Flicker (8 page)

“Are you saying she has magic?”

“It’s possible, but I could be mist
aken. She’s already got
revel magic
clinging to
her. That could’ve set me off. But she
was
painting. Pretty well, too.”

A thought struck Filo. “What exactly did you offer?”

“I really don’t think it’s a big deal,” Nasser said, flushing a soft pink.

“Nasser
…
”

“I traded a book
of magic
,” Nasser assured him, and Filo
suspected
that he was lying, at least in part. Nasser was a terrible liar. “
A spell book.
That’s all
. Happy?”

“I’m never happy.” Grimacing, Filo pinched
his own arm
.
The brief, sharp pain focused him.
“I can’t believe you did this.”

“What should I have done
?”
Nasser’s tone was defensive
now
. “
What would you have done?”

Filo raised his voice to match Nasser.
“Minded my own business, like a no
rmal person.”

“Normal?” Nasser scoffed. “Where do you get off calling yourself that?”

“Where do
you
get off dragging me into this
mess
?” Filo snapped. “It’s not my fault you’re such an idiot.”

“And it’s not
my
fault you’re such a frigid bastard,” Nasser countered.

Filo shook his head. “You talk big,” he said, “but I bet it took all the guts you have to show up here after what you did.”

“It’s been
two
years, Filo. You’re six
teen now. I thought
you’d
grown up enough to
understand
.” Nasser shook his head. “You haven’t changed at all. You’re still just a scared kid.”

Filo punched Nasser in the face.

It wasn’t the most powerful punch he’d ever thrown. Far from it. He’d gotten into more serious squabbles with Jason over nothing at all. B
ut Filo thought
it
got
his point across.

Nasser
stepped
backward, one hand reaching up to touch his
che
ek with a sigh
.
Then he balled his hand into a fist and punched Filo back, just once, hard enough for the whole left side of Filo’s face to go momentarily numb
with surprise
before pain exploded behind his eyes.

Before he could recover, Nasser seized Filo by the shoulders, dragged him into the hall and shoved him against the wall directly across from the still-open door.

Filo reached dazedly up to touch his own cheek, which was tingling painfully.
He’d known Nasser since Filo was nine years old, and Nasser was twelve. Even then, the older boy had been remarkably even-tempered and gentle.
Nasser had never laid a hand on him before.

Though his mouth was set into a thin line, the expression in Nasser’s eyes was like it had been when twelve-year-old Filo had
dislocated his own shoulder, and Nasser had to pop it back into place: sympathetic and concerned, brotherly.
This is going to hurt, Filo, but just for a second.
It’s for your own good.
You’ll be fine. I promise.

“Do you hate
me?” Filo asked quietly. Nasser’s grip on him loosened.

“No.
Of course not.
Just like you don’t hate me.
”

“
You don’t know that
,” Filo muttered.

“If
you
did
, you would’ve used magic just now
. You would’ve hurt me.”

Filo didn’t answer. He stared at the floor.

“
I didn’t start this,” Nasser said softly
.
Filo thought suddenly of how Nasser had never caused him pain if
he didn’t think it was for Filo’s
own good
.
“
I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.
You know that.”

Filo looked over Nasser’s shoulder and through the open door. The sunlight spilling through the window made everything look washed-out
.
He
leaned against the wall,
suddenly
exhausted
.
Filo
sank slowly to the floor, staring blankly at his hands.

“I don’t want fight with you,” Nasser said, and for a moment, Filo believed him. “I shouldn’t have come
to you
.
Neman
and
Morgan
won’t be happy if they come back and she’s here.” He sighed. “Just forget about it. I’ll figure something else out.”

In all these years,
Nasser had never asked Filo for anything, not once; and the first time he even tried, Filo punched him in the face.  He’d been trying to prove a point to Nasser when he hit him. Now he felt like it had gone the other way around.

Filo stood.
“I’ll help you.”

“What?”

“I’ll watch her. Just stop talking.”

Nasser turned to him, frowning uncertainly. “Are you sure?
Neman
and
Morgan
—”

“You want me
to change my mind?”

For the first time since he’d seen him this morning,
Nasser
actually
smiled. “Thank you, Filo.”

“Don’t mention it. Seriously.”
Filo
set his shoulders. “Now get the hell
out of my shop.”

* * *

The fountains in the park were still filled and bubbling, despite
the cold weather. They
wouldn’t be drained until November, when snow turned the water to slush. Until then
, water-dwelling fey would
continue to
splash about in the fountains, and Nasser would
continue to
avoid them.

