Winging It (23 page)

As content as a cat in the sun.

She was in her element, no doubt about that.

‘Bitch,’ Suzanne muttered and tossed back half of her glass of tomato juice. I was surprised by the wit of that, and wondered whether I’d underestimated her. I’d bet it had a little bonus in it – her eyes already looked glassy.

Then she looked at me and her eyes narrowed. ‘Freak. Don’t think I don’t get it, Sorensson.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

Suzanne laughed without humor. She pointed a finger at me. ‘No one calls me crazy. Understand?’

‘I never called you crazy.’

‘But other people did, and it was because of you. I might not have proof of what I saw, but you can count on me getting it.’ She sipped her juice with satisfaction, malice shining in her eyes. ‘Then we’ll see who the real loser is.’

It said something that I had bigger problems than Suzanne feeling vindictive. I smiled and made some innocuous comment about her being drunk early, then ignored her.

Meagan glanced at me and smiled. Her eyes lit at the sight of Liam. Derek was right at my knees, Liam behind, and Nick ahead of me, and it felt good to be among friends.

I accepted a Coke that I didn’t want and gave it a careful sniff before I sipped it. It seemed to be okay, but I didn’t plan to drink it anyway. I leaned against the counter near the back door, as if totally at ease, and pushed my ring onto my finger again.

The vivid orange spell slapped me in the retina. It was brighter than any I’d ever seen, swirling and spinning with a manic energy. It spiraled down the stairs to the basement in an accelerating tunnel of power. I could feel its allure and see its effect upon even the humans who were present.

Liam went over to talk to Meagan. She was obviously relieved to find someone she knew – never mind that he was a hot guy – and they started to dissect (again) the movie we’d seen together the other night.

Derek growled a little and I knew he was displeased that we weren’t sticking together. He went to Liam, though, and sat in front of him. His pale gaze was restless, and he snarled at anyone who touched him.

Nick bumped my shoulder with his, then took a swig of his beer. ‘
Down there
?’ he asked in old-speak. I knew he couldn’t see the spell, so I looked at him in surprise. He grinned crookedly. ‘
I really
really
want to go down there
.’

So, he was feeling the effects. He knew it, but his thoughts were still muddled. I nodded agreement, not wanting to say anything aloud or in old-speak. I saw the spell swirling around Nick with greater intensity. Had he drawn it closer because of his old-speak? I remembered that the Mages could hear old-speak and I quietly freaked.

I had no chance to warn Nick because he moved away from me, the orange light surrounding him with its glow. He gravitated toward the basement stairs. I exchanged a look with Liam and saw Derek’s eyes narrow. I pretended to sip my Coke, as if everything was peachy, although I had a feeling everything was sliding into the crapper.

Good thing I was faking because Adrian walked into the kitchen just then.

If I’d been drinking for real, I would have choked.

Adrian was the Mage who had pretended to be a dragon the previous spring and had cast a spell at boot camp that had turned the guys against me. Adrian had disappeared in the ensuing battle and we figured he’d been recalled to Mage headquarters – wherever that was. Since then, there’d been no sign of him.

I’d known that I hadn’t seen the last of him.

But now I pretended not to know it was him.

Because he was in disguise. Beneath his construction worker costume – complete with hard hat, lunch box, and
MEN AT WORK
sign – he was wearing a glamour that made him look sixteen, short and blond. He watched me with care as he entered the room, but I pretended to be interested in my drink.

Like I hadn’t even noticed him.

My ring showed me the truth. Adrian flickered between forms on the periphery of my vision, his presence enough to make me queasy. I caught a glimpse of the human disguise he’d worn at boot camp – the easygoing college pal, the helpful guy with dark hair and dark eyes – as he shifted between forms. I had no idea whether the college pal was his real form or not, but it seemed to be one he liked. It made frequent appearances in his playlist.

Did Mages don glamours to fake out non-Mages? I wondered. The answer was not lurking at the bottom of my Coke. Suzanne sidled over to him and made a joke about his costume. She could see only his glamour.

