I stepped out onto the balcony and discovered that it ran the entire length of the house. And “house” was a drastic understatement. The place was a mansion. There were multiple other French doors like my own.
The view was spectacular. I looked out at trees and, in the distance, mountain peaks. I had no clue where I was.
One of the other doors opened, and a boy about my age came out. He had short, dirty-blond hair and honey-brown eyes. “Oh,” he said. “You're awake.” He offered me his hand, and I shook it cautiously. “I'm Chris.”
“I'm Ally,” I answered.
“I heard what happened,” he said. “I'm sorry. It sucks. We all have stories like that here.
“We?” I asked.
“The rest of us orphans,” he said.
I blinked. “Is that what this place is? Some kind of orphanage?”
He bit his lip. “Not exactly.”
The door opened again, and the man who'd saved me from the fire stepped out. I got a good look at him. He was forty-ish, with salt-and-pepper hair and tan skin. “Hi, Ally,” he said. His voice was deep but gentle. “I'm glad to finally see you awake. My name is Stephen.”
I jumped to the point. “My grandma and brother—they didn't make it?”
His eyes were sad. “No, I'm afraid not. I tried, but that was a huge fire. I was lucky to be able to get you.” He turned his gaze to Chris. “Dinner is almost ready. Why don't you join the others? We'll be down shortly.”
Chris looked at me for a few seconds, pity obvious in his eyes. Then he gave me a little wave and left silently.
Stephen led me to some chairs on the balcony, and we sat. “Ally,” he said, “you're a very special girl. You have abilities you can't imagine, and they're starting to wake up. That's how I found you. I could sense you. I just wish I'd been faster.”
I was confused. “Abilities?”
He nodded. “Tell me, have you ever noticed a connection with the world? Maybe you can tell when it's about to start raining, or when a deer is going to run through your yard? When the breeze moves through the trees, do you feel like the leaves are talking to you?”
I frowned. “How do you know that?” I thought it was in my head. It had all begun recently, and at times I thought I might be going crazy.
He gave me a small smile. “You're a witch. So am I. So are Christopher and the others you're about to meet. One of my own abilities is that I can find the ones who need my help in learning how to use their gifts.”
It wasn't like the books I'd read. I wasn't shocked or in total disbelief. Deep inside, it made sense to me. So I didn't try to deny it. Instead, I blinked back tears and said, “My family is dead. I'm alone.”
Stephen reached over and gently touched my hand. “I'm sorry, Ally. But you're wrong about one thing–you’re not alone. Come and meet the others, and you'll see.
He took my hand and led me into the room I'd woken up in.
SIX
“So, I started learning,” I told Evan as we walked back to his car. “He taught me magic and self-defense. He taught me about the Other community. And I started going on jobs for him.”
“What kind of jobs?” Evan asked.
“Mostly it was little things—getting ahold of dangerous magical items so we could secure them, keep them out of the wrong hands. Sometimes it was risky work, because in order to keep the items safe, first we had to get them out of the wrong hands. Bad people don't like it when you take their toys.
“And sometimes the job was to stop the bad people from doing bad things,” I continued. “Our goal was to keep evil in check, and there's a lot of evil.” I realized I was talking about everything in the past tense, like I'd never be going back to it, and a pang of sadness hit me.
We'd reached the car. “Let's go back to your place,” I said. “I want to try something.”
It was early afternoon when we sat down in his den again. I reached into the bag of charms and pulled out an emerald-colored gem. I sat down cross-legged on the floor and held the charm in my cupped hands. “This is a memory charm. It's usually used to help people remember little things, like where they left their keys. I'm hoping I can push it a little.”
I closed my eyes and started pouring magic into the charm, whispering, “Remember,” over and over again. For a moment, nothing happened. Then the flashes started. A pentagram etched in the earth, like I'd dreamed about in Pittsburgh. A dark figure standing within the pentagram. Chris's voice whispering, “Like kings, Ally.” That dark sword also from my dreams. A pair of red eyes.
