Published: May 17, 2020

16

KAYLA

Air caught in her throat. She couldn’t speak.  Small grunts thrust from her mouth but did nothing more than spill from her lips and onto the floor near her feet, as she met face to face with her worst nightmare.

How did he get in here?

“I was told to bring these,” he held up a tray, but she could only stare into his eyes. They weren’t alight with violet electric currents anymore, but they held the same gleam, inset in the same pinched face, flanking a pointed nose, and evil ghost smile. Who let the Syste into mage safehouse?

No one would dare. Not when he fed on their kind.

Her heart thundered in her ears, pulsing painfully in her neck before traveling to her hands. Spittle gurgled in the back of her mouth. He must have broken in or worse…

He instantly recognized her panic. The tray in his hand lolled to one side like someone anchored a dumbbell on it.

“Wait a second. I’m not who you think I am. This is a mistake.”

“Stand back!” Her magic woke from its quieted state and raced around her wrists.

In a flash, Garrick was out of the bathroom and at her side, hair damp, vampire ready, alert gaze on the stranger at their door. He recognized the Syste at once, then hissed behind his fangs. Her magic readied for an attack; it raced from her arms, then up around Garrick.

“You met my brother. Not me,” he said quickly, backing into the wall opposite their door. “My twin… He’s my twin,” he repeated, fear heightening his voice into a squall, his leg hiked up as if to shield himself behind the tray in his hands.

Her panic turned into confusion.

“Your brother is the Syste?” she asked, but should’ve realized it from the start.

The mage in front of her didn’t feel like the Syste had. While he felt like death incarnate shoved into a body, the mage in front of her felt… well, like any other normal mage.

“Yeah. Y-you met my brother,” he confirmed, his leg was still hiked as if waiting for an attack.

“Brothers who share the same face,” Garrick said in understanding. He relaxed and so did she when the mage in front of them showed no signs of bringing them any harm.

Then, her magic had done something it hadn’t done in her entire life without help. It settled on its own.

She stared at it in shock as it cascaded down Garrick’s frame and up into her hands before disappearing without a trace.

“Yeah, I don’t usually cross paths with many people who’ve met him….” The words turned awkward; he was unable to meet their gaze. He didn’t meet many in his brother’s acquaintance because he likely sucked their magic out of them, killing them on the spot. The mage in front of her cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I’m Killian, the good twin. Zander’s the evil one.”

It was a humorless joke that he’d probably gotten many times since his brother turned bad. They both stared at him for a long moment until he awkwardly bounced the tray in his hands, rattling the dishes.

“I’m glad we got that straightened away,” he continued, with a relieved laugh, speaking more now that he was semi-sure they weren’t going to pounce on him. “A fight would probably have ruined breakfast. It was my turn to cook. I’m not the best with eggs, but the French toast came out okay. And there’s orange juice. We don’t have any…uh… anything for you.”

Killian didn’t look at Garrick when he said it. He looked almost bashful as he regarded them. Shy, even. Completely unlike his brother.

“It kind of sucks down here, huh?” He made idle conversation. “I heard you’re wicked powerful. Must be if they put you in this room,” his eyes darted up to the concrete ceilings soaring two stories above their head. “What’s your affinity? It’s gotta be a big one.”

“My what?”

“Your affinity. All mages have one. What element do you favor most? I’m more of an earth type. It’s boring, really, I’m great at moving dirt around. I guess I should’ve gone into construction. So, what about you?”

“I… don’t know.”

He looked startled by her declaration. “You haven’t used your magic much?”

She shook her head.

“Wow, you’re going to have a lot to learn before you can…” Killian was cut off by someone clearing their throat beside him. He nearly dropped the tray in his hands, not expecting a disembodied voice to make an appearance.

“I told you to deliver the tray to their door, knock once, then leave,” Theo’s voice appeared next to Killian.  But to her surprise, Theo didn’t appear in the hallway.

“S-sorry,” he stammered, pushing the silver tray toward them. Garrick reached for it quicker than she did. “I was just excited is all. We don’t get many visitors.”

“Upstairs. Now,” Theo’s hard voice demanded.

Killian rushed down the hallway.

“Don’t forget to seal the door.”

“Oh yeah,” Killian’s back when straight before he turned around and apologized. “Sorry.”

Their door closed slowly in front of them, all the while hearing Theo scolding him for getting too friendly too fast. They had to be careful of her magic.

Only, something in her magic had changed. It had been different since their run in with Pellan the night before. He’d tried to command her magic, but it refused to obey him.

It didn’t want to.

It resisted until he finally released her. That’s when she felt it skitter across the floor in search of Garrick, then wrap around him. It no longer pooled or sparked, it calmly laced across him, sliding down his back and wrapping him tight. It was almost like she unconsciously commanded it. Through her worry, her need to protect him, it knew what to do. Like it had just now beside her.

With her mind cleared and focused on protecting them against the Syste, it didn’t feel like it’d run hot throughout her body. It was calm as it offered them a shield of protection and as soon as it was no longer needed, it just went away.

“Look,” she held her hands out to Garrick as soon as they door shut and sealed. “My magic is normal.”

He looked down at her hands and nodded. He also smiled. “This is a good sign. How did you do it?”

