The Fairytale Curse (Magic's Return Book 1)

by Marina Finlayson

  That seemed unlikely to me, but hey, I knew that urge to be doing something, anything, whatever the chances of success, just to feel you were trying.

  “If you like,” I said to Bryan, “I can sit with Kerrie while you guys are busy.”

  He smiled, his first of the morning. “Thank you. I’d appreciate it. I’ll send someone in to relieve you when more of the staff arrive.”

  His gratitude made me feel guilty. Well, guiltier. I was already feeling bad enough over Puck. At least the guard had woken up and seemed to be fine, if a little confused about what had happened. Really I just wanted an excuse to stay out of Dorian’s way.

  Kerrie’s room was dark. I opened the blind and settled in the armchair, watching the light gradually seep into the room as the sun rose. It was a disused office, with the empty desk pushed aside to make room for the hospital-style bed she lay in. She still had a band-aid on the back of one hand where she’d had an IV drip when she was in hospital. They hadn’t realised then that nothing was necessary to keep her alive except the magic that filled her.

  Her temperature never varied, she was neither hot nor cold. She didn’t need food or water. No one had to bathe her or empty bedpans. She just was. Not even her eyelids flickered, as people’s sometimes did when they dreamed. She was perfectly still, like a wax effigy of a woman. When Bryan realised she had no need of a hospital’s care he’d had her transferred, over the strenuous objections of the doctors, to this room, where at least Emmet and Dena might be able to help her.

  If she did dream, I wondered what she would dream about. I curled my legs under me and rested my head against the back of the chair. The night had exhausted me. I could go to sleep right now and dream of my perfect man. He was probably still asleep at this hour, dark hair flopped across his face, long eyelashes resting on tanned cheeks. Now there was someone I’d like to kiss awake. What had he been up to for the last two weeks? I would get to ask him tomorrow. I couldn’t decide if I was more scared or excited at the thought.

  Tomorrow this nightmare of a holiday would come to an end and we would go back to school. And the next night Mum and Dad would be home. Well, not home, precisely. Obviously Dad wasn’t really going to Taronga Zoo, but he couldn’t come home either. Imagine the neighbours if a polar bear moved in next door. He’d probably end up here, down the hall from Sergei. The thought made me miserable. My Dad, locked up like another freak in sideshow alley. But maybe—just maybe—I might be able to help him.

  “Wake up, sleepy head.”

  I jumped at a gentle hand on my shoulder. The room was flooded with bright daylight, and I had a crick in my neck from leaning back against the chair. I must have fallen asleep. Simon grinned down at me. I looked at him suspiciously. What, had I been dribbling or something? I rubbed my hands over my face just to be sure.

  “What time is it?” I asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be out checking the streets for traces of aether?”

  “Done that. It’s ten o’clock. How long have you been in here?”

  “Since about six. Did you find anything?”

  “No. There’s too many people about now. The aether’s dispersed, and there’s nothing big showing on the monitors.”

  Maybe he’d used up all his stolen aether busting out of his chains, but how was he hiding his own? He’d certainly showed up all right on the monitors the day he’d been caught.

  “So he got away?”

  “Yes.”

  He perched on the end of Kerrie’s bed and rested his hand briefly on her foot, in an oddly tender gesture.

  “You can head off now, if you like. I’ll sit with her for a couple of hours.”

  I stood up and stretched, rolling my head from side to side, trying to work out the kinks. He took no notice of me; his eyes were on the girl in the bed.

  “You like her, don’t you?”

  That got his attention. He gave me the usual grumpy frown. I expected a swift “none of your business”. Instead, he shrugged and looked away.

  Well, that was encouraging. What would CJ do if she were here? I may as well go all the way. What was he going to do? Act all grumpy with me?

  “Why don’t you just kiss her?” Maybe I could do some good to make up for last night’s efforts.

  “What?” He threw me a startled look.

  “Kiss her.” You know you want to. “Why not? If you like her, maybe you’re the one to break the spell.”

