Mad Magic

by Nicole Conway

  “Several things.” I smiled and snuggled up against him. Wrapped up in his embrace, my whole body relaxed. My trembling stopped. I finally felt safe again—warm and secure in his arms. “And I was thinking of making some more of those cookies for dessert, if you want.”

  “Yeah. I like those.” He closed his eyes again, giving groggy, sluggish responses in between yawns. “How was school?”

  “Oh, you know. Uneventful. Everyone was asking where Joe was, as usual.” I was determined to keep my meeting with Freddy and Camilla a secret. Maybe I’d never be as good a liar as Zeph, but I could try.

  I must have been getting a little better at it, though. It was getting closer and closer to prom week, and Zeph had no idea. I’d been intentionally trashing all traces of prom fliers and catalogues before he could see them.

  Sure, it was my senior year and I’d never been to a prom before—any other time I would have wanted to go. But right now, there were bigger, much more important things to worry about.

  Like the welfare of the man who was curled up in my bed.

  With my head resting on the pillow next to his, staring at him nose-to-nose, I found myself wondering about that childhood promise he’d made me. Did we really have a heart-chord? Could humans even hear or sense one? Even if I never remembered anything else from those days, I wished I could recall even a glimpse of that moment. I wanted to feel it, hear it, the way faeries did—the way Zeph had.

  “You’re creepin’ me out, staring at me like that,” Zeph teased.

  “I’m waiting on you to get up! Eldrick and I are ready to eat. Dinner is getting cold.”

  “Fine, fine. I’m up.” He grabbed my head suddenly, dragging me close into what I hoped would be a kiss.

  It wasn’t.

  It was a noogie. A violent, horrible noogie that completely ruined my hair.

  “You idiot! Stop!” I picked up a pillow and whacked him over the head with it. As soon as his grip loosened, I crawled frantically for the edge of the bed.

  Zeph seized my ankle. “Oh no you don’t,” he chuckled as he dragged me back. “I’m not done with you.”

  He was on me in an instant, his big, firm body pinning me to the mattress. His nose grazed along my cheek. “Why does it seem like you’re hiding something from me? You’re so nervous. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

  I flushed and turned my face away. “I-I’m not.”

  “Liar.”

  “No worse than you.” Tingly, excited heat buzzed through my body. I closed my eyes, my heart pounding as his breath tickled my neck. “Zeph, the door’s open. Eldrick is—”

  His lips touched mine with a gentle, soft kiss. “We’ll have to be quiet, then.”

  My stomach swirled and fluttered as he pushed his mouth against mine again. I grabbed onto him, snaking my arms around his body.

  The smell of his bare skin and hair—like warm cinnamon and evergreen—filled my nose. It made me hazy as he parted his lips, deepening the kiss and sliding his arms underneath me.

  Why hadn’t I shut the stupid door?

  He moved away from my lips, nipping playfully at the side of my neck as he unbuttoned the front of my school uniform blouse.

  I stiffened—I couldn’t help it. As much as I wanted this, my teeth wouldn’t quit chattering.

  Zeph stopped.

  Slowly, I opened my eyes. He was still fidgeting with one of my buttons, his brow furrowed and his … was his hand shaking?

  “I, uh …” He cleared his throat.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He wouldn’t look me in the eye. “Sorry. I guess I’m nervous.”

  Seriously? He was nervous? I bit at my bottom lip.

  “I just don’t want to screw this up.” He let out a deep, weighted sigh. “I’ve waited a long time. I wasn’t even sure if you’d feel that way about me when you got older. I mean, I would’ve understood if you didn’t. I’m not usually anyone’s first pick—”

  I slapped a hand over his mouth. “You are my only pick, Zeph.”

  Now he was blushing, too.

  “If you intend on continuing, please at least have the decency to close the door. I’d rather not be forced to listen to this while I’m trying to eat.” Eldrick’s voice came from the doorway. He was scowling at us, twirling a fork between his fingers.

  I snatched a hand over my chest to hold my blouse closed. “We’re not!”

