Authors: Camilla Chafer
Six
We sat in the living room for the big witch powwow. Seren, David and Étoile on one sofa, with Seren in the middle. The sisters were incredibly close to identical though they had been born a year apart, but Étoile’s hair was as short as Seren’s was long and Seren had always struck me as a casual, bohemian dresser while Étoile favoured upscale chic. They shared the same elegant bone structure and almond, slightly feline, eyes. They were a study in contrast to their sister, Astra, who had looked ill the one and only time I’d had the misfortune to meet her. Evan and I sat opposite them, our hands so firmly entwined it was like they had melded together. I couldn’t fathom letting go. I was still struggling to accept that he was right next to me. Every so often he gave my hand a little squeeze like he couldn’t believe it too.
“I can’t believe you’re all here,” I said, at last.
“It took us long enough to find you,” smiled Seren, without a hint of admonishment.
David took her hand in his and smiled at her in a mixture of admiration and tenderness. Finally he turned to me. “I’m very proud of the way you used your magic. We could all feel it when we got here.”
“Is that true?” I asked Evan and he nodded. “We could feel the wards, not so much the traces of your personal magic. Have you been practicing?”
I shook my head, guilt seeping through my pores. Evan had been my teacher and it was partly down to him that I’d gotten my magic under control. “I’ve been keeping a low profile. I didn’t exactly want to advertise myself.” It wasn’t just about hiding from the council, and what I thought they might do, it was the Brotherhood as well. There had been several reports a few months ago about witch murders but nothing recently. I wasn’t stupid enough to think they had just given up and gone home but without any other witches to talk to, without the witchy grapevine, I had to keep a decent level of paranoia. The Brotherhood had found me in London a year ago and I’d escaped then, barely, thanks to Étoile; there was no reason why they wouldn’t find me here if I allowed myself to use magic too frequently. It surprised me to realise that I’d missed using my magic and I hoped it hadn’t become weak and flabby like wasted muscle without proper use.
“You should practice. We can work together now I’m here,” Evan said.
“I’d like that.” My body warmed with delicious memories of the day I’d finally used telekinesis under Evan’s tutelage. Ring the bell for round two: I was going back in.
“How come all of you came at once?” I said, before backtracking in case I sounded rude. “I mean, I’m really, really happy to see you and I’m so glad Evan is okay. And I’m glad to see Seren and David too, but it seems like you’ve all come a long way just for me.” Evan I could get, Étoile too, but all four of them? It seemed like a lot.
Étoile opened her mouth to speak but before she could Seren shook her head. We played glare at the guests in my house for a moment before I had to ask. “What is it?”
“Stella, Eleanor dying caused a lot of problems,” began David and I saw Seren give him a swift little kick with the heel of her foot. He frowned at her and she flashed wide eyes at him.
“Am I in trouble?” I asked and it wasn’t reassuring when no one answered. My heart sank. Perhaps they had come to take me in, though I couldn’t fathom what ‘in’ might be. As far as the world at large knew, Eleanor and Robert Bartholomew had died driving back to Manhattan. Still, I had been responsible but, like I said, only because she was killing everyone else. I couldn’t see the justice in holding me to account. Perhaps I was a very bad person for thinking that. I still hadn’t come quite to terms with what I had done. I wasn’t sure I ever would. The nightmares I’d suffered for months partly stemmed from reliving it all.
Seren shook her head. “Let me explain. The council was already becoming fractured when Eleanor went... mental. Without Robert to lead the council they splintered entirely. Instead of a national leadership, we’ve now got splinter groups operating all over the country. Some want to be left alone, some want power and when they want more power, they want to have what isn’t theirs.”
“Étoile said that too,” I interrupted, “but I don’t understand.”
“We’re having major problems,” David said. He took Seren’s hand and held it in his lap. When I’d first met him, he’d been badly injured leaving an angry fresh scar across his face. It was much more faded now, just a thick white line across his face rather than the puckered welt he’d once had. It made him look older and harsher than he was. He’d never said how it had happened. My mind flittered to Evan. David wasn’t the only one with unexplained scars.
