Source

by King, R. L.

  “I’ve noticed. He wants to keep you safe. That’s just the way he is.”

  “Yeah, but it’s not the way I am.” She took a deep breath. Another several seconds passed. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot, for a long time. I spent five years barely knowing what I was doing. Before that I was a kid. And then I finally get to where I’m not crazy anymore, and all I’ve done is do stuff with you and Jason, chasing the Evil. I guess...I just need to have a little more freedom, you know? I need to spend some time trying to figure out what I’m all about, not what everybody else thinks I am.” Her eyes, wide and big like a child’s, met his. “Is—is any of this making sense?”

  Stone’s expression was unreadable. “Are you asking me to release you from your apprenticeship?”

  “No!” Her answer came quick and shocked. “Oh, no, no. Nothing like that! I still want to learn to be a mage, and I want you to teach me, if you still want to.”

  He nodded. “But—?”

  Deep breath. “Well…I was kind of thinking that…maybe we could put things on hold for a little while. A few months. I mean…I’m still only eighteen. I’ve got plenty of time to learn, right?”

  Stone pondered. “And what would you be doing in those few months?”

  “Getting away for a while. Maybe even traveling around the country. I’ve saved up some money, and I know Jason has, too. I can give him some to help him pay for the apartment while I’m gone. I don’t need much to live on.” She sipped her coffee and looked at Stone nervously when he didn’t speak. “What…do you think?”

  He shrugged. “Ultimately, it’s not my decision to make. But I’d have thought you’d give me credit for a bit more perception than that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Who is she?”

  Her eyes widened. “How did you—?”

  “Come on, Verity,” he said, eyebrow creeping upward. “You’re practically broadcasting it. You’ve met someone, you’re interested in each other, and you want to have some time to explore life without any—entanglements. So, if you don’t mind my asking, who is she? Or he? Someone I know, perhaps?”

  She looked down. “Sharra.”

  “I thought that might be the case,” he said, nodding. “She was impressed with you, I know that. She didn’t say anything at the conference, but I did see you two spending quite a bit of time together.”

  Verity looked a little more hopeful. “We got along really well. It’s funny: we didn’t even spend a lot of time talking about magic. Mostly we just…talked. You know, about boring life things. We had lunch together, went out to a club, and—well—”

  “—you hit it off,” Stone finished.

  Verity nodded.

  “Have you told her about the Evil?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Are you going to?”

  She looked at him, clearly trying to figure out which way he wanted her to answer. “I…wasn’t planning on it, honestly. They seem not to be doing much lately, and I’d just like to see about maybe having some normal good times with her without having to bring up the extradimensional body snatchers. At least not until the third date,” she added with a wan grin.

  Stone’s expression still didn’t change. “Have you two already made some sort of plans?”

  “Not…exactly. She invited me to come visit her back East, stay with her for a little while. She said she’d pay for my plane ticket, since I’m not so good with the portals yet. If things work out, I might end up staying longer. If not, then I can always come back, right?”

  “I told you already, Verity—you’re always welcome here. Do you mind if I have a little chat with Sharra before you go?”

  “About what?” she asked, suspicious.

  “Don’t worry—I’m not checking up on you or anything like that. But you did say you wanted to continue as my apprentice. Even if I grant you a temporary leave, I still expect you to obey my rules as far as magic goes. Which means I don’t want you going off and pursuing a completely different course of study with someone else who isn’t a qualified teacher.”

  “Sharra is—”

  “Sharra is twenty-four years old. She’s quite talented, and has a great deal of potential, but she isn’t yet qualified to teach students. In fact, she’s only a couple of years out of her apprenticeship herself. Like you, she can be impatient, and she’s more concerned with results than proper technique. Your development as a mage could be compromised if you start cutting corners this early in your training, and I don’t want to have to undo all of that when you come back to me. So if you do plan to come back to me, then you’ll have to agree to that requirement.”

  Verity didn’t look thrilled, but she nodded. “You mean she can’t teach me anything?”

  Stone shrugged. “A little here and there is fine. I’ll talk to her. I’m sure she’ll be quite reasonable. She respects the relationship, and I’m familiar enough with her that I don’t think she’ll try to undermine it.”

  For a few seconds she just looked at him in disbelief. “You mean…that’s it?”

  “That’s what?”

  “You’re just going to—let me go? No ‘you need to stay here and be safe?’ No ‘what about the Evil?’“

  Again, he shrugged. “Verity, just because you’re my apprentice doesn’t mean I get to dictate what you do with your life. I don’t want an unwilling apprentice any more than you want to be one. Believe me, I’m sympathetic to your situation. I sometimes forget that you haven’t exactly had a chance for a normal life. If you want to go off and explore a relationship for a while, then you have my blessing. And as for being careful—you already know what you’re up against, and you have the tools to deal with it.” He gave her a wicked grin. “Besides, if you had half an inkling of the sorts of things I got up to when I was your age, you wouldn’t even have bothered asking. You’d have just taken off and sent me a postcard from wherever you ended up.”