  “We totally were.” Zeph grinned.

  “Well, not anymore. Come on, you need to eat something before you go to work.” I quickly squirmed out from under him, giving one of his ears a little tug.

  He was laughing proudly all the way to the kitchen. He seemed to have forgotten that he was only wearing his boxer shorts—not that I didn’t enjoy the view—but it was a little distracting while I tried to eat dinner.

  Halfway through the meal, Eldrick couldn’t contain his disgust anymore. He scolded Zeph for not bothering to put on a shirt and that immediately stirred things up.

  “Oh come on, it’s nothing she hasn’t seen before,” Zeph said with a cheek-full of food. “I think the more important question is, are you a boxers or briefs man? You’re so uptight, though. You seem like you might even enjoy a little pain and discomfort. So, maybe a man-thong?”

  Eldrick gripped his fork like a weapon. “I am not having this discussion with you.”

  “Oh! Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!” Zeph crowed loudly.

  Looking around my kitchen table made me strangely happy, though. I’d gone from years of sitting by myself every night, eating in total silence, to this in a matter of a few months. Now Zeph and Eldrick were arguing over who got the last crescent roll, and I had to move quick if I wanted more than a few bites of broccoli salad. It was loud and chaotic, but it was wonderful. I wanted to savor this moment. So, I took my phone out of my pocket and snapped a picture of them.

  Both faeries shot me a dangerous glare.

  “Hey, don’t take naked pictures of me!” Zeph yelled. “That better not end up on the damn internet!”

  Eldrick snorted. “As if anyone would want to see it.”

  “Says the guy who’s been staring at me since I walked in. It’s okay to be jealous.”

  “Me? Jealous of you?” Eldrick balked.

  While they rolled right back into another argument, I saved the picture and put my phone away. I was amassing quite an album now.

  One good thing about feeding two man-sized faeries was that there were never any leftovers. I didn’t have to wrap up any of the food no matter how big a portion I made. Zeph could have doubled as a living garbage disposal. I wondered if his little brother had such a fierce appetite.

  Eldrick came to the sink to help me wash the dishes. He was always helping me now by doing little things around the house, even though I never asked him to. He’d basically taken over doing the laundry, since he informed me that I did a bad job getting the wrinkles out of my school uniforms. I had to admit, the man could starch and iron like a professional. No wonder his clothes were always so neat and spotless.

  I was stunned when Zeph appeared on my other side and started drying the plates. Normally, he ate anything he could find and then crawled right back into bed.

  He caught me staring at him and frowned. “What?”

  “N-nothing.” I quickly went back to washing.

  A familiar buzzing sound came from the kitchen table, and we all glanced back. I knew what it was even before I saw Zeph’s cell phone slowly creeping across the tabletop every time it vibrated.

  I was beginning to hate that sound more and more. Good things rarely happened after he got a call.

  He left the room to answer, and I tried to focus on the dishes. My heart wasn’t in it, though. Was it Hank calling with another case? Where would they go this time? Would Zeph be hurt when he got back? Was I going to have to stitch him up again? What if he didn’t come back at all? Would Hank even tell me what happened?

>   I stood there and scrubbed the same plate for about five minutes before realizing what I was doing.

  Eldrick took the plate from me carefully. “Your expression suggests you’re unhappy.”

  “Hank shouldn’t be asking him to go on any more cases,” I whispered, hoping Zeph wouldn’t hear. “He can barely hold an illusion for more than a few hours now. What if he gets hurt? He might not be able to regenerate. He could be killed.”

  “Then go with him,” Eldrick suggested. “You are the vessel. You can restore his power long enough for him to survive whatever injuries he sustains.”

  That seemed like the obvious solution—which naturally meant Zeph would fight me tooth and nail over it. He was worried about Fir Darrig coming for me or that I might get hurt. How he had taken a silly childhood promise to make me happy to the extreme of thinking he was supposed to be my “human” shield was beyond me. Watching him suffer did not make me happy at all.

  “What if I’m not ready?” I whispered. “I haven’t practiced using any of the spells yet. I might mess up. I might hurt Zeph or Hank on accident.”