I pushed more magic. The charm grew warm in my hands. Stephen's voice: “Did you think I wouldn't find out?” Now back to the pentagram and that dark figure, a deep, smooth voice saying, “Pennsylvania. A town called Chandler.”
My head started to pound. The flashes became so fragmented that I couldn't make anything out anymore. As I tried to probe deeper into my mind, it felt like my mind was pushing back. The charm became white hot in my hands.
“Ally!” Evan’s voice barely cut through my throbbing headache. I opened my eyes and saw panic in his face.
The charm was alive with blue flame. It startled me and I tossed it out of my hands. The flame flickered and vanished, along with the charm.
Evan dropped to one knee next to me and checked my hands, which were unharmed. “Are you okay?”
I rolled my neck, which was tight with tension. “Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “I'm fine.”
“Did it work?” he asked.
I inhaled deeply. “I don't know. I saw things, but it really didn't make any sense. I did confirm one thing, though.”
“What's that?”
“My memory loss is definitely the result of magic. It's like there's a gate in my mind that someone doesn't want me to unlock. I could feel their magic fighting back against me.” I shuddered at the thought of someone in my head, blocking me out of my own memories. It made me sick. It was an invasion. Mental rape.
My head was still killing me. I asked Evan for some ibuprofen, and he went to get me some.
The biggest problem with someone magicking my memories away was that I couldn't easily reverse it. I wasn't good with mind magic to begin with, and it's hard to counter a mind spell if you don't know precisely how it was done. Plus, it's dangerous to attempt something on your own mind—it would be like a doctor doing his own brain surgery.
Evan brought me the ibuprofen and a glass of water and I swallowed it just as there was a knock on the door. A woman—a FedEx driver—was standing outside, a big box on the porch next to her. I glanced at Evan.
“My dad gets stuff for the museum all the time,” he said, then opened the door. “Hi, Lisa,” he said to the woman. She handed him the digital clipboard and he signed it.
“Where 's your father?” she asked.
“Don't you remember?” Evan said. “He told you the other day that I would be signing for stuff while he was gone.”
“Oh, yeah. Right,” she said. Something seemed off to me. Her movements were stiff, her voice distracted, her expression oddly vacant.
She noticed me. “Who's this?” she asked.
On a hunch, I answered before Evan could. “Lisa, come on. You've seen me a million times. I haven't changed.”
She looked downward, towards her hands, and I could see something written on her wrist. “Oh, sorry, Evie,” she said. “My mind's in a million places.
Evan looked at me, alarmed. I pushed past the woman and kicked the package hard. It slid across the porch and down the front step to the ground.
There was a terrible screeching noise and the box tore open, a green, lizard-like creature the size of a pit bull bursting out of it. It had razor sharp teeth and claws and a long barbed tail.
I looked back at “Lisa” to see that her skin color was changing to match the devil-lizard’s. Her fingernails had become talons and her own teeth were now ragged and sharp, snarling at us.
I jumped back into the house and slammed the door. “Get back,” I told
Evan. “Lisa” kicked the door open so hard that it came off of one of its hinges. She and the lizard came inside, both growl-screeching. They glared at Evan, virtually ignoring me. The lizard crouched like a cat preparing to pounce.
I got to it first, stepping hard on its head then kicking it back, into the wall.
“Lisa” turned to me. “This does not concern you.”
I shrugged. “I think it does. This guy here is my friend, and I don't like when people mess with my friends.”
“Then you are gonna hate me.”
I sighed. “Honey, you 're not even the scariest thing I've dealt with today.”
She lunged. I side-stepped then dropped to a crouch, sweeping my leg under her feet. She fell, and I jumped on top of her. We struggled, rolling on the floor. I saw motion in my peripheral vision and managed to move just as the lizard attacked. It bit into “Lisa's” upper arm instead of me. She screamed.
I grabbed the lizard by the neck and heaved it backward. “Lisa” seized the distraction and drove her knee into my back. I growled in pain and she twisted us until she was the one on top of me. I grabbed her wrists to keep her claws out of my throat.
