by Shea Berkley
I face forward again, confused by what she’s saying. How can she think something that evil has anything of worth to offer?
“Being human rocks,” Leo says a bit too loudly as if he’s trying to convince himself. He shoots a quick glance my way. “Me being me didn’t bother Cin before. She said she liked it.”
I’m smart enough not to comment.
Leo sighs and his shoulders droop. “But honestly guys, I don’t know what she’ll do with the necklace.” The apologetic look he gives me is full of misery. “I know she’s a bit twisted up in that feline head of hers, but I swear it’s more about her amusement than gaining more power.”
I try to keep quiet, but I can’t. Not about this. “Yesterday you were positive if you were ever in trouble, she’d be there for you. She proved that wrong, too.”
He lets out a deep, bone-shaking sigh. “Give me time, bro. This isn’t easy.”
Leo returns his attention to the road. It’s not like I don’t feel sorry for him. I do. I tried to warn him. Hooking up with Lucinda never made sense. She couldn’t be trusted, and now he knows that for sure. It’s a tough lesson to learn.
By midafternoon, we’ve finally climbed out of the desert and are over halfway home. Northern California is rugged and wild-looking, much like my grandparents’ place in Oregon. There aren’t a lot of towns and traffic is light. After checking on Mom to make sure she was healing well, Kera fell asleep. Leo and I stop at a run-down gas station, fairly certain it saw its last customer in the 1950s. All sorts of almost antiques are strewn about the place, from oilcans, spark plugs, tools, and cola bottles to a slightly warped and faded “full service” sign. Leo even unearthed an old packet of unopened gum behind the old cash register.
Leo points me toward the questionable restroom out back. Pit toilets are disgusting. When I step out of the little boy’s house, I see Mom scurry backward out of the car and hear her yelling at Kera, who follows her out the same door. Leo jumps out of the driver’s seat and places his hands on the hood, staring at the women. He doesn’t look happy.
I jog up and step between Mom and Kera. “What’s going on?”
“This”—Mom waves her amber necklace under my nose—“is what’s going on. She had it in her pocket.”
I snap my gaze to Kera. She lied? Not a shadow of guilt crosses her face, only a hint of irritation. This whole time, she allowed us to believe Lucinda had taken the necklace. It’s like I don’t even know her.
Kera holds out her hand. “Give it to me.”
It’s laughable the way Kera thinks Mom will just hand it over…and then she does. It’s a life-changing moment. I have always had the ability to persuade people to my way of thinking, but Kera can make them do things they don’t want to do. It’s insane, and wrong, and out-of-control…and she’s not done. She points to the Jeep. “Get in and stay there.”
Not only does Mom do it, but Leo does too. A chill scrubs roughly down my spine. “What are you doing?”
She takes a deep, uneven breath and lets it out. “It’s too dangerous for her to have.”
“I agree.” And I do. But that’s not really what I’m asking her and she knows it. I try to keep my tone level, but fail. “Why did you let me believe Lucinda took it?”
Her head shakes and she moves away from the car. I follow. The emotions coming off of her are hard and confused and erratic. Her summer scent is drowned out by a metallic one I don’t recognize. “I don’t know,” she mutters, then looks back at me. “I just did it and then, even when I wanted to, I couldn’t tell you.”
I take hold of her arms and hold her still, forcing her to look at me. “You haven’t been telling me a lot lately.”
“There is a lot you don’t need to know.”
Wow, that stings.
“How can you say that? We’re in this together and that means we share it all. The good, the bad, and the stuff that’s even harder to admit to ourselves.”
Her tongue darts over her full lips as she gazes off. The worry she carries is hot and heavy. It pushes at my skin like a weight I want to throw off, but can’t. A shiver slides through her, and she looks at me. “I—” Her head dips as she fights for words.
“Kera,” I say, knowing exactly where the problem lies. It seems pretty black-and-white to me. “The magic from Navar and my dad needs to be locked away. If we can somehow contain their magic so it’s not harming you—and I know it’s harming you, everyone knows it—how is that bad?”
