Spellbound (Spellbringers Book 1) (17 page)

“No. This is our special family time.
I’ll talk to him later.”

“I’m proud of you, Rachel. I’m glad
you aren’t getting too serious about Jace. You’re too
young.”

Things were more serious than my
mother could have ever imagined. More serious than I wanted to
admit to myself. I contacted Jace across our link and we talked all
night.

***

Jeffrey and I had plans to spend time
together the following day. My mother had a lunch date with an old
friend from college, so my brother and I would have a little bit of
time to ourselves. Jeffrey took me shopping at Little Five Points
and after that, we headed back to his apartment to hang out.
Something had been weighing on my mind for weeks and I decided to
get it off my chest. There were some things I had to know, and it
was now or never.

“Jeffrey, did Daddy give you anything before
he died? A family heirloom or jewelry or anything?” I hesitated,
afraid once I brought the subject up, there would be no turning
back. I wanted information, but not at the expense of revealing any
of my own secrets.

“Why do you want to know?” He seemed anxious.
I could tell he was hiding something. I decided to give him a
chance to fill me in before invading his mind.

“Daddy gave me a necklace before he died.” I
pulled the necklace out from underneath my sweater. Jeffrey glanced
at it without expression.

“He gave me something, but it was stolen a
couple of years ago right before…well, you know. Whoever broke into
my apartment tore the place apart, but my gift from Dad was the
only thing missing. Before the break-in, I often had the feeling
that I was being followed. Afterwards, I thought the people who
were out to get me might have been after my family heirloom
instead. Mama told me I was imagining things and made me see a
psychiatrist. It sounds crazy, doesn’t it?” he asked, glancing away
from me. He stood up and walked to the window overlooking the busy
street below.

Poor Jeffrey. I knew what it was like to feel
watched, or to feel like you were going crazy. If Jeffrey had magic
like I did, it was possible there were Hunters after him. He wasn’t
paranoid. It wasn’t in his head.

“I don’t think you’re crazy,” I said. “What
did Daddy give you?”

“It was an engraved piece of marble I carried
with me everywhere.”

“Why didn’t you have it with you the day of
the break-in?” I asked, curious. I knew the dangers of leaving my
necklace behind, but I still foolishly forgot mine the morning of
our trip, so I wasn’t judging Jeffrey—just trying to figure out if
there was a pattern. Were the people who broke into his apartment
regular thieves who just happened to take a liking to the marble
heirloom, or were they Hunters specifically looking for that very
item?

“I was afraid I’d lose it,” he said, “so I
started leaving it home more and more often, especially when I had
to work. I mean, what kind of grown man carries a pet rock
everywhere he goes? Thank God I took a picture of the words on it
before it disappeared so I could get this…” He tugged at the hem of
his shirt. “If you tell Mama, I’ll kill you.”

He removed his shirt to reveal his secret.
Four black lines of unintelligible script were tattooed on the back
of his shoulder. “Dad told me it was the language of our ancestors.
It must be some kind of tribal language from Africa.”

“How long have you had that?” I asked, gaping
at a tattoo which was unremarkable, but for the fact that our
mother would beat him to death if she saw it. I could already hear
her “your body is a temple” lecture.

“I got it done right after…well, after I had
my problem,” he said. “It made me feel better.”

“Can I take a picture of it with my cell
phone?” I asked, hopefully. “I have an older friend who’s sort of
into ancient languages and stuff. She could translate it for you.”
I almost said “me” instead of “you,” but changed it at the last
minute. I didn’t want Jeffrey to know how important this was to
me.

“Um, I guess. I don’t know. Dad was really
secretive about it.” Jeffrey seemed unsure.

“Then why did you tattoo it on your body? You
must not have been too concerned with keeping it secret then.” I
tried not to push, but I was convinced the meaning of the words
were the key to something.