  He shook his head. “She doesn’t love me.”

  “So? Snow White didn’t know her prince from a bar of soap. First thing she knew, she’s waking up in his arms. Her love didn’t have anything to do with it.”

  Only his.

  The words hung between us, as real as if I’d spoken them aloud.

  He looked back at her, his face alive with longing. Magic comes from the heart. Throw your heart at it. And what was love but the greatest magic of all?

  His Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed. He looked at me, clearly torn.

  “That could be an awkward conversation,” he said.

  “Awkward shmawkward. It’s just a kiss.” I felt Zac’s lips on mine again, saw the hope and longing in his eyes. Was any kiss ever just a kiss? So much meaning in one little action. “Just kiss her. No one needs to find out. I won’t tell anyone—cross my heart and hope to die. If nothing happens, what have you lost? But if it works …”

  If it worked he’d just saved the woman he loved from a living death.

  He got off the bed and moved toward her, but still he hesitated.

  “Would you like me to leave?” Maybe he’d rather not have an audience for this.

  “No, stay. It’s just a kiss.”

  He didn’t sound like he believed that any more than I did. He leaned forward and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Nothing happened.

  “You’ve got to mean it, Simon.”

  He glared at me, his tanned face flushed crimson. Then he turned back and lowered his lips to hers with exquisite tenderness. They lingered there for a long moment, his hand cupping her face, then he straightened and gazed down at her.

  “Nothing.” His voice was tinged with bitterness.

  “No, wait!” I sprang forward. “Her chest moved! She’s breathing.”

  Side by side, we stared down at her. The movement of the sheet covering her was so small we wouldn’t have noticed it if we hadn’t been watching so intently.

  “See!”

  It was true. Simon drew in a shaky breath, and Kerrie’s eyelids fluttered.

  “Oh, my God,” he breathed.

  Her eyes opened. They were a beautiful blue, deep as the summer sea. She blinked a couple of times, then a tiny frown creased her brow. One hand fought free of the blankets and she turned her head on the pillow.

  “W-water?” she croaked.

  Simon leapt back. “I’ll go!”

  I could hear him shouting for Bryan in the corridor. A moment later they were both back, with Dena and Dorian crowding into the small room behind them.

  “Kerrie! Thank God!” Bryan came forward to throw his arms around his sister, his eyes bright with happy tears.

  Behind him stood Simon, a glass of water at the ready.

  Bryan looked at me and then Simon, joy in his face. “How did this happen?” He helped Kerrie sit up, then took the water from Simon and held it for her while she drank.

  Simon didn’t come any closer. His face was still unnaturally pink.

  He threw me a warning glance. “It just happened.”

  “That’s right.” This was one lie I could happily tell. “She just woke up.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Next morning I was up before the sun. Again. No magic disasters this time, just plain old nerves about going back to school and seeing Zac again. What if I’d just built the whole thing up in my head into something bigger than it really was? Maybe it was just a heat-of-the-moment kiss and he didn’t actually want to take it further. Maybe he was glad I hadn’t called. How the hell could I know when I ha
dn’t talked to him for two whole weeks?

  Two weeks had never seemed so long.

  But I could talk to him at school, even if I wondered whether everyone I met was a Sidhe in disguise. What was any Sidhe going to do to me in the middle of so many witnesses? Although there’d been plenty of witnesses at Josh Johnson’s party, and look what had happened after that …

  Sick of tossing from side to side and punching the pillow in a failed effort to get back to sleep, I got up at ten to six and wandered out to the guest lounge. The other bedroom doors were all closed. Kerrie was asleep behind one of them now, a wax effigy no longer. She hadn’t wanted to go to bed last night. Last I’d heard she was telling Bryan she’d slept long enough. I thought she was scared to go back to sleep in case she couldn’t wake up again. I reckoned I would have been, too, if I’d just lost three weeks of my life.

