Playing with Magic (Elemental Trilogy Book 2) (9 page)

BOOK: Playing with Magic (Elemental Trilogy Book 2)
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Chapter 9

 

“Wrong, Anatha. Think. Don’t let the anger feed the fire. That causes you to blunder,” Pyrus said from the porch steps.  Anatha was trying to catch leaves on fire as Autumn made them fall.

“Anger is what feeds it!” Anatha shouted. Her vision red.

“Calm yourself. You need to find that center.”

“I’m not a fucking
Jedi
! Screw this,” Anatha said, leaving the house. She needed to get out. Nothing she did ever pleased Pyrus. Autumn was stuck between being sick and feeling withdrawn.  Aarawn was to be too busy with one of the million of girls he was dating. She walked into an old man.

“Sorry,” she murmured.

He stared at her, mouth set. “You youngsters never look where you walk,” he said, walking off.

“If you had been looking, you would have seen me!” she shouted back at him.

“I wouldn’t be doing that,” Davies said behind her.

“Who asked you?” she said, her anger pushed away her shyness.

“He’s an Elder.”

She shrugged. “Like I care.”

Davies looked around. “You better care. They have the right to forbid you from being here.”

She shrugged again. “Like I said … like I care.”

He laughed. “I agree. You want to go to the Tea House?”

“I don’t really like tea. Plus I need time to cool off.”

He gave her a small wave. “Suit yourself. Maybe next time. Since I moved into my aunt’s house, I rather miss seeing you around.”

She let her feet guide her around the small town, thinking about what he said.
Miss seeing you around
. The town had a post office, meeting hall, Tea House, some smaller stores centering on witchcraft and other religions, supermarket, gas station, and a few other shops. She reached in her pocket, pulling out a five. She went into the small liquor store.

The man behind the counter smiled at her. She ignored him, going over to the soda machine.
The dark ages are alive and well around the world, and witches live normally as if nothing happened
, she thought. She pulled out a thirty-two ounce cup from its holder and filled it with Pepsi. She fought with the lid and shoved the straw in as hard as she could without crumpling it.

She went to the counter and started handing him the five. He looked down, noticing her birthmark, a triangle. “Hey,” he said. “It’s on the house.”

She looked up at him, startled. “You sure?”

He smiled brightly, moving his head up and down in long motions. “Yep.”

She shoved the five back in her pocket. “Thanks,” she said and left. She took a drink and nearly choked. This was not Pepsi. It was fizzy like soda, but it had an earthy taste to it.

“What is wrong with this stupid town?” She yelled, dropping the cup in the nearest garbage can.

 

****

Rowan pulled off of Route 75.  “Talbot Florida only 5 miles away,” he announced.

River’s heart sped up as he took Rowan’s hand. “I’m nervous.”

“So am I.” Rowan squeezed his hand.

“Everything looks okay,” Linden said behind River.

After a while, Rowan finally pulled off the exit ramp. “Well, guys, we are home.” He glanced at River from the corner of his eyes. He stared out his window. His eyes slid down to his lap.
Autumn
, he thought.

They pulled into town. People were living as normal. River spotted his brother right off. He reached over to the steering wheel and honked at him. The young man jumped and stared through the window. Noticing who was honking, his eyes got wide as he smiled and waved crazily. River nearly didn’t wait for Rowan to stop.  The Winnebago was still rolling when he got out and ran to his brother.  The two embraced.

“River, Mom’s been so worried!”

“It’s great to see you, Cliff. Where’s Marty?”

Cliff looked away. “He didn’t make it.”

“Oh,” River said in a whisper, eyes tearing up for his youngest half-brother.

Cliff smiled. “Mom will be happy to see you! Come on.” He dragged his brother into a store. “Mom works here now.”

Cliff let him go and ran to the back of the store, shouting. An elderly woman came out. River’s eyes enlarged.
Five years, and she looks as if twenty years have passed
, he thought. She was talking to Cliff when her eyes fell on River. She stopped dead in her tracks. Tears fell from her blue eyes, the same blue as his.

“Hey, Mom,” he said. Not really sure what to do next.

“River,” she said in a shaky tone. “Is it really you?”

He nodded. “Alive and well.”

She covered the distance between them, and he braced himself for impact as she flung herself at him. “My baby boy has come back to me! Praise Jesus!” She hugged him tightly enough to cut off his circulation. “Let me get a good look at you.” She pulled away. Her eyes scanned him. “My Lord, you look older.”

“The past six years have been out of the ordinary,” he said, a small smile sprang to his lips as he thought of the mall and Autumn.

She nodded. “You can say that again.” She looked around him. “Rowan Reeves, look at you. You’ve changed too.”

“Hello, Nancy. Have you seen my parents?” She didn’t look away, but the look on her face was enough. “My sister or Bran?” He knew something had happened.  The sad look on her face gave it away.

“The infection hit hard here. We put up a pretty good fight getting into our safe house. They didn’t make it.”

He felt as if he had swallowed a rock. His eyesight went blurry with angry tears, and River held him before he could fall to the ground. “All of them?” he whispered

Nancy hugged him. “All of them. I’m so sorry.” Rowan broke down as he clung to River, who cried along with him. It broke his heart that there was nothing he could do to take the pain away from his love.

 

****

Anatha bent down on one knee to tie her shoe. “Hi,” Dack said, walking up to her.

“Hi,” she mumbled.

“Can I help you tie your shoe?”

She finished and stood up. “No. I did it by myself.”

“I-I didn’t mean th-that,” he stuttered. “I mean help you with something.”

She gave him a fake smile. “No, I’m good.” He stared at her. She felt as if his eyes were boring into her. “Is there something else?”

“Well,” he said and licked his lips, his eyes still deeply locked on her.

