Burning in a Memory

by Constance Sharper

  The place reeked of something she couldn’t quite pinpoint. Plastic covered the furniture, but a bed sat uncovered in the center of the room. The dark plaid sheets made up a twisted clump and the comforter was strewn on the floor. Her eyes darted from corner to corner. Adelaide knew then who stayed in this room.

  “Dinner!” Angie’s voice cried up the stories of the house, breaking Adelaide’s focus.

  She cursed and backpedaled. Grabbing the knob, she shut the door and left it as she found it. On the way down that stairs, she thought over every inch of detail she’d seen. It was Leon Colton’s room. She’d never been so certain about anything else in her life. But then she couldn’t understand why Adam wouldn’t tell her that, or why it seemed like everyone in this house pretended as if he didn’t exist.

  She ideally considered that it was their way of protecting Leon. After all, even Adelaide knew every shade in the world would go after him if they could. Especially if he’d been in the hospital recently, like Bradley had suggested. Since he’d checked out though, he should have been with his coven. His room was dusty and clearly untouched for quite some time.

  She was so lost in her thoughts that she nearly ran straight into Adam. He waited for her at the bottom of the stairs.

  “Hey,” he greeted. “Hungry? I set up a plate for you.”

  “Did you cook it?” she asked with a smile.

  “No, it’s edible. I promise.”

  He led the way into the dining room. There was an impressively long table with a dozen chairs. The table was set for the six people in the house but only Angie waited for them in the room. Food waited under tinfoil and steam escaped the platters. The radio played the news in the other room, blurring in and out of white noise, and successfully resounded throughout the rest of the house.

  “Had I known you were cooking I would have helped,” Adelaide offered.

  “No, it’s all right,” Angie said.

  Adam gestured Adelaide to sit with him so she did.

  Angie peeled the tinfoil off the serving bowls.

  “Is anyone else coming?” Adelaide asked.

  For the question, Adam lightly squeezed her knee. With each passing second, Adelaide actually managed to feel less hungry. Her stomach wound in knots as she sat against the hard slab of the chair. It was also at that moment the front door opened and the three remaining mages came in. The twins lead with a bounce in their step and little more than a passing glance toward anyone else. They chose the seats on the opposite side of the table. Tony was slower to join them. He glowered across the table before sitting directly in front of Adelaide.

  Nerves riding high again, she plastered on a smile and steeled herself for the inevitable meet-the-family talk, 2.0.

  “Just make sure you share,” Angie barked at the twins and spurred a boisterous but incoherent conversation on that side of the table. Tony remained deathly silent, just as Adam did. They started to dish out the food when the inevitable happened.

  “Adelaide,” Tony said and the single word quieted the table. Adam stiffened visibly, but managed to say nothing. The awkwardness was suffocating, but at least the radio in the background kept the room from agonizing silence.

  “I’m very surprised you came here. So how do you like this home?” Tony said.

  It hardly made up the sharp jab that Adelaide was expecting, but the undertones were clear. She refused to acknowledge the passive-aggressiveness. The only way she found to defeat it was to blatantly ignore it. So she nodded somewhat eagerly.

  “Thank you, I’m glad to be here.”

  Tony didn’t miss a beat.

  “So tell us about yourself. We never really got the chance to learn about you the last time we talked,” he said, sounding too sweet.

  The twins shamelessly watched on. As if the meal hadn’t gone to waste enough, Angie followed suit.

  “I’m an open book. I don’t have an exciting life,” she started but Tony interjected quickly.

  “Family, friends?” he asked.

  “I have both. Just none dumb enough to go rock climbing with me apparently.”

  “You’re about college-aged aren’t you?” he asked.

  “Nineteen.” She purposefully didn’t specify any college, knowing full well that would be the next question. Tony never had the chance to ask. This time Preeti spoke up.

  “Adam is twenty-four,” Preeti blurted out.

  Adelaide’s eyebrows shot up.

  “Oh, goodie, he can buy me alcohol,” Adelaide joked, desperate to alleviate the awkwardness.

  Tony shushed Preeti with a hand before he took back control of the conversation.

  “I was going to ask you what college you went to. How you came to this area. Why you’re renting a house in suburbia,” Tony said.

  She shifted to the edge of the seat, quick to remember that Tony hadn’t technically asked her anything yet. He seemed happy to fire off a totally different question.

  “But I think we all have a more pressing question that we want to ask. Do you have a boyfriend?” he asked.

  It took Adelaide a solid minute to replay the question in her head and another minute to muster up an answer.

  “Uh, no,” she said quietly.

  She could sense Adam shift against the back of the chair, but felt unable to steal a glance his way. The women at the table looked down at their feet.

  “Why, were you expecting a different answer?” she asked suddenly.

  “I just thought it was weird a pretty girl like you wouldn’t,” Tony said.

  Her natural reactions got the better of her and she scoffed loudly. Her head spun to take in everyone at the table. Then she suddenly wondered if this was the latest gossip going around about her arrival. She couldn’t look at Adam.

  She repeated for clarity, and maybe even to soothe Adam.

  “I would not come here if I did. Adam and I are just friends, but I’m sure any boyfriend I had wouldn’t have been okay with me coming here,” she said.