  I stretched out on the couch and turned the TV on with the volume way down. I didn’t want to watch it; I just wanted the company of the flickering colours on the screen. Apart from the whole Zac thing, I had a lot to think about.

  My collar was on the coffee table; I hadn’t put it on yet this morning. I told myself that was because it was uncomfortable, but I was a terrible liar. Even I didn’t believe me. Really I was contemplating magic: specifically, whether I could do it again. And I knew I couldn’t work magic with the collar on.

  The sensible thing, of course, would be not to try. After all, it hadn’t turned out so well last time. I’d been trying to change the colour of a piece of paper and ended up with a real live bird. God knows what could happen if I tried again.

  But if I didn’t try, I had no hope of ever helping Dad. It seemed a big step, from turning a paper bird into a real one, to turning a bear back into a human, but what other options did we have? CJ and I hadn’t been the only ones working on the problem, and no one was even close to a solution. Sensible wasn’t cutting it; someone had to be daring.

  I sighed, and caught the resulting diamond without even thinking about it. It sure was easier with diamonds instead of frogs. I placed it on the coffee table and considered it. Maybe I could change its colour? How about a blue diamond instead?

  I took a deep breath and tried to clear my mind. Not the will. Throw your heart at it.

  Long moments passed. I heard Kerrie murmur in her sleep. Nothing.

  Maybe I didn’t want it enough. I waited for that feeling of something shifting inside me that I’d experienced when the bird came to life. Nothing happened. It had seemed so easy last time.

  Or maybe it was because the diamond itself was a magical construct, and the two magic forces were kind of cancelling each other out. Something else might be better. Dammit, I didn’t know anything.

  My eye fell on the vase of flowers on the coffee table. I picked a white rose at random and pictured it turning red. Wanted it to turn red, as hard as I could.

  “What are you doing out here?” CJ came out of the bedroom, yawning, collar already in place though she still wore her pyjamas. She settled on the lounge opposite, then noticed my collar on the table between us and frowned.

  “Why aren’t you wearing your collar?” Her voice was much sharper, almost accusing. “I thought you would have been more careful after what happened last time you took it off.”

  I clipped it round my neck. Was the white rose showing a tiny blush of colour? “Who was I going to talk to, the TV? There—happy now?”

  “No, not really. After all the times you yelled at me about not wearing it when I had the diamonds, and now you’re just as bad. Hypocrite much, Vi?”

  “Why are you so grumpy this morning?”

  “I’m not grumpy. Just stating a fact. And why are you staring at those flowers like you’re trying to drill holes in them with your laser vision?”

  I jumped, and tried to pretend I hadn’t. “I’m not.”

  CJ gave me a shrewd look. She knew me too well. “You’re up to something, aren’t you?”

  I kept my gaze on her face and made sure not to look anywhere near the damn flowers. It was torture—like when someone tells you not to think of an elephant and suddenly you can’t get elephants out of your mind.

  “Of course not. What can I get up to lying on the lounge? I just couldn’t sleep, so I came out here. I was being nice. I didn’t want to disturb you. Obviously it didn’t work.”

  She shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep either. I was just lying there, imagining everyone at school staring at me, all whispering behind my back. The worst thing is when you walk into a room and everyone stops talking, and you know they were just talking about you.”

  “It won’t be that bad.”

  She looked at me. I really was a terrible liar.

  “Okay, it might be bad, but you’ve just got to get it over with. By the end of the week they’ll have forgotten and they’ll all be talking about something else.”

  “Maybe. Just wait till they realise it’s our dad who’s turned into a polar bear. We’ll never hear the end of it. This whole thing is such a mess.”

  “You can say that again. And everyone here’s running around suspecting each other of helping the Sidhe. It’s a wonder they can get anything done at all.”

  “Do you think there really is a traitor?”

  “Gotta be. After all these years, the Sidhe wouldn’t suddenly come up with a way to escape. They must have had outside help.”

  “But who would do that? Who do you think it is?”

  I shrugged. “Search me. I mean, we don’t know many people in the organisation, do we? Could be anyone.”

