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

by T. M. Franklin

  Avery led me to a couch and opened the medical kit. I looked away as he stitched my arm, afraid the sight of the needle piercing my skin over and over again would make me faint.

  “I have to help Bobson train those guys. If I don’t, those constellations will…” His voice trailed off.

  “Kill them? You can say it.” I cringed and bit my lip to keep from screaming. I didn’t know which hurt worse, being sewn up without anything to numb my shoulder or Avery continuing to help Melanie.

  “Sorry,” he said, and I knew he was referring to the pain in my shoulder.

  “It’s not your fault. None of this is. It’s Melanie’s fault. And Bobson’s too. I can’t believe he made you stitch my shoulder. When have you sewn anything?” I laughed and looked at Avery, still careful not to watch what he was doing.

  He stopped and smiled at me. “Remember when you sewed the button back on my jeans in the girls’ bathroom at school?”

  I laughed again. “Yeah, that was a little hard to explain to the janitor when she caught us. I thought we were going to get suspended.”

  “Yeah, me too. But everyone knows we’re best friends.” His voice quivered. “I mean, we grew up together. It’s not like—”

  I stared into his eyes, the same eyes I’d looked into a million times before. But something was different. I thought of Gabe and what had held me back when he’d kissed me. Avery. Gabe was right. Avery and I weren’t just friends. We were so much more. My hands started shaking. Avery reached for them, but I slid back on the couch, afraid of my feelings for him. “Are you done with my shoulder?”

  “Yeah.” He looked disappointed as he returned the needle to the medical kit.

  I didn’t like this. I’d never felt uncomfortable around Avery before.

  “I guess you’re heading downstairs now?” I asked.

  “You should too. You’ve been doing really well against the constellations, but Melanie says they’re planning a big attack. We need to be ready.”

  I clenched my fists at the sound of her name. “So that’s it. You’re not training those kids to help them. You’re doing it for Melanie. You’re Melanie’s little helper.”

  “That’s not fair.” Avery stood up and turned his back to me.

  “Why? It’s true. I saw the way you two were talking when Bobson and I got back. You were all buddy-buddy. Or maybe buddy isn’t the right word. Is that it?”

  I was egging him on. Looking for a fight. I hated doing it to Avery of all people, but a second ago he was talking as if—well, as if he thought I was special. And now he was right back to Melanie—and after she’d just lied to him. Now that I knew how I felt about him, it hurt even more.

  “Listen, Ell, try to think about how she feels.” He turned back to me. “She’s a mess wondering what Draco’s done with her parents. She doesn’t know if they’re alive or dead. And every day her world is being destroyed. She’s only sixteen. It’s too much for her to handle. She needs someone to lean on and sympathize with her. You expect Bobson to do that? He’s a great fighter, but he’s not exactly the lend-a-shoulder type.”

  I didn’t want to hear this. Not from Avery.

  “Did you forget she lied to you? She let us both think she was letting those kids go home, no strings attached. That maybe she had a heart somewhere in that ice-cold body of hers. But that wasn’t true. She tricked us. And she made me go along for the ride. How do you think I feel knowing I helped Bobson kidnap more people? Even if I didn’t know I was doing it.”

  “You told Melanie you were going with Bobson because you didn’t trust him to bring those kids home. Melanie didn’t make you do anything.”

  I jumped to my feet. “She made me an accomplice!” I stepped closer to him. “Why don’t you care what she does to me? You’ve always had my back, protected me.”

  “You’ve never needed protecting, Ella. You can handle yourself just fine.”

  “Oh, so because I’m not the damsel-in-distress type, I don’t need you on my side?” I shook my head. “In case you haven’t noticed, Melanie’s not the one you should be worried about. She’s the one causing all the pain. Kids are getting seriously hurt, all because of her mistakes.” I touched the cut on his cheek and then the stitches on my shoulder. “Look at us. You sewed up your best friend. Isn’t that enough to get through to you? Melanie doesn’t care about any of us. Not even you.”

