Wild Magic

by Madeline Freeman

  While half the class snickers about what kinds of diseases they might catch off Dana’s blood, I cross to Bridget, whose eyes are wide and whose complexion is several shades paler than usual. “I just wanted her to trip,” she murmurs. “I didn’t mean…”

  I slip my arm over her shoulders and lead her to her desk. “I know you didn’t mean to.”

  It was the crystal, I know it.

  Chapter Nine

  Fox parks behind Jodi’s shop and stares at me for a long moment. He doesn’t have to say anything for me to know what’s on his mind.

  “You don’t believe me,” I say.

  He shakes his head. “Kristyl, it’s not that I don’t believe you. It’s that… I just… I think you’re…”

  “Wrong?” I throw up my hands. “You didn’t see it, Fox. The way Bridget took Dana down? It was violent. I heard Dana’s nose might be broken, and she’s definitely got a black eye.”

  Fox shrugs. “So, Bridget’s got some pent-up rage. You’ve seen the way Crystal and Lexie treat her. Can you really blame her?”

  I shake my head. “You’re wrong. The look on her face afterward—she was scared. She didn’t mean to hurt Dana like that, I’m sure of it.”

  “And she probably didn’t. You know what most likely happened? She’s not used to the magic coming so easily and she overshot. It happens to the best of us. Remember the first time you tried to light a candle? The flame shot up like three feet in the air. Is it because you’re secretly a pyromaniac? No. You just gave the spell a little too much oomph. But you learned, and so will Bridget.”

  I sigh, frustration rising. There’s nothing I can tell him that will convince him I’m right. I don’t even know why I’m trying. I already told Crystal, and she waved me off, just like Fox is doing now. “Fine. Whatever. I’d better get in there.” I push open the truck’s door and Fox’s hand closes around my wrist.

  He offers the smallest half smile. “What? No kiss?”

  I pull my hand from his grip. “No. I’m mad at you.”

  His shoulders sag. “Don’t be like this.”

  I jump out of the cab and consider slamming the door without looking back, but it seems too childish. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  After a beat, Fox nods. I close the door and head into Hannah’s Herbs.

  Relief washes over me when I pass through the door. The store smells exactly the way I remember: a mix of sweet and savory herbs and the subtle waxy aroma of candles. The banks of tall shelves running perpendicular to the walls are filled with the items in the same places as I remember. The books are still along the wall between the front door and cash register, and the glass case displaying the different stones and crystals still sends a cascade of rainbows across the carpet. After everything that happened at school today, I’m glad for the normalcy of a day at work.

  Jodi’s voice comes from the break room and I head for it, figuring she’s on the phone with a supplier. I stop short when I turn the corner and see she’s talking to a person. He stands with his back to me, his arms stretched above his head to pull a box off the top of a metal shelving unit. I’ve told her before that putting things up that high is an accident waiting to happen and she’s joked that she just waits until tall customers come in to get things down. Is that what she’s doing now? The guy’s fingers gain purchase on the box and he pulls it down. The muscles beneath his long sleeved shirt tense as he pulls. He’s tall, of course, with broad shoulders and strong arms. Besides that, all I can see of his appearance is he’s got short brown hair.

  Jodi edges toward the guy and pulls open the folded-over edges of the box. “Excellent. I knew this was the right one.”

  I clear my throat and Jodi jumps, clutching at her heart. She turns and lets out a laugh, running her hand through her hair. “Kristyl. You scared me.”

  I nod. “Clearly.” I almost ask who the guy is but stop myself. Maybe he works here, like Devin did in my reality. Not sure how to greet him, I spin to the time clock and punch in.

  “The day’s gone by so fast, I didn’t realize school ended already.” Paper rustles as Jodi sifts through the box’s contents. She pulls a smaller box from within, this one filled with tubes of lip balm. She straightens and holds a hand out toward the guy. “I bet you’re wondering who our tall assistant is. This is Seth. He works here now.” She points a finger at me, narrowing her eyes. “Now, don’t let it go to your head that you’ve finally got seniority over someone.”

