The Fairytale Curse (Magic's Return Book 1) (23 page)

Plus he’d said green was his favourite colour. Just thinking about it gave me goosebumps.

I loosened the collar again. No, it definitely felt hotter. The ends of the pointy bits felt as if they’d been out in the sun. Weird. I glanced over at CJ at the next table, but she was laughing and talking as if nothing was wrong.

“I’m going to the ladies’.” I pushed my chair back, suddenly worried. I needed to check the stupid thing.

“I’ll come with you,” said Sona.

Julie looked vaguely alarmed at being left alone next to Miss Moore.

“Don’t be too long,” Miss Moore said. “They’ve started bringing out dessert, which means the speeches will be soon.”

As we passed CJ I noticed a pile of diamonds on the table next to her. Josh was arranging them in patterns as they chatted. At least she looked sober now.

In the bathroom I leaned in to the mirror, scrutinising my collar. It was definitely getting hot; the skin underneath was a little pinker than normal.

“What’s the matter?” Sona reapplied her lipstick and blew a kiss at her reflection, then frowned at me in the mirror. “Is it sticking into you?”

“It’s getting really warm—but it doesn’t look any different. I hope there’s nothing wrong.”

“Let me see.” She moved closer and poked a tentative finger at the back of my neck. “Were these bits always a funny colour?”

“What do you mean, funny?”

“This part here near the clasp is all black and dull. Was it always like that?”

“I’m not sure.” I’d never really looked that closely. “I don’t think so.”

I turned the collar around so I could see what she was talking about. Three of the big links were much darker than the rest. The clasp itself still gleamed silver in the middle of the dull section. That didn’t look right.

While I stood there, twisting the collar this way and that, a fourth link turned black in my hands.

“Oh, shit.”

Automatically I looked down, more than half expecting to see a toad materialise in the sink. But the drop that fell from my mouth wasn’t even coloured. It shimmered faintly before disappearing in mid air. So the collar was still working.

But for how much longer?

Of all the times for Dad to go to Paris, why did it have to be now? Was there anyone else at Magic HQ who might know how to fix this?

“What’s wrong?” asked Sona. “What’s happening?”

“I don’t know, but it doesn’t look good. I think it might be about to start raining frogs again.”

“Oh, no. Poor you.” Her dark eyes were full of sympathy.

“Why now?” I clenched my fists in frustration. Couldn’t it have held off for just a little longer? So much for my plans for the after party. Who was going to want to kiss a girl with frogs coming out of her mouth? Zac was a great guy, but even someone who liked frogs might draw the line at that.

“It might last the night,” she said, trying to be positive, but even as she spoke another link died.

“Yeah, it might.” And pigs might fly. I sighed. “I guess we’d better go. That sounds like the speeches starting.”

We got back to the table as Mrs Crawley started her speech. The principal was a good speaker, not one of these people that likes the sound of their own voice. Her speeches were short and to the point, and usually entertaining. But tonight I didn’t hear a word, too busy obsessing about the collar and its imminent failure. It was like having an exam hanging over your head, only worse, because at least with exams you know when they’re going to be. But any moment now I could find myself spitting frogs again, even in the middle of saying something. Just as well
I
wasn’t giving any speeches tonight.

Miss Moore was staring at me, watching my fingers fiddle with the damn collar. I forced myself to fold my hands in my lap and tried to at least look like I was paying attention to the speeches. The collar was growing uncomfortably warm.

Mrs Crawley finished her address to a round of applause, then introduced CJ to come up and propose the toast to the outgoing school leadership team. CJ rose, her collar firmly in place, and walked up to the microphone. From where I was sitting I couldn’t tell if there was anything wrong with hers. Maybe I could borrow it if it was still working properly, since she didn’t seem to care whether she wore it or not.

“Mrs Crawley, teachers, and fellow students,” she began. “It’s my honour and privilege tonight to propose a toast of appreciation to all the prefects and school leaders who’ve done such a fantastic job this year. You may wonder why a newcomer like me was chosen for this role, but I can tell you, even in the short time I’ve been at Fernleigh High, I’ve come to know some of the leadership team
quite well
…”

She grinned and paused until the laughter died down. While she was waiting she ran her finger around under her collar in a gesture I knew all too well. Damn. Looked like I wouldn’t be borrowing hers after all.

