by RM Walker
“Merlin! They gave it a fancy new name back in the eighteenth century, but no one paid any mind to it. Reformation. They called it the Reformation of the One Purpose.” He looked at Jonas. “You’ve been playing with semantics.”
Jonas gave a humourless laugh and winced. A trickle of blood appeared on his lips and she went forward onto her knees in front of him. “Why is your mouth bleeding? Have you cut yourself?”
“Bleeding?” Drew jumped to his feet.
The twins shot up, blocking his way to Jonas, but he ignored them. “You can’t, can you? You can’t tell them. That wording—you’re bound by a curse, aren’t you?” Drew exclaimed.
“That’s why you kept telling me not to take things at surface value. You want to tell them, but you can’t.” Lily got to her feet. “You didn’t mean Drew, you meant you.”
“I should have said it sooner,” he tried to joke, but flinched as blood dripped from his mouth.
“Stop!” Drew pushed past the twins. “Don’t even think about it. Keep your mind blank. I’ll find it, okay? I’ll find it and undo it.”
“No.” Jonas jerked on the chair, blood splattered onto his knees.
“Why’s he bleeding? What’s going on?” Nate’s voice echoed the panic she saw in all her boys.
“He’s never lied to you, but he’s never told the truth either. He literally can’t tell you, well, he could try, and he has now.” Drew looked at Jonas. “What will happen? Drown in your own blood?”
Jonas shook his head and flinched. Pain washed over his face, but he said nothing.
“Okay, okay, it doesn’t really matter what—”
“Of course, it matters,” Lily cried, horrified.
“What I was trying to say”—he pulled a face at her—“is that whatever is causing the bleeding isn’t important, stopping it, however, is.”
“Oh, sorry.” She gave him a sheepish look, and he winked at her.
“What do we do?” Nate was cleaning his glasses on his jumper, his face white as a sheet.
“It’s okay, Nate, honestly.” Jonas dabbed at his mouth, but his voice was muffled, as if something was in there.
“Oh, my god! You’re biting your tongue, aren’t you?” Lily clenched her hands together.
Jonas gave her a crooked smile, but didn’t answer, he didn’t have to.
“Is it tagged? Just a nod or shake.” Drew went to him, putting his hand on his shoulder.
Jonas nodded, groaning with pain as more blood seeped from his mouth.
Matt touched Jonas’s cheek, and roared with agony, stumbling backwards. The twins caught him before he could fall and hauled him onto the sofa. Blood gushed from his nose, and he had a dazed look on his face.
Drew thrust a handkerchief towards him. “Idiot. You aren’t healing this. It’s a binding curse. Don’t you know anything?”
Lily took it and held it to Matt’s nose, worry gripping her heart until his eyes focused.
He took the cloth and gripped her hand in his other. “I’m fine. Jonas, help Jonas.”
“I should kick your arse for not teaching them anything, but I guess you had good reason.” Drew sat opposite Jonas in the chair Nate had vacated to get to Matt.
“There must be something we can do,” Josh said, twisting to look at Drew.
“Please, Dad, you must know something that can help.” Lily moved from the sofa to kneel beside him.
Drew stroked her cheek gently. “I’ve waited years to hear you call me that. You’ve called me Dad a few times, but the feeling is even better than I’d imagined.” He looked at Jonas. “I will try to help you, but I’m making it clear that I’m doing this for Lily and only Lily. If I had my way I’d take her and leave you all to rot.”
“Please! That’s not helping,” Lily begged. “He’s hurting.”
“All right, but I’m only trying for you.”
“Yeah, well, don’t exert yourself,” Nate muttered.
“Nate!” Lily flapped a hand at him.
He pulled a face at her as he sank next to Matt. The twins took a defensive position either side of them.
“How do we even know it’s not him doing all this?” Nate pointed at Drew.