“It was sort of Dad’s idea,” Jeffrey
confessed. “Before he died, I told him I thought it would make a
badass tattoo. He told me he thought it was a good idea, but not to
let Mama see it. Obviously. He told me he would have done it
himself in his younger years, but never got around to it. That
conversation kind of planted the seed in my mind. I’m glad I
followed through—that I have something of his always.”

Jeffrey’s voice trembled and I couldn’t blame
him. I thought about how I would feel if my necklace were stolen. I
couldn’t imagine anything worse. “I’m glad you got the tattoo,
Jeffrey. Please, can I take a picture? I’ve been wondering about
Daddy’s side of our family and our heritage. It would mean a lot to
me.”

“Yeah, fine. Go ahead. But when you find out
what it means, shoot me a text. I’m curious too.”

Cell phone pictures were unpredictable at
best, but I tried my hardest to get as clear a shot as possible.
The fact that his skin was nearly as dark as the words on the
tattoo didn’t help, so I made him stand under the light. When I was
finished taking pictures, he turned away from me and put his shirt
back on.

“Thanks, Jeffrey. If you can think of anything
else he might have said about our heritage or his family, let me
know, and I’ll do the same. Mama doesn’t seem to know much about
his past. It’s weird.”

Then saying a silent prayer for forgiveness, I
pushed my mind toward my brother’s. It felt like my skull collided
with an iron wall. The nausea and dizziness almost made me lose
consciousness.

“Rachel, what’s wrong?” Jeffrey rushed to my
side. Thankfully, he had no idea what had just happened. If he knew
what I tried to do, he would never have forgiven me.

“I… I’m okay.” I could barely speak.
“Migraine…purse… quick.”

Jeffrey handed me my purse and I fumbled for
my bottle of pills. He had to open the bottle for me because I had
no strength in my hands. He doled out two pills and handed me a can
of soda. It was several minutes before the pain began to
subside.

“Should I call Mama?” Jeffrey was totally
freaked out.

“No…no. She’ll just get upset. I don’t want to
spend the evening in the Emergency Room.” I tried to make light of
my pain, but I couldn’t quite do it.

When I was finally able to stand upright, I
went to the bathroom to splash some water on my face. I tried to
force myself to think about something besides my magic and how it
had turned against me. Even in the early days of its appearance, I
had never experienced such a violent and painful
reaction.

Jeffrey took me back to the hotel after
promising me a dozen times he would absolutely not say anything to
our mother. I didn’t want to worry her, but most of all, I didn’t
want to ruin her day. I knew how much she’d looked forward to
meeting up with her friend and I wanted her to be able to savor the
memory without her concern for me clouding it.

My mother enjoyed the rest of our stay in
Atlanta, but I was counting down the hours to our return home. I
longed to see Jace with an intensity that both alarmed and
embarrassed me.

New Year’s Eve was probably the most difficult
night for me. I tortured myself by conjuring up images of all the
fun I was missing at the Alexander home. I promised myself I would
wait until after midnight before calling him, but I couldn’t do it.
I wouldn’t be able to feel his lips on mine at the stroke of
midnight, but I could at least hear his voice. With trembling
hands, I dialed his number and waited for him to answer. I carried
on a halting conversation with him over the phone for a few minutes
under my mother’s watchful gaze. Verbally, I kept things light,
glorying in the vibration of his voice coming through the receiver
of the phone.

“We’re having a great time,” I said aloud,
while simultaneously sending a private message across our link.
“Oh, my God, I miss you so much it hurts. There’s so much I need to
tell you. I love you so much, Jace.”

I ended the cell phone portion of our
conversation fairly quickly. I didn’t want to incur my mother’s
disapproval. We continued to communicate across our link. As I lay
in bed, the TV’s soft light flickering over my skin, I reveled in
the fact that our connection was just as strong across the many
miles. Only two more days, I told myself. Only two more days until
we were together again.

