Wicked Fate (The Wicked Trilogy) (42 page)

“That’s co
mpletely different! I can’t even believe you would even say…”

I’m cut off as he quickly comes to me and pulls me to him. He kisses
me har
d at first, but soon it softens. I stand
there not kissing him back
,
yet no
t pushing him away either. It’s so wrong. It’s wrong to Adam and it’s wrong to Ben.  Suddenly, he’
s pulled
abruptly away from me and
thrown into the bed of pillows on the library floor.

He glares
back up at me with hurt in his eyes.

I didn’t touch him and I didn’t magicall
y push him down, yet there he i
s lying flat on his
back staring up at me like I’m the worst
person in the world.

“Ben, I…” I search
for an explanation.

“Don’t! I should’ve known better,” he ge
t
s up to leave.
“It’s not your fault that I fell for you, it’s mine. You didn’t do anything wrong. Take care of yourself. I’ll be in touch abo
ut the dance,” he slams the door as he leaves
.

I want to go after him, I’m drawn to him in his moment of sadness, but I don’t move.

What’
s happening to me? What had just happened to him?

I come
to the conclusion that it was
either Thaddeus or Adam that knocked Ben away from me, but how?
O
ut of all the spirits that I’ve
ever come across
,
none had the ability to touch a l
iving person.

“Adam?” I ask
out loud.

I feel
a breez
e blow across my face and I know it’
s h
im. I feel him as he gets closer to me. I take
a deep b
reath and enjoy
th
e tingling sensation that pours
through me.

I sleep in the library
on the bed
of pillows. By the time I wake
the next morning
,
Ben
’s already gone. I feel
bad
…I feel
really
bad.

I spend
the day being teased by Bernie. Sh
e calls me Mage Lane and mak
e
s kissy faces at me. She knows about me and Ben’s dance date and is now convinced that we’ll
be sister
-in-laws in the future. I don’t bother telling her that I accidently broke
her brother’s heart.

Chapter
32

The Spell

After months of not writing in my journal, I pull
out the purple notebook that Adam had
given me.  I can’t
write about sadness, because it hurt
s too badly. I can’t
write about love, because that would leave me in my room for the rest of the day.

All I wa
nt i
s to be able to see Adam and my family again. If only I could find a spell that would at least bring back
my ability to see spirits
. Maybe then I could convince Thaddeus to give me the spell to bring Adam back.

It’
s aggr
avating! All this time, I’ve never
had to use any of the spells written in any of the journals. I could naturally do everything, except this.
Go figure, it’s my luck
that no spell for bringing b
ack the eye exists—unless of course, I write my own.

I
put my pen to the paper and close my eyes. I think of the thing I want the most.

A true vision of love, you are, and there you will stand with me.
No longer my i
magination, but an actual image
that I can see.
A
dream of lov
e will come to me even while I am
awake. No binding of hate is strong enough, no binding our love can’t break.

I repeat
those words over an
d over again.

I expect
to open my eyes and see everyone
standing there, but when I open my eyes there’s only Ghost. And not the ghost I want
to see.

I close the notebook and throw
my pen hard against it. The shiny silver
stars and crescent moons pull my attention to them. I think
of the d
ay I
receiv
ed the notebook and tears form
in my eyes.

How much longer can
I
go on like this? How long will
it take for me to officially shut down?

Now that Bernie i
s always g
one with Kale and Ben is back in school, I’m completely alone again.

My mind works too much when I have
no one there to occupy
it. All the old memories surface and I
spend the rest of the day in a daze.

I figure
the best thing
for me to do i
s try and occup
y myself, and the only way I know how to do that i
s to use my mag
ic. After making sure that I’m
compl
etely alone, I go
out to my
favorite of the gardens and use my magic to
cl
ean it up a bit. The house i
s still in excellent shape, but things j
ust need a tweak
.

Ghost follows me around and I laugh as she attacks
random insec
ts the way Sire used to. I hear
Bernie p
ull up about the same time I’m
finishing up
the last of the gardens. I hear
the front door to
the house slam shut and figure that she’s inside to settle
down on the phone with Kale for the rest of the night.

