Spellbound (the Spellbound Series Book 1) (8 page)

I consider telling him that he’s not a monster to me, and never will be, but my food arrives, and the moment passes. Neither of us speaks another word about Nick’s past.

After dinner, Nick and I cross a bridge that passes over the FDR Drive, to a pathway where pedestrians can walk along it. We walk half of the way to my apartment from there, then stop to rest for a while, both of us staring out onto the East River in a comfortable silence. The lights of the city seem to dance on the rippling water, and even though I’m freezing, I can’t think of a single place I’d rather be. I look over at Nick, and say, “Thank you for tonight. I had a lot of fun.”

“Me too, we should do this again some time.”

“Definitely. We should do something other than eat, though. I felt bad that you had to watch.”

“Don’t worry about it. I still had a good time.”

“You sure? It got depressing back there for a second.”

“Yeah, it’s fine.” Nick turns to me, and smiles nervously. I feel my own lips twitch up in response, my heart rate going haywire as our eyes meet. From the way he’s looking at me, I can tell we’re both suffering from “should we kiss on the first date?” anxiety. The moment feels right, so when he raises an eyebrow, I give a small nod in response. Nick leans in most of the way, and I inch closer, and suddenly, our lips are making contact. I don’t know whether it’s the weather or Nick’s condition, but his lips are cold as polished stone. They’re every bit as soft as mine, though, and he pulls me closer, and I’m on the tips of my toes with my arms around his neck, and soon, his lips are as warm as mine.

We reluctantly pull apart as a jogger runs past us, and I fight to suppress the silly grin spreading across my face. I didn’t know what to expect from my first kiss, but I know I enjoyed it. Nick can’t seem to contain himself either, and I lean in for another. As our lips touch again, I notice that a light snow is beginning to fall.

Chapter 9

For the next few days, I keep forgetting that the date wasn’t a dream, and I grip the emerald pendant above my bed every morning, just to make sure that I’m still grounded in reality. The whole date plays over and over in my head, always culminating in the amazing first kiss I’d been too cynical to expect. If I close my eyes, I can still feel Nick’s lips on mine, a ghost of the experience itself. I want so badly to kiss him again the next time I see him, but when we meet after school on Monday, we just link hands and head for his place.

Being around him feels… different. We’re still the same people, and we still act the same around each other as we always have. There’s just an extra layer of intimacy coating our relationship now, and it’s as if every moment with him is suddenly too short, though if I could will it, they would last forever. The closer we come to Nick’s building, that more I wish we could walk somewhere, anywhere else. But we eventually make it to our destination, and I know our short time alone must come to an end. We’re still holding hands when we walk through the door, though, and Krystal notices. She lets out a tiny sigh, but says nothing.

When we make it up to the roof, I notice that there are a bunch of wooden targets scattered around. Krystal has me stand in the middle, and fire various pebbles at the targets at breakneck speed. This goes on for almost a week; Krystal won’t teach me any new spells until she’s satisfied that I won’t kill anyone with my poor aim. It’s slow going at first, but by Friday, I can hit almost all of the targets eight times out of ten. Krystal determines that as long as what I’m trying to hit is standing still, I’ll be fine. Next week, I’ll start learning elemental spells, and I’m excited beyond words. I’ll finally be learning something that can be used in a fight.

Nick walks me home after Krystal gives me the okay to leave, as always. His fingers slip between mine, and it feels like we’ve entered our own world again. It’s warm enough now that I don’t need gloves, but still cold enough for me to see my own breath. For the first time, I wish Nick’s temperature wasn’t dependant on his surroundings; I’m sorely tempted to hold him closer for warmth, but his body offers none.

We stop in front of my building to say goodnight, and Nick asks me what I’m doing tomorrow. I want to say nothing, but I remember that tomorrow night is the full moon. “Crap, I have to go to that counseling thing with Rachel tomorrow.”

“Oh right, Landon’s support group.”

“Yeah, I promised I would go with her.”

“Cool. I’ve gone to a couple of meetings before, they’re usually pretty interesting.”

Before I can stop myself, I say, “You can come with us, if you like.” I immediately regret letting that slip out; now he probably thinks I’m desperate to spend time with him. In reality, I just don’t want to be the only non-werewolf in attendance.