She bared her teeth again, her mouth opening unnaturally wide, and leaned forward to, presumably, tear open my neck.
There was a screech and the lizard went flying past our heads and back into the wall. “Lisa” turned to see what had happened just in time to take a baseball bat to the face. Evan stood there, red-faced, breathing hard.
I held my hand out, and he handed me the bat. I pinned “Lisa” and pressed the bat against her neck. “Tell me what you want.”
“I'm just the hired help,” she said.
I pushed harder on the bat and she choked.
“Tell me what they want with him,” I said.
“I tell you, they kill me,” she said.
I huffed out a laugh. “If you don't tell me, I'll kill you,” I said, though my heart wasn't really in it. Between Clara and the would-be ninja assassins, I'd done enough killing lately.
“Fine,” she said. “They're looking for–” She was cut off as her body began to spasm. I felt magic rolling over her. She seized violently, then she was dead.
“Crap,” I muttered, and stood.
“What happened?” Evan asked.
“Someone must have been keeping an eye on her, magically. They realized she was going to talk, so they killed her.”
The lizard was watching us from where it had landed. “Oh,” I said. “You're their camera, aren't you?”
It was struggling to get to its feet, but Evan had apparently done some damage. I carried the bat over to it and looked it dead in the eyes. “ I don't know who you people are or what you want with him, but I promise you, I won't let you hurt him.” The message delivered, I bashed the lizard's head in.
Evan looked sick. “They weren't Legion, then?” I shook my head. He swallowed and said, “They were here for me.”
I think it hit home for him, right then, that the vampires hadn't been a fluke. Someone really was after him. I put my hand on his shoulder, reinforcing that I was with him. He wasn't alone in this. Just like Stephen had told me years ago.
He took a deep breath, then looked around at the damage. The door was the worst of it. “How am I gonna explain this?” he said.
“We can fix it,” I told him.
He looked at me hopefully. “Magic?”
I smiled. “Yep, just a few magic words.”
He raised his eyebrows. “What are they?”
I leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “Black and Decker.” He blinked, which made me chuckle. “You got tools?” I asked.
* * * * *
First, we moved the bodies outside, then took care of the mess. The door itself was undamaged, so we were able to get it back in place and screw it back in. There was some old paint in the garage that matched the doorframe, and we covered up the damage convincingly. We cleaned up then went out to the bodies.
“I was really hoping they would turn to smoke,” Evan said.
“Yeah, they're apparently not of the self-cleaning variety,” I said. I gathered magic and set the bodies on fire, pouring energy into it until it blazed white-hot, but keeping the heat contained so it didn't burn us as well.
“Lisa's been delivering here for years, I can't believe she was a...” He paused to consider his words. “ . . . whatever she was,” he finished lamely.
“That's not Lisa,” I said. “That's something that took her form so you wouldn't be on guard. She had all the family's names written on her wrist, for reference. She knew you had an older sister, so she assumed I was Evie.”
“So, Lisa's alive?” he asked.
I hesitated. “Possibly. Or she killed her when she took her form.”
His face fell. “Oh.”
The bodies incinerated pretty quickly, thanks to all the heat I put into the fire. I'm really good with fire.
“People might be dying because of me,” he said.
I shook my head. “No, people aren't dying because of you. They're dying because of some asshole out there. You haven't done anything.”
By the time we finished everything and took showers, it was after seven. I'd changed into still more of Evie's clothes—I was getting quite used to her wardrobe—and I was starving. So, I said, “Okay, we're going out for food. Of the fast variety.”
Evan's stomach growled in agreement, and that settled it.
.
SEVEN
The McDonald's in town was newer and upscale-looking, but the food was the same, and thank Heaven for that. I ordered a cheeseburger and fries and a vanilla shake—I'm addicted to McDonald's shakes. Evan chose McNuggets, fries, and a soda. We sat down to eat.
“Dude!” a voice yelled in our direction.
Evan's head snapped toward it. “Derek!”
