Spellsinger (Avalon: Web of Magic #5) (11 page)

Then she saw Johnny sitting in the first row, front and center, staring right at her with his bright, winning smile. His eyes flashed with blue fire.

No, she thought. Why should I hide it? This is my lucky charm!

Kara was ushered onstage. The bright lights seared her eyes as she heard the music start up. It was one of Johnny’s hits, a song she knew by heart. And so far she had been the only one to pick this song.

Two points for me, she thought, terrified. She looked out into the audience and felt her head go light, her knees threaten to turn to water. Just about everyone she knew was watching her, waiting for her to mess up...

Well, to heck with that! Kara thought. Raising her head defiantly, she took the microphone. She looked at Johnny and saw his lips moving, as if he were singing the first verse himself.

And then—

The world stopped. For just a moment Kara experienced a sudden silence, a vacuum that drew all light and sound and sensation from her. She thought she was passing out.

No, this can’t be happening!

She reached for the power of the unicorns and felt a sparkle of fire where the locket hung.

With a twirl, Kara stepped into a choreographed dance move, moving in sync with the beat. Her voice sang out, filling the auditorium and carrying the melody in perfect pitch. Rocking out, Kara danced up a storm as the crowd was swept to their feet with the excitement of her performance.

She was being showered with applause. Kara shuddered, feeling disoriented.

“You rocked, girl! Totally cool,” Inky said, taking the microphone from her. “Kara Davies, everyone!” He called out. “Everyone, give it up for contestant number twenty-three, Kara Davies!”

The applause rose and Kara bowed, basking in the adoration of the crowd. She could certainly get used to this.

Just before she left the stage, she saw Johnny wink at her.

Backstage, Adriane glared at her suspiciously, but Kara didn’t care.

The next hour passed in a blur. The other girls did their numbers, with Inky off in the corner making notes about them. Then he took the stage and announced the finalists.

Heather had made the cut,
duh
there. But so had two girls Kara barely knew, along with Adriane, and—

“Our fifth finalist, Kara Davies!” Inky roared.

Kara raced out onto the stage, thrilled to be part of the winner’s circle. She posed with the others for photographs.

“We’ll see you all tomorrow.” Inky waved. “It’s going to be a great day for Ravenswood!”

Kara was ecstatic—for all of about five seconds.

Before she could say a word, Adriane grabbed her arm and yanked her aside.

“Okay,” the tall girl said. “I don’t know how you did it, and I don’t care.”

“Did... did what?” Kara asked.

“You went out there and you didn’t stink,” Adriane said bluntly.

“Yeah, thanks,” Kara said. “I had so much encouragement from my
friends
.” She delivered that last word like an icy dagger.

“And some help, too, no doubt!”

“What do you mean?” Kara asked innocently.

“I mean—this!” Adriane held up her wrist. The wolf stone was pulsing with strong amber light. “I know you used some kind of magic! Don’t deny it!”

“No way.” Kara’s eyes darted back and forth, trying to see if anyone was close enough to hear them.

“You cheated!” Adriane hissed.

“My singing is just as good as yours,” Kara countered.

“In your dreams. You’re bowing out of the finals!”

Kara stared at Adriane in absolute fury. “You’ve got to be kidding!”

One look into Adriane's eyes and Kara knew she was deadly serious.

“I
have
to be in the finals!”

“Why, Kara? Just what is so important about singing on that stage?”

Kara stopped short. When she actually thought about it, she had no logical reason.

“This is about Ravenswood!” Adriane continued. “The spotlight needs to be on the preserve, the animals, what we’re trying to do for them... not on you.”

“So why aren’t you backing out?” Kara asked. “You cheated, too! You used magic to get the home court advantage. You’ve got Johnny living right next door. You think people aren’t going to talk about that if you win?”

“I haven’t been getting Johnny’s attention every single minute. You have. I mean... look at what you’re wearing!”

Shaking with rage, Kara clutched the locket.

“Fine! But if I can’t sing in the contest, neither can you!” Kara said to Adriane’s face. “Or I’ll tell everyone how you practiced with Johnny at Ravenswood!”

Adriane looked furious.

“Do we have a deal?” Kara asked.

“Fine! I don’t want to be in this stupid contest anymore!” And she stormed off.

Kara turned her back on Adriane and went to talk with Inky. He wasn’t exactly happy to hear that she was withdrawing, but there were backup choices for the contest. As long as this is what Kara really wanted... well, then he’d be fine with it.

So maybe she wouldn’t sing with Johnny as the contest winner, Kara thought.

There were plenty of other ways to get even for what Adriane had pulled. She looked in her backpack at the photocopies.

Plenty of other spells, too.

K
ARA DIDN’T SLEEP
at all that night. Now it was morning—
the
morning, the concert was
today—
but she couldn’t get out of bed. She lay buried under blankets and pillows.

The song had gone so well. Kara would never forget how it felt to stand in front of all those people, to be under the glaring lights, to hear their applause. But she had taken a magical shortcut, leaping right over the part that was really difficult, heading right to the instant reward she had craved.