“… and I can truthfully say that already I can see what an asset they’ve been for our school.” She paused again and cleared her throat. “On behalf of the whole student body, I’d … ahem … I’d like to—”

She lifted a hand to her throat, a strange look on her face. She whispered to someone at the front table, and they handed her a glass of water.

“Sorry, everyone, just a little frog in my throat.”

There was laughter at this too, and many glances my way. Gee, thanks, CJ, just what I needed to make this night super special, more people laughing at me.

Zac reached over without a word and took my hand.

“As I was saying, on behalf of everyone here tonight, I’d like to … propose … a toast OH MY GOD.”

Right there, with the eyes of the whole room on her, a frog materialised from CJ’s mouth and dropped into the glass of water with a resounding
plop
. She screamed and hurled the glass. It smashed in the middle of the dance floor, spraying the two front tables with water and broken glass.

Everyone scrambled up with screams and shouts of surprise. CJ kept screaming too, spewing a constant stream of frogs from her mouth.

I jumped up too. “CJ!”

A single perfect diamond dropped from my lips. Oh,
no
. This couldn’t be happening. I stared at it, more horrified than I’d ever been by the damn frogs, then looked at Zac.

“We have to help her!”

Someone, thank God, had at least taken the microphone from her, so her amplified screams weren’t ripping through the room like fingernails on a chalkboard. As Zac and I pushed through the crowd toward her she ran for the safety of Josh’s arms, her eyes streaming tears and mascara.

He stepped back, putting a table between them. His handsome face was twisted into a grimace of disgust, his blue eyes cold. “That’s close enough. Sorry, babe, but I don’t do reptiles.”

Her face crumpled. Rejection was a new experience for CJ. I wanted to punch his face in. The guy was a complete jerk.

“They’re amphibians, arsehole.” I shoved him out of the way. He didn’t deserve my beautiful sister anyway. We stood in the centre of a circle of accusing faces, though what they accused us of I didn’t know. Being unlucky? It wasn’t as if CJ was pulling some stupid stunt to ruin the formal on purpose. “Come on, Ceej, let’s get out of here.”

Like bodyguards, Zac and I took an arm each and hurried her away.

She was still crying when we got to the car, little hiccupping sobs that left a trail of frogs behind us. Like Hansel and Gretel dropping breadcrumbs—except their breadcrumbs didn’t hop away. It was dark outside, but the building blazed like a Christmas tree, all lit up, its glow sending dark shadows staggering ahead of us.

“It’s all right, Ceej, calm down.”

I tried to put my arm around her but she only cried harder at the sight of diamonds pattering onto the ashphalt from my lips, and pushed me away.

“Leave me alone!”

As if it was my fault. Well, now she knew how it felt to be the one with the frogs. Not so glamorous, huh?

And then I felt like the worst sister in the world for even thinking that.

“Want a tissue?” Zac got one out of the glove box and offered it to her. Then he stepped back as if she were a ticking bomb that might be about to blow.

God, he was perfect. A warmth spread through me, despite the public disaster and the horrible uncertainty of our curse. What trick would it pull next? I was so conscious of him standing next to me that I almost didn’t care. Almost.

When CJ had calmed down enough to stop spraying frogs everywhere we got into the little Mazda. I sneaked peeks at Zac’s handsome face as he drove. Was he really as calm as he appeared? “I’m sorry, this probably isn’t the way you planned to spend tonight.”

A handful of diamonds pattered into my lap. Remembering my resentment of CJ’s ability to speak, I felt a little guilty now that it was my turn to enjoy the diamond half of the curse. But only a little.

“Don’t be sorry. I’m not.” He glanced my way, his eyes full of promise. “I’m still with you, aren’t I?”

I drew in a short, shocked breath and tried to stop a goofy smile from spreading across my face.

“Admittedly, it wasn’t quite what I had in mind when I asked you to go to the formal with me,” he added, “but at least life with you is never dull.”

“Not lately, anyway,” I agreed.