“You don’t. You’re going to have to go out on a limb here, Nate. And when Jonas can talk freely you’ll finally see what morons you’ve all been.” Drew smiled coldly at him. “In fact, I can hardly bear the wait. It’ll be one of those ‘mark it on the calendar’ events: Nate, and his merry band of morons finally realise they’re delusional assholes that don’t know it all.”
“Fuck you!” snarled Nate.
“Stop it, all of you,” Lily ordered. “This isn’t the time to dig at each other. We need to figure out a way to get this tagged binding thing off.”
“What is a tagged binding?” Jake asked.
Lily heard the fear in his voice, and she went to him. He pulled her onto his lap and she put her hand on Matt’s thigh.
“It’s a curse that’s tagged to the caster. They’ll know the moment the binding is removed, and they’ll be here before we can blink to see why,” Drew answered.
“What do we do?” she asked.
“You let me think. No more questions and we may be able to save what’s left of his tongue.”
They sat there for what seemed like hours, no one moving except for Lily to swap out whose lap she was sitting on. Drew never said a word, and Jonas never opened his eyes as he leant his head against the chair.
Lily didn’t know how to help her boys, she was useless, and it frustrated her. She could feel their rising tension as the clock on the mantelpiece ticked the hours away. She was dozing on Nate’s lap when her phone rang, startling everyone.
“I’ll take it upstairs.” She slid from Nate’s lap and put it to her ear as she went up the stairs.
“I’m here, darling. Traffic wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting.”
“Oh, that’s good. I’m glad.” She went into her room and flopped onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. “Mr Pringle okay?”
“He is. He’s sold three more of my paintings. And he wants to run another show with a winter theme, so I’m going to have to get my thinking cap on when I get back. That harbour village you told me about, Porthaven? I might do that one. And the quarry would look good when it’s icy and snow covered. I wonder if the water freezes over.”
“Seems like your thinking cap is already on.” Lily smiled, despite the situation downstairs. “You have the manor to do in winter as well.”
“That’s exclusive for the Crowders, I can’t do two and sell one.”
The tension eased from her as she listened to her mother talking about other ideas she had. It was normal, and she hadn’t realised how much she craved it, but normal was no longer a part of her life.
One thing her mother was right about; magic was a pain. If it wasn’t for magic, none of this would be happening. Drew would never have lost Sarah or her, Jonas wouldn’t be chewing his own tongue off. Nate and the boys wouldn’t be in danger or getting hurt. They’d be normal teenagers, doing normal teenage things.
“Lily? Lily? Are you still there?”
“Oh, yeah, sorry. What did you say?”
“I was making sure you were eating properly.”
“Mum, you only left this morning. I haven’t even got to a mealtime to forget yet.”
“There! See! This is why you should be here and not there. It’s three in the afternoon, you should have had lunch by now.”
“Missing one meal won’t kill me, Mum.”
“Okay, but I want you to eat regularly, especially breakfast.”
“Well, you’ll be pleased to hear I ate my breakfast after you left. Aren’t you proud of me?”
“Porridge?”
“Yep.”
“I’m very proud of you in that case.” Her mother laughed, and it made Lily smile to hear it.
“You sound happy, Mr Pringle must be doing something right. High five him from me, yeah?”
“I
will do no such thing, cheeky brat.”
Her bedroom door opened, and she sat up to see the twins come in, pale faced and concerned. It wiped away the ease, bringing the tension back.
“The boys are here. I need to go, Mum. Take care, won’t you?”
“I will, and you. You take care. I’ll call you later. Bye, darling. I love you.”
“Love you too, Mum.”
Lily rang off, putting the phone on the side as the twins closed the door. They slumped onto the bed, wrapping her into their arms, entangling their legs with hers, and burying their faces in her neck.
“Still nothing?” she whispered, running her fingers through their hair.
Twin heads were shaken, and she sighed heavily. “Are Matt and Nate all right?”
“Yeah, they’ve stayed to keep an eye on things,” Josh whispered into her neck.
He’d said things, but she knew he meant Drew. “He won’t hurt Jonas.” She worked her fingers through the dark strands of their hair. “He’ll only help him.”
