Spellbound (Spellbringers Book 1) (9 page)

“Hey, there you are,” Alex said,
sitting down on the other side of me. “Me and some other guys are
going out after the dance. You wanna come?”

I glanced over my shoulder to look at
Jace, but he was already gone, moving through groups of students
toward the other side of the gym. Probably looking for Alisa, I
thought. My bizarre line of communication had startled both of us,
it seemed. Jace obviously had some power of his own. Instead of
getting the answers I desired, I ended up with tons more
questions.

Turning my attention back to Alex, I
said, “Actually, I’m not feeling well. I think I’ll go home. But
thank you for a wonderful time.”

I couldn’t bear to spend the rest of
the evening pretending to be normal. I wasn’t normal. Deep in my
soul, I now possessed the knowledge that things would never be the
same for me. Everything was different because I was not who I
thought I was.

Chapter
Nine

Alisa

As I watched Jace dance with Rachel,
my whole life fell away. Rachel was the one his family was looking
for. The Innocent, the special one, the one who would take my place
in their lives. The agony of knowing I would once again be standing
in the shadows alone and ignored was beyond anything I could take.
I tried to turn away from them, but my pain held me in
place.

The first part of the evening had been
like a fairy tale. My mother helped me select my dress weeks before
and we paid a small fortune for it. I submitted to her pampering,
polishing, and painting, and by the time she was finished with me,
I looked like one of the models in the fashion magazines, only
happier and less hungry.

By the time we walked into the gym, I
didn’t feel like myself at all. Many of my classmates showered me
with compliments, and it was the first time I didn’t feel like a
complete misfit. For some inexplicable reason, Becky had decided to
leave me alone as of late. Her lack of open animosity combined with
Jace’s friendship pulled me from the abyss of high school hell. I
now skipped along the path toward relative social
tolerance.

Draped across Jace’s arm, I stood
taller and possessed a confidence I hadn’t felt since I was six
years old and learned to ride a bike on my own. When Jace and I
twirled around the stained and scuffed gym floor, it was one of the
happiest moments of my life.

Just before my whole world fell apart,
Jace spun me around and asked, “So, why haven’t you ever been to
one of the Homecoming dances?”

“No one ever asked me. Jace, you know
how it is for me,” I said.

“Yes, but I don’t see why. I can’t
believe none of the guys here ever asked you out.”

“Why? Look at me,” I said, whirling
away from him.

He reached out and pulled
me back toward him. “Alisa, I
am
looking at you. And I see a beautiful girl.” I
blushed and looked away. “Can I ask you something?” The song ended
before I could respond.

When a freshman came up and asked me
to dance, Jace disappeared. The kid I danced with was as short as I
was. I tried to hide my irritation that he’d distracted Jace before
he could ask his question. I craned my neck, searching for Jace in
the crowd, but finally gave up and enjoyed dancing with the young
boy who kept looking at my chest. Oh, well. At least I felt
somewhat desired.

When I spotted Jace with Rachel, my
heart thudded painfully. She was breathtakingly beautiful with her
deep caramel skin and delicate features. Her ebony hair was piled
high, revealing her graceful neck. I felt short, squat, and hideous
in comparison. The second Jace pulled her close, I knew he was lost
to me.

Standing in a daze on one side of the
gym, I watched as Jace left Rachel on the bleachers. Jace was by my
side in an instant. His arm wrapped around my waist and he led me
to the entrance into the school. As soon as we were safe within the
privacy of the school hallway, Jace released his hold on
me.

“Rachel is the one we’ve been looking
for. She’s strong, so much stronger than she should be. It’s
dangerous for her,” he insisted.

I stood quietly, watching him. I
willed myself not to cry because I was afraid of what his next
words might be.

“Something happened between us. She
was inside my head and I was inside hers.” Jace seemed to be
searching for the right words. “I don’t think I liked it at all. I
don’t like the fact that someone can read me like that.”

I sighed, certain there was something
more. I could see the connection between them when they danced. I
didn’t need magic or a special gift to see it. Was Jace that
oblivious, or was he hiding his feelings from me?

“I’ll have to talk to my parents about
it, but I don’t want to do it now. I know that sounds irresponsible
and selfish, but I just want to have fun tonight. There will be
plenty of time later for my parents to give me the third degree,”
Jace said. “You wanna leave and go get something to
eat?”

“Okay, cool.” Avoidance was my
favorite way to deal with unpleasant topics, so I was thrilled to
discover Jace was a hardcore procrastinator as well. Like he said,
there would be plenty of time to worry about it later.

After Jace dropped me off at home, my
mother brutally forced me to describe in detail everything that
happened at the dance. Obviously, I decided to omit mention of the
Jace/Rachel incident. I tried to impress upon her the fact that
Jace and I were only friends, but she was too busy planning our
wedding in her head to actually listen to me. I finally gave up and
went to bed.

I fervently prayed things would stay
the same between me and Jace. Our friendship was precious to me and
I was afraid it would be diluted if Rachel was thrown into the mix.
I knew once Jace spoke to his parents about Rachel, they would want
to meet her. Would she become part of their lives the way I
had?

Jace was my best friend—my only
friend. Ever since the cookout with his family, he called me every
day, at least twice. We saw each other after school most days and
on weekends. I could talk to him about everything. He knew about my
lack of friends, the fact that I had never had a boyfriend, and
that I dreamed of one day becoming a writer. He knew my hopes and
dreams and encouraged me to go after what I wanted.

We spent hours talking—at his house,
on the phone, or driving around. He told me how hard it was when
his oldest brother died, and about his strained relationship with
Bryce. He even told me about his fears and self-doubt. Jace was
often afraid he wouldn’t qualify for admittance into Warrior
Training.

