Magic and Shadows: A Collection of YA Fantasy and Paranormal Romances

by T. M. Franklin

  Melanie wiped her tears and squinted at me. “If you think—”

  I put my hands up to stop her. “Hang on a sec. Why don’t we call a truce? Neither one of us is going to back down, so it seems like the only option.”

  Melanie didn’t answer. Instead she walked around the orb. I followed her, and she pointed to a bare spot. “This is where Scorpius used to be.”

  “Right below that guy in the toga?”

  “The name’s Ophiuchus,” the toga guy answered. I stepped back, still not used to being able to talk to the constellations like this. “But you can call me Ophi.”

  He had wavy reddish brown hair with a matching beard. He looked a little disheveled, but several lifetimes in the heavens with no hairbrush would probably do that to anyone.

  “Ophi stood with his left foot on Scorpius’s back,” Melanie said. “He helped my family keep Scorpius in his place.”

  Ophi smiled. “Happy to help, Miss Melanie.”

  I thought it was strange how nice Ophi was being to Melanie. Like they were friends or something. I guessed not all the constellations were bitter like Scorpius, Draco, and Serpens.

  “Can I ask why you’re holding your arms like that? It looks like you’re trying to skip rope or something.”

  “I’m the Serpent bearer. In addition to keeping Scorpius in line, I held Serpens in the sky.”

  “No way! How did they get away from you?”

  Melanie turned bright red. “Come over here, Ella. Let me show you where Draco used to be.”

  Ophi smiled at me and nodded in Melanie’s direction. He obviously wasn’t going to answer my question either.

  “Draco’s tail coiled around the North Pole between Ursa Major, The Greater Bear, and Ursa Minor, The Lesser Bear. His body twisted this way with his head resting below Hercules.” Her voice trailed off, and she looked at Hercules with tears in her eyes.

  I was about to ask her what was wrong when Hercules spoke.

  “Nice to see you again, Melanie. I thought you were avoiding me after our last conversation.”

  I recognized his voice. Hercules was Melanie’s mystery man!

  Melanie shook her head, and a tear trickled down her cheek. “No. It’s just hard for me to be in this room now.”

  “You mean you haven’t been watching the heavens?” I asked. “Sagittarius told me you’re supposed to protect it. How can you do that if you don’t spend a lot of time in here with this orb?” What did she do all day long? Sit in her room and cry?

  “I admit I haven’t spent as much time in here as I should, but there haven’t been as many meteor showers lately. And besides, I’ve been keeping an eye on things from my father’s office.”

  “Meteor showers?” I asked. “What do they have to do with protecting the constellations?”

  “My family protects the constellations from meteors and other objects in the heavens that could damage them.”

  “Damage or provide a free ride to Stellaris,” Sagittarius said.

  Okay, maybe Melanie was right. Maybe he did let a lot of information slip, but I liked him.

  “A free ride to Stellaris? You mean that’s how Draco, Serpens, and Scorpius got here? On a meteor?”

  “Or three,” Sagittarius said.

  “Ugh!” Melanie balled her fists and stormed up to Sagittarius. “Don’t make me direct a meteor at you while you’re sleeping!”

  “You can direct meteors?”

  “It’s how she protects us,” Sagittarius went on, ignoring Melanie’s warning. “She uses the orb to control the meteors and keep them from hitting us.”

  “So you missed a few and those three constellations hopped on and rode them to Stellaris?” Just when I thought things couldn’t get any crazier. I shook my head, having a hard time processing all this.

  This time Sagittarius didn’t offer up the answers Melanie wouldn’t give. Hercules did. “It wasn’t her fault. It was my idea to use the meteors as a means of getting to Stellaris.”

  Melanie reached out and placed her hand on Hercules. At first I thought she was going to smother him, but she gently touched the orb. “I should have known better. I shouldn’t have put Stellaris at risk to be with you.”

  To be with him? Were Melanie and Hercules like a thing? A couple? Was that even possible?

  “You two—um—are you like dating or something?” I asked.