  “I could go with you.” Eldrick’s words were so quiet I barely heard them.

  I swallowed hard. “I won’t ask you to do that.”

  He flicked me a quick glance. “You don’t have to.”

  I’d almost forgotten how absolutely furious I was with Hank until the moment our eyes met from across the car. I didn’t say anything when he smiled at me. I gave him my iciest glare instead. Shaman or not, he should have known better. Zeph couldn’t keep this up for much longer. He could barely make it through a school day in his Joe disguise, let alone fight other fae.

  “Ouch.” Hank looked surprised. “Someone’s cranky tonight.”

  “Yeah, well, selfish old geezers who put the life of the man I love in danger tend to get on my nerves. I’m funny that way.”

  “Josie …” Zeph said my name like it was a warning.

  Hank chuckled. “It’s all right.”

  “No, it isn’t.” I turned in the passenger’s seat so I could face him. I wasn’t going to let him brush me off like some tourist who’d only come along to watch the show. “You know Zeph is getting weaker by the day, but you’re still calling him for cases almost every night. Enough is enough. If you get him killed, I promise, I will become your very worst nightmare.”

  “Is that so?” Hank sounded a little annoyed.

  “Absolutely.” I narrowed my eyes. “I happen to know someone in the nightmare business.”

  I caught a brief glimpse of Eldrick smirking in the rearview mirror.

  “Save your threats. You’ve made your point.” Hank hacked a loud, smoker’s cough. “In case you didn’t know, it’s your fault we’ve had so many cases lately. The more your power grows, the more faeries are being drawn to it. Hiding behind the auras of these two pinheads might be enough to keep most faeries and sprites confused about your location, or too afraid to approach you, but it won’t for much longer. And when you are out in the open, there won’t be a force on the planet strong enough to keep Fir Darrig from coming right for you. He’s already putting out his feelers, sending his lackeys, and laying traps all around to try to catch you. The only reason you are sitting in my car right now is because leaving you alone with that silver-eyed troublemaker back there makes me nervous as hell. Contract or not, I know what his type is capable of.”

  “Don’t pretend that you know me,” Eldrick snapped from the backseat.

  “Maybe I don’t, but I know what stock you come from,” Hank countered. “Nothing good has ever come from your father. Your mother, either, for that matter. Don’t think I’m buying into anything you say just because this girl claims we can trust you.”

  Eldrick’s expression went cold, but he didn’t reply.

  I sank back into my seat, my pulse still pounding in my eardrums. I bit down hard and stared out the window, clenching my hands into fists and hoping Hank wouldn’t notice. He was right—this was all my fault. Maybe not directly, but it was happening because of me. I couldn’t do anything about it, no matter how much I hated it.

  Dad’s journal verified everything Zeph had already warned me about. Every time I gave power to a faerie or used it myself for spellwork, my aura would grow and strengthen. It was like cutting off the heads of a hydra; the more I used, the greater the power would become. Soon, it would be impossible to hide it.

  And on the night of my eighteenth birthday, I would glow like moonlight for all the faerie world to see.

  “Circumstances being what they are, I don’t see how you can be successful at all without my help,” Eldrick retorted. “Josie is here only to ensure that Zeph lives to fight the next battle. But if he is unable to resolve this one, I am your last line of defense.”

  “I’ve got my own bag of tricks, puca.” Hank flashed him a glare. “And I’m keeping an eye on you.”

  “That’s enough, Hank.” Zeph growled a warning from the backseat. “Let’s just get this over with so we can all get back to our lives. Tell me, what are we dealing with?”

  The old man shifted uneasily. “Well, I’m not quite sure. It’s at a wedding venue just outside of town, an old vineyard backed up to the woods. They called in to the local police a few hours ago. A couple of kids went missing during the reception.”

  “Wait, who called?” Zeph’s voice had a suspicious edge to it.

  Hank sighed. “I’ve got a source in the police department. They’ve been on the scene looking for the kids, but so far can’t find any trace of them. They called me to try to track them—said there’s something fishy about the scene. They wouldn’t tell me anymore than that over the phone.”