When I woke up the morning after the
Homecoming Dance, I worried our relationship would change
irreparably. Would he call me, or would he talk to his parents
first and leave me in the dark? All my fears were scattered when my
phone rang.

The first words out of Jace’s mouth
were, “Hey, my family is playing tennis in a couple of hours and I
need a partner. Can you play?”

I almost fainted with relief. Things
were still normal between us. “Yeah, I can come. I’m not doing
anything today,” I replied.

“That’s not what I asked. Can you
play? Are you any good? I bet my dad a day of yard work that I
could beat him in tennis. He said he wouldn’t play without his
partner—Mom. That’s because she’s better than him. He knows he
can’t beat me alone. So, can you?”

“I’m okay. I haven’t played in a
while, but I’m pretty good. My backhand sucks, though.” I was
excited. The weather was cool—only in the seventies. I was anxious
to get outside, but more importantly, anxious to nurture my close
relationship with Jace.

“I’ll pick up the slack,” he offered.
“I’ll be there at three to pick you up. Bye.”

After our high-stakes tennis
tournament, we headed back to his house for dinner. Jace was flying
high on adrenaline. It was his first time beating his parents at
tennis, and he was already making complicated workout and training
schedules for the two of us. His next goal was to defeat the
dreaded Bryce/Jerica combination.

“We
do
need to discuss your training
schedule, and I’m not talking about tennis,” Jerica said with a
frown. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in the training
room.”

“I know, Mom,” Jace agreed. “I
realized after last night that I have some things to work on. I was
waiting for the right time to talk to you.”

“What happened?” Abe asked.

“I’m not inattentive. I swear I
honestly never picked up on anything before. But last night at the
dance…” Jace paused, thinking. “It was crazy. I danced with Rachel
and then… it happened.”

“Tell us everything.” Abe leaned
forward and I could tell he was committing everything Jace said to
memory.

“I asked Rachel to dance, and as soon
as I grabbed a hold of her, she was inside my head.” Jace’s
expression clouded over. His parents looked expectant, but
worried.

“She began sifting through my brain,
searching. I tried to protect my magic, but that’s not what she was
after. I think she was just experimenting. She doesn’t even know
what I am, or who she is,” he explained. “The connection surprised
her. She didn’t realize anyone else had the ability she had.” Jace
smiled briefly. “It was a surprise to me too. I didn’t know I had
it in me. She had a very strong link. I couldn’t break it on my
own. Finally some guy bumped into her and broke her concentration.
That’s about it. I didn’t really talk to her after
that.”

“What do you mean you didn’t talk to
her after that?” Abe asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Well, you know. Her date came over
and started talking, so I left her with him,” Jace
explained.

“Oh, honey,” Jerica said, shaking her
head. “She’s going to need protection now more than ever. You left
her alone? And without explaining anything to her?”

“What was I supposed to do? Drag her
away and tell her she’s a Spellbringer? She would have thought I
was joking or crazy or both,” Jace said defensively. “I mean, you
can’t tell someone that and expect them to believe you right
away.”

“Well, I’m worried about her,” Jerica
said. “She needs our help. We need to invite her over and explain
she has a gift. She also needs to be aware she is
vulnerable.”

Abe looked at me and asked, “Alisa,
how well do you know Rachel?”

“I’ve known her since kindergarten,
but we’re not exactly close,” I admitted.

“We may need your help in getting her
over here. It might even help if you are with us when we talk to
her. She’s known you longer than Jace, and she might be more likely
to believe what we’re saying if she sees a familiar face. Do you
mind?” Abe asked.

“I’ll help any way I can,” I offered.
I felt like a fraud. The Alexanders probably thought I was so
helpful and kind, but in reality, my motives were completely
selfish. I wanted to be there, but not just to help them. The idea
of being excluded was worse than anything I could imagine. On some
level, I felt by being there, I could control what happened and
prevent Jace and Rachel from getting too close. Insecurity does
horrible things to a person.

I zoned out while the Alexanders
continued to talk and make plans. I wallowed in my own worried
thoughts. What would happen to Rachel if she didn’t accept her
magic? What if she refused protection and training? I didn’t want
anything bad to happen to her. What I told Jerica and Abe was true.
We weren’t close. She’d never been nice to me until recently, but I
didn’t want to see something bad happen to her.

“Hey, do you want to watch a movie
before I take you home?” Jace asked while we washed
dishes.

“If we have time,” I replied, glancing
at the clock on the wall.

“Why do you always volunteer us for
kitchen duty?” he asked.

“Because your mom slaved over a hot
stove to feed us. The least we can do is wash the dishes.” I handed
him a soapy cup to rinse. “Don’t you know any magic spells to speed
this up?”

“Do you really want me to try?” He
pointed to a dish and a large crack split it in two. When he raised
his arm with his palms facing toward me, I flinched away. I’d seen
examples of his erratic use of magic, many of which resulted in
moderate destruction.

“Um, I think we should wash the dishes
the old-fashioned way. You know, I used to think having magic would
be somewhat glamorous, but that was before you set the patio
furniture on fire. If your mom wasn’t there to put it out…” I
trailed off as Jace splashed me with warm, soapy water. I giggled
and tried to duck away from him, but he grabbed my wrist and pulled
me close.

“Knock it off, you two,” Jerica said,
coming into the kitchen. I blushed under her close scrutiny. She
didn’t seem happy to see Jace standing so close to me, but perhaps
it was the huge puddle on the floor that made her frown. Or maybe
she saw the broken dish in the trashcan. Whatever the case, I
stammered an apology and took a couple of steps away from her
son.

On the drive home, I kept thinking
about the look on Jerica’s face. Years of sitting on the sidelines
watching my peers interact from afar, had left me with an ability
to interpret emotions fairly accurately. Jerica didn’t want to see
me and Jace together, at least not in a romantic sense.