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

by T. M. Franklin

  “I promise,” she replied watching a wide range of emotions flicker in her aunt’s dark brown eyes.

  “I’ve informed Detective Michaels if even a single hair is harmed on your head, I will march down to KISS’s headquarters and kick his behind!”

  Fallon giggled. “Ayí, Detective Michaels has a foot, if not more, on you in height. I think he would bat you away like an annoying gnat.”

  “Humph, I’m afraid of no man,” her aunt mumbled. Her aunt was a force to be reckoned with. “Do not forget, I know Kung Fu.” A small smile formed at the corners of her aunt’s lips. “Now you must go face Ji. He is waiting for you. I will wish you luck. His anger is intense, to say the least.”

  “I love you, Ayí.” Without any hesitation, she wrapped her arms around aunt. The rumbled purr of affection emanating from her aunt, warmed her battered soul.

  “And I you, wài sheng nǚ. And just so you know, this won’t get you out of any punishment. I will inform you of it in the morning.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Oh, and I’d like to meet the three whose care you will be in. Formal tea and soon,” Ayí announced.

  Oh boy. “Okay,” she mumbled against her aunt’s shoulder, wondering how the guys would handle her aunt and her endless questions. Unwrapping her arms from the smaller woman, she then stepped back and gave her smile before bounding up the stairs.

  “Ji,” she hollered as her foot hit the top step.

  At the base of the steps her aunt reprimanded her, in Mandarin again, for bounding up the stairs like a herd of elephant. “Sorry,” she yelled over her shoulder as she made her way to her brother’s room. He hadn’t replied to her summons, which meant he had his headphones on again. Probably listening to heavy metal and playing those stupid video games, he had recently become obsessed with.

  Ji, before their parent’s death, had been the star of their high school’s soccer team. He was never at a loss of male friends. Often the girls of the school fought over who would catch his eye at any particular week’s pep rally or game.

  Ji, after their parent’s death, was a totally different entity. Fallon barely recognized her older brother. He had grown out his short hair, now it hung past his shoulders. His clothes were not the trendy style he used to wear. Now all he wore were black jeans and grey shirts. As far as she knew, he hadn’t made a single friend at their new school, and he refused to try out for any sports. His life was getting up, going to school, and coming home to shut himself in his room. He barely came out for meals.

  Poor Ayí. I wonder if she had any idea what she was getting when she took us in.

  Most likely, her aunt had no clue.

  Fallon was fearful for her older brother. He was so entranced in his own depression, she worried he would turn to drugs or alcohol.

  Pausing outside of his room, she rapped her knuckles on the closed door before opening it. Ji sat exactly where she suspected he would be. In front of his television, playing his game.

  His gaze flickered toward the door, then back to the screen where he paused the action and stood.

  “Hello, brother.”

  “Don’t hello me, Fú zé,” he growled at her, causing her hackles to stand up. “What the heck are you thinking? Breaking into a store? Our parents taught us better than this. You dishonor them with your actions.”

  Wow. She expected those hurtful words from the woman downstairs, not from Ji. They always supported each other, through thick and thin. She figured it was because they were so close in age. Fallon rubbed at her chest, right above her heart as a wave a pain washed over her. “I’m aware of this, Ji. I had good reasons for doing what I did.”

  “There are no good reasons, Fú zé,” he huffed out, still using her formal name. His tense posture had her rethinking this whole talk-to-her-brother thing. “Are you trying to ruin the only place where we are safe?”

  “I’ve already been lectured enough tonight, Ji. I don’t need this from you too,” she snapped.

  “And yet you continue to act out? Dishonoring—”

  She raised her hand, cutting her older sibling off. If one more person told her how her actions affected their family or ancestors she was going to scream.

  “Calli found a spell,” she said.

  “Calli?” he spat. “I should have known.”

