Paranormal Magic (Shades of Prey Book 1)

by Margo Bond Collins

  “Fine,” I said. I didn’t say “the counselor has big, creepy bat wings and death-breath.” ’Cause that’s not the sort of thing you can just come out and say to a mother. Besides, it would completely ruin her illusion that I was smart and strong. And sane. Mustn’t allow my mother to think I’m crazy. “I’ve got geometry homework,” I said instead.

  “Okay,” Mom replied. “Help me make dinner tonight?”

  “Sure.”

  She called after me as I walked away, “You’ll talk to me later if you need to, right?”

  I mumbled an answer that might have been “Yeah.”

  When I got back to my room, I surveyed all the boxes that I still had to unpack. Then I thought about Cody, lying on the path.

  Suddenly geometry didn’t seem quite so bad.

  It probably wouldn’t have been bad, either, if I could have kept my attention on it. Instead, I kept thinking about dead teenagers, shadow-wings, about what Andrew and his friends had said about Mason and Bartlef, about old ladies with foul breath who said I would “do.” Do for what?

  I finally gave up and flopped down on my bed. I tugged my laptop out from its case and turned it on. As soon as I logged in, a message popped up. It was from Leah.

  “Ur phn brkn?”

  I laughed out loud. I could see her frantically texting me all day, getting more and more anxious when I didn’t respond.

  “No srvc,” I replied. “New 1 nxt wk.”

  “Fairy ok?”

  That brought me back to exactly the thoughts I’d been trying to avoid. I thought for a long minute, then typed, “? dunno yet.” For some reason, I didn’t want to tell her about the dead guy.

  Then I changed the subject by asking her about her latest crush. She’d finally gotten up the nerve to ask him out—they were supposed to go to a movie on Friday. We IM’d for about an hour before Mom called me to help her with dinner. By then I was feeling better, more like myself.

  “Geometry homework done?” Mom asked as we set the table together.

  I pulled a face. “No. I’ve been talking to Leah.”

  Mom smiled. “Okay. Right after dinner, then?”

  “Okay.”

  Kayla stayed in her room until her father got home. He came in the door and inhaled loudly. “Oh, that smells good,” he said with a big smile. He wrapped his arms around Mom and kissed the top of her head. I might not like it that Mom had married him, but at least he was nice to her.

  “Don’t get too used to it,” Mom said with a smile. “I won’t be around to cook all that much.”

  John laughed. “No problem. Kayla and I are used to fending for ourselves. We’ve hardly used the dining room table since . . .” His voice trailed off. Since his wife died, I silently finished his sentence. First wife, that is.

  “No,” said Kayla as she walked into the kitchen. “We always eat in front of the television.”

  “But now that Angie’s here, we can start a new tradition, Kayla.” He glanced over at me as if suddenly realizing that maybe he’d left me out. “And I’m sure Laney’s a good cook, too, so maybe we can all keep it up even while Angie’s on the road.”

  “I hope so,” Kayla said. “It’ll be nice to have someone else around to do the chores.” The smile she flashed in my direction was vicious.

  “Oh, Cinderelly, Cinderelly,” I muttered under my breath.

  “Laney,” Mom said sharply.

  I looked up. “So,” I said, “Who’s ready for tacos?”

  * * *

  The next morning I staggered into math class semi-awake. I’d been up late finishing my homework, but I’d gotten it done. My general sleepiness had helped me ignore Kayla’s morning sarcasm. And by English class I was feeling almost human again. Ally waved at me when I walked in the room and pointed to an empty seat next to her.

  “Hey,” she whispered. “I heard you and Mason Collier spent all afternoon together yesterday.”

  I shook my head. This place was even worse than my old high school for rumors—at least the relationship rumors. No one seemed to be talking about the dead kid. “Mr. Carlson teamed us up to sell yearbook ads. That’s all.” I pulled my book out of my backpack and opened it.

  Ally raised one well-groomed eyebrow. “Really? That’s not what I heard.”