Fixing his gaze ahead of him, Nasser
veered around a bony
, green-skinned
woman with dripping wee
ds
for hair
. Calf-deep in the water, she hissed at him
as he passed
, her lips pulled back from sharp greenish teeth
, and he pretended not to see her, just like the other people walking through the park.

He passed couples strolling hand-in-hand and small children throwing
handfuls of leaves at each other.

Normal people. Lucky people.

He found Alice sitting on a bench
beneath
a large, leafless tree, her bag beside her and a sketchbook in her lap. Whenever
Nasser needed to find her, the park
wa
s always the first place he looked
. The second was the train station. Alice liked being among people, listening to their nois
e. It made her feel like she bel
onged.

“Hey,” he greeted her.

“Hi.” Alice scooted ov
er, then
turned her attention to the
sketchbook
in her lap
. She pulled a page out of the sketchbook, tore it neatly in half
,
and began folding it. “What’s up?”

“Jason’s gone. We
had a fight,” he added lamely.

The folding falte
red. “You know how he gets, Nasser
,” she started quickly. “
He feels like you don’t take him seriously, like you don’t trust him—and I know this is no way to make you think he should, but Jason’s always been
so emotional. You’re in such control of yourself, Nasser, but Jason’s not
like
that. He can be so impulsive
. It’s
just
how he clears his head.”

Nasser didn’t mind that she was making excuses for Jason. Alice could be ferocious at times, but she also had a fierce protective instinct—one that kicked in frequently whenever Jason or Filo was concerned. What irked him was
that Alice seemed to know his brother better than he did.

Sighing, Alice
looked critically down at her creation
: a small, pretty crane. Carefully, she pressed it flat and slipped into her backpack
, then picked up the other half of the paper and started again. “I haven’t seen him
in a week
. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t
be,” Nasser said.

“I just can’t believe how
thoughtless
he is
sometimes
,” Alice continued, making a harsh crease in the paper. “I’ll keep an eye out for him. Maybe talk to Conall about it.
He knows a lot of people.
”

“Are you still working at his shop? Living in the back room?” He couldn’t help the distaste that crept into his tone.

“You make it sound like the servants’ quarters or something.”

“Because it is
.” He frowned. “
Does Filo know?”

“No. And don’t tell him
.
He’d be furious if he found out I was working for another shop.
”

“I won’t.”

“You know you could com
e work with me at Sandpiper.
Just p
art-time,” she added. “
Conall would be gla
d of the extra help, and y
ou could learn a lot from him.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” They came to this topic every time they spoke, and the conversation always ended the same way.
“I’m an indep
endent practition
er now, Alice, not some indentured servant.
”

“If it’s because he’s a faery—”

“You know that’s not it. I refuse to work under
any
master. I won’t slave away
for room and board.
I work for
myself
now.
I
hoped
you’d do
the same.”

“I’m not a
slave
,” she insisted
hotly. “I earn a wage
.
Conall isn’t like
Neman
and
Morgan
.
He’s never hit me, Nasser
. He’s kind and patient and—”

“Are you sure that work is all he expects from you?”
he broke in.

“What do you mean?” She looked at him, puzzled.

Nasser’s silence spoke volumes. Alice filled in the blanks.

Scowling, she swatted his arm. “How could you even
think
that, Nasser?”

“It’s not such a stretch of imagination,” he said grimly. “
Conall’s always seemed pretty upstanding, but you can never
really
know a faery, Alice
.
They’re unpredictable
and they’re greedy
.
If they want something, they take it.
You
can’t trust them to do what’s right.”

“He
would never even think to—”

“I just don’t want you taken advantage of,” he pressed.

“I’m a big girl, Nasser,” she
assured him
, with exaggerated patience. “I can take care of myself.”

He shook his head.
No matter how many years passed, he would never stop thinking of her as his little sister.
“You know I worry about you, Alice. You and Filo both.”

“You worry too much.”
Starting a fresh piece of origami, she assured him, “Conall’s a good man. Trustworthy. He reminds me a lot of you, actually.”
H
er gaze strayed toward a pair of invisible pixies running over the grass, leaves swirling in their wake.
“I’m not afraid of him, and that’s nice—not to be afraid all the time.”

“I’m glad. But
y
ou’re always welcome to stay with Jason and me.
Always.
”

“I know.
” She laid her small hand on his arm, squeezing gently. Then she tucked the newly-folded whale into her pack and stood. “I should get going.
Good luck with Jason.”
She smiled faintly: a thin, tense smile. Then she walked away.

* * *

The girl lay silently beneath layers of dark blankets on the bed—
Filo’s
bed, lent to her for the night. One arm thrown over the covers, she hardly seemed to breathe.