“How can you be sure?” Jake asked.
“Because he didn’t lie when he said he was doing it for me. I believe him when he said he’d leave you to rot if he could.”
“Baby, he’s not a nice person.” Josh lifted his head, but Jake remained buried in her neck.
“I think he’s worried about why Jonas is here. He’s suspicious of Jonas because what he’s said wasn’t right. Once Jonas can tell us it’s okay, he’ll be all right.”
Josh didn’t say anything, just kissed her nose and buried his face into her neck again.
She continued to run her fingers through their hair, staring at the wooden beams above her head, not sure who she was trying to convince more, them or herself.
The Watcher
“Wake up.” Warm hands stroked her shins. She didn’t want to leave the cocoon she was in and she tried to pull her legs up, but they were pinned to the bed. She’d drifted to sleep between the twins and they were still snoring, legs draped over hers. She lifted her head and saw Matt at the bottom of the bed.
“Are you nocturnal? You sleep all the time.” He grinned at her.
“Not nocturnal, but I should be hibernating now.”
“So, you’re a snake?” he quipped.
“Nope, snakes go into torpor. I hibernate properly.”
“Well, you can un-hibernate and wake those two sloths at the same time.”
“What’s going on down there?” she asked, almost afraid to hear the response.
“Jonas and Drew have gone back to Jonas’s place.”
“Why there?” Josh’s sleepy voice was muffled by the pillows.
“His library. Drew’s books aren’t here, so they’re going through Jonas’s. Nate’s gone with them, he’s not happy about letting Drew in there.”
“Do you want to go as well?” Lily asked.
“Nate’s got it under control.” Matt sat on the edge of the bed. “Jonas trusts Drew in his house and that says a lot.”
“Yeah, doesn’t he have that thing going on?” she asked.
“What thing?” Jake sat up and ran a hand through his messy hair.
“That ward thing that keeps out anyone who wants to do him harm.”
“Yeah, he does.” Matt traced circles on her shins. “Nate knows that as well. It’s going to be okay.”
“What’s the time?” Josh flopped back. “We’re starving.”
“Nearly five,” Matt replied. “My mum texted saying the vicar is dining with us tonight, so I need to be present and suitably respectable. Suffice to say, no one else was invited.”
“She won’t want me there,” Lily acknowledged.
“Nor us.” Josh touched her lower back. “We’re far too messy to be shown in social circles.”
“C’mon.” Jake stretched. “Mum will have cooked enough for an army anyway. We’ll take you to ours for tea.”
“I can’t just drop in like that.” Lily shook her head.
Josh rolled his eyes at her and dragged his phone out, calling someone.
“Mum? We’re coming back now. Okay for Lil to join us?” He paused. “Great, thanks, Mum. Be there in a few.” He rang off. “More than welcome were her words, okay now?”
Lily smiled and let him pull her to her feet.
“As soon as I can get away, I’ll come down,” Matt said. “Text Nate, will you? Let him know. I better make a run for it, or I’ll be late.”
Lily went to him, and with her hands resting on his chest, she kissed him gently. He caught her round the waist and kissed her deeply. They drew apart, and he rested his forehead against hers.
“It’ll be fine,” he said, kissed her again, and then let her go. “I have to go. See you later.” He went out of the room and she heard him go down the stairs.
“Let’s go. Our stomach is in danger of eating itself. You must be hungry too. Did you have breakfast?”
“Yes, Mum,” she teased Josh, putting on her trainers. “Between you and my mum, I won’t miss my porridge. I’m surprised I haven’t had a text demanding to know what I’m eating for tea.”
“Food is important, Lily Pad, almost as important as breathing,” Jake called as she went down the stairs with them behind her.
“Sleep, sleep is important. Which reminds me. Holidays, I don’t get up before ten.” She grabbed her coat from the rack and they went out, locking the door behind them.
