by Bria Berg
Chapter 11
Tessa sat across from Nicole, listening to her talk about how she had overheard Neal ask Lindsay Scranton out, and concluded that the boy was a player because he had moved on so quickly. When Tessa quietly pointed out that Nicole had turned him down, Nicole went silent.
When the abnormal silence form Nicole continued, Tessa looked up from her grilled chicken salad she had been playing with and almost choked. Sam sat across from her next to Nicole, while Milo was sitting right next to her, so close that if she shifted ever so slightly, they would touch. Milo moved instead lifting his arm, and when he lowered it, he brushed against her causing chills to erupt at the contact.
“Hey Tessa. We need to talk to you about something. Something important,” Sam said leaning forward and clasping his hands in front of him on the table.
“Okay…” Tessa replied unsure.
Both brothers shot Nicole a look. “Alone,” Milo clarified.
Surprisingly, Nicole took the hint without any smart-aleck remarks, and even more surprising, she jumped to her feet. Tessa waited for her to leave before turning to Milo. “That wasn’t very nice.”
Milo shrugged. “That girl is a selfish prick. Why do you hang around her?”
Tessa gasped and glared at Milo, although what he said was completely the truth. But she couldn’t tell him the reality, which was Nicole was the only person who would talk to her without bringing up gossip or rumors into the conversation. “What did you need?” she asked instead.
Milo and Sam shared a brief meaningful look before Milo just dove right in. “Do you know about magic?”
“Magic?” Tessa questioned wondering where this conversation could possibly be going. “Like a magician?”
“Not a magician, not illusions or tricks. Real magic, real power,” Milo clarified.
Looking back and forth between the brothers she said, “I’m sorry I really don’t understand where you’re going with this. There’s no such thing as real power.”
Sam stepped in. “Listen, this might sound crazy to you, but there are people with real magical gifts, power that can be pulled from the elements, power that we can feel in you.”
Tessa pressed her lips together eying the exit doors. Of course two gorgeous men couldn’t be all perfect. They had flaws; they were clearly insane. Her eyes landed on Milo and she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. This is the guy who saved my life. She stood from her chair. “Um sorry guys, I don’t understand what you’re talking about, and I’m not into virtual life things or video games.” A part of her hoped that’s what they were talking about. At least then they’d just be weirdos and not crazies.
“We’re telling you the truth,” Milo said seriously. “Which is why I need to tell you that we believe you are in danger; that’s why we are here at your school, to protect you.”
Tessa paused at that, she couldn’t ignore the sincerity in his voice. However crazy his words were, it was clear he believed them. “You’re here because of me?”
Milo’s shoulders slumped a little. “Yes. When you crashed that day, there were others there who were causing the storm and directing it at you. They ignited the fire that made your car explode. I only saw your car go down in the ditch because I could feel the power that caused it.”
This was getting a little too freaky as a shiver went up her spine. “I wouldn’t be alive if you hadn’t been there, so I’ll owe you forever for that, but you must understand that what you’re saying isn’t possible. Magic doesn’t exist.” With that as her final word she darted out of the cafeteria. Major disappointment filled her. She knew Milo or even Sam would never be interested in her, but she liked the butterflies that came whenever she saw him, and now his brother, and now it was all ruined. It figures that the first person to actually seem like he cared about her was loopy in the head.
“Tessa, please just listen,” Milo’s soft voice halted her steps.
She turned and found both Milo and Sam looking down on her with imploring expressions. Their gorgeous faces had the puppy dog look down to perfection.
Milo looked to Sam for some help, who nodded once. He understood what that meant; she needed proof. “Wait here,” he said before dashing back into the cafeteria. It only took a moment before he returned holding a water bottle. After glancing around the hallway to make sure they were alone, he opened the bottle and said, “I’ll show you. Hold out your hand.”
Tessa looked at the brothers skeptically. “Why—“
“Please, just humor me,” Milo pled.
She sighed but held out her hand deciding no harm could come from that. Milo took Tessa’s hand and turned it so the palm was facing up, not missing the shiver that went up her arm at the contact. He unscrewed the cap off the bottle, and proceeded to pour a tiny puddle in her palm.
Tessa shifted nervously, wondering why on earth he was getting her hand all wet, only to be told to be still. Milo replaced the lid and handed the bottle to Sam. Then, he placed his hand over hers, hovering above it so they were just barely touching. He had drawn Tessa in, and now she couldn’t help but be interested in what he was going to show her, when her hand started to get very cold. She stared down at where their hands touched. Nothing had changed except for the temperature in her palm was getting colder. Milo took a finger and gently stroked her wrist once, which almost made Tessa gasp out loud, before removing his hand from hers. Her eyes widened in disbelief. Where the water had been, sat a perfect, little, sparkling rose made of ice. The edges were already starting to melt where they met the warmth of her skin.
“H-how did you do that?” Tessa asked not taking her eyes off the rose.
“Magic,” Milo whispered.
She looked up and met his eyes. It is one thing to be told something, but to actually witness it brought it to a whole other level. Either Milo was an incredibly gifted magician and he was playing a trick on her, or he was for real. Something told her it was the latter. It’s not like he had been walking around with a little chunk of ice that wasn’t melting until now all day. This couldn’t be possible, shouldn’t be possible, and yet she couldn’t deny there was in fact a rose made of ice sitting in her trembling hand.
