“Do you have any way of contacting her?” Al’s mother asks. “I’m sure she would appreciate hearing from you. I know what it’s like to have a child disappear with no warning.”
“I told you it wasn’t my fault,” Al says.
I hide my smile as I imagine the look she’s giving Al.
“Whether that’s the case or not, you should let her know you’re okay, if you can.” His mother timidly pats my shoulder, but pulls away when she realizes she’s not able to offer any real comfort.
“Is my purse here?” I ask. “I’m going to call her.”
Cindy snorts. “Good luck. We’re in a different world, remember? No satellites. No bars. No phoning home.”
My shoulders drop as I realize the truth of what she’s saying. There’s nothing I can do. Not as long as I stay here.
“Then, we’ll have to go back. Right now.”
“Are you kidding?” Cindy laughs again. “We’re in another world. You hear me? There’s no way I’m leaving here without exploring a bit. I saw a griffin. A griffin! Imagine all of the magic I could find here.”
“You could try magic,” Al says. “If you’re able to use it, you should be able to communicate between worlds.”
“No,” his father says firmly. “No magic allowed in this house. It’s brought nothing but pain and I won’t have any more of it.”
“Agreed,” Cindy agrees way too easily. “No magic in this house. Guess I’m going out for a bit. Don’t get yourself killed, ‘kay sis?”
“You’re leaving?” I don’t mean to sound desperate, but I already feel so alone. If she leaves, how will I find my way back to the bedroom?
“I’ll be back.”
“You can’t go out there alone,” Al says. “You don’t know anything about this place or what to avoid. I’ll go with you.”
Al’s leaving too. I really am going to be alone in a house full of strangers.
“Whatever,” Cindy says from a bit farther away than she was a few seconds earlier. “Come with me or not, but I’m leaving now.”
“Lou?” My head snaps up when he says my name. I hope I don’t look too pathetic. “Feeling up for a walk?”
“I’ll slow you down,” I remind him.
“Well, see ya then,” Cindy says and then pauses. “Or, uh, you know what I mean.”
There’s the sound of a door opening and thudding shut and I know Cindy’s already gone. My stomach sinks as I realize Al doesn’t have a choice but to run out after her. He can’t waste time leading around the blind girl.
A hand touches my shoulder. “Come on, I’ll help with your shoes.”
* * *
Chapter Eighteen
He’s careful not to touch me any more than absolutely necessary as we leave the house. Still, I can feel him near me. The strange energy radiates off him as a constant beacon. I want to reach out and touch him, but I clasp my arms around my chest instead.
Each step I take is hesitant and wobbly, and I know I’m slowing him down. He must be ready to give up and leave me to fend for myself, but the feeling of him near me never shifts. He always stays just out of arm’s reach, never any further or closer.
I try to speak a few times, but words won’t form.
After several more minutes of complete silence, I can’t take it anymore. Before I can stop myself, I say, “You can go if you want.”
He doesn’t say anything for a moment, but I feel him as though he’s frozen in place. He wants to go. Of course he does. He’s only been helping because he feels sorry for me and has been waiting for permission to be done with me.
“Do you want me to leave?”
“No,” I say too quickly.
I cringe at my eagerness. What’s wrong with me? He’s going to think I’m desperate for his attention. So, maybe I am a little, but he doesn’t need to know as much.
His hand causes heat to rush to the part of my face he touches as he pushes some of my hair back behind my ear, allowing his fingers to rest on my neck for only a moment. It’s all it takes for my breathing to become ragged.
Too soon he backs away and I have to once again fight the urge to reach out to him.
“I’m here to help,” he says. “But only if you want me to.”
Not quite able to trust my voice, I bite my bottom lip and nod.
He doesn’t touch me again. Instead, he clears his throat and says, “Your sister is in the village now. We should probably catch up to her to keep her out of trouble.”
“You mean she hasn’t burned the entire place down yet?” I put my hand to my mouth in exaggerated surprise. “I’m shocked.”
His laugh causes my heart to race as much as his touch had. I need to hear it again.
“What is she doing, other than scaring the locals?”
“She’s talking to a couple of the merchants who have a few items set up outside.”
“What kind of stuff?” I ask.
“The usual. Some fruit and vegetables, wool, meat, nothing too spectacular.”
“So it’s like an outdoor market? Gran used to take Cindy and me to one near her house.” I remember picking our way through crowds of people with my hand in Gran’s while Cindy raced off to look at each stall on her own. I never left Gran’s side, though there had been a ton of stuff I wanted a better look at. “They’d have some nice jewelry and handmade stuff. Are there those kinds of objects here?”
“If you face this way...” He closes the gap between us and places his hands on my shoulders to guide me until I’m positioned slightly further to the left. “There’s the blacksmith table. He mostly focuses on bigger pieces like tools for working the fields, but he has a few bracelets and maybe a couple of daggers.”
“Can you show me?”
“Uh...”
I realize what I’ve said and cringe. “I don’t mean actually show me, but can you take me over there so I can touch some stuff?”
“Wouldn’t you rather touch the clothes? I bet they’d feel nicer. And Rose is working today, so you could meet her.”