I remembered Evan mentioning his best friend Derek, and I turned to put a face to the name. Derek was mocha-skinned. He kept his hair short, and he wore designer eyeglasses, a polo shirt, and khaki shorts.
He sat down without asking, looked at me, smiled (showing off perfectly straight white teeth), then turned his gaze back to Evan, his eyebrows raised.
“This is Ally,” Evan said. “Ally, this is Derek, my best friend.”
“Well, hello, Ally,” Derek said, smiling again. “So, are you Evan's cousin? Friend? Lady friend?” He waggled his eyebrows.
Evan sighed. “She's just a friend,” he said as Derek grabbed a few of Evan's fries.
Derek nodded. “Good. You can do better than this freak,” he told me.
“Love you, too, man,” Evan said.
Derek said, to me, “Seriously, though, nice to meet you. I’ll have Evan tell me all about you later.” He turned back to Evan. “So, what's up? Your house is empty. It's the end of summer. Why are we not having a party?”
Evan rolled his eyes. “Because that's totally my thing, right? Evan Grant, party extraordinaire. And I'll invite all of my friends. Oh, wait! I'm currently sitting with all of my friends.”
Derek rubbed his thumb and index finger together. “Let me play my tiny violin for you. You know if you provide the venue, I'll provide the party.”
Evan chuckled. “Not really feeling a party, bro. Sorry.”
Derek turned to me with puppy-dog eyes. “Come on, girlie, help me talk this kid into it.”
“Don't look at me,” I said. “I'm not much of a partier myself.”
Derek's mouth fell open in mock shock. “Maybe you can't do better than him.” Then, back to Evan, in a stage whisper: “Marry her.”
Evan shook his head. “I'd like to amend my earlier statement. This is Derek, my ex best friend.”
Derek grabbed his chest. “You wound me, sir! I feel as though I should just leave.” Instead, he sat back and swiped one of Evan's McNuggets. “Did you finish the summer reading yet?”
Evan smacked his head. “Forgot all about it. Been hanging out with Ally the past couple days.”
Derek gave him a leer. “I'd have a hard time thinking, too, in that case. Explains why I haven't heard from you.”
Once again, Derek turned his attention back to me. “So, what's your story?”
“None of your business,” Evan said, and I suspected he was taking his promise to keep my secret very seriously.
Derek gave him a confused look. “Okay, dude. Whatever. Chill.”
I said, “My story is complicated.”
“That's my favorite kind. Is it wrought with drama and poor choices?” Derek said.
I couldn't help but smile there. “Lots. Take a raincheck on hearing it?”
“Fair enough,” he said.
He and Evan started talking about something school-related, senior year, blah-blah. I finished the last of my food and looked out the window, watching people walk by. I could see the Burger King across the street. And I could see the girl walking inside.
I grabbed Evan's arm. “We have to go. Now.”
Evan's face sobered. “Okay,” he said. “Sorry, man.”
We were up and leaving as Derek said, “Okay, sure. Talk to you later. His voice was confused and worried.
We were in the car and halfway down the block before Evan asked, “What's wrong?”
“I saw Chloe,” I said.
* * * * *
Chloe St. James couldn't stand me from the moment she laid eyes on me. It was that first day at Stephen's house, when we'd gone down to dinner, where five other kids were already seated. One was Chris, and he gave me a small smile when I walked into the room.
“Everyone, this is Ally,” Stephen said. “Ally, you've already met Christopher, but let me introduce everyone else.” He went around the table, starting with a boy younger than me with incredibly pale skin and, as far as I could tell, no hair whatsoever. Even his eyebrows were missing. He had pale, blue-gray eyes, and when they fixed on mine, an eerie chill ran through me.
“This is Bradley,” Stephen said.
Bradley lifted his chin in acknowledgment.
Next, he introduced John and Joseph—the twins you may recall from the van— who, at the time, weren't quite as muscular as they would wind up. And, finally, he came to a girl with neon-pink hair. “And my daughter, Chloe.”
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