"What's she so angry about?" said Chase. "I'm the one who got threatened."
Grandfather shook his head. "If you can't understand the issue, then I'll be wasting my breath attempting to explain."
"I guess I never stopped to think how tough it is for her knowing all the destiny junk…but at least I'm not the one hanging out with a Marlowe."
"That, my boy, is another thing I don't care to explain just now," said Grandfather. "I will say I'm happy you finally have the guilt about Janie off your conscience."
"So what do we do about her and the rest of those creeps?"
"All we can do is prepare ourselves and be ready," said Grandfather with a sigh. "On the bright side, it is nice to have some warning."
Chase's shoulders slumped "Great. There's a bright side. Why can't they just leave us alone?"
"Evil loves power, Chase," said Grandfather. "And since they haven't given up in hundreds of years, I don't expect they will this time, either."
"If it isn't one thing, it's another," Chase grumbled to himself as he went to find Nori. He knew Grandfather wanted him to apologize, and he hated fighting with her. It wasn't her fault all that knowledge was in her brain. He hadn't given any thought to how awful she must feel knowing all of it and yet not being able to share with anyone. Plus, he hated to admit it, but he did have a tendency to be a jerk every now and then.
He was thinking all of these thoughts as he entered the TV room and found himself looking at Nori and Alex standing in a tight embrace, madly kissing each other as though no one else in the world existed.
"Holy crap!" yelled Chase. "Get your slimy Marlowe lips off my cousin, you freak!"
Alex and Nori jumped apart. "Uh, Chase," said Nori. "We—um—"
"Look, Chase—" Alex began.
Chase wasn't in the mood for excuses. Not caring he was about to attack a boy older and bigger than he was, he leaped onto Alex, who stumbled back and slammed into the television. It crashed to the floor and Alex and Chase tumbled after it.
Chase pressed his forearm into Alex's neck and began pummeling him with his fist. He popped Alex several times in the eye and then bashed him in the mouth. Blood spurted from his split lip.
Recovering from his surprise, Alex swung his fist and bashed Chase on the side of his head. Even though it hurt like heck and shooting stars now flashed in front of his eyes, Chase didn't stop punching. "Aren't so cool now, are you?" he snarled.
Nori jumped on Chase and pulled at his shirt and hair. "Stop it, Chase! Stop it right now!" she shrieked. "Have you gone completely insane?" She whacked him repeatedly on the top of his head. "Stop it! Stop it! Do you hear me?"
"Don't be afraid to—take out—your frustrations on me, Tinker," Alex choked out. His face had turned an unsightly shade of blue.
"Don't worry," said Chase through his clenched teeth, "nothing about you scares me."
Pounding footsteps echoed down the hall and stopped in the doorway. "What is going on in here?" yelled Ben.
Chase felt Nori's weight pulled off him, then he was yanked to his feet, his fists still swinging. Ben shook him. "Enough, Chase! It's over!" Chase tried to jerk away, but Benjamin was stronger. "I said knock it off!"
Nori shoved her hair out of her sweaty face. "He's lost his mind!"
"Let me hit him again!" Chase snarled. "He deserves it."
Gasping for air, Alex pushed himself to his feet. He rubbed his neck and swiped a hand across his bleeding mouth. "That's some left hook you got there," he said around his injured lip. His right eye was already swelling and turning blue and purple.
"I want you out of this house. Now," said Chase, narrowing his eyes. He stepped forward like he was ready to start punching again, but Ben jerked him back.
"What's this all about, you guys?" asked Ben, eyeballing Alex suspiciously.
"He was kissing Nori," said Chase.
"That's it?" exclaimed Ben. "You were fighting because of a kiss?"
Come to think of it, it did sound like a pretty lame reason to pound someone to a pulp. But Chase wasn't about to back down.
"Chase attacked Alex," said Nori, crossing her shaking arms tightly across her chest. "He had no provocation whatsoever."
"You were making out with a Marlowe!" snapped Chase. "It's enough provocation in my book."
"So?" said Nori. "I'm old enough to kiss whomever I want. And seriously, I do not have to ask your permission."
