I let myself fall backward onto the pile of pillows behind me and snuggled Elephante tightly to my chest. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, the same way Mom used to when she would do yoga. My mind raced along with my beating heart.
What if I’m not good enough, not magicky enough? What if I go to Hiddencrest and can’t even complete minor spells? Or I could stay home and never get to learn any magic beyond minor spells because I sure can’t trust Dad to show me the cool stuff. The fear of failure wrapped itself around my throat, sinking down into my chest, expanding its tightening grip to my lungs. I gasped, trying to catch my breath. What if I never find out who my birth mom is? If I stay, would Dad eventually send me away to some hospital? Of course he freaking would. He always sides with Dr. Shay. My body trembled, and I clenched the stuffed elephant so tightly his little body distorted into an unrecognizably blob of gray with large black plastic eyes. My breath quickened as anxiety sent adrenaline flooding into my system. Sweat collected along my forehead, wetting the edges of my hair.
The necklace on my neck trembled like a Mexican jumping bean against my skin. Warmth spread from it into my chest before it rushed over my entire body in a wave. My hair stood on end as each nerve responded to internal stimuli I couldn’t quite grasp. Power was flowing through me, but I couldn’t catch it, couldn’t contain it.
“Levitas Volatilis.” My bed vibrated.
I thought about Dr. Shay’s ‘Free Your Worries’ exercise. I imagined each of my worries as pieces of a dandelion, each little concern barely hanging on to my subconscious, swaying in the wind. Power rippled through my veins like a rush of caffeine. I thought of Elephante floating to the ceiling, swirling, dipping, and diving along the way. I released my grasp on him and let him rest on my chest as it rose and fell with each deep breath. I took one last deep breath and held it. My lungs burned. I blew, sending each figurative dandelion seed worry flying into the air, floating along with the air current, each spinning in random directions, far from me. Peace encompassed me.
“Levitas Volatilis.” I opened my eyes. Elephante danced above me as he floated to the ceiling. A giggle escaped my lips. My hand swayed from side to side out in front of my face, as if I was conducting an orchestra, and Elephante followed. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I sat up and gasped.
Everything in my room was floating! My furniture hovered a few inches from the ground. Small items floated past me. I tapped my hairbrush as it passed by, sending it spinning in the opposite direction. I giggled again. Maybe I’m not half bad at this magic thing after all.
Dr. Shay peered at me through the screen. Her glasses sat precariously on the edge of her nose. One sneeze and they’d be toast. I saw the scribbling movements of the tippy top of her pen on the bottom of the screen. She never took her eyes off me as she wrote.
I maintained a half smile under her gaze. I tried to keep my face static, showing no hint of the unsettling nervous emotions swirling beneath the surface. I needed to appear calm, happy, and normal. Dad had made this appointment without my knowledge and sprung it on me at the last minute. I tried to refuse, but he had given me an ultimatum. Talk to Dr. Shay or he wouldn’t even consider sending me to any magical school for my senior year. Just as I was about to ask him how I was supposed to get effective therapy from someone who knew nothing about magic, he dropped the bomb on me that Dr. Shay was fae. Earth Fae, to be precise. Which I guess explained the mega load of greenery covering her office. I had never seen so much green indoors in my life until the first time I set foot in her office. Ivy stretched across everything. Some plants had leaves as big as my head, and she had the most beautiful orchids I had ever seen.
“So, you’re a fairy?” I asked.
“Fae. Fairies are little winged annoyances. We are distantly related. I am fae,” she said.
“What does that mean exactly?”
“What does you being a witch mean exactly? It’s just a part of who you are. Being fae is a part of who I am. Nothing is any different than it was before you knew I was fae. I have always been fae just as you have always been a witch. Even if you didn’t know it.” Dr. Shay’s glasses slipped ever so slightly a little farther down the bridge of her nose. She pushed them back up using the tip of her pen.
“But what is fae? I always assumed fae and fairies were the same,” I said.