  He stepped back as if I’d punched him in the gut. “I never thought I’d have to explain myself to you. You’ve always trusted me. But maybe we aren’t the friends we used to be.” He lowered his head and walked out of the room.

  Now I felt like I’d been punched. How could he question our friendship? We’d been through so much together. But Melanie had come along and ruined everything. Maybe I’d made a mistake coming after Avery in the first place.

  11

  No way was I going to train with the others. I couldn’t face Avery right now. He was always the sympathetic one. The one who let me yell until I was exhausted and then scooped me some cookie dough ice cream. I’d seen him upset before, but it had never been directed at me. I didn’t know how to handle it. Normally, I’d run to him when I was upset. Now, I had no one to turn to.

  I slumped onto the couch, running my fingers over the stars on the fabric. I traced them until I realized there was a pattern. I jumped up. Faint lines connected the groups of stars. The couch was covered in a star map.

  “Constellations.” My eyes fell to the constellation I’d been sitting on. A triangle at the top with a rectangle beneath it. Two vertical lines extended from the shape. One from the left point of the triangle at the top. And another from the bottom left corner of the rectangle. It was a figure, and it was holding something long and winding that crossed in front of the rectangular body. “Ophi, the serpent bearer. It has to be.”

  I raced up the stairs and into the room with the orb. I was shocked to see Melanie there, actually doing her job for once. She was talking to Hercules, and she scowled when I stepped into the room.

  “What do you want, Ella?”

  “What? You’re not happy to see me?” Fighting with Melanie was about the only enjoyable thing in Stellaris, but when I saw Melanie and Hercules exchange a glance, it made me think of Avery, and I didn’t feel like fighting anymore.

  I sighed. “Listen, I have an idea. Something that might help you get rid of Serpens and Scorpius.”

  “What about Draco?” Melanie asked. “We need to get rid of all three. Two isn’t good enough.”

  “Wow, you really are greedy and ungrateful, aren’t you?” I continued before she could fight back. “We’ll worry about Draco later. I know someone who might be able to help us put Serpens and Scorpius back in the sky.”

  “You know someone?” Melanie crossed her arms, obviously thinking this was a trick.

  “Don’t worry. This person’s actually one of your friends, not mine.” I walked over to the orb, looking around until I found the constellation I wanted to talk to. “Ophi? Sorry to bother you, but how would you like an all-expense paid trip to Stellaris? In exchange for helping us trap two rogue constellations, of course.”

  “What?” Melanie dropped her arms. “You’ve got to be kidding! I don’t have time for foolish games, Ella.”

  “I’m dead serious. We need help. A bunch of humans are no match for your constellations. But other constellations would be. Ophi is used to keeping Serpens and Scorpius in line. He’s perfect.”

  Ophi smiled. “Well, thank you, and I accept your offer. I’d love to see Stellaris up close. When do I leave?”

  Melanie held her hands up in front of her. “Whoa, hold on. No one is leaving the heavens.”

  I’d been around Melanie long enough to know that any decision had to come from her. I had to make this seem like her idea.

  “Fine. We’ll try to fend off the constellations the best we can until you can come up with a better solution. I just hope the castle can withstand another attack.” I kicked aside a piece of glass f
rom the broken window. “But you know,” I paused to make sure I had her attention. “Using the meteors to bring the constellations here was a brilliant idea. I’m sure you could have pulled it off perfectly with a little help, and I’d be happy to help you if that’s what you want.”

  “She’s right,” Hercules said. “You can do it, Mel. This is your chance to fix what we did wrong.”

  Melanie smiled at Hercules, and it made my heart ache. I wondered how Avery was doing with the new recruits.

  “There’s a meteor shower we could use,” Melanie said, shocking me with her go-with-the-flow attitude. “But you would need to listen and do exactly as I say, without any questions or objections.” Ah, there was the bossy Melanie I’d grown to loathe.

  I plastered a fake smile on my face. “Tell me what to do.”

  Melanie pointed to a tiny moving speck on the orb. “There’s the meteor.”

  “That thing the size of a piece of dust? No wonder you had trouble directing the meteor to Hercules.”

