Hopeless Magic (4 page)

Despite Lilly’s struggle, Angelica continued to hold the glass cylinder to her neck, never falter-ing, never moving. I noticed the light inside the tube begin to drain, and Lilly's skin begin to turn a shade of shimmering violet. Her entire being 52/711

was engulfed in the beautiful lilac, shining and glistening.

If my friend wasn’t in so much terrifying pain I would have found the effect absolutely captivating. Unfortunately, despite her beauty, Lilly seemed to be in an insurmountable depth of hurt.

She continued to scream and shake long past the last drops of light had drained into her skin.

Suddenly the shimmering lavender intensified in-to a deep and bright purple, painting everything in the small room with its concentrated color. As quickly as the color grew bright, it diminished in-to a small snake eating its tail just below the earlobe of Lilly’s right ear. And finally there was silence. Lilly slumped, unmoving in her chair.

I relaxed, exhaling a breath I had not realized I was holding. Apparently my relief was prema-ture, however, as only seconds after Lilly had calmed down, she began again with another round of screaming and thrashing. I left Avalon’s head unable to withstand the sight of my dear 53/711

friend enduring so much pain. I cowered against the wall and let out a choking sob.

The door opened slightly and Avalon slipped through to my side of the stone. His face was etched with the same pain that I imagined mine was, minus the tears. He stood facing me with a mixture of sorrow and exhaustion that aged him for a moment. For only a moment, I didn’t see my sometimes irritating and always over dramatic twin brother. In his place I saw a great leader, and a great man. I shook my head quickly, reminding myself of the here and now.

“Where is she?” I peered around Avalon, expecting the door to open again at any second.

“She has to stay here for a while. She has to recover,” Avalon spoke softly and with compassion.

“What do you mean? We have school,” I said plainly, as if the choice Lilly just made shouldn’t interfere with high school.

“Lilly won’t be able to come to school for a while, Eden. You don’t need to worry about her 54/711

though; she’s in very capable hands,” Avalon began walking towards the exit and I followed, realizing he was right.

“She will be alright?” I asked timidly. I wanted to trust him, I knew I needed to trust him, but the image of Lilly facing so much physical pain would give me nightmares. I could not imagine willingly going through the same torture myself.

“Of course. I’m just fine, aren’t I?” Avalon replied. I held back a sarcastic thought. “Just fine,” was pretty relative. “Besides don’t you have a rendezvous with what's his name? You'd better forget about Lilly for now, until that kid isn’t around anymore. Eden, he can’t know anything about her induction, got it?” His compassion had turned into hard lecturing, although I did understand his point.

“I got it,” I replied, confident that it wouldn’t be a problem, but uncertain Lilly’s induction wouldn’t cloud my thoughts the rest of the evening, all the same. “And you can use Kiran’s 55/711

name. Amory’s not going to kick you out or anything.”

Avalon only grunted his reply. We both knew Amory was not the problem. Avalon hated Kiran with a passion and never missed an opportunity to remind me.

Despite Avalon, I blushed at the thought of seeing Kiran tonight. I hadn’t seen him alone since before we came home, at his hotel suite in Geneva, Switzerland. Our time there was so intimate and special I had been nervous about seeing him again since.

Kiran sent Talbott over late last night to inform me of our date tonight. Well, I didn’t really know if you could call it a date, but we would finally get to be together…. away from school, away from Seraphina and away from Talbott. The horror of Lilly’s induction faded quickly when replaced with the sweet thoughts of my upcoming moments with Kiran.

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“You mean booty call? I’m coming by the way,” Avalon interrupted my daydreams and I stopped dead in my tracks.

“What?” I squealed.

“Eden, seriously?” Avalon turned around to give me his best chastising glare. “Prime surveillance opportunity. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He turned quickly on his heel, leaving me gaping after him. A date with Kiran, might be more than a little awkward if Avalon was planning on chaperoning.

4.

Kiran’s car was already waiting in my driveway by the time Avalon’s now dirty truck sped into his designated space. I threw the door open and jumped out as quickly as modesty would allow.

Avalon’s red four door truck was literally a beast and the cab sat ridiculously high off of the ground.