“A common mistake. Fairies are humanoid like in looks, but are closer aligned with animals in their behavior. They are small, winged, and love to play tricks. Fae are similar to humans in looks and lifestyles, although our life span is much longer. We are elemental based, water, earth, fire, air and have certain abilities that reflect that.”
“How much longer do fae live than humans?”
“Hundreds of years.”
“Whoa. So how old are you?” I gasped. Dr. Shay smiled.
“It’s never polite to ask a lady her age. Now let’s move forward and talk about you. How are you handling being at the lake house again?”
“That’s what you want to know? Not how I’m handling finding out I’m a witch?” Her pen scribbled across the bottom of my screen. More notes.
“Past wounds don’t disappear just because new issues arise. You are still you. So yes. I want to know how you are doing being at the lake house again. This is your first time back since your mom’s death.”
“Well, considering I killed and saved my brother, found out I’m a witch, and am being forced back into therapy all in a twenty-four-hour period, I guess you could say I’m fan-fucking-tastic.”
“I am glad your brother is doing well. I know things are confusing for you at the moment. But right now, I would like to focus on your feelings about being back at the place your mother died. It’s important that we talk about this.”
“I missed this place. But it does feel empty without Mom.” I sighed.
“Your father said he’s taking the boat out tomorrow. Are you going with him?”
“Why would I do that? I never want to be on the water again. You know that. Dad knows that. Look what happened when I just went near the water. Ben drowned. He fucking drowned.” A hurricane of emotion twisted in my chest.
“And you think that was because you went near the water?”
“No, I mean, I know that my proximity to water didn’t actually cause it.” That’s when the truth hit me. All the blood drained from my face in one sickening drop and the room swayed around me. The rain. I had controlled the rain. My chest tightened as the realization of what I had done sank into my soul. I magically forced the water from Ben’s lungs. “I did cause it, all of it…” I whispered. A weight sat on my chest, squeezing my breath away, making it hard to breathe.
“What are you saying, Jewels? What happened to your mom was an accident.” Dr. Shay’s lips tightened, and her left eye twitched slightly. The twitch was her tell that something was amiss. She pressed her fingers to her temple, suppressing the twitch. She was a terrible liar.
“My mom’s death. It’s my fault.” My breathing quickened along with my racing heartbeat. “I caused the storm,” I said. I’m a horrible person. I’m an awful daughter. I’m a murderer. I stood up, knocking the chair over as I scrambled away from the computer screen.
“Jewels, sit down. Let’s talk about this.” Dr. Shay had her cell in her hands, texting wildly. I ran from the room. “Jewels! Come back! Jewels,” Dr. Shay screamed.
Everything made sense now. The bad thing that happened to my family was me. I ran from the house. Dad yelled my name followed by something else, but I blocked everything out. I had to get away. The weight on my chest grew heavier, burning my lungs. I ran into the woods. I was so angry when Mom took me out on the boat that day. I had just found the letter about adopting me. I wanted answers.
Branches scraped my face. Thorn bushes slashed my legs, sending trickles of blood down my pale skin. I ignored the stings of pain and kept running. The pendant pulsated as if it was alive and thrashing against my chest, but when I placed my hand on it, i
t was still. I thought of my mom, the boat, the storm. I couldn’t get air. I needed air. I fell to my knees and wrapped my arms around myself, squeezing tight. My heart drummed in my ears, deafening the world around me. My face was wet from tears and sweat that burned as it touched my open wounds. Darkness surrounded me, rendering my vision useless. All I saw was black. Every inch of my skin burned, nausea washed over me, and terror gripped my chest. Then my mind went blank.
Mom dropped the anchor before handing me a peach-flavored water. Her tense smile gave away her nervousness. She knew something was up. I wasn’t acting like myself. I took the bottle without a word or a smile back. I didn’t care if she knew.
The gray sky was a stark contrast to the sunny skies the newscaster had promised. It aligned with my mood. I was always in a foul mood when it rained. Today was exceptionally bad.
