“God, Mexican food is so much better here.” She said after a moment.
We spent the rest of the afternoon driving around, jamming out to music, and trying every food that we were interested in. We found this shop on Treadaway that served donuts that were works of fluffy pastry art. They were fried crisp on the outside, with the perfect amount of glaze, but gooey and airy on the inside.
Ivy kept bringing up Ryker, but I guessed I was the only person she really had to talk to about all this, so I tried to be supportive. The problem was that they both knew this was a permanent thing. I mean, come on, their souls found each other in Ivy’s dimension, how much of a universal sign do they need? Ivy understands this and is ready just to live her life, happy, with Ryker. Ryker, on the other hand, is an eighteen-year-old who wasn’t quite ready to settle down yet. Though I knew he would never do anything with Melody, this was probably the result of some teen angst he still had in him about it.
“You have lots of time.” I reminded her when she started a stream of bitching again.
“I know, and it’s not like I want to marry him tomorrow or anything. I just don’t want him to kiss me one day and then jump in a car with a bimbo another.” Ivy demanded, half crying - half enraged. Only girls could show such complexity in emotion. It was like art.
“Wait, he kissed you? Like in the real world?” I demanded. “Is that what you two were doing outside last night?”
“Yeah.” She snapped. “He told me all this crap about how he didn’t like being away from me, especially when danger was lurking. Like with his dad and stuff, he said that all he wanted was for me to be there. Like he felt incomplete without my presence.” She paused for a moment. “That was all just crap, wasn’t it? And I fell for it.” I mean, I understood Ivy’s perception, but it was just a kiss. I stole kisses all the time, it wasn’t that big of a deal.
Then it hit me.
“Oh, Ivy, was that your first kiss?” I asked. She looked at me for a long moment and then turned to gaze out of the windshield.
“So, what if it was.” She shrugged. Oh, damn it. This was so much worse than I thought.
“Alright,” I now understood what was happening. “Yes, Ryker is a jerk for saying those things to you, and then, I don’t know, not saving you a spot, I guess. Yes, he’s stupid.” I assured her, “But do you think that maybe your reaction is a little, err, inflamed, because of the freshness of the situation?” I tried to say that as gently as possible.
“So, you’re saying I'm being sensitive?” She asked after a moment of contemplation. I just shrugged.
“Did you like the kiss?” I asked her after a moment. A smile lightened her face.
“Yeah, I did.” She answered.
“Well, then that’s all that matters. Look, you don’t know what he’s doing with Melody. It could be exactly what you’re thinking, or it could be that their just driving around like we are. Ryker’s an idiot sometimes, but you know how honorable he is. I mean he broke up with his girlfriend because he had a dream about you.” I spit some mad logic.
“Your right, I guess I can start working on trust while I wait for him to determine when the right time for us is.” She rolled her eyes. That seemed to calm her down. Now for the cherry on top.
“And Ivy,” I set my hand on her arm for impact, “He does understand how important this is, that’s why he’s taking it so slowly,” I assured her. She smiled and nodded.
“Why don’t we check in. I bet the guy is bored.” I said, picking up the radio.
“Camelot One, this is Camelot Two, checking in, over,” I said into the speaker. We heard some commotion and then some laughing.
“Oh, Ryker, stop it!” Melody laughed and then static. Ivy did that laser eye thing, looking like she might actually shoot green magic at me, burning my skin off of my bones.
“Sorry about that Camelot Two.” Ryker was laughing into the radio, “We had a little turbulence, over.” He laughed. At that moment I wanted to reach into the radio and smack the hell out of Ryker. It wasn’t that I cared much if he hurt Ivy’s feelings, that was his business, but I just got her to calm down. Wispy tendrils of green magic started to fill the car.
“Ivy, you’re leaking, hun,” I said and then turned back to the radio.
“Want to meet up soon? Over.” I said into the radio, hoping I could somehow convince the girls to switch cars so I could have some peace, and maybe also save me from bodily harm.
