Waiting for Magic (21 page)

He could tell her he was glad she’d found her lover, even though he wasn’t. Why wasn’t she trotting off at every opportunity to see Museum Guy
these last few days? Maybe she was afraid of what was happening to her. Devin could comfort her if she’d let him. He wanted so badly to protect her from any fear or pain. But he was probably the last person she wanted to see.

He hadn’t slept in three nights, not only because of the constant driving sexual need he couldn’t shake but also from trying to figure out what to do.

If he considered only his own emotional wellbeing he should leave the Breakers. Maybe get an apartment in Westwood, close to UCLA. But what did school matter anymore? He couldn’t care less about it. So he could go anywhere. Except for two things. Even the thought of leaving Kee made him sick to his stomach. And while once he might have thought the Clan wouldn’t target him, now he had a power which had been on display the other night with a Clan member in the vicinity. Maybe they knew, maybe they didn’t. But it upped the ante.

Then there was the fact that he was pretty sure Pendragon had a Talisman. Something the family needed if they were to defend themselves against the Clan. At first he’d thought he’d tell Kemble and they’d go after it together. Kemble knew Devin had a power. Michael and Drew could verify that with a power, Devin could have felt the Talisman. But then Kemble would realize Kee had been affected by the presence of the Talisman too. And Kee’s secret wasn’t Devin’s to share.

Of course he wasn’t
positive
Pendragon had a Talisman. It was likely but not sure. Kemble might go after it alone, after Brian’s shit fit about him taking Devin and Kee. He’d sure never take Brian. Not good. Pendragon might be an old faker, but the Clan would be on the watch, now that they’d failed to kill three Tremaines. If Kemble couldn’t get it, or it wasn’t there, even if he managed to escape the Clan and come back alive, it would reinforce Kemble’s fear that he wasn’t as good as Brian, or even Tris or Michael since they had magic. Whether Brian stayed calm or threw a fit, Kemble might be broken by his own failure.

So, go or stay? Tell Kemble about the Talisman or not? Tell Kee she was safe from his attentions or not? It had all been running around in his head twenty-four/seven until he was a basket case.
And what was he going to do with a power over water?

Don’t tell anyone. That’s what he’d decided this morning. But as easy as silence had been in those early years after the accident and the orphanage, silence was killing him now. There was the ever-present possibility Kemble would reveal Devin’s power, or Drew
had seen more than she was telling, or Brina would somehow use her tarot cards to find the truth. If they figured out he had a power, they’d know he had it bad for his sister. He couldn’t bear that. So he’d have to continue his lie and tell them Sybil raised his power. Then what? He hadn’t lied to Kemble in the cab when he said that would be a disaster.

He walked out in the rain, imagining he could feel Kee in the third-floor corner room. She wasn’t looking out at him. She was painting. Probably painting for Museum Guy. He inspired her, no doubt. But just the feel of her up there started the blood rushing to Devin’s groin.

Devin sat down under the pergola at the cliff end of the garden. Even in winter, the magenta bracts of the bougainvillea tried to cheer up the gray and sodden day. They were so thick they almost sheltered him from the rain. Not that he needed that. Water felt natural, even the cold November rain. He stared down at the ocean, whipped by the spatter of rain into gray-green metal, punctuated by whitecaps. Surf was big. Not as big as that night he’d surfed, but big.

He couldn’t bring himself to grab his board today, though it might help heal his mind. He just stared and suffered with thoughts of Kee. His groin was so swollen he was uncomfortable in his jeans. That was penance too. Dark fell early. He hardly seemed to notice.

Footsteps scurried down the path. He didn’t turn. It wasn’t Kee. The footsteps stopped.

“Dinner, Devin.”

Jane. Jane had always been kind to him.

“Not hungry.”

Silence for a minute.

“Okay. You don’t have to eat. But you look like you could use a stiff drink.”

Jane? Quiet and shy Jane was offering him a drink? That was surprising. He turned his head. He couldn’t see her expression, silhouetted as she was against the warm glow of light from the windows of the house. “Yeah. I guess I could.”

She took his arm as he rose. “Will you hold the umbrella?”

As if he wanted an umbrella to shield himself from water. “Sure.” He held it over Jane as they made their way back to the house.

She guided him the back way to avoid the dining room where he could hear that dinner was in full swing. The
living room was dim, lighted only by the channel of light coming out of the dining room and dim light over on the landing of the stairs. “Rum and coke?” Jane asked. That’s what he usually drank. She didn’t turn on a lamp, but opened the doors to the sideboard and rummaged inside just as if she could see in the dark. “Or I could make you a gin martini, or … or there’s some Scotch or tequila, vodka.…”

“Scotch.” Rum and coke was too slow tonight. He wanted drunk and he wanted it now.

She poured some of the Springbank Michael had been working on the other night, and made herself a gin and tonic.

She didn’t ask him what was wrong. She didn’t mention Kee either, though if anyone knew about Kee having a power and being in love with Museum Guy, it occurred to him that it might be Jane. She was always the quiet one, sitting in the shadows. She saw a lot.

“I hope Kemble didn’t rope you into going to Mr. Pendragon’s house against your will,” she said, after a minute.

“Don’t blame Kemble.” He snorted. “Even though everybody else does.”

“No, no.…” she protested in that gentle way she had. “Not his fault at all. I … I asked him to be sure and … well, include you in things.” She must have seen his incredulous look, because she rushed on. “Well, after that night you went out surfing when it was far too dangerous … I … I just knew you were upset, that’s all, and I thought Kemble….” She trailed off.

