How I Found You (9 page)

“True. Although, don’t forget, that’s our family you’re slandering, Oscar.”

“Not by blood,” I contradicted him. “We’re just a coven of witches with only our powers in common. That does not a family make.”

“They’re the closest thing we’ve got to family,” Caicus pointed out. “Besides, I’m not bound to you by blood, but am I not your brother?”

He had me there.

“Yes,” I relented, grudgingly. “You’re my brother. But I actually like you—that’s the difference.”

I smiled like butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth. I could hold my hands up to the fact that I wasn’t the easiest person in the world to live with, but Valero witches—excluding myself and Caicus, that is—were, without a doubt, the most insufferable people who ever existed. And I lived with all of them.

“Believe me, I’m not keen on them either,” Caicus drawled. “They’re a bunch of pompous, conceited know-it-alls, but they
are
our family. And you can’t choose your family.”

“If I could, I’d choose this one.” I glanced around the room, my eyes landing on a framed photograph of Roger and Mary on their wedding day.

“Liar!” Caicus accused. “The woman aggravates you, I can tell.”

“Well, obviously.” I looked at him as though he were a complete imbecile. “But at least she’s not a know-it-all. In fact, she’s a know-nothing. I like the simplicity of her inane brain.”

Caicus smirked.

“And as for the man,” I went on, “he’s rarely here. And when he is here, he doesn’t speak all that much. I like that in a person. The less you hear their voice, the easier it is to forget the sound of it.”

Caicus was markedly entertained by my analysis. “What about the kid?” he pushed.

“The baby? He’s no trouble. He
can’t
speak. That’s even better.”

“And the girl?” Caicus goaded.

I hoped he didn’t notice the sudden tenderness in my expression. “Rose? She is… tolerable.”

“
Rose
,” Caicus mocked me. “I’m sorry, Oscar, I didn’t realise we were calling her by her name now.”

“Shut up, Caicus.”

I made a mental note to work on better comebacks.

“You shut up, Oscar,” Caicus retaliated.

Now we were just getting lazy.

“Personally,” he added, “I can’t be bothered to learn her name.” He yawned like a lion, his golden blonde waves curling around his brow. “What’s the point? She’ll be dead soon, anyway.”

As if it had been timed to fit Caicus’s chilling words, we heard the sound of a piercing scream.

Rose’s scream.

Pocket Full of Tricks

THE SOUND OF ROSE’S SCREAM
made my stomach knot. I sat bolt upright.

It had come from the bathroom.

I stared wide eyed at Caicus. Words seemed unnecessary, because there was no doubt that we were thinking the same thing. We sprung from our beds and pelted to the bathroom.

The door was closed and the bolt had been pulled across. But Rose was definitely in there. I could sense her.

I clasped the handle and rattled the locked door.

Damn
.

My head spun. I had to get to her.

With a quick glance, I double checked that Caicus and I were alone, and then, with impeccable accuracy, I ploughed my fist through the solid door and my hand burst through the metal bolt, sending it clattering onto the bathroom floor tiles.

“Oh, good one, Oscar,” Caicus grumbled, giving me a hefty clip around the ear. “Like they’re not going to notice a hole in the door. Oaf.”

I didn’t care. I shoved Caicus aside and raced to Rose, who lay unmoving beneath the sink. A trickle of ruby red blood dripped from her temple, blemishing the pristine, ivory tiles.

My mouth went dry. She looked so serene.
Too
serene.

I pushed back her golden brown hair and checked her pulse, pressing my fingers to her throat. Okay. There it was, the gentle rhythm of her heartbeat.

She was alive. I could breathe again.

I knelt beside her and lightly tapped her face. “Rose.”

Caicus stood over us, peering down hesitantly. 

“Do you think it was…
him
?” he asked in a hushed voice.

I examined the wound on Rose’s head. It looked as though it might have been caused by a fall. “It doesn’t seem like an attack…” I glanced to the bathroom window, which was latched shut. “No sign of an intruder.”

Caicus crouched down and prodded Rose as though she were toxic. “So, what happened? Just an accident?”

“Looks that way. Maybe she slipped or something.”

