Playing with Magic (Elemental Trilogy Book 2) (2 page)

People were talking, but she heard nothing.  Autumn turned and left the store.

****

Envy walked by her, going in. She paused, watching her sister. She opened her mouth to say something, but she didn’t know what to say. She had just been told by Lily, their youngest sister, who had been eavesdropping, what her mom and dad had just told Autumn. She closed her mouth and walked inside.

“Autumn took it harder than I thought,” Drake said, looking at Envy. She shot him a look he hadn’t expected. “What?”

“Autumn just found out
   
” She couldn’t finish the last bit. It still seemed unreal. “I came to stop you guys from telling her.”

“Autumn found out what?” Rowan asked.

“She’s adopted,” Envy said quietly.

Anatha choked on her lemonade.

“Shit,” Linden hissed, summing it up for everyone in the room.

****

Autumn sat on a swing in Winton Park. No kids were out playing today. She thanked the stars for the quiet. Jaime came over, and she silently cursed to herself.

“I have to talk to you.”

“Can this wait, Jaime?” He shook his head and stood before her. “What?” She tried not to sound rude, but it came out that way anyway.

“I-I think, well, I think I love Anatha.”

Adair, her dirt-brown monkey, which only Anatha, Stefan, and she could actually see, appeared before her. “Oh yeah, been waiting for this. Sorry, couldn’t miss this sappy confession,” he said, watching Jaime with leafy green eyes which matched her own.

“So?” Her eyes watched the monkey and its long twitching tail.

“Do I just tell her?”

“Are you absolutely sure?”

“Yes.”

She sighed. “Then you have to tell her.”

“What if she panics?”

Autumn shrugged. “All you can do is hope for the best in this world, Jaime. I am really not the person to be giving out advice. Half my world just went
POOF
today, in a big way.”

He considered what she said. “Maybe I should tell her then
  
”

She interrupted him. “I can’t do this right now. I’m sorry, Jaime. I hope it all works out for you,” she said, getting off the swing.

“I’m sorry.”

She saw the others walking over to them. Her head pounded, and she felt sick to her stomach. She stood. “This is not your fault. So no need to apologize. I have to go.”

“Autumn,” Rowan said as he got close to her.

She held out her hands to stop him. She couldn’t hold back the tears. They ran down her face; the dam had burst open. “You want to leave,” she said. “I can’t deal with any of this anymore. If any of you have something more to tell me, please feel free to keep it to yourself. I’m done.” She ran off before anyone could say anything else. She headed for her apartment wanting to curl up in bed, and even though she loved Rowan and River with all her heart, she didn’t want them anywhere near her. She flung open the door that led up the stairs to the apartments.

A tiny old lady with white frizzy hair sat on the steps and turned to look at her. She looked like a bag lady. The only thing that made her look different was her eyes. They were silver; not a grey color but real silver. She had seen those eyes before in a dream.

Autumn stopped, wiping her tears away. “Hello, Grandmother.”

Chapter 3

“You know who I am?” Pyrus asked, looking at the lovely green-eyed lady. Her heart beat rapidly as she tried to fight the tears. Autumn looked so much like her son, Autumn’s real father. It made her chest hurt that she had never been a part of this beautiful woman’s life, but it was a choice that had saved her grandchildren from being pawns in Moorgun’s evil plans.

“Who else could you be? Plus your eyes scream magic.”

She gave her granddaughter a weary smile. “I need to talk to you.”

“And Anatha?”

Pyrus looked around the small room, and then up the stairs. She could feel the wards Autumn had placed in there, and it made her already frizzy hair frizz a little more. Autumn was working well with her magic. “Is she here?”

“I can call her.” Autumn closed her eyes and reached out to her cousin.
Anatha, come here please?

Where?
Came the reply.

The apartments.

I’m coming!
Stefan cried, making her flinch.

Ouch! No, just Anatha.

“Let him come,” Pyrus said calmly. “He is one of us.”

“Stefan is just Stefan,” Autumn said, blinking at her.

“He is still one of us; he is very rare. A human with no known witch blood being a witch is something of an anomaly.”

Come along, Stefan
, Autumn thought.

****

“What do you mean you told her?” River said angrily at the fence. “If I heard correctly, she just heard some really bad news!”

Rowan shook his head. “We didn’t know, and Drake just blurted it out.”

“How mad is she?” he whispered.

Rowan looked out through the gates. After they figured out a place to settle in, the work went on to put up fences. Infected, although rare, still wandered around. There were scavenger groups who had no plans to settle down. They just wanted to pick over areas and move on. They were sadistic and liked to cause chaos. Some traveling groups weren’t that bad, but they brought with them tales of cannibalism, death, and zombie cults.