The mention of another female catches my attention. “Rose?”
It’s stupid for my stomach to clench in jealousy. Even if I had any right to be protective about Al, I have no idea if there’s anything to be envious of. Still, even the name bothers me. Rose. Who names their child that?
“She’s a friend,” he says. “She’s actually the one who woke you.”
The way he says ‘friend’ bothers me almost as much as her name.
“Perhaps later.” But probably not. “I’d like to examine those daggers.”
Since he pointed me in the general direction of where I want to go, I start forward on my own, hoping he’ll follow and stop me before I smash into anything. I want to meet Rose; I’m simply not interested in doing it at this moment. Plus, after everything I’ve been through in the last couple of days, checking out weapons doesn’t seem like a bad idea.
I was right to assume he’d follow. His hand on my shoulder tells me when I’ve reached the table.
“Welcome stranger, how may I—oh.” The man’s voice fades and he growls. “Aldric. What do you want?”
“My friend wants to see your merchandise.” Al’s reply matches the frostiness of the seller. “Don’t worry. I’ll refrain from tainting anything.”
“Another friend from the University I suppose.” He hacks up a wad of spit after the word ‘friend.’
“She’s interested in your goods and you don’t need to know anything more.”
It starts to click why Al had been reluctant to come to this particular booth. Obviously there’s some bad blood, and I’m not helping.
“Come on,” I say. “You can show me something else.”
“I don’t sell to your kind,” the man warns, obviously having not heard me.
Al steps between the man and me. “Funny, you were more than interested in having your son marry one of her kind.”
The man laughs in disbelief. “She’s a sorceress?” I can practically feel his eyes take in
every inch of me so I stand a little taller and look a little bit more impressive. “Well then, my lady, if I might give you a piece of advice. Aldric is not to be trusted. Helped a wizard steal his own sister’s magic. Whatever business you have with him, I’d be done with it and on your way.”
“Al wouldn’t help a wizard.” I dismiss the man’s words with a surprised laugh.
“Course he would. They always help their own kind. It’s bred into them same as the need to steal and swindle us common folk.”
“Own kind?” I repeat. “But he’s not a wizard. He helped me escape from wizards.”
The man gives a pitying laugh causing my heart to ache. “Looks like I destroyed your little scheme, Aldric. How will you get her to trust you now?”
“Al?” It can’t be true. I don’t believe it. He must be saying it because of some bad business between them. There was a history because of Al’s sister. But it wasn’t Al’s fault.
And he certainly isn’t a wizard.
So then why do I suddenly feel like I’m going to be sick?
“What’s he talking about?” I manage to ask while as I want to do is curl into my bed and cover my ears so I can’t hear any more.
“But you know,” Al says as though willing his words to be true. “You know. After Stewart and the house and...” He stops and I can sense him pulling further away than the arm’s reach he’d been keeping himself. “You have no idea. Of course not. Why would you be so at ease with me if you knew the truth?”
“You’re a wizard?” The word leaves my mouth dry.
No no no. There has to be a mistake. Al can’t possibly be a wizard. He’s good and nice and fought to protect me at Gran’s, and helped bring me back from half-death. He can’t be what I’m supposed to run from.
“Answer the question,” I shout.
Our little scene is starting to gather a crowd, I can hear them murmuring and the heat of their anticipation and curiosity leaves a bad taste in my mouth. They want a fight.
Fight Al. Impossible.
“Yes.”
One word. One word and everything I thought I knew comes crashing down on top of me. I trusted him. I helped him. And all along he’s been no different than Stewart, lying to me to get what he wants.
“Where’s Cindy?” I want to stay calm, but there’s an edge to my voice.
“Lou, I’d never—“
I don’t let him finish. There’s nothing he can say I’ll believe. “Where’s my sister?” I ask louder this time.
Cindy responds. “What’s going on?”
I hoped having her near would put me at ease a bit, but if anything it makes things worse.
“You knew, didn’t you?” It’s not really a question since as soon as I say the words I realize they must be true. “You knew and didn’t say anything.”
“You should have told her about me,” Al agrees which doesn’t help.
“It wasn’t my secret to tell.” Her tone causes a perfect picture of her relaxed shrug to appear in my mind.
“Instead you left her alone with me and no warning,” Al continues.
“This is not my fault, wizard boy.”
“Shut up!” the words are out of my mouth before I think them. “Both of you shut up. Take me home.”
There’s silence for a minute and then Cindy says as though shocked by the idea, “Well I’m not doing it. Have you seen the plants around here? They’re practically exploding with magic. You have no idea what I could do with these things.”
“Cindy.” I don’t want to beg, but what choice is she leaving me? The only other way I’m going to get anywhere is if... no. I won’t think his name. “Please.”
“Sorry.” She doesn’t sound as though she is. “Why don’t you hang out around here for a while? I’ll be back soon enough.”
“Hey,” a soft voice says from a few feet away. “I can take you back. If you’d like.”
I have no idea who’s talking to me, but when my other option is to stand around being stared at by what must be an entire village, I choose the unknown. It can’t be worse than trusting Al.
I nod and the girl places her hand on my arm to guide me.
