A Wicked Magic

by Sasha Laurens

  “I guess we wanted to control our futures,” Liss suggested. “That’s a pretty big favor to ask. But we didn’t get the favor, and she took Johnny anyway.”

  Alexa grimaced. “Other things went wrong too. You did it on a leap day.”

  “What’s wrong with that?” Dan said. “The spell said it had to be the last day of the month.”

  “If it had been any other month, or any other February, I don’t know what would have happened. But leap day is Kasyan’s Day. Once every four years.”

  “So if we had waited until March, Johnny would still be here?” Liss asked. “That’s the worst fucking luck.”

  “I don’t know,” Alexa said. “It could have happened anyway. That’s bad luck to start with: you had three at the crossroads. The problem with that is it invites a fourth.”

  “You told me you didn’t know why it was bad luck to have three at a crossroads,” Dan said.

  “I didn’t,” Alexa said. “I mean, I’m just remembering this stuff now.”

  Dan held Alexa’s gaze a second too long. There was something off about how she’d said it—how she’d said any of this about Kasyan, almost like she herself was hearing the information for the first time.

  “But why Johnny?” Liss demanded. “Why did he have to be the one?”

  Alexa shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  Liss’s face puckered, unsatisfied at Alexa’s answer, and she looked to Dan. “You think about that too, don’t you? Why she chose Johnny and not me or you?”

  Dan cleared her throat. “Of course I do. But we might never know why it was him, and I’m not going to say I wish it had been one of us instead.”

  Liss’s silence was an awful, clotted thing between them. Dan wanted to say something to make it better, but what? Anything she might say risked exposing the awful thing she’d done to Johnny.

  Finally Liss dropped her eyes and said in a low voice, “This is all my fault. He shouldn’t have been there at all. He shouldn’t have been with me at all.”

  “Don’t say that, Liss. You guys were in love. If we had known how dangerous it was, we wouldn’t have done it. You can’t blame yourself.” Dan’s heart twisted. At least Liss could be forgiven for bringing Johnny along; Dan would never be so lucky. “We’re going to make everything right. Like it never even happened.”

  Liss let out a heavy sigh. She still wouldn’t meet Dan’s eyes. “But it did,” she eventually said. “It’s late. I should get home.”

  “Do you have my keys?” Dan was exhausted, but she began to disentangle herself from her bed. They had taken Dan’s car, so Liss had no way to get home without her. And there was something so cutting and dismissing in Liss’s voice that made her want to tell Liss a thousand times more, the way she’d tried to tell herself, that their mistakes should just be forgotten. If you repeated it enough, maybe one day you’d feel it was true.

  “After what you went through tonight you’re not driving,” Alexa said. “I’ll take her home.”

  Dan hesitated. “Really?”

  “Are you kidding? You’ll drive right off the road,” she said.

  Dan frowned a little at Liss, a warning to be on her best behavior. Liss smirked at her in reply. “Okay, I get it,” Dan said. “Three musketeers.”

  Alexa

  In Alexa’s car, Liss flipped through her CDs. “I can’t believe there’s no adapter in here. Did Dan burn you literally every single one of these? I didn’t even know she had a CD burner.”

  “She got one, for this,” Alexa said.

  “Oh,” Liss said, a note of surprise in her voice. She set the CDs down as they climbed the hill between Dogtown and Marlena. They rounded the turn and passed Black Grass’s gate. Alexa shivered.

  “I know,” Liss said, misreading her reaction. “Magic’s not the kind of thing most people would just believe if they’d never seen it before. But maybe you’re not most people.”

  “Maybe not,” Alexa said.

  Liss fell silent in a way that left the door open for talking—for confession. Alexa reminded herself that she hated the Lizard on principle. Liss was rude and self-obsessed and had been nothing but a terrible friend to Dan. Liss might have borne witness to a tragedy, but that didn’t mean she was a great person to go spilling secrets to.

