A Breath of Magic (11 page)

“I—I’m sorry. I waited out front but you weren’t there. I…” She hovered near the door, dressed in the same clothes she’d worn the last time. I felt like a heel. Again.

“Hey, it’s okay. You just surprised me! Was Paige helping you with anything before she left?”

“Paige? The girl with the dark hair? No…I don’t think so. She d-didn’t see me.”

Annoyance blistered over me. It wasn’t like Paige not to pay attention to customers. But then I realized that Mari had likely walked in as Ben and Paige were leaving. Which was why I’d only heard the bell once. “Okay, that’s fine. What…um…what can I do for you?”

Eyes filled with pain and confusion settled on me. “I don’t know. I…I think I need your help.”

I told myself to proceed carefully. “I’ll be happy to help if I can. How old are you, Mari?”

Her chin trembled. She shook her head slightly, as if in a daze. Again, I wondered if drugs were involved, but her eyes looked clear and she appeared healthy. Physically, anyway. “Sixteen?” she murmured. “I think I’m sixteen.”

“You don’t know how old you are?” Maybe the girl suffered from some type of mental illness. That thought brought a tremor of apprehension, because I was, after all, completely alone in the shop.

“I’m sixteen. I’m sure of it,” she said with more decisiveness.

Then she should be in school. But I didn’t mention that,
because if she were in trouble, the last thing I wanted to do was send her scurrying away. “Is there anyone I can call for you? Someone you trust?” She didn’t respond, so I pushed forward. “A teacher? Your mom or dad? Another relative? A neighbor, perhaps?”

Fear loomed in her sky blue eyes, in the hunched way she held her body. “There is no one I can talk to except for you. It has to be you.”

Okay, I was completely out of my league here. But the desire to help flooded in, drowning out all of the perfectly sound reasons why I should excuse myself and make a quick phone call to the authorities, to someone who might be able to get to the bottom of this, to someone who might be able to offer Mari real assistance. Instead, I said, “If I can help you, I will. What do you need?”

“I don’t know.” She said the words with despair, with a ring of finality that made zero sense. “I just know…I feel that you’re the only one who can help.”

“Is someone hurting you?”

She blinked, and a solo tear dripped down her cheek. “Please help me.”

Oh, God. “If someone is hurting you, we can get you help. But you have to tell me what’s happening. Is it your parents? A boyfriend?”

The barest shimmer of light grew, as if the sun shone through a window behind Mari, illuminating her. But there wasn’t a window, just a wall and the door. “My mother…She was sad and crying. I was mad and…” Mari broke off, overcome by emotion. By memories, by something I didn’t understand.

Perhaps she was a runaway. The desire to help her, to understand, curled in my belly in a pulsating wave of pure energy. Comprehension that my magic, my ability, might give me the answers I needed, the power to actually offer assistance to this girl, slammed into me. I grabbed onto it with
everything I had, letting the magic rip through me, allowing the power to take control, feeding off of my emotions and off the emotions I felt emanating from Mari.

Without thought, without dissecting what I was doing, I reached for her, my magic strong and forceful, once again burning through my blood, glittering and glistening and glowing on my skin. She gasped and took a step backward. The light around her brightened to a clean, pristine white that nearly took my breath away. I focused in on the light, the barest of images beginning to appear within it, startling me.

Pushing myself mentally, I fought to clear the haze that covered the image, fought to see what my magic was trying to show me. I imagined peeling back layers, like on an onion, one at a time, to reveal what the light hid. Only the harder I worked, the more my eyes watered. A rush of dizziness swooped in, making my vision swim, turning the room topsy-turvy.

I held on, intent on using my magic for good, intent on helping Mari. The faintest outline of the image began to come into focus, so I pushed myself harder. I saw darkness. I saw two streams of beaming light. I heard a scream, then another.

“Are you okay?” Mari’s concerned voice came through the fog.

I nodded but didn’t speak. Hurt, pain, loss and betrayal twisted in my mind. Anger. Lots of anger. Again, I tried to focus in, tried to see the rest of the image, tried to understand, but the sound of a bell broke my concentration. In an instant, the magic bled from my body, the light and the image around Mari dissipated, disappearing as if neither had ever existed.

My entire body shook. My skin was ice cold and covered in a light coat of perspiration. I attempted to breathe evenly, waiting for the effects to subside, not daring to talk. I heard a voice call out, “Excuse me? Is anyone here?” And then, all
at once, I realized where I stood, what the sound of the bell signified.

“Someone’s in the shop, Mari. I—I have to get out there. Wait. Wait right here and I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I looked at her. “Do you understand? I’ll be right back.”

She tilted her head, and her sky-blue eyes searched my face before she nodded. “I understand.”