  For the first time, Verity laughed. “You’re okay, Dr. Stone. For an old guy.”

  “Thank you…I think.”

  Her laugh didn’t last long, though, before her expression went serious again. “What about Jason, though? I don’t think he’s gonna take this very well.”

  “You let me talk to Jason. Probably best if I do that before you two get back together.”

  “He’ll yell at you too, you know.”

  He dismissed that with a wave. “I’ve been yelled at by professionals. Your brother doesn’t even rate on the scale.”

  Stone met Jason in the back room of the same Palo Alto bar where they’d met the previous year, after Stone’s Evil-possessed housekeeper had blown up his old house.

  Jason looked suspicious as he came up to the booth where the mage sat with a Guinness in front of him. “What’s this about, Al?”

  In answer, Stone only cocked his head toward the main bar. “Go get yourself something. I’ve got a tab running.”

  “I don’t want anything. I just—”

  “Go get yourself a beer, Jason.” Stone’s voice was even, but left no room for argument.

  Jason glared, but did as he was told. He came back and dropped down into the seat across from Stone with his glass. “Okay. Now you want to tell me what this is about?”

  “I think you might know.”

  His gaze sharpened and he frowned. “Verity.”

  Stone inclined his head.

  “So that’s where she went after she stormed out of the apartment,” he growled, glaring. “I should have known. Is she at your place now?”

  “Far as I know.”

  Jason made as if to get up. “Then I’m—”

  “Sit down, Jason.”

  This time there was no mistaking it: it was an order. Stone’s voice held an odd edge that Jason had never heard directed at him before. He didn’t continue to leave, but neither did he
sit down. “Al, this is none of your business!”

  “Oh?” Stone’s eyebrow crept up.

  “Yeah. This is between me and V.”

  “And why do you say that?”

  Jason looked at him like he’d developed a sudden case of the stupids. “She’s my sister, Al.”

  “And she’s my apprentice.”

  He rolled his eyes. “That’s not the issue here.”

  “You think not?” Stone’s expression remained carefully neutral, but his gaze was laser-sharp. “Then what is the issue, Jason?” He nodded toward the seat across from him.

  Jason sat back down. “She wants to go off somewhere, doesn’t she?”

  Stone nodded.

  “Where?”

  There was a long pause. “Jason, you’re putting me in a very uncomfortable position here, and I’m not appreciating it.”

  “Where does she want to go?” Jason pressed.

  “If she hasn’t told you, it’s not my place to do it.”

  Jason glared harder. Stone still sat there, looking calm and just a little bit cold, and Jason fought the urge to knock that calm right off his face. Instead, he grabbed his glass and took a long drink. Then he sighed loudly. “Al…she’s my sister. She’s barely an adult, and she’s spent the last five years of her life in the loony bin. She’s not exactly equipped to run off by herself. Don’t you get that? I mean, I know she’s technically an adult now, and she can do whatever she wants, but do you really think letting her run off God knows where is gonna help her? Especially with the Evil still out there?”

  “The Evil isn’t the issue either, and I think we both know it.”

  Jason scrubbed at his face with both hands. “Al—” He changed gears. “Do you think it’s a good idea for her to do this? Do you think she’s gonna be safe out there on her own?”

  Stone took another drink. “In the first place, she won’t be alone. In the second place, it really doesn’t matter whether I think it’s a good idea or not. It’s not like I can stop her, nor would I want to.”

  “But you said it yourself: she’s your apprentice. You could stop her.”

  “All I could do is tell her that if she left, I could no longer be her teacher.”

  “Okay, then! You—”

  “—But I didn’t tell her that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it isn’t true.” Stone’s eyes narrowed. “Jason, you need to get some perspective. Because right now you’re not showing any at all.”

  Jason glared. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  For several seconds he didn’t answer. It was as if he were silently organizing his thoughts before he gave them voice. When he spoke his tone was carefully neutral. “I understand that she’s your sister. I understand that you feel protective toward her, and that you want to keep her away from dangerous situations—”

  “That’s my job!” Jason cut in.

  “No. It isn’t. That’s what I mean about perspective. Think about it from her point of view, Jason: you’re right. She’s been in a controlled environment, and not fully in possession of her faculties, for most of her formative years. She didn’t really get a chance to have a normal life as a teenager.”

  “All the more reason why—”

  “But,” Stone continued inexorably, “I think—and you can’t deny that it’s true—that she’s managed to rise admirably above all of that and create as normal a life as she can for herself, given her special circumstances.”

  “English, Al,” Jason growled. “I’m not one of your students. You don’t have to impress me with how professorish you sound.”

  Stone’s cold blue gaze met his. “All right, then: She’s doing fine. She’s normal, Jason. As normal as a young mage who’s had to deal with everything she’s had to sort out can be. I’m actually rather in awe of her ability to cope with everything the world’s thrown at her.” He took a deep breath. “Her mind is strong. Her will is strong. She’s intelligent and capable.” Leaning in, he added softly, “She doesn’t need you to protect her, Jason. She doesn’t need any of us to protect her.”