Uh-huh. Even with the glamour, he wasn’t exactly the hottest guy at the party. He smiled back at her and that was good enough for Suzanne. Maybe she
was
drunk. They sidled up close to each other, even though he kept checking me out.

Had he been planning to hit on me? I never thought I’d feel any gratitude toward Suzanne, but in that moment, she might just have been my favorite person in the universe for saving me some trouble.

The spell spun more wildly in Adrian’s proximity, another golden thread weaving into its gilded spiral. It was moving faster and getting brighter all around us. Sparks danced from the Mages in attendance.

I felt the hair rise on the back of my neck as the clock struck nine. A visible frisson of energy crackled through the house. The party quickly got louder. The temperature rose. The beat of the music became more insistent.

Nick got even closer to the basement stairs.

Shit.

The spell targeted him, swirling around his head like a swarm of fireflies. I could see him fighting it.

And I knew that he was losing.

‘Hey, Nick,’ Liam said. ‘Come tell Meagan about your car.’

Nick shuddered from head to toe, then grinned. It was a shaky grin, far from his usual smile, but I was proud of him for trying. I was thinking we should snatch Meagan and bail.

But then the Mages would just regroup. I wanted to know what they were up to.

‘Great idea,’ Nick said. He visibly gritted his teeth to head toward them, defying the allure of the spell. I could see that his temples were dark with sweat, but he moved toward Meagan.

Just when I thought we were out of the proverbial woods, Trevor laughed. ‘Hey, I’ve got a great idea! Let’s jam!’

‘Excellent,’ Jessica said. ‘I’m ready to sing.’

They headed for the stairs, arms wrapped around each other.

‘Meagan plays piano, you know,’ Jessica said to Trevor.

‘Really?’ He smiled at Meagan and she blushed, right on cue. ‘That’s great. I have an electronic keyboard, but I’m not good at it. Will you come jam with us?’

Meagan’s face lit up.

There was no way she’d refuse.

And there was no way she could play in a houseful of Mages without them realizing that she was a spellsinger.

I saw from Trevor’s expression that he, at least, knew what she could do.

‘Hey, but I wanted to talk to you,’ I said to Meagan. I had no excuse, not even something feeble.

‘We can do that later,’ she said predictably, and followed Trevor. ‘Do you have your sax here?’

‘Not the one I play at school. My dad bought me an amazing antique one. You should hear the sound of it.’

‘I can’t wait.’

Liam went after Meagan, his expression concerned. ‘I’ve never heard you play,’ he said to her and she smiled at him.

Derek snarled and went after Liam.

Nick looked at me, swallowed, and followed Liam.

Shit. The worst-case scenario was happening and there was nothing I could do about it.

I followed them all, my guts churning with dread.

‘I love jazz,’ Suzanne purred at Adrian.

‘Me, too.’ I saw Adrian smile, then heard him on the stairs behind me. If I’d hesitated, I’m sure he would have pushed me.

Shit shit shit. Without knowing what was going to happen, I couldn’t make a plan of what to do to stop it. I heard the door at the top of the stairs slam and click behind us. I pivoted in surprise and Adrian smiled.

‘Nothing like a little privacy,’ he said and Suzanne giggled.

Trevor played a trio of notes on his sax below us, warming up. I leapt down the last steps in time to see Meagan familiarizing herself with the controls of the keyboard.

She played a score, the same one she always used to warm up, and I could see that she loosed a shower of spellsinger lights. Trevor smiled encouragement. Adrian practically rubbed his hands together with glee. Jessica smiled to herself and other Mages drew closer, easing toward Meagan from the perimeter of the room.

My mouth went dry

Then I saw the spell lock shut, trapping us in a maelstrom of orange light.

This was so not good.

I pretended to be oblivious to the spell and its power, even though anyone with a speck of perception would have noticed that my heart was pounding in terror. No one could have heard my pulse, though, because they started to play.

And it was loud. I couldn’t believe the amount of equipment down there. It would have made any member of Jared’s band salivate, and showed a remarkable investment. I guessed then that Trevor’s parents were Mages, too. I knew I’d never again look on anyone with any musical talent without wondering about their spellsinging abilities.