“Okay. Good. Just wait.” I stepped around her and tried to walk straight, but felt as if I’d just downed several glasses of wine in quick succession on an empty stomach.

The customer in the shop wanted advice on cleansing her pendulum, as well as information about how to use charts in conjunction with it. I answered her questions and showed her the charts we carried, pointed out a few books that dealt with dowsing, and finally rang her up. By then, two other customers were in the shop. I blew out a sigh of frustration. The pair had arrived together, were apparently friends, and their slow, methodical appraisal of one item after another showed they weren’t in a hurry.

After ascertaining there was nothing they needed immediate assistance with, I opened the door to the back, wanting to tell Mari I’d be a little longer. But she wasn’t there, and when I dashed to check the restroom, she wasn’t there either. My eyes landed on the back door and I cursed. I should put a bell on
that
door. Probably, I’d scared the poor girl out of her wits, and she’d run the second I left her alone.

While I didn’t blame her, my worry and fear for her ate at me the rest of the day. God help me if she was now too terrified to come back. I was fairly certain that my earlier assessment of her being a runaway was right on. And while I didn’t have a clue as to what that barely seen image meant, I didn’t believe she’d go anywhere else for help. Why she’d come to me, I wasn’t sure. But she had, and the weight of that responsibility hung heavy.

Miranda’s message about my having a journey, one that
had nothing to do with the drawing, came to mind. Maybe, just maybe, Mari was part of that journey? Maybe my powers were meant to be used to help someone that no one else, for whatever reason, could? If that were the case, had I already screwed up?

“I want some answers,” I said to the now empty store. “I want to know what the hell I’m supposed to be doing.”

Verda stared at me with unblinking blue eyes. “You cursed that boy, Chloe.”

We, along with Elizabeth and Alice, were gathered around Alice’s kitchen table early Thursday evening. Ethan and Rose were in another room, and I’d already caught everyone up to speed on Ben, but had just finished explaining the Kyle debacle.

I glared at Verda, not liking the sound of that. “What do you mean?”

“You bespelled him twice: once with your magic and once with Elizabeth’s.” Verda smacked her hand on the table for emphasis. “Double-whammy magic! Poor Kyle never stood a chance.”

Oh, shit. Why hadn’t I thought of that? I mentally revisited the night of my proposal, and my emotions—the strength of my want to cement a future with Kyle—returned in a flash. I looked to Elizabeth. “Can you bake something else to fix this?”

Elizabeth chose a home-baked—presumably magic-free—chocolate chip cookie from a box emblazoned with the A Taste of Magic logo and dunked it into her cup of coffee. “I can certainly try. But it might not work.”

“It’s worth a shot.” Alice slumped in her chair. “I’ll stop by A Taste of Magic tomorrow and pick up whatever you bake, Liz, and then deliver it to Kyle myself.”

“Don’t be silly. I’ll take care of it.” Though how I was going to explain bringing Kyle anything was beyond me.
Knowing my luck, he’d dump the contents of the bakery box over my head.

Alice shook her head. “You shouldn’t see him right now, Chloe. Let’s give Elizabeth’s magic a chance first. Without your interference.”

My
interference
? And that meant what, exactly? Somehow, Alice, Verda and Elizabeth seemed all in on some little secret that they weren’t sharing.

Trying not to sound as defensive as I felt, I said, “I think I can handle delivering baked goods to Kyle. But if you want to take care of it, I won’t argue.”

“Good.” She shot me an uneasy look. “Don’t misunderstand me. I’m just worried that you’ll accidentally respell him.”

Verda tightened the shawl around her shoulders. “You have too much going on, Alice. I’ll make the delivery.” She spoke in her don’t-argue-with-me voice, but I totally expected Alice to argue. She didn’t.

The fact that she didn’t, along with Verda’s statement and the weird energy in the room, bothered me. What did Alice have going on, and why hadn’t she told me? Once again, as I had been for so many months, I became the odd girl out. And petty or not, I didn’t like it. “Fine. Verda will make the delivery. But what if that doesn’t do the trick?”

“Then you’ll need to find a way to fix this. Just be sure you’re not holding on to any doubts about your relationship with him,” Verda said. “Because otherwise, whether you meant to or not, you
have
cursed Kyle. You’ll leave that boy miserable for the rest of his life, wanting you and not being able to have you.”

An uneasy chill overtook me. “I won’t let that happen.”

Elizabeth sat up straighter in her chair. “I warned you of this.” She broke off a chunk of cookie. “Magic isn’t a game, Chloe.”

Riled up but not sure why, I forced myself to remain calm. “I know that.”

“Do you?”

Now why did that feel like a trick question? “I just said I did, didn’t I?”

A gush of words erupted. “You begged—coerced—me into using magic on Kyle to marry you, and now you’re using your magic on Ben.”