  Jason stared down into his glass. Part of him wanted to grab Stone by the collar and shake him till he got it, and part of him—far back in the furthest reaches of his mind—was beginning to realize what an ass he sounded like. “Al,” he said at last, in a tone that was less angry but sounded tired, “You don’t have any brothers or sisters, do you?”

  “What’s that got to do with anything?”

  “Do you?”

  “No.”

  “V and I—” he shrugged. “After Mom died, Dad did his best to take care of us, and he did a good job, but we took care of each other, too. I helped raise her, Al. And then she…had her problems, and Dad died, and—” He spreading his hands. “It’s hard, letting go. I let her go once, when she was…having her problems. I still feel guilty about that. I don’t want to do it again. But I guess that’s what happens when you’re responsible for somebody…you have to let ’em go some time.”

  Stone smiled a little. “She’s not going off to join the French Foreign Legion. She’s not leaving for Mars.”

  “Where does she want to go?” he asked, looking up. “And for how long?”

  “Remember Sharra Bolani? You met her in Woodwich after Eleanor Pearsall’s funeral.”

  Jason frowned. “The blonde at the pizza parlor?” He thought about that for a moment, then added, “She was at the conference too, wasn’t she?”

  “She’s not blonde anymore. But yes, she was.”

  “But...Verity and—” Pause. “She’s…?”

  “Apparently. I never asked. Hardly my business.”

  “But she’s too old for V!” Jason exploded.

  “She’s twenty-four. That’s only a six-year difference. Not exactly shocking.”

  Jason looked at his beer. “So you’re just gonna let her run off to the other side of the country because she’s decided she wants to—I don’t even know what she wants to do.”

  “She’ll be back. If she wants to continue her studies and become the mage she’s got the potential to be, she’ll be back.”

  “What if she decides she wants to go learn magic with somebody else? Like this Sharra?”

  Stone shrugged. “That’s her decision, not mine. I already told her I wouldn’t advise learning from Sharra, since she’s barely more than an apprentice herself. But if she decides she wants to study under another master, I’ll release her.”

  “After all that time you guys have put in?”

  “Jason, this is pointless. I hardly believe that you care one way or another who teaches your sister magic. I understand your concerns. But it doesn’t matter. Verity will do what she wants to do, regardless of what you or I think about it.”

  “You got that right.” Jason picked up his beer, drained it, and smacked the glass down on the table with more force than necessary. “Fine,” he said. “Fine. She wants to go back east, I can’t stop her, I guess. But I don’t like it. I think it’s a bad idea.” He met Stone’s eyes. “And I’m scared, Al. I’m scared that if she gets away from us, the Evil will go after her. I know she’s good. I know you’ve been teaching her a lot, and she’s got that whole ‘evict the Evil’ thing going on. But—” He spread his hands.

  “There aren’t any guarantees, Jason,” Stone said gently. “She could leave, and the Evil could come after you, or me. Or they might never bother us again. Or one of us could get hit by a bus tomorrow.”

  “Yeah. I guess you’re right.” Jason felt suddenly drained. “I guess I should probably go find her and tell her I was being an ass, huh?”

  “Probably,” he agreed, getting up. “I think she’ll forgive you, though. You’re her brother. You’re supposed to be an ass.”

  Chapter Nine

  Another month passed, during which Sto
ne and Jason saw very little of each other. Stone immersed himself in his teaching, while Jason split his time between work, workouts, tinkering with his car, and trying to drum up some kind of meaningful social life beyond the occasional enjoyable but empty one-night stand.

  It took them a while to realize it, but eventually they both did: Verity had been the glue holding their little group together. The fact that she spent as much time as she did hanging around Stone’s place while studying magic meant that it was only natural for Jason to be there too, especially since she didn’t have a car of her own, and thus he often picked her up on his way home from the restaurant.

  The two of them had seen her off on a plane to Vermont a week after their talk; Stone had offered to take her through the portal to make the trip faster, but she’d declined: all the interactions with the Evil had soured her for trying them again, and she preferred the old-fashioned method of getting around. She’d called when she arrived, telling them everything had gone fine, Sharra had picked her up at the airport, and she would be spending the next few days getting settled in. After that, Stone and Jason had returned to their respective homes and respective lives, and had only seen each other a couple times since Verity had left.

  On the plus side, the Evil still showed no sign of acting up. On one of the occasions when Stone and Jason had met for a beer in Mountain View, Jason had reported that he continued to check the major Bay Area papers a couple times a week. He searched for any unusual activity, such as particularly grisly murders or clusters of them, that might indicate they were becoming active again. He hadn’t found anything.

  “Perhaps they have settled down and decided to make the best of things,” Stone said, shrugging. “If they can’t bring any new ones over, then it would make sense for the ones still here not to draw attention to themselves.”

  “Yeah…” Jason agreed, but he wasn’t convinced. He didn’t think Stone was either. But as long as the Evil continued minding their own business, neither of them saw any point in trying to stir things up.