Winter Fire (Witchling Series)

by Ford, Lizzy

  “Too many,” the elder brother grumbled.

  “I promise – that’s not it.” Beck wasn’t certain why the news irked him. He wasn’t surprised, though. Morgan was beautiful.

  With similar pine-colored eyes but dark hair, Connor appeared curious. Beck nodded his head towards the small bonfire closer to the school, where they could talk in private.

  “It is about Morgan,” Beck started when they both reached the warmth of the fire.

  Connor crossed his arms with a knowing look.

  “No, it’s not what you think. She’s having some problems in school,” Beck started awkwardly. “Not problems, just … I guess she’s not adapting.”

  Connor frowned.

  “Amber says she’s unresponsive in all her classes except fire magick.”

  The teen across from him looked away, towards the Christmas tree. He was quiet, so Beck continued.

  “Amber’s got two choices: put her in counseling –”

  “Counseling?” Connor flushed.

  “– or have your parents come get her.”

  Connor stared at him. For a moment, he seemed too shocked to respond. Finally, he shook his head.

  “I’ll talk some sense into her,” he snapped then fell quiet again.

  “Okay,” Beck said. “Is there something we should know about? Does she hate it here? Have a roommate she can’t stand? Anything?”

  The teen averted his gaze again. Beck sensed the same wall going up that Morgan had around her; there was something else going on, and neither sibling seemed willing to share.

  “She doesn’t need counseling. There’s nothing wrong with her,” Connor said, anger in his voice. “You can’t send her home. Not now. It took …” he stopped. “Never mind. I’ll talk to her and find you.”

  “I’ll ask Amber to hold off calling your parents then.”

  “Calling my parents?” Connor’s eyes glittered. “I swear to god, if anyone calls our father, I’ll …” furious, he stormed off.

  Beck watched him, not at all understanding what was wrong with the teen or why the mention of parents or counseling set him off. He had hoped Connor was the calmer of the two and yet, even being a water element, Connor’s temper was just as quick to light on fire as his beautiful sister’s.

  He joined Adam and a few other guys to watch the tree. It was up and secured in place; the workers were bringing in massive ladders needed to start decorating. The students decorated the bottom six feet of the tree, but the top layers were too high to do so safely.

  Beck’s phone vibrated, indicating a message. He checked it.

  Stop sending your lawyers to do your dirty work! Just talk to me, you coward.

  Yeah, not the message he wanted. Unaffected after weeks of similar texts, he locked the screen of his smart phone and replaced it in his pocket. Restlessness descended over him. He hoped to escape Dawn’s texts for at least half a day of peace. It wasn’t going to happen.

  Beck rubbed his face. No, he was going to have to stay focused. Maybe it was better if Morgan left school, even if for a little while.

  As if sensing his determination to avoid her, the elements thrust Morgan back into his line of sight. The girl was furious; her face was flushed, her eyes sparking. She all but ran from the direction where he last saw her, her hair fluttering around her like flames. The snow beneath her feet melted.

  “Morgan!” Connor cried. “Dammit, can’t you just listen to reason for once?”

  “It’s not reason just because you say it is!” she retorted. “Go to hell, Connor!”

  “Morgan!”

  She ignored him and rushed into the main house, slamming the door behind her. Connor let out an exasperated sigh and stopped beside Beck. Beck stared after her, surprised as much by her reaction as he was to how pretty she was, even when upset.

  Connor glared toward the schoolhouse.

  “Wow,” one of the guys murmured. “What’d you say to her?”

  “Want me to try?” Beck asked.

  “Beck can soften up any girl,” another teen said.

  He shot a look over his shoulder. Connor’s eyes narrowed in response.

  “No,” he said. “I’ll let her cool off and think.”

  “Fire elements are like that,” Beck said, accustomed to his brother’s occasional outbursts as well. Decker, the Master of Dark, was a triple element: fire-water-spirit. He was the very definition of unstable. Beck had learned when to leave him alone and when he was approachable.

