Watch Me Burn: The December People, Book Two (18 page)

Dad must still be occupied with his mysterious, urgent task because he hadn’t called. Neither had Mom. 99.9% of the time, Emmy would have relished their sudden lack of stifling attention, but now it infuriated and frightened her. Not because she was mad at them for turning a blind eye, but because the magic had tricked her. Their inattention and the timing of Dad’s sudden departure were way too convenient to be a coincidence. And as Evangeline said, there were no coincidences. Somehow magic called them away, but she didn’t know if something dark had called them away so Evangeline would be free for the taking, or if she herself had managed to will them away for her own ends.

Even if Emmy
could
find Evangeline, she knew she couldn’t go on for any longer. She felt dizzy, and had even venturing into the forest a few feet confused her. She sat on the side of the road, the dry pine needles and twigs digging into her thighs. Her head throbbed as if her brain might start oozing out of her ears.

She had already stalled way too long. She had to get it over with and call someone. Do something. Stop being selfish. Evangeline needed help and she couldn’t provide it on her own. After staring at her favorites list for a while, in a state of paralyzing indecision, she took a far right turn and pulled up Nathan’s number. She had never called it, but had liked knowing she could. And as soon as she thought of it, she didn’t have to sit in a pool of worry and indecision. She pressed call.

“Hello?”

“Nathan?”

“Hang on. Let me go somewhere else.”

“Wait, just…”

“Hang on.”

Emmy heard chatter in the background. Nathan must be with people, and didn’t want to get caught talking to a winter witch. She had to sit there and wait while he made some excuse and walked to the ends of the earth to find a place to talk to her.

“Nathan…Nathan…Nathan!”

“Okay, now I can talk.”

“Nathan, something happened.”

“What’s wrong?” His tone shifted in a heartbeat.

Emmy could feel heat in her eyes but tears didn’t come. She willed herself to form words.

“Emmy? Talk to me.”

She took a deep breath. “It happened to me, too.”

“What? What did?”

“My sister…she disappeared. In the same spot. At the same gas station. I looked everywhere.” Her voice cracked on “everywhere” and she had to stop talking.

Nathan didn’t reply. She heard a stilted whispery sound as if he tried to say something, or several somethings, and it didn’t come out right.

“What?” he finally said. His strangled tone made it clear he’d heard exactly what she had said, so Emmy didn’t repeat it. “When?”

“Just now. Well, a few hours ago. I’ve been looking and looking…I didn’t want to stop looking.”

“Have you called the police?”

“No.”

“Jesus, Emmy. Why are you calling me? Call 9-1-1.”

It must have been the witch in her, because she hadn’t considered that. But anything seemed better than calling home.

“Okay. You’re right. I will.”

“Where are you?”

“At the gas station. Sitting in the car.”

“Stay there.”

Nathan hung up the phone. Emmy had the feeling he planned to “rescue” her, which she didn’t usually appreciate. She was not, never had been, and never would be the damsel in distress. But she had hardly ever felt less like the brave knight. She was a stupid little girl. A stupid little girl dark witch, and brought nothing to the world but destruction and pain. She felt so resolved to stay put, she wondered if Nathan had made it so. But she didn’t care either way. She picked her phone back up and called 9-1-1.

The police arrived first. One car, with a man and a woman, who both looked pretty young. An ambulance came behind them and the paramedics started poking at her even though she said she was fine. The police asked a lot of questions, and asked for her parents’ names and phone number. She guessed that meant the police would call her parents, and she liked that. She couldn’t do it herself. She didn’t have the courage. She couldn’t hear the pain in Dad’s voice, when he found out Evangeline had gone missing yet again. In danger, again. She couldn’t do that to him.

The paramedics claimed she suffered from heat exhaustion, and tried to take her away. Emmy flat-out refused. She said she wouldn’t go without her brother, who should arrive soon—a weird lie, and kind of gross, because she didn’t think of Nathan as a brother, but the lie tumbled out. She thought it would work better than saying she needed to wait for some random guy she hardly knew who may or may not have cast a spell on her making it impossible for her to leave anyway.

When Nathan arrived, the paramedics didn’t question him when he crawled into the back of the ambulance with Emmy. Nathan’s yellow green eyes became glassy and frozen when he saw Emmy on the stretcher.

“Before you freak out, I’m completely, absolutely fine,” Emmy said. “These people are crazy.”

“Your sister is fine,” the paramedic explained. “Just dehydrated from being in the heat. We want to monitor her for a while.”

Emmy cringed. If the stretcher and the IV didn’t freak him out, her claim to be his sister might, especially considering the fact his actual sister was not fine.

Nathan paused before speaking, but rolled with it. “Okay, thanks,” he said. “Can I ride with her?”

“Sure.”

Fortunately, the paramedics and policemen were Mundanes. They would have no idea Emmy and Nathan being brother and sister was as ridiculous as claiming a mouse and an elephant were brother and sister.