“She was very upset.”

“Damn,” River shook his head and grabbed the fence. “I want to stay. I would do anything to be with her, but I want to check on my mom. I am all she had.”

Rowan nodded, laying his hand on his shoulder and squeezing it. “I understand.”

He darted dark blue eyes his way. “How do we get her to understand?”

“We just have to wait for her to calm down and talk to her.”

“I hope that works. I don’t want to lose her, Rowan. I plan on coming right back.”

“That’s what we have to make her understand,” he whispered, taking his hand and squeezing. “I don’t want to lose her either.”

****

Anatha sat in Autumn’s apartment listening to the old woman, confused. Her attention was drawn to Stefan every so often. Something was wrong with him, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. “So, I don’t get it,” she finally said. “You are Autumn’s grandmother, but you’re mine too?”

She nodded. “Your fathers were my sons.  When they died, your mother took you both away from the protection of our home.”

“But my dad lives down the street,” Anatha said defiantly, sticking her nose in the air.

“The man you know as your father is the man your mother married after leaving our protection. I thought it was a good idea, that way you would be raised in a normal atmosphere, not knowing anything about magic and our kind. Your mother had given up everything she had when she left with you two. She had only enough power to see to your safety.”

“I still don’t get it.” Anatha replied.

Pyrus sighed. “I’m sure Adair and Angel explained a little about where your powers come from.”

“To some extent,” Autumn said quietly.

“It was said that when the elements were called, and disappeared, they would be reborn in human form. In our town, the stars tell of our destiny. Mine said I would be related to the elements. The great gods blessed me with two strong men, and they married your mothers. Headstrong and wonderful, they were in their prime. And then Autumn’s mother was pregnant. Her stars read special children, but her life span would not see them grown. When we had her checked, we weren’t surprised to find out she was having twins.”

Autumn and Anatha stared at each other, shocked. “But we’re nothing alike,” Anatha said.

Pyrus laughed. “No, not you two. You both have twin brothers.”

Their mouths fell open. “My dream,” Autumn whispered. Thinking of the dream back in the mall. The man who helped her escape the cave and that monster had looked like her, except his eyes. His eyes had been as blue as the ocean. But he was the same height and had the same hair color, even the red streaks. If it hadn’t been for him, she would have been stuck in a coma.

Pyrus took a deep breath. “He was forbidden to interrupt with your soul fight to the Underworld.”

“But I would still be in a coma, or worse.”

“Arawen could not keep you like he threatened. Your brother endangered his life and Aarawn’s.”

“Aarawn?”

“Anatha’s twin. Autumn and Mabon were the first born. About a year later, your mother got pregnant. Autumn and Mabon’s stars revealed information hidden from us, because the elders considered it too much for us to take. But I had a clue when you and Aarawn were born and they took your papers away. By then everyone whispered; they knew the four of you might be the Elements. There is an evil witch, Moorgun, who is working on capturing you. When you were babies, she sent her people for you. My sons put up a good fight, and even though your mother was weak, Anatha, Autumn’s mom went into battle to save my sons, letting your mother leave with you two. She was a good woman, and you and your brother look so much like her and your father. I only wish she had lived to see you today. She would be so proud.” She turned her head, wiping a tear from her eye. “Excuse me.”

“My mother died protecting us?” Autumn repeated, fingering her cup of tea.

“Yes, giving Anatha’s mother time to flee. They had only heard of the girls being born but not the boys. She left your brothers with me, and I left them with the town. I followed behind your mother as she traveled and finally settled down. She knew she couldn’t keep you both. That’s when she met Bud and his wife. They wanted a child so bad, and she offered you to them for adoption.”

“I thought it best. Maybe then you could both grow up and know nothing about what you really were. I was wrong. Your magic showed me that. I underestimated your abilities. And I regret the years in which I could have been teaching you what each of you truly are. Even your brothers never went through any training on their elemental selves. Of course that didn’t stop them from playing with their magic.”

“Wow,” Anatha said. “There isn’t really anything else to say about all that.”

“Your brothers want to see you. I’ve been putting it off for a long time, but I think now is a good for you to meet.”

Autumn sat staring out the window, watching the sky. “Tomorrow would be okay. It’s Saturday.”

“Who is Moorgun?” Anatha asked.

“A dark witch. Her goal in life is to set Arawen free.”

Autumn got goose bumps, hearing that name, and ran her hands over her arms. “Why would she want to do that?”

“He called forth the elements the first time. He was imprisoned for doing so. I think she assumes that by having all of the elements together, she can repair what he did and release him.”

Autumn thought of her dream.
It will be my choice
, she thought,
my decision
.

