so it must be him. Lucy ran inside, desperate to find the phone. It wasn’t in any of the usual places—the kitchen, a side table by the sofa—Lucy was sure she would miss the call, then she finally located the stupid thing by the front door.
“Marcus,” Lucy said breathlessly.
“No, it’s Morgan.”
Morgan? How in the world did he find her and how did he get the number?
“Sorry to disappoint you,” he said.
“No, I’m not, really. It’s just—how did you get this number?”
“Marcus gave it to me.”
“What? When?”
“When I called him looking for you,” Morgan said, annoyed. “Your parents called my house, totally freaking out. Geez Lucy, what did you say to them? They’re really worried. Oh, and thanks for outing me on the Vegas trip, by the way.”
“I didn’t, I only told them Penny was there.”
“They’re not stupid, Lucy. They assumed I was there and called me out on it, I couldn’t lie to them.”
“Of course you could’ve lied,” said Lucy, her own anger starting to rise. “Don’t blame me because you’re a wuss and buckled under pressure.”
“So, are you like Marcus’ mistress now?”
Lucy wasn’t prepared for that. It was like Morgan had tossed a grenade at her and she had nowhere to hide from the explosion. The pain Lucy felt was physical. Morgan was supposed to be her best friend, and he had basically just called her a whore.
Lucy didn’t know how to respond, so she simply said, “You’re pathetic.”
“I’m pathetic? You just met the guy a few days ago and now you’re living in his house.”
“No, I’m living in a house that he owns. Marcus lives at the Bel Air house, but if he offered I’d move there in a heartbeat.” Lucy was on a roll now and wanted to hurt Morgan as much as he had just hurt her. “When are you going to learn that you have no claim on me? I’m not yours, Morgan, I’ve never been yours and I never will be. You’re just a silly boy I know from school who can’t take a hint.”
Lucy hung up before he could reply.
The phone immediately rang again.
Lucy picked it up and slammed it back down.
It rang again.
Lucy screamed and tore the phone cord from the back of the phone. She stalked back out onto the terrace, dropping into a patio chair, and wiped tears from her eyes. Morgan had no right. Lucy had always been honest about how she felt about him. They were friends, but he just couldn’t accept it and every time she showed interest in a boy Morgan would get all possessive and jealous. It was so infuriating.
The pho
ne began to ring again. No way. Lucy ran back into the house, but the phone was right where she’d dropped it, still unplugged. The ringing was coming from another part of the house. Lucy ran down the hallway, following the ringing, she found the second phone in the master bedroom.
Lucy snatched the receiver up and shouted, “Stop calling me!”
“But I was calling to invite you to a party tonight,” Marcus’ cool voice said.
“Marcus? Oh, I . . . oh, the phone was ringing and Morgan had called and he said stupid things.”
“That’s not surprising,” said Marcus. “He sounded very upset when he called here earlier. Is everything all right? I tried the main number and it seems to be disabled?”
“Yes, everything is fine. Morgan’s an idiot and I unplugged the other phone, sorry.”
“No apologies necessary. Keep the phone unplugged, I will call you on this line if I want to talk.”
“Um, you were saying something about a party?” Lucy said hopefully.
“Well, it’s more of small get-together, but I would love for you to be here. I’ve invited others like us, and they are excited to meet you.”
“Really? Others?” Lucy’s imagination started to run wild. What would a party full of magic people be like? Would Piper be there? Or maybe even other shape-shifters? Lucy was giddy. “What time? And what should I wear? I want to make a good impression.”
“Something comfortable, it will be a very casual evening. Maybe something like you wore on our night out in Las Vegas?”
“Okay. And what time?”
“Can you arrive by 8:00 p.m.?”
“Of course,” Lucy giggled. “Will there be . . . are we going to be talking about spells and stuff? I’d love to start learning things as soon as I can.”
“Oh, my friends love to show off,” said Marcus. “I’m positive you will be exposed to many interesting things this evening.”
“I’m so excited.” Lucy dropped all attempts of trying to play it cool.
“I am delighted that you are so excited. I will see you this evening.”
“Okay, bye.”
After Lucy hung up she fell back onto the bed, squealing and kicking her feet in the air in excitement. She ran back into the living room, straight to the huge stereo unit, it was almost as tall as she was. It took a minute of fidgeting with buttons and knobs but Lucy got the radio to turn on, Girls Just Want To Have Fun was playing, it was like fate or something. Lucy cranked the volume up and danced around the house, singing along with Cyndi Lauper.
The doorbell interrupted Lucy’s private dance party. Uh-oh, maybe she had pissed off the neighbors with the loud music. Lucy turned the volume down before answering the door.
She smoothed her hair back and straightened her t-shirt, put a smile on her face, and opened the door.
Morgan was standing on the porch. He had a dumb look on his dumb face.
“Hey,” he said.
“How are you even standing here right now?” asked Lucy.
“When I called Marcus, he gave me the phone number and address before I even asked. It’s like he wanted us to talk. Maybe he gets off on drama, I don’t know, the guy’s a freak.”
“Morgan, I’m this close to slamming the door in your face, don’t even start.”
Morgan held up his hands. “All right, okay, I’m sorry, please let me come in.”
“Why?”
“Because I had a conversation with my dad. He told me things about Marcus, things about their time back in college.”
Lucy shook her head and started to close the door. Morgan stuck his foot in the way.
“Move your foot,” Lucy said.
“Please, Lucy, you have to hear me out. The things my dad told me, it’s stuff you need to know and after, if you don’t care, then I’ll leave and I’ll never bring it up again.”
