Destruction: The December People, Book One (32 page)

As soon as Rachel left, David went to check on Xavier and Evangeline. They played
Call of Duty
on the Wii with Patrick, and none of them turned around when he came in. His kids pretended to blast people to death, but they were safe and acting more normal every day. David flashed back to a conversation he had once had with Amanda when their kids first starting asking for violent video games. She had argued
for
violent video games, which seemed odd at the time, but David didn’t care enough either way to come up with an impassioned
against
argument. She sounded so convincing.

“Kids need to blow off steam,” she had said. “It’s better than them doing it in real life.”

This conversation, as many of his memories, had new meaning now. Had she really meant that fantasy killing would make them less likely to kill people? Did she think this was a real risk? Was that why her parents encouraged her to start murdering adorable animals when she was six?

David’s stomach filled with acid. As much as he had denied it aloud… what Rachel had said made him wonder about Crystal’s death. The most logical answer would be that the murderous child rapist might have lied or was simply too crazy to have any grasp on reality. So, why did it feel plausible? Evangeline acted so cold about her mother. Said she deserved to die. Didn’t want to have a memorial. And Xavier hadn’t mentioned her at all. Perhaps they had felt so trapped, they could only escape by killing their parents. Maybe they had planned to kill both of them and Whitman got away. And, if they had? Did that even matter? Whitman certainly deserved to die. And Crystal hadn’t been the same person he had loved. Maybe she deserved it too. But still… he wished he knew. Spells did misfire. James had simply wished his partner happiness and killed fifteen people. What if David’s anger toward Crystal’s killer accidently became a spell he didn’t know he had cast? What if it hit his son?

He watched them for a moment, then went back into his office. He had expected to find Emmy waiting to assault him with questions about the mysterious woman. Maybe she would wait for a more dramatic moment, such as at the dinner table in front of everyone. He looked at the envelope sitting squarely in the middle of his desk. He could call the police. But what if they messed it up again? In the spell, she had intended David to kill him. What would happen if he didn’t? And if he called the police, he would never get the opportunity to kill him himself. To make sure he really died this time. It scared him that this played into his decision-making. He wasn’t a killer. He couldn’t even kill a deer without feeling sick.

But the deer had been innocent.

alking to Xavier about what he wanted for dinner intimidated David, and now he had to ask him something much more important. He had to know, before he did whatever he would do to Colter. In case he used any magic against Colter, he wanted his mind to be in harmony with the facts.

Later that afternoon, Xavier washed the Expedition in the driveway. The keys dangled from his jeans pocket, and David guessed Amanda had let him pull the Expedition out of the garage himself. Seeing him do something as common and domestic as washing a car made Xavier seem different from the boy he had met only nine weeks ago. He looked older, and the same silence that had made him seem timid and afraid now made him seem focused and calm.

“What did you do?” David asked.

Xavier paused his sponging. “What do you mean?”

“You’re washing the car. Is it a punishment from Amanda?”

He smirked. “No. I like it. And I want to be useful.”

“Good work ethic on top of everything else. And you don’t want to wash the car with magic?”

“I can’t do that. Or if I could, it would take much more effort than just doing it by hand.”

“Good to know. I had been wondering if there was a spell for household chores. Tell me, is there a spell for sorting recyclables? I hate that.”

Xavier gave David one of his mom’s half smiles and shook his head.

“Can you take a break so I can talk to you about something real quick? We can sit on the porch… it’s kind of important.”

Xavier squeezed out his sponge and looked younger again. “What is it?”

“Just sit down. You haven’t done anything wrong or anything like that.” That statement could be easily contested, and he wished he had phrased it differently. After all, he wanted to ask Xavier if he had murdered his mother.

Xavier sat down next to David on the porch swing. He still had the sponge in his hands and squeezed it absently.

“Um…” David said. He had practiced this, but, still, this would be rough. He had thought talking to Jude about condoms had been uncomfortable. “I can’t even imagine what it would have been like to live with… that man. I’m sure if it had been me, I would have wanted to do just about anything to get away.”