  “Passionate, too,” another guy said.

  “If anyone so much as looks at my sister, I’ll beat the shit out of you,” Connor said instantly. “Got it?” His gaze was on Beck.

  “Beck only likes blondes,” Adam supplied. “He’s the least of your worries here.”

  Beck smiled.

  “Just, hold off on that phone call, okay?” Connor’s anger faded to concern.

  “I’ll do what I can.”

  Connor trailed his sister into the main house. Beck shook his head, not at all certain what was going on between the two.

  “I love redheads,” one of the others said. “She’s hot. With a temper like that … wow.”

  “You gotta get by Connor first. He’s got like, three black belts.”

  “He’d have to with a sister that hot.”

  Beck silently agreed, but assessed that Morgan was probably able to take care of herself. Anyone who made it by Connor would face a tough battle winning her over. He never had problems with girls, and she managed to give him the cold shoulder.

  He just wished he knew what was wrong. Trying to keep her from being thrown out of school was not a complication he needed right now.

  A glance at his watch told him that what little break he worked into his schedule this morning was over. It was time to get to work.

  “See you guys at dinner,” he said, waving as he stepped away. He walked out of the Square and into the forest.

  The earth magick cleared a path for him. Tree branches moved to the side after sweeping away snow to create a trail wide enough for one. Beck watched, always entertained by the elements and how they did things. Since becoming the Master of Light, his magick had become far more responsive. He walked into the forest, his step slowing as he counted.

  Forty eight.

  At step forty nine, he felt the loss of warmth that kept him from getting cold while he stood on the campus grounds.

  “That’s not good,” he said and bent to the ground. He rested his hands on the frozen ground. It warmed instantly beneath his palms as the earth magick rose up to greet him.

  At step forty eight, the magick coursed through him. At step forty nine, it merely floated.

  Crouching, Beck pulled out his phone and texted his mother, the only person he could think of to talk to about this. Amber and the instructors at the school knew the Light was losing ground, but they didn’t have the depth of knowledge about the Darkness to advise him.

  We lost a foot.

  His mother would understand. He waited for her to show up, aware of her ability to find him, no matter where he was. She said it was a mother’s instinct, but he was pretty certain the former Mistress of Dark had placed spells of some sort on both her children so she always knew how to find them. Most of the time, it was annoying. Every once in awhile, it came in handy.

  The Light had stopped receding for the first four months since he took his position as Master of Light. He checked it every day he was at the campus, wary for any changes that might indicate if he were gaining or losing ground against the Darkness. Moving the Dark students off campus probably helped salvage what was left of the only source of pure Light magick on the planet.

  Today was the first day he checked it in three weeks, and the first loss he saw since taking his position.

  Something was wrong.

  He felt his mother’s warm-cool shadows a moment before she appeared. Beautiful and small, Rania Turner was dark of skin with long, blue-black hair captured in a low ponytail. She wor
e dark colors that amplified her natural sultriness.

  “A foot?” she asked, kneeling beside him.

  She was careful to stay opposite the Light source. Her Dark remained powerful, even after passing off the hereditary title of Mistress of Dark to his brother, Decker.

  “After months of nada,” he summarized. “Suddenly a foot. I know Decker’s behaving.”

  “Summer is seeing to that,” his mother answered with a smile.

  “Great. Except that means I’m screwing up something.”

  “You’re too hard on yourself, Beck.”

  “A lot I gotta take care of.”

  “Your dad can help you with the Dawn issue,” his mother said. “I can help you a little with this one.”

  “You know what’s wrong?” he asked.

  “No, but I know what’s not wrong.”

  “No riddles, mother!”

  “It’s not Decker or me. It’s not Darkness growing that caused this,” she said, ignoring him. “And, while I don’t know for sure, I’m going to guess it’s not anything you are or aren’t doing.”

  Beck thought hard. “What does that leave?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Seriously?” he demanded. “That’s it?”