  Even if she might already suspect some part of the truth.

  Alexa turned up the music, and they didn’t say much until they turned onto Liss’s street.

  “Please don’t say anything to Dan, okay?” Alexa said as Liss unbuckled her seat belt.

  “You can trust me,” Liss answered.

  Alexa let out a strained laugh.

  “What was that for?”

  “It would be nice if that were true,” Alexa said. “No offense.”

  “Fair. If you can’t trust me, know that I don’t want to mess this up either. I need you. Dan needs you,” Liss added a little begrudgingly. “She’s lucky to have a friend like you. You know that, right? Thanks for the ride.”

  Alexa watched as Liss let herself into the hulking, unlit house.

  * * *

  —

  Domino was waiting for Alexa on the buckled porch when she pulled up to the house. He was practically frowning as Alexa unlocked the door, releasing a cloud of Lorelei’s noxious stench.

  I know it was a long walk back, but you’re all in one piece, she thought to him with a heavy sigh, then tossed him a kitty treat by way of apology. My little familiar.

  I may be your familiar, but that’s no reason to indulge in pet names.

  But you’re also my pet. Alexa bent to scratch under his chin, and his eyes vanished into slits. Black cats and witches. What else, flying broomstick? Warts?

  A witch never jokes about warts, Domino scolded.

  * * *

  —

  Alexa pushed open the door to Lorelei’s room. Lorelei lay still, the same as ever, her breathing a wet rattle. The smell was getting worse—fetid and rotten, and undercurrents of something greasy. Alexa tried not to imagine little particles of almost-deadness coming in through her nose and filtering down into her lungs. She administered an eyedropper full of one of Swann’s potions then settled into the chair at Lorelei’s bedside.

  “You won’t believe the night I had, Lore,” she sighed. “Dan and Liss told me this crazy story about Mora kidnapping their friend and taking him to Kasyan. They believe Kasyan’s hiding somewhere in North Coast.” Very carefully, Alexa touched Lorelei’s cold hand.

  Lorelei didn’t say anything.

  “The whole time Dan was telling her story, I kept thinking how lucky they were to have had each other when it happened. They had to live through something terrible, but at least they didn’t have to do it alone. Even if they’re not friends anymore, there will always be someone else who understands.”

  The jealousy and loneliness had been singing in Alexa’s blood so powerfully that she almost told Dan and Liss everything. Maybe she should have; after all, they’d trusted her with something unbelievable first. But Alexa couldn’t help but feel that if she told them what happened to Lorelei—what happened to her—it would make all of it real in a way there was no going back from. That was ridiculous, because it was already, very obviously real: a minute ago she’d dripped a blood-colored potion into the mouth of a living corpse. But it also felt like something she wasn’t yet brave enough to accept. Instead she’d pulled on the thread of witch-knowledge that connected to Kasyan and found something that might help all three of them.

  “I miss you, Lore,” Alexa said, then clicked off the light and returned to the living room and stood in front of the piles of books Keith had tumbled from the shelves.

  Domino sprang up onto the dining table.

  What do we have about Kasyan? she asked.

  NINETEEN

  FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, SENIOR YEAR

 
Dan

  It was the last day of school before winter break. North Coast High’s cafeteria had a feverish, barely contained energy to it in the hours before vacation. Dan observed it from her corner as she picked at her lunch and waited for Alexa to turn up.

  She was exhausted. Part of her had hoped that coming clean to Alexa would alleviate the guilt—not entirely, just a little—but last night, as she lay in bed listening to IronWeaks, she couldn’t sleep. She didn’t want Alexa to forgive what she’d done or accept who she was. She didn’t want Alexa to help them with Kasyan or make nice with Liss. She wanted everything to stay how it had been between her and Alexa, and once Alexa was drawn into this mess, that would be impossible.

  Dan didn’t want to lose her.