“Uh, yeah, looks like there are some restaurants on Cyprus Street, want to meet there? Over.”
“Sounds good, over and out,” I said into the radio.
“Oh, now we have to go have dinner with them?” Ivy snapped.
“Ivy, I want you to take this opportunity to remember that you are descendent of Lady Morgana Le Fay.” I pointed out to her. Ivy contemplated that for a moment.
“Yeah, the hell with her, I’m the most powerful sorceress in the world. Hell, I’m even more powerful than you, Emrys.” She started to buck up now.
“Uh, I don’t think so.” No one was stronger than an Emrys, that was the point.
“Oh yeah, I registered a thousand MPS on the magic-o-meter,” Ivy said. We stopped at a red light, and I stared at her.
“No, you did not. Do you know how astronomically high that is?” I debated. We all were tested with the magicometer at the entrance exam. The magicometer was a magical tool that the government or companies used to measure how much magic could flow through a person per second. The higher magic-per-second, the more powerful a wizard was.
“I broke the world record with three hundred on the magicometer.” I then asserted.
“It was a thousand, believe me, or not, on the magic-O-meter.” She shrugged. I decided to ignore her mispronunciation.
Now it was my turn to be aggravated. I knew that with Ivy around, I was no longer the most powerful wizard in the room. I expected that. But for her to be that much more? She really was a nuclear bomb disguised as a cheerleader. I grappled with that realization as I drove the few blocks to Ryker. Then, another realization hit me. We left Ryker alone, with no magical backup. Melody was strong in her own right, but there weren’t very many large bodies of water in the middle of Texas. I tried not to think that way, but the closer we got to Cypress Street, the more it bothered me.
Chapter Eight:
Ivy:
I hated this. I had never been so angry in my life. Since I was a kid, Grams and my parents had taught me coping practices to keep my magic from slipping out. So far, I had been highly successful, even managing to blend in at a human school. All that was out the window now as I stared across the table at Ryker and Melody. They were telling us a supposedly hilarious story about how a cat had jumped out in the road. The cat was fine, but Melody’s shirt, now covered in soda, was not. So then, as this enchanting story played out, they found a t-shirt shop and Melody bought a shirt that had one of the local college logos on it, a Warhawk.
“You should have seen Ryker blush when I just whipped off my shirt right there in the parking lot.” She laughed. I had to keep calm; we were in a restaurant full of humans. I did my 4-7-8 breathing, just like my parents had taught me. If he wanted her, then there was nothing I could do about it.
“So, I figure we’ll keep up the patrol until after midnight,” Ryker said, changing the subject. He set his honey-colored eyes on me, and I gave him a good glare.
“So that way we cover the witching-hour,” Melody said in a spooky voice.
I should have listened to my parents. Before I left, they pulled me aside and discussed their trepidations about letting their seventeen-year-old daughter travel around the state with a pack of teenagers. They understood that my situation was different than normal human kids and that my success in school was resting on this, but they did warn me not to become too emotional, especially when it came to Ryker. My parents knew everything because I told them everything. They were my biggest support, and we had always been close. I assured them that Ryker and I were
being very responsible with this, that is, until he allowed that raven-haired nymph into his car.
He had been so sweet the day before when he had pulled me behind my parents’ house. His honeyed words, mixed with physical closeness, and the way his eyes darkened when he asked if he could kiss me . . . I was a fool. I couldn’t believe that I was one of those girls that fell for his stupid words. He didn’t know what he wanted, that was clear, and I should have known better. I got my hopes up for nothing.
It was a great kiss, though.
“So, after this, Ryker and I are going to patrol those neighborhoods towards the west.” Melody was saying.
“Oh, I figured you guys would switch,” Owen said. At that moment, I could not love my best friend more.
“Why?” Melody asked. Ryker stared across the table at me, as if he was suddenly aware that I was upset. He furrowed his eyebrows and nodded his head towards me as if asking what was wrong. I just shrugged.