  Melanie looked me in the eyes. “We’re friends. I spend a lot of time in here keeping watch over the heavens. Hercules and I have become close. I don’t have many friends because I’m too busy protecting the orb. But Hercules understands me. I wanted him to spend some time here. We got this crazy idea to direct a meteor his way so he could ride it down to Stellaris. Only it didn’t work. There was a meteor shower, and I lost control. Three of the meteors went astray, and—well, you know the rest.”

  She’d wanted to hang out with her friend, and she’d nearly destroyed all of Stellaris in the process. If she could do that with her parents around to watch over her, what would she do now that they were gone?

  “We weren’t counting on a meteor shower of that size,” Hercules said. “It wasn’t your fault, Melanie.”

  “I should have known about the meteor shower. It’s my responsibility to know about them. I failed. And now my parents are suffering because of it. All of Stellaris is suffering because of it.”

  As much as I didn’t like Melanie and what she was doing to all of us from my world, it was difficult to see her hurting so much. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost. I mean, it was her fault. Sure she felt bad about it, but still.

  “Melanie, you can’t use other people to fix your mistake. These kids are going to die. And that includes Avery. He’s my best friend.” I looked at Hercules and then back at Melanie. “I’m sure you can understand how much he means to me.”

  Melanie choked back tears and stared at Hercules. If her feelings for him couldn’t make her understand why I needed to get Avery and the others out of here, nothing would.

  “I risked Stellaris once for the sake of a friend,” she said, the coldness returning to her face. “I can’t allow you to do the same.”

  “What? You can’t be serious!” How could she be so broken-down one minute and a coldhearted snake the next?

  Before Melanie could respond, the castle shook. I thought we were having an earthquake. But then I saw Draco rushing toward the windows. Melanie hugged the orb, and I ran for the doorway as glass shattered all around us.

  9

  The sound was deafening. I thought my eardrums were going to burst. I covered my face with my arms to shield it from flying shards of glass. Several hit me before crashing to the floor. My left shoulder seared with pain, and for good reason. A six-inch piece of glass was sticking out of it.

  I grabbed the shard and exhaled hard before pulling it out. “Ugh!” I yelled, quickly putting pressure on the wound. I’m no baby, but that hurt.

  Melanie stepped back slowly, keeping her arms out to make sure the orb wasn’t about to go crashing to the floor.

  “Are you okay?” I kicked away the glass in front of me.

  “I’m fine.” She rushed to the window, not even glancing at my shoulder. “Bobson and Avery are defending the castle. They’re going to need help. We have to send the rest of the army out there.”

  Avery was out there? And the only backup he had was Bobson? They couldn’t fight Draco on their own. I ran to the window, afraid of what I might see. Bobson fired arrow after arrow, and Avery was armed with—a garden hose?

  “What is he doing? What kind of weapon is that?” I winced, partly from fear and partly from the pain of squeezing my shoulder.

  Melanie smiled. “He’s making sure Draco can’t breathe fire. The hose is a brilliant idea.”

  Draco opened his mouth and inhaled. I knew what was coming next. But before he could get so much as a spark to come out, Draco was sucking down tons of water. Avery’s aim was perfect. Draco stumbled backward, spitting water everywhere. Avery didn’t
let up. Finally, Draco flew away, still choking. With the threat gone, Bobson and Avery rushed back inside.

  Melanie turned to me and started giving orders. “We need to round up the others. Tell them to get into battle gear, go find Draco, and attack him before he has a chance to recuperate.”

  Nothing was getting through to her. She thought we were all at her disposal. It didn’t matter how hurt we were or who was fading away. I took my hand off my shoulder and smeared blood across her cheek.

  “What are you doing?” she yelled, raising her hand to her face but stopping before she touched my blood. “That’s vile!”

  “No, actually, you’re vile.” My shoulder bled like crazy. I put pressure on it again and hoped I wouldn’t pass out. “You can’t even see what you’ve done. The damage you’ve caused. Well, no, that’s not entirely true. You see it for like a whole five seconds before you turn ice cold and pretend it’s not really happening.”