  When Alexa slid into a seat across from Dan, her face was drawn and there were dark circles under her eyes behind her unusually smudgy glasses. She looked as out of pace with the amped-up atmosphere of the cafeteria as Dan felt.

  Dan wanted to warn her that she didn’t need to get mixed up in this just because Liss had pressured her, but Alexa cut her off.

  “I have a lead—someone who probably knows something about your, uh, issue. Text Liss and tell her to meet us at Aroma Café after school.”

  Which is how Dan ended up following Alexa and Liss down Fort Gratton’s Main Street that afternoon. It wasn’t even five o’clock, and already the sun was sitting right on the water. It was nearly the shortest day of the year.

  Alexa pushed open the door of an old Victorian storefront.

  “You’re taking us to a tattoo shop?” Dan asked.

  Alexa waved to the burly, inked receptionist of Fault Line Tattoo. He seemed to know her. When had Alexa made friends with someone like that? When she’d met Alexa, the only places in Gratton she’d been to were North Coast High and the public library. Dan had been the one to introduce Alexa to the Teen Oasis, Aroma Café, and SmoothieTown, the same places where she’d hung out with Liss. It felt strange, although Dan knew it shouldn’t, to think that Alexa could have a life in North Coast without her.

  She and Liss followed Alexa to the back of the shop and up a creaking flight of stairs to a door. The name was familiar—a local woman who did tattoos and read tarot and palms on the side. Alexa rapped on the door and called out, “Swann? It’s Alexa.”

  There was a rustling from inside, then the door swung open to reveal a long-limbed and pale woman, all elbows and edges, draped in a dramatic floor-length kimono. Recognizing Alexa, the woman’s face shifted from businesslike to more maternal and sympathetic. “Alexa, is everything all right? How is—” She spotted Dan and Liss. “Oh, you’re here for a reading?”

  “Can we talk?” Alexa asked.

  * * *

  —

  Swann insisted on brewing them tea as they situated themselves among the pillows and ottomans on the floor. “I’m a friend of Alexa’s aunt,” Swann said as she prepared an electric kettle. “How is Lorelei?”

  “She’s the same as ever.” Dan watched Alexa fidget with her cuticle. There was something off about the way she’d answered, as if she meant more than her words had said.

  “I see,” Swann chirped. “No news is good news.”

  “Not if things are already bad,” Liss muttered. She’d been in a mood since they crossed Fault Line’s threshold. How totally typical of Liss to be rude to someone trying to help her.

  “What was that?” Swann asked.

  “In my experience, if things are bad, then no news is also bad news,” Liss said.

  “I suppose that’s not untrue.” Swann poured their tea. “Now, are we looking for fortune telling? Love spells?”

  “Do we look like we’re here for love spells?” Liss said.

  “Liss, don’t,” Dan grumbled, and raised the tea to her lips. Thanks to her mom, Dan had encountered a lot of really unpleasant tea that claimed all kinds of physical and emotional benefits at the expense of any reasonable flavor. This was worse than all of them. Combined. A lot worse. She took the smallest possible swallow and struggled not to gag. “Delicious,” she managed.

  “Swann, these are my friends. You can trust them,” Alexa said with gravity, and again Dan had the sensation that there was a second conversation going on between them, freighted with meanings that she couldn’t hear. “They’re looking for information about Kasyan.”

  Swann arched an eyebrow at Liss. “I see your book report is still underway.”

  “It’s more of a long-term research project,” Liss said blithely. “Possibly with an experimental component.”

  “Actually, I’ve gotten interested in Kasyan too,” Alexa went on. “I was hoping you could tell us what you know about him.”

  Swann set down her mug and folded her slender limbs into the cushions. “Happily. There are many wonderful folktales about Kasyan I can share.”

  “We’re not interested in stories,” Alexa said firmly. “We’re looking for real information. You know what I mean.”

  Swann cocked her head to the side, her jaw tight. “Kasyan is a figure from folktales. If that’s not real information to you, I can refer you to a lively debate in folkloric studies about epistemology.”

