Winter Fire (Witchling Series) (4 page)

Beck watched the gorgeous redhead walk away, now understanding her instructors’ concerns. The normally cheerful head instructor for Light Arts, Amber, had been genuinely upset about one of her newest students, who she described as throwing up walls at every attempt to talk to her.

Tempted to go with Morgan despite her refusal, Beck debated for a moment then turned towards the Square. He was almost relieved Connor McCloud – Morgan’s brother – wasn’t standing behind him with the familiar glare of warning. If Morgan didn’t want to talk to him now, he’d deal with her later. He had other issues on his plate this morning.

Issues that should have been more important than seeing the beautiful girl with a peaches-and-cream complexion, red hair that clashed with the white wonderland around them and pine-colored eyes. A fire element, Morgan’s magick was the opposite of Beck’s calm, balanced earth magick. Hers sizzled off the ends of flame-hued hair and sparked in her eyes.

Beck shook his head to clear it of her effect. Frustrated with her new student, Amber insisted he talk to her first thing this morning. He didn’t expect to feel a renewal of the strange connection they’d had when they met. He preferred blondes, and his initial attraction to girls was normally gone after a few days.

It wasn’t with Morgan, which was weirding him out. He still felt his pulse race dangerously when he saw her.

Maybe it’s better she wants nothing to do with me.
Except that it was his duty as the Master of Light to determine what to do about her and her brother, both of whom were caught between Light and Dark and neither of whom had taken their trials at the age of seventeen, like they were supposed to. Connor was eighteen and Morgan would be soon.

Beck returned to the warmth of the main schoolhouse and Amber’s office, where the Light Arts instructor was catching up on grading the projects assigned to the witchlings under her charge. The projects were contained within small glass bubbles that littered her desk. Some held waterfalls, others snow tumbling from miniature clouds while still others featured tiny trees sprouting to life. None contained fire, a reminder of how rare the element was.

“I went, and she’s not interested in talking,” he reported. “Anything else, before I start working on my normal duties?”

Amber glanced up from her laptop. “She won’t even thaw to the infamous Beck charm. I thought you could get anyone to talk to you, especially girls.” Her words were accompanied by a wink.

“I didn’t really try,” he retorted. “If I wanted to …” Stop, Beck! He ordered himself silently. Not thinking before he acted was how he got into half of the messes he was trying to deal with now.

“The next step is counseling,” Amber said. “I have a feeling that won’t go over well with her parents.”

“Or her.”

“Maybe you should bring it up to her first.”

Beck eyed Amber, who was trying not to smile. “Aren’t you her instructor?”

“Aren’t you the Master of Light?”

Beck sighed.

“You have to learn to help people, right? Go help her.”

“I don’t want to help her.”

His honesty was too quick to stop. Amber looked up, startled.

“I mean, of course, I want to help her, but I don’t think I’m the best person. She doesn’t like me,” he rushed on. “Her brother doesn’t like guys anywhere near her.”

“Amazingly enough, Connor is a model student. I expected the opposite from the both of them,” Amber said. “Well, if she doesn’t like you, and you won’t talk to her, I’ve got to call her parents and tell them Merry Christmas – come get your kid or we’re putting her into counseling.”

Beck instantly felt badly. He was being selfish, not wanting to deal with Morgan, because he was attracted to her. The idea he’d rather see her sent away than try to talk to her made him feel like a fool. He was exhausted from the past few weeks and his recent bout of insomnia, but he still had a duty to the witchlings. For once, it would be nice if the problem at hand wasn’t urgent.

“Shall I make that call, or do you want to give it one more shot?” Amber asked.

“One more shot,” he muttered. “I might try talking to Connor first.”

“That’s a great idea. They seem really close.”

Irritated at himself, Beck nodded and left. He didn’t look forward to talking to Connor anymore than he did Morgan. But at least Connor might give him more than one-word responses. Maybe, if Connor understood his sister’s danger of being sent home, he’d talk to her for Beck.

Beck felt even worse for this thought. He should be able to handle one rogue fire witchling. He needed to clear the air with Connor anyway, so the protective, elder brother didn’t bite off his head for talking to his sister.

