by Lizzy Ford
Summer stepped into the forest, at once intrigued by the sense of magick in the swaying trees. Sunlight splashed through the pine canopy onto bright purple bluebells that layered the forest floor. Small bushes hunched against trees and one another, and Summer stopped to try a few tart berries.
Continuing into the forest, she watched startled birds flit away above her. The brilliant color of a blue jay made her forget whoever it was following her. She followed the bird through the forest and into a small meadow filled with wildflowers.
She’d ever been anywhere as beautiful or magickal. Grinning, she ran across the meadow then twirled around in the middle of it, spinning amidst the wildflowers as she stared up at the blue sky. The breeze joined her, throwing her hair around her while filling her again with the warm, tickling sensation.
A dark figure crossed her vision. She stumbled and fell, seeking out the shape she’d seen. No one was there. She pushed herself up. A deep growl made her turn. Staring at her through golden eyes, a sand colored cougar crouched on the other side of the meadow. Its tail twitched.
Summer froze. The animal raised itself and took a step closer. Her heart hammered in her breast. She looked beyond it to the trees then recalled how foolish it would be to try to climb a tree to escape. A beast like this lived in trees.
The growl came again. The great cat lowered itself, bunching its body in a sign it was preparing to pounce.
Summer whirled and ran. The auburn-haired figure ahead of her disappeared into the forest. The growling and sound of pursuit stopped suddenly. She glanced over her shoulder and slowed. The cougar was gone. She pressed her shaking hands to her face.
It was early for hallucinations. She’d only just arrived.
“What’re you doing here?”
She looked up, dismayed to see Decker there. He lingered at the edge of the forest, as if sunlight would disable the shadows guarding him. His piercing gaze was on her.
“I was just exploring,” she managed at last.
“Do you know the way back?”
The way he said it made her want to tell him she did, so he’d leave her alone. Summer gazed around her. The forest looked the same in each direction of the meadow. She’d been too absorbed in the forest magick to consider where she went.
“I’m guessing no,” Decker said. “I’ve had to rescue you twice today.”
“I’m fine,” she replied. “It can’t be that hard.”
“Until a cougar corners you.”
She stared at him.
“They’re usually nocturnal. The wildfires are driving them out during daylight. You should probably come back with me.”
She shivered, sensing danger from him, the same danger she’d felt from the cougar. Only instead of pouncing on her, Decker wanted to lure her somewhere. The idea made no sense. Just because he dressed all in black didn’t mean he was any more of a threat than his more cheerful brother.
“C’mon.” He turned and walked into the forest.
With another look around, Summer trailed.
“You’re rooming with Trinity?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“When’s your birthday?”
“Next month.”
“So is mine.” He stopped to look at her curiously. “What date?”
“Twentieth.”
“I’m on the nineteenth. I’ll be eighteen. I assume you’ll be seventeen. Turning seventeen is a big deal here,” he told her and continued walking.
“Seventeen? I thought most people considered sixteen the big year.”
“Not here.”
They reached the edge of the forest and the school property. He headed for the picnic tables, but she stopped.
“There’s food,” he said over his shoulder.
“No thanks.”
“You’re on your own. Stay out of the forest.”
Irritated at his rebuke, she trudged to the road that wrapped around the dorms, not wanting to meet anyone just yet. Chances were, she’d be gone soon anyway. No use making friends. She went back to her room, and her spirits brightened. She’d never had her own room, even if this one was hers alone for a month.
Summer flung herself across the bed, sinking into it with a deep sigh. She’d never had such comfortable bedding, such a peaceful place to sleep. She eyed the dresser. While she’d had dressers, she’d never unpacked.
She unzipped her suitcase and pulled out the old wooden jewelry box holding her treasures. Her eyes went to the pile of jewelry and makeup on Trinity’s dresser. Summer tentatively set her box on her own dresser and sat down, staring at it. It looked lonely and small.
Her sense of anxiety grew again, and she took it down. She didn’t know how long she’d stay; it was easier to keep everything packed up. Picking out her least worn clothing, she set it on the bed for dinner then set her alarm and lay down for a nap.
Chapter Two
“Hey, Decker.”
On the porch lining one side of the dorms, Decker turned at his twin’s voice. Beck was in the doorway of their shared dorm room. Dawn, Beck’s blond girlfriend, winked as she slinked from the room back towards the teens in the Square, the barbecue and hangout area between the two dorms. Beck watched her then disappeared into their room.
Decker altered his course and entered the room. Beck closed the door behind him.
“What’re you doing?” Beck demanded.
“Talking to you.”
“Cut the crap. You’re making moves on the new girl. You know you can’t influence her decisions.”
“You’re welcome.” Decker replied and folded his arms. “Your little friend would’ve been eaten by a cougar if I hadn’t found her in the forest. But you wouldn’t know that, because your head is in Dawn’s tits.”
Beck looked surprised then grew red. “I’m in love with her. I can’t really help it.”
“She’s using you the same way she used me. Dawn doesn’t love us. She loves our family’s money.”
“No, Decker. Your soul is too black to understand.”