She told Garrick about what happened when Pellan tried to control her magic. “And I don’t know… I feel like. I feel like I can do it again.”

“Do you wish to try it?” A mischievous smile popped onto his beautiful full lips. His expression lightened.

Nervous worry crept up in her stomach. What if her magic went haywire again? It had only been a day. Yesterday it was out of control. One day ago, she nearly killed a cathedral full of people. Maybe she shouldn’t tempt fate.

He noticed the worry on her face.

“We know how to calm it if it becomes too much,” he assured her. “Like we’ve done earlier.”

She nodded and took a courage-filled breath. She should try it, now that the feeling was still here. It might be her only chance. Plopping onto the bed, she tucked her feet under her as she held her hands out. A blip of terror and excitement shot through her, much like being on a rollercoaster for the first time.

Okay magic, come out. She stared at her palms, but nothing happened. She shook them like she was trying to shake excess water from her hands before staring at them again.

“What do I do?” she asked him.

Garrick shrugged and knelt on the bed in front of her. Of course, he didn’t know, but he wasn’t not without a suggestion. “How does it usually come out?”

“On its own. Or I’m freaking out.”

“What’s the first thing that happens?”

“My hands grow hot.”

As she said the words, her hands started to warm. Panic bubbled, but she breathed it away. She couldn’t let her emotions get out of control again.

“How did it happen today?”

“On instinct. I thought we were in danger and I guess unconsciously thought I had to protect you.”

“So, then we are in danger and I am in need of protecting,” he said simply.

She frowned. “But, we’re not.”

“We don’t know what. Neither of us knows where the true danger lies.”

He was only trying to get her nervous system going, but it was working. She looked up at the scant light in the room. They were in an unknown place surrounded by people they’ve never met before. Her father called it a safehouse, but how safe was it if they’d been keen on separating her from the vampire in front of her by force so they could hurt him.

Her heart began to race, but she tried to harness the feeling, not let it overwhelm her.

Garrick’s hands slid into hers and a jolt shot between them. It wasn’t painful. Just a sudden feeling of closeness.

“Try to focus on the feeling you had when you thought you needed to protect us.”

Closing her eyes, she focused on that feeling. The panic and determination came first, followed by grit and a sprig of fear. Her hands grew warm.

She envisioned her magic running from her hands like a slow-moving river then up onto Garrick again. The warmth in her hands spread.

His breath caught and she flinched and her eyes shot open, searching for any sign that he was hurt. He wasn’t, but purple spindles of her magic wrapped around his hand up to his wrists.

“Keep going,” his grip tightened on hers when she tried to tug away. “You have this in hand.”

She did. Amazingly. Her magic spread across him and it wasn’t dizzying out of control, but instead laced around Garrick in a wave. Her chin dropped in awe.

“Try to get it up to my shoulders.”

She did.

Slowly, it moved, but it was likely climbing up hill. She gritted her teeth when it slowed and pushed.

“It feels as if I’m being encased in gel.”

“Is that good or bad?” she asked, her nervousness grew a fraction. Her magic stopped moving for a second.

“It’s an odd feeling but not unpleasant. Keep going.” Both of them watched her magic slowly crawl up his arm until it just barely made it to his shoulders.

“Cha!” he said excitedly. The sudden sound made he jump and her magic ricocheted, launching her against the bed pillows with an ooph.

“Are you well?” Garrick popped over her in concern.

She burst into a fit of giggles. She did it. She actually did it. Sure, it was a little bit of a rocky landing, but she got her magic to obey for once.

“Did you see that?” She perked up from the pillows. “It worked!”

“That was amazing. Thank-you!”

She threw herself into his arms, the dampness of his hair grazing her ear. Responding to their proximity, her magic reacted to him again. Just like it had the night before. Lightning quick, it scooted to him, caressing him as it circled them.

Garrick’s strong hands tightened around her waist.

“You’re injured,” he pulled her back, his eyes darted to her forehead in concern.

Immediately, she wiped away a droplet of blood. It didn’t even hurt and by the time her hand was back, the cut was fully healed.

“Let’s do it again,” she breathed in excitement.

“I think we should eat now,” Garrick said from beside her, his breathing a bit uneven. “You need to gather your strength.”

He disappeared to the side table to opened the trays to fluffy eggs and thick slices of French toast.

“But, I’m not hungry,” she frowned. She didn’t want to eat, she wanted to explore her magic more. But a loud rumble from her stomach disagreed with that assessment.

“Eat,” he chuckled clearly hearing the racket from her gut, “Then, we’ll practice more.”

She was too excited to be embarrassed. There was something about his warmth that made her feel comfortable and at ease.

She’d found an ally in her world, one to which they were both strangers to. Her entire life, she’d grown up around mages, but she didn’t know the first thing about how to use her own magic like everyone else seemed to. She knew how to control it enough to make it go away. She would have never dreamed of using it the way her father had or the way Marnie did. She’d been too afraid to.

But now, things were different.

Voting is Open!

Author’s Note: I really missed these two! And you as well! I hope you’ve been well. I’m feeling refreshed and ready to go! I’ve got two quick questions for voting this week. The first one has to do with what happens next and the second with the frequency of uploads. I’ll see you next week (or maybe sooner!).

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