The Power Within

by H. K. Varian

  “They must know something about Jai,” Darren said.

  “Yes,” Ms. Therian agreed. “I think that is likely.”

  Darren clenched his fists, trying to contain the brewing lightning. “If I could’ve stopped them—if I could’ve hit them even one time with my lightning—we could have, I don’t know, captured them or something!”

  “Don’t despair,” Ms. Therian said. “Our mission may not have yielded much, but we learned something important. Auden Ironbound’s servants are aware of Jai and his mysterious disappearance. Perhaps they are even responsible. Two young magic-users, attacking right out in the open? That’s very poor form. If I were their teacher, I would be livid.”

  In the growing darkness, Gabriella and Darren exchanged a furtive glance. Luckily, Ms. Therian didn’t seem to notice.

  By the time they got back into the car, Darren was glad it was dark; that way, no one could see how upset he was. During the drive back to Willow Cove, he stared out the window into the night. He knew Gabriella was right, of course. He couldn’t just let his lightning continue to spiral out of control. The stakes were too high, and the results were too dangerous. A sick feeling washed over Darren as he remembered the angry red burn on the tender skin of Gabriella’s ear. It looked like it hurt—a lot. And yet, she was incredibly lucky; a few inches to the left, and it would’ve been so much worse.

  Never again, Darren thought firmly, clenching his fists once more. He had to find a way to get his Changer powers under control before he could do any more damage.

  As Ms. Therian approached Darren’s house, though, he realized just how hard that would be. Seeing this familiar house, the place where he’d grown up with Mom and Dad and Ray—all the happy Christmases and backyard barbecues and patio breakfasts—felt like a knife in his heart. How had it all slipped away? Ray was gone, living at college; now Dad was leaving for good; and maybe even Darren and his mom would be moving away too. The little house just sat there, lights glowing in the windows, like everything was okay. Like it wasn’t all falling apart.

  Darren tried to take a deep breath, but that uncomfortable tightness was pressing down on his chest again.

  “See you tomorrow, Darren,” Ms. Therian said as she pulled up to the curb.

  “Text me later,” Gabriella added. “And have a good night.”

  “Thanks,” Darren said, getting out of the car. “You, too.”

  Then he shut the door and hurried up to his house. It still felt like home, but with a big, empty space where Dad should’ve been. How could something that was missing feel so enormously overwhelming?

  Darren’s hands were hot again. Burning, even.

  Get upstairs, he told himself. Alone, he could breathe; alone, he could calm down, and then he would somehow find a way to get through dinner with Mom, both of them pretending like that huge, terrible emptiness wasn’t there.

  “Darren! I thought I heard you come in,” Mom said as she walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

  Halfway up the stairs, Darren froze. Stay—calm—he thought. “Hey, Mom,” he said, trying to sound normal . . . and failing miserably.

  Mom’s welcoming smile disappeared, replaced by a look of concern. “Oh, sweetheart,” she said. “Come here. Let me give you a hug.”

  “I’m . . . okay. I’m—just— I have a lot of homework,” Darren managed to say.

  Mom was quiet for a moment. “I’m not going to force you to talk about it if you’re not ready,” she said. “But, Darren, you can’t keep your feelings locked up inside. I know how hard this is. I know how much it hurts. . . .”

  Then why are you doing it to us! Darren wanted to yell. But he held his tongue, and his temper.

  The lights flickered, anyway.

  Mom glanced at the hall light warily. “The lights again? If this keeps up, I’m going to have to call the electrician back,” she said with a sigh. “Dinner will be ready soon, Darren. I can’t wait to hear about your day.”

  “Okay,” Darren said, already making a mental list of the things he couldn’t tell her: a secret mission to Fisherman’s Bay, how his teacher is a werewolf, accidentally hurting his friend with a bolt of lightning from his own hands.

  Darren trudged up the stairs and, finally, escaped to his bedroom. He sighed heavily as he sat down at his desk and began rummaging around in his backpack. He really didn’t feel like doing homework right now, but maybe it would take his mind off how awful he felt. One by one, he dropped his textbooks onto the desk with a loud thud. Now he just needed his calculator and pencil case and—

  What was that?