It was Decker’s turn to grow angry. He flung himself on his bed to keep from punching his brother, who’d gotten on his nerves too much lately.
“You should leave Summer alone,” Beck said with more firmness. “She’s a good girl. She doesn’t need you corrupting her.”
“I don’t corrupt anyone, anymore than you do. Sam told me to look after her, and I will.”
“Sam did? When? Why?”
“You know he only tells us what he wants us to know,” Decker snapped.
“You didn’t ask him what you were protecting her from?”
“Why? I can handle anything that comes here.”
“No, Decker, you can’t! You’re not eighteen yet. We’re no different than any other witchlings until we turn eighteen.”
Decker knew as much but said nothing. There really wasn’t anything the two of them couldn’t handle, if he could get Beck to take his responsibilities seriously instead of acting like the lovesick fool. Still, they didn’t have the magick they would when they inherited their titles. Beck would become the Master of Light and Decker, the Master of Fire and Night. Each was responsible for claiming the souls of witchlings to balance the scale between good and evil in the world.
Highly competitive, they’d both begun to dig their claws into newcomers a year before. It escalated into a fist fight one night three months ago, which earned them both disciplinary action at the school and suspension of privileges from their parents. Both were forbidden from getting their driver’s licenses, and Decker had his motorcycle taken away. They’d both been forced to stay at the school for the summer, instead of joining their jet setting parents on their summer vacations to Europe.
“She belongs to the Light,” Beck said.
“I can’t disobey Sam.”
“I’m telling you, Decker, back off. Whatever is after her, it can’t get her on school grounds. They’re protected.”
“Right, because she knows that. You know how it is the
first few weeks here, Beck. No one tells you what’s going on. It’s part of Amber’s self-discovery crap.”
“It’s worked for twenty years. Leave her alone, Decker.” Beck stormed out and slammed the door behind him.
Decker winced. His elements were water, fire and spirit. Whenever there were people in the Square between the dorms, he got headaches from the clamor of their spirits. He waited until he’d cooled down enough not to punch Beck if his twin was outside.
Decker opened the door and left, slipping into the forest. He was most at home in the forest after dark, when he could hide in the shadows of night, and the sounds and people awake during the day were gone. His headache eased as he walked deeper into the forest. He wasn’t about to tell Beck the other reason he’d followed the new girl. Nothing scared him since his motorcycle accident a year and a half ago, when he’d plowed into a rock wall in the middle of the night and lay dying for hours before someone found him.
But he’d met her twice now and knew without a doubt: Summer wasn’t just special, she was somehow connected to him. Her aura shimmered with innocence and fear, a strange combination until he found out she was an orphan. Her soul was sad, but she’d been nice. Large brown eyes, delicate features, a shapely body just blooming into womanhood … she’d caught his attention with her looks only after he felt the power trapped within her. He shouldn’t feel drawn to Summer, but he did. The effects of physical attraction he knew already. But this was something different, deeper.
Lost in thought, he didn’t hear the approach of the forest creature, Sam, until it spoke.
The future Master of Fire and Dark comes to visit.
“Not here for you, Sam,” Decker said, not wanting to deal with anyone at the moment, even the auburn yeti standing behind him.
But I was waiting for you, the creature said into his head.
Decker turned and looked up at the creature that was a full foot taller than his six-foot-two frame. The half-man, half-ape creature offered a smile that would terrify most people.
“You didn’t tell me there’s something … weird about her,” he said, agitated.
No stranger than any other newcomer.
“Right. Which is why you asked me to protect her. You should’ve asked Beck. He’s pissed at both of us now.”
The creature shrugged, unconcerned.
“Why is she special, Sam?” Decker demanded.
You know why.
“No, I don’t.”
She may be the one who can reset the balance between good and evil.
“Reset it? How? Why?”
When you are the official Master of Fire and Night, I will tell you.
“I’m so sick of this place.”
Did you feel a connection to her?
Decker hesitated to respond but nodded after a moment.
Trust yourself, Decker.
“I can’t. My dreams are so dark and my waking life is filled with this clamor. I never have a moment of peace!” he said. “Why else do you think I ran into a cliff? It wasn’t on purpose, like everyone thinks. The demons in my head drove me to it.”
I know. I found you.
“You did. You’re the only one who didn’t turn on me after the issue at the hospital.” Decker calmed some at the reminder that he wasn’t entirely alone.
Then trust me when I say to trust yourself. The yeti let out a chortle of amusement. Every Dark Master or Mistress needs a counterbalance, or the world will plummet into chaos. Your mother has your father. Evil cannot be stopped, only contained, balanced.
“I don’t feel evil, Sam.”
You are not. No one is evil. But evil is within us all.
“I know, I know. Choices, yadda, yadda.” Decker rolled his eyes. “I’ve heard this a million times before.”
Because you don’t listen well. Sam laughed again.
Decker let a smile slip free. The ugly creature always found a way to put him at ease and make his looming fate feel a little less terrifying. In two weeks, when he took on his new role, he’d spend the next twenty-plus years hunting down rogue witchlings who broke the Dark Laws and Light Laws and claiming their souls, like his mother did now.