  “It’s far away but moving toward the constellations. It will get bigger. Much bigger.” She placed her finger on the speck and dragged it across the orb. Just like she’d said, it grew in size. “Here, put your finger next to mine and follow my lead. And whatever you do, don’t take your finger off it until I tell you.”

  “Got it.” I placed my index finger beside hers. The meteor felt surprisingly hot.

  “Get ready, Ophi,” Melanie said.

  “I’m more than ready,” Ophi said.

  We directed the meteor, but it wasn’t easy. We had to weave between the constellations in order to make our way to Ophi. We got pretty close to Hercules, and I felt the meteor tug in his direction.

  “What’s happening?” I struggled not to lose control of the meteor.

  “Add some pressure. The meteors tend to pull toward the constellations. We can’t let it collide with Hercules. We have to keep pushing it toward Ophi.”

  “I’ve just about got it,” Ophi yelled, reaching forward. His hands were huge, which was probably a good thing considering he had to hold Serpens in the sky. “Yup, I got it!”

  “Good. Now, Ella, on the count of three, pull the meteor down and into your body,” Melanie ordered.

  “What? Into my body?” I couldn’t have heard her right.

  “No questions. Just do it!” She didn’t wait for me to respond. “Three!”

  I pulled the meteor down, following Melanie’s lead. Then we made a scooping motion toward our bodies as if we were pulling the meteor and Ophi right out of the orb and into the room with us.

  “Let go!” Melanie yelled.

  We both fell backward.

  I got back on my feet as quickly as I could. “Who taught you how to count?”

  Melanie ignored me and rushed to the window.

  “What are you doing?”

  She was halfway out the window searching the sky. “Trying to find the meteor.”

  I hadn’t really thought about that part. The meteor was going to crash into Stellaris. It no longer had us guiding it. It could smash into the castle.

  “Oh no!” Melanie shrieked. “Ophi’s going to crash into the beach, and—”

  “And what?”

  “The rogue constellations are waiting for him! We need to get the army out there now!”

  The army wasn’t ready for this yet, but what else were we supposed to do? We raced out of the room and were halfway down the stairs when the ground shook with incredible force. I’d never been in an earthquake, but I imagined this was something like that—multiplied by about a thousand. I toppled the rest of the way down the stairs, but luckily Melanie hit the bottom first and broke my fall.

  Bobson, Avery, and the rest of the army ran up from the basement training area. Avery rushed over to help me up, and I smiled, hoping this meant he wasn’t angry with me anymore. But he didn’t even ask if I was okay. He reached down to help Melanie up and then started yelling commands to the new recruits.

  Everyone ran outside with weapons in hand. Avery handed me a bow and arrow as we ran down to the beach. I wasn’t sure how we were going to save Ophi from all three rogue constellations, but we had to try. I hoped Avery or Bobson was coming up with a plan on the way to the beach.

  A giant crater was carved into the sand. Melanie hadn’t been kidding when she said the meteor would get bigger. Draco, Serpens, and Scorpius had Ophi trapped with his back against the meteorite. I was shocked to see Ophi wasn’t as enormous as the other fallen constellations. He was big for a person, but not massive. Although his calf muscles were gigantic! No wonder he didn’t have trouble pinning Scorpius down with one foot.

  The army fired a volley of arrows, none of which actually hit a target. And the second Draco took to the air and turned on us, the new kids started running for the castle.

  Draco was trying to distract us so Serpens and Scorpius could gang up on Ophi. I couldn’t let them kill him. Bringing him here had been my idea. I shot an arrow at Serpens, hitting him in the side of the head. If only his head wasn’t enormous, that would’ve actually hurt him. Still it got his attention. He slithered in front of Scorpius, which left Ophi free to run.

  “Head for the water!” I yelled to Ophi, hoping Serpens and Scorpius wouldn’t follow him there.