  Tony actually laughed. He took a loud gulp of his beer before dropping it back down to the table.

  “That’s great, because that’s what we care about. Not who you are or if you’ll get killed being here. Or if you’ll get one of us killed,” he scoffed.

  Before Adelaide could respond, Adam’s fist came down on the table. The wood cracked loudly. He sprung from his seat and his chair fell somewhere behind him. Tony matched his movements until both men stood with barely four feet of table between them.

  “Stop, stop, stop!” Angie’s cried loudly. She slammed into Adam and firmly pressed two hands against his chest.

  “He’s wrong, just go outside, please,” Angie begged Adam.

  Her request came too late. The guys tapped auras that fluctuated across the whole room. Unlike when Adam tried to teach her to feel auras, this she could feel. It felt thick in the air and pulsated in threatening waves. When they madly used their magic, the pressure in the room came and went until the resulting sensation was nauseating. She backed against the nearest wall to keep herself upright. Lights flickered and the glasses clinked. Then as quick as it started, it ended. Adam stormed out the front door and slammed it behind him.

  Angie whirled on Tony.

  “Do you know how long it took me to cook this dinner?” she snapped.

  Tony held his hands up as if suddenly concerned about the redhead’s wrath. Priya came up behind him and spurred them both to leave the room. Preeti was quick to follow in their wake.

  It took another minute for Adelaide to recover and dig her fingernails out of her palms.

  “My fault?” she asked Angie half-heartedly.

  “No,” Angie said after a long minute. While she lingered longer than the others had, Angie escaped out the front door.

  Feeling more out of place than ever, Adelaide worked at repacking the food. With half of it left, it might as well become leftovers. On her way into the kitchen, she shamelessly stole a look outside. Adam had only gone as far as the steps and sat there.
Angie crouched down next to him, clearly saying something inaudible.

  By the time Adelaide finished in the kitchen, Angie had returned.

  “Is he okay?” Adelaide asked.

  Angie prefaced her answer with a loud groan.

  “It’s not you. It’s not. Tony and Adam’s issues go back way before you arrived.” Angie suddenly crossed the room until she stood uncomfortably close to Adelaide. This time, Angie whispered. “I’m going to try and talk to Tony. I think I can fix this if I can just point out to one of them that they need to make an effort to get along. I’ve talked Adam down a bit but I’d let him mellow out.”

  Angie waited until she nodded before heading for the stairs. The redhead stopped only halfway there and returned for the radio. The ancient radio turned to static when she picked it up and moved it. She shook it until the station cleared up.

  “Sorry. I’ll be back,” Angie said as if she’d been caught red-handed. Without another word, she dashed for the stairs with the clunky radio in tow.

  Adelaide watched her go before she found herself alone in the silence of the living room. She briefly considered going to her room, but then she’d have to move quickly to avoid being stopped by Tony on the second floor. Instead, she crept to the front window and peered through it. Adam never made it off the edge of the patio but leaned up against the structural support beam. He stared into the vast nothingness that made up their massive plot of land, even while the darkening of night made it difficult to see very far out. The visible tightness in his shoulders spoke loudly about his current feelings, and his posture made her hesitate. She lingered by the door, with the redhead’s warning lingering in her mind.

  Warnings be damned, she should at least be able to talk to Adam since she was here as his guest. She knew that he heard the click of the front door open, but he stayed immobile. Leaning against the doorframe, she greeted him.

  “Is there a rumor going around that I have a boyfriend?” she asked.

  He moved just enough to rub the back of his head and leave his hair a mess. He never faced her but he did answer.

  “No. Maybe. I don’t know,” he said, sounding more tired than angry.

  His aura had all but disappeared and she deemed it safer by the second.

  “Do you want to come in?”

  He grunted this time. She struggled with anything to say, but he at least responded after a long moment.

  “I’m sorry, Adelaide. You don’t need this drama. I’m sure you already regret coming,” he said. She rolled her eyes at the melodramatic statement. Adam went on.

  “It’s not about you, but unfortunately you’ve taken the pinnacle of it. I honestly didn’t believe Tony could be this hotheaded for this long. I didn’t believe he’d take it out on you.”

  She hummed. The concern she had with Tony was more rooted in action, not pissy words. If his big fit at the table was the end of it, she wasn’t very concerned.

  “Its fine,” she tried to assure him but knew he didn’t believe it. He sunk down lower and grunted again.

  “What’s the fight about?” she finally asked instead. It took Adam a long and agonizing moment to answer.

  “My brother,” he said.

  “Um, you never mentioned a brother,” she said quickly and dared to add on, “why not?”

  Adam’s voice was barely audible.

  “His name is Leon. I figured it didn’t matter.”

  She took a step closer.

  “Is that his room upstairs?”

  “Yes.”

  With every extra question she knew she was tempting him to lock up again. But this is why she was here. This is what she needed to know.

  “I don’t understand. Where is he? What’s the fight about?”

  “I don’t know where my brother is. No one does. That’s what the fight about,” he said.