“Stefan, you are welcome to sit with us. You are one of us, as well,” Pyrus said.

“An element?”

“No, a witch.”

“It would be cool to be an element but after hearing all that, I’m cool with being just a witch. Although it’s sort of girlie sounding; is there a man form of a witch?”

Pyrus shook her head. “A witch is a witch.”

****

Adair jumped on the bed and reached out, stroking Autumn’s head. She had been lying in a ball, staring into the darkness. “Listen, everyone has bad days,” he said in a whisper, trying to soothe her.

“Why me, Adair?”

“You are a natural leader.”

“But why?”

“It’s part of you. Earth element is mother.”

“I don’t want to be this anymore,” she whispered through her tears.

Rowan and River walked into the bedroom. It was dim, but they could see her curled in a ball on the bed. Rowan didn’t know if he should go to her or wait. He hated seeing so much pain in her eyes and knew he could do nothing about it. They walked to the bed and sat down.

“Autumn?” River whispered.

“I had a bad day,” she finally said, sitting up. He reached out, grabbing her to him, holding her as she cried. She pulled away. “You want to leave me too?”

“I don’t want to leave you, but my mom is out there. We were all each other had for a long time. We plan on coming right back, and ask you to come.” He looked over at Rowan.

“I was a horrible father before this all happened, but my son is still out there, I hope. We left them in Florida while we traveled. I have to see if I can find him, Autumn,” Rowan whispered.

She knew how much they missed their families. Rowan told stories of his son, and River told them of growing up with his mom. She wanted him to be the star he thought he would be. Autumn could hear the hurt and longing in their voices when they shared.

“I think
  
” She stopped remembering her dream. “Maybe it’s a good idea.”

****

“Pyrus,” Anatha’s mom came in, staggering. “Come to fuck up my daughter’s life?”

“Regan, always a pleasure.”

“Let’s make this easy. You leave right now,” she said, pointing a drunken finger at the old witch.

The old lady looked at her daughter-in-law with hollow, sleep-deprived eyes. “I can’t. Moorgun knows where they are.”

Regan took a sip from her pink plastic cup. “I thought I had everything taken care of.” She shook her head. “What am I going to tell Anatha? That she will have to give up everything to follow her destiny. I wanted her to be normal, Pyrus. That’s why we left. Why her father died. Why Autumn had a good home. I didn’t want their stars to come about. I was sure I could change them. I left my son for what?” She went silent for a moment. “The stars are finally here.”

Pyrus nodded, “I have to go. Your son will be by tomorrow.” Her pale silver eyes turned lighter, to white.

“Aarawn,” Regan whispered, trembling and looking away. “Is he angry at me?”

“Not really. He understands now what you had to do,” she said before leaving. Regan sat down. She didn’t know how to feel. Her son, who she hadn’t seen since he was a baby and was sure she’d never see again, was going to be here tomorrow.

  “Momma?” Anatha called as she walked by.

“Please forgive me.” Anatha had never heard so much pain in her mother’s voice before. It gave her the creeps.

“Momma, for what?” she asked, afraid of the answer. Her mother’s sadness hung around her, almost smothering her, and she didn’t want her to leave.

“Pyrus explained everything to you, right?

“Explained what?”

“What you are?”

Anatha nodded. Her mom nodded back and walked off.  Anatha swore she was crying. Her mom… crying?

****

“Are you sure you want us to go?” Rowan asked as he cuddled closely with Autumn and River under the covers. Her head rested heavily on his bare arm as her fingers played with River’s ear-length, wild, brown curls.

“Yeah. If I have another nightmare, please wake me.”

Rowan nodded, moving her hair out of her face to lay a chaste kiss on her cheek. Her hair was a lot longer than it had been when they met. The crazy brown curls, with streaks of red, were everywhere. He had loved no one like her and River before, and the thought of being away for just a day made him want to drag her along. He couldn’t wait to get off of work just to touch and be around them, and if that wasn’t love, he didn’t know what it was, but he knew he never wanted it to end. He hated that she felt so miserable and would give his soul to take away her pain.

“Of course,” River whispered. “I love you, Autumn.”

“I do too,” Rowan whispered.

“I know,” she mumbled, drifting off to sleep in their arms.

They watched her sleep. He wasn’t sure if it was such a good idea to leave her now, after the news her parents threw at her. And what made her come to the conclusion that they should go look for his son? Something had to have happened. He wondered if they could leave her. It’d been years since he had slept alone, but he would still have River. She would have no one. She had become part of them and their life. Thinking of another life without her just wouldn’t do. Autumn muttered something in her sleep; he couldn’t make out, and then went still. They continued to watch her until they each fell asleep, falling into uneasy dreams as well.