Kiran immediately stepped out of the back seat of his classy, black Roll’s Royce with an amused look on his face. Talbott was not far behind him and my heart sunk at the possibility of having not one, but two chaperone’s on this impromptu date.

I stood there for a moment, unsure whether I was allowed to leap into his arms, or if we had to play casual until we were in a secured location. I inched slowly closer to the most beautiful man I had ever seen, all the while feeling like a small child trying to get close to something she had been specifically prohibited from.

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Kiran leaned back against his car all the more amused. His tussled, dirty blonde hair was cropped short, although still allowing his wild waves freedom to move. And even though his muscular frame played casual in a relaxed stance, his aqua blue eyes bore into my soul, beckoning me closer.

Kiran tipped his chin in a gesture of calling and I obeyed immediately. I leapt, as gracefully, but as quickly as I could into his open arms and found utter bliss wrapped inside of his strong embrace.

Our bodies melted together and as he lifted my chin to find my mouth with his, our magic mingled together in a heady and wild sensation.

I was lost in Kiran’s sweet kiss, unable to distinguish between his magic and my own. I mentally willed him to never remove his lips from mine.

Our love affair may have been forbidden, it may have been dangerous, but Kiran’s touch completed my soul. As if my heart had been searching for its other half all of my life, I had found completion in him.

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Talbott coughed behind us and I was momentarily forced to leave Kiran’s mouth. I did not however have to leave his arms, and so I stayed wrapped inside them, unwilling to leave his touch for even a moment. I laughed a little to myself when I noticed that neither Avalon nor Talbott were able to look directly at us.

Prime surveillance opportunity. This should be
fun for you.
I sent this thought poignantly to Avalon and watched him return it with a scowl.

Our exchange was short however, and I doubted Talbott or Kiran would have understood it even if they saw a look pass between us.

The fact that Avalon and I were twins had to remain a secret from everybody but the Resistance.

Although our connection and bond was as natural to me as breathing, if anyone were to find out outside of the Resistance we would be instantly captured or have to go on the run.

Twins had always been somewhat of a phenomenon in Immortal history, but since the ban on interracial marriage, they had been non-60/711

existent. The fact that we were twins did not only suggest an amount of power unattainable to the rest of the Immortal population, and possibly the restoration of eternal life, but it identified exactly who our parents were.

In order to be twins, a certain mixture of magic had to occur, including all four Immortal types in recent genealogical history. And since interracial marriage was completely banned in the kingdom, except for the royal family, a mixture like that was impossible for anyone else. But, Avalon and I contained all four types of magic from either our parents or grandparents. Because of this we were unique among all Immortals and would be hunted because of it.

Not only would the current king, Kiran’s father Lucan, desire our literal Immortal potential, he would use us as a trap to bate out our parents.

Unfortunately, Lucan fell in love with our mother a long time ago, and instead of marrying him, she ran off with our father, Lucan’s personal body guard.

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Now our parents, Delia and Justice, were out there, somewhere, or they were not out there…

they were dead. We didn’t really know. All we did know was that my mother was part witch, part medium and my father was part Titan, part Shape-shifter. These powers combined gave birth to Avalon and me and now our true identities were our most dangerous asset.

“Should we go inside?” Talbott cut through my thoughts with an authoritative voice and gestured towards the house. Tonight, Avalon and I were not the only ones who should be paranoid. We followed Avalon into the house and Talbott did a short search of the premises. My Aunt Syll was still at the hospital, there was no sign of life inside the house. Avalon plopped down on one of the oversized couches in the living room of our quaint Tudor style house. He used magic to turn on the lights in both the living room and chef’s kitchen through an adjoining doorway.

The rest of us stood there awkwardly staring at one another, no one entirely sure what to do.

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Kiran had yet to let go of me, and I stood nestled in his embrace wishing everyone else would just disappear.

“Does anybody want something to drink?” I asked, trying to play hostess. I noticed Talbott shake his head negatively and Kiran didn’t get a chance to answer before Avalon spoke up.

“Yeah, I’ll take a coke,” Avalon was clearly not as disturbed by Kiran’s presence as he once was.

He dropped his feet noisily onto the coffee table and flicked the TV on using magic once again. I rolled my eyes but made my way to the kitchen, while Sports Center came to life on the large flat screen.