  At the very bottom of his backpack, Darren’s fingers brushed against something unusual. Something he didn’t expect to find. He grabbed hold of it and pulled out a woven leather band that he’d never seen before. An intricate pattern of interconnected loops had been pressed into the band.

  Cool, Darren thought as he slid the wristband over his hand. The leather was completely broken in, so worn and soft that it seemed to take the shape of his wrist immediately.

  But where had it come from?

  Ray! Darren suddenly thought. Of course. It would be just like Ray to give Darren something special, a reminder that he would always be there for him. Darren tried to think back on if he’d ever seen Ray wearing this bracelet. Maybe. It was hard to remember, since he hardly saw Ray now that his brother was in college. I did see Ray in my room this morning before I left for school, Darren thought. Maybe it belongs to him. Maybe he put it in my backpack while I was brushing my teeth. He pressed his fingers against the bracelet and smiled as he thought of his brother. The sparks brewing in his fingertips began to falter and then dimmed. Darren stared at his fingers with wondrous relief.

  I can control this, he realized, as soon as I can control my feelings, my emotions—myself.

  Ray was far away right now, and Darren could only guess what he was doing—getting pizza with his buddies, maybe, or holing up in the library for another late-night study session. But despite the physical distance between them, in that moment, Darren felt closer than ever to his big brother. Whatever Mom and Dad did, together or apart, Ray and Darren would always have each other.

  Darren’s phone buzzed with an e-mail. It was from Ray, which made Darren grin. It was like they were both thinking of each other at the exact same time.

  Little D. Hope you’re hanging in okay. I want you to know you can talk to me anytime, man. I am here for you, always. And I think Mom is going to find a counselor for you to talk to. You should do it. I dropped in at the counseling center on campus this morning and felt about a thousand times better after I talked to somebody there. Plus, a counselor is totally confidential—you can tell them anything, and they will keep it secret. Also, think about adding a couple extra workouts to your schedule. Exercise helps with stress—a lot.

  Fear and anger are like poisons. Keep them inside too long, and they’ll make you sick. Don’t be afraid to let those emotions out. You have to trust me on this.

  Love,

  Ray

  Darren read Ray’s e-mail twice, twisting the leather band around his wrist the whole time. If only it was that easy, he thought sadly. He was glad that Ray had seen a counselor and found it helpful, but Darren couldn’t imagine any counselor in the world who could keep all his secrets. They were too big, too overwhelming.

  Darren’s best friends at school, Ethan and Kyle, wouldn’t come close to understanding how he felt, and as for his Changer friends . . . Well, he wasn’t sure he was ready to talk to them about this sort of thing yet. Darren had really only been close to Mack, Fiona, and Gabriella for the past few months. Could he trust them to not spread it around school or to not look at him without some kind of pity? And he didn’t want them to think he was some kind of baby who couldn’t go on missions because there was stuff going on at home. . . .

  No. Darren’s best option—his only option—would be to keep what was going on at home to himself. And for the first time, with the spa
rks under his skin extinguished and that leather wristband pressed against his skin, Darren thought he might actually manage it.

  Chapter 6

  Back in Control

  Gabriella was speaking in such a low, rushed whisper that Mack had to lean in close to hear her.

  “And I was trying to attack the magic-users—I’d transformed, and I just wanted to, you know, trap them or something—and Darren was supposed to back me up, and he was trying. I mean, it was totally obvious he was trying really hard, but . . .”

  “But what?” Mack asked impatiently.

  Gabriella shook her head. “It’s like the harder he tried, the less control he had,” she explained. “His lightning was flying everywhere. I was spending all my energy trying to dodge it. It felt—”

  Gabriella’s voice broke off unexpectedly.

  “You can say it,” Fiona said. “Whatever it is, you can tell us.”

  “I know it’s wrong, but it almost felt like I was fighting three enemies,” Gabriella finished. She looked ashamed to have spoken those words aloud.

  Mack frowned. “But Darren would never try to hurt you,” he said.