  Zeph flopped back onto the seat with a groan. “Cops? Are you out of your mind? You know how the cops feel about me.”

  “So wear a disguise, or change to your natural state,” Hank huffed. “In fact, it’d probably better if you both did. Make yourselves scarce, fan out, and see if you can track down any fae in the area that might be causing all this. Miss Attitude over here can help me search for the kids. You boneheads can handle that, right?”

  Zeph grumbled something that was probably profanity.

  “And if the culprit is Fir Darrig?” Eldrick asked.

  “Then we fall back to the car and make a stand long enough for you to get her out of here.” Zeph jabbed a finger in my direction.

  I twisted in my seat to look back at him. “Wait, what? Why can’t I go with you?”

  Zeph’s head was bowed to his chest as he sat, fidgeting with his hands. “I’m … not sure I could outrun him now.”

  The hum of the tires on the highway filled the awkward silence.

  My heart wrenched painfully and I squeezed the seat as I stared at him. He was risking so much to do this. His dignity. His life. My throat burned every time I swallowed. Even Eldrick was studying him out of the corner of his eye, his expression almost sympathetic.

  I blinked the tears from my eyes as I turned back to sit in my seat. Reaching into the pocket of my coat, I squeezed my hand around the Sharpie marker I had stashed there just in case. My mind raced over the spells I knew—a binding circle, a focused blast—things that might be useful. If things did get bad, I could help. I could fight. I wasn’t going to run.

  We turned off a rural highway onto a narrow road marked with a sign that read “Josie & Mark’s Wedding.” I got a bad feeling. Was it a coincidence I had the same name as the bride?

  The road wound through a snowbound forest, twisting and turning for almost a mile. Pretty glass lanterns dangled from icy tree branches on either side of the road, lighting the way toward the wedding ceremony.

  As we got closer to the vineyard, I saw the flash of blue police lights blinking through the dark shapes of trees. There were squad cars parked everywhere, but I didn’t see any police officers. Strange. Where were they?

  Hank pulled the Cadillac off the road to park with the other wedding guests’
cars. Ahead, there was an elegant, old colonial house, decorated with twinkle lights and candles that sparkled against the snowy night. Wreaths of evergreen and holly hung on every window and door. Right beside the house stood an old, whitewashed barn that was decorated for the ceremony, too.

  The house and barn were surrounded by a dense hardwood forest. Beams of light moved through the trees—probably flashlights from the officers searching for the children. As we got out of the car, I heard men calling out and dogs barking. A blast of the frigid wind made my cheeks sting. I pulled the hood of my coat down over my head.

  “This is bad,” Zeph whispered. “It’s cold out, too cold for humans to stand. I hope those kids were at least wearing coats.”

  Hank grunted with agreement. “Let’s get to work.”

  “Indeed. I’d rather not waste my entire night here,” Eldrick sighed as he opened his door and stepped out into the snow.

  The instant his feet hit the ground, his shape began to change. Once, the sight of him in his natural form—a huge black wolf—had terrified me. Now I could only smile as he shook himself and leered around with those shining silver eyes.

  I’d not seen him this way in a while. Now that the sight of him didn’t make me want to faint with terror, I noticed more of the finer details. His pelt was black, yes, but when he moved I could see the shimmering of a faint, swirling silver pattern hidden in it. It was only when the moonlight struck them that those markings glimmered like mercury. There were sweeping black horns on his head, right above his wolfish ears. They reminded me of an elk’s and had those same faint markings on them, as well.

  “Won’t someone notice him? What if one of the cops sees him or Zeph?” I asked worriedly. He was massive—almost as big as a horse. A wolf that size was bound to cause a panic.

  Hank chuckled. “We’re the only ones who can see him clearly. Cause I’m a shaman and you’re the vessel, we both have the ability to see them in their natural forms. Most people can’t. They just see shadows, ghosts, or whatever their minds will allow them to believe. Some don’t see anything at all.”