Thankfully, Nick doesn’t question my motives. He just says, “I’d love to,” and kisses me on the forehead like he always does at the end of the night now. “I’ll meet you there. Goodnight!”

I plant a tiny kiss on his cheek, like always, and whisper back, “Goodnight,” before stepping into my building.

The next day, Rachel comes over a couple of hours before the meeting is set to begin. She’s already looking a little worse for wear; she doesn’t seem to have slept at all. When I ask her if she’s alright, she says, “Yeah, mostly. I was up all night working on a paper that should have been handed in yesterday. Emailed it just after 5 A.M.”

“Well, geez,” I mutter, “tonight is gonna be especially rough for you then.”

“You have no idea. Werewolves are bad enough… a tired, cranky werewolf just might eat your whole family.”

She’s joking. At least, I hope she is.

The address on the card Rachel has is somewhere in Queens, so we leave an hour or so before the meeting is scheduled to start. The trains are mercifully empty, which is pretty surprising for a sunny, mildly warm Saturday afternoon. We arrive at the address in Flushing, Queens about fifteen minutes before 4 PM. The building turns out to be pretty short, only two floors, and gray both inside and out. There are a few people already in the appointed room, some chatting and nibbling on the free sandwiches, some sitting quietly and reading. More people show as it gets closer to 4, including Nick and Landon, the former of which gives me a hello kiss before taking the seat on my left.

Finally, it’s time to start, and a tall, dark skinned man in his forties walks into the room. Unlike everyone else, he’s dressed up for the occasion, sporting a midnight blue suit with a red cravat. At his request, we move the chairs into a circle, and he addresses the group. “Good evening everyone, glad you all found the place alright. For the fresh faces we have here tonight, my name is Doctor Lucian, and I have been a werewolf for roughly seventeen years. Before we start, I’d like to go around the room and have everyone introduce themselves to the group. First name and your nature, please.”

For a moment, I have no idea what he meant by “nature”, and then the young man to Doctor Lucian’s left says, “My name is Amaury, and I’m a werewolf.” The introductions continue, with the person to the left always speaking next, and only a few stand out; Kamal, a werejaguar; Dalton, a werebear; Cora, a werepanther; there’s even a weresquirrel, an appropriately small man named Tom. I previously had no idea that were-folk could come in anything other than wolf form, but the vast majority of those in attendance are wolves. Eventually, the circle of introduction comes to Rachel, who merely says, “Rachel. Werewolf.”

I’m next, so I say, “I’m Heather, and I’m a spellcaster.”

By the whispers that follow, I can tell that they’re all surprised. I guess spellcasters aren’t very common anymore, because a few of them are regarding me as if I’m a long lost artifact. When Nick speaks, he doesn’t get nearly as much attention; all eyes are still on me. It’s a little unsettling, and I’m shifting uncomfortably in my seat when Doctor Lucian says, “Alright, now that we know a little more about each other, who would like to speak first?”

The first to speak is Madison, one of the many wolves. “For once, I have good news,” she says. “I finally told my boyfriend about my condition. He was surprisingly supportive. He even wanted to be here tonight, but he had to work. It’s a relief, not having to hide something this huge from someone I love so much. I almost feel… liberated.”

The group claps, and I join them. It’s inspiring to hear this woman’s story, but at the same time, it reminds me that I have yet to tell my mother anything about the strange direction my life has taken. She’s the only close family I’ve got, and she has absolutely no idea what I’ve become, or what I’m capable of. She doesn’t even know where I go after school; she thinks I spend all of my afternoons with Rachel or Jenna.
Soon
, I promise myself.
Soon, I’ll tell her everything
.

A few other people speak, mostly about their recent success stories, and after a while, to my surprise, Rachel volunteers. In all the years I’ve known her, I’ve only seen her cry once or twice. Tears spring to her eyes now, but she manages to keep them in, and speaks in a trembling voice. “Part of me wants to believe this is all a hoax, or that I’m going insane. I don’t want to believe that I can become that… thing, that monster. I don’t have it in me to kill anyone or anything on a normal day, I don’t even eat meat if I can avoid it. But during the full moon, I lose everything I am. I’m usually aware of what’s going on when I transform, and almost through the eyes of a stranger, I see myself ripping animals to shreds, dragging people into the trees, feasting on anything in sight… and I hate myself more and more with every drop of blood on my hands. I don’t know how I’ll ever forgive myself for the things I’ve done. I don’t know how anyone could ever be at peace with this life.”

