Illicit Magic (25 page)

“Okay.”

“Étoile is the oldest, then Seren and finally Astra. They look so alike you would, and people do, mistake them for triplets. They are, indeed, very close in age. All three born in under three years. Their family is pure magic, barely of this world at times. Their mother more so and I think that made them stronger still but the sisters are better at integrating than most of their kind. They’re like a super witch. Rare and powerful. Étoile and Seren have told you already that they can do similar things. That power is magnified when the three are together.”

“Where is Astra?” I asked.

“I’m coming to that. Étoile used to work on Wall Street, did you know that?”

I shook my head. I was surprised but when I thought about it, it made sense that she was a financial whiz. She didn’t seem to work but had a lot of money.

“She packed it in when Astra disappeared. Astra was the more flighty of the three. She was less concerned with the world, less concerned about protecting humans from us and not all that interested in concealing ourselves from them. She was getting reckless. She was starting to use magic openly and her sisters, as well as others, had to cover her mistakes. It got old very fast for them. Then one day, Astra left. Nobody was too bothered at first. She’d had an argument with her sisters and they thought she had just gone away in a huff. But she stayed away and they started getting concerned.”

“How long has she been gone?”

“Two years.”

“Can they find her?”

“They should be able to in theory; their bond is a strong one, but they can’t and because of that, they’re afraid for her. We’ve all put our feelers out but no one has seen or heard from Astra in these two years.”

“What do they think happened?”

“They know she’s alive because they would know if the bond had been severed. They think something has happened to her.” Evan didn’t have to spell out that he thought it was something terrible. “She’s unstable as it is. It isn’t good that no one can sense her anywhere. There’s another theory.”

“What’s that?”

“She’s gone stark raving mad,” he said bluntly.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Best to say nothing. Étoile and Seren are pretty sensitive about her, worried and also, I think, a little embarrassed. They’ll find her and deal with her eventually.” Evan shrugged his shoulders. “Or, she’ll find them.” Evan didn’t sound too happy at the latter prospect.

“I hope they find her again.” I knew what it was like to lose a family. I didn’t envy them their pain.

Evan changed the topic swiftly, reminding me he was still here to teach. “So you shimmer further when you panic and when you’re...” Evan struggled for the right word before settling on, “relaxed?”

“Or not wanting to get caught barely dressed. Definitely a first.”

“Not wanting to get caught barely dressed?”

“Next to your room,” I added to clarify, lest he get any funny ideas.

“Okay, so we need to work out a trigger for you. Something that you can control so you can actually move when you want to, not when you panic and need to.” Evan thought for a moment. “What did you do when you wanted to leave this morning?”

It was only a couple of hours ago so it wasn’t hard to remember. I had pictured my room very clearly. I felt the softness of the bed covers and the strong iron bed frame, imagined the light trickling through the curtains, the pink roses on the walls, and everything else as fully as I could until I had recreated the room in my head. I could feel the desire to be there reverberating through my bones.

“I made a picture in my head,” I told him excitedly. I could feel my blood jump as the slightest traces of electricity coursed through me. “I could see exactly where I wanted to be and I moved. It’s not like it was that far.”

“Baby steps, honey.” Evan ran his hands along my forearms and pulled me into the here and now.

“I don’t know if I can do it again.” I might have been saying one thing but my blood was telling me something else as little licks of power hit my pulse points.

“Try. Try now. Visualise my room.” Evan stood up and took a few steps towards the doors before closing them.

I breathed deeply and closed my eyes to concentrate, allowing the little surges to well in my veins now that Evan wasn’t touching me to ground me. I pictured the grey walls of his room and the big bed. I pictured the neat desk and the little stack of books. I breathed, once, twice exhaling and vanished.

The door was shut when I opened my eyes and seconds later, Evan was filling the door frame.

“It worked.” I grinned.

“Do it again. Visualise the hallway.”

I saw it clearly in my mind and poofed myself away in a burst of energy. Evan followed me through the door.

“So you need to visualise,” Evan decided. “How much detail do you need?”