“Because,” Owen leaned forward, taking her hand in his, “I was hoping to have some time with you.” He winked. Melody giggled, suddenly distracted. Ryker jerked his head towards the salad bar and then stood. I followed him.
“What’s up? You look . . . green.” His eyes swept over me. I was doing my best to keep my magic contained, but it did give my skin an ugly green tint. Now that it was time to confront him, I felt all of my anger flush away and replaced with apprehension. Did I want to tell him how utterly and completely jealous I was? With how skittish he’s been about our relationship, I didn’t want to risk anything further. The other side of the argument was to tell him because being fair and honest had always worked for me.
“I just . . .” For the first time in my life, I couldn’t find the words I wanted to say. So I did the only thing I could think of doing. I leaned forward and kissed him, pressing up on my toes so I could reach. Ryker set his hands on my hips, leaning into the kiss. Being with him in real life was so much better than being with him in dream world. The problem with dream world was that only the knowledge that I carried in my mind currently could travel with me. I could not obtain new knowledge there until I figured out how to open the portal in the real world and load it with books like my Grams had done. Therefore, I couldn’t perceive entirely how being with Ryker actually felt there, because I had no prior knowledge of it.
Kissing him in real life was like comparing the excitement of a roller coaster to the comfort of coming home after a long, taxing trip.
“Hey, are you alright?” He asked when we pulled apart. It was a public place, so the kiss only lasted a few seconds. I nodded, wondering how the hell was I was going to handle the journey with him.
We got our salads and then sat with the others. Though I felt better, I also knew that my jealousy derived not from the fact that he was spending time with another girl, but because our relationship was so perilous that I had no basis of understanding. Were we allowed to kiss other people or date other people? I mean, it’s not like we’re committed or anything, we just kissed a couple times. It was all so confusing, and I wished for simplicity.
I was able to stomach our meal with Melody better, and actually, though she was a bit of an airhead, she was funny. When we reached our cars, I went to the one that Owen and I had shared and pulled the handle.
“Hey,” Ryker pushed the door shut, standing close to me. “Are you sure you’re alright?” He asked again.
“I’m fine,” I assured him with a smile.
“Hey, you need to go with him,” Owen said to me, flicking his finger to the other car.
“It’s fine, Owen.” I shook my head.
“No, seriously.” Owen snapped. I knew he wasn’t really interested in Melody, so I was confused at his intent.
“Sorry, Owen, I’ll stick with Ryker.” Melody winked and climbed into the passenger seat.
“What is it?” Ryker asked him. Owen stared for a long moment at the closed door of Ryker’s car and then turned back to us.
“Nothing, I guess. It’s fine.” He replied.
We got into our respective cars and went our separate ways.
“What was that?” I asked. Owen gripped the steering wheel, the dark skin on his knuckles turning white.
“I have a bad feeling, is all.” He replied.
“Is all?” I demanded. “Oh, is that it? That the most powerful sorcerer in the world has a bad feeling?” I wanted to strangle him at the moment. Twisting in my seat, I fruitlessly tried to see through the back window to see the direction Ryker might have gone.
“It’s fine, Ivy. It’s probably just the thing with you two I’m feeling.” Owen waved off, giving me that laid-back grin. I gave him a long look.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“He’ll be fine.” He winked.
My stomach churned at the thought of something happening to Ryker.
“Maybe we should follow him,” I said. Owen gave me a long look.
“Alright.” He nodded and then turned the car around.
Turns out, following Ryker was not that easy, as we had no idea where he went. Melody had mentioned the neighborhoods to the east, but there had to be at least thirty streets. I felt a weird shift in the air, and judging by Owen’s quietness, he felt it too. All of my instincts were telling me to get to him.
“Maybe we should radio him for a location,” I suggested after about an hour of driving around.
“He’s fine.” Owen shook his head. “I just scared you.” He was lying to me. I glared at him for a long moment, but he kept his face forward, intently looking in front of him. With a huff, I grabbed the radio.