“You’re a lazy toad. We don’t think we’ve ever met anyone quite as lazy as you,” Josh announced as they started down the road to their home.
“I’m not lazy, I just value my sleep.”
“We’ll send Matt in with a cup of water,” Jake teased her.
“No, you won’t. He gives me a heart attack every time he does that.”
“There’s only one way we’ll let you sleep on till ten when we go camping.”
“Two, Joshua, there are two ways we’ll allow it.”
“Yeah. Jacob is correct.”
“All right, I’ll take the fall, what are they?” she asked as she went down the stairs.
“A really late night, like two or three in the morning late,” Josh said. “Or someone is with you and you’re not asleep.”
She frowned at him, but one look at the wicked glint in his eyes and she knew what he meant. “But the walls won’t be brick, they’ll be fabric. We’ve already established I can’t seem to keep quiet with any of you. That won’t be fair on anyone.”
“Won’t be the first time.” Jake shrugged. “None of us want you to pick just one, that’s all.”
“That will never happen,” she said. “It would be like having a favourite child. Inconceivable.”
“Are you saying you view us like children?” Josh poked her ribs.
“No.” She laughed. “Although...” She let it hang, lifting her eyebrows.
“Do you want to be tickled?” Jake asked as they reached their gate.
“I’m not sure that would go down well with your parents.” Lily saw the curtain twitch. “They know we’re all together, don’t they?”
“Yeah, Aunt June made sure of that,” Josh muttered.
“What did they say?”
“They were surprised, but they haven’t really said anything other than don’t knock you up,” Jake answered. “They think it’s just a phase as well.”
“Babies are not the only thing that can be caught, no one seems to worry about anything else.”
“You can’t catch babies, Lil. Look, when a man and a woman love each other very much—”
“You know what I mean, Jake.” She stuck her tongue out.
“Well, they did say use condoms in case of STDs, but we didn’t want to tell you that in case it offended you. We know you haven’t slept with anyone,” Josh said.
“Sleep isn’t the problem,” Lily teased him. “See, when a man loves a woman—”
“Well, if you hibernate like you want to, sleep will be the problem. Come on, before we die here.”
“You eat e
nough to hibernate.”
“Can we eat you?” Jake came up behind her and hustled her towards the door.
“I don’t taste very nice.”
“We disagree,” Josh said, winking at her. He opened the door and went in, calling out that they were there.
Jake undid her zip, resting his chin on her shoulder. “Of course, if there’s any doubt, we’d be happy to make you our dessert after tea. Make absolutely sure we’re correct.”
“Jake.” Heat flooded her cheeks as his words made her stomach dance.
“Hmmm?” He nuzzled her ear as he slid her coat down her arms slowly.
“Jake, please. I’m about to face your parents.”
He stepped back from her, his laugh was dirty as he took her coat with him.
Josh smirked, took her hand and led her into the kitchen. They stopped to wash their hands and then went out to the conservatory. Their parents were already there, and Steve stood up when they came in.
“Hello, Lily, come and sit down.” He gave her a friendly smile.
“Thanks for having me. Sorry about the short notice.” Jake held out a chair for her and she thanked him as she sat.
“Don’t be.” April waved her hand dismissively. “It’s not unusual to have Matt and Nate descend at a moment’s notice. We learnt a long time ago to invest in a deep freezer. I cook double the amount at least once a week.”
“Where’s Nate and Matt?” Steve asked.
“Nate’s gone to Jonas’s for something and Matt’s gone home for his tea, the vicar has been invited apparently,” Josh answered.
“The vicar? June didn’t mention that.” April’s surprise was evident.
“So, you’ll need the tenting gear. It’s going to get cold. Why don’t you find a place to stay?” Steve asked, handing Lily the rice bowl.
“Too expensive,” Josh said.
Lily helped herself. It smelt great and her tummy rumbled. She slapped her hand over her stomach, her cheeks burning.
“Lily’s tummy agrees with us.” Josh winked at her.
“Sorry,” Lily apologised. “It smells delicious.”