Milo and Sam watched as several emotions passed over Tessa’s face, ranging from awe to terror. They couldn’t blame her; her whole world was about to change, and the rose was just the beginning. Her face paled a little and her legs looked as if they were about to give out, so Milo stepped forward in case he needed to catch her, only to have Tessa take a step back. She turned her hand slightly and the rose slid off shattering on the floor. She stared at the broken pieces a moment before looking back up at the brothers. Her heart was pounding so hard it sounded like hammers in her ears.
“I can’t… I don’t want… I have to go,” she stammered ignoring the brothers’ sympathetic expressions and running down the hall. What had just happened? If magic really existed, what else could possibly be real that was supposed to be no more than myth? She needed to get away, breathe, and see the world the way she always had; without magic.
“That went well,” Sam mused watching her disappear.
“She was terrified,” Milo noted sadly. “I think it would be best if we remained unseen for the next few days, and just watch her from a distance so not to push anything on her. When she’s ready, she’ll come to us.”
“She just needs time to process. She’ll be alright,” Sam hoped, even though he wasn’t so sure. They’d never been in this position before. Not once had he or his brothers ever had to reveal themselves to someone who didn’t know a thing about magic. Obviously, they could have done things a little better.
Chapter 12
Tessa thought about ditching school for the rest of the day but found herself walking to English class when lunch ended. She needed something normal to consume her time and thoughts after what Milo had done, and sadly, class was the most normal thing she could think of. When the class started and neither of the brothers had shown up, she was able to relax a
little, although every time she heard a sound other than Mrs. Melvin giving instructions, her eyes darted to the door.
Unfortunately, English class was boring and slow as ever, enough for her mind to constantly wander back to the conversation with Milo and Sam. How could real magic be possible? When she was younger and much more naïve, she used to believe in magic like in the fairytales. She even tried kissing a frog once at the local aquarium, certain that it would turn into a handsome prince. Of course nothing happened, and the nanny immediately made her wash her face while Hailey laughed hysterically, but she had since grown out of her adolescent notions of fairy god mothers and spells. Still, she couldn’t deny what she saw, and even felt. When Milo turned the water to ice, she felt a sort of power buzzing in the air around them, and in-between the space where their hands met.
Milo and Sam had been so serious when they told her magic was real. They believed someone was trying to harm her, but why? Obviously she wasn’t a witch or wizard or whatever it was they were. Just to make sure though, she focused on the water bottle down by her feet, trying to turn it into ice. When nothing happened, she let out a small chuckle for being so foolish, which earned her some unwanted glances her way.
When the bell rang, she cautiously made her way down the hall to where the gym was. Her thoughts kept going back and forth, wondering if she made a mistake by running away from the brothers—magical brothers. The entire situation terrified her because it was something she didn’t know or understand, and never expected it. The brothers didn’t seem at all like they were trying to hide anything from her, so maybe if she had stayed and asked more questions, they would give her all the answers she demanded. But would those answers just scare her even more? She was almost done with her senior year, and all she wanted to do was just get through it without further incident. She didn’t need any other reasons than she already had for people to talk about her.
After changing into her gym clothes and walking into the gym, her steps halted when she saw a man standing in the middle of a group of athletes looking upon him as if he was a god. His gaze turned and met Tessa’s eyes and her jaw dropped. He had to be the third brother. They all looked so similar with the same gorgeous blue-green eyes, brown hair and magnificent builds. He stopped talking to the boys surrounding him and made his way to the spot Tessa had stopped.
“Hello Tessa,” he smiled.
“Another one?” Tessa asked somewhat breathlessly. It just wasn’t fair to have a family with three brothers who were so devastatingly attractive. What was worse that each seemed to get a knee weakening reaction from her.
His eyebrow quirked up in a question before he said, “I know my brothers freaked you out. It was too much too soon to throw everything at you, and on behalf of all of us, I’d like to apologize. They can come on a little strong at times.”
“I’m guessing you’re like them?” she asked quietly.
“To an extent yes, although I’m a lot easier to be around,” he replied with a charming smile. “For example, I won’t tell you right away that you are in danger or anything like that. Instead, I might simply observe that, you Tessa, are intriguing.”
Tessa couldn’t fight the blush and smile that came with that. He was obviously the more flirtatious one out of the three. Part of her was tempted to even flirt back, but when she caught sight of Dean with his groupies watching on intently, she thought better of it. Even talking with him was sure the bring about a whole new round of gossip. “I honestly don’t know what to think of everything right now. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, what you guys want me to do,” she said trying to ignore everyone else around them.
“Well, you don’t have to have all the answers right away, but in the meantime, I’m Ethan, and I’ll be right here when you’re ready to talk.”
As the coaches blew their whistles, and all the teams separated, Ethan gave her one last smile before walking away to where the baseball team was gathered. They would get to be outdoors today since most of the snow had melted.
“Moving your way up to the older men I see,” someone said nudging her. Tyler.