“The situations are completely different,” I argued. “I have a picture that shows me marrying Ben! If I have to use my power…my gift…to get to that day, then I don’t see how that’s a huge issue.”

“You also have a picture showing you already married to Kyle, one of you alone, and one of you with us. So why is this the one you’re so focused on?” Elizabeth asked.

“Because it’s the
right
future. Those other three? They’re showing me what could happen if I don’t go down this path. The right path. I’m sure of it.” Or I thought I was. I’d given those four pictures and my dream about a crossroads a lot of thought. This was the only scenario that made sense. “Besides, kissing Ben is like magic.”

“That’s because it
is
magic. Your magic.” Elizabeth frowned. “I asked this before, but it bears repeating. Don’t you want a man who will want you for you?”

“He will! Eventually.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Calm down. Both of you.” Alice’s voice of reason slipped in. “We’re all on the same side here.”

“Too late,” I huffed. But she was right, so I looked at Elizabeth, lowered my tone and tried to cool my anger. “You were right about Kyle. I get that, and I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you. But this, with Ben, is different. Everything I feel for him is so strong, and it started before I ever saw that drawing. I’ll do anything I have to do for that future to come true.”

In a softer tone, Elizabeth said, “All I want is for you to understand that there are ramifications whenever you use
magic. Sometimes, they can be good. But sometimes, like with Kyle, you can…well, you can screw things up. Just be careful.”

“I just need to get us on the right path. That’s all I’m doing.” And even though I believed that to the core of my being, Elizabeth’s words and the situation with Kyle struck deep. “But, yes, I will be careful.”

“Good. That’s all I need to hear.”

Silence descended on the room, but unlike the comforting quiet at the Mystic Corner the other evening, this one was filled with unsaid words, conflicting emotions and who the hell knows what else. I squirmed in my chair. I’d planned on asking Elizabeth to ask her cop husband, Nate, for advice in dealing with Mari. In case the girl returned. But with what had just occurred, I decided to keep Mari to myself.

“So…has Miranda been around lately?” I asked Alice. “Since the morning she told you to draw my future again?”

“Nope. And I’d really like to talk to her.” Alice frowned. “Have you seen her?”

“I thought I felt her a few nights ago, but if she was there, she kept to herself.”

A few more minutes of conversation surrounding our ghost relative ensued, but then, once we’d exhausted that topic, no one appeared to have anything else to say. Elizabeth and Verda kept darting glances at me, and I sort of thought that they wanted to me to leave so they could talk to Alice in private. But nope.
I
wanted some privacy with my best friend, so I settled in, prepared to wait.

It took a lot less time than I figured, and before I knew it Elizabeth and Verda were saying their good-byes. When I hugged Verda, she whispered in my ear, “Remember our deal! I’m counting on you.”

“I remember,” I whispered back. “But that deal goes two ways.”

We separated, and she grinned conspiratorially. “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”

I couldn’t help but smile back. “You have five weeks and five days.”

She wrinkled her nose but didn’t respond. Then she and Elizabeth went home, leaving me alone with Alice.

Fiddling with her now-empty coffee cup, my friend asked, “How are you. Really?” But while the words were appropriate, she seemed preoccupied.

“I’m fine. I want to know what’s going on with you.”

Her shoulders stiffened. “You should focus on
your
life right now.”

“I can do that and care about you. Why are you keeping me out of the loop?” I bit my lip, staring at her, waiting for her to grin and spill whatever secret she was keeping from me. She didn’t.

“Because right now all I want is for you to work out what’s happening in your life.” She heaved a breath. “I’m not going to weigh you down with my own burdens.”

I shook my head. “You’re seriously not going to talk to me about this?”

“Not this time, Chloe. Not now. This is…Well, Ethan and I are dealing with it.”

“So you haven’t told Elizabeth and Verda? This is a husband and wife thing?” That, at least, I could understand.

She shifted in her seat. “They know, but please don’t push this. It’s nothing about you. I promise.”

“You
have
told them?” All of my feelings from the past year returned. Where had my best friend gone? Why was I suddenly the only person being kept in the dark? I stared at Alice without speaking, wanting her to open up, wanting her to turn to me the way she used to. Even if her intentions were good, I hated being shoved to the side. As if my opinions didn’t matter. As if
I
didn’t matter.

Giving it one more go, I said, “Please, Alice?”

She shook her head, not looking me in the eyes.

“Fine. If that’s how you want it.”

I was going to stand up and leave, take my hurt feelings home with me and pout…but then I realized I
could
get her to open up. Without giving myself the chance to think twice, I breathed deeply and focused on the power inside of me, going for a gentle push, and not an outright takeover of her will. Tell me what’s going on, Alice, I thought.

Trust in me
.
Trust in our friendship
.