As always, David had trouble reading Xavier’s expression. “Okay,” he said.

“I think you were brave to be able to escape and save your sister too.” Xavier seemed too still, and David wondered if he was still
there
. But unlike before, Xavier looked him in the eye. David could tell Xavier didn’t breathe much. David didn’t either, for that matter. He took a deep breath to remind Xavier to do the same. Perhaps subconsciously, Xavier did mimic David with a shallower but still audible breath.

“Was there anything else you did that I don’t know about? Anything you did to save yourself and your sister?”

Xavier sat back in the swing and turned slightly away from him. He blinked his eyes a few times and rubbed them, as if he struggled to stay awake. Maybe he had to focus to stay present, which seemed brave on its own.

“Did she tell you something?” he asked quietly.

For a second, David thought he meant Rachel, but that made little sense. He must have meant Evangeline, the only
she
who would have known what had happened. Xavier put down his sponge and rubbed his arms as if he wanted start a fire. David didn’t know how much longer he’d stay present. He wanted to reach into Xavier’s mind and take the memory as Amanda had done to him. That way, he would have the answers and Xavier would never have to remember. Then it all popped into place. It came to him so clearly that David knew his desire for the answer had manifested itself into a spell. He already had all the pieces, and with a little magic, all the pieces came into place.

David had assumed when Rachel said Xavier killed his mother, she had meant he had killed her in the traditional sense. He hadn’t taken magic into account. Evangeline had told David that Xavier had cast a spell to find him. David guessed it had been something similar to the catalyst spell his brother had cast. A spell to find their real father with the ultimate intent of changing their circumstances for the better. But as James learned the hard way, the wizard couldn’t choose the means, only the ends. And, if the wizard was dark, the means would be destruction.

“I think I know what happened,” David said. “It’s not your fault.”

Xavier became even more still. David wanted grab his wrist and check for a pulse.

“Xavier,” he continued. “It’s really not your fault. I’m not angry. You had good intentions. Was it a catalyst spell?”

Xavier still didn’t move. David should just shut up, give him some space, but he couldn’t resist the urge to unfreeze him. He wanted him to say something… anything… so he knew he hadn’t faded into oblivion.

“How did it happen?” David asked. “Did he kill her like they said, or did it happen in some other way? Perhaps even, peacefully?”

“I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

David could barely hear him.

“I didn’t want to,” Xavier continued. “But I must not have… said it right. After I cast the spell, she never came back into the house. I found her outside. She had tripped and hit her head on a rock. She was bleeding. I killed my mom.”

Xavier stood as if fire covered him and he needed water.

“Son, calm down. You didn’t mean to. You can’t even prove it was you. It could have been an accident. A coincidence.”

Xavier ran down the steps. David didn’t anticipate his plan. He still had the keys. He jumped into the driver’s seat of the still soapy Expedition and turned the ignition. As he pulled out, he busted an ornamental flowerpot. The kid didn’t know how to drive on a good day, and he could barely stay present while sitting on the porch.

David sprinted into the house to grab his own set of keys and then dove into the Mercedes, but as soon as he made it down the driveway, he couldn’t see the Expedition anymore. He drove to the main road and still didn’t see him.

David tried to calm himself. Xavier would cool off and come back. Colter didn’t know Xavier was now alone and unguarded. But as soon as he thought it, the panic flooded back in. Colter was a powerful wizard. Who knew what he could do? Phrases he’d heard in the past few months swam in David’s head.
Wizards are hopelessly connected. Wizards can always find each other.

David drove around looking for the Expedition, but Amanda called him thirty minutes later and said Xavier had returned. He should have known better than to panic. Xavier wouldn’t stay away from Evangeline for long.

amantha was officially Patrick’s girlfriend, so it took effort not to smile like an idiot all the time. He had to play it cool. If he didn’t pretend their coupling made sense, Samantha might notice her choice in boyfriends had violated the rules of time and space.