“Can you believe this weather? We won’t get to stay out here long. It’s looking like it’ll be a big storm soon,” Mom said as she sipped her strawberry water. “What’s on your mind, kiddo?”
My body tensed at her words. Did she have any idea why I wanted to talk to her? She had no idea this wasn’t going to be one of our normal talks.
“I know I’m adopted.” The anger in my voice even surprised me. “Why didn’t you tell me?” Her eyes grew wide, confirming what I already knew. The wind picked up, and the boat swayed on the waves. Thunder boomed in the distance as raindrops speckled the water.
“What are you talking about?” She placed her hand on my knee and I jerked away from her.
“Don’t lie. All you and Dad have done is lie to me. I read the stupid fucking letter to the judge. You talk about meeting Dad and me. About how you just knew you were supposed to be my mom. But you’re not my mom, not really. Are you?” She stood up and started pulling up the anchor.
“We are not going to talk about this right now. We are not talking about this without your father,” she said.
“No! We are talking about it now!” I screamed. Lightning cracked through the sky right over our heads. The boat rocked in the waves. Mom gripped the side railing as water splashed over the side, almost as if it wanted to be in the boat.
“Jewels. Sweetie. Please trust me. We need to talk about this later,” she said. The sky darkened as the sprinkle of rain transformed into an all-out downpour. The waves tossed the boat from side to side. I fell to the floor and Mom rushed to help me up. I smacked her hands away.
“No! Don’t touch me. And you want me to trust you? Trust you after you have been lying to me my whole life?” Water rushed over the side of the boat as waves crashed against the sides.
“Jewels, please…” Mom said right as a wave overtook the boat. I held on to the mast as the water engulfed us. When the wave receded, Mom was gone.
“Mom!” I ran to the spot where she last was and peered over the edge into the choppy water. She was looking up at me, fighting against the water, trying to get to the surface. Panic filled me. I reached for her, but no matter how far over the side I leaned, she was always just out of my reach as if the water was sucking her down. “Mom!” I held tight to the side of the boat as another wave crashed into me. I looked into the water, but she was gone. Between the waves and the fierce rain, I couldn’t see anything, so I did the only thing I could think of. I jumped.
I dove beneath the surface, forcing my eyes to remain open despite the strong current. The storm had stirred up the lakebed, causing the normally clear water to become murky. I couldn’t see anything. My lungs ached for air. I surfaced and dove again. Then I saw her. Her body floated facedown in the current, her hair a wispy halo around her face, mouth surrounded by tiny bubbles. I swam toward her, but the current always kept her just out of my reach. As my desperation grew, so did the strength of the storm.
I pushed on, determined not to surface without her. I neared her body, closer than I had gotten on any other attempt. As I stretched out one final time, I felt the softness of her hair brush against my hand as her body remained just out of my reach. I kicked to propel myself forward when pain ripped through my body as something slammed into my right side. Later I would find out that the boat hit me. An enormous wave flipped it over as the storm increased in strength and ferocity. By the time some jet skiers who had watched it all go down from shore rescued me, the undertow had sucked away Mom’s body. It took the dive recovery team three days, nine hours, and forty-five minutes to find her.
I woke up with my face pressed into the mud. Thick, brown mess covered my entire front. My necklace wasn’t even visible resting at my neck. Hell, I wasn’t even sure someone could tell that I was human while I looked like this. Wait. Am I human? Is a witch technically human? I filed the thought away in the questions to ask Dad slot in my brain.
I pulled myself up onto a tree stump and looked at my now ruined clothes. Great. Another fuck-up to add to the list. The rain had stopped, but the sky was still gray and gross. I wiped as much of the mud off of me as I could, but it wasn’t much help. I still very much resembled a swamp monster. I headed back to the house. Dad was likely freaking out. I could probably kiss my summer break goodbye. Not a huge loss considering I had nothing planned anyway thanks to shit friends and a cheating ex-boyfriend.
