Illicit Magic (20 page)

“I am very, very glad you are here,” admitted Kitty as she drove us home past neat townhouses and then out onto the freeway. “Don’t breathe a word of this but while Christy and Clara are very nice, they are also slightly maddening.”

I mimed that I was zipping my mouth.

“And Étoile and Seren are gone so much. And Jared is, well, you’ve met Jared. He’s just a boy anyway. Marc and I hardly speak these days so I’ve been very much attention-starved until you came along.”

“I thought you and Marc were friends since you were kids?” I asked as I tried to remember if Marc had mentioned anything about his past with Kitty. I didn’t think he had.

“Oh yes. A long time, since we were really little.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed.”

Kitty rolled her eyes. “He does his utmost to avoid me.”

I wasn’t sure if I should ask why.
If they didn’t like each other, that was their own business,
I decided. I didn’t want to pry so I was relieved when Kitty changed the subject.

“You know Evan thinks he’s worked out why I can do the stuff I can with the weather. He thinks it might actually be useful.” Kitty snorted and for the first time, I wondered if she felt a bit peeved to possess such an obscure gift. “He thinks I’ll be able to use it to influence events, maybe even create my own storms. Perhaps even a tsunami, though, frankly, what use that would be, I have no idea. I could create rainfall during a drought. That would be handy, don’t you think?”

I nodded.

“But I prefer the spells.” Kitty was obviously feeling particularly chatty today and, though we were careful not to mention magic in public, in the confines of her car, it was fine. “I want to specialise in spell casting. David is keen too. I think he’s going to leave soon, he said he’s bored of feeling cooped up.”

“Cabin fever?” I asked, partly to myself.

“We all have a little cabin fever,” Kitty laughed. “We’re all used to being able to come and go and live our lives as we please but it’s all so prescriptive now. We have to be on our guard because the worst isn’t just a possibility for us; it’s actually likely to happen.”

“Do you think it will always be like this?”

“I hope not.” Kitty slowed to turn the corner and accelerated again on the long stretch of road. We were running through the town near Meg’s house and I watched the roadside buildings – a car rental place, a family restaurant, shops – flit past. “Maybe when we’re more in control, we can be more ourselves but until then, we’re stuck doing what the council thinks is best for us.”

“Don’t you think they’re doing what’s best?”

“Well, yeah. I mean we’re all still alive, right? But what the council wants is not necessarily what everyone else wants. Maybe I want to head to New York or LA or London or Paris and just get on with my career; but the council, well, they say no and that’s it.”

“We still get a choice though, right? You could just leave if you didn’t want to be here. It’s not a prison.” I thought for a moment and barely voiced, “Is it?”

“No, you’re right. I could leave, but I would be leaving without protection and I could get picked up by anyone at any time. In fact, scrap London and Paris. Europe’s where the Brotherhood is.” Kitty shuddered. “I wouldn’t want to be there.”

I shook my head. “No, you wouldn’t.”

Kitty gasped and placed a hand on my knee. “God, Stella, I didn’t think. I’m so sorry. I know they attacked you. I’m so dumb sometimes.”

“Not at all, and I was agreeing with you, I would not want to be anywhere the Brotherhood is.”

“Thank God they’re not here, right?”

“Right.” Watching the news wasn’t a big deal in the house but every so often, a newscast would flick on the television or someone would bring in a paper or the radio would mention it. No one made a big thing about it, but the square-set shoulders and the thoughtful expressions made me sure that everyone was waiting to hear what the Brotherhood were doing. So far, they had stayed across the ocean. At least, there had been no reports of any suspicious activity here. I thought things would be a lot worse if they made that geographical leap. Right now, I could feel relatively safe here, with their threat thousands of miles away. If they were here, I was sure we would have known about it by now.

Kitty indicated to turn into the driveway and she parked next to Marc’s car. It had moved from where it was parked when we left, so he must have been out somewhere, but if Kitty noticed, she didn’t mention it, so neither did I.

We grabbed our bags from the back seat and went inside. It was late afternoon and the house was quiet.

“Hullo-o,” Kitty called and David ducked his head around the library door. “Where is everyone?”