She refuses to look at me. My fingers tighten on her arms. She winces and looks up. The soft violet of her eyes appears darker, harder. “That’s why I hid the necklace from you.”
I loosen my grip, ashamed I’m getting so upset. While I was fighting the dark powers raging in me, and winning, those same powers were having a party in her. They still are, and she doesn’t seem to mind. “I don’t get it. Unless you’re saying you like—”
She looks away. And it falls into place. She likes the power of the dark magic. Sweet, innocent, pure Kera isn’t sweet, pure, or innocent. Not anymore. Faldon had warned me a long time ago, said she was a rebel at heart. From all outward appearances, she’d dealt with Navar’s infusion well. She’d learned how to box the magic up tight, and was rarely tempted to use it, or so she said. But when she took on Baun’s magic, something changed. Her control over the massive powers slipped. Better for her to harbor such evil than anyone else. That’s what she told everyone. She knew the danger of keeping it and had convinced herself she could handle it. She’d even convinced me.
I blink back my shock. “It’s got to go.” I rub my hands up and down her arms and stare into her unsettling eyes. “You have to do it. Get rid of it. Navar’s. Baun’s. All of it.”
“But I’ll be powerless,” she says in a tiny voice, and then she vehemently shakes her head. “It’s too dangerous. I have to keep it.”
“Who said?”
“I do.” She jerks free. “It’s my responsibility. Until Baun is better, I have to keep it.”
“You can’t be serious. Look at you. You’ve changed and not for the better. We have a way of solving your problem, Kera. Why wouldn’t you want to jump on that?”
“Because. It’s my problem.” The intensity in her voice is chilling.
I make to touch her and she steps out of reach. I don’t let that stop me. She has to listen to reason. “You don’t have a choice. You know that. It has to be done…and soon. If you don’t think transferring all of it to me is safe, then just give me some of it. Let me help you.”
Her cheeks flush from the heat of anger burning within her. “No, no, no.” She moves in circles, her hands to her head as if she’s about ready to explode. “Lucinda warned me you would try this. She said you’d want it all for yourself. That you’d try to trick me. I defended you. I’m such a fool.”
“Lucinda? You’re trusting her now? That’s a joke, right?”
It’s like I flipped a switch and turned her anger on full blast. Power flares along her arms until her hands glow. She’s about ready to lose control.
“The magic is mine now. I have earned it. My whole life I have wanted this. You cannot take it from me. I won’t let you.”
I hold my palms up toward her. “Take a deep breath, Kera. I’m not your enemy.”
It’s as if I never spoke. The blast that hits me knocks me back on my heels, but I don’t fall. She’s surrounded me with a white-hot power that’s sucking the very air from my lungs. Still, I can’t bring myself to fight back. I could seriously hurt her. Darkness swirls in her hate-filled eyes. It’s like she’s possessed. I say her name, but she doesn’t hear me.
I push back, just a little, in order to get some air. She pushes back harder. I can feel my powers being ripped free. The strangest thing happens. A tiny sliver of light snakes its way from me to the necklace.
I throw up an inner shield, but it only slows down the extraction. Part of her powers are spilling out of her as well. The dark weight is tearing her apart and she doesn’t ev
en know it.
I drop to my knees, clutching at the raw magic she’s culling from my soul. The necklace glows as it collects what’s coming out of us.
Kera stops, panting from her exertion. I have no choice but to fall to my side. I hurt like hell, like there’s a cut to my soul that won’t heal. “Don’t do this.” My voice is weak. Too weak.
She staggers back, holding her waist, staring horrified at the necklace. She appears totally confused by what just happened.
I lie there, slowly bleeding magic into the ground, wondering if she’s going to kill me, because that’s what it feels like. “I love you.”
It’s all I have left to hopefully reach her.
She backs up more, her eyes hollow, her mouth tightly holding in her sobs. When the first one breaks through her lips, she spins around and runs away, not back to the car, but away.