Jane knew he’d surfed that night. Th
e night where he’d first encountered his power. He didn’t know what to say, afraid she knew too much about why he had been in such pain he’d run to the sea. “No,” he finally said. “I wanted to go.”

She just nodded. After they’d sipped in silence for a while, she sighed. “Guess I better get going. It’s getting most inconvenient to go home to develop my pictures.”

That surprised him. She was a photographer? He’d never seen her take a picture. And he never thought of her as having a hobby. “I didn’t know you took pictures.”

She gave a pained smile. “You weren’t paying attention.”

Oh. Jane did kind of blend into the background. It occurred to him that Jane was another stray the Tremaines had taken in.

“Actually, I make a decent living at it. Local art shows, some weddings and anniversary portraits, that sort of thing.”

She did?

She gave him a scolding look. “You can’t think I’d sponge off your parents entirely. I already eat most of my meals here.”

“No,” he said. “Of course not.” Though frankly, he didn’t see why not. The Tremaines liked doing things for people they cared about. And they all cared about Jane.

She gave another sigh. “So you see my dilemma. Brian wants to convert the old root cellar into a darkroom for me.”

“Sounds great.” Devin shrugged.

“It’s too much.” She shook her head. “And.…”

There was some genuine distress there. “What is it, Jane?” he asked gently. He knew she felt like an outsider in the Tremaine household. No magic. He’d been there. He was still there, even if he had the gene. The entire Tremaine family would kick him out into the street, naked and bloody, if they knew how he felt about Kee.

She bit her lip and shook her head. He should give her a hug. That’s what girls needed when they looked like Jane looked now. Difficult. Still she wasn’t going to tell him if he didn’t do something. And he knew how damaging secrets could be. Jane shouldn’t have to bear that too. He put his hand over hers. It wasn’t bad. A little awkward, but then he didn’t have any practice. At least it wasn’t the electric pain to his groin he got when he’d pulled Kee out of the water and let her rest on his chest in the cab. “You can tell me,” he said.

Jane’s brows drew together. She examined his face. “Yes. Yes I can.” She heaved in a breath and he felt it was okay to take his hand away. He wasn’t used to the etiquette of touching and how long was too long—that kind of thing. He hoped it didn’t look like he was aching to end the contact, even though he was. “If I don’t go home to develop my pictures,” she said, “I … I might not want to go home at all.” She shook her head. “I’m an ungrateful daughter.”

Devin could hardly believe his ears. “She makes your life hell whenever you go home. We all know that, Jane. You make sure she has food. You wash and iron her clothes. You take her to doctor’s appointments when what she really needs is an AA meeting. I bet you pay her bills. You’re a way better daughter than that woman deserves.”

“But I don’t love her,” Jane said simply. “Not anymore.”

What could he say to that? “Blood family has claims on you. But nowhere does it say you have to love them. You get to choose whom to love as family.” But he felt so guilty saying that he almost choked on the words. He loved the Tremaines just like Jane did, but he’d betrayed them with a love he couldn
’t control.

She looked up at him, her face dim, her eyes dark in the half-light.

“Let him give you a darkroom,” Devin said, clearing his throat. “You deserve a life of your own.” That, at least, was true.

She sighed and set down her drink. It was hardly touched. But Jane never drank very much. “You deserve that too, Devin.” She rose and headed into the dining room. “Coming?”

“In a minute.”

But as soon as she was gone, he took the decanter and his glass and headed to his room.

CHAPTER TEN

Darkness had fallen. They’d waited all afternoon. That made the old woman crazy. But they dared not try to make contact again. The connection was too valuable to lose by discovery. Jason was not as nervous as usual around the old woman when she was in a snit, perhaps because he wouldn’t be the focus of her wrath. Phil, on the other hand, was about to crap in his pants. His pale hair was stuck to his head, his skin clammy with sweat. He wasn’t a big guy, like Jason, or tall and rangy like Hardwick. Just an ordinary looking schmoe who
had started out playing drums in some band and turned out to have the power of Percussion. He could strike anything, using just the power in the air around him. He could hit real hard too.

“Stop that pacing,” the old woman barked at Phil. He froze as if she’d struck him. Which she would never do. She didn’t have to.

The doorbell rang. Phil started to shake. But it was just room service. Room service was one reason the old woman loved living in hotels. The other reason was that she could up and move at any time. They paid bills in cash, thanks to Jason. That was probably the only reason he was still around after his previous failures. He’d heard the saying, “I don’t know where the money went. It just seemed to disappear.” Well it did when Jason was around. And casinos had loads of it. Their security systems were useless. He just Cloaked himself, followed them in, picked up some money and included it in his Cloak, and walked out behind them. Never saw him coming. Or leaving.

They were nearly finished eating when Hardwick’s computer pinged. He walked over and hit a key. You could have cut the silence with a steak knife.

“All Tremaines present and accounted for,” he said in that deep, Boris Karloff voice of his. The old woman turned to Phil, who looked like he’d seen a ghost.

“You didn’t even wait to make sure, did you?” she hissed.

“How, how could I? The car was washed downstream. I
saw
it sink. And it wasn’t like I could swim out and check. Nobody could have survived that.”

“But they did. And that means you disobeyed my orders to kill them.” The menace in the old woman’s voice was not diminished by the sweetness of her tone. She motioned to Hardwick and Jason. Jason knew his role. He got up from the suite’s dining room table and moved to Phil’s right. Hardwick came in from the left.