“Camelot 1 this is Camelot 2, over,” I said. There was nothing but static. Owen and I exchanged a look.
“Camelot 1, come in. Over.” I said into the radio. White noise filled the car as we waited for a response. Owen grabbed the radio from me.
“Ryker, come on man, come in. Over.” He said into the radio. Silence. My heart pounded, making my entire body quake with each blasting beat. What had I done? I should have gone with him. Melody wasn’t equipped to have his back; she was just a little water nymph. Did my feelings cloud my judgment? Of course, they did!
Owen yelled an expletive and hit the steering wheel with his fist. Turning the dial on the radio, he brought to his lips again.
“Lake 1, this is Camelot 2, over.” He said calling for Cooper and Hailey.
“Camelot 2 this is Lake 1, over,” Cooper said.
“Have you guys heard from Ryker? Over.” Owen asked. There was a brief moment of static.
“No, is he alright? Over.” Cooper was so stupid. If we knew where he was, we’d know whether or not he was alright.
“We can’t find him, come to our location.” Owen then gave him the street names and told him to summon Agatha as well.
“We’ll find him.” Owen said, “I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding.” I didn’t believe him, and judging by the look on his face, he didn’t believe himself either.
Taking out my pocket mirror, I stared at it for a long moment. I had promised them when I learned the power that I would never use it to spy on them. Rubbing my thumb over the glass, I said the ancient Celtic words of the incantation ending with Ryker's name. The mirror blurred and then showed me only blackness. I angled it so Owen could also see it. He shouted an expletive again.
“Call him, on his cell phone.” Owen then said. I dug my pink Razor flip-phone out of my bag and dialed his number.
“It went straight to voicemail,” I said, closing the phone.
Owen pulled over the car, so suddenly the tires screeched. When he came to a complete stop on the side of the curb in front of a house, he stepped out, so I followed him.
“We have to find him.” Owen’s blue magic was starting to shine through his eyes. I had never seen him lose control before.
“Alright, we just have to keep our heads,” I replied.
“I knew we shouldn’t have left him alone. I knew it.” He hit the roof of the car with his fist.
“God damn that nymph!” It was my fault. I let him go. I should have demanded that Melody exit the car.
“Owen!” A panicked shriek filled the night air. A shiver went down my spine as I turned to see Melody in the streetlamp light, her face bruised, her clothes torn, and she was cradling her arm as she hobbled over.
“Ryker.” She cried, but couldn’t finish the sentence.
“Ryker what?” I demanded, shaking her.
“Ryker saw a group of people, in red and gold robes, loading up in a van. He followed them, I don’t know why.”
“Where is he?” I demanded. At that moment, I gave exactly no shits about the whys, I just had to get to him.
“At that self-storage place, a few blocks over.” She sobbed. I pushed her away, nearly forcing her to lose her balance. Pulling the mirror out of my pocket, I threw it as hard as I could onto the street. It shattered into tiny pieces. Hovering my hand over it, I said the incantation. Green magic sparked out of my hand, creating a portal to the place I could picture in my head. Without a second of hesitation, I jumped in.
I didn’t quite have full control over my powers. The dimensional was powered by the mind. It took great command of the psyche and a clear picture for a portal to open in a controlled place. My mind was frantic, and all I could picture was Ryker and a brief image of the storage complex. Which was why I should not have been surprised when I ran out of the portal and into immediate danger.
The storage room was large. Boxes and artifacts lined the walls, a large mirror hung on the right side. Twelve or so people, all wearing red and gold robes stood in a circle. Ryker lay in the middle as they were chanting some sort of spell around him. As soon as I stepped in, they all turned to look at me. Their faces were concealed with masks. The portal closed behind me. I didn’t have any weapons or even a plan, but I knew I couldn’t leave Ryker there.
All I had to do was hold on until Melody could lead Owen to us.
Legacies Page 13