Love Charms and Other Catastrophes (31 page)

Ryker's eyes slid from the robot to the charm in Hijiri's hand. His expression hardened. “Don't you dare touch my creation.”

Hijiri gasped. Did she hear right?

“Stoffel,” Ryker said coolly. “That girl's heart is in terrible pain. You didn't do your job.”

The robot trembled and spun around, red eye trained on Hijiri. It wiggled its big, gloved hands and reached for her.

Ken pushed her out of the way. They both fell onto the cobblestones.

Hijiri's fingers searched the cobblestones for anything to throw at the approaching robot. Ken groaned beside her and shook his head.

Then she heard a battle cry come from behind the robot.

 

Chapter 22

AIM AND FIRE

Anais and Bear, late but still right on time, came charging. Anais sat on Bear's shoulders, cheering and whooping like a victorious army general. Bear held tight to her ankles and tried not to laugh.

“Pick on someone smaller,” Anais said. When they came to a stop, she climbed off his shoulders. “I'll pull that other eye out of your face!”

“You can't do that yet,” Bear muttered.

Anais didn't hear him. She ran at the robot as if it were made of straw. She dug her fingernails into Stoffel's torn middle and attempted a foot sweep. Her boot collided uselessly with the endoskeleton, pinging loudly.

Bear wrenched her away by grabbing the back of her coat. He ducked under Stoffel's hands and used his weight and momentum to perform a sweeping hip throw. With years of practice under his belt, Bear succeeded in knocking the robot to the ground.

Stoffel landed facedown, its arms and legs creaking and groaning as it struggled to pull itself up.

Bear rolled away, only to have Anais kiss him soundly and declare she had it covered.

“The charm's still working,” Hijiri said, scrambling to her feet. Stoffel could find a way to get back on its metal feet again, even with Bear's throw.

Ken had his slingshot, aiming at the other eye. The marble he had notched glinted under the streetlamps. “Love is blind,” he whispered.

“That's it,” Hijiri said. She lowered his arm so that she could pluck the marble from him. “Stoffel's attracted to heartache. Its scanners must be in those eyes.” She rubbed the marble between her palms, drawing strength from the hug she had shared with Ken. The marble grew hot, glowing a soft, rosy pink, when she handed it back to Ken.

As Ken notched the charmed marble, she saw Ryker lunge.

Ryker slammed into Ken, knocking them both to the ground. Ryker landed a punch on Ken before Bear and Nico were there, pulling Heartwrench's assistant off of Ken. Ken's cheek was already starting to bruise from the punch. Ken winced and crawled to his knees, reaching for his slingshot and the rolling marble.

Hijiri pulled her Blinded by Love charm from her bag. Opening her compact mirror and tossing the glitter on its surface, she blew—Bear and Nico were smart enough to close their eyes when the blinding flash of light lit up the area like a lightning bolt.

Ryker screamed and struggled against the boys' holds.

Still kneeling, Ken turned, notched the marble, and shot Stoffel's remaining eye.

The hairs on her arms stood on end when the robot's eye shattered; a wave of charmed magic rising, then melting, covered the area. Stoffel's neck sparked like a dying breath but its limbs kept moving, grabbing and reaching with aborted movements.

Hijiri covered her mouth with her hands, feeling ill. Ryker hadn't been lying when he said that Heartwrench married technology and charms—the fact that the mechanics still worked after the charms were gone was baffling and more than a little creepy.

“Incoming,” Femke and Mirthe called in unison, raising their hands to the swirling night sky above. A rumbling cloud formed and hovered over the Tunnel of Love. The twins pressed their foreheads together and it began to rain.

The rain was soft and translucent, ice crystals and liquid merging in a soft fall to earth. Hijiri felt the snow and warm rain hit her skin. The rain and snow seeped into every nook and cranny in the robot. Without the charm to protect it, Stoffel became a collection of broken parts. Its movements slowed, the cogs underneath grinding to a halt. It stopped moving completely. The twins ensured that no one would be able to salvage the remains. Mirthe uncorked a bottle, releasing a hot, tropical wind that felt delicious and dried their cold, wet bodies.

