Spellbound (Spellbringers Book 1) (25 page)

On Friday night, I slept with my phone
close by in case Bryce called while I was still asleep. When my
eyes popped open at a quarter past eight on Saturday morning, I
anxiously checked my phone for missed calls. Nothing. I sure wished
he would have been a little more specific about the time. A long
day stretched out ahead of me with nothing to look forward to but
that phone call. I hesitated to take a shower for fear he might
call and I wouldn’t hear it ring over the rushing water. Or that I
wouldn’t be able to get to my phone quickly enough. For the sake of
personal hygiene, I finally put my phone in a water-proof plastic
bag and took a bath.

Hours passed, but still no phone call.
I waited for Rachel to pick me up and take me to Jace’s house for
lunch.

“Why are you so jumpy?” Rachel asked
as we pulled out of my driveway.

“Bryce is on an off-site training
excursion and he might be able to call me today,” I explained in a
rush. “I don’t know what time he’s going to call. It’s driving me
crazy.”

She laughed. “It’s driving me crazy
too, and I’ve only been with you for two minutes. You’d better get
a grip on yourself, or you’ll worry Abe and Jerica.”

I felt too hyper and overanxious to be
able to enjoy myself, but I tried to put on a good show in front of
the Alexander family. When my phone rang halfway through lunch, I
jumped out of my seat so fast, I nearly overturned it.

“I’m sorry,” I stammered. “I’ll be
right back. It could be…” I looked at Rachel, willing her to cover
for me. She rolled her eyes in response. Rushing from the room and
out to the back patio, I pushed the talk button.

“Hello.” My lungs felt constricted and
I could hardly get the words out.

“Wow, it’s good to hear your voice.”
Bryce was practically yelling, so I guessed the reception wasn’t as
good as he’d hoped. It was good enough, though.

“You too.” After several months and
hundreds of emails, I couldn’t think of anything to say.

“Alisa, I miss you so much. I can’t
wait to see you again. I thought talking to you would make me feel
better, but it just makes me want to see you even more.” Bryce
spoke so rapidly, I could barely keep up.

“I miss you too. These past few days
have been horrible. I’ve probably sent you ten emails just out of
habit.” My voice shook with emotion. After waiting for this moment
for days, it was overwhelming.

“We’ll be back at the dorm late
tonight and I’ll read every email you sent. June seems so far away.
I can’t wait to see you. Did you tell Mom and Dad I might be
calling today?”

Bryce and I had never discussed how
our correspondence might be viewed by others. Did he assume I
discussed our long-distance friendship with his family? Maybe Bryce
saw us as nothing more than friends and figured it would be natural
for me to mention our online friendship. Maybe I’d been reading too
much into it.

“No, I didn’t. Bryce, have you told
them how often we write to each other?” I asked.

“No. It never felt like the right
time. I wanted to wait until you were sure about us.” He sounded
uncertain. He couldn’t have been any more uncertain than I was.
Tell them what? I didn’t know there was an “us.” How exactly did he
view our relationship?

“Alisa, I want to see you when I come
home. Well, I want to do more than see you. I want us to be
together. I’m no good at this. Am I making sense?”

I decided to take the plunge. “So, you
want me to wait for you? You want us to be a couple?” I began
blushing as soon as the words were out of my mouth. If I’d
misinterpreted what Bryce was trying to say, I would never be able
to face him again.

“Yes. I can’t imagine being with
anyone but you and I can’t stand the idea of you being with anyone
but me.” His voice sent shivers over every inch of my
body.

“I’m already waiting for you, Bryce. I
couldn’t imagine being with anyone else,” I admitted, joy making my
heart leap in my chest.

“I should call Mom and Dad. Are you
there now?”

“Yes, I’m in your backyard. They’re
probably wondering why I rushed out to take this phone call. Maybe
they think I have a secret lover, or a drug dealer.”

“If they try to guess, I would put my
money on secret lover as their first choice. The way you blush, you
won’t be able to keep me a secret for long.” He laughed out loud.
It was good to hear him laugh without a trace of mockery or
darkness. He was like a new person.