  I relax. It’s good news that Seth is new—I don’t have to blunder through pretending to already know all about him. “It’s nice to meet you, Seth,” I say as I turn to him. When he faces me, I’m caught by his eyes. They’re green and there’s something so familiar about them. Like they belong to a long-lost friend.

  It feels like my body has been doused in cold water when I realize where I’ve seen his eyes before: I used to see flashes of them when I touched Crystal Jamison. I never knew why I saw them when I touched her, but there’s no denying that these are the same eyes. Is he connected to her in some way? Have I seen him around town somewhere? No, that’s not possible—I would have realized that when I first had the visions.

  He closes the distance between us, holding his hand out. He’s standing right in front of me before I manage to move.

  “Hi.” I take his hand, expecting something to happen—some flash or echo to appear in my head—but nothing does.

  Seth smiles, revealing straight teeth with a friendly gap between the front two. On most people, it might look weird, but on him, it fits. It’s charming, even. A shadow of dark stubble colors his jaw and upper lip, contrasting nicely with the just-cut look of his hair. “So, you’re the Kristyl I keep hearing so much about.” He nods at Jodi. “She’s comparing everything I do to the way you did it when you were learning.”

  Heat rises in my cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

  He shakes his head. “No need. It’s clear how much she cares for you. It’s sweet that you’re on her mind so often, actually.”

  Jodi rolls her eyes good-naturedly as she heads back into the store. Seth and I follow. “Well, Kristyl, now that you’re here to hold down the fort, I’m heading over to the coffee shop. Can I get anything for either of you?”

  Seth shakes his head; I order a frozen coffee drink—mostly because I know Jodi will think I’m crazy for doing it, since today is decidedly not frozen drink weather. She raises an eyebrow as she heads toward the door, murmuring, “Crazy,” as she exits.

  I wait until the bells tinkle as the door closes before turning back to Seth. His gaze rests on me already, and I shift. I know he shouldn’t make me nervous—after all, Jodi seems enough at ease with him to have given him a job—but I can’t get past the fact that I’ve seen him—his eyes—in visions before. It’s unsettling. Why would I have seen him when I touched Crystal? If he’s new to Clearwater, it’s not like their paths have crossed. Could the two of them be connected somehow? I should ask Jodi later—maybe she’ll know something about it.

  For now, I tamp down my discomfort. “So, how’re you liking the store?”

  A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. “It’s very… interesting.”

  I can’t help grinning. “Right? You get used to it, though. Believe me, in just a couple weeks, you’ll think it’s crazy that there was a time when you didn’t know what bloodwort was used for.”

  An expression flickers across his face, but it’s gone before I can interpret it. “To be honest, I’m just glad for the job. I don’t know what I’d be doing if not for Jodi’s kindness.”

  I nod and head over toward the row of dried herbs in decorative metal planters. I pass my fingers along the edge of the table where they sit, willing myself to relax, when another thought tugs at the edge of my mind: There’s something oddly formal in the way Seth speaks, and it reminds me of something, but exactly what is eluding me.

  Eyes prickle the back of my neck. Seth is watching me. Self-consciousness overtakes me. Can he sense my discomfort? I’m ac
ting strange, I know it, but I can’t help it. I’ve seen his eyes in my mind, and now he’s here, working at Jodi’s shop.

  The silence in the store is oppressive. I clear my throat. “So, do you live here in Clearwater? I’ve never seen you around.”

  “I’m new to town. My family’s from out east. Massachusetts.”

  “They didn’t come with you?” Despite my attempts to not look at him, it’s obvious Seth isn’t too much older than I am—two or three years at most.

  His face tightens for a moment. “My parents and I… We had a… difference of opinion.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.” I catch myself staring and blink heavily before crossing from the herbs to the shelves of stones and crystals on the other side of the store. I move each one by about a centimeter, just for something to do—something to keep me from looking into his eyes. “So, how’d you decide to come to Michigan?”