  Bobson rushed into the room yelling, “Melanie, are you all right?” His eyes widened when he saw the blood on her face. “You’re hurt. Let me look at you.”

  Melanie used her shoulder to wipe the blood from her cheek. “I’m fine, Bobson. It’s not my blood.”

  I glared at her. “Not your blood, not your problem, right?”

  Bobson pointed to my shoulder. “Come down to the sitting room. We’ll get you stitched up.”

  “No thanks. No one is coming near me with any needles.”

  Bobson shrugged. “Hey, if you want to die from blood loss, go right ahead.”

  “Melanie!” I recognized Sagittarius’s voice coming from the orb. “Draco’s called a meeting with Serpens and Scorpius. They’re plotting something. Something big.”

  Melanie’s eyes widened. “What did they say?”

  “They caught me eavesdropping and moved away.”

  Bobson sighed. “This isn’t good.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You think?” Talk about understatement of the year. I needed to get Avery, Gabe, and the others out of Stellaris before the constellations did whatever it was they were planning to do.

  “Melanie, you have to send us back to our world. There’s no one left to fight. All the kids are injured. Avery’s fading. Gabe’s fading. And I’m really getting faint over here.” I stumbled back toward the windowsill.

  “Ella!” Avery ran into the room and grabbed me before I fell backward out the shattered window. “Your shoulder. We need to get you stitched up.”

  “No.” My voice was weak. “We need to get home.” My head was spinning, and even though he was only a foot in front of me, Avery was blurry. I thought I was losing my vision until I remembered he was fading. I couldn’t see his left arm because it was mostly a shadow.

  “Melanie, please. We can’t fight. You have to send us home.” I hated to beg, but I couldn’t exactly go a few rounds in the ring with Melanie right now either.

  “She’s right,” Bobson said, almost giving me a heart attack. “The army is useless. They’re beaten up and broken. The constellations would tear them to pieces in seconds.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Gabe said, stepping into the doorway. “I just wanted to let you know that some of the younger guys are starting to get really freaked out. If you don’t do something soon, the constellations won’t be your only problem.”

  Melanie and Bobson exchanged a glance without saying a word. I didn’t like that. It was bad enough when I knew what they were thinking. Now I was in the dark.

  Finally, Melanie nodded. “Fine. We’ll wait until nightfall when Draco, Serpens, and Scorpius are asleep. Then, Bobson, you can take the injured kids to the portal.”

  I was shocked and a little nervous about how easily Melanie had given in.

  “I’ll get everyone ready to leave,” Gabe said. He winked at me before he left. I hadn’t been sure how he’d act around me after the kiss. He had it in his head that Avery and I had feelings for each other. I wasn’t sure what had happened earlier or why I’d thought of Avery when Gabe kissed me. But I did know that with more time, I could really like Gabe. I was glad he was going to get out of here before anything worse happened to him.

  I was still staring at the empty doorway when Avery touched my arm. “You okay? Are you feeling faint?”

  I smiled at him, relieved we’d finally be going home. Avery would be back to normal in a few short hours. “I’m fine. Sorry, I’m just glad we’re getting out of this place.”

  Melanie walked toward the door. “Avery, you’ll stay behind and continue to train. I can’t leave the castle unprotected. With Bobson gone, you’ll be my only means of defense.”

  My body stiffened. “What? No! Avery needs to get home. Look at him. His arm is nearly all shadow!” I wanted to run after her, to find out if she really was a hair puller. But I was too weak to make it across the room on my own.

  Melanie stopped and turned to Avery. “I’m sure you understand why I can’t part with you. You’re the best fighter I have.”

  Bobson cleared his throat.

  “Next to Bobson of course.” Melanie glanced at him before turning back to Avery. “I’ll allow the others to go, but you must agree to stay.”

  Avery nodded. No fight. No nothing. God, how strong were his feelings for her?

  I shook my head. “No, Ave. You can’t.” I hated Melanie even more for the control she had over him.

  He took my hand in his. “It’s the only way to get the others home. I’ll be okay.”

  “I won’t go without you.”

  Bobson smiled. “You won’t be going either.”