Which... wasn’t bad, right? She really had delivered on that song, and if things had gone the way they should have, the way they were meant to, she would have netted that spot singing with Johnny. Only—Adriane had discovered her secret, part of it anyway. That she’d used magic to cheat her way to winning.

Kara was furious with Adriane, yet she also felt relieved. She hated lying and she hated being a cheater! What had possessed her to even consider such a stupid thing? What would her parents and friends think of her if they knew? She chewed her lip. And the way she had treated Heather… that was so cruel. To top it off, she had even destroyed school property! No wonder she hadn’t slept much.

She tossed the pillows, kicked away the blankets, and sprang out of bed. She would meet Adriane and Emily at the portal field and use the dragonfly phone to contact Zach. Then she would spill it all and beg her friends to forgive her. She would return the horn immediately before something really terrible happened. She would forget singing onstage with Johnny and get back to what was really important: getting the word out to the world about Ravenswood!

Someone knocked at her door. “Hey, sleeping beauty!” her father called. “You’ve got a visitor!”

“I'm not here!” Kara replied. A visitor. Probably Molly or Tiffany...

“Not here?” came another voice, light and musical, from downstairs. “Not even for me?”

It was Johnny!

Flying into a pile of clothes, she threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. She yanked open the door, barreled past her startled father, bolted down the steps—then stopped short. Johnny was standing in her living room. Wavy black hair brushed his forehead. His gorgeous blue eyes twinkled.

Mayor Davies cleared his throat. “How about some breakfast, Johnny?”

“No thanks, Mayor D,” Johnny said. “Just stopped by with a quick update for the Ravenswood president.”

“Well, thanks again for coming to Stonehill—we all really appreciate your generosity,” Kara’s dad said, walking back to the kitchen. “Good luck with the show.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” Johnny said to the mayor, but his smile was for Kara. “Ready for the big day?”

Kara nervously ran her hand through her hair, which she knew was a total mess.

“Um, uh... sure,” she said, accompanied by a self-conscious little laugh.

“I have a feeling this is going to be a day people will talk about for years to come.” His melodic tones filled her with visions of rock and roll glory.

Kara smiled back. Cool.

“So, what’s up?” she asked.

“Inky tells me you’ve decided to back out of the competition.”

“Uh, yeah…” How was she going to explain this one?

“That’s just like you, you know,” Johnny said, moving past her to examine the family photos on the fireplace mantle. “Always thinking of your friends first.”

“Uh… I guess…”

“You figured it was a conflict,” he reasoned. “With you being the president of Ravenswood and all, right?”

“It’s not that I didn’t want to sing with you…”

“Did you?”

“Oh, yes, more than anything!” Kara wasn’t lying about that.

“Good. Because I have something for you.”

Kara waited. The locket suddenly became warm. Her skin tingled and she tried to stay cool—but suddenly it was hard to think straight.

“I wrote a song for you,” Johnny said.

Kara practically stopped breathing. “You what?”

Johnny took a sheet of paper from his pocket. “I wrote it originally for B*Tween. You know, Inky manages them too. We’re pretty sure it’s going to be a number one hit. The problem is—B*Tween’s missing. The way I heard it, they wanted a little time off.”

Kara’s heart thundered as she scanned the lyrics. He had to be kidding... but the look in his eyes was icy calm, deadly serious. This wasn’t a gag.

“It’s called ‘Shine Your Light,’” Johnny explained. “It's about finding the path that’s right for you—letting friends know who you really are inside.”

“That’s crazy!” Kara squealed.

“It’s the least I can do for all the work you’ve done organizing the concert. And like I said before, you’ve got something… special.”

Then she felt the heat of Johnny’s locket... and thought of the unicorn horn. Such amazing magic, all for her.

“And I want you to sing the song tonight, for the first time, during the concert,” Johnny said.

“Wow!” A brand-new Johnny Conrad song, and Kara was going to debut it tonight! “But what about the contest?”

“Don’t worry about that,” Johnny answered her. “We’ll get that over with early on. You’re going to be the showstopper!”

Kara just couldn’t believe it.

“I’ll let you in on a secret. You know what being a star is?”

“What?” she whispered.

“When you shine brighter than anyone else in the world.”

Kara smiled, eyes wide.

“Brief, bright... and then it’s over.”

“Not for you, Johnny,” Kara said, holding her breath.

“Oh, yes, even for me. I’m just this month’s musical flavor. A year from now no one will have ever heard of Johnny Conrad. I’ll be yesterday’s news.”

“No
way
!”

He shrugged. “There will be someone newer, cooler. It’s just the way it is. But while we
are
stars, we do our best to shine, shooting across the heavens in a blaze of glory! You get all you can, any way you can! And tonight your light will shine brighter than anyone else’s!”

Kara was speechless. Is this what it meant to be the blazing star? To flame brighter than anyone else—only to burn out in a blaze of glory? She shuddered.