“A lot. I need to see a lot of the place I want to be.” But when I reflected on it that didn’t explain all the times I’d ended up in places I’d never even thought about.

Evan drew me back inside and for a moment, his eyes went from me to the bed; then he shook himself with a grunt and held my hand as he led me back outside. Truth be told, I was both elated that I could move myself again at will and disappointed that the bed wasn’t figuring into the scenario. I sat opposite him and watched as he puzzled in thought, stroking my hands absently.

After a while, he said, “I don’t think you’ll always need as much detail but the visualisation can be your trigger for now. Right now when you’re learning, you’ll need to be certain of where you want to be. When you’re more practiced at it, I think you’ll just be able to get a general feeling of where you want to be. Maybe you’ll even be able to get there just by seeing a picture or reading an address or even just thinking of a person to be able to find them.”

“But what use is it? Other than I’ll be able to get places quicker?” I paused. “So, maybe one day I can just think about being in Paris or Rome or LA and just magic myself there?” I’d always wanted to travel.
Now there was a chance I could be my own private jet. Cool!

“Maybe, though it takes some strong magic to go those kinds of distances at will.” He mulled it over. “Regardless, you will be able to get places quicker or get out of situations faster. People pay good money for fast, efficient service, especially in our world.”

“Are you saying I have a future career as a supernatural Fed Ex?”

Evan laughed. “With your potential, you can pick and choose what you want to do.”

“When Étoile came to me in London, she moved me just by holding me. I didn’t do a thing. When I was thinking about how I could move before, I could feel it in my veins but when you touched me, I felt it fizzle out. Do you think I could move people too?”

“Maybe.” He looked at me for a minute and, as if he could see what I was thinking, said. “You are not trying with me.”

“Oh.” I tried not to sound sullen.

“It’s not exactly an exact science. You might move me, but not my clothes. Or forget my head.”

“You’re right.” I sighed. “Can I try with something else?”

“Start small. Try the tennis ball.” Evan picked one up and set it on the table between us. “It isn’t like telekinesis this time. Think where you want it to be.”

“Okay.” I stared at it for a full five minutes but the damn thing never moved a millimetre.

“Relax a bit. You’ve used up some energy just moving yourself. Twice,” Evan reminded me with obvious approval.

I stood up and walked over to the edge of the balcony, closing my eyes. I let the cool breeze wash over me, imagining it was cleansing my body of the energy I had spent. I knew I could do it. I just had to tap into the power, wherever my body held it, and use it to move that stupid tennis ball. I’d drop it on the lawn. I could visualise it now. I could see the yellow ball disappear from the balcony. I could see it drop at the foot of the tree.

“Stella,” said Evan, his voice wary but pleased. “The ball has gone.”

I swung round. I hadn’t even been looking at it. It had gone, but it wasn’t the only thing.

“Where’s my table?” Evan asked, looking for all the world like he was trying not to burst out laughing. The corners of my mouth were twitching too.

“Oh... hell.”

I looked over my shoulder and sure enough, the tennis ball, and the table, were under the tree just where I thought I would send it. Nearby, Étoile and David had interrupted their lesson to look in surprise from the new table and then up to the balcony. David gave me the thumbs up. Étoile cupped her hands to her mouth and called, “Perhaps some iced tea, too?”

Evan could barely constrain himself now, laughter escaping from his mouth.

“Jeez,” I muttered, turning away from the gardens. “Now I’ve got a future as a cosmic waitress.” And I rolled my eyes as Evan guffawed. Turning back to concentrate on the two objects on the lawn, this time, I didn’t surprise myself when I brought both back to where they should be.

“Just be grateful it wasn’t your pants,” I muttered.

“Stella, you’ve cracked it,” Evan said at last, rubbing his ribs as I watched him with my arms folded. “I’m not sure I’m ready for you to move me but I am awed at how fast you picked that up.” He earnestly added, “Perhaps the key is just having faith in yourself.”

“Can we take a break?” I kneaded my temples where the throbbing vein told me I was going to get a major headache if I didn’t relax for a while. I closed my eyes for a second to take the throb away.