Lucy thought about the offer. It would be worth listening just to get Morgan off her back. She was positive there was nothing about Marcus’ past that could be so shocking that she would stop seeing him. Lucy held the door open and motioned for Morgan to enter.
“Wow,” said Morgan. “I’ll give him this, he has really cool taste.”
“Let’s sit on the terrace,” Lucy said. “There’s a nice breeze.”
Morgan followed Lucy outside and took the chair she offered. Lucy sat down next to him and crossed her arms, a frown firmly planted on her face.
Morgan didn’t waste any time. He began talking as soon as Lucy was settled. “After your parents called, my dad asked how we got around the age laws in Vegas, and I ’fessed up about the IDs and where we’d gotten them.”
“I can’t believe you told your dad,” said Lucy, sighing. “Marcus can get in trouble, not to mention Piper.”
“I didn’t mention Piper, and all I said was that Marcus pointed us in the right direction,” Morgan said. “But none of that matters, because my dad then totally floored me by asking if Marcus had taught us anything odd—that’s the word he used—about gambling or making money.”
Lucy couldn’t help it. “What did you say?”
“I asked him what he meant by ‘odd’ and he reacted by shutting the door to his study and looking me in the eye all serious-like, and then he hit me with the ‘M’ word.”
“No,” Lucy was stunned. “He actually said magic?”
“Yep,” Morgan nodded. “Well, he could read the answer all over my face. The funny thing is he wasn’t angry, he was scared.”
“Scared?”
“Yeah, Marcus scares the hell out of him.”
Lucy rolled her eyes.
“I’m serious, Lucy. I’ve never seen my dad like this before. He was genuinely scared. He told me that while they were in school, Marcus was known as the guy with the golden touch. He didn’t lose at anything—grades, money, even girls—he could have anything he wanted.”
“Yeah, that’s basic magic, we did the same thing with the ritual baths,” Lucy pointed out.
“Fine, whatever, but what my dad described was on an entirely different level.”
“Yeah, that’s because ritual baths are like the beginner spells. There’s more advanced magic.” Lucy didn’t think she should tell Morgan about the fire ball that Marcus conjured up, she didn’t think Morgan would handle it very well. “Marcus explained it to me and he’s agreed to teach me.”
“I don’t think you’re going to want to learn anything when I tell you the rest of what my dad said. The magic that Marcus practices is powered by blood.” Morgan said, as if he was revealing some profound secret.
“Morgan, a couple of drops of blood is how the spells are bound. We did that with the ritual baths too, remember?”
“I’m not talking about drops of blood, I’m talking buckets of blood,” Morgan said. “After college, my dad and Morgan kept in touch. That’s when I knew him as Uncle Morgan. Well, my dad’s business got into trouble when a rival company was trying to sue him for copyright infringement or something bogus. Marcus tells my dad there’s a way to fix the problem and invites my dad to a straight-up witch-ceremony thingy, like a black mass or something. Marcus and the other people had all brought an animal, and not like chickens, but cats and dogs—these were pets. Marcus explained that when a sacrifice is made, it becomes even more powerful when it is something that has a special meaning to the spell caster. Those freaks were going to sacrifice their own family pets. As soon as my dad realized what was about to go down, he ran for the door and that’s the last time we ever saw Uncle Marcus until I stupidly called him and we got sucked back in.”
Lucy noticed Morgan was breathing hard. The story really had him freaked out. She needed to choose her next words carefully and try not to offend Morgan.
“I’m not sure what your dad thought was going on, but I don’t think it was animal sacrifice. Marcus just wouldn’t do that. Maybe it was like a symbolic thing or something like that?”
“My dad’s not crazy, and he’s not a liar. He saw what he saw. And it got him thinking about t
heir college days. Marcus had been dating a girl their freshman year who ended up disappearing. The police even got involved. It’s like an unsolved crime.”
“And what? Marcus killed her for her blood? Do you know how psycho that sounds?” said Lucy.
Morgan ignored Lucy’s questions. “Marcus even has a name for it. He calls it blood-magic.”
“Morgan, I’m sorry your dad got weirded out by the idea of magic, but I know what it is and it’s not blood anything. It’s an energy that’s all around us and if you know how, you can tap into it, that’s all.”
“How can you be in such denial? He’s bad, Lucy. How can you not see it?”
“I can see just fine and he’s not bad, he’s enlightened. Your dad is just prejudiced.”
Morgan stood up slowly and started pacing, talking to himself. “That’s the only thing that makes sense, that dirty bastard, that’s what he totally did.”
Lucy was worried that Morgan had snapped. “Hey, you okay? You’re rambling like a crazy person.”
Marcus stopped pacing and kneeled down next to Lucy. “I know why you’re so infatuated with him.”
“I’m not infatuated, gaaawwwd, you’re such an idiot.”
“He used magic to make you fall for him. He told me the spell was exactly the same and totally suggested that I use—” Morgan stopped abruptly and looked away.
Lucy was instantly suspicious. “Use what?”
“Nothing, it’s Marcus. He’s the one using magic to influence you.”
An idea was forming in Lucy’s brain, and she didn’t like the shape it was taking. She and Morgan had both done the ritual baths and yet not one of his numbers had hit in Vegas. And every time she had brought up the ritual baths, he got all nervous and weird.
“What did you do?” Lucy wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear the answer.
Morgan continued to look everywhere but directly at her. Lucy hooked a finger under his chin, turning his face so that he had to look at her. She could see the guilt in his eyes and she knew. She knew what he had done.
“You tried to use a spell on me?” Lucy said, her heart breaking. “Some kind of lame, love spell.”
Lucy: A Paragon Society Novel (Book 3) Page 14