After a few minutes of awkward silence I force myself to ask the question bugging me since we started walking. “Is he here?”
“Aldric?” The way she says his name bothers me. Like it’s something precious and she’s only too happy to speak it out loud. “No, he went after Sin.”
“Her name’s Cindy. She likes being called Sin because she thinks it sounds dangerous. It’s idiotic.”
The words come pouring out, and once they’re spoken, I actually feel a little better. I’ve been keeping those thoughts in for three years now, ever since she started calling herself that ridiculous nickname in the first place.
I may feel a little less annoyed at Cindy, but I’m anything but okay. I’m on the verge of another breakdown. I can feel my chest tighten and the air tastes bitter and heavy.
“I’m Rose,” my guide says.
“Of course you are,” I grumble.
She doesn’t know what to say, and I don’t blame her. Though I’d feel a lot worse about my bitterness if I hadn’t woken up after having my magic stolen to find I’m not only blind, but I’ve also been tricked into trusting the enemy.
The word shocks me out of the bitterness. Enemy. I’m a sorceress, he’s a wizard. Are we automatically enemies? Despite everything we’d been through together and the fact he knows me better than my own sister after only days, am I supposed to hate him?
“He’s not like the others,” Rose says without any preamble. “He’d never hurt anyone. Not if he can help it.”
“He’s a wizard,” I say, practically choking on the word. “Isn’t hurting people kind of what they do?”
“Not Aldric.” She sounds as though it’s ridiculous for me to even think as much. “It’s why he came home.”
“You think I should trust him?” I make a sound meant to be a laugh but it comes out much crazier. “I mean it’s only my life on the line.”
“He’d never hurt you.” She grabs my shoulder to emphasize her point, but slowly releases as her tone becomes a touch darker. “Not on purpose.”
“So, what, he’d accidently suck my magic out? Not on purpose though.”
I expect her to attempt to correct me; tell me what she really meant. But the longer she stays quiet, the longer I think she meant exactly what I thought.
“How could he ‘accidently’ take my magic?”
“It wouldn’t be hard. Especially with the way he looks at you. One kiss and...” She stops herself as though she feels like she’s said too much. And yet I can tell there’s so much more she wants to say.
I can sense her tension in the silence and it makes me realize my fears were right.
“You love him.”
She doesn’t say anything for a long time. I get the feeling she’s never admitted as much out loud before.
After long deliberation, she simply says, “Yes.” Followed by, “He really is different. But there’s darkness in him that didn’t exist before his training. I don’t want you to hurt him.”
Although her affection is touching, it does nothing to help my bad mood. “I think I’m going to worry more about my own safety than his, thanks.”
“I don’t mean physically. I know what happens to a wizard after they taste magic. I’ve seen it. Please don’t do it to Aldric.”
I’m going to say something about blaming the victim, but she stops walking.
“We’re here.” She pulls away and several muted thuds of a fist against wood follow. “I know I have no right, but I’m going to ask for a favor. Will you please leave? Go back to wherever you came from. Let things go back to normal here. It’s best for everyone.”
The door squeaks open and Al’s mother says some sort of greeting I don’t quite hear.
“Remember what I said,” she whispers to me. “See you later,” she adds louder for the benefit of our onlooker.
>
And once again I’m alone.
* * *
Chapter Nineteen
I have no idea how long I sit on the bed with my cell in my hand. I need to get a hold of Mom and the only way I know how is to call her. There must be some way of using magic to make it work, even though we’re in a different world. Isn’t magic meant to do things like this?
Problem. I have no idea what numbers I’m dialing. Too be honest, I’m not a hundred percent sure it’s turned on.
No, it must be. I manage to accidently access my music, one of the songs blaring louder than I’d ever play it on purpose. Al’s mother comes rushing in, completely freaking out and shouting about magic in the house, though I’m not sure if she was more worried about me being in trouble or me causing the trouble.
After a few apologies and awkward attempts explaining what the noise is, she leaves. She seems all too happy to go.
I bring the phone up to my face and press the cool plastic against my forehead. If only the pressure would make something inside my brain click. How am I supposed to figure out how to use magic if I can’t dial a damn phone?
It’s not only the phone stopping me. I have no idea how magic works. Before I could see the magic in Cindy’s pockets and the net around Al...
I wish I hadn’t thought his name. It’s easier to avoid thinking about what he is if I don’t think his name.
Al.
A wizard.
And Rose. She wants me gone, and she’s right, I need to go. But I’m not sure I’m ready to leave, even if I could without Cindy. Too many things are unresolved.
Al.
I need to focus on my magic. Somehow. If I don’t figure it out then I can’t warn Mom. She needs to know about Stewart and at the very least, she needs to know we’re safe. There’s no way she’s not going berserk.
But Al could have taken my magic. The entire time while we were together, he could have easily taken it and I wouldn’t have realized until it was too late. The fact he didn’t has to mean something.
Except, maybe he’s the same as Stewart. Maybe he’s biding his time, waiting for the best moment.
And yet, I don’t think so. Rose’s description about him being different feels true. He’s definitely not like the other two wizards I’ve met.
The Man in the Box Page 14