  “What? Melanie said—”

  “She said I was to take the injured kids home.” He pointed to my shoulder. “We can fix that arm up no problem. You’ll be good to fight by morning.”

  I couldn’t believe it. We were prisoners. I’d rather have taken my chances with the constellations than stick around to help Melanie and Bobson. At least the constellations were upfront with their evil plans. These two kept tricking me. Getting my hopes up and then crushing them.

  “And I’m supposed to believe you’re going to return those kids? You keep misleading me. Letting me think you’ve finally come to your senses and are going to free us. Then you turn around and take it back.”

  Melanie looked me square in the eyes. “You have my word that Bobson will return the boys.”

  “Your word? That means nothing to me. You’re a liar. A manipulative, self-serving liar.” The more I yelled the more lightheaded I felt, but I didn’t care. I turned to Bobson. “I’m going with you. I’m going to see that those kids get home.”

  Bobson started to protest, but Melanie put her hand up to stop him. “Very well. You may go with Bobson.”

  I hated how she was making it seem like I needed her permission. I was going, and that was that.

  Melanie raised an eyebrow at Bobson, and he smiled. They were up to something. Again.

  “We leave at nightfall,” Bobson said to me. “If I were you, I’d get stitched up and then rest until it’s time to go.”

  I couldn’t keep track of time in Stellaris. It was always light outside and the sun never moved in the sky, so I wasn’t sure when nightfall actually was. I wondered if Bobson was hoping I’d oversleep and miss taking the kids back to the portal. Then he and Melanie would be free to do whatever they were planning. I couldn’t let that happen.

  I finally gave in and let Bobson sew up my shoulder. He didn’t have anything to numb my arm, so I felt every single stitch. Avery let me squeeze his good hand until it was over. Gabe watched the whole thing, his eyes never leaving me—or should I say never leaving my hand in Avery’s. He didn’t know how close we were. I could imagine how this must look to him. But I couldn’t worry about that now. Gabe was going home, and I probably wouldn’t see him again. I had to worry about Avery and me.

  Once my Frankenstein stitch job was finished, Avery got me a glass of juice so I didn’t feel so lightheaded. I downed it in two gulps. He laughed and pour
ed me another before we headed upstairs. I gripped the railing, using it to support my weight. Avery wrapped his arm around my waist and helped me the rest of the way. He put me in bed in one of the guest rooms. I didn’t realize how tired I was until my head hit the pillow. My eyes closed almost instantly, but I was vaguely aware of Avery’s lips on my forehead. A couple hours later, I woke up to Avery lightly shaking me.

  “Ella, it’s time to go. Bobson’s got the boys ready. Luckily, they can all walk—well, some with crutches.” He touched the bandage on my shoulder. “How are you feeling?”

  I sat up, and my shoulder throbbed with pain. “Peachy,” I said with a wince.

  “You don’t have to go.”

  “Yes, I do. Bobson can’t be trusted. Did you see the way he and Melanie kept looking at each other? Something’s up.”

  “You really don’t like them, huh?”

  “And you do?” Avery was the type to always see the good in people. I loved that about him. But this was too much. Bobson and Melanie were kidnappers, and if I hadn’t insisted they return the injured kids, they’d probably be murderers too.

  Avery sighed and shook his head. “They don’t know what to do. They’re trying to save Stellaris. It’s a lot for two people.”

  I smiled and hugged him with my good arm. “You’re too nice, you know that?” I pulled away and looked him in the eyes. “Not everyone is good. Please promise me you’ll be careful while I’m gone. Don’t go trying to be a superhero or anything.” I looked at his fading arm. “You’re not invincible.”

  “Yeah, I know.” He touched my cheek with his faded hand, and I could barely feel it.

  Things were getting way too mushy and emotional for me, so I said good-bye to Avery and met Bobson and the others in the training room. Bobson had a bow and arrow strapped to his back, and some of the other kids, whose arms hadn’t faded yet, were holding weapons too. We weren’t planning on meeting up with the rogue constellations, but it didn’t hurt to be prepared.