  “That’s all I know, son.” She said, laughing at his baffled look.

  “So, something did this, but it has nothing to do with the three people most likely to cause it.”

  “When did you notice it?” she asked.

  “Today,” he answered.

  “What’s happened on campus?”

  He thought hard. He spent some time catching up with Amber. She’d reported no issues, no trespassing of Dark students, nothing. Even Decker had obeyed the rules about staying off campus when he came to see his girlfriend, Summer, and stood at the edge of the Light source.

  “Nothing,” he said.

  “Something did. I suggest you figure that out, son,” his mother said, amused.

  “I’ll add it to my to-do list.” He rolled his eyes. “You’re certain about the usual suspects?”

  “Absolutely. Only Dark can chip away at the Light source. All I can sense is that it wasn’t from a Dark source we know of.”

  “If you think of anything else, will you tell me?”

  She nodded and rose. Beck did so as well, attention on the ground beneath their feet.

  “You coming for dinner?” she asked.

  “Not tonight. The past few weeks put me behind. There’s no chance of me breaking for Christmas if I don’t get caught up at school.”

  “You’re a good kid.”

  “Whatever.” He flashed her a smile.

  “Your dad will need to see you tomorrow during lunch. About the Dawn issue.”

  “Oh, god.” He wasn’t going to ask what was wrong now.

  “Remember that next time you think of sleeping with anyone,” she reminded him, not for the first time. “Think with your head, not your hormones.”

  “I know, I know, I know.”

  “You’ll do fine, kid.” She smiled. “Call me if you need anything.”

  “Will do.” Beck stepped back. Black fog unfurled around his mother and absorbed her. Her Dark shadows swept her away.

  He stayed where he was for a long moment, pensive, then crouched to the ground again.

  “So, what’s up, earth?” he asked playfully of the magick. “What happened that you’re not telling me about?”

  The earth memories floated through him. They showed him a heavy snow around the campus that receded with the spring. It stopped when all that was left covered the source of remaining Light. The melting stopped there, at the edges where Beck stood. He waited for more, not noticing the melt that began in the center of the campus, until it grew.

  Startled, Beck watched. The earth memories stopped there.

  “What was that?” he demanded.

  The element didn’t answer. Known for their mysterious ways, elemental magicks spoke in a language only they really understood. When it was clear the earth was done talking to him, Beck rose. He traced his steps back to the center of the campus, ignoring the students decorating the tree. Instead, he went directly to the point the earth showed him. At least, he tried to. It was beneath the school itself.

  Beck entered the schoolhouse and trotted downstairs to the basement, which was used primarily for storage. He flipped on the lights in the chilly basement and oriented himself. He found the spot the earth showed him and moved the stacks of plastic bins away.

  Placing his hands on the cold cement floor, he summoned the earth magick. It drifted upward to him. There was no sign of a retreat of Light at the core of its source, like the earth’s visions showed him. Perplexed, Beck pushed more of his magick into the cement and pulled it back into him, wondering if amplifying the earth’s subtle voice would help.

  It didn’t. There was no sign of weakness below him. Unable to decipher what exactly the earth was showing him, Beck didn’t hear anyone descend the stairway or approach him, until she spoke.

  “I don’t like the holidays.”

  He jumped and twisted to see the girl he most wanted to avoid. Morgan’s face was flushed still, but she appeared worried rather than angry this time. Her arms were crossed. She wore snug jeans and a dark blue, V-neck sweater that drew his gaze to her breasts. He straightened, reminding himself of Tanya and Dawn.

  “Sorry. I’m not following,” he said, smiling at her.

  “That’s why I’m not … adjusting well.”

  Her air sizzled faintly with agitated fire magick. Instinctively, he had the urge to touch her and calm the magick. Instead, he shoved his hands in his pockets and kept his distance.

  “Like Scrooge or something?” he asked.

  “I guess.”