  I looked up from the page I’d been skimming, alarmed. “What? What did you hear?”

  “Well, Susan Smith told Andrea Frank that Mason told her boyfriend Todd that he thought you were really cool.”

  I sighed and rolled my eyes. “That hardly counts,” I said.

  “So what do you think of him?” she asked.

  I shook my head. “He’s fine. He’s nice. What do you want me to say?”

  She heaved an exaggerated sigh. “Come on, Laney. You’ve got to admit he’s cute.”

  “Okay,” I shrugged. “He’s cute. So are other guys. So what?”

  “Fine,” she said. “Be that way. See if I care.” Then she grinned at me.

  I grinned back. “Okay, okay,” I said. “He’s really cute. But he used to date Kayla. And that’s the last thing I need.”

  Ally’s grin faded. “Oh, God. Yeah. I keep forgetting you have to live with her.”

  “Live with who?”

  I looked up to see who had spoken and I swear, my heart skipped a beat. I mean, I’ve read about that happening, but I’d never felt it. Not until then.

  Whoever this guy was, he hadn’t been in class yesterday.

  “Oh,” said Ally flatly. “Hello, Josh.”

  “Hi, Ally,” Josh said, taking the seat in front of her. “Live with who?” he asked again.

  “Kayla Hamilton,” I answered automatically. “She’s . . . well, she’s my new stepsister.”

  “And that makes you Laney Harris, right?” He smiled. Unlike Mason Collier, Josh had a slow smile—it wasn’t blinding, but it still managed to eclipse everything else around it. And his eyes were a strange, indefinable color, almost silver, but maybe blue or green.

  I realized I was staring and felt my face grow hot. Josh just kept smiling at me

  “Well, then,” I heard Ally murmur just as the teacher began taking roll. “Interesting.”

  I have to admit, I didn’t pay much attention to the rest of class. I was too busy trying not to stare at Josh. I did find out that his last name was Bevington when Ms. Norman called roll.

  When the bell rang, Ally and I gathered up our books and headed out into the hall.

  “Hey, Laney!” I heard. “Wait up.”

  I turned around, and Josh trotted up to me.

  Ally raised one eyebrow again. I really wished I could do that. “I’ll see you at lunch, Laney?” Her voice was cool.

  “Sure,” I said, confused.

  “Good,” she said, and walked off.

  Josh swung into step with me. “Where you headed next?”

  “P.E.” I made a face.

  “Oh. Gross. You couldn’t get out of it?”

  “Nope. Required, unless you’re in a sport. And I am so not sports material.”

  “May I walk you there?”

  “Okay.” Wow. What an odd, old-fashioned request. Almost . . . well, almost courtly.

  “So why weren’t you in class yesterday?” I asked.

  His face grew absolutely expressionless, like someone had flicked a switch and turned it off. “I had some family stuff to tend to.”

  “Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say after that.

  Luckily, the switch in Josh’s face turned back on when he started talking again. “So what’s the rest of your schedule like?” he asked.

  I recited it for him, and he looked disappointed. “English is the only class we have together, then,” he said.

  “Maybe you could join us for lunch,” I suggested.

  He laughed out loud. “You eating with Ally and Natalie and that crowd?”

  “Yes.”

  He shook his head. “Then it’s probably not a good idea. Not my clique.”

  “They�
�re a clique?”

  He shrugged. “Isn’t everyone in some clique?” We reached the door to the gym. “Besides, I have the second lunch period—I wouldn’t be able to eat with you anyway. So I guess we’ll just have to do something else together.”

  I didn’t know what to say. Was he suggesting a date, or what? I hate it when guys speak “guy” and not English. It’s like it’s their own secret code or something.

  He paused for a moment, and when I didn’t respond, he finally said, “What are you doing after school today?”

  “I’m busy with Mason Collier,” I blurted. Instantly, I wished I could take it back.

  “Oh,” Josh said flatly. “Never mind, then.”