“You said you were waiting for me. What’s up?” he asked.
It’s about your brother.
Decker’s mood soured immediately.
You must protect him, too.
“Beck doesn’t need me to help him.”
But he does. He is not like you. He doesn’t understand the Dark as you do.
“I don’t understand it well.”
He doesn’t understand it at all.
“I’ll keep an eye on him.”
Good. You’ll know when something is amiss.
“He doesn’t listen to me,” Decker warned.
The threat is not one he can fight.
“I hate my life. I couldn’t just be a normal seventeen year old on his way to college this fall.”
Sam grumbled a chuckle.
“I’m outta here, Sam.”
The yeti raised his hand in farewell. Decker turned away and lost himself in the woods, not wanting to deal with anyone. His mind kept going to Summer and the strange draw. He didn’t know what was going on, but things were likely going to get weird.
Summer’s alarm went off at a quarter ‘til six, just in time for dinner. She changed clothes and washed her face before descending the stairs to the main floor. The dinner table was a chorus of talk, and she crossed her arms as she entered, expecting her appearance to silence everyone. No one seemed to notice her, and her eyes went around the table as she looked for empty seats. Those sitting around the table ranged between twelve and close to twenty, young men and women that seemed divided between those in black and those in bright colors.
Beck caught her eye and waved her over. The seat between him and his brother was empty. Summer claimed it, drawing the attention of those around them. She received a few curious looks before they returned to talking. Beck was engaged in conversation with the person on his other side while Decker sat silent, brooding. For the first time since meeting him, she almost felt sorry for him. He seemed out of place among the others, a shadow.
“Thank you for helping me in the forest,” she said.
Decker glanced at her. “Whatever.”
Summer stared at her plate. A moment later, someone placed soup and a salad before her. She ate fast after the long bus trip. A bread basket was passed around, and she devoured two slices of the warm, homemade bread.
When the waiter placed a heaping plate of food before her, she thought she’d gone to heaven. The orphanage fed them enough to keep them alive and to keep state doctors from cutting the state funding. Summer leaned low over her plate and wolfed down the roast beef, mashed potatoes and green beans before reaching for two more pieces of bread.
“They didn’t feed you often, did they?” the girl across from her said.
Summer dropped the bread and sat back, embarrassed to see the looks of those around her. Most of them had barely started on their main courses while her plate was empty.
“Take it,” the girl said and pushed the bread basket towards her. “I’m Dawn.”
“Summer.”
“You want my beans? I hate them.”
Summer shook her head. Her stomach was still growling, but she forced herself to put her hands in her lap. The waiter reappeared with a smile to take her plate and replace it with a huge piece of warm pie à la mode.
“Huckleberries,” Beck said to her. “We pick them in the forest, and the chef makes pies.”
Summer took her first bite and almost sighed. Tarter than a blueberry, the warm huckleberry filling was sweetened just enough to take the edge off while the ice cream finished balancing it out. She ate slowly, savoring the flavors and textures. When it was gone, she felt satisfied for the first time in a long time. She leaned back in her chair.
“You do eat a lot for someone so little,” Beck teased, flashing the smile that made her knees weak.
&
nbsp; “I think I know where it all goes,” Dawn said, staring at Summer’s chest. “You’re almost popping out there. We go shopping on the weekends. You can come get some more clothes with us.”
Summer’s face grew hot. She crossed her arms. She’d worn a V-cut shirt, the nicest she owned, for her first dinner. If she’d had the money for clothes, she might not be wearing the same things she’d been wearing since she was fourteen. Dawn was right; nothing fit her, even her nicest clothes.
She rose and left the table, going outside to the front porch. The evening was cool, the shadows of the forest stretching across the road. Though it was August, the skies were already growing dark at seven. She sat on the stairs. The sounds of talk and laughter drifted to her from the house, and she gazed into the forest. The evening was quiet.
“Dawn’s a bitch.”
Summer twisted to see Decker closing the door.
“She’s jealous. She’s had her eye on Beck for, like, ever. If he smiles at another girl, she goes psycho.”
“She’s right. My clothes don’t fit right,” Summer replied and crossed her arms again.
“None of the guys are going to complain.”
She smiled. Both the sense of danger and commonality returned. Decker sat on the other side of the stairs from her.
“The orphanage must’ve been rough.” For the first time since meeting, he was looking at her intently.
“It was.”
“Don’t you have any family?”
“None that wants me.”
“I’d like to say you’re lucky to be here, but …” He drifted off. “None of us are lucky to be here.”
“It’s beautiful and peaceful.”
“I guess.”
“Are you and Beck orphans?”
“No. Our father bought this place. He owns half of Manhattan. Dumped us off here for the summer.”
“This is the nicest place I’ve ever been,” she said honestly.
“It’s alright. I guess we’re lucky to have a family.” He pulled something out of his bag. “Anyway, I brought you these. You don’t have to wear them. I hate the way Dawn picks on people.” He held out three neatly folded Tshirts.