  Adam locked up. Everything about his rigid posture told her to stop trying and she did. Feeling more than stunned by the revelation, she shut the door in a daze and headed for her bedroom. On the second floor, she heard the incoherent rumblings of Tony behind the wall. She also heard the radio buzz its familiar sound now. By the third floor, she finally understood what it meant.

  No one knew where Leon Colton was, and, for some reason, they were hoping the news would tell them.

  Twelve

  Listening to a monotone voice drone on about all of the sadness in the world caused a splitting migraine to grow in the center of her head. She slapped her bedside radio blindly until she silenced the newscast. In the hour she’d listened to the news reports, she heard nothing telltale. Car accidents, explosions, and fires happened nearly every day. She listened for something big or unusual. How Angie did it all of the time, Adelaide could not imagine.

  Blinking her dry eyes a few times, she sat up in the bed. Her phone fell onto the sheets beside her, but she only gave it a passing glance. She’d logged onto the web long enough to look up the event in Denver—the one Angie had so subtly mentioned to her. It was less of an international incident than suggested, but several news stations reported on it. A fire ripping through downtown and a few following pile-ups drew attention. Reading it now, she was shocked she hadn’t pinned that as a mage-shade incident.

  Her legs felt too anxious so she stood and crept to the window. Prying it open, she let the warm influx of air creep in. Light in the distant horizon mixed with night sky to turn the landscape green. A beautiful night and early in the evening, it felt unfair to sit up in her room until the day ended. She decided right then that her day couldn’t end like this. She hurried to change into a peasant blouse and shorts instead of tight fitting jeans. She took off her necklace and tucked it into one of her pockets until she was convinced it would not fall out. Slipping on her sandals in this terrain might have been dangerous, but she bounded down the stairs anyway.

  Adelaide made too much noise apparently, because she only got halfway down the last flight before Tony’s voice stopped her.

  “Adelaide,” he called. She glanced back to find him at the top of the stairs with his trademark frown. He motioned her to return to the second flight. Adelaide hesitated for a moment, but found nowhere to run. Creeping up the stairs, she glanced behind him to find the rest of the hall empty.

  “What’s up?” she reluctantly posed the question.

  “I wanted to apologize about earlier,” he said and clearly forced a smile.

  “Um. Thanks?”

  “Look, I’m sure you already hate me. I’m not very happy that you chose to come here either. It’s not really about you, but the danger my coven is in and my need to protect it.”

  She nodded over dramatically. Tony already told her this once before, so she didn’t understand his sudden need to explain himself now.

  “Adam is part of my coven and I still have to look out for him. I still need him to stay where he’s safe. So Angie did manage to convince me of one thing—you are a relatively small concession in the light of everything.”

  “Okay, I really don’t know what you’re getting at,” she said bluntly.

  Tony rolled his eyes.

  “If I let you stay, Adam will be happy. If Adam is happy, we will work better together as a coven. So for that reason, I give my blessing to you or your little mage-inspired vacation you have going on,” he said.

  “How political of you,” she said and his grin grew wider.

  “Just don’t expect us to be friends.”

  He dismissed her then with a wave of his hands. She escaped while she could. Bounding down the stairs, she sized up the bottom floor. The living room was empty. Adelaide headed for Adam’s door and saw the hint of yellow light spilling out from beneath the frame.

  She suspected Adam had been locked in his room for a while and doubted he would willingly come out now. Adelaide knocked but got no answer.

  “It’s me, Adam,” she called out softly. She knew he heard her as she could hear him move around on the other side. “If you’re not going to come out, then suit you
rself. But I’m going swimming,” she said.

  Not waiting for his answer, she dashed for the patio. The sun was officially down so she slowed when she reached the stairs. Beneath the patio, even the light of the stars disappeared. With more difficulty than she’d expected, she opened the passageway. The green glow strips guided her for the rest of the way. The first step down gave her a thrill of danger that kept her moving. She was certain she heard the sliding glass door open when she slid into the tunnel entirely. The trip went faster than expected now that knew the tunnels better.

  She arrived at the water in record time and kicked off her shoes. The moonlight from above barely illuminated the place but her eyes adjusted fairly well. She crept to the edge of the water and tested the temperature first with her toes. It was cool but not painfully cold. She yanked the top shirt over her head and lowered her shorts to the floor. She barely got into the water before Adam slid into the tunnel. Like she had, it took him a solid moment to readjust to the lighting. When he finally spotted her, he looked surprised.

  “You really did it,” he said, sounding partially in awe. She resisted the urge to laugh at his surprise.

  “What? Was I going to sit inside all day?”

  She swam to the edge until she felt the rocks at the bottom graze her feet. She carefully folded her arms on the ledge until she was certain she looked adorable in the pose.

  “I thought you didn’t have a swimsuit.”

  She desperately fought the grin this time.

  “But I don’t,” she said calmly. Stripping down to her lingerie had been a little shameless, but she knew it would distract him from Tony. Unfortunately she couldn’t see the fine details of his face or even if he blushed.

  “How’s the water?” he asked.

  “Warm. Nice. Better than I expected,” she rambled a bit.

  Adam looked like he was in a serious mental struggle. Finally he crouched down by the end of the pool and dipped his hands in.