“Freeze,” Detective Archambault called out, arriving on the scene with two police officers in tow. Her eyes flickered from Stoffel to Ryker and the rebels.

Officers replaced Bear and Nico in holding Ryker down. Ryker started crying, tears mingling with the rain as he rocked back and forth. “What have you done?” he demanded. “My Stoffel, my
creation
. You've ruined it.”

Detective Archambault slowly approached Ryker, stepping over one of Stoffel's hands. “Am I to understand,” she asked, “that your uncle didn't make this?”

“My
uncle
doesn't have the skills,” Ryker spat. “He tried making a hugging machine, but it was nowhere near operational. I had to step in and make Stoffel my own. Heartwrench would fail without our success in the competition.”

Detective Archambault frowned. “Why did you do it?”

Ryker seemed almost eager to tell her. “I was supposed to go to college, but my uncle persuaded me to use my funds to start this business with him. It's my business more than his.” His jaw tightened. “We were losing the challenges. Heartwrench was empty most days without profits to even cover the rent. He was holding us back. Holding
me
back.”

Hijiri curled her hands into fists. “How dare you call yourself a love charm-maker,” she said to Ryker. “Stoffel had nothing to do with love.”

“Love doesn't solve everything,” Ryker said, his handsome face marred by a sneer.

She'd seen so many broken and bruised hearts these past few months. It would take more than just love to fix some of them. But love was a spark in the darkness. It was a beginning.

She hoped that there was still a beginning for her and Ken.

*   *   *

As Detective Archambault had the police shoving Ryker in the back of the police car, Hijiri saw that her fellow rebels had gotten a ride with the other police cars from the Tunnel of Love.

“You're okay,” Fallon said, jogging over to them with Sebastian in tow. Bram and Ms. Ward followed.

Hijiri tried not to flinch when Fallon hugged her hard, oblivious to her sore muscles.

“I missed all the fun
again
,” Sebastian said, crossing his arms. He didn't seem too upset about it when he saw the darkening bruise on Ken's face. “What happened to you?”

“I came between a love charm-maker and his creation,” Ken said, grimacing.

“Yeah, you should have known better,” Sebastian said, snorting.

Anais chatted animatedly with the twins about the charms and judo moves she had used. Bear shook his head and insisted she needed to practice more before she put herself in danger like that.

“Danger?” Anais laughed. “I knew you were with me. I didn't have a reason to be scared.”

Bear blushed furiously.

The twins walked side by side. At some point, Femke had tucked her hair into her cap, exactly the way that Mirthe wore hers. Their clothes were still different. But the smiles were the same. Perfectly alike. Looking at them, Hijiri felt another imbalance start to melt away.

“What are Mom and Dad going to find missing this time?” Femke asked.

Mirthe shrugged. “The southerly. I was going to use it to celebrate our victory, but we actually needed it a lot sooner.”

“That was an expensive amount. Very potent.”

“Doesn't matter. You and Dad can always catch another one.”

“And you're okay with that?” Femke asked.

“Becoming a master of crafting
every
kind of weather is my dream. Choosing just one specialty is absurd. Especially boring old clouds and fog.”

Femke rolled her eyes.

“Apprenticeships aren't forever,” Mirthe said, sounding like she was trying to convince herself of this truth.

“So pick something already,” Femke said, holding out her hand. “When we both return to Grimbaud, our little town won't know how to handle us.”

Mirthe shook her sister's hand, the old spark of mischief returning to her brown eyes.

Hijiri bit her lip, stopping the laughter threatening to shake her body. It wasn't hard to imagine the twins starting their own empire of bold weather charms.

Martin sighed heavily.

“What's wrong?” Nico asked. “We caught Ryker. You should be happy.”

“I am,” he said, frowning. “But honestly, I was hoping that Sanders was behind the robot. I
still
have to keep my sisters away from his shop.”

Martin has a point
, Hijiri thought.
We took care of this crisis, but I'll be facing Sanders, Clea, and Mandy onstage soon enough. They're still dangerous. I can't forget that.

Even though Grimbaud remained unusually quiet, the weight that had fallen heavy and cold upon its shoulders lifted. The shops and houses didn't feel as empty. Windows glowed like fireflies as they turned on one by one. The townspeople must have sensed the change in the air. Those already sleeping had been pulled from their dreams.