Kiran followed me into my aunt’s gorgeous chef’s kitchen. Although Aunt Syll was a very skilled ER surgeon, her cooking skills lacked fin-esse to say the least. This didn’t stop her from renovating the kitchen a few years back to any chef’s dream set up. All of the appliances were state-of-the-art and oversized. And her counter tops and floors were whatever was in at the time.

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A giant gas stove sat against one wall with every amenity one could image. To one side of the kitchen was a cute little breakfast nook, while the real kitchen table had an even larger space parallel to the middle island. In the middle of it all sat a large island with tall bar chairs, where Aunt Syll and I tended to spend most of our time.

Kiran took a seat at one of the tall chairs as I dug out a coke from the refrigerator for Avalon. I walked through the doorway and tossed it to him, hoping to shake it up violently, before returning to the kitchen and returning to Kiran’s arms.

“You were late tonight,” he pouted. “I thought you might have found something else to do.” His crisp English accent stirred my soul and I fought butterflies from overtaking my stomach.

“I’m sorry,” I said sincerely. “I just got.... hung up.” I snuggled deeper into his arms and contemplated inviting him upstairs where we would be more comfortable.

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“You got hung up, huh? With.... Avalon?” Kiran pulled me closer to him still, resting his chin softly on the top of my head. He was jealous.

“Believe me, all I could think about was you the entire time I was gone,” I lifted my head up to kiss the bottom of his chin, hoping to deflect his questions. “And Avalon is actually staying with us for a while,” I cringed inwardly, hoping Kiran’s jealousies weren't too deeply founded. If only he knew that he had absolutely nothing to fear in that department. “His parents are back in Brazil and so he is staying with us so that he can finish school,” I did my best to believe the lie I was telling him.

I hated lying to him, I could barely say the words, but I was trying to understand that everything was not about me. Some things I had to do for the sake of my brother and my grandfather and now the Resistance, especially since Lilly joined. If that meant a few white lies to Kiran, to protect the ones I loved and make things make sense to him, then so be it….for the time being.

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“Oh,” Kiran said dejectedly.

I didn’t let him think about Avalon or anything else, anymore. I pulled his face down to meet mine and our mouths finally found each other again. His magic overwhelmed me, making me dizzy and faint. Our powers swirled together in an almost palpable energy field around us and I lost myself in him. Butterflies mixed with frenetic energy threatened to overcome me but I stayed focused on Kiran’s perfect lips, relishing in this stolen moment.

Another cough interrupted us this time, and I was more than embarrassed to find its’ source Aunt Syl. Holy cow. Well, Kiran had to meet her some time....

“Hi, Aunt Syl,” I cringed, turning my reddened face towards her standing in the doorway to the garage, Chinese food in her arms. My face was flooded with heat and I could barely look her in the eyes.

“Hello Eden,” she mumbled, her face turning an equal shade of red.

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“This is um, Kiran,” I cleared my throat and tried a smile.

“Hi Kiran, I’m Sylvia, Eden’s aunt. Well I guess not aunt, since you know that I'm human, but um, Eden’s guardian,” Aunt Syll was surprisingly nervous to meet him, and severely embarrassed to have walked in on such an intimate moment.

Although Aunt Syll was human, she understood the laws and by-laws that I lived by, perhaps better than me. Kiran’s position as crowned prince did not have less gravity with her just because she was human, if anything it meant more.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Kiran was instantly on his feet and ready to shake her hand. He was the perfect picture of English chivalry. Aunt Syll took his hand weakly, stunned for an instant by the oddity of the moment.

“Thank you,” she responded, half in a daze.

“This is my b-, this is my friend Talbott,” Kiran gestured for Talbott to move from the doorway leading into the living room to also shake Aunt 67/711

Syl’s hand. Talbott obeyed, eyeing her suspiciously.

“Hi Sylvia,” Avalon completed the group, bursting noisily through the doorway. “Did you bring food?” he asked excitedly, before taking the brown bags directly from her arms and digging in immediately. “You are the best!” he paused for a moment and grabbed Aunt Syll around the waist, pulling her close to him and kissing her cheek roughly.