“Shouldn’t you be attempting to score a basket or something?” Tessa turned to face him in annoyance.
“Trust me, I’ll score,” he replied confidently, not talking at all about basketball as his eyes roamed over her body.
Tessa rolled her eyes and turned, but he grabbed her arm to stop her. Her heart rate accelerated as tiny prickles of dread pierced her skin.
“You know, not one girl has ever rejected me until you, and the more you resist the more I want you.”
“You’re wasting your time,” she said pulling her arm out of his grasp and stepping away.
“Is there a problem?” Ethan asked suddenly stepping between them.
Tyler’s gaze went to Ethan in admiration as he grinned goofily. “No problem here Ricks, just talking.”
“Well you should go line up then,” Ethan ordered with a flick of his chin in the direction of the basketball team. He waited until Tyler was on the other side of the court before turning back to Tessa. “You okay?”
She looked at him somewhat stunned by the encounter. “It’s like he worships you or something.”
Ethan actually blushed a little. “I graduated a couple of years ago, and I lettered in sports, I know a lot of these guys from when I was here.”
“What sport did you letter in?”
“All of them. I’m pretty good at what I do,” he said with a hint of arrogance.
“So what are you doing here now, I mean unless it is the same thing as your brothers…” she trailed off.
“Nah, the school knows me too well to know I’d never be on the board. My cover is to just be an alumnus here to assist the athletic program.” His smile fell from his lips as he became serious again. “But seriously, you looked really upset when he was talking to you. Do you need me to… I don’t know teach him a lesson or something?”
Tessa chuckled. “No, it’s fine. I’ll be fine. I better go join my class though. Mrs. Casper is known to force pushups for tardiness.”
This time, Ethan watched Tessa walk across the gym to meet her class.
Chapter 13
The three brothers gathered together from a safe distance as Tessa got into her brand new car, before getting into their own car to follow. They wanted to make sure she got home to safety, where Hero was already waiting to keep watch in the tree by her window. When they were satisfied, they drove for just over five minutes before pulling into their long gravel driveway.
Silently, they each moved into the kitchen, and sat at the table. Milo clasped his hands together in front of him and breaking the silence said, “So, any thoughts?”
“There’s something about her…” Ethan drawled.
Both Milo and Sam gave exasperated sighs.
Ethan’s eyes widened. “You guys too?”
Sam nodded as Milo pushed the conversation forward. “Okay then, we can all agree that she is special, but what about her power? What is she?”
“I personally think she is an amplifier,” Ethan stated. “Maybe that’s why we are all drawn to her.”
“It makes sense,” Sam agreed. “If she is an amplifier, she would make us stronger, so naturally we would want to be near her.”
“It’s more than that though,” Milo said quietly.
Both of his brothers stared waiting for him to elaborate.
His face flushed slightly. “I mean, do you guys not feel it too?”
“What is it you feel?” Sam asked.
Milo ran his fingers over his face, wishing he had never said anything, but these were his brothers, his closest friends and only family. He could tell them anything without any real judgment. “It’s kind of hard to explain. From the moment I got close to her, I felt an overwhelming need to protect her, to keep her safe. I feel the pull too, but… I don’t know it’s weird, it’s more than just wanting to be near her… it’s like I need to be near her.” He didn’t like that at
all. He was usually the most controlled of the brothers, the one they came to for stability, and yet here he was even now with that persistent need to be with her. She was still in high school, wasn’t that illegal or something? “Even now… I feel like I need to just check on her to make sure she’s ok.”
“I feel the same way to a degree, it seems pretty powerful for you though,” Sam observed, seeing the battle his brother was fighting within.
“Same here,” Ethan agreed. “I think we definitely need to look into amplifiers some more, and find out if this is a normal reaction, or whatever it is.”
“We should try to find out more about Tessa too,” Sam decided. “There is something going on with her.”
The brothers nodded in agreement, and Milo added, “I don’t like the way some of those guys talk to her. She tries to play it off cool, but it hurts her.”
“Yeah, and why is her only friend that Nicole girl who treats her like crap?” Sam wondered.
“Well I think you guys are right to lie low for the next couple of days. I think you really freaked her out. I mean come on, why would you think that it’s okay to open with the whole ‘someone is trying to kill you bit?” Ethan asked.
“Well she is in danger,” Sam argued. “It’s better just to get that out in the open so that she knows to be cautious.”
Ethan smirked, “Whatever. You guys just keep your distance, and I’ll keep an eye on her at school. I’m the only one she hasn’t run away from.”
Chapter 14
Tessa lay in bed the next morning, with a pounding headache from the lack of sleep from the night before. She couldn’t stop thinking of the ice rose, and no matter how hard she tried not to, three of the most handsome faces she had ever seen kept popping into her mind. After leaning over to turn her alarm clock off before it sounded, she took a long, hot shower. When she chose the clothes to wear for the day, it was a pair of her more flattering jeans, and a cream-colored sweater. These were things she hadn’t worn since before the indecent three months ago. Ever since that day she had chosen baggy pants or even sweats always accompanied with a baggy sweatshirt. She didn’t want her body to be shown in any way, even if it was covered in fabric.