“We’re heading out in a few minutes,
and I still need to stop in one of the shops before we leave, so I
guess I’d better call my parents. I’ll send you an email as soon as
we get back to Central. I love you,” he said.

“I love you too.” The line
disconnected. I had to stand outside for a few minutes to compose
myself. It was funny how easily those words flowed from my lips. It
was a life changing moment.

When some of the heat faded from my
cheeks, I went back inside and joined the family in the dining
room.

“Bryce is on the phone,” Jace mouthed
to me, pointing at a glowing Jerica. She held her cell phone
lovingly, like she was holding a little piece of the son she missed
so badly. I knew she worried about Bryce, not just because of his
dangerous calling, but because of his inability to show his
emotions.

I began to worry when Jerica started
to cry. Abe looked alarmed at first, but relaxed visibly when he
realized she was still smiling. “Baby, let me put your dad on the
phone. I love you too.” She handed the phone to Abe and mopped at
her eyes with a napkin. Jerica waved away Jace’s attempt to ask her
why she was crying. “Later,” she whispered.

The expression on Abe’s face went from
confusion, to sadness, to joy. “I’m so proud of you son,” he said,
his voice breaking. “I love you. Goodbye, Bryce.”

It took a few seconds for Abe to get
control of his emotions. He looked at Jerica, then over at me. He
winked and smiled. I couldn’t imagine what that was
about.

“What’s going on?” Jace asked. “Why
are you two crying? Is Bryce okay?”

“I’m not crying,” Abe said. “Your mom
is. Bryce is fine. We just cleared the air a little, that’s all. He
said he’s thinking about exploring a different career. He said he
only joined WTB because of Royce. He stayed out of a thirst for
revenge, even though he knew he wasn’t cut out for the
job.”

“He actually talked about Royce?” Jace
asked in amazement.

“He’s looking into making a transfer
to the Watcher Academy next year. Or he may not go back to Central
at all.” Abe caught Jerica’s eye and they both smiled. “He said
he’ll send us an email when he gets back to the dorm. Apparently,
his unit has been out on a training mission and he was able to get
phone reception on his way back. Man, it was good to hear his
voice. I haven’t heard him sound so happy in…wow.”

The room fell silent. I held my
breath, praying no one would think to ask me who called my phone
and why I’d been so desperate to answer it.

“Well, everyone,” Jerica said. I
almost jumped out of my seat. “Let me go get the
dessert.”

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was
so relieved she didn’t ask me about that phone call. But I wasn’t
out of the woods yet.

“Hey, who called you?” Jace asked as
Jerica left the dining room.

“Jace,” Rachel interrupted. “Can you
do me a favor? I think I left my cell phone in the car. Can you go
get it for me?” Rachel saved the day. I owed her big.

“Oh, yeah. I can’t wait to see your
new phone.” Jace’s ADD kicked in, his previous question to me
completely forgotten. He got up and bolted out the front
door.

I hoped he would become so absorbed in
Rachel’s new technological device, he would forget all about that
phone call. Then I felt guilty for being such a bad friend. I
remembered there was a time not too long ago that I’d jumped him
for keeping Rachel a secret, and now I was doing the same thing.
With his own brother.

Jace reappeared after a few minutes.
“I can’t find it.”

“Oh, I forgot. It’s right here in my
pocket,” Rachel said, thrusting the shiny, new phone toward
him.

His eyes lit up with glee as he
snatched it from her. By the time his mother came back into the
room with the cake, he’d forgotten everything but the possibilities
presented by a new piece of communication technology.

Silently thanking Rachel—and the
inventors of her new phone—I allowed my mind to drift a little,
thinking about the email I hoped would be waiting for me when I
arrived home that evening.

Jace interrupted my thoughts. “So,
Alisa. You never answered my question. Who called you
earlier?”