  “I mean, I’ve got to go sell yearbook ads. Mason and I do. Mr. Carlson assigned us to each other. So we have to go sell ads together.” Argh. I was babbling. Get to the point, Laney Harris! “But maybe we could do something later?” God, did I sound too hopeful? I was sure I sounded too hopeful. Too eager. I held my breath while I waited for his response.

  Josh smiled that long, slow smile of his. “Yeah,” he said. “Sure. Something later. Maybe I could come pick you up tonight, around eight?”

  “Okay,” I said, my voice coming out in whoosh. “Do you need directions?”

  He laughed. “To the Hamilton ranch? No. I know where the house is.” He turned around to leave. “I’ll see you tonight.”

  The late bell rang just as I was heading into the locker room to change clothes, but I didn’t care.

  * * *

  By the time I got to lunch, Andrew was looking morose. From the way everyone suddenly hushed as I sat down, I suspected they’d been talking about me, but I ignored it in favor of general cheeriness.

  “Hey, y’all,” I said. “What’s up?”

  “You tell us,” said Scott.

  Faugh. I knew it. “What do you want to know?” I pulled a sandwich out of my bag.

  “Ally says you’re dating Mason Collier and Josh Bevington,” Natalie said.

  Andrew slumped down even further in his chair.

  “I’m not dating either of them.” Andrew brightened a little, but his face fell again at my next words. “Mason and I are scheduled to sell yearbook ads together. And Josh and I are going out tonight. But I don’t know either of them very well. So I’m not dating anyone.”

  “You’re not dating anyone,” Natalie said. “You’re dating everyone.” She and Scott cracked up laughing. Ally smiled, Andrew sunk lower into his chair, and Sarah watched me quietly with narrowed eyes.

  I rolled my eyes and concentrated on eating my lunch while my new friends speculated on my dating habits. Luckily, there wasn’t that much to say, especially after I repeated “no comment” several times. Eventually the topic of conversation turned to movies, and I was able to actually participate again.

  After lunch, Sarah grabbed my arm as I was tossing my garbage into the can by the door, and held me back while the others moved on ahead of us.

  “Can I talk to you?” she asked, her eyes serious.

  “Of course.”

  “Are you really going out with Josh tonight?” She spoke as quietly as usual.

  “Yes,” I said slowly. “Why?”

  “What time?”

  “Eight.”

  “Do you have a curfew?”

  “Ten-thirty on school nights. You know, we really need to get to history class.” I gestured down the hall.

  “Do you think it would be okay with your mom if I came by your place after you got home from your date with Josh? There’s some stuff . . .” she trailed off.

  This was getting bizarre. But I was drawn in despite myself. Sarah usually seemed so serious, so quiet and calm. Now, however, her voice was beginning to take on an edge—she sounded almost anxious. And her hand had tightened on my arm.

  “Sure,” I said. “That ought to be fine. I can tell her we’ve got some homework to finish or something. If it’s important, I’ll tell Josh I need to be home by ten.”

  “It’s important,” she said, staring into my eyes earnestly.

  “Okay,” I said, still confused.

  “Good,” Sarah said, finally letting go of my arm. We hurried into class and took our seats just before the bell rang.

  So: this afternoon selling ads with Mason. Eight o’clock date—or something—with Josh. Ten o’clock meeting with Sarah. My social calendar was filling up.

  Chapter 4

  There was a funeral for Cody that afternoon. No one really talked about it, but about half the students went, leaving campus silently after lunch and returning for the last classes of the day. I decided once again that this was just about the strangest place I’d ever been.

  Selling yearbook ads with Mason went much as it had the first day—minus the trip to take a mysterious package to a creepy old lady with foul breath. We met up in the yearbook room to check in with Mr. Carlson. Kayla took the opportunity to scowl at me. Big surprise there. But she managed to keep her mouth shut, which really was a surprise. Mr. Carlson stopped me on my way out of the room.

  “Laney? Do you have a camera, or do you need to check out one of the school’s?”

  “I have a pretty good digital that I used for the newspaper in Atlanta,” I said.

  He nodded. “That’ll do for now. Go ahead and start carrying it, would you? That way you can get shots of anything interesting.”