  “Do people actually buy that?” Liss said. “I don’t know what epistemology is, but we know Kasyan’s real, so you can just cut to the good part.”

  Dan shot Liss a corrective glare and summoned her most polite, talking-to-adults voice. “What she meant is, stories are always helpful and we are super appreciative that you’re willing to share some. But we were hoping for some more concrete information. We think Kasyan’s in North Coast. We’re looking for his exact location. We wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t for a really good reason.”

  “Kasyan—in North Coast? What’s next, ghosts and zombies?” Swann gave a small chuckle that was too lighthearted. “This is a fantasy. I don’t know what else to tell you.”

  “Really, Swann?” Alexa asked. “You know I’d ask Lorelei if I could, but I can’t. And it turns out all the books—everything, really—she had about Kasyan was lost. Recently.”

  “I see. That’s unfortunate, but what’s lost is lost. Alexa, rest assured that Kasyan is not your concern. It’s simple as that.”

  Alexa’s eyes flashed at Swann. “Dan and Liss are witches,” she said coldly. Dan’s heart skipped a beat to hear her say it out loud, and to a virtual stranger, like it wasn’t a secret at all. Her eyes shot to Liss, who’d gone from annoyed to annoyed and vaguely horrified. But Swann didn’t even flinch. Alexa went on, “Mora abducted their friend for Kasyan.”

  “The girl?” Swan’s voice was flinty. “The recent one—the girl from Marlena?

  “No, not her,” Alexa said. “Their friend Johnny. It was leap day of last year. They did a spell: three of them at a crossroads.”

  Impossibly, Swann’s already porcelain skin paled even further. “They did what?”

  “They didn’t know better. Their luck was bad,” Alexa said.

  “Clearly!” Swann replied. “This is exactly why we can’t have any average nobody playing around with these things.”

  The color rose in Liss’s cheeks. “Excuse me, any average nobody couldn’t manage to do what we have.”

  “You’d be surprised. Anyone can do anything badly,” Swann said. “And you wonder why I won’t sell dangerous material to anyone who walks in my door. You understand that you could have died.”

  “Our friend getting kidnapped by a demon really drove that point home to us,” Liss said.

  Swann folded her twig-thin arms. “I won’t help you down a path that will end in absolute disaster.”

  “You thought this would be helpful?” Liss glowered at Alexa.

  “This wasn’t quite what I had in mind.” Alexa’s eyes stayed fixed on Swann. “Could you guys wait for me downstairs?”

  Liss sneered at Swann. “That tea is disgusting.” />
  Alexa

  “That girl is not very polite,” Swann said as they waited for the door to close behind Dan. “She’s been in here before, asking for spell books. I didn’t encourage her behavior, but I see that has not stopped her.”

  “They aren’t really witches, are they?” Alexa set her undrinkable tea down. “They said they did some kind of spell on themselves, but you said witches get their power when another witch dies.”

  Swann crossed her long legs. “I said that’s how the Warden witches are usually turned. It’s not the only way. Certain rituals do exist. We don’t promote that kind of thing. Naive witches are . . . difficult to deal with.”

  “Naive witches?”

  “Witches who are self-made.” Swann’s face soured in displeasure. “They have no training. They’re erratic in magic, their technique is terrible, as are their manners. They can be very exasperating. Happily, the rituals are very difficult to execute correctly and almost always fail. So to answer your question, no, they are not really witches.”

  “That makes sense,” Alexa said. There was a steady certainty in the pit of Alexa’s stomach that Swann was entirely wrong about her friends. “I shouldn’t have brought them here, and I’m sorry for that. But look, I think I know what Black Grass is doing.”

  Swann regarded her, neither pleased nor displeased.

  Alexa continued. “Black Grass is after Kasyan. Last night Dan and Liss told me about Kasyan, so I tried to look for stuff about him in Lorelei’s books. You know what I found?”