  “Of course he wasn’t trying to,” Gabriella retorted. “But he did all the same.” She flicked her long, black hair over her shoulder to reveal her left ear, which had a red, oozing welt on it.

  “Darren did that?” Fiona asked incredulously. “With his lightning?”

  Gabriella nodded. “I had to tell my mom I accidentally burned myself with a curling iron,” she said. “It really hurts, and I don’t know what I’m going to do with my hair at soccer practice today. I read that nahuals are supposed to have healing powers, but I haven’t really developed any yet, so I can’t just heal it up quickly.” Gabriella paused and then sighed. “Look, I’m not telling you this to trash Darren behind his back. I’m really worried about him. I tried to tell him that he could trust me—whatever is bothering him; we’re his friends, his teammates. And I know firsthand how keeping something from your teammates can mean losing—”

  “Hey, guys,” Darren said as he approached. “What’s up?”

  A heavy, uncomfortable silence fell over the group. Oh, man. Did he hear what Gabriella was saying? Mack worried. He racked his brain, trying to think of something, anything to say.

  “Cool wristband,” Fiona said loudly, filling the silence.

  “Thanks,” Darren said with an easy smile as he pressed his fingers against the leather band. He looked like he was about to say something else, but just then, Ms. Therian entered the ancillary gym, clapping her hands.

  “Transformations, please. We will pick up where we left off yesterday,” she announced.

  Mack glanced at Darren out of the corner of his eye. Gabriella hadn’t mentioned if she’d told Ms. Therian all the details of their misadventure in the woods, but he had a feeling that she probably hadn’t. Mack was torn. On the one hand, if Darren’s powers really were spiraling out of control, Ms. Therian needed to know. Just thinking about the angry-looking welt on Gabriella’s ear made him flinch.

  But what if Ms. Therian overreacted? What if she banned Darren from missions—or even practice—before Mack and the others had a chance to reach out to Darren? To help him?

  I’ll just see how practice goes today, Mack finally decided as he transformed into his kitsune form. If Darren really can’t handle things, Ms. Therian will notice and make the decision herself.

  Even so, Mack knew he would be keeping a close eye on his friend. Darren might not think that his friends could help him, but Mack would have his back regardless.

  But nobody was more surprised than Mack when Darren pulled off his best Changers class yet. In his impundulu form, Darren executed almost perfect flying maneuvers. He swooped through the air with utmost grace, turning on a dime and nailing every landing. And his lightning! Mack had never seen anything like it. Again and again, Darren’s lightning bolts were white hot and sizzling as they sliced through the air, piercing the exact center of every one of Ms. Therian’s targets.

  Before long, Mack realized that he had stopped training altogether—and he wasn’t the only one. Gabriella, in her nahual form, was standing motionless on the track, watching in wonder. In the pool, Fiona surfaced to marvel at Darren’s blazing lightning, which lit up the gym like the world’s most incredible fireworks display. Even Ms. Therian couldn’t tear her eyes away.

  Suddenly, the bell rang. Class had never run late before, and Ms. Therian looked surprised that the time had slipped away so quickly. “Finish up, everyone,” she said. “Darren—that was exceptional. A truly remarkable practice. Well done.”

  Then Ms. Therian beckoned toward Fiona and Mack. “You two run ahead to the locker rooms. With your mission this afternoon, I’d hate for you to keep Akira waiting.”

  “Don’t rush on my account” came a voice from the doorway. Mack turned to see that his grandfather had entered the gym so quietly, no one had noticed. Good thing they’ve got so many enchantments on the doors, Mack thought. He couldn’t imagine what would happen if just anyone could stumble in.

  Mack grinned and nodded to Jiichan, who smiled as he lifted his hand to return the greeting. But there was something around Jiichan’s eyes that made Mack pause. Maybe it was because Mack was in his kitsune form, with all his senses heightened, but Mack almost felt like there was a cloud of worry hanging over his grandfather.

  By the time Mack transformed a few seconds later, though, it was gone.

  Or was it? Perhaps Mack, as a human, just couldn’t sense it.