  “Sure.”

  “Do you have a regular thirty-five millimeter camera?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Okay. Hang on for a sec and I’ll get one out for you. And once the semester really gets rolling, we’ll get you up to speed on using the darkroom for black and white film.”

  He unlocked a supply closet at the back of the room and handed me an old-fashioned 35mm camera—the kind with the lens that you have to focus manually—and a roll of black and white film. He deftly popped the back of the camera open and loaded the film into it.

  “You can start taking shots with this, too,” he said as he handed the bulky camera over to me. “Let me know once you’ve used up this practice roll.”

  “Okay. Thanks,” I said.

  “No problem. See you tomorrow.”

  I nodded, and followed Mason out to his truck.

  This time we actually did hit the auto body shops and the hair salons, but since Mason seemed to know pretty much everyone in town, he did most of the talking in both kinds of places. He introduced me, sometimes adding the fact that Mom had married John Hamilton.

  By the end of an hour, we had sold enough ads to call it a day. We climbed into Mason’s truck outside The Hair Saloon. Get it? Texas, saloon. Yee-haw. Sheesh.

  “Sure you don’t want to keep going?” Mason asked.

  “I really need to get home,” I said.

  “Oh. Right. Big date tonight.”

  “Good Lord. Do you people have some sort of secret network for sharing information?”

  He laughed. “Nah. Josh told me.”

  “You and Josh are friends?”

  Mason paused for a moment, then shrugged. “We’ve known each other since before kindergarten. So yeah, I guess we’re friends. Kind of.”

  “Just kind of?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So why would he tell you we were going out tonight?”

  Mason laughed and shook his head. “To lord it over me, of course.” He reached out a hand and twirled a lock of my hair around it. I didn’t move any closer, but I didn’t stop him, either. His voice got quieter and he tilted his head. “Would you be willing to give me a chance, too?”

  I pulled my head back, and my hair slipped through his fingers. “A chance at what, exactly?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “Just a date.”

  “Mason, I’m going out with Josh to get to know him. You and I are going to be spending hours and hours together over the next six weeks. I think we’ll have plenty of time to get to know each other.”

  “So, is that a no or a yes?”

  “I don’
t know. Look. Just take me home for now, and let’s talk about it again later. Okay?”

  He smiled his blinding smile at me. “So it’s a maybe.”

  I sighed. “Yes. It’s a maybe.”

  “Good enough for now.” He put the truck into gear and headed toward John’s ranch.

  * * *

  I’d like to say that my date with Josh was a smashing success.

  It wasn’t.

  I mean, it wasn’t exactly horrible or anything. It wasn’t a complete disaster, but I kept catching myself staring at him instead of holding up my end of the conversation. And if you think that’s not humiliating, then you’re a complete moron. Much like the same kind of moron I must have seemed to Josh.

  It might not have been so bad if Kayla hadn’t jumped me as soon as Mason dropped me off after school.

  She didn’t even bother to greet me when I came in the door. “Oh, my God,” she said. “Are you really going out on a date with Josh Bevington?” She made a face. “Yuck! Don’t you know who he is?”

  I ignored her and headed toward my room, but she followed me down the hall. Mom and John were nowhere to be seen.

  “His dad works for my dad,” Kayla announced, as if this were somehow important. “He’s a ranch hand’s son,” she stressed when I didn’t answer her. “Like, a total nobody. Taking a few steps down on the social ladder.” She laughed, but it seemed strained. “Guess Mason won’t think you’re so hot now.”

  If I were a better person, I would probably have just kept my mouth shut and closed my bedroom door on her.

  But I’m not really all that good.

  Instead, I turned around in my doorway to face her. “Actually,” I said coolly, “Mason asked me this afternoon if he could have a date with me, too.”

  I swear, Kayla turned purple and sputtered.

  “No great comeback?” I said. “Okay, then. Bye!” And I shut my door.

  I flopped down on my bed, feeling worse than I should have after silencing Kayla.