I checked on CJ. She was staring out the window, apparently lost in her own thoughts. Not happy ones, I was sure. Anger at that jerk Josh Johnson welled up in me again. He was just like that stupid prince in the fairy tale. I was convinced he’d only become interested in her because of the diamonds. Once they were gone it was all over, red rover.

I preferred my princes a little more gallant, and a lot less focused on the money. Like Zac. He took one hand off the wheel and reached over for mine. I looked down at our joined hands resting on my leg and smiled.

I was still smiling when we pulled up outside our house and I realised it was ablaze with light. We definitely hadn’t left it that way.

“Uh-oh.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Someone’s home.” And there was only one person that could be. I groaned. “Looks like we’re in trouble.”

He let go of my hand long enough to put the car into park. “Want me to come in with you?”

CJ got out and slammed the door, leaving us alone for a few precious seconds.

“You are amazing, you know that?” I leaned closer, and this time nothing happened to ruin the moment. His lips were soft and warm. I closed my eyes, breathing in the delicious pine scent of him as the kiss deepened, leaving me breathless, heart hammering.

He pulled away after an endless moment, looking a little dazed.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Was that too pushy?”

“I’ve been wanting to do that all night,” he admitted. “Though I have to say I was hoping for a more romantic setting.”

True, I’d been picturing a romantic moment on the dance floor instead of a stolen kiss in the front seat of the little Mazda, but I wasn’t complaining. Outside, CJ shifted restlessly on the footpath. Time to face the music.

“I’m sorry. I have to go.”

“Give me your phone.”

I pulled it out of my bag and watched as he put his number into my Contacts.

“Call me tomorrow.”

“I will,” I promised.

I waved as he drove off, then floated up the driveway as if I was treading on air. Zac had kissed me, and I couldn’t care less what was coming out of my mouth any more. His mum might get a surprise, though, when she found a few diamonds kicking round the floor of her car tomorrow.

It wasn’t until we got inside and came face to face with Mum that my happy mood started to fade. Her mouth was a hard, furious line.

“Where the hell have you two been?” Her gaze took in fancy dresses and elaborate hairstyles in one scathing sweep. “I don’t even need to ask, do I? It’s obvious. You’ve been to the formal, after I specifically grounded you both.” She glared at CJ, then turned on me. “I might have expected that of your sister, but you! I thought you had more sense than to encourage her.”

I boggled at the injustice of it. Hello? She
was
talking about CJ, wasn’t she? Surely she knew her own daughter well enough to know that nobody talked CJ out of something she’d set her mind on. And how come there were different standards for the two of us? How was that fair?

“Did you learn nothing from last weekend’s disaster?” she went on. “It’s a dangerous world out there for the daughters of a warder. You’re supposed to be safe at home with Kyle, and instead you’re running around completely unsupervised. How can I protect you if I don’t know where you are? If I can’t even trust you to do as you’re told?”

“Like you even care!” CJ was just as angry, but she had presence of mind enough to grab my hand before she started yelling. “We’ve been spewing frogs and diamonds all week and we’ve hardly even seen you. You’re so busy with your precious warders. This is all your fault!”

“Really? How is any of this my fault? Was I the one who cursed you?”

“Would we have been cursed if we weren’t your daughters? We’re just collateral damage in some stupid war you’re fighting.”

Outside, the little Mazda drove away, the noise of its engine dwindling into the distance. I wished I was in it still, with that beautiful pine-scented boy. In the harsh light of the foyer that dreamy moment was already slipping away. But tomorrow … tomorrow I would ring him. We had the whole two weeks of the holidays ahead.

“This war was fought and won long ago. It’s our job to make sure it doesn’t break out again. Do you really want to live in a world where this kind of thing can happen any time? Because that’s what it used to be like. Humans were nothing more than playthings to them, subject to any ridiculous whim. No one was safe.”

“It doesn’t feel like it’s over to me. But then, you haven’t even asked me how I feel, have you, so you wouldn’t know. You’ve never even said you were sorry this happened to us.”

“Of course I’m sorry it happened to you!” Mum threw her arms up in a gesture of frustration. “But it’s not all about you, Crystal! I’m a warder, and there’s a lot going on right now, more than you know. I have a lot of responsibilities. Do you even know what that word means? Because you sure don’t act like it lately.”