Mad Magic

by Nicole Conway

  “That’s awful.” One of the girls gave me an awkward side-hug. “We should get her flowers or something. Would you take them to her?”

  When I agreed, I just assumed they weren’t being serious. People said that kind of thing all the time without meaning it, right? A week ago, none of these girls would have even agreed to sit at the same lunch table with me.

  By the end of the day, a bunch of the students and faculty had collected donation money, and I wound up walking home with a giant bouquet of roses and daisies in my arms. It was so big I could barely see what was in front of me. The porcelain vase was heavy, but I was determined not to ask Eldrick for help.

  We were almost back to the apartment building, crossing the last intersection, when I tripped.

  I stepped off the curb without expecting it, and fell face-forward onto the pavement. The vase smashed into a million pieces. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the wheels of a car screeching right toward me.

  My body went stiff with terror.

  It all happened so fast; I didn’t have time to respond.

  I shut my eyes, cringing for impact, and then I felt two strong hands grab me by the waist. Someone snatched me off the asphalt just in time. The car zipped past, barely missing me, and smashing all the flowers that were lying in the street.

  I expected it to be Zeph. I wanted it to be him.

  But when I opened my eyes to see who had saved me from becoming a road pancake, I was stunned. Eldrick had his arms around me, holding me protectively while he glared in the direction the car had gone. He didn’t look like Joe anymore. He was himself again, complete with silky black hair blowing perfectly over his angular cheekbones.

  “I almost died,” I gasped.

  Eldrick seemed to realize the awkward position we were in, and immediately stepped away from me. He smoothed out the front of his black sweater, plucking off pieces of dirt with a grim frown.

  “You are an astounding amount of trouble,” he scolded.

  “So much for the flowers.” It was a little sad to see them all smashed into the pavement. “I can’t believe the jerk in that car didn’t even stop to see if I was okay.”

  Eldrick put his hands in the pockets of his black, dress pants. “Humans rarely care for the well-being of anyone besides themselves. You care nothing for the suffering of others.” He spoke like he had personal experience in that department.

  “We’re not all like that,” I muttered.

  “Hah!” He scoffed. “I’ve yet to meet a single one that isn’t. You are all the same—driven by ulterior motives. Every last one of you is fueled by greed and so numbed by your own narcissism you feel nothing but warped desire.”

  I sighed. I wasn’t in the mood to argue with him. He didn’t seem to take anything I said seriously, anyway.

  When we returned to my apartment building, Zeph wasn’t there. His front door was locked, and my bed was empty. He’d mentioned needing to go to work, though, so I wasn’t too worried about it.

  But without him my apartment seemed so empty. The silence was deafening. Even with Eldrick skulking around in a less terrifying form, I felt alone.

  I sank down on the sofa and turned on the tv for background noise, and began reading through the last email from Ben on my phone again. First, Zeph had gone out of his way to fix things at school by sending Ben that email, and now he had set me up with a new stand-in boyfriend-guardian to keep watch over me while I went about my everyday life. At least, that’s how it looked from where I was standing.

  A cold pang of realization hit me square in the gut—was he trying to get rid of me? With all my problems apparently solved, he had no reason to ever bother with me again. Was our previous routine of occasional awkward glances in the mailroom about to resume again? It’s not like I had any right to ask him to come back over here. I wasn’t his problem.

  “I guess that’s it, then,” I whispered to myself.

  The sofa shifted as someone else sat down. I looked over, stunned to see Eldrick sitting beside me with a coffee mug in his hand. Granted, he was as far away from me as possible, perched on the complete opposite end of the sofa. But still …

  “Zeph has been trying to get rid of me all this time, hasn’t he?” I dared to ask. It was a personal question, but at least I knew Eldrick wouldn’t lie for the sake of my feelings.

  The dark spirit took a quiet sip from his coffee cup. “I’ve never understood the motives of his species. They’re far too emotional. Far too changeable. Hence their name.”