Like a few other of the witchling guys, Connor was gathered in the Square, watching the tree go up. At least he had made good choices of friends: Beck liked the boys flanking him.

“Hey guys,” he said, approaching with a smile. “How’s life?”

“You come back from one vacay just in time for the holiday break?” Isaac, a beefy blond air witchling, teased. “Lame!”

“I wish,” Beck replied. “Family business to take care of. It was definitely no break.”

The two didn’t ask; everyone knew his business, as much as he wished they didn’t. His pregnant ex-girlfriend, who had recently gone Dark, and the death of the last girl he’d been dating … Those kinds of secrets didn’t stay private for long, once police and lawyers started interviewing people for character references.

He’d had no down time until arriving to the school campus yesterday, where he’d immediately plunged into his next big problem: salvaging the Light beneath the school.

“This tree is bigger than last year’s,” the second guy, Adam, observed. The teen was tall and geeky with a shy smile and glasses. “Hopefully no storm blows it over this year.”

Beck glanced at Connor. He wasn’t certain what he expected – maybe that the boy was able to read his thoughts about Morgan? – but Connor smiled much more warmly than he had when they first met. Beck took it as a good sign. From everything Amber said, the brooding Connor had bloomed quickly at the school.

“Hey, Connor, you got a minute?” Beck asked.

“If you want to date my sister, the answer is no,” Connor said instantly.

Beck laughed. “I take it you’re getting a lot of guys asking her out?”

“Too many,” the elder brother grumbled.

“I promise – that’s not it.” Beck wasn’t certain why the news irked him. He wasn’t surprised, though. Morgan was beautiful.

With similar pine-colored eyes but dark hair, Connor appeared curious. Beck nodded his head towards the small bonfire closer to the school, where they could talk in private.

“It is about Morgan,” Beck started when they both reached the warmth of the fire.

Connor crossed his arms with a knowing look.

“No, it’s not what you think. She’s having some problems in school,” Beck started awkwardly. “Not problems, just … I guess she’s not adapting.”

Connor frowned.

“Amber says she’s unresponsive in all her classes except fire magick.”

The teen across from him looked away, towards the Christmas tree. He was quiet, so Beck continued.

“Amber’s got two choices: put her in counseling –”

“Counseling?” Connor flushed.

“– or have your parents come get her.”

Connor stared at him. For a moment, he seemed too shocked to respond. Finally, he shook his head.

“I’ll talk some sense into her,” he snapped then fell quiet again.

“Okay,” Beck said. “Is there something we should know about? Does she hate it here? Have a roommate she can’t stand? Anything?”

The teen averted his gaze again. Beck sensed the same wall going up that Morgan had around her; there was something else going on, and neither sibling seemed willing to share.

“She doesn’t need counseling. There’s nothing wrong with her,” Connor said, anger in his voice. “You can’t send her home. Not now. It took …” he stopped. “Never mind. I’ll talk to her and find you.”

“I’ll ask Amber to hold off calling your parents then.”

“Calling my parents?” Connor’s eyes glittered. “I swear to god, if anyone calls our father, I’ll …” furious, he stormed off.

Beck watched him, not at all understanding what was wrong with the teen or why the mention of parents or counseling set him off. He had hoped Connor was the calmer of the two and yet, even being a water element, Connor’s temper was just as quick to light on fire as his beautiful sister’s.

He joined Adam and a few other guys to watch the tree. It was up and secured in place; the workers were bringing in massive ladders needed to start decorating. The students decorated the bottom six feet of the tree, but the top layers were too high to do so safely.

Beck’s phone vibrated, indicating a message. He checked it.

Stop sending your lawyers to do your dirty work! Just talk to me, you coward.

Yeah, not the message he wanted. Unaffected after weeks of similar texts, he locked the screen of his smart phone and replaced it in his pocket. Restlessness descended over him. He hoped to escape Dawn’s texts for at least half a day of peace. It wasn’t going to happen.

Beck rubbed his face. No, he was going to have to stay focused. Maybe it was better if Morgan left school, even if for a little while.