“Sure.” Evan checked his watch. “It’s after midday anyway. We need to eat.”

“Already?”

I followed him into his room where I asked him. “You’re not going to bind my powers are you? Not now that I’ve finally cracked them.”

Evan looked shocked. “No, of course not. Whatever gave you that idea?”

“Marc told me that Seren had bound Jared.”

“Ye-es,” agreed Evan, “but only so that he’d stop breaking all the chairs and no more of the windows. It’s not exactly convenient to get a glazier out here and there would be questions. Besides, Marc probably told you that Jared knows and was happy to ... actually. He asked. Why would you think I would want to bind yours?”

“So I don’t accidentally zap you somewhere. Or your clothes.” I ran my eyes over him.
Actually, that wasn’t a bad idea.
I smiled to myself.

“Stella.” Evan placed both hands on the tops of my arms and looked at me square in the eye. “I would never bind your powers and certainly not without your permission. I trust that you will be careful and you won’t toss one of us out a window or into the ocean. And, I truly mean this, if you want to practice removing my clothes I am quite happy for you to do so in here. Alone. And you can use your hands.” Evan winked and pulled me closer as I tipped my chin up, just about standing on my tiptoes so he could kiss me and let me melt into him. With the connection I felt between us, I never wanted this day to end.

We ate outside, a few of us on the grass in the shade of the tree while the sun was at its highest. I sat with Seren and Étoile and wished that I, too, had a sister. My surrogate sister, Kitty, as she appointed herself, was apparently running errands in town with Jared.

Evan sat with David, their heads bent together. They sounded like they were reminiscing about times long gone and I wondered if they had known each other prior to coming here. I wondered where they had been, and what they had done, in their other lives away from the safe house. The cut that marred David’s face was less prominent now, more of a dark pink than an angry welt. I noticed his fingers sometimes trailed the length of it and I wondered what scars he carried inside. I also wondered if Seren was taking his mind off them. I thought back to the scars on Evan’s back;
where had they come from?
I liked these people but there was so little that I knew about them.

“Evan seems to be a little less unhappy,” observed Étoile softly as she chewed a sandwich.

“I hadn’t realised he was unhappy,” I replied. I picked up an apple from the basket Meg left for us and rubbed it against my jeans. Meg never seemed to join us outside and I wondered what she busied herself with during the day.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to imply he was miserable.” Étoile was picking her words carefully. “I just don’t think he was overly enthusiastic about being here, but he seems quite cheerful now.”

“He’s grateful I didn’t zap him into the ocean by accident in today’s lesson,” I deflected.

Seren chuckled. “We’re all grateful for that.”

“There’s time yet.” I laughed and Evan caught my eye and smiled.

“I rather thought it was because he had found something to interest him.” Étoile was watching us from under her lashes. She had that air of amusement about her as if she were already fully aware. If I wasn’t sure then, I was a moment later when she rested her fingers on Seren’s wrist and Seren smiled and said, “Ahh.”

So the cat was out of the bag.

“It wouldn’t have taken her long to figure it out.” Étoile seemed to be apologising for whatever had passed between them.

“I don’t suppose I can ask what you saw?”
Was it much of a future?
I wanted to ask.
Or a future at all?

“Snippets, but you’ll find out soon enough. I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.”

~

I spent the rest of the day by myself, the headache still just tickling at my temples without quite hitting me. My eyes ached so I couldn’t read or listen to music, and the idea of walking on the beach, each step jarring my body, put me off.

I stayed in Evan’s room again that night. It was a humid night and after we’d made love – I was more than getting the hang of that – we kicked back the covers to lie there, his arm around me, my head on his shoulder with my hair fanned down my back. Our legs were entwined and our skin was sticky with exertion and heat. The last of the sunlight cast patterns on the floor and a storm cloud was already rolling in over the sea. I could hear raindrops pattering on the roof and hitting the table on the balcony. I kissed Evan’s neck. After I complained about my threatening headache, he pressed his hands against my temples and the pain was gone in an instant. I had never felt more content as we dozed together.