  Great. That was not helpful.

  He stared at the television like I might as well be invisible. Then he spoke up again, “Perhaps you should ask yourself this question, human. If he is a changeling and his nature is to constantly change, then is it even possible to ever truly know him?”

  Ouch—heavy question.

  I sank a little lower in my seat. Part of me knew immediately that Eldrick was right. I didn’t know Zeph—not really. I’d admired him from afar. I’d only spent a little time with him. I’d begun to learn about him and this strange world of faeries he was part of. But when it came down to the cold hard facts, I didn’t know anything about him. I just knew what I felt—even if it wasn’t rational at all.

  I opened my phone, quickly typing up a text message to Ben.

  JOSIE: Do you know Zeph Clemmont?

  It was just a wild guess—a hunch that since they had both known my dad, they might also know each other.

  I put the phone on the coffee table, crossing my legs under me while I stared at the tv screen. On the other end of the sofa, Eldrick looked as composed and elegant as ever, as if he should have been teaching advanced English at some snobby private college. Remembering how he’d cringed away in fear of a bunch of high school students … it just boggled my mind. He didn’t look like the kind of person who’d be intimidated by anyone.

  I decided to press my luck. “Can I ask you something?”

  He gave a tight, annoyed exhale. “If you must.”

  “Why are you so afraid of humans?”

  Eldrick’s grip on the coffee mug stiffened, turning his knuckles white. No answer.

  “I’m sure you have a good reason. And I guess it’s stupid, considering what we’ve been through up to this point, but I’d like for us to be friends.”

  Still no answer.

  I stared at him, hoping he’d somehow be able to tell I was telling the truth. “For the record, I’m not going to hurt you or order you to do something bad. I’m not like that.”

  His sterling gaze slowly panned over to meet mine. “Why?” His tone was sharp with disdain.

  “Why what?”

  “Why would you ever want to befriend me?”

  I blinked. “Because if we’re going to be stuck with one another for a while, we might as well make the best of it, right? I’d like to start over and get to know each other properly this time. What do you think?”

  Eldrick swallowed. His hold on the coffee mug relaxed some. Looking away, he gave one quick nod.

  I smiled. It wasn’t much, but it was progress. “So was Zeph right? Have you been living under my bed this whole time?”

  “No.” He puffed up slightly as though that were insulting. “The closet.”

  Right. Cause that’s … way better than under the bed.

  “I can get the guest room ready for you, if you want,” I suggested.

  Eldrick focused his platinum-colored eyes back on the tv. “That would be satisfactory.”

  I giggled.

  His stern brow furrowed in irritation. “What are you laughing at?”

  “You sound like a robot when you talk that way.”

  He snorted, pursing his lips a little as though he were sulking.

  “I wish I had known more about you before now. It would have been nice, you know, to not be alone all the time. Maybe you’ll never be my friend. But at least we can be sort of like … roommates?”

  “That’
s hardly an appropriate term when I have to do your bidding night and day,” he said with a twinge of disdain in his voice again.

  “I’m not going to treat you like a butler, if that’s what you’re thinking. I don’t need a servant. I don’t even need a fake boyfriend. For now, I just need someone to make sure I make it to graduation without being locked up in an asylum or strangled to death by an ivy plant. Then I’ll figure out how to break the contract Dad put on you, and you can leave. I won’t be anyone’s problem anymore.”

  I blinked tears out of my eyes, trying my best to smile so my words would be convincing. When I couldn’t keep up the façade anymore, I stared back at the tv screen, and hoped he wouldn’t notice.

  Eldrick didn’t answer. I felt his gaze on me like the glare of a spotlight. The room became quiet except for the murmur of the tv.

  Then my phone buzzed on the coffee table.

  BEN: Yes. Do not get involved with him. That man is very dangerous.

  With my heart beating out of control, I quickly sent a reply.

  JOSIE: Why? I don’t think I can do that.