“Well, then, that’s not our domain,” Caicus stated frankly. “Let’s get out of here before we’re placed at the scene of the crime.”

“Hand me that towel.” I nodded towards the heated towel rack.

With a huff, Caicus snatched a white hand towel and tossed it over to me.

“This is a waste of time,” he griped. “She just slipped. Why are we still hanging around?”

I nursed Rose’s head in my lap, dabbing at the broken skin with the towel. I didn’t mind doing it, either.

“She’s bleeding,” I told Caicus—as if he couldn’t see that for himself. “She’ll probably have concussion.”

Caicus threw his hands in the air, exasperated. “So?” he demanded. “That’s not our problem.”

“We can’t leave her if she has concussion.”

“Oh jeeze, Oscar,” Caicus muttered under his breath. He pressed his knuckle to his mouth and waited until he was calmer before he spoke again. “Come on now, bro. Remember what I said, eh? Don’t get too attached. Keep your eyes on the prize. Remember?”

I glowered at him. “Of course I remember,” I snapped. “I know what I’m doing.” I slid my arms under Rose’s body and lifted her, cradling her close to my chest. She felt weightless. Perhaps because I was used to carrying heavier things. Or perhaps because my strength was, let’s just say, above average. But not just that, it felt as though she belonged in my arms.

“Oscar,” Caicus pleaded with me.

“I need to take her to her bed.”

“Put her back!” Caicus hissed. “Put her back on the floor where you found her. She’s fine.”

“No.” I waltzed out of the bathroom, carrying Rose in my arms. Her face was nuzzled into my shoulder. That was another thing that I didn’t mind. Definitely didn’t mind.

Caicus, however, shook his head with unmasked disapproval.

“Anyway,” I added, glancing over my shoulder at him. “If I lay her in bed, the snapdragons will conceal her from Lathiaus. That’s forward thinking.” I didn’t wait for Caicus’s response–mostly because I didn’t care. Instead, I cheerfully ascended the attic staircase and let myself into Rose’s room.

I was starting to like it in there.

Very carefully, I placed Rose onto her bed, fluffing the pillows for her. Once she was settled, I took a tissue from the box on her nightstand and began swabbing at the wound on her temple. It had more or less stopped bleeding, but I kept at it for a little while longer. I realised that I was looking at her with absolute, out-and-out devotion.

“I’ll take care of you,” I told her.

A combination of the disturbance from my action and the sound of my voice gradually stirred Rose from her slumbering state. Her eyes opened hazily.

I perched at her bedside. “Hello.”

She blinked up at me. “Hi,” she mumbled, disorientated.

I reached out for one last tissue dab.

“What are you doing?” Rose mumbled blearily. She tried to sit upright.

“Bad idea,” I said, easing her back down onto the bed. “You shouldn’t move too quickly. You might have concussion.”

Her eyes searched mine as she began to blearily piece the events together. “The bathroom…” she murmured. “I slipped…”

She sat up now.

“
You
,” she hissed. “Get away from me!”

“Me?” My eyes widened. “What did I do?”

“You know what you did!”

“Clearly I do not,” I answered thinly. “You’re delirious.” I began overly enunciating my words, as though she may have been hard of hearing. “You hit your head.” I was aware that my comment was extremely patronising. I couldn’t help myself. It was just my way.

“I know I hit my head,” she shouted. “Get
away from me!”

I folded my arms. “Talk about ungrateful. I just saved your life, Rose. Your
life
. You could have bled to death on the bathroom floor.” Yes, it was a slight exaggeration, but it illustrated my point nicely. “Is that what you wanted? Such an unseemly demise? To die beside a toilet?”

Rose tentatively touched the scrape on her head. She winced.

I winced for her.

“You didn’t save me! You’re up to something…”

Here she goes,
I thought fondly,
throwing accusations around again. She’s so cute when she does that.

“Voodoo or something!” she finished.

I laughed loudly. “Oh really? Voodoo?”

“Or something!”

“Yes, if that
something
is saving you.” I was still waiting for my hero’s welcome, by the way.

“You’re always around,” Rose rambled on. “And I know I’ve met you before…”

A surge of excitement rushed through my veins.