  She swallowed the urge to tear into his raging butt, but pushed it down. He was allowed his anger. If she got kicked out, they’d be forever separated, unless he decided to leave—which she didn’t see happening. Ever. She opened her mouth to continue, but he cut her off this time. “Why am I not surprised to find out that crackpot was with you. You need to stay away from her, Fallon.”

  She rolled her eyes at him.

  For some reason she couldn’t fathom, Ji did not like Calli. At all. He went out of his way to be rude to her any time she came over and, if he spoke to her, it had been terse and short.

  Calli had noticed it too. Although her friend said not a word to her about her discomfort in being around Ji. It had gotten so bad they stopped hanging out at her aunt’s altogether, since Ji was always home. Calli had been the only one willing to help her investigate her parent’s death. She kept hoping Ji would find his lost social skills over time, however, he didn’t seem inclined to do so. His open display of disdain grated her nerves, and she’d been close to her breaking point. The only reason she hadn’t was her parents.

  “Don’t even start with this again, Ji. Calli is my friend.” His faced contorted into look of disgust. They would have to discuss this soon rather than later. Or they’d have a knockdown, drag out fight about in the backyard. “She’s my BFF”.

  “Ayí made no mention of Calli being detained. Where was this good friend Fallon, when you were handcuffed and hauled into KISS?”

  Detective Michaels had been extremely thorough in telling her family what had happened. I’ll have to thank him for it, later. Not.

  “On my orders, she left at the first sound of trouble. Calli isn’t influencing me in anything.” She pounded on her chest. “My actions are my own. Calli is just going along for the ride.”

  He said nothing, instead he glared at her, trying to intimidate her.

  Wasn’t working.

  “Knock it off,” she growled.

  “There are reasons they refused to sell it, especially to a crazy witch who has no clue of her ability.”

  She winched. His brother’s description of her friend was harsh, nevertheless it had a thread of truth to it.

  “This isn’t about Calli,” she reminded him.

  “It is partly about Calli. She’s involved and gives you encouragement you do not need, Fú zé. Do they know she was there?”

  “I denied it,” she admitted.

  “Why do I think there is a but coming.”

  “Because one is.” She rolled her shoulders, meeting his gaze head on. Even with him being older, and bigger, she did not fear him or his anger. “They have video of us together right before I broke in.”

  “Now on top of you being a thief, they also know you to be a liar?” he hissed reminding her of their much loved father. “Why do you continue to place yourself in these positions?”

  “Why?’ she snarled incredulously. “Are you for real?”

  He shook his head. “It’s time to move on. There is nothing we can do.”

  “Maybe this is true for you, but it’s not for me. They were murdered. Taken from us in a blink of an eye. Our world, their world destroyed. I can’t simply accept their case is unsolvable.”

  “You’re not a cop, or a PI. What can you possible do?” he yelled.

  “Something! Anything other than sitting here wasting away,” she spat, ignoring his flinch. He needed to wake up. He wasn’t living, he was barely freaking existing. “I now have an in with KISS. It wasn’t my original plan, but it will work. Proving myself will go a long way with them. I know it. I’ll find the right people, tell them about our parents, what evidence I have, and my theories. Someone will be
willing to help, and we can finally allow our parents to rest in peace. I will avenge them with or without you.”

  “You reach too far, Fallon,” Ji said, softly.

  The sadness in his voice had her gut clenching. He would not stop her though, some part of her understood this. She had started down this path once the agonizing sorrow lifted from her shoulders, and she could see the road before her. Nothing, no one was going to stop her, not even him.

  “And you don’t reach far enough,” she replied.

  With a shake of her head, she turned and walked out of his room. Until her brother realized how much harm he caused himself, he’d never understand her need to find the people responsible that night, not so long ago. The last thing she remembered from the night her parents died had been the impact of the accident. They were celebrating Ji’s winning score and the team’s advancement to the state championship game. Her parents were so happy. Her brother acted like he’d been king of the mountain and … didn’t he get Suzy LaPrince’s phone number?

