The Magic's in the Music (Magic Series Book 5) (29 page)

It took the kid a while to make it up the beach path because he had the girl with him, but there they were, moving through the pepper trees at the edge of that church property on the far side of the Tremaine land. Why hadn’t he acted on his hunch and started down there before? Now they had a head start on him. But they had no vehicle. They’d have to hitch a ride.

He turned and moved swiftly to the door of the empty house. Hard to get a ride after dark. Maybe he could catch them. He’d been right about the girl and the kid. They were a couple all right, and with Tremaines, he knew what that meant. Two new powers coming. Maybe now Morgan would finally agree it was time to pick them up. He’d text Morgan later.

The kid had hit the jackpot with the girl. Hardwick said she was a movie star named Gretchen Falk. The tabloids had splashed her face and the Tremaine kid’s all over supermarkets everywhere after he rescued her from some fans. She was a real looker. Nobody realized who the Tremaine kid was, or that the movie star was hanging out at The Breakers.

He turned over the engine in the beige Camry.

He couldn’t give them a ride himself. The kid had seen him when the Clan had attacked the house. But he could follow whoever did stop for them. He got a warm feeling in his gut. Adventure tonight at last. Maybe it would end with him getting to off a Tremaine and his lady-love. And maybe he didn’t have to off the girl right away.

*

Lan got the
guy who had picked them up on PV Drive West to drop them at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car up on Catalina Avenue in Redondo Beach. He usually didn’t rent a car, since that only made it easier for Kemble to track him, but that was just naïve. Michael could Find them anytime he wanted. And he would, if he knew they were gone. But Lan was betting the family would want to give them privacy. They’d be back before anybody missed them.

Now he and Greta were tooling up the 110 Freeway toward Griffith Park in a non-descript green Prius to check out a comet on the telescope at the Observatory. Greta said the place stayed open ’til eleven. A stupid quest, but at least it got them out.

Was it foolish to take Greta away from the protection of The Breakers tonight? Probably. But the whole atmosphere there was stifling. With love and expectation, but still stifling. He was never going to get to know her—just her and not the whole image thing, or what she wanted to project to his family—if they were cooped up at The Breakers for a week.

He had to admit he felt guilty though. He found rebellion easy. He didn’t care if the Clan was watching. But he was acting for Greta, too, and she had no idea what the danger really was like, even though he’d told her. Maybe it was selfish and immature—boy, that was hard to admit—to make that decision for her.

Still, he’d been coming and going at The Breakers for more than a year and there’d been no sign of the Clan. Maybe the family was just paranoid at this point. Maybe Morgan didn’t care about the Tremaine family anymore. It wasn’t like they were a challenge to her anymore. She had three Talismans. She was no doubt working her plan, whatever it was. Kemble had said they’d been picking up the pieces after natural disasters his brother attributed to the Clan’s weather girl all year. And Kemble had been personally reinforcing security in the systems of the stock exchanges and the electrical grid. Lan really didn’t want to know exactly how he was doing that.

Kemble would be surprised to know that Lan knew all this. But Lan wasn’t oblivious. On those occasions when he was at The Breakers, he heard what the family was talking about. He pretended not to share their concerns, but that was only because he couldn’t do jack about them. Drinking was easier.

The downtown traffic whirled around them in rivers of red and white lights. He got over to the right when he hit the main interchange so he could take the 101 up into Hollywood.

Anyway, the Clan couldn’t watch the Tremaines all the time. Lan checked his rearview mirror, as though he could detect someone following him in the constant flow of L.A. traffic.

He realized he’d been silent for a while. He chanced a glance to Greta, who hugged a navy, hooded sweatshirt around her body. Didn’t look like something a starlet would wear. Probably borrowed from Tammy or something. “So, why astronomy, do you think? I mean, how did you get so interested in that?”

“I’ve always been interested in stars.” She suddenly turned around in the passenger’s seat. “I know it’s odd. Your family was all exchanging glances when I talked about wanting to do graduate work in astronomy. I should be used to that.”

He screwed up his face in apology. “No, no. It wasn’t that. Astronomy’s fine with them. It’s just that, uh, since the power you get when you…I mean in our situation…usually has something to do with a talent you have, or an interest, they were thinking…”

“That maybe I turn into Comet Woman, or something?” She snorted in derision and turned away.

“I know it sounds ludicrous.” He sighed.

He glanced over and saw her make an effort to re-engage. Touching, really. “So yours would have something to do with music?”

“I guess. Talk about ludicrous. I suppose I could turn into the Pied Piper or something.”

“Maybe. I noticed you don’t want to be without your flute, since—”

“Yeah, well.” He cut her off before she could say ‘since they’d had sex.’ He wasn’t sure he could take talking about sex right now. “Just makes me feel more…settled.”

“Nothing makes me feel settled right now.” She scrunched down into her seat.