It didn’t take long for the lake house to peek through the trees. A white luxury car with chrome detailing sat in the driveway. Parked behind it was a grungy black van. Dad stood on the porch talking to a trio of people I didn’t know. His face was tense, and he gestured wildly. A woman stepped from the group and placed a hand on Dad’s arm. He jerked away. Her lips were moving, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying. I slowed my pace as I tried to read the situation.
Ben’s face appeared in the kitchen window. He held his hand up, telling me to stop. I paused. He crossed his arms in front of him, waving me off. Then I saw two men standing near the van. They were in some type of police uniform. They spotted me at the same time.
“She’s over there!” one of them said, and they both started moving in my direction. I backed up but couldn’t gain traction in the slippery mud. I fell on my butt into a puddle, soaking my shorts all the way through. Before I could make it to my feet, the officers were next to me, pulling me from the dirt.
“Put your hands behind your back, Jewels,” the one with a name tag that read Fred said.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Fred forced my arms behind my back and slapped cuffs on my wrist. I felt something in me shift immediately. I was weaker, less me. These were not normal cuffs.
“Jewels Farrington, you are under arrest for two counts of use of forbidden magic as outlined in The High Council’s Code section 8-91,” the other man said.
“What do you mean, forbidden magic? What even is that?” I screamed.
The two men pushed me forward toward the house. Fred kept a tight grip on my arm.
My dad rushed over, blasting past the group of people on our porch as they reached out trying to stop him. He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close while placing his other hand over my necklace.
“Caecus,” he whispered. He pressed his lips to my ear as he brought his other arm around me. The uniformed men were pulling on him now, trying to pry me from his hold. “I made your necklace invisible. Only you can see it. You’re more than a witch, you’re half-mermaid. Tell no one,” he hissed in my ear.
Mermaid?
“Imprepo!” a deep voice boomed.
Dad froze. His body relaxed, and he released me before he fell to the ground stiff as a board. The group from the porch was around us now. A man in a crisp navy suit that screamed ‘pretentious’ had his hand clenched in the air. He dropped it back to his side. Dad scrambled to his feet.
“How dare you puppet me, Nicholas Blu!” he screamed.
“You know the rules, Joseph. Civilians cannot touch prisoners.” Nicholas smirked.
“While my colleague is technically correct, I must say I disapprove of his method of enforcement,” the woman who had been speaking to Dad
on the porch said. “However, the pressing issue here is Jewels.”
“Maggie, she’s just a kid. She didn’t even know anything about magic until yesterday. This is—”
She held her hand up, cutting him off. “Joseph, this is her second offense, and she is no longer a child. She has turned eighteen and is legally considered an adult.” Dad started to speak again, but Maggie sliced the air with her hand. “Based on Jewels’ lack of magical knowledge and out of respect for your family’s status, we gave you a chance last year to address this issue. You failed to act. A half-witch, half-mortal girl who can use such powerful magic with no actual training is disturbing and something that cannot go unaddressed.”
“I don’t understand what I did. What is forbidden magic?” I asked. My voice had a little more snark than it should have.
“Forbidden magic is magic that The High Council has outlawed. Most often its magic that goes against the laws of nature in a way that would disrupt the balance,” Nicholas replied.
“One, I didn’t do anything wrong. Two, who the fuck is The High Council?” I stared Nicholas Blu dead in the eye, making sure to emphasize the ‘fuck’ part as I spoke. His eyes narrowed.
“Show some respect, little girl. We are The High Council and the governing body of all supernatural beings. Which includes you,” Nicholas said. He approached me, but a man in a bowler hat and wire-rimmed glasses placed a hand on his shoulder, keeping him in place.
“In your case, Ms. Farrington, you used magic to cause death to another and to resurrect the dead. Both of which result in extensive prison stays and have the potential to have you stripped of your magic,” the man said.
The Siren Jewel: Spellbound Prison Saga Page 4