  They’d lost so much that night. She still couldn’t figure out why he wouldn’t want her to fix this if she could remember what happened after they were hit. Did he worry she couldn’t handle it? Duh, hello, she lost her parents for goodness sakes. It didn’t get much worse than that, right?

  Fallon continued down the hall to her room. She had enough on her mind to last a lifetime after this evening’s expedition. She’d focus on the events leading up to it later after she slept and after she dealt with the three brawny men who’d become her team members after she’d royally screwed up.

  Why do they have to be so good looking though? Why couldn’t they be ugly? It would make working with them and hating them so much easier. As it was, she couldn’t stop thinking about any of them. She liked the quite sureness of Warren and the warm empathy from Abraham. Grainger rubbed her the wrong way, but she thought it might have been because of how much he reminded her of her father. The disappointment clearly etched on the vampire’s face hurt her soul. She couldn’t make heads or tails of it either. Except for the fact that she wanted to do better for him, while simultaneously wanting to claw his eyes out because he’d been so dang arrogant.

  Oh well, she’d think more on it tomorrow. Right now, she had to go to bed. Her aunt would be waking her early … on purpose to force her to have tea and breakfast with her. A punishment, Fallon didn’t tell her, she secretly enjoyed because she learned about the parts of her family she hadn’t known until now.

  4

  “Are you okay, Fallon?” Concern laced Calli’s tone as she joined Fallon at the girl’s bathroom sink. They hadn’t talked since the incident, and she supposed she’d been licking her wounds. Calli was supposed to be watching out for her and instead, she’d left.

  “Yes,” she replied, grabbing a couple of paper towels. Betrayal from her friend leaving her behind stung. However, if anyone got in trouble, she’d rather spare her friend. “Why wouldn’t it be?” Fallon headed for the door. After having her butt laid into by her aunt and brother, she didn’t need any more drama—at least for a day or two.

  “You sure?” Calli followed. The scent of her worry and a niggle of sorrow had Fallon stopping short.

  She shrugged. “I knew when I started down this path it wouldn’t be easy. It must be done though, and since none of my family wants to assist… It’s on me.”

  Fallon had slept like crap. She’d tossed and turn as images of the headlights along with her screams filled her mind. Then Grainger, Warren and Abraham’s faces filled her mind. They were angry with her. Vicious to the point she’d wanted to cry. Their features were twisted into disgusting masks of hatred, causing her to jolt awake when her alarm went off. She’d fought so hard her legs were tangled in her blankets and her pillows were on the floor surrounding her bed.

  “I’m here for you.” Calli placed her hand on Fallon’s shoulder and she had to fight the urge to shrug it off. “Was it bad?”

  “Surprisingly, no.” She pushed away the vile thoughts and smiled. “I’ll admit, I was worried for a bit, but in the end a negative has now become a positive.”

  She gave her friend a brief update on the events of the previous night. “They think they’re intimidating.” She rolled her eyes. However, what she didn’t say aloud was the near fatal attraction she felt towards Grainger, Warren, and Abraham. “Oh, and I’ll have shadows. Whatever.” She refrained from making a gag-face. “They’ll be around. Don’t let them get to you.”

  “Pfft.” She waved Fallon off. “Like that won’t draw anyone’s notice or anything.” Calli rolled her eyes.

  “Right. Exactly what I thought.” She shrugged. “It is what it is.”

  “Yup. Fingers crossed. Are they good eye candy?” Calli wiggled her brows.

  “Um, I guess?”

  “You guess?” Her best friend arched her brow while crossing her arms. “How do you guess? They’re either hot or not. There is no I guess!”

  “You realize you kind of sound like Yoda right now.”

  “I idolize Yoda, so if you were trying to insult me, you failed. Horribly, I might add.” Calli gave her a hearty shove on her shoulder. “Are they hot?”

  Fallon examined her fingernails. Did she find them hot? Was she blind? Yes, she did. The question became did she want to expound on her feelings? If she told Callie the truth, the girl would hound her for every little detail and, in her situation, she couldn’t really give her friend answers since they were all supposed to be undercover. Which, lead to another issue. How did she go about doing her job with an inquisitive best friend?

