“I haven’t been here in a while,” Joel noted.
“Nope. I guess you haven’t.”
He grew wistful for a moment. “Remember when you first moved here, and we used to meet in the orchard at summertime?”
“Yeah,” Maggie laughed softly. “We were just kids back then.”
“Yeah,” Joel agreed. He gave her a playful nudge. “It was fun, though, wasn’t it? Playing in the grounds when no one else was around, building apple tree forts. . .”
Maggie laughed openly now. “Yeah, and hiding from Joyless!” She pursed her lips. “I guess things haven’t changed that much.”
“What’s it like these days?” Joel asked thoughtfully. “Living here, I mean.”
She shrugged. “It’s okay. It was a whole lot better when Isla was here, though. Now my room feels lonely. And tainted.”
Joel glanced to the front door, then back to Maggie. “Can I see it?”
She frowned. “What, my room?”
“Yeah,” Joel said with a cautious smile. “You’ve seen my room, so it’s only fair. Right?”
Maggie held her door key in her palm. “You do realise Joyless is the night manager? If she catches you trying to sneak in, she’ll kill you.”
Now it was Joel’s turn to shrug. “I’ll take my chances,” he said with a wink. “Besides, I’m much better at hiding than I used to be.”
Maggie twisted the key in the lock. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” she whispered as the door groaned open.
They crept into the dark entry hall and were met by the homey scent of candle smoke and wood. Only one light was on, and it was leaking from the hatch window of Ms Joy’s office.
Maggie’s eyes widened and she looked at Joel. “Joyless is still awake,” she mouthed, thumbing towards the office.
He inhaled deeply and then began muttering a string of words.
“Clear as day,
Your eyes will see,
All that is before you,
But you won’t see me.”
Then, without even a pause, he carried on walking towards the main staircase, directly passing Ms Joy’s office.
“No!” Maggie hissed, waving her arms frantically in an attempt to catch his attention. But Joel kept on going, head down, footsteps light.
Maggie hurried after him. As she passed the office, Joyless looked up sharply.
“Maggie,” she barked. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”
Freezing on the spot, Maggie stared wide-eyed at Ms Joy. Joel was just a stone’s throw away from Maggie’s side, standing perfectly still as he watched the exchange.
“I-I. . . uh. . .” Maggie stammered. “I can explain.”
“It’s long past your curfew. Where have you been?” Ms Joy’s pointed face craned out the office hatch window. As usual, her greying hair was pulled tightly into a bun and her wire-rimmed glasses were balanced on the very tip of her long nose. “Well?”
Maggie held her breath. Surely Joyless must have noticed the fact that Joel Tomlins was standing just a few paces away in the boarding house foyer. But why hadn’t she mentioned it?
Did he manage to hide? Maggie wondered. She didn’t dare look.
“I-I’m sorry,” she fumbled for words. “I lost track of time.”
Ms Joy made a low tutting sound. “Mr Fitzpatrick has already notified me of your unauthorized absence from school today. I suggest you get to your room at once,” she snapped, gesturing towards the spiral staircase. “We’ll discuss this in the morning. And perhaps after school as well—in detention.” With that, she slammed her hatch window shut.
Maggie let out her breath and turned on her heel. As she hurried towards the staircase, she bypassed Joel, who stood grinning in the open. He followed her up the three floors of stairs and trailed her down the hallway towards her dorm room.
“How did you do that?” she hissed as they approached the door to room two-oh-six.
“I’m a witch,” he replied simply.
Maggie quickly unlocked her room and they slipped inside. When the door clicked shut behind them, Maggie flipped on the light switch. She noticed Joel’s gaze move curiously across the room, over the two neatly made beds and the combined collection of all of her and Isla’s possessions.
Maggie felt a pang of sorrow as her eyes passed over the dorm room. It was half Isla’s, too—but now Isla’s side of the room was vacant and cold, with long shadows cast across the abandoned bed.
“She’ll be back,” Maggie said, half to herself. “If it’s possible that my curse was what made Isla sick, then me being un-cursed will make her better, right?”
Joel scratched his head.
Maggie cross the room to the window and peered out at the waning moon high above the tree tops. Stars were scattered around it, shining down on her like kind, watchful eyes. Maggie unhooked the latch on the window and opened it onto the night.
“I hope she comes back soon,” she said distantly.
When Joel didn’t respond, she turned to look at him. His face was ashen.
“What?” she asked, her shoulders sagging. “You don’t think Isla’s going to get better?”
Joel shook his head. “It’s not that,” he said hoarsely. “It’s you.” His eyes flickered over her. “The gold light—it’s still on you. I can see it.”
Maggie’s breath caught in her throat.
“Stand still,” Joel instructed without missing a beat. He stepped up behind her and placed his hand between her shoulder blades. Then he recited from memory the first spell he had ever performed on her.
“Granted sight,
We seek in light,
Reveal, and see,
Show secrets unto me.”
For a bated moment, Maggie was sure nothing had happened—apart from a slight tingling sensation on her skin where Joel was touching her, that is. But then, out of nowhere, Joel was thrown backwards across the room, causing him to collide heavily into the oak wardrobe on the far wall.
Maggie cried out, whirling around in time to see him slump to the floor. She rushed towards him as he sat upright.
“Damn!” he swore, pounding his fist on the carpet. He didn’t need to tell her what he was thinking; she already knew.