"But you're only thirteen," said Chase, positive that no matter what she said, he was going to win this argument.
"Not that it's any of your business," said Nori, "but I will be fourteen on August first. In one more week."
Benjamin cleared his throat. "She's right, Chase. None of this is your business."
"Yeah," said Nori. "I don't recall appointing you my knight in shining armor!"
"So what are you going to do, go live all happily ever after with the rest of the Marlowes in Blackshire?" asked Chase, his voice loaded with sarcasm.
"I'm never going back to that place!" said Alex. "So no worries there, mate."
"Besides, I know you're just jealous because no one wants to kiss you!" said Nori, sticking her nose in the air.
"Hey!" said Chase, looking irritated. "I could kiss plenty of girls if I wanted."
Ben's eyebrows shot up. "You could?"
Luckily for Chase, he got out of answering, because Andy and Persephone rushed into the room.
"Hey, you guys," said Andy, "what's all the yelling about in here?" Then his eyes landed on his beloved television set. He darted across the room to stare at the wreckage. "Aw, man! Who broke the TV?"
"The boys were fighting," said Nori.
"They were?" exclaimed Persephone. "Who won?"
"No one won," said Ben firmly. "It was all a misunderstanding."
"Nori was kissing this slimy Marlowe," said Chase, flicking his hand in Alex's direction.
Nori whirled to glare at him. "He's not slimy, and besides, I'm not the only one who's been kissing someone. Persephone kissed Josh Reynolds. So there."
Chase's eyes met Persephone's. After what Janie had said on the beach about his feelings for her, he had to act like it was no big deal. Say whatever. Say whatever, he thought. "Whatever!" he said at last. "At least she hasn't been drooling all over a Marlowe, like some people."
Persephone wrinkled her nose. "Ew. Like I ever would."
"You know, you guys are too much," said Nori, shaking her head and giving them a pitying look. "I don't think I want to be here anymore." She swung around and strode from the room.
Alex edged to the door. "I—er—I reckon I'll go with her," he said before sprinting from the room.
"Looks like we need to keep an eye on Nori, too," said Chase, scowling darkly.
"And why would we need to do that?" asked Ben.
"Because she's on his side now," said Chase, pointing at the door where Alex and Nori had disappeared. "That's all we need is for her to turn to dark magic!"
"But Alex wants to be good," said Andy.
"It's what he wants us to think," said Chase, "but I know better."
Ben sighed. "No, you don't know better. Alex wants to join us, not recruit anyone to become a part of his family."
"And I don't think Nori would ever turn to dark magic," said Persephone.
Chase quirked his mouth to the side and snorted. "We didn't think Janie would, either. And how do you explain what happened with our Uncle Frederick? He used a bunch of forbidden powers and tried to take over Europe. And now he's spending a thousand years as a sofa. So it can happen."
"You're being ridiculous, Chase," said Ben.
Andy's eyes looked ready to pop out of his head. "But…what would happen to Nori if she turned evil?"
Chase dropped his arms to his sides and blew out a puff of air. "Good question, shrimp. Hopefully we won't need to find out the answer."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The Possibilities of Magic
Chase shifted from side to side in the big chair. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get comfortable. The usually cozy chair might as well have been made of concrete. Maxwell, who was trying to take a nap in Chase's lap, hissed angrily. "Sorry," Chase muttered.
Whenever he had any thinking to do, he liked to sit there and stare out the window at Puget Sound and the city of Seattle. Most of the time, it made him feel more relaxed, but, at the moment, it wasn't working. Besides being angry over the situation with Alex, for the past several days he'd spent a large chunk of his time worrying about what Janie had told him. His relief at finding out she was alive was overshadowed by the panic attacks he kept having regarding the "surrender or die" threat.
Had Nori really seen his death carved into the Relic? Is this why she wouldn't share everything she'd read? And, if she had seen his death, did he want to know? He'd been in some pretty tight spots in the past year, but he'd never thought he would actually die. Now, with this destiny thing hanging over his head, his mind wouldn't stop whirling with the possibility. He was also worried sick about everyone else. He had to do everything in his power to keep his family and friends safe, but he hated the thought of doing battle with the Marlowes again. If only he could find some way to retrieve the Shard of Magic without any fighting…but that seemed impossible.