“Headed down to the beach,” David answered, repositioning his glasses on his nose. “I might head over that way myself soon. Hey, bring a swimming costume!”

“You swim in the sea?” I asked Kitty as we went upstairs.

“Sure,” Kitty was rummaging through her bags. “It’s a good job we got you that bathing suit. I’m quite ready to sunbathe. It seems a good day for it.”

In my room, I snapped the tags off my bathing suit, changed out of my clothes and slipped it on. It was white with belted bikini shorts and a halter neck top and I thought I looked pretty snazzy in it, plus the pure white didn’t show up my pasty skin too badly. I pulled one of the dresses over the top. It buttoned up the front so it would be easy to get on and off at the beach. I swapped my flats for sandals that were better for the sand and went to knock on Kitty’s door. She waved me in and I leant against the doorframe while she finished rummaging in her closet. At last, she sprang up, gold sandals dangling in her hand and slipped them on her feet.

“Let’s go!”

We veritably skipped our way out of the house and across the lawn. I could hear laughter from the beach and we followed it. By the time we got there, blankets had been spread out and cool boxes sat to one side, anchoring the fabric to the sand. Christy and Clara had taken towels and were sunbathing on their fronts. Jared was talking to Seren and Étoile in his usual animated way; Evan was reading a book, pausing occasionally to add to the conversation. It was Étoile who spotted us first and waved us over.

“It’s like Spring Break,” said Kitty gleefully, skipping towards them.

“Where’s Meg?” I asked as we crossed the beach, the sand sifting through the straps of my sandals.

“She won’t be out ‘til later, if at all,” Kitty replied, waving to the group. “She has this, um, skin condition and the sun bothers her.”

“Oh, I didn’t know.” I guessed it explained her preference for nighttime walks.

“She doesn’t make a big thing out of it.”

I settled down on the blanket with Kitty flopping in between me and Étoile. I looked wistfully at Evan’s book and wished it had occurred to me to bring a book too. Reading on the beach would be pleasant. Evan folded down the corner of the page and closed the book, setting in down. I gestured to it. “May I?”

“Of course.” He handed it to me and I turned it over to read the back cover synopsis, my elbows propping me up as I lay on my stomach, before passing it back. “Have you read the other books already?”

“One of them and I’m half way through the second.” It was a whodunit set in the thirties and the dialogue was very witty. I said as much. “I hardly ever see you without a book.”

“I like reading and there isn’t a whole lot of entertainment out here.”

“What would you do if you weren’t here? At home or...?” I couldn’t think where else Evan would be.

“I’d go catch a movie or attend a sports game. Basketball preferably, but I’ll take football or baseball, too.”

“I have no concept of American sports,” I confessed which led to Evan trying to give a lengthy explanation of the rules of baseball.

I couldn’t remember what it was that Evan said that made me laugh so hard but it gave me the kind of ache in my ribs that I hadn’t had in a long time. Marc was crouched beside me in an instant, his hand on my elbow as the laughter came to a spluttering stop in my throat.

“Hey.” I smiled, a smile that faded as I realised Marc looked thunderous. I hadn’t even realised he’d come to the beach.

“Come for a walk,” he said, his face stern.

“Um, sure.” I scrambled to my feet and looked back at our small group. Seren and Kitty were taking turns slathering on sun lotion, even though the sun wasn’t really all that hot. Evan had turned his head and was unscrewing the cap from his soda bottle. I could tell he was listening. He wasn’t making too much pretence not to.

Marc led me away from the little group and for a few minutes we walked, until we reached the part of the beach where it twisted back on itself and headed back inland before stretching out almost as far as I could see.

“What’s going on?” Marc snarled the question.

“Huh?”

“Back there.” Marc jerked his head back to the group.

“We were just joking around, having fun. Goodness knows we’ve needed it these past weeks.”

Marc rolled his eyes. “C’mon! I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

“Who? Evan?” I involuntarily turned my head and caught Evan’s eye as he looked over at us. He held my gaze steady for a moment before turning away and tossing a juice box over to Kitty who caught it in one hand.