As if sensing his determination to avoid her, the elements thrust Morgan back into his line of sight. The girl was furious; her face was flushed, her eyes sparking. She all but ran from the direction where he last saw her, her hair fluttering around her like flames. The snow beneath her feet melted.

“Morgan!” Connor cried. “Dammit, can’t you just listen to reason for once?”

“It’s not reason just because you say it is!” she retorted. “Go to hell, Connor!”

“Morgan!”

She ignored him and rushed into the main house, slamming the door behind her. Connor let out an exasperated sigh and stopped beside Beck. Beck stared after her, surprised as much by her reaction as he was to how pretty she was, even when upset.

Connor glared toward the schoolhouse.

“Wow,” one of the guys murmured. “What’d you say to her?”

“Want me to try?” Beck asked.

“Beck can soften up any girl,” another teen said.

He shot a look over his shoulder. Connor’s eyes narrowed in response.

“No,” he said. “I’ll let her cool off and think.”

“Fire elements are like that,” Beck said, accustomed to his brother’s occasional outbursts as well. Decker, the Master of Dark, was a triple element: fire-water-spirit. He was the very definition of unstable. Beck had learned when to leave him alone and when he was approachable.

“Passionate, too,” another guy said.

“If anyone so much as looks at my sister, I’ll beat the shit out of you,” Connor said instantly. “Got it?” His gaze was on Beck.

“Beck only likes blondes,” Adam supplied. “He’s the least of your worries here.”

Beck smiled.

“Just, hold off on that phone call, okay?” Connor’s anger faded to concern.

“I’ll do what I can.”

Connor trailed his sister into the main house. Beck shook his head, not at all certain what was going on between the two.

“I love redheads,” one of the others said. “She’s hot. With a temper like that … wow.”

“You gotta get by Connor first. He’s got like, three black belts.”

“He’d have to with a sister that hot.”

 Beck silently agreed, but assessed that Morgan was probably able to take care of herself. Anyone who made it by Connor would face a tough battle winning her over. He never had problems with girls, and she managed to give him the cold shoulder.

He just wished he knew what was wrong. Trying to keep her from being thrown out of school was not a complication he needed right now.

A glance at his watch told him that what little break he worked into his schedule this morning was over. It was time to get to work.

“See you guys at dinner,” he said, waving as he stepped away. He walked out of the Square and into the forest.

The earth magick cleared a path for him. Tree branches moved to the side after sweeping away snow to create a trail wide enough for one. Beck watched, always entertained by the elements and how they did things. Since becoming the Master of Light, his magick had become far more responsive. He walked into the forest, his step slowing as he counted.

Forty eight.

At step forty nine, he felt the loss of warmth that kept him from getting cold while he stood on the campus grounds.

“That’s not good,” he said and bent to the ground. He rested his hands on the frozen ground. It warmed instantly beneath his palms as the earth magick rose up to greet him.

At step forty eight, the magick coursed through him. At step forty nine, it merely floated.

Crouching, Beck pulled out his phone and texted his mother, the only person he could think of to talk to about this. Amber and the instructors at the school knew the Light was losing ground, but they didn’t have the depth of knowledge about the Darkness to advise him.

We lost a foot
.

His mother would understand. He waited for her to show up, aware of her ability to find him, no matter where he was. She said it was a mother’s instinct, but he was pretty certain the former Mistress of Dark had placed spells of some sort on both her children so she always knew how to find them. Most of the time, it was annoying. Every once in awhile, it came in handy.

The Light had stopped receding for the first four months since he took his position as Master of Light. He checked it every day he was at the campus, wary for any changes that might indicate if he were gaining or losing ground against the Darkness. Moving the Dark students off campus probably helped salvage what was left of the only source of pure Light magick on the planet.

Today was the first day he checked it in three weeks, and the first loss he saw since taking his position.

Something was wrong.

He felt his mother’s warm-cool shadows a moment before she appeared. Beautiful and small, Rania Turner was dark of skin with long, blue-black hair captured in a low ponytail. She wore dark colors that amplified her natural sultriness.