When the paramedics left Nathan and Emmy alone in the back, Nathan took her hand. She was glad she had called him. It felt good to have someone comfort her without being simultaneously devastated and furious with her. Dad would be too distracted about Evangeline to worry about her, which she guessed was fair. She resolved not to drop Nathan’s hand, even though his touch seemed to make the heat exhaustion worse. Her eyes felt so dry and hot, they might have turned to glass. She blinked at his blurry face.

“I’m so sorry,” he said.

“It’s not your fault. It’s mine. I shouldn’t have brought her here.”

“I didn’t even know you had a sister. I never thought to ask about your family. I saw you weren’t at risk, and didn’t worry about anybody else. Stupid of me.”

Emmy didn’t get that, but her head hurt so much and she felt foggy, so she didn’t question him.

“What is her date?”

“What?”

“Your sister’s date. On the solar calendar. How dark is she?”

“I don’t understand. Why are you asking me that right now? You want to know if she’s worth caring about? Worth using up any energy to find?”

“No, no, of course not,” he said. “I’m sorry. I know this isn’t the right time…if you don’t know your own date, I’m sure you don’t know hers. I shouldn’t have asked.”

She wanted him to stop talking. No more confusing questions. No more reminders that he knew more than he let on. She squeezed his hand tighter, hoping to give him a clue as to what she wanted from him. Just to be there.

He got the hint because he didn’t say anything else, and stroked her palm with his thumb. He looked so sad. The word that came to her mind was
eclipse
. As a summer wizard, Emmy figured he was good at faking happiness. He could smile and laugh and joke around, but if he stayed still long enough, the clouds would roll back in.

For the first time, she noticed a shiny pattern of burn marks on the inside of his forearm and twisted under his sleeve, like a angry, red, distorted snake. She could tell he caught her looking, and Emmy pulled her eyes away, cheeks burning. He didn’t say anything though, and Emmy didn’t either.

“Where are your parents?” he asked. “I didn’t notice anyone else around.”

“I never called them. I couldn’t do it. But I think the police did. Evangeline has a different mother anyway. And she’s dead. We have the same Dad.”

Emmy didn’t know why she explained all of this, but Nathan nodded.

“Do you think your parents will come?”

“Of course. They’re my parents.” Emmy didn’t like the implication. He must think that because her parents were winter wizards, they must be assholes who didn’t care about their kids. Sure, they were assholes, but not
that
kind of assholes. “They’re good people,” she continued. “They love me. And they love Evangeline. Even my Mom.”

“I should leave before they come for you. I don’t want to leave…But I don’t think me being here will help anything.”

Emmy agreed, but didn’t like it.

“But I’m not going to
leave
leave,” he continued. “I’ll be around. I’m going to make this right. You don’t have to worry. It’s going to be okay.”

“Do you really believe that, or are you just saying it because that’s what people say?”

Nathan paused as if considering it. “No, I believe it,” he said finally. “I have to. You’ve gotta have hope, you know? That it’s all going to work out in the end. That’s what gives you the strength to make it there.”

But could it work out for both of them? Or, did he mean it would work out for the good guys? It all works out in the end for the hero. Not for the villain.

“That’s a nice idea,” she said.

When David finally decided to call Patrick and tell him to bring his brother and sisters to the hospital he saw he had a voicemail from the unknown caller he had ignored earlier. He planned on deleting it without listening, then the same number called again as he held his phone.

“Hello?”

“May I speak with David Vandergraff?”

“This is he.”

“This is Officer Yolanda Trevino with the Sugar Land Police Department. You’re the father of Evangeline and Emmy Vandergraff, correct?”

The panic ran through him like an electric current. This reminded him so much of the call he received last fall when his children were found, but this time, the news could only be bad.

“Yes, I am,” he said, his voice a whispery croak.

Nathan kept his promise and stayed by her side until about three minutes before her family arrived in the ER. One nice thing about being a wizard was some awkward encounters could be avoided because Nathan could sense a Vandergraff coming from about a mile away.

Patrick came around the white curtain, which surprised Emmy. Even though Evangeline’s disappearance would devastate Dad, she still expected him to come for her—to gather her in his arms as he did when he found her in West Texas. Perhaps it was too late for that. She had pushed it too far this time and he wouldn’t forgive her. He had already been so angry at her for sneaking out, and now…she had destroyed everything.

Xavier followed behind Patrick, which surprised Emmy even more. The sight of her
other
brother made her stomach lurch. If she hurt anyone more than Dad, it was Xavier. Dad had plenty of people to love. For Xavier, the world began and ended with Evangeline.

She sat on the edge of the hard bed, discharge papers all ready, and shrunk at the sight of them. She thought they might yell at her, but they didn’t.

“Are you okay?” Patrick asked.

Emmy nodded.

“Was there a summer wizard here?” Xavier asked. Hearing Xavier talk always alarmed Emmy, and this time, the words crawled up her back like snakes. He spoke the words calmly, but they came so unexpectedly and so soaked in hate.