“Yo, creep, scram,” Davies said behind him, making Dack jump.

He swirled around. “You-you can’t t-tell me what to do!”

“Look,” Davies said, walking closer to him. “I said scram.”

Dack pulled out his inhaler and took a puff of it. “Asshole!” he shouted and ran off.

Anatha watched, relieved. “Thanks. Creep is right.” She shivered. “He creeps me out.”

Davies laughed. “He likes you. He’s a nerd. Just being close to you is enough of a turn on.”

Her lips pressed together, thinking about it, and the visions from Davies were not pleasant. There was a naked Dack whacking himself off as he said Anatha’s name over and over again. She shivered, totally grossed out. “I really didn’t want to know what he thought about before he went to bed.”

Davies put his hands out, giving her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was projecting my thoughts that loudly. Not many witches can read thoughts that easily.”

“I’m not normal,” she said, almost to herself.

“I can understand that. Element of Fire. I bet you like things loud, fast, and really hot?”

She didn’t know if the comment was an insult or flattery. She took it as the last. “I guess.”

“I bet you’re a great dancer too.”

She nodded. “Yes, I am.” The self-satisfaction covered her face.

“They’re having a dance tonight, and I was wondering if you would be my date?”

It’s only dancing
, she thought. “Sure.”

“Great.” He walked off with a smug smile on his face.

 

****

“It’s great to be home,” River said, but he didn’t mean the words. It had changed. It wasn’t his home anymore.

“Yeah,” Rowan said, not thinking.

“I can’t believe my mom runs a store,” he said.

“Yeah,” Rowan replied.

“You’re wearing no underwear.”

“Yeah.” He looked up at River. “What?”

River gave him an understanding look and put his left hand on his shoulder. “We’ll stay for a while, and then head back to California.”

“Okay,” he said and spluttered.

“Night boys,” Nancy said, coming in the room and kissing River on the cheek. “See you all in the morning.”

“Night, Mom.”

“Night, Nancy. Thanks for letting me stay with you while we’re here.”

A peculiar look crossed her face, and then softened as she gave him a nice smile. “Don’t worry, Rowan. You’re welcome here anytime.” She started closing the door. “Sweet dreams.” They heard her say before the door closed.

River locked the door and turned out the lights. He got into bed with Rowan and held him as he cried. “It’s okay, Rowan,” he whispered in his ear. “Cry it out.”

“I wish Autumn were here,” Rowan said, his whisper thick from the crying.

“Me too.” He held Rowan tight as he cried himself to sleep. When he was sure Rowan was asleep, River closed his eyes and drifted off.

 

****

“Oh, my,” Pyrus said as they entered the meeting hall. The room’s walls were made of cherry oak, and the ceiling curved. A giant chandelier hung from the middle. There were large oak tables close to the wall, leaving the dance floor open. Younger kids to young adults danced away to the trance beats that blared through the speakers.

“Wow,” Anatha said at the entrance, spotting Davies. He walked over, and they went to the dance floor. Aarawn followed with a woman Autumn hadn’t met yet. He was always with someone different.

“I’ll be back,” Mabon said and went to a group of young men looking around for dancers.

“Aren’t you going to join them?” Pyrus asked, looking around. “There are some willing men.”

Autumn shook her head. “I don’t dance. It seems neither do the elders.”

Pyrus turned her attention to the table farthest back where Autumn was looking. She had met one or two, but this was the first time she had seen them all together. Five women and two men sat at the table, whispering and frowning.

“Come on.” Pyrus grabbed her hand. “This is a perfect time to meet them all.”

“Pyrus, there seems to be more females. Why?”

“Because women are smarter,” she said, giving Autumn a wicked smile.

“Hey, I don’t think that’s right,” Stefan said.

“Plus the old cows seem to never die to let others step in.” Pyrus smiled along with Autumn.

“Come along, Stefan,” Autumn said, grabbing his arm.

They walked over. Autumn and Stefan stopped looking at the dance floor as they got to the elder’s table. The loud music faded to a buzz. “Neat,” Stefan said, and Autumn nodded.

Pyrus bowed her head. “Great elders,” she said. “I’ve come to introduce you to the element of Earth, my granddaughter, Autumn.”

The elders murmured together, and then bowed to her. “It is a pleasure that the element of Earth has decided to join us tonight,” said an elderly woman who looked ninety. Her eyes turned to Stefan. “Who is this outsider?”

“He was the man possessed by the hound, and he has his own powers, it seems,” an elderly man said.

“A hound?” the woman asked, looking at him over her glasses. “You must be powerful. Only a strong body can hold a hound and survive.”

Autumn patted him on the shoulder. “It takes a lot to get Stefan down,” she said matter-of-factly.

The woman’s gray-green eyes went to Autumn. “You interest me,” she said. “You have a different glow. I doubt that is because you’re the element of Earth.”

“Uh,” Autumn shrugged. “Maybe it’s finding I have a brother, and all this other stuff, or maybe it’s the fact that I know I’m going to die.”

Pyrus covered her face with her hand. “You just had to add that, didn’t you?”

“Don’t worry, Pyrus. We knew they were there. It was time for them to find out their destiny.”

“Autumn—” Stefan whispered.

“Later,” she whispered back. She looked defiantly at the table of elders. “It’s all a mistake.” They stared at her. “I have another life, and well, you never wrote anything about that.  My other life has been very beneficial to learning my magic and who I am. Not the element of Earth but me, Autumn. A magical child who was deprived of a life with her real family because of cowards.”

The ancient bird-looking witch in the middle narrowed her eyes at Autumn and stood easily. “What your human body does is none of our business. It’s what your element being does that is important. And you, as we all are, are a servant to the stars.”

BOOK: Playing with Magic (Elemental Trilogy Book 2)
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