Chapter
Fifteen

Alisa

I spent nearly every day of Winter Break with
the Alexanders. My mother made a few half-hearted protests about my
frequent absences, but gave in when I reminded her that most people
my age spent a lot of time either alone or out with friends. I
hinted that she should be grateful I had friends to hang out with.
Sometimes she asked why Jace and Rachel didn’t come over to our
house. I told her they were both allergic to cats. One time, she
even asked me why I never spent time with Becky.

“Becky hates me and always has,” I said
irritably. Seriously, how could she not know that?

“That isn’t true,” she replied in avid defense
of her favorite niece. “Becky loves you. One of these days, you’re
going to wish you’d spent more time getting to know your cousin.” I
sincerely doubted that, but didn’t bother to correct her. It hurt
that my mother knew so little about me.

My parents had pretty much accepted the fact
that I preferred to socialize away from home. Their complaints were
fewer and farther between, and as long as I was home before curfew,
they let me come and go as I pleased.

It was New Year’s Eve and I was invited to
hang out at the Alexanders’ for the evening. I didn’t quite know
what to expect when Jace said “New Year’s Eve party,” as I’d never
been to one. On television, a typical celebration involved
excessive drinking and a kiss at the stroke of midnight. I felt
certain Jerica and Abe were not going to offer alcoholic beverages
to a house full of people under the age of twenty-one, and I was
equally certain there would be no one for me to kiss at midnight.
Regardless, I looked forward to the evening.

In previous years, I’d spent New Year’s Eve
alone and friendless, usually retiring to bed early with a good
book. I assumed it was for this reason that I’d never really liked
the holiday. What was the point in celebrating the end of one
lonely and depressing year, or the beginning of a new year destined
to closely resemble the previous one? I expected this year to be
different, seeing as how I actually had friends to celebrate
with.

I decided to pay extra attention to my
appearance, so I lost track of time and didn’t hear the car pulling
into my driveway until it was too late. I felt drained from the
exertion of trying to wrangle my locks into something resembling a
hairstyle. Some girls weren’t cut out for the rigors of hair
care.

When I heard the doorbell, I threw my brush
down on the dresser and bolted toward the stairs. Jace was already
inside, exchanging pleasantries with my parents. To my horror, my
mother invited him to come over to our house for dinner on New
Year’s Day and he agreed. It would be a fiasco, I thought, cringing
at the idea of sitting down at the kitchen table while my mom
passed around my naked baby pictures. This had never actually
happened to me, but I’d heard stories from other people and they
weren’t pleasant.

I wondered if it was too late to obtain
anti-anxiety meds before tomorrow. Maybe my appendix would burst
and I’d spend the next few days in the hospital instead… one could
only dream. After several uncomfortable minutes of conversation, we
managed to disentangle ourselves from my mother’s clutches. I tore
into Jace as soon as we pulled out of the driveway.

“I can’t believe you agreed to have dinner
with her.” I tried to control my rising panic.

“What’s the big deal? You hang out at my house
all the time. Don’t you want me to get to know your family?” Jace
stared straight ahead at the road, so I couldn’t read the
expression on his face. I strongly suspected he enjoyed my
discomfort.

“My mother is nice and all, but she can come
on pretty strong. I just don’t think I can handle a whole evening
where she tells you about all my embarrassing moments. And when she
asks you how many guests we should have at our wedding, don’t say I
didn’t warn you.” I was too worked up to control what came out of
my mouth.

“Are we getting married?” Jace asked
innocently.

“My mother can’t wait to marry me off to
someone,” I complained. “You just happened to be the first guy to
step foot across the threshold.”

“Oh, well. Don’t worry about it. I think my
mom had some of those same ideas when we first started hanging out.
I overheard something she said to my dad once, and it made me feel
reluctant to bring Rachel home after we started going out. That’s
why I waited so long before telling my parents she was my
girlfriend. I thought my mom would be shocked and act all weird,
but she was fine.” This was the first I’d heard about any of
this.