Go on
, I willed.

“The eyes…” she said.

Yes
, I urged silently.
You recognise my eyes. You know me
.

But the conversation didn’t progress in the way that I’d hoped it would. They weren’t
my
eyes that Rose was referring to after all.

“Those crow eyes,” she went on, “and all of the weird stuff that happens when you’re around…”

She doesn’t remember me.

“Coincidence,” I replied, with about as much lustre as an old boot.

“And the bizarre things in your pockets.”

I stiffened.
Wait, what? My pockets?
That didn’t sound good.

She gauged my expression. “Yes, I know about all the creepy voodoo.”

“What creepy voodoo?”

Damn, damn, damn. She’s bluffing
.

“The sage, the knife, the coin,” Rose reeled them off one by one.

She’s not bluffing. How does she know about those? Damn, my clothes!
After the shower I’d left my clothes in the bathroom.
Idiot!

She must have gone through my pockets. I racked my brain, trying to recall what she had said she’d found. My cluster of sage, my ceremonial knife, my talisman coin… 

Rose began to tremble. “You’re some kind of… something.”

I licked my lips, struggling to retain a blasé façade. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have the faintest idea what you’re talking about. You bumped your head, remember?” I leaned over her, talking slowly and carefully. “My name is
Oscar
.”

She took a swipe at me. “I don’t have amnesia! I know exactly who you are.”

“Hmm. Well, you seem to be talking nonsense.”

She staggered unsteadily to her feet. She stumbled and unthinkingly grasped my shoulder for support, then immediately yanked her hand away as though she’d been burned by me.

“You can hold on to me if you want,” I said with a vague, satirical smile.

“No, I don’t want,” Rose shot back. She began stumbling across her room.

Uh oh. “Where are you going?” I stood from her bed.

“I’m going to expose you for the psycho you are.” She stormed for the staircase.             

Caicus
, I called silently.
Go to the bathroom and empty my jeans pockets. Quickly!

“I’m going to prove that you’re lying,” Rose insisted, stomping down the attic steps. “And then Mary will see you for who you really are.
What
you really are,” she corrected herself.

I jogged behind her, my heart racing.

Rose charged along the corridor and into the bathroom. Heaped on the floor beside the shower were my discarded clothes. Rose riffled through the pile until she found my black jeans. 

I hovered in the doorway, holding my breath.

Please be empty, please be empty, please be empty…

Empty!

Hallelujah.

“I-I don’t understand,” Rose stammered. She dropped the jeans onto the tiled floor. “You,” she turned to face me. “You must have emptied the pockets.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Sorry. I don’t follow. I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

Rose’s emerald eyes turned frosty. “Just leave me alone,” she hissed. “And leave my family alone.” She stormed out of the bathroom, deliberately shoving past me as she went.

I watched as she thundered up the attic staircase and slammed her bedroom door behind her.

I let out a breath. Another disaster averted.

Hastily, I bundled my clothes together and returned to my own bedroom.

Caicus was sprawled out on his bed. The contents of my jeans were scattered over the daisy-print duvet in front of him.

“Close call,” he commented.

“Why didn’t you reply when I told you to clear out the pockets?” I scolded him. “I didn’t think you’d done it in time. My little black heart was practically beating right out of my chest.” I paused to glower at him. “You’re lucky I didn’t die from heart failure.”

Caicus smirked. “Payback for earlier. Now you know how it felt to be standing outside the bathroom with her about to burst in on
nobody
in the shower.”

I grinned.

He grinned back.

“It was close, though,” he said, his tone dropping to a serious note. “I only just made it back to our room before she came down the stairs like a whirlwind. You must have really riled her this time.”

“I can’t believe that sneak went through my pockets.” I slapped my head in disbelief.

“Sneaky shrew! We’ll have to be more careful in future. And no using our powers around her.”

I sat down on my own bed. I still hadn’t told Caicus about my little cliff-jumping show the week before. And I intended to keep it that way.

“So,” Caicus went on, thankfully changing the subject, “turns out you weren’t quite her knight in shining armour, eh?”

I smiled complacently. “It’s too difficult being the hero. I think I’ll just go back to being me.”