  “Dorian said it must be one of the seekers. That they’re the only ones with enough latency.” She said “latency” as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.

  “Them and the warders,” I said, “though obviously it’s not one of them. But how do they know you’d need latency to do it, when they don’t know what’s been done?”

  She pulled her knees up to her chin and hugged them. “Maybe they do know, and they’re just not telling us.”

  Hmmm. That seemed quite likely, actually. They guarded information as if it was more precious than gold around here. Telling us something we didn’t need to know would probably kill them.

  “Just as well it’s not our problem. All we have to deal with today is going back to school.”

  She sighed. “I wish we didn’t have to go back.”

  I tried to think of something to cheer her up. “At least Josh won’t be there.”

  He’d be starting his HSC exams soon. I hope he failed miserably, like the loser he was.

  “Yeah. At least Josh won’t be there.” She didn’t sound any happier. “I really thought he liked me. I feel like such an idiot, as if everyone will be laughing at me. And now you’re going to say I told you so, aren’t you? That it was the diamonds he was after all along.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” I said.

  “Was it so stupid to think he might like me for myself? I’m a nice person, aren’t I?”

  “My favourite sister. You’re pretty hot, too. Not my type, but pretty hot all the same.”

  “Thanks, Vile.”

  “Welcome.”

  And then she caught me looking at the flowers again. She sat bolt upright.

  “You are up to something. What are you doing? It’s something magic, isn’t it?” The accusing tone was back in her voice.

  “Don’t be stupid,” I said.

  “You’re such a bad liar. Fine. Be like that. I don’t suppose Miss All-Powerful Latency would want to share anything with her useless sister. Go and tell your new best friend Simon. He thinks you’re so amazing.”

  She flounced back to our room and slammed the door.

  Ouch. I wished Simon hadn’t been quite so awestruck when I’d smelled the aether at Observatory Hill. CJ hadn’t said anything at the time, but she’d obviously been stewing on it ever since. I knew, the minute I laid eyes on that file, that this would be a problem. CJ never settled for second-best.

  And if
she knew I could actually do magic …

  I peered at the white rose. There was the faintest blush of pink at the very edge of the petals—so faint that I couldn’t be sure it hadn’t been there all along. So much for my supposed powers. Maybe CJ had nothing to be jealous of after all.

  ***

  Simon actually sang along to the radio as he drove us to school. The difference was astonishing, like aliens had kidnapped Mr Grumpy and left this smiling stranger in his place. But maybe this was the real Simon. We’d only known him since Kerrie was cursed, after all.

  I wanted to ask if he’d spoken to Kerrie since he kissed her awake, but I knew that would go down like a lead balloon, so I kept my mouth shut and only winced occasionally as he hit a particularly bad note. He got full marks for enthusiasm, but holding a tune was not his forte.

  At least someone in the car was happy. Kyle was his usual quiet self, but CJ stared stonily out the window, still mad with me. I was glad now I hadn’t told her that Simon was the one who woke Kerrie. She would have dropped a hint that she knew by now, and there’d be two people here who hated me.

  Or maybe three. I wasn’t very happy with me either. Puck’s escape still weighed heavily on my mind. The only bright spot on the horizon was the prospect of seeing Zac today.

  And Sona, of course. Mustn’t be one of those girls who forgot all about their friends the minute they hooked up with some guy. Although I’d hardly thought of Sona all holiday—just another thing to feel guilty about.

  She didn’t leave me in doubt long as to her feelings on our separation. I was barely through the door of the senior study before she pounced.

  “Where have you been? I’ve been so worried!”

  “Mum and Dad went away, so we had to go stay with someone else.”

  “I sent you a million texts, and you never answered one of them. I thought you were dead for sure—or turned into a toad or something equally horrific.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t have my phone.” Still didn’t, in fact. Hopefully when Mum got home tomorrow Dorian would finally hand it back.

  She blinked. “You didn’t have your phone? How did you live?”