I’m so happy for her. She deserves the happiness that Kale i
s giving he
r. I think
it’s
cute how she tries
to cover the fact
that she’s so happy, like being happy is rude since I’m
so miser
able. The truth is
the fact that Bern
ie and the others around me are so happy makes
me feel happy as well.

A rustle in the bus
hes across from the garden catches
me off guard and I sho
o
t my attention t
o the bush in question. I look down and see that it isn’t Ghost since she’
s at my feet
. I wonder
to myself what could be large enough to make that bush practically move on its own.

Suddenly, a massive gray paw appears under the bush and I know instantly who it is. I watch as the enormous gray head appears and disappears
back
into the bush. The bush rumbles and
then a tall m
an garbed in a long gray robe appears. I don’t
know whether to smile or be afraid.

Richard Cain had never
re
ally tried to cause me any harm; still, I can’t
help but feel like I should be ready to attack. Just the memories of that horrid battle
with Craven, has
me on edge.

My father’s
a tall
powerful looking man. He looks
more powerful now than he did the
last time I saw him. I wonder to myself what changes have
happened to him over the last few months to make him appear more confident and powerful in the eyes of others.

A smile spread
s
across h
is face before he slowly starts to walk towards me. He stops in front of me and reaches up to brush
a thick piece of blac
k hair out of my eye. I see my reflection in his mirror-like eyes. I relax when I see the love flash across them
.

“I’ve misse
d you so much,” he says
.

“I guess I’ve missed you
,
too.”

We both smile because we both know that I’m talking about my dog, Sire.

“How’s my mother?”

“She’s w
ell. H
opefully it won’t be long before I
’ll have her out of that god awful
plac
e she loves so much,” he sniffs
to himself.

“That’s good. I hope she’
s happy. I hope you are
,
too.”

“I haven’t been this happy in a long time. I just wish I could say the same for you. I’m so sorry
,
Mage.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I could’
ve tried harder, but it’s different for me. I’ve never been a power
ful man. My only skill is
shifting, I own no fire. That fact made my father very unhappy. I’m sorry.”

The sadness
of that day in particular washes over me. I can
feel the pressure in my chest starting to build
with each sad thought. I don’t
want him to
see me cry so I quickly change
the subject.

“Is something wrong or is this a social
visit?” I ask.

“There’s nothing wrong.
I have a gift from your mother.”

“Okay, what is it?” I ask
.

He takes a step closer and smiles at me. He reaches
in
to his pocket and pulls
o
ut a little black box. He opens
my hand and sits
the little
box in my palm before bending down and kissing
my forehead.

“She said to wear the
se to the dance. She also wants
me
to tell you that a
blue dress woul
d be your best bet. She said…ah…that it will
bring out your eyes,” he co
ughs
uncomfortably
.

It’s funny to hear this big
man talk about how pretty a dre
ss would be with my eyes. It mak
e
s
me smile.

I open the box and look
down at a pair of beautiful diamond earrings.
They’re beautiful and
perfect
for me. Not flashy or noticeable—perfect
. I would cherish these earrings fo
r the rest of my days. They are
my first and only gift from
my mother, besides my life
.

“I’ll tell her you said thank yo
u,” he laughs at the fact that I’m speechless.
“Your mother and I love you
,
Mage. I may not know how
to
show it y
et, but if you’ll let me, I’
d like to try.”

I want him to try. I want
both of them to try.

“When I’m able to breathe again…
you, me, and my mother nee
d to have a long talk. There are
still so ma
ny unanswered questions,” I say
.

“You kno
w where to find us,” he responds
before backing away from me.

I watch
h
im disappear into the bushes.

I don’t question how my mother kno
w
s about this dance that I’ve agreed to. There’
s no need t
o question it. It is what it i
s.

Speaking of the dance, how am
I
supposed to go to a formal dance? I don’t even know how to dance! Th
en suddenly another thought comes to mind and I flinch. Bernie’
s
going to try and make me over. I can only imagine what I’ve gotten myself into. I’m sure it’ll be gaggles of fun…not! Hair and make-up here I come!

Chapter
33

The Belle of the Ball

I go
in
side and mak
e myself a sandwich. I put out some food fo
r Ghost and then I clean
the kitchen with my hand
s, not my magic. Soon, Lesley’
s home from work and the four of us, Lesle
y, Bernie, Kale, and I are
in the kitchen making dinner.