  Draco turned and flew toward the water. Ophi only had a few seconds head start and just missed being burned by Draco’s fire as he dove beneath the surface. Every time Ophi came up for air Draco dive-bombed with his claws ready to snatch him out of the water. Melanie was at the water’s edge screaming her head off. What a help that was! I looked all around, trying to come up with a plan. Ophi couldn’t stay in the water forever, and Serpens and Scorpius were advancing on me, despite Avery and Bobson’s attempts to fend them off.

  We were still pretty close to the castle, but we’d never make it there without getting caught. I scanned the hills. At the water’s edge, loose rocks overhung the cliff above. I needed to get up there and start a rockslide.

  I ran behind Avery and whispered, “Cover me. I’m going up the cliff to see if I can push some of those rocks over. They look loose.”

  Avery fired arrows so quickly Robin Hood himself would’ve been proud. Luckily, he was still able to get a glove on his fading hand or he wouldn’t have been able to use the bow and arrow at all. I took the glove as a good sign that Avery wasn’t getting any worse. “You want us to lure these two over there?”

  I smiled. He may have been mad at me, but he couldn’t deny how close we were. He was reading my mind the way he usually did. “You got it.” I was already turning to go.

  Melanie blocked my way. I hadn’t heard her sneak up on us. “You can’t cause a rockslide!”

  “Keep your voice down. I was whispering for a reason. The plan won’t work if Serpens and Scorpius hear it.”

  “You’ll compromise the castle,” Melanie said in a stern whisper.

  “Better it than us.” I sprinted past her and climbed up the grassy side of the hill. I crept over to the rocks where I could see Avery and Bobson backing up toward the cliff. They were going to have to get in the water to avoid getting pummeled with rocks. I waited until Serpens and Scorpius were directly below me, and I started to shove. I hoped I wouldn’t go over the edge with the rocks, but they didn’t budge. I wasn’t strong enough to push them.

  Melanie came up behind me and helped me shove. I was so surprised to see her helping that I slipped and stumbled, nearly falling over the edge in the process.

  “Ella! Come on!” Melanie yelled as if I’d slipped on purpose.

  We both shoved as hard as we could, but it was no use.

  “We aren’t strong enough,” Melanie said.

  I was still in shock that she’d climbed the hill and come to help me. I looked down at the water. Ophi was nowhere to be seen. Draco was practically spinning around, searching for him.

  “How long can he hold his breath?” I asked.

  “A long time,” Ophi said, crawling through the g
rass behind us. I guessed he was trying to stay low so Draco didn’t see him. “It looked like you needed some help up here, so I swam underwater until I got around the side of the mountain. Then I climbed up.”

  I smiled at him. “Thanks. Sorry my brilliant plan to bring you here almost got you killed.”

  “Don’t sweat it.” He waved Melanie and me aside and charged at the biggest rock. It tumbled down the side of the cliff, taking most of the smaller rocks with it.

  It took all my willpower not to yell for Avery to look out. I had to trust that he’d been keeping an eye on the rocks since he knew my plan. Still, I couldn’t help worrying about him. Serpens and Scorpius got pelted with a shower of rocks. Avery grabbed Bobson’s arm, and the two of them dove underwater. Ophi continued to push over rocks until there was no sign of Serpens or Scorpius. Only an enormous pile of rubble.

  Draco flew over to the shore where Avery and Bobson were climbing out of the water.

  “Head for the trees!” I yelled.

  Ophi, Melanie, and I ran back down the hill. Avery and Bobson were at the edge of the trees and heading toward us. We all kept running straight up to the castle. Luckily, having to go through the trees on foot had slowed Draco. He had a hard time getting through the packed trees with his larger-than-life body. Melanie threw open the front doors, and we all hurried inside.

  The new recruits were in the sitting room looking like a bunch of guilty toddlers who had just wet their pants. Bobson didn’t say a word to them. He motioned for the basement, and they followed with their heads bowed.

  “I thought Bobson said the new guys were good fighters,” Melanie said. “What happened out there?”

  I remembered how scared they’d been of the axes back at the portal. They had been so relieved to trade them for flaming tree branches. “I don’t think they like weapons. But you also have to remember they’ve barely had any training and—oh yeah—they’re kids.”