“Who else? What’s going on between you two?” Marc jutted his chin toward Evan.

“Nothing.” I shrugged my shoulders and the breeze gently lifted my hair and fanned it across my back.

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you,” Marc repeated, sounding for all the world like a jealous boyfriend.

I gaped at him. “He’s my teacher,” I hissed. “He’s looking out for me. He’s helping me.”

“He wants to help himself to you.”

“What do you mean by that?” I’d had enough of the scowling and the conversation was taking a turn for the worst. Plus I couldn’t pretend I didn’t feel something for Evan. It was there, all right, every day a bit stronger.

“You know what I mean. He’s had his eye on you ever since I brought you here. He’s interested in you and you sat there, flirting with him.”

“I did not!”
Did I?

“Well that’s not how it looks from here. You’re practically making out.”

“Marc!” I was incensed.
What business was it of his who I was talking to?
He hadn’t staked a claim and even if he had, it was still a free world. I could talk to whomever I liked. Besides, I could hardly ignore my teacher. Not that Evan being my teacher was the problem.

“How do you think that makes me feel?”

“I would have thought that me making friends here would be good.” I didn’t even think to add: for us. There hadn’t been any hint of an “us”. It was a topic that never arose and besides the kiss in New York, I had to remind myself that nothing had actually happened. Even though we’d spent plenty of time together since talking about everything and anything, which was what made Marc’s behaviour all the more puzzling. He hadn’t made any moves on me, and I hadn’t encouraged any.

“It’s like he’s got a spell on you.” Marc looked at me quizzically and I realised his allegation was serious. I was astonished he’d even had such a thought, never mind spoken it. Magic on others was absolutely forbidden as I already knew. Spell casting to make someone attracted to another was strictly punished as David had mentioned when he was running though some rules during a class. Marc knew the rules better than I.

“Are you sleeping with him too?”

“That’s out of order, Marc. You know I’m not.”

Marc sighed and kicked the sand dune. A spray of sand shot into the air. He ran a hand through his thick blonde hair and his shoulders seemed tense. Before, I might have reached out and gently kneaded them, or given him a hug, but right now, I was furious at his accusations and didn’t want to touch him, not as a friend or as anything else. Instead I folded my arms and waited.

Marc took a deep breath and inclined his head towards me. “I have to go away for a while,” he said at last, abruptly changing the subject. “I’m needed in New York again. There have been some developments.”

“Is it the council?”

Marc nodded and his face showed he was unhappy. “Kinda.”

“How long will you be gone?”

“I don’t know.”

“How long have you known?”

“Since this morning, pretty much right after I got back. I should have just turned round and gone straight back.”

“Well, good of you to tell me. I wouldn’t have wanted to get up and find you gone again,” I snipped. I could have pinched myself. He owed me nothing. He was just sent to deliver me here. That was it.

“I’m sure you would have found somebody to keep your bed warm,” Marc spat like a spurned lover, his face clouding as he looked over at Evan. I didn’t follow his gaze so I didn’t know if anyone else could hear. I imagined not from this distance,
but who knew what superhuman talents I didn’t know about with this crowd of weird and wonderful people?

“Hold on!” I raised a hand to him in a stop sign, palm flat towards him. “What”s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh hell, Stella.” Marc was getting more agitated and his toe was digging at the sand again. “Evan, he’s ... he’s not like us. He shouldn’t even be thinking about it. You should stay away from him.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Marc sighed. “You’re a free woman. Do what you want but don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’ll see you when I get back.” He turned on his heel and strode back along the beach to the steps that would lead him to the house.

I stood still, watching him retreat, the breeze gently caressing me as I tried to assess what had just occurred. Marc acted like a jealous boyfriend, or someone who wanted to be more than friends, not that he actually said that at all.
Or had he assumed there was something between us?
I hadn’t even had a chance to ask what he meant but it seemed clear. I was a free woman, all right. If he’d been thinking about making a move, he seemed to have scrubbed the idea away. Whatever feelings could have been had ceased existing the moment he stomped away. I watched Marc finish climbing the steps and disappear into the garden. I hadn’t even begun to address what he said about Evan.