  His reply came so quickly I nearly dropped the phone in surprise. He wasn’t usually so prompt. Mentioning Zeph must have gotten his attention.

  BEN: Why not?

  I hesitated. Telling the truth might not be a good idea in this case, but I was in too deep, now. Ben had said he wanted to know what was going on with me. He had told me in that email that he wanted me to trust him.

  JOSIE: I think I’m falling for him.

  BEN: You don’t know him like I do. He’s not good for you. You need to stay away from him. Please say you will.

  JOSIE: I can’t. I’m sorry.

  Ben didn’t reply.

  Zeph was a jerk. It didn’t take a psychology degree to figure that out. He was quite possibly the rudest, most arrogant, immature person I knew. But I couldn’t change how I felt. I couldn’t deny how touching him made my heart race, or how hearing him say he liked “puny redheads” made my spirit soar. It had only been a few days, and already I didn’t want to imagine what my life would be like without Zeph in it. It didn’t make sense, even to me. No one had ever gotten under my skin the way Zeph Clemmont did.

  Minutes passed, then an hour.

  I sat on the sofa with Eldrick, watching the commercials with baited breath while I waited for Ben to send a reply. He never answered. Finally, I tossed my phone back on the coffee table. It didn’t matter what he said, anyway. My mind was set.

  The sofa lurched again as Eldrick stood. He disappeared into the kitchen, and I craned my neck to see what he was doing in there. Dishes clinked. After a few minutes, he returned holding two mugs. His was refilled to the brim with coffee. The one he handed to me, however, contained hot water and one of my favorite herbal tea bags suspended in steaming water.

  I gaped up at him, stunned.

  “Are you going to take it or not?” His brow furrowed slightly.

  “I-I … thank you.” I cautiously accepted the warm mug. The fragrant smell of chamomile and vanilla was relaxing.

  He made a grunting sound and sat down again. “I’ve often found tea, while less enjoyable than coffee, to be far more soothing when dealing with frustration.”

  “You think I’m frustrated?”

  Eldrick cast me a knowing glance. “Generally speaking, anyone exposed to Zephiel’s company for an extended period of time is prone to become … intensely frustrated.”

  Tell me about it.

  I smirked down into my mug of tea and took a long sip before placing it on the coffee table. “Fair enough. But I have a better way to deal with stress.”

  His expression scrunched suspiciously, eyes narrowing as I bounded over to the tv cabinet. I took out my favorite video gaming system—which was outdated enough to be called vintage now. Still, the old games were my favorite. Playing them with Dad was one of my favorite childhood memories.

  And it had been forever since I had anyone to play with.

  “Okay, you better prepare yourself.” I tossed Eldrick a controller and grinned.

  He caught it in one hand, arching an eyebrow. “And this is?”

  “The sign of your doom, puca.” I booted up the game system and darted back to sit on the couch beside him. “I’m about to get some sweet revenge.”

  A long, miserable week passed, and I didn’t hear anything from my scruffy, across-the-hall neighbor. I didn’t even see him coming or going out of his apartment anymore. More than once, I stood outside his front door and rang the bell so we could talk about this like two mature adults.

  Then I remembered, this was Zeph I was dealing with.

  Ben must have been furious with me as well because his messages were very tactful and cold. He kept the conversation strictly on how I was doing and didn’t go off topic. He’d never acted this way toward me before. I could sense his disapproval, even though he never mentioned Zeph in any of his messages. It made me sad to think that I’d upset him, and it made me wonder what it was about Zeph that he distrusted so much.

  Strange as it was, the only person who brought me any comfort was Eldrick. He couldn’t keep going to school with me as Joe, not without Zeph there to cast some changeling magic on him, but he did walk me there every morning. Sometimes he even told me to stay out of trouble, which could have been mistaken for caring about my welfare. I tried not to read too much into it, though. He waited at a coffee shop across the street all day for me to return, and then he walked me back home.

