Reckless Magic (25 page)

Principal Saint stayed on my side of
the door as if protecting the entry way from the likes of me. The
thought of forcing my way past him crossed my mind, but the other
side of the door offered no hope to reinstate the kiss anyways. I
tore through the door to the street instead, running as quickly as
I could to the safety and loneliness of Avalon’s stolen
Lexus.

I found sanctuary in the passenger’s
seat of the sedan. I plopped down on the seat, very unlady-like and
completely out of breath. I barely paid attention to Avalon, but
out of the corner of my eye I could tell he was equally as
emotional as I was.

I touched my fingers to my still
swollen lips, expecting Avalon to drive away. Instead of making a
getaway however, he rolled down his window and I saw the figure of
Principal Saint resting his hands on the open window
frame.

“
How dare you bring her
here,” although Principal Saint didn’t use my name directly, it was
crystal clear who he was referring to. His fingers gripped tightly
to the window sill. Clearly he was angry, but I was confused why my
presence here would conjure such rage.

“
Nothing happened,” Avalon
defended himself loudly, and accentuated his point by slamming his
hands on the steering wheel. His fingers wrapped themselves around
the leather and gripped the steering wheel equally as tight as
Principal Saint’s. “We’re all fine.”

“
Something did happen,.”
Principal Saint spat back. I realized I preferred a much more
docile school teacher, than this angry and scary version of
Principal Saint. Everyone was clearly livid with me, but I could
not figure out why. Maybe I wasn’t allowed in the club, but were
these reactions really necessary? “The entire room noticed who she
is because of the prince’s damn affections for her. Now not only do
you risk discovery but the entire kingdom will soon be aware of her
effect on the prince. Damn it Avalon, what were you
thinking?”

“
I am stronger with her near
me. I can’t just run reconnaissance without some type of
protection. You send me into the lion’s den and you expect me to
kill the beast, unarmed,” Avalon nearly shouted at Principal Saint;
he grasped the steering wheel tighter and glared out the
windshield.

“
Never mind that now. Get
her out of here,” Principal Saint touched the steering wheel
underneath Avalon’s firm grip and the car instantly turned on.
“Take her straight home; we will talk about this later,” the two of
them had yet to address me personally. If only I could stay mad,
but the burn of Kiran’s sweet kiss still lingered on my
mouth.

Avalon stomped his foot down on the
accelerator and my head slammed back against the headrest. He
peeled out of the parking space without slowing down. It was my
turn to dig my fingers into something and I found the edge of my
leather seat and held on tight.

“
Damn it. Damn it. Damn it,”
Avalon repeated over and over; and then another long stream of
expletives poured out of his mouth. I was not sure how to react,
but felt strangely responsible for the demise of whatever he had
planned tonight. “Why can’t you just stay away from him?” he
practically shouted at me.

My temper flared up immediately. “If I
remember correctly, you were the one who dragged me along to that
place, and you were the one who left me completely alone! Kiran
approached me. I did exactly as you said and did not move from the
bar. He came over to me. I didn’t even know he was there!” I yelled
back, suddenly over emotional and definitely sick and tired of
being blamed for Kiran’s actions.

“
You cannot talk to him
anymore Eden; you have to end whatever there is between you.”
Avalon softened his voice, almost pleading with me.

“
There is nothing between
us,” I replied just as softly; but my lips burned from the memory
of our kiss. I looked out the window and watched the scenery fly by
as Avalon drove a hundred miles an hour.

“
Do not lie to me,” he said
sternly. “Eden, don’t lie to yourself. He is dangerous and....
evil. You have no idea what you are getting yourself into. You
cannot be so reckless,” Avalon’s eyes turned hard as he stared at
the road ahead of him. I didn’t know how to respond to his
allegations; I didn’t know why he hated Kiran so much. But I did
know that Kiran was not evil and that he was not dangerous; at the
same time an uneasy feeling washed over me and a small pit of fear
began to grow in my stomach.

“
There is nothing between
us, really,” I tried to sound confident, but my voice was tiny and
far off.

“
Promise me you will not let
it get farther than what it is right now. Promise me you will stay
away from him,” Avalon turned to face me and the look on his face
was enough to make me promise anything. I quickly shook my head
“yes” and reached out to grab his hand. His skin was cold and when
I touched it the magic easily flowed between us. My senses became
even clearer and my magic became instantly stronger, rushing
quickly throughout my body.

“
He will take that away from
you,” Avalon said sadly, and I understood that he was referencing
our magic. “You have to trust me Eden.”

“
I do,” I said simply,
knowing that it was the complete truth. Whatever it was about
Avalon, and whatever happened to our magic when we were together, I
knew it was no mistake. I trusted him completely, and I knew he
would only do what was best for me. I did not know however, if I
could keep my promise to him and stay away from Kiran.

The rest of the drive home was made in
silence. Avalon’s eyes never softened. I could feel his magic on
edge and irritated. I could feel him always searching our
perimeter, looking for other signs of magic. I was not sure what he
was looking for, but it made me nervous.

Avalon pulled into the same spot on
the street that he took the Lexus from what seemed like hours ago.
He parked it perfectly and I relaxed a little, realizing he brought
it back in excellent condition. We got out of the car, silent still
and he walked me to the door.

I expect to say goodbye to him at the
doorstep, but when I unlocked the front door and turned around to
say goodnight, I realized he was following me inside.

“
Where’s Sylvia?” Avalon
asked. He began to search the downstairs of my house as if
expecting to find an intruder. My throat closed in nervousness,
wondering what exactly he was looking for.

“
Um, I think she’ll be at
the hospital all night,” I noticed that Avalon called my aunt
“Sylvia” and I couldn’t remember ever giving him her full
name.