“Okay.” I hoped this wasn’t one of those times when they were going to tell me stuff without actually telling me stuff. I wondered if they were refugees. Very well dressed refugees, at any rate. Maybe they needed to stay with me, out of the way. I wasn’t sure what I felt about that. I certainly wasn’t unhappy even though I’d just about got used to solitary living. Still, I’d had a lot of practice at that.
“What’s left of the high council think you might have something of theirs,” said Seren in such a soft, gentle way that I wasn’t sure if she was asking or accusing. “They’ve asked us to do some checking seeing as we know you.”
“Like what?” I asked, spreading my hands out. “The only things I have here are the things I brought with me. I haven’t taken anything.” Did they think I had stolen something? From whom? I fought indignation.
“They think you have
someone
,” Seren rephrased. “A young girl that they’re looking for. They think she’s come to you.”
Uh-oh. Chyler. I kept my face passive. “Why would they think that?”
“Apparently she left a trace and they seemed to think that she was heading for you.” Seren was being very careful what she said now and the room felt still and the air heavy as my mind raced. I tried to blank my thoughts/
“What would this girl come to me for?”
“They don’t know. She might want to hurt you,” said Seren.
“Good to see that queue has started up again.”
“Is that British humour?” asked David, puzzled.
I smiled at him, partly to give my face a break from being wide-eyed and innocent. We’d soon see if I had a poker face and I wasn’t going to mention Chyler until I had to. Or at all.
Seren reached into her purse and pulled out a picture. She passed it over to me and I studied it. There was a man and woman, a girl and a younger boy stood in front of a big house. They were smiling and happy. I’d recognise the acid pink shoes anywhere. “Do you recognise the girl?” she asked.
I shook my head. “She doesn’t look like anyone around here,” I said, which wasn’t exactly lying. Chyler didn’t look like anyone around here. “She looks young.”
“She’s seventeen. Her name is Chyler Anderson and she’s from a long line of witches. Her mom is, was, one too. It runs in the female line in her family.”
“Apart from that she might be looking for me, what’s up with her?”
“Her mom is dead – she was killed – and their family spell book is missing. The council, well, like I said, what’s left of it, think Chyler killed her and they want her to pay for it. They also want the book returned.”
“Why would she kill her own mother?” I asked, seeing as it was an obvious question while I worked to keep the shock from my face. Why hadn’t Chyler mentioned that? “Why would she be looking for me?”
“We don’t know,” said Étoile, finally, when I started to wonder if anyone would answer. “They seemed to have a great relationship by all accounts. We think she’s looking for you because you’re...”
“Because I’m what?” I asked in the long pause.
“Because you’re on the outside,” Étoile said.
I’d been on the outside my whole life but having it spelled out to me was a heart sink of a moment. Evan’s thumb was stroking my palm reminding me I wasn’t alone, not anymore.
“Don’t look so sad, Stella,” Étoile added.
“I’m not sad.”
“I didn’t mean it like you think. I meant you’re not affiliated to any particular group. And you’re strong. You’d be a natural person to seek out and...” Étoile trailed off after another sharp look from Seren.
“And what?” I pressed.
Étoile shook her head. “It’s nothing.”
“Why can’t you find this girl?” I asked. Étoile, Seren and David were all powerful. I shifted on the sofa to look at Evan. “And why can’t you?” Evan was a daemon, not that I really understood what that meant, but I did know that he was considered an important tracker, like a supernatural bounty hunter. The elation I’d felt at seeing him was being edged out by an unsettling feeling that our reunion was part of something far greater.
“It’s not my job to find her,” Evan said, but he looked uncomfortable. “I haven’t been asked and witch business is not my business. I’m here because of you, not because of Chyler.”
“So you haven’t tried?”
“I didn’t say that.” Seren and David both looked sharply at Evan when he said that. Only Étoile didn’t seem surprised. “What I said was ...”
I interrupted him. “So you could find her?”
Evan shrugged. “Maybe.” When I looked at him, I got the feeling that there was something more he wanted to say, but he wasn’t going to say it here and now.
“Listen guys.” I spread my hands out in the universal gesture of ‘I’m innocent and I don’t know a thing’. “If she comes by, I’ll let you know.”