When she’s gone, Leo suddenly shakes himself loose of her control and gets out of the car. “What just happened?”
I stumble to my feet and grab my side. On seeing me struggling to stay upright, he darts over. “Are you okay? Where’s Kera?”
“Gone,” I rasp, “and so is the necklace.”
Mom blinks at us from her seat in the back of the Jeep. You’d think just seeing your only child getting physically abused would bring out the maternal “mama bear” syndrome most women talk about. Not my mom. She looks completely content to stay where she is. Leo helps me inside the Jeep and buckles me in. “What was that all about?”
“I think Kera just tried to kill me.”
“What? You’re not serious.”
“Not her, exactly. The magic.”
A snort sounds from the backseat. “And you thought I had bad taste in lovers. They always blame it on something. Booze. Stress. A bad childhood.”
I lay my head back on the headrest and see her reflection in the sun visor’s mirror. “She’s possessed.”
“Demon possession?” A sick smile tugs at her mouth. “You win. I’ve never had one of mine use that line.”
Leo straightens and looks around the rest stop. “Are we waiting for her? Do you want me to go find her?”
“The dark magic isn’t messing around, dude. She’s not the Kera we know right now. We’ve got to get back to Teag. I need someone to tell me how to help her.” If it’s not already too late. “Get us home. Now.”
“Right.” Leo jumps back into the driver’s seat. We don’t move, even though the engine is running and his hands are on the steering wheel. He turns to me. “This is one of those times when things are really serious and the hero gives an uplifting speech.”
“Drive,” I say. “Fast.”
“Short. No room for misinterpretation. I like it.”
I slouch into my seat, exhausted and hurting. “Why I didn’t see her slide into darkness taking over?”
“Love is blind, stupid, and cruel,” Mom says from the backseat. She tucks her legs beneath her as Leo sets out on the road. “And it never lasts. I thought living with me would have taught you that much.”
It did, but I never thought it would apply to me. Now I know. But just like Leo, I need time to absorb what’s happened.
Loyalty isn’t something I’m used to, but with Kera, I assumed she’d always be there. It’s what I tell Leo.
He nods. “I hear you. I thought Lucinda would always be around. She was always the one freaking out when I left, always badgering me to hurry back. I didn’t see it coming.”
“I should’ve forced Kera to give me Baun’s magic as soon as she got it. It’s what pushed her over the edge.”
“Yeah, like that would’ve been a good idea,” he says, a sarcastic tone to his voice. “You had enough problems and she knew it. She wanted to help. She did help.”
“And it ended up hurting her. I could’ve done something.”
“Neither of us saw it getting this bad. No one could’ve prevented it. She kept telling us she had the magic under control. I believed her. We all did.”
“You know what really bugs me? Grandma said the magic insisted on being close to its owner. When we thought Lucinda took it, I couldn’t figure out how she’d managed it without Mom knowing, but it makes sense now because Kera had it. Technically, it was always close. But now, Kera has it and she’s gone. How’d she do it?”
“Bro, logically, none of this makes sense. Magic shouldn’t exist. Teag shouldn’t exist. Even you shouldn’t exist, but it all does. I just accept and move on.”
That he doesn’t want to examine it too closely yet is what’s keeping Leo sane. I can’t fault him for that. I just wish I could be like him. Instead, I sit back and roll over every detail again and again, examining every twist and turn until I’m sure Leo would like nothing better than to put me out of my misery.
We’re so lost in conversation, we don’t notice the state trooper come alongside us, or Mom’s sudden interest in him.
Crazy Is as Crazy Does
I’m not sure why I look back. Maybe it’s because Mom’s too quiet, something she’s never been good at, but when I do, I see her writing out the word “help” on the window. It’s then I notice the state trooper rolling along beside us.
“Mom,” I yell. She jumps and drops her tinted lip balm, but it’s too late. The trooper’s lights flash on and his siren screams at us to pull over.
Leo grips the steering wheel and slashes a panicked glance my way. “What do I do? What do I do?”