  He shrugs. “I took up an interest in genealogy. When I learned some ancestors were responsible for founding a town, I had to come see it.”

  I tense, turning slowly to face him. “You’re from a founding family?”

  The corners of his mouth quirk upward. “Yes. It’s partially why your aunt was so quick to give me a job, I would think. Some of my family stems from the Barnette line.”

  “Really?” Forgetting my desire to not stare, I step closer, my eyes poring over the lines of his face, looking for a resemblance. Besides Jodi, I always thought I had no extended family. And while I suppose that after several generations, Seth and I aren’t closely related, it doesn’t matter. I’ve always been jealous of other people when they’ve talked of their brothers and sisters and cousins because I’ve never had that. And now, suddenly, I do.

  Seth grins broadly, revealing the gap between his front teeth. “This pleases you.”

  I return his smile. All my former apprehension about seeing his eyes in visions evaporates. Maybe I saw him because we’re related, because on some level I knew he was coming. “Yeah. It does.”

  The bells above the front door tinkle and Jodi enters the store, along with a strong gust of wind that makes the informational leaflets on the far wall flap like dozens of brightly-colored birds. One hand clutches a cardboard cup caddy while she struggles with the other to pull the door closed behind her. The bells chime frantically and Seth darts to her side, grabbing the door’s handle and yanking it shut. I cross to the front window and peer at the sky. When Fox dropped me off, it was blue with a few stray white clouds, but now it’s filled with dark gray clouds. Winds rip through the bare trees, causing the limbs to bend and twist.

  “Yikes,” I murmur as Jodi presses a cold plastic cup into my hand.

  “Yikes is right,” she agrees, attempting to straighten her hair. “It wasn’t like that when I walked down there, but by the time I got out of the coffee shop, it was insane.” Giving up on her hair, she pulls the two remaining cups from the caddy and holds one out to Seth.

  “I placed no order,” he says.

  “Take it. Millie wouldn’t give me a cup carrier unless I ordered three drinks.” She pushes the cup closer to him, waggling her eyebrow at me. She’s lying, of course—Millie, the owner of the coffee shop, is Jodi’s good friend, and there’s no way she’d deny a cup carrier if one was requested. Jodi just wants Seth to feel accepted.

  He finally takes the cup, ducking his head. “Thank you very much.”

  The three of us stand in silence for a few moments, sipping our various drinks, before Jodi speaks again. “It’s weird. I just checked the weather this morning and it said it was supposed to be clear the next few days.”

  Weather reports are notoriously incorrect; then why does my skin prickle at what Jodi says?

  The overhead lights go out and the shop is plunged into darkness. Even the front window and glass door don’t provide enough light to see more than a few feet into the store. Jodi hands me her coffee and goes to the front door, squinting as she looks across the street. “Looks like the whole street might be out.”

  ***

  We wait for the power to return for nearly half an hour before Jodi decides to close the store. After locking up and taping signs up in the front and back doors, she, Seth, and I leave. She offers to give Seth a ride home, but he insists he can walk—he lives in an apartment above the bookstore just blocks away.

  My hands tremble as Jodi drives home at five miles an hour. Her windshield wipers are going at full speed, but the road ahead is still barely visible. Every few minutes she murmurs something about how the turn in the weather is so crazy, and while I grunt agreements, I’m not really listening to her. With every block we travel, the muscles in my body tense and icy dread fills my core. Downed tree limbs are everywhere—including atop cars parked in driveways and sticking out of roofs at odd angles. At one point, Jodi has to turn around and take another street because a whole tree has fallen, blocking the road.

  The weather isn’t crazy. It’s not random. It’s calculated. It’s on purpose. By the time we finally make it to the house, I’m convinced of it.

  The circle is behind the storm. I don’t know how I know, but I do. There’s something about the storm—a feeling. The air thrums, not with electricity, but with magic. I’ve felt it before, most recently when I used the crystal to cast the glamor to change my appearance.