“What I don't understand,” Detective Archambault said, her tone cutting like a knife through their joy, “is why a group of teenagers decided it was a good idea to take on a hazardous charm.
And
defy a direct order from Grimbaud's police force. Your parents will hear about this and, of course, you are all disqualified from the competition.”

The rebels paled.
Disqualification? That can't be!
Hijiri swallowed a lump in her throat. As grateful as they were for Detective Archambault's timely intervention, none of them had thought about the repercussions of getting caught. The police hadn't been an issue with Zita. But this was a different situation. They had all deliberately ignored the curfew.

“I'm an adult,” Bram said. “If you're looking for someone to blame, choose me.”

Ms. Ward gasped. “Me too! I was with these students, encouraging their plan to stop Stoffel. Please don't be too hard on them. They should finish the competition.”

Fallon shook her head. She drew herself up, posture perfect, and said in a loud, clear voice, “Please don't take credit for my idea.”

Detective Archambault crossed her arms. “Care to explain yourself, Miss Dupree?”

Fallon gestured at Stoffel's remains. “Look at how proactive I've been. My friends and I have helped you close the case on the charmed robot. I put together this team knowing that if we worked together, we'd stop Stoffel quickly. Finding Stoffel's real creator in the same night was a bonus.” She smiled politely. “Do interns get extra credit?”

The twins hid their laughter well, but Anais tried to cover up her bark of laughter by coughing.

The stunned detective blinked. “You're serious.”

Fallon raised her chin. “We're not the saboteurs. Find another punishment for us if you must, but please keep us in the competition. We did save the town, after all. You can't deny that.”

Detective Archambault narrowed her eyes and appraised the group. “We'll talk about punishments after the competition, then.” Her eyes pinned Hijiri. “If I see any hint of foul play, I'll pull you out of the contest.”

Hijiri nodded, relieved and thankful for Fallon's quick thinking. She went over to see how Ken was doing. One of the officers gave him a cold compress for his bruise.

“Here, let me,” she said, taking the compress and holding it against his cheek.

Ken hissed. “My brain's still trying to catch up. Did I really shoot a robot in the eye?”

Hijiri grinned. “Yes, you really did.”

Now that the danger was over, fatigue caught up with them. She tried pushing her hair back over her shoulders and caught her fingers in the fresh knots. Ken slumped against the police car's hood, his eyelashes stiff and casting shadows on his cheeks from the streetlamp above.

“I knew it was Stoffel's charm that made you say what you did,” Ken said quietly, “but hearing the words aloud reminded me of my own insecurities.”

“You?” Hijiri couldn't fathom it. “With Love in your corner?”

Ken flinched when she moved the compress higher. “You believed so fiercely that your heart was tiny. That nothing and no one could
make
room in there.”

“The boys I dated never interested me for long. I was
scared
. I thought there was something wrong with me. That I couldn't love someone else properly,” she admitted.

He tried to say something, determination furrowing his brow. When the first word hit his lips, it went out like a flame. He kept trying, choking and coughing. She had to tell him to stop.

When he finally caught his breath, Ken looked more miserable than before. “This … this isn't okay, Hijiri. We can't have a relationship if only one of us shares her heart.”

“We can work around the charm if we can't break it,” Hijiri said.

“You don't deserve that,” Ken said. “The boy you date shouldn't be made of shards and secrets. You need a whole boy.”

She still had hope that the missed-connections charm would work. But he'd have to be willing to try. Hijiri swallowed back her tears and said, “You always told me to trust my instincts and believe in myself. So show me that you believe in me too. That you believe in us.”

Ken winced when she touched his bruise. His eyes dropped to the ground.

Hijiri left him to his thoughts.

*   *   *

The news of Stoffel's destruction and Ryker's arrest spread quickly through Grimbaud. The townspeople celebrated their regained freedom by staying out late; cafés served hot chocolate and melty-sweet desserts until midnight and couples strolled through gardens under the stars. Dr. Vermeulen reported that the lovesickness plaguing Stoffel's victims went away for good. All the victims had been sent home with dry eyes and tired but happy hearts. The town hummed with anticipation of the competition's end.