And, was Alex a part of the Marlowes' attack plan? Was he sent ahead to spy on the Tinkers? Chase had to find a way to learn the truth.
He scratched Maxwell behind his ears. "What do you say, Max?" he murmured. "Is Alex for real or is he playing all of us? You like him, for some strange reason." Maxwell licked Chase's hand. "I wish you had the ability to talk so you could tell me why the heck you made friends with him instead of blasting lightning bolts at the creep."
"Here you are," said his mom's voice behind him. "I've been looking all over for you."
Chase glanced over his shoulder. "Just sitting here thinking."
Anne crossed the room and plopped down into the recliner next to Chase's. "It's a great room to think in. And I see you have your trusty companion with you."
Not wanting to admit he'd become attached to the ferret, Chase scrunched his face and said, "Crazy furball."
Anne leaned back and cleared her throat. "I, uh, heard about Alex and Nori. I know it's upsetting, but you have to realize, she hasn't been through as much with the Marlowes as the rest of us. She hasn't built up all the hatred and fear like we have."
"Yeah, I know," said Chase as he slouched and picked at a stray thread on the armrest. "It's hard to get used to her liking him that way, though."
"Infatuation can make a person do crazy things," she answered.
Chase snorted. "This is definitely in the too-crazy-for-words category."
"Are you at least getting used to Janie being alive?"
"The shock is starting to wear off some," he said.
"I will never forgive her for what she did to Andy."
"Yeah, but he sure is happy she dropped by to prove me wrong," said Chase. "He keeps telling me, 'I told you so.' I tried to make him understand she's too far on the side of dark magic to ever come back and be a Tinker again, but he doesn't want to listen. He still thinks she has some good in her."
Anne shook her head. "That's Andy for you. Always the optimist. But I am sorry you had to go through so much heartache. I know you wouldn't ever intentionally hurt another person, much less think about…killing…anyone."
"It sucked thinking I was a murderer. But even with that, I wish I'd stood up to her more when she was here. And now we have to get ready for another battle with them!" He brushed his hand through his hair. "Everything seems so—overwhelming."
"It would be wonderful if we could run away from it all," said Anne, staring out the window at a long sailboat sailing by, and looking as if she wished she were on it. "There must be someplace in the world where they'd never find us."
"I've been thinking that way myself lately," said Chase.
Anne turned to goggle at him. "You have?"
Chase shrugged. "I guess I'm tired of losing sleep and stressing about everything. It's like it's never going to end. Sometimes I feel like saying, 'Hey, here, freaks, it's all yours. Now leave us alone!'" He shifted in his chair again. "But then, not only us, but a lot of other people would be in big trouble."
"So surrendering isn't an option?" she asked.
Chase shook his head. "Not yet. And neither is dying."
Anne reached over and patted his knee. "Good. Keep reminding yourself we'll get through this, somehow. We always do. Believe in yourself and your magic. I know you can do it."
Touched by his mom's support, he blinked rapidly when tears started to burn the backs of his eyes. "I'm trying," he murmured. Slipping Maxwell off his lap, he jumped to his feet. "Um, that reminds me, I have something for you. Don't get mad. You never know when this might come in handy. Hold out your hand." He pulled a small, silver dragonfly pin from his pocket and dropped it into her palm.
"What's this for?" she asked.
"It's enchanted with a magical power."
"It is?" she exclaimed, holding it out like it had some sort of awful contagious disease. "But—but—"
Chase snickered. "Don't worry. It won't bite."
"But I don't have any magical ability."
"You don't need to," he said. "Even non-magical people can perform magic with enchanted objects, if they know the right words."
"I…don't know about this," she said, her voice trembling. "Magic can cause so many problems. Look what happened with your dad and your grandmother and…Sam…"
"But it can be good, too. Come on, give it a try."