  Mom’s car isn’t in the driveway and an ache builds in the back of my throat. I swallow in an attempt to clear it. She’s fine. She’ll be home soon. I repeat the words over and over in my mind, but they’re no comfort. In my reality, my mom died in a car accident on a perfectly normal day. What might happen when the weather is as bad as this? I couldn’t handle losing her—not again.

  I shake my head. I can’t obsess about it. She will be fine. And there’s nothing I can do right now, anyway. I open the car door and start running for the house. Jodi is several feet ahead of me and I can barely make out her figure through the sheets of rain falling between us. Why would the circle want to cause a storm? The answer comes to me when I get to the top of the porch stairs.

  Because they can.

  I shiver as I cross the threshold into the house, but it has nothing to do with the chill of the rain.

  Jodi flips the light switch in the hallway but nothing happens. She sighs. “Good thing we’ve got candles.”

  We spend the next several minutes placing candles strategically around the house. By the time the sizable supply is diminished, I’m pretty sure the power will be back on by the time we can light them all.

  A car door thuds closed in the driveway and I peer out the front window, releasing a sigh of relief when I recognize my mom’s car.

  Jodi joins me at the window, but instead of being pleased, she clucks her tongue. “Better make this fast.”

  Before I can ask what she’s talking about, Jodi turns and closes her eyes, raising her hands, palm up, toward the ceiling. I gasp as the dozen candles spread throughout the living room spring to life. A quick glance toward the dining room confirms my suspicion that all the candles are now lit.

  Jodi raises an eyebrow. “What’s that face for? It’s not like you’ve never seen me do that before.”

  I open my mouth to disagree, but the front door bangs open and my mom lets out a loud whoop. By the time I make it to the hallway, she’s closed the door and is shaking the rain off her jacket. “Wow, I thought I’d never get home.” She puts the coat on a hanger and tucks it away in the hall closet before scanning the vicinity. “I was afraid the power would be out here, too. The traffic signals on the way home were all out. I’m glad you’ve already got some light in here. It must’ve taken forever to light all these candles.”

  Jodi catches my eye and winks as Mom brushes past us toward the kitchen. What’s going on here? Jodi uses magic, but my mom doesn’t know about it? At some point, maybe these differences from my old life will stop surprising me, but today is not that day.

  Chapter Ten

  We’re in the middle of a candle-lit dinner o
f peanut butter and jelly sandwiches when a knock sounds at the front door. Jodi crams the last of her sandwich into her mouth before heading out into the hallway. Mom and I exchange a glance as the door creaks open.

  “Seth?” Jodi’s tone is more than a little surprised and, as Seth and Jodi move down the hall toward the dining room, I sit up straighter in my chair.

  “My apologies,” he says, pushing his sopping hair off his forehead and wiping his face with his hands. “When it seemed the whole of the town had lost its electricity, I grew worried. I hope it’s not too great an intrusion. I wanted to be sure you and Kristyl were well.”

  My mom raises an eyebrows and I shrug, knowing it’s his odd way of speaking that’s taken her off guard. Besides his weird speech patterns and the fact I’ve had visions about him, Seth seems on the level, and I try to assure my mom of that with a tiny nod. The corner of her mouth quirks up and she folds her napkin and places it on the table before standing. “I assume this is the new employee you were talking about?”

  “He’s related to us,” I blurt. When my mom turns, I add, “To the Barnettes, anyway.”

  She sighs, turning back to him. “Well, he’s soaking wet. Kristyl, go up to my room and get a pair of sweats from the bottom drawer. They might fit him.”

  I’m dubious of her assertion as Seth is several inches taller than my mom, but I know better than to disagree. I do as I’m directed. By the time I get back downstairs, Seth is holed up in the hall bathroom. Jodi is standing by the door and takes the clothes from me, winking before she closes her eyes, her lips forming words that don’t make it to my ears. She opens her eyes again and knocks on the door, which opens a crack before Seth’s hand appears.