“
I better stay here tonight.
Do you mind?” he didn’t wait for an answer, but walked over to the
wicker basket of blankets behind the oversized couch and pulled out
a large, warm quilt.

“
I guess not,” I debated
whether to be annoyed or scared, but in the end I decided I trusted
him; and so I walked over to the linen closet and grabbed him a few
feather pillows.

“
Goodnight, Eden,” Avalon
plopped down on the couch and pulled the blanket over him without
even taking off his shoes.

“
Goodnight, Avalon,” I
replied and made my way up the stairs and into the quiet safety of
my bedroom. What a night.

24.

“
It looks like you’ve made a
new best friend,” Kiran’s crisp accent whispered in my ear from
behind. He scared me so I turned too quickly to face him and our
noses bumped. A shot of electricity rushed through my blood as we
were less than millimeters apart from each other. And then I
blushed as I remembered our kiss from the other night.

“
What do you mean?” I asked,
praying my breath had recovered from lunch.

“
The new kid, it looks like
you two are getting along well,” he sat down next to me at the lab
table. Lilly was usually my chemistry partner, but because of her
prolonged absence I was alone today.

“
Avalon is um, nice,” I was
not quite sure what Kiran was getting at; but almost positive he
was just trying to extract some reaction from me.

I turned my attention back to my work,
not really sure what to do. Both Avalon and Principal Saint had
told me countless times to keep my distance from Kiran and I’d done
my best, but Kiran hadn’t been given the same
directions.

Well, actually he had been told to
stay away from me; he just had the luxury of being able to do
whatever he wanted. I found that a tiny bit irritating.

“
I bet he is,” Kiran grunted
and I realized for the first time that Kiran was jealous of Avalon.
I couldn’t hold back a smile. I looked over at Avalon who was
partnered with Adelaide Meyer, extricating her from her usual table
with the “holy trinity”. Despite her separation from Seraphina and
Evangeline she seemed completely at ease. Well at least she was
completely drooling over Avalon, finding any excuse possible to
touch him; my stomach churned violently, but not from
jealousy.

More like I had an internal need to
protect him. I found this weird, since we just met not that long
ago, but the feeling remained despite that fact. I stared at them
for a few seconds longer wondering if Avalon enjoyed the attention
or was as annoyed with her as I was just watching them.
Yuck.

“
Have you met him yet?” I
asked, half joking. I pretended to focus more intently on the busy
work Mr. Hayman assigned, carefully looking up answers from the
Table of Elements.

“
No, not yet. I mean he did
manage to break into my private club and all, but I wouldn’t say
that we have met properly. Would you care to introduce us?” his
English accent was the epitome of gentlemen-like behavior, but I
noticed his eyes roll and shoulders slump a little.

“
My pleasure,” I mumbled. I
glanced again at Avalon understanding why all of the girls fawned
over him, but that didn’t mean I necessarily felt the same way. He
had turned into my only friend since Lilly’s absence and we had a
lot of fun together, well at least a lot of excitement together.
But he was definitely only a friend.

I had tried to like him. I had tried
to play his games; but I couldn’t keep up. Besides I was pretty
confident he was not the least bit interested in me. We were it
seemed, just friends. Actually I didn’t even know if I could say
that. He at least preferred to talk with me more than the other
girls, but I just couldn’t figure him out.

If I understood Kiran’s feelings for
me, or non-feelings for me, maybe I could have understood his
jealousy, but at the moment it didn’t make any sense. Avalon and I
usually sat together and talked together, but it was completely
platonic. Kiran hadn’t tried to do very much of either since he
kissed me. I guessed since he figured out who I was, I was no
longer a curiosity; he probably got bored.

I touched my fingers to my lips
remembering his passion. The back of my neck got hot suddenly and
the electricity surged through my veins. Confusing or not, the
memory of his lips against mine made me dizzy. I noticed that
Kiran’s eyes were also on my lips and he was wearing his signature
smirk.

“
Is he taking you to the
Fall Equinox dance?” Kiran pried, forcing his eyes from my mouth
deep into my own.

“
Hmmm…. I don’t know,” I
tried to be coy, but knew that I would say no even if Avalon did
ask; dancing was not really my thing. “Who are you taking?” I
asked, taking the attention off of myself. I already knew the
answer though; in fact, the whole school knew the answer. It wasn’t
like Seraphina was very quiet about their relationship
anymore.

I was not totally sure if it was
because she thought I was a threat to her precious relationship, or
if she was scared that Kiran really wasn’t that into her; but
whatever the reason, she was no longer reserved about her feelings.
Every chance Seraphina got, she was all over him, or bragging about
him. She loved to talk loudly about what Kiran bought her, or where
he took her. Kiran remained silent, but was always by her side
lately.

“
Are you going to the
dance?” he avoided my question.

“
No, probably not.” I
decided to be honest. I couldn’t play these games; I wasn’t any
good at them.

“
Why not?” Kiran asked
sounding a little panicked.

“
Well dances are not really
my thing, besides I don’t want to go alone. Avalon and I really are
just friends,” I put my pencil down and looked out the window. I’d
been talking to Kiran for too long and felt like I was going to get
into trouble.

Principal Saint warned me every time I
saw him to stay away from Kiran, especially since he caught me at
Kiran’s club the other night. As helpful as he had been in finally
shedding some light on who I was; I found staying away from Kiran
the hardest thing he had asked me to do. I understood that he
hadn’t asked much of me, but there was something about Kiran that I
was unable to keep myself from.

“
Well you don’t have to go
alone. You could um, come with us,” he sounded sincere, and I
flashed him a grave look. He had got to be kidding me. A third
wheel to a date between Kiran and Seraphina, no thank
you.

“
Sounds fun, but I think
I’ll pass. Besides what would your girlfriend have to say about
that?” I rolled my eyes.