I’m too weak to do much, but maybe I can convince him Mom’s nuts. “Pull over.”
“Really?” He sounds shocked.
I glance back at Mom and she looks just as surprised. I nod. “It’ll be okay.”
Three hours later, we’re booked in the town of Happy, California, a place so small and true to its name it only has one jail cell.
The cell door closes and I turn to Leo. “Did you say anything?”
“That your mom’s crazy. So, yeah, I pretty much told the truth. Even I know this isn’t the time to get creative verbally. What did you say?”
“Same thing, and then I asked them to call Grandpa.”
“Did you get to talk to him?”
A sharp laugh bursts from my throat. “Hell no. Call me nutty, but I’m not looking forward to that conversation.”
Since the “kidnapping” crossed state lines, the FBI had been called in. Grandpa was going to have his hands full explaining to them that his daughter thought she was a movie star and we played along to get her to come home. For some reason, I don’t think the FBI’s going to have a sense of humor about all this.
The door to the holding area opens and Mom is escorted inside. “I’m not the guilty one here. They are. That I gave birth to one of them shouldn’t factor into this at all. And are you even looking for the girl? She has my necklace.”
“The magical one?” Got to give him credit. He said that with a straight face.
Leo and I exchange glances. Apparently Mom’s been talking. A lot.
She frowns and turns to face him. “How would I know? It never did anything for me.”
As the officer motions Mom to a chair, he looks at us and rolls his eyes, then says, “We’ll get this all worked out for you, but these things take time.” He calls me forward and I hop up.
Mom flops into the chair as I pass and crosses her arms in a huff, staring at the officer. “If I’d known I was going to be stuck with a backwoods butt-scratcher like you—”
“Mom,” I say, and give the officer an apologetic look.
She didn’t even miss a beat. “—I would’ve waited until we got to a real town before I asked for help.”
“Trust me, ma’am. I wish you had, too.”
I stop in front of him and he leans close. “Your grandfather is here. He’s just signing some paperwork.” He slants a quick glance at Mom. “I’m sorry, but we have to take all signs of distress seriously. You understand?”
“Sure. No problem.”
He leans in even closer. “Did she really think she was a movi
e star?”
“When we found her, she was living large on the money she stole from her dad.”
“Wow,” he says with a sigh. “That’s got to be rough for your family. I’m really sorry.” He nods and leaves.
Not for a second do I feel guilty about the lie. She’s put me through hell and this is payback time.
As I pass her on my way to the bench she kicks out at me. “Because of you, they think I’m crazy.”
“Yep, though I think you might have helped a little.”
Tears gather in her eyes. “You are a horrible son.”
I sit, lean my head back, and close my eyes. “I can live with that.”
When they let us all out, Grandpa doesn’t say a word. He places Mom in the back of his police car and thanks the officers for doing a good job. When they go inside, he glares at Leo and me. “Do you know how much trouble you put me through?”
Since from the time the officer said he was filling out papers to the moment we were let go it had been three hours, I can guess. “Sorry.”
“Thank God the FBI isn’t pursuing this. It’s a huge embarrassment for everyone concerned, including me.”
“I’m really sorry.”
“You kidnapped her,” he yells and we jump. “No one but a complete idiot thinks that’s a good idea.”
Leo’s eyes grow big. “I told him to leave her.”
“I couldn’t,” I say, not even upset Leo just threw me under the bus. “You should’ve seen how she was living. What she was doing. I couldn’t leave her there and then come home and face Grandma.”
The weight of Grandpa’s stare has me squirming. Finally, he looks away and nods. “Let’s just get home and get this whole mess settled.”
Before he turns away, I ask, “Have you seen Kera?”
“No. And from what I hear, I don’t want to.”
Why would he say that? “Who’d you hear that from?”
“Your mother via an FBI officer who’s now got one hell of a story to share at their national convention.” He tosses the Jeep’s keys at Leo none too gently and growls, “Now get in that car and drive your asses home.”