The whole room is silent now, and several people seem to be in danger of bursting into tears themselves. They’re probably thinking of their own experiences, remembering thinking along the same lines at some point in their lives. It’s Doctor Lucian who finally breaks the silence. “We’ve all been there before. Learning to live as a were is one of the hardest things you can ever do with your life. In fact, about three out of five people bitten choose to take their own lives, rather than learn to forgive themselves. But that’s mostly because they try to go it alone.” He gestures at the people around him, and says, “Every wolf needs a pack. We’re here to help each other.”

Rachel asks, “How can you help me?”

Doctor Lucian smiles, and answers, “The first step is to remember that no matter what your instincts tell you, you can learn to ignore them. At the end of the day, you are the master of your own body, no matter what form it takes. We’ll help you learn how to tame the beast later on tonight.” He checks his watch, and adds, “The moon is going to be rising soon. For safety reasons, I’m going to have to ask our non-were friends to leave at this point.”

I look at Nick, who’s already standing. He’s been to meetings before, so I ask him, “What’s going on?”

“They’re going down to a bunker where they can transform without hurting anyone,” he says. “There have been a few accidents in the past.”

“Oh.” I stand up as well, and look over at Rachel, who wipes her eyes and stares at the ground. I whisper to her, “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Alright…” She looks fine now, but I catch how her voice wavers, and I can tell she’s worried about being left alone. But she isn’t, not really; she’s got Landon with her in case anything goes wrong. Nick and I wave goodbye to them both, then make our exit as quietly as possible while the meeting resumes.

The train ride back to Manhattan seems much shorter than the trip to Queens, especially with my head on Nick’s shoulder. I’ve never sat like this with a guy before, and it’s surprisingly comfortable. I’m a little worried about Rachel, truth be told, but at the same time, I’m nearly calm enough to fall asleep on Nick. I’m still not used to the way we slip into our own little world when we’re together, and how it makes all the pressures of the real world seem less important. No one has ever had such a calming effect on me before. We transfer to a train heading uptown, and that ride seems even shorter. It hardly feels like any time has passed when we’ve reached our stop.

We step off the train, and as soon as we do, I sense that something is wrong. The station itself looks normal, if more empty than usual, and Nick… that’s what’s wrong. He’s frozen in place, as is everyone else on the train and the platform. I snap my fingers in his face, and get no reaction whatsoever. A voice from behind me says, “It’s no use. I didn’t want anyone interfering, so they’re all frozen in time.”

I spin around, and notice the speaker standing with her back against the wall. I recognize her from somewhere, I think from school. Black coat, black shirt, black skirt, black combat boots, and thick rimmed rectangular glasses framing golden eyes. And then, I remember; she’s the purple haired girl from school. The one who sits at the table in the corner during lunch, scribbling in her notebook, and occasionally stopping to glance at me. I remember now how every time I catch her eyes on me, they dart away. “Who are you?,” I ask, “and what are you talking about?”

She fixes her golden eyes on me, and for the first time, I’m close enough to see that they’re not actually contacts, as I had suspected. “My name’s Alyssa, and I’ve been meaning to talk to you alone. Kind of hard to do that, since you’re always around either Fangs, Dim Sum, or the Ginger. So, I had to resort to freezing time for a while.”

“How-“

“We’ve only got half a minute left, I can’t hold this spell for very long.”

Did she just say…? “Wait, you’re a spellcaster?”

“Yes, but we don’t have time for questions, just listen. I’ve noticed that your magic has gotten much stronger over the past few weeks, which means you’re more than likely being taught how to use it. And since there is exactly one experienced spellcaster I can think of that wouldn’t belong to any New York City clan, it’s easy to guess who your mentor is. Now, this is going to be my only opportunity to give you a warning, so listen closely. The two of you need to be careful. If Selene locates either of you, you’re as good as dead.”