  “Give, Fallon,” Calli continued to push.

  “Oh, all right!” she huffed out, knowing her friend wouldn’t let it go. “Yes. Two of them, Warren and Abraham are hot. Grainger is just a pain in the rear.”

  Calli’s bright blue eyes sparkled with mischief. “Taking that out of the equation though, is Grainger hot?”

  “Let it go,” she begged.

  “Nope. Not happening. Answer the question,” Calli implored.

  “Fine! Yeah. He’s hot,” she whispered.

  Calli gave a wishful sigh. “I knew it.”

  “If you bring up this conversation later,” she turned her head, watching her friend. “I’ll deny everything.”

  Calli giggled, turning so their gazes clashed. “I would expect nothing less, my friend.”

  “Whatever,” she said, shouldering the door to the bathroom. “I don’t want to talk about …”

  “Good afternoon.” Grainger stood on the other side of the door. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes while the collar of his jacket had been flipped up, covering his neck. He didn’t appear comfortable either.

  Good. If I have to suffer through this, so does he. “Grainger,” she muttered.

  “Hey, Fallon.” Warren appeared next to him, along with Abraham who seemed just as uncomfortable being out in the sunlight.

  “Warren.” She nodded.

  “Hi.” Calli elbowed past Fallon. “I’m Calli.”

  Grainger cocked a brow. “We know.” The pure disdain in his voice rose Fallon’s hackles. “We should talk. Now.”

  His tone brokered no negotiation from her. “I’ll see you later.”

  “Wait. You’re leaving me?” Calli stared between Fallon and the guys.

  “I have to.”

  “Duty calls.” Grainger pushed past Calli and motioned for Fallon to follow. The way he thought she’d just do as he bid pissed her off. Yet, instead of opening her mouth to tell him that, she traipsed behind Warren as they exited the school.

  Well, at least I don’t have to spend my time here.

  “Have you thought about our arrangement?” Warren’s question caught her off guard.

  “Well…” Between her aunt’s disappointment and answering her brother’s questions, she didn’t want to even open the Pandora’s box of what could possibly happen while investigating this so-called black market. The thought of going undercover to keep her out of trouble,
i.e. being kicked out of the community, didn’t appeal to her. She’d been in the human world. She understood their laws. Knew her way around. Hallowridge, she didn’t get. Some group of people gave them laws and they had to abide by because, ‘supernatural.’ At least in the human realm, she understood why they had to keep their heads down.

  Her parents always taught them to be human. Act like their neighbors, keep her claws retracted. It’d been why her mother became a house wife who attended PTA meetings and baked cakes for fundraisers while she and her brother played sports and were ‘popular.’ They were living the human experience.

  Living a lie.

  “So, you’d rather leave than take on the position we’re giving you?” Abraham came up beside her. He appeared pale. Pain lines bracketed his eyes and mouth. They were out during the day for her. A small part of her winced at the idea of them putting themselves at risk for her.

  “It’s not like I—”

  “What?” Warren glanced at her. “Meant to get caught? Meant to steal? I understand your reasons. I can’t imagine losing your parents in such a manner, but you’re putting everyone at risk. What if something had happened to you.” She heard the hint of worry and sorrow in his voice, and she hated it.

  The bitter taste had her tiger recoiling from her and them. “No. Not at all. If you’d let me finish.” She glared at him. “I don’t have a choice here. You’ve got me between a rock and hard place, and as much as I wanted to think about it last night, I couldn’t. My aunt was reminding me how stupid I am and reducing me to the size of an ant. Then, my brother sounded like our father and left me wondering if I even had a family anymore.”

  Grainger snorted.

  “You think it’s funny?”

  Finally, he turned to her. “No. I don’t. It’s obvious you have issues. We all do. So, the question remains, what will you do to help yourself out? Are you going to continue to say the world is against you and everyone hates you, or are you going to take responsibility for your actions and help us out?”