The ring was the only thing that let me see whether they were making spells. The color and behavior of the musical spells was the only clue as to whether the musician in question had joined the Mage team or not.

There were syntho drums and electric guitars, two bass guitars, the keyboard, a trombone, a trumpet, and Trevor’s sax. There were amps like crazy, the collective sound making the beams of the house reverberate in time.

They were all warming up, creating a cacophony. The swirl of spell light was dizzying, contributing to the whole in a crazy swirl of gold. I couldn’t discern any pattern or rhythm to it – it seemed that the spells spun more wildly because they were confined. To make the visual feast even worse, the Mages who played were flickering between forms as they did so. It was as if they weren’t even real.

Nick stood on one side of me and swore under his breath. Liam was on my other side, his fingers buried in the scruff of Derek’s fur. Derek had his ears folded back, as if offended by the sound.

Or its volume.

I wished I knew what he could see coming in the next two minutes.

‘Wow,’ Liam said, obviously well aware that the Mages would hear us.

‘And then some,’ Nick agreed, squaring his shoulders. They both looked at me.

‘Wait for it,’ I said softly and then I smiled. Adrian was hovering near me, watching. I was determined to keep surprise on my side. ‘I’m sure they’ll sound great once they warm up.’

Trevor held up one hand and they fell silent. ‘Let’s start with something classic,’ he said. ‘Everyone know “Begin the Beguine”?’ One of the Mages on guitar played a riff, Meagan joined in on the first bar, and they hit it.

They did sound good.

Or maybe their collective spell was persuasive like that. The spell light created a cohesion then, spinning like a spiral in a thousand shades of yellow and gold. I was reminded of hot caramel spirals drizzled over desserts. When they cooled they were hard, brittle and sparkly, perfect swirls of sweetness.

That’s what the Mage spell started to look like. Meagan’s spellsinging bounced around within the confines of the Mage spell as she played on, oblivious to what they were doing. Her music was blue and purple, in marked contrast to the Mage colors.

But confined by their spell.

Caged.

And their spell targeted hers, and sucked hers dry.

I fought the urge to shiver.

That was nothing compared to when Jessica began to sing. I was shocked. I’d never heard her sing. She had a gorgeous voice. Molten and rich and deep. Far more sophisticated than I would have expected from a teenage math whiz.

And she sang scat. She sang nonsense, ad-libbing a tune that riffed on the music. I didn’t know what it was called then, but Meagan told me later. I thought, actually, that it was pretty cool that she could do that on the fly.

Jessica, it appeared, had bunches of secrets.

Her scat singing sent out an array of little bubbles, all different sizes and shaded from copper to burgundy. Trevor leaned in close beside her, getting into the music. She matched rhythm with him, the two of them jamming so perfectly it was obvious that they’d done it before. Meagan’s fingers faltered as she watched with awe. The other band members kept the beat, letting Trevor and Jessica improvise with each other.

The temperature in the basement rose even further. It got hot, like the air was simmering. Pulsing. There was something exciting about the beat, a driving rhythm that made me keenly aware of my own skin. Someone turned on a strobe, which was timed perfectly to the beat. I looked at the way that light cut through the spell light, and swallowed in dread.

The Mage spell looked sharp. Like golden knives in the darkness.

And it was moving.

No, it was closing, a trap tightening on its prey.

But to my astonishment, its target was Jessica.

Jessica sang, her head tipped back and her eyes closed. She was lost in the music, unaware of the danger she was in. The strobe light flashed. The spell closed in around her like a gilded cage.

Should I warn her?

Or was that what they expected me to do?

Trevor finished their improv and played a little flourish on his sax, bridging back to the chorus. Meagan was watching, her fingers still as she looked around.

I knew she sensed that something was wrong.

Because Jessica opened her eyes then. She almost smiled, and I saw her take a breath, as if she was going to join in on the chorus.

But the Mage spell snapped right around her. She was enclosed in a net of golden light, light that buzzed all around her. She visibly panicked that she was trapped, and began to struggle, but to no avail. Her shadow stretched across the floor, surprisingly dark.