Warmth flooded my body and tingles leaped across my skin. “Alice? I want to know what you’re keeping from me.”

She blinked. Then, in a soft voice, she started speaking. “It’s about Rose. Are you sure you want to hear this?”

“Yes. What’s going on with your baby?” I pushed the magic forward again, from me to her, energy saturating the air. “Tell me.”

Tiredness and worry seeped over Alice, darkening the brown in her eyes. “It’s the damn magic! I just want Rose to grow up normal and happy, and…”

“And?” I gave another mental push.

“She’s doing things. Not just little stuff, like with the bear in her crib, but big stuff.”

Oh, this had to do with the magic.
Rose’s
magic. “Like what?”

“She…she can heal, Chloe.” Alice sucked in a breath and blanched. “She healed me. I cut myself while preparing dinner, and I was running my hand under the water. Rose woke up from her nap and was crying, so I wrapped a paper towel around my hand and went to get her. I took her into the bathroom with me and sat her on the counter while I got out the bandages. Rose leaned over and touched the cut…and I felt this almost-burning sensation and watched the cut heal.” Alice snapped her fingers. “Just like that. There one minute, gone the next.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the magic whooshed
away. “Oh…oh, wow. That’s huge! Imagine what she’ll be able to do—how she might help people!”

“And imagine the circus her life will become.” Tears dotted Alice’s eyes. “It scares me. I’m not even going to be able to send her to school with normal kids.”

“Whoa! You don’t know that yet.” But she had a point. A very good one. “Between you, Ethan, Verda, Elizabeth, Miranda and me, you’ll figure this out.”

Alice wiped her eyes. “I wasn’t going to tell you, but…” She stared at me, confusion and questions rippling over her. Uh-oh. She’d already caught on.

“I’m glad you did. But now I should probably get going,” I said. Before she clobbered me.

“No. No you don’t. You just spelled me, didn’t you?” Her voice trembled with anger and disbelief. “How could you do that? To me? Your best friend?”

“I’m sorry. But why wouldn’t you tell me about this if I
am
your best friend?”

“I was trying to be conscious of what’s going on with you! And you’re so wrapped up in the magic right now, I didn’t think you’d understand why I’m upset. I figured it was better to not even go there.” She narrowed her eyes. “I understand why you did it, but Chloe…I don’t like being forced to do anything. Don’t ever do that again.”

“I’m sorry,” I repeated, hoping she’d let me off the hook. And I was sorry. Hugely. “But it doesn’t matter what’s going on in my life. You can always come to me. Just like I can always come to you. Magic, husbands, children—none of that changes that you’re my best friend. I love you, Alice.”

“I know that. And I feel the same.” She sighed in exasperation. “But if you ever use your magic on me again, then I’m going to have Elizabeth bake you one hell of a cake.”

I gulped. “Understood. Completely.”

“Okay, then.” The tension eased out of her, but it still weighed in the air. Her eyes drifted to the clock. “It’s getting
late, and while this might not be the best time to get into this, there’s something else I need to say. And it can’t wait.”

“I’m all ears,” I replied.

“It’s about Grandma. Has she come to you with any type of requests lately?”

“Um, er…you mean Verda?”

“Is there another grandmother that I don’t know about?” Alice asked, deadpan. “Yes, I mean Verda. She’s been hinting about getting her magic back, but she hasn’t actually asked me or Elizabeth straight out yet. Neither of us are prepared to say yes, even if she does. But…well, we thought she might go to you.”

“Why wouldn’t you say yes?” I asked.

“She keeps rambling about a dream.” Alice twisted her wedding rings. “Sh-she thinks she needs her magic to accomplish something—whatever the dream is warning her of—and, well, that she has to do this soon. Before she dies.”

Oh, no. Verda dying? That’s what her request was all about? Not only did I hate that, not only did the thought bring tears to my eyes, but I should’ve known that Verda wouldn’t have come to me without knowing Elizabeth and Alice would refuse. Manipulation 101 at its finest.

“Did she actually say that?” My voice quavered. “That she dreamed she was going to die?”

“Not exactly, but close enough. So I can’t—
won’t
—gift her magic to her. Not if that means she’s going to give up on life once she’s done whatever it is she thinks she needs to!”

“Verda loves life, Alice! You’re worrying too much. She’s not the type to just give up because some dumb dream showed her something.”

“Maybe I’m using the wrong words.” Alice’s eyes clouded with fear. “But if she believes things are going to happen in a certain progression, and receiving the magic happens first, then that’s enough reason to keep the magic away from her.”

“So, you want me to…what?”

“If she asks you, tell her no. Please.”

“I see.” My voice was barely a whisper. “But what if she’s right? What if she needs her magic returned so she can…oh, I don’t know, set something straight? Or make sure that something that’s supposed to happen will?”