Seren reached into her purse and extracted a small card and a pen. She flipped the card over and began writing on the back. “My cell number is on the front, and I’m writing Étoile’s, and David’s too. We’re staying in town but if you see Chyler Anderson, if she tries to contact you, call one of us right away.”
I nodded and took the card, tucking it into my jeans pocket.
Seren stood up and smoothed invisible creases from her jeans. David rose quickly to stand next to her, like he couldn’t bear to be more than a few millimetres away from her.
“Stella, she’s dangerous,” David’s voice implored me. “And if she’s looking for you, we don’t want you to get hurt. Stay on your guard.”
“I appreciate the heads up,” I replied.
“She won’t be in any danger with me,” said Evan which made my heart jump. He’d got to his feet too and was following Seren and David to the door, leaving Étoile to smile at me as if she was vaguely awkward with the whole speech.
Étoile hung back a moment before saying goodbye. She leaned in to hug me, every bit as tactile as her sister, and, as she did so, whispered in my ear, “Trust no one.” Then she stepped away and followed her sister outside with a casual wave of her hand. Pausing on the threshold, her hand on the door knob, she said, “Don’t forget to lock your door. Strange little town this.”
Then Evan and I were left alone; just me, him and my pounding heart.
Seven
“I was starting to think you were probably dead,” I said and my voice came out like a whimper, shallow and full of the ache I’d carried with me for months.
“Stella.” In the next instant Evan’s arms were around me, holding me as I burst into tears, tightening as I heaved against him, finally letting all the fear and pain empty over my cheeks as I headlined another burst of today’s tearfest. He felt solid and real, and with me, and I didn’t have to be afraid anymore. When I finally had control of myself again I still sank against him, the sadness replaced by comfort of the most gentle, welcoming kind.
He scooped me into his arms. “Which way?” he said, his voice gruff and wanting. I nodded towards the hall as I circled my arms around his neck and allowed him to carry me into the bedroom. The door was open so there was no awkward grappling with handles and he took me straight to the bed, laying me down. I was all thumbs as I helped him slide off my t-shirt and my jeans. I rested back on my elbows and watched as he pulled off his own clothes, revealing taught tan skin over a powerful frame that I was so familiar with. He stretched out next to me and pulled me into him until we were tightly pressed against each other and my head was resting in the hollow of his neck, the blankets pulled up over us as he kissed me repeatedly.
“I was terrified for you,” he said after we’d been there in silence for a long while, just attuning to each other’s bodies again. I could only imagine the anguish he’d felt when he couldn’t find me. “By the time I was well enough to move, your magic was so faint I could barely sense it. I could only feel the vaguest whisper because of our connection. Étoile couldn’t find a trace at all. We went looking for you but whenever I thought I had found a trace again, something disrupted it. Your magic?”
I nodded, my head rubbing against his chest so he could feel the motion.
“You didn’t have to hide from me,” he said, sounding wounded.
I blinked at him in surprise as I raised my head quickly. “I wasn’t hiding from you. I thought, if you’d died then I didn’t want any part of the council. I wanted to hide from
them
.”
“Even Étoile?” He’d rolled on to his back and was looking up at me from the pillow.
“Anyone, if you were gone.”
“I’m here. I’m here as long as you want me. No expiry date.” His hands stroked my arms, from my shoulders to the tips of my fingers and back again sending shivers through me. He pulled me into him again and I wrapped my arm over his chest, my hand drifting down his side, just feeling him, like I still needed to be convinced that our almost unclothed bodies were pressed together, that he was really with me.
“What happened after she took me out?” Evan asked.
I drew in a deep breath, filling my lungs and shook my head. I didn’t want to relive that night. “I thought Étoile told you?”
“She did, but no one knew what had happened to you when you disappeared.”
“I woke up one morning and everyone was gone. I’d waited days for Étoile and Seren to get back and they didn’t. Then I couldn’t find David... and... and, I just wanted out. I wanted to get the hell away from there so I shimmered out of the house, rented a car and just drove. I got here a few days later.”
“You ported out of the house?” Evan murmured thoughtfully.