  He waited for more. She said nothing. As with Connor, Beck sensed there was much more behind her shuttered features.

  “Look, Morgan, I’m not trying to be a dick,” he started. “You’re flunking out of everything. You want me to tell Amber not to worry about it, because you don’t like Christmas?”

  “It’s only two weeks away. It’ll be gone, I’ll be eighteen on the first, and everything will be okay,” she reasoned.

  “I remember thinking that when I turned eighteen,” he said with a snort. “It didn’t happen that way.”

  “I promise. I’ll be out of your hair.”

  Eighteen. Out of his hair. It didn’t take Beck more than a few seconds to realize she could leave school the day she turned eighteen. She wasn’t concerned, because she had other plans. The school and its instructors created the most positive environment on the planet! What made her so desperate to leave them?

  Morgan was watching him, her full lips pressed together as if to keep more words from coming out and her large eyes unblinking. The need to settle her magick was distracting him, almost as much as her shapely body and direct look.

  His first challenge as a mentor, and he wasn’t certain how to respond. Would she risk running away sooner, if they put her in a corner? Or would she realize things weren’t that bad, if she gave this place a chance?

  “I think Amber needs more than that,” he said. “Maybe just … try harder this week? Show her there’s no reason to call your parents?”

  “There isn’t any reason to call my parents.”

  “Except you’re flunking.”

  Morgan sighed. She appeared thoughtful, gaze distant.

  “Look, if something is wrong, if someone here is bothering you or you really do hate it here, you can tell me. I can keep a secret and run interference with Amber, if needed.” You wouldn’t believe how well I can keep a secret, he added silently with dark humor.

  “You would do that for a total stranger?” Morgan asked.

  “Let’s just say, sometimes horrible things happen and you get sworn to secrecy by a bigfoot,” he said, grinning.

  “Bigfoot?”

  “It’s an inside joke. But, I’m serious about the secret. You can trust me.” He had h
er attention; that much he saw. What she was thinking, though, was beyond him.

  Chapter Four

  Morgan saw the flash of darkness that crossed Beck’s gaze, even as he forced a smile at the weird joke about a bigfoot. She hadn’t gotten that vibe from him at all; he seemed like someone who had a perfect life. His family was richer than God, according to everyone she spoke to. He was sexy with a perfect body, and he went around sleeping with models.

  Yet the instinct whispering to her that something … bad happened was unmistakable. If there was one gift she hated about her fire magick, it was her sensitivity to pain in others. She had the urge to burn it, to turn it into something happier, warmer, because pain was like snow: cold, bleak. Fire was a purifier, one that created hope and potential and life out of despair.

  “What happened to you?” she asked, before she was able to stop herself.

  Beck held her gaze, unaffected, despite the heat creeping up her face once more.

  “Technically, nothing.”

  “That’s not true,” she returned with a shake of her head. “I mean, I know it’s none of my business. But I know something happened.”

  “Yeah,” he said and then paused. “Bad stuff happened to people I cared about. So, technically, it didn’t happen to me.”

  “Right, because bad things happening to someone else have no impact on you whatsoever. You just go on with life like everything is fine.”

  “Okay, you’re right,” he said, smiling. “I nearly lost my brother a few months ago. To help save him, I had to do things I never thought I would, like walk away when he needed me most.”

  “How awful,” she whispered. The pain was in his voice this time, and it disturbed her more than she thought it should. “Is he okay now?”

  “Better off than I am,” Beck said with a laugh.

  “I couldn’t imagine losing Connor,” she said, upset by the thought. “He’s the only one who cares.”

  “I’m sure that’s not true.”

  “It is.”

  “Your parents? Cousins? Friends?”

  She flushed. “No.”

  “I don’t believe that for like a second!” Beck said. “You’re sweet and cute.”

  Her heart fluttered at his words. She was suddenly aware of her situation, of being alone with some guy she had just met in a place where no one would be able to hear her scream, if something bad happened.