She looked closer at the dragonfly. "What power does this have?"
"Making objects come to life," he said. "I knew you wouldn't want to fight anyone, so I figured you could make the objects around you do it for you. You can also make things do housework, or brush your hair, or whatever. You can pin it to your shirt and then always have it with you. Haven't you ever wanted to do magic?"
She gave a small, nervous giggle. "Well, sometimes I wonder what it might be like. What—what do I have to do to make it work?"
"Just point at something and tell it what you want it to do. But you better start with something small, like—" He glanced around. "—like these coasters." He spread out the coasters on the coffee table.
"All right, here goes." Anne took a deep breath, pointed her finger at them and said, "Coasters, um, walk, okay?" All the coasters jumped up and marched across the table. "Oh my heavens! It worked!"
Maxwell leaped onto the coffee table and pounced on the coasters, scattering them across the smooth surface. He chattered and hissed when one swung around and whacked him on the nose.
Anne jumped to her feet and pointed to several pillows. "And pillows, you…I want you to do a wild dance." The pillows hopped up and began to twist and shimmy. "Look! They're really dancing!"
Anne looked around, then shook her finger at two lamps and several books. "Lamps and books, I want you to—to play jump rope together." The lamps yanked their cords out of their outlets and hopped onto the floor. They each helped swing the other's cord around while the books jumped over them.
Anne clapped her hands excitedly before flicking her finger at the sofa.
"Uh, Mom?" said Chase. "Don't you think we've had enough?"
"Stand up sofa and spin around the room!"
The sofa whirled across the floor like a cyclone. Chase grabbed Maxwell before the little animal could be sucked into it.
"Fly, pictures, fly!" Anne called out, flinging up her arms and twirling.
The pictures peeled themselves off the walls and sailed through the air. Chase dove for the floor as one of the paintings whizzed by. "Mom! Aren't things getting a little out of hand?"
"Chase! I've been looking all over the place for you," Persephone hollered from the doorway. "What are you doing? It's a madhouse in there."
>
"It's not me," Chase yelled back. "It's my mom!"
"What! That's crazy! She can't do magic."
"She can now, and I think it's gone to her head," he said while the recliners elegantly waltzed across his stomach. "Ooph! Ow! Mom!" he managed to gasp out. "Say, 'Stop everything!' MOM! Are you listening?"
"Okay! Okay! Stop, everything!" yelled Anne.
Two seconds later, all the furnishings were their inanimate selves again. Nothing was where it was supposed to be, but at least they weren't dashing about the room anymore. Chase dropped his head to the floor and sighed with relief. Maxwell squirmed away and bounced sideways across the floor. Chattering loudly, he scurried from the room with his ears pressed back and his tail in the air.
Anne and Persephone both peered down at Chase. "How did I do?" asked Anne breathlessly.
"Great, Mom," he replied. "Just great."
"Gave your mom an enchanted object, huh?" said Persephone.
"Yeah," said Chase. Rubbing his sore stomach, he climbed to his feet.
"You know, I certainly didn't think so before," said Anne as she stared down at the dragonfly pin, "but I guess magic can be cool!"
Chase and Persephone grinned at her. "You're right, Mom," said Chase. "Real cool. There's nothing like it."
"I'm going to go show your dad and Andy. Oh my! This has such wonderful possibilities." Anne practically skipped from the room. "Can you clean up this mess for me?" she called over her shoulder. "Thanks, kids!"
As she disappeared around the corner, Chase remembered his lost race car. "And don't lose it!" he yelled. "Wow! I created a monster. I had no idea she'd like it so much."
"She feels empowered now," said Persephone. "She's been surrounded by magic all this time and hasn't been able to do any. It was nice of you to think of her."
Chase shrugged as he shoved the sofa back into place. He hadn't been alone with Persephone since Janie had spilled the beans about his feelings for her, so he had a hard time looking her in the eyes. "Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, you can go now. I can take care of this by myself."
Persephone propped her hands on her hips. "Okay. I've had enough. You've been ignoring me for a while now."
Chase Tinker and the HOUSE OF DESTINY Page 10