Damn Jace to the pit of Hell. I could
feel everyone watching me as they waited for my answer. Basically,
I had three options. Option one: I could answer the question right
then and there and endure the interrogation that would be sure to
follow. Everyone would know I’d been holding out. Jace, and
possibly his parents, would be hurt and angry by my deception.
Option two: I could lie, but I suspected Jerica might have a few
mind reading tricks up her sleeve, so that would probably backfire.
Option three: I could say “Look, a grizzly bear,” and run out of
the house while everyone was distracted, never to return
again.

Option three sounded good. Four people
waited for my response. I dared a quick glance at Rachel and she
nodded in encouragement. My face heated and was undoubtedly turning
fire-engine red like it always did when I was nervous, embarrassed,
or stressed.

“It was some guy, wasn’t it?” Jace
blurted. “Who is it? Ooh, Alisa’s been holding out.” Jace smiled,
enjoying my embarrassment. Time to wipe the smile off his face. I
took a deep breath.

“Yes, it was a guy.” I willed myself
to continue and tried not to look anyone in the eye. “It was Bryce.
He’s been emailing me ever since Winter Break and…” I broke off,
unable to continue. The silence was so thick, I couldn’t breathe. I
waited for someone to say something.

“No, Rachel, it’s not okay,” Jace
said, obviously in response to some internal message from his
girlfriend. “This sucks. I may have kept Rachel secret for a few
weeks, but this is different. Bryce is my brother and you know how
I feel about him. You know he’s just doing this to piss me off. He
doesn’t even like humans, Alisa.”

Jace got up from the table and stormed
out of the room. I was too shocked to start crying—yet. I knew the
tears would come, most likely at the worst possible time. What if
Jace was right? What if Bryce didn’t like me? What if it was just a
big practical joke from one brother to the other? I tried to
convince myself otherwise, but I couldn’t think of a single reason
why Bryce would want to be with me in the first place.

All my self-doubts came crashing down
and the tears came at last. Rachel, the good-hearted person that
she was, left Jace to pout in his bedroom. Instead of following
him, she reached over and took my hand.

“He’s just angry. He’ll get over it.
Jace didn’t mean what he said. You know how he is,” she murmured
sympathetically.

The thing was, I didn’t know. I’d
never seen him that angry before. I felt like I didn’t really know
my best friend at all. Or, maybe ex-best friend.

“Don’t cry, Alisa,” Jerica said.
“Rachel is right. Jace will get over this in no time. I’m glad you
and Bryce are friends. Or is it more?”

I could feel her willing me to look at
her. Unable to resist, I looked into her eyes.

“I see that it is. I thought as much.
Bryce told me on the phone that you two had become close. Alisa, do
you remember what I told you at Christmastime? I said ‘Be patient
with my son. He can be difficult, but he’s worth it.’ I wasn’t
talking about Jace.” Jerica gave my hand a squeeze and left the
room in pursuit of Jace.

“Jerica sees things others don’t,” Abe
said. “Have faith in Bryce. And Jace. Things will work out. I
promise.”

I smiled at him, trying to look
reassured. Abe and Jerica sounded like fortune tellers with their
vague predictions which could mean anything or nothing.

Abe began clearing the table, waving
away Rachel’s attempt to help. “You two girls go to the living
room. I’m sure Jace will be out in a few minutes.”

I followed Rachel and slumped onto the
sofa, feeling like my life was over. I had totally screwed up
things with Jace. After everything he’d done for me, bringing me
into his home and into his family, I chose to repay him by talking
to his older brother behind his back.

“Stop chewing on your fingernails,”
Rachel scolded. “You worry too much. Jace will be out here any
second. He feels like an idiot and is trying to find a way to
apologize for what he said to you.”

“How do you…oh, never mind.” For some
reason, it hadn’t occurred to me that Rachel and Jace would be
communicating the whole time. Jerica came into the living room,
followed by her shame-faced son.

“Alisa, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what
I said.” He stopped talking and looked at his mother. She got the
hint and left the room. “Look, you know how I feel about Bryce.
We’ve never been able to get along for more than thirty seconds at
a time. I always think the worst of him, so my first instinct was
to accuse him of using you to mess with me.”