  As Mack hurried to change back into his school clothes, he wanted to ask Jiichan what was up. He couldn’t forget that brief foreboding that had emanated from his grandfather. But Mack had a feeling even if something was wrong, Jiichan wouldn’t tell him until he was good and ready.

  Darren entered the locker room then, whistling to himself.

  “Dude!” Mack exclaimed. “That was incredible! I mean—wow!”

  A grin crossed Darren’s face as he ducked his head. “Well, you know, I had to make up for the other day in class,” he joked. “But thanks.”

  “How did you do it?” Mack asked, unable to keep his curiosity under wraps.

  Darren shrugged. “I wish I could tell you,” he admitted. “I guess I had a breakthrough or something. I think I’ve learned how to control my lightning. It feels . . . It feels almost natural. Like breathing, you know?”

  Mack did know. He would never forget the first time he transformed, after almost losing hope that he would ever manage it. “Well, if you figure it out, you’ve gotta tell the rest of us,” he said. “I wish I could handle my powers so well.”

  “I honestly think that it starts right here,” Darren said, tapping his temple. “Mind over matter.”

  Mack grinned wryly. “You’re sounding a lot like my grandfather, so you’re probably right,” he cracked. “Anyway, I’ve got to go. Don’t want to be late for the mission.”

  “Good luck,” Darren said, serious all of a sudden. “And be careful.”

  “I will,” Mack promised.

  Back in the gym, Fiona, Ms. Therian, and Jiichan were waiting for him. “Mack, Fiona—a word before you depart,” Ms. Therian said. “I’m not sure if Gabriella and Darren told you about our mission yesterday.”

  Mack and Fiona exchanged a glance. “Um, a little,” Fiona said carefully.

  “Then you probably know that they were besieged by a witch and warlock at Fisherman’s Bay,” Ms. Therian said. “I don’t want to scare you before your mission, but I do want you to be on highest alert.”

  “We will be,” Fiona replied.

  “This is a promising sign, I think,” Ms. Therian continued. “They are worried about us, or else they would not be on patrol. And they are sloppy—that much is certain. This ought to give us a chance to resolve Jai’s disappearance before they strike again.”

  “Strike again?” Mack repeated. “You—you think that’s a possibility?”

  This time, it was M
s. Therian and Jiichan’s turn to exchange a glance.

  “It is not a possibility, Makoto,” Jiichan finally replied, “but a certainty.”

  “Unless we can stop them first,” added Ms. Therian. “Go. And good luck. I look forward to your report.”

  Half an hour later, Jiichan pulled his car into the driveway of a modest, one-story house on a quiet street in Middletown. “Here we are,” he said.

  Jai’s father must have been watching for them because he opened the front door before they were even halfway up the path. “Akira. Thank you for coming,” he said. “Please come in.”

  Once they were inside, Jiichan placed one hand on Fiona’s shoulder and the other on Mack’s shoulder. “Ankur, thank you for your warm welcome,” he said. “May I present my grandson, Makoto, a kitsune, and Fiona Murphy, a selkie.”

  Ankur nodded to each of them. “It is an honor to meet you,” he said. “I know my son would have—”

  Ankur’s voice caught in this throat, and his piercing brown eyes grew watery. “I apologize,” he said, pressing his hands over his eyes. “I’m terribly worried for him.”

  “We will not stop searching until he is found and returned to you,” Jiichan assured him. “May we sit?”

  “Yes, yes, of course,” Ankur replied, gesturing toward the living room. “I’ve made tea. Please, make yourselves comfortable.”

  Mack accepted an earthenware mug filled with fragrant chai. He took a sip of the sweet tea, tasting cloves, ginger, cinnamon, and other spices he couldn’t quite place. It was delicious.

  “Why don’t you tell us about how Jai came into his powers,” Jiichan suggested to Ankur.

  Ankur grimaced. “I should’ve noticed,” he said. Then he turned to Mack and Fiona. “We are naga,” he explained. “Serpent Changers. We hold sway over water: directing its course, summoning it in floods, withholding it in droughts. In ancient times we were the guardians of lakes, rivers, and streams.