  Whether it was his presence in the vicinity or the lingering memory of Zeph still fresh in the minds of those mischievous spirits, I didn’t see anything strange while I sat in my classes. It was my first taste of real normality. I’d even come up with a good excuse for Joe’s absence. With the whole sick mom story still playing on everyone’s sympathies, it was easy for me to say that he was spending every day with his family as they rallied around his poor, suffering mother. Whatever magic Zeph had cast on the people at school was still in full effect because they believed anything I said without question. The only downside to that story was that it meant everyone began overcompensating for how cruel they had been to me before. The popular kids left flowers on my desk or brought me cookies during lunch. Some of them sat with me, but our conversations were always about Joe. The teachers all asked me to pass on my sympathies to sad, wonderful, sweet Joe. Even Ms. Grear stopped me once to ask how he was doing.

  It was a painful reminder that Zeph was gone. I had nothing to suggest I’d ever see him again.

  And then late on a Friday afternoon, everything changed.

  I stood in the kitchen stirring a pot of vegetarian spaghetti—since my new houseguest also didn’t eat any kind of meat, either. I hadn’t gotten around to asking him if that was just a personal preference, or a faerie thing.

  Eldrick sat at the kitchen table reading one of my dad’s old books, which—according to him—were all about faerie lore and how to make magical spells.

  Eldrick had discovered my stockpile of Dad’s research in one of the boxes stacked in the guest room closet. It was full of journals, stacks of papers, and even a few scrolls made of leather—all things that had survived the fire. Most of them still smelled of smoke, were a little singed, and nearly all of them were written in a weird language. The letters looked like little thorny vines, snaking across the pages in complex patterns. I couldn’t read it, but Eldrick seemed quite interested in them. He’d already finished several of them and reluctantly admitted that my dad had been very talented with creating new spells—“for a human,” anyway.

  I wanted to ask him what all those books were about. I wanted to know why my dad was so interested in faerie lore and making spells, and what it had to do with me. I’d already begun to suspect that the house fire that had taken his life was no accident, but to be honest, I was terrified of what the truth might be. Dad had obviously gone to a lot of trouble to make sure I didn’t get involved and yet he’d basic
ally chained Eldrick to my heels. It made no sense whatsoever.

  Anyway, this was usually how we spent our evenings now. I cooked a nice vegetarian meal while he sat nearby and read. It was beginning to almost feel normal—well, as normal as it can be to have a puca as a roommate.

  Eldrick and I both looked up when the doorbell rang.

  “Should I get it?” he asked, studying me.

  “No, no. It’s fine. Here, come stir the sauce for me, please. I’ll get it.” I wiped my hands on a dishcloth, and handed him the spoon and my cooking apron. “It’s probably just someone selling something. No tasting! It’s not finished, yet.”

  It wasn’t a salesman.

  My heart hit the back of my throat.

  Zeph was leaning against the doorway, his mouth sagging in a defeated frown.

  A painful knot of anxiety formed in my stomach. I’d missed this idiot more than I wanted him to know. I’d thought about him every single day. But now the sight of him made all my emotions scramble. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to hug him or slap him and slam the door in his face.

  “I’ve been thinking,” he announced in a strangely apprehensive tone. There were heavy circles under his eyes, and his stubble was a bit longer than usual.

  “Shocking. I hope you didn’t hurt yourself.”

  “Fine. Maybe I deserved that.”

  “You tattled to my legal guardian and passed me off to Eldrick like an old piece of luggage, you’ve been avoiding me, and you left me to explain to all your adoring fans what happened to Joe Noble.” I let go of the door so I could cross my arms.

  Zeph let out a long, annoyed groan and raked his fingers through his messy brown hair. “I screwed up again. I get it. I was stupid and dumb, and I probably hurt your feelings. And I’m sorry. Okay?”

  Pathetic—even by his standards. “Why did you even come here?”