“Yeah. I get that. This must be quite a shock. And just when you had your life all planned out and everything.”

*

Did she? Have
her life planned out? She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Things could have been worse, I suppose.”

He looked over at her, tentatively. “We both probably have enough money.”

She nodded. “You don’t seem to be suffering.” She was immediately sorry she’d said it. His mouth looked like he was in pain before he got control and made his face a blank.

“Nope.”

“You have a family who loves you and worries over you. I know it bugs you, but it seems pretty good to me.”

“You sound wistful. Don’t you have anybody who cares about you?”

She chuffed a rueful laugh. “My mother and my agent see me more as a revenue source. No,” she corrected. “Bernie’s nice. He likes me. It’s not totally just his fifteen percent.”

“Bet he’s not wild about you thinking about going back to school.”

“I haven’t told him.”

“Have you told anyone? I mean besides at dinner tonight?” He kept glancing over at her. His face was lost in shadow between the lighted freeway signs.

“No.” And that was strange. “Actually I never told anybody about the real problem with my mother either, until I talked to Brian.”

“You sound surprised.” Lan was frowning.

“Well, I’m not exactly Miss Blabbermouth. You can’t be in my business. Look what happened in the parking lot of Diamondback.”

“I get it. Your heartbreaks make headlines, like in that movie Tammy watches about once a month. The one with Julia Roberts.”

She was surprised he knew about
Nottinghill
. But of course, he had sisters. “Yeah.”

He seemed to be waiting. Oh. He wanted her to tell him what the real problem with her mother was. She was not going through that emotional wringer again. She let him wait. The distance between their bucket seats seemed to stretch across light years.

Finally, he cleared his throat. “You’re not the first to fall under my family’s spell.” He looked over and saw her expression. “Not witchcraft or anything like that.” He snorted. “Hell, woman, lighten up. I meant that…” He cleared his throat again. Was he embarrassed? “I mean, I rag on having a family like that, but they mean well. They’re kind people. The Parents took in Devin when he was orphaned at nine. Raised him like he was one of us. I still think of him as my brother.”

Wait…? “So Devin lived like your brother?”

“I know. It’s…complicated.”

Her mind was racing. “You mean…?”

“Yeah. He and Kee were always close, practically twins. We called them the Kee/Devin Consortium because you never saw one without the other. But about two years ago it became something more.”

“Your parents were…okay with that?”

“Destiny.” He shrugged. “One day the genes activated each other and…well, they really didn’t have a choice. Couldn’t blame them. Was hell on them, though.” He rolled his eyes. “Kee was locked in the garret, painting portraits of him ’til she dropped, and Dev was out surfing storms buck-naked at night. Took awhile for them to come to grips with it. Actually…” His voice got thoughtful. “All my brothers and sisters took awhile to settle into it.”

“They all seem so happy now.”

“Sickeningly so.” He made a face. He paused and sucked in a breath. “But what I was trying to say, is that they’re… generous. Well, most of the time. Easy to talk to.”

It occurred to Greta that the Tremaine family was exactly what she had never had growing up. Father dead when she was five. Mother who turned into Stage Mom overnight, willing to do anything to further her daughter’s career as a substitute for having no purpose of her own. Was that why Greta found it so hard to have relationships? Was it her fault that she was friends with someone like Jax? Or was there was something wrong with her?

She glanced over to Lanyon, who seemed lost in thought. Was this stranger going to become the focus of her life?

Not if she could help it. She was strong. She was independent. She was in control.

Why did that suddenly feel so lonely?

*

They took the
twisting road up into the Hollywood Hills. Lan saw their destination off to their right on a promontory that overlooked the city. As they hit the summit, the white building with the three copper domes looked pretty spectacular across some small parking lots and broad lawns. It was lit with spotlights from its base. Beyond lay the myriad lights of Los Angeles, from the towers of downtown all the way to the black of the ocean. Sunset must have been pretty spectacular up here.

“Glad it’s a Tuesday,” Greta said, pointing to a parking space. “On the weekends, we’d end up parking half way down the road.”

He pulled the Prius into one of several available spaces. “You come here a lot?”

She looked a little embarrassed as they got out. “The telescope in the building itself is old technology. It’s been here since 1935. I guess it feels a little like a monument at this point.” She took his hand, almost shyly. Her touch had the usual electric effect on his unruly cock. How could that be? He’d been well and truly sated about an hour and a half ago. “But there are always people on the lawn to help visitors see whatever’s in the sky right now. They’re great to talk to.”

He saw lines of people at four or five telescopes on the broad lawn. They were mostly silhouettes from this distance. “These are just guys who come up and hang out?”

“Some are employees of the observatory. Others are members of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society who volunteer their time.” She was pulling him across the closest parking lot onto the lawns. Her eagerness was really endearing.