“It didn’t work,” Maggie whispered, crouching before him. “I’m still marked.”
AFTER LEAVING MAGGIE in her dorm room, Joel had sped home faster than he’d ever driven before. Why hadn’t the spell worked? Was it because Kaden was too powerful? After all, Jefferson had described him as the Fallows coven’s most accomplished recruit. If that was the case, then Joel would just have to work harder. He’d have to get better. He’d need to use more advanced spells. Darker spells, if that’s what it took. His journal wasn’t enough anymore, that much was clear.
He needed Maximus’s spells.
So, as soon as he’d arrived back at his house, he’d crept through the sprawling mansion and stolen Maximus’s journal from its hiding place behind the portrait of Really Old Aunt Pearl, all while his father had slept soundly in his bed.
Back in his own bedroom now, Joel moved in a daze. His head was fuzzy as he frantically flipped through the pages of his father’s journal, getting drunk off the powerful spells he was practising alone in his room. But even as he lay drained on the hardwood floor, his head spinning out of control, he whispered one verse over and over again.
“Darkest night,
Hear my call,
A witch’s blood,
The drops shall fall.
Bind thy enemy,
He cannot run,
Hear these words,
It shall be done.”
MAGGIE AWOKE TO the shrill sound of her alarm. She sat up in bed with a jolt, her heart pounding. Her sleep had been a restless one, and it took several long seconds before the lingering unease from her nightmares began to slip slowly from her mind, replaced by the bright light of a new day. For once, she didn’t hit the snooze button; her subconscious wasn’t a place she wanted to return to
at the moment.
As her eyes adjusted to the daylight that was seeping through the bedroom drapes, Maggie fumbled for her phone and checked for messages.
Nothing.
What did that mean? Had Joel given up? She winced at the thought.
If Joel’s out of ideas, then I’ll just have to figure out a new plan on my own, she decided. A better plan.
She certainly wasn’t about to let Kaden turn her into a . . . a something else, as Joel had termed it. And if there was nothing more that Joel Tomlins could do for her, then she’d simply have to help herself.
Yep, she thought, straightening her shoulders. I’ll come up with something. She pursed her lips. Eventually.
Maggie got ready for school in a daze. She dragged a brush through her hair as she picked apart her reflection in the mirror. Dark shadows hung beneath her jade green eyes, and her mouth was set in a tight line.
There is one possible way around this, she realised suddenly.
She drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Yes, there was one obvious solution that hadn’t been suggested yet. How could she have overlooked it? Without wasting any more time, Maggie gathered her school books and hurried out of the dorm room, hoping to avoid Ms Joy and the morning talking-to she’d threatened. Fortunately, the upper corridor was quiet and Joyless was nowhere in sight. It was still early, Maggie knew, and no one else had surfaced from their rooms yet. Maggie descended the spiral staircase and paced out into the crisp November air.
The trees in the orchard swayed as she raced along the pathway that wound through them. Ahead, she noticed a few cars in the school parking lot. Small cliques of students were already gathered beneath the annex, chatting casually amongst themselves.
There was no sign of the Jeep, however. And no sign of Joel.
Maggie bypassed the other students and headed straight for homeroom. She’d wait for him there.
He’ll be here soon, she thought.
She was sure of it. There was no way he would ditch school after what had gone down the night before. He wouldn’t just abandon her. At least, she hoped he wouldn’t. She knotted her fingers together on the desktop and waited.
As the minutes ticked by, people began to file into Mr Fitzpatrick’s room. Blonde Lauren. . . then Hilary . . . then Charlie . . . But still no Joel.
Maggie glanced at the wall clock.
Where is he? she wondered.
How could he be late today of all days? She was about to reach for her phone to text him, when she heard the classroom door swing open.
Maggie sucked in her breath and looked up.
But it wasn’t Joel.
Mr Fitzpatrick strode in looking windswept and tired as usual. The first bell sounded just as the door closed behind him, and Mr Fitzpatrick called order.
Maggie slumped back in her seat, defeated.
BY LUNCHTIME JOEL still hadn’t shown up at school, and Maggie was beginning to worry. Not only worry for herself, but for Joel also. What if something had happened to him? Hadn’t he said that if Kaden retaliated it would be on Joel’s head?
Maggie’s stomach tightened at the thought.
Preoccupied, she merged into the cafeteria lunch queue. Dragging her tray along the line, she stared into space while the lunch ladies heaped dollops of unidentified ground meat and potatoes onto her plate. Numbly, Maggie took her tray and joined Blonde Lauren and Hilary at their usual table.
“Hey,” she greeted the girls dully as she sank into her seat.
They looked at her, then looked at each other and frowned.
Hilary’s eyes narrowed behind her thick-framed glasses. “What’s with you today?” she asked Maggie.
“Yeah,” Blonde Lauren added. “You’ve been, like, extra spacey lately.”
Maggie sighed and prodded her food with her fork. “I don’t know. I’m worried about Isla. And about. . .” she trailed off, not bothering to finish her thought.
The last time she’d brought up the subject of spells and curses, her friends had acted like she was losing her mind.
“About what?” Blonde Lauren prompted, flipping her flaxen hair over her shoulder and leaning in to hear the juicy details.
“I don’t know.” Maggie sighed again. “Joel, I guess.”
The girls swapped another perplexed look.
“Joel Tomlins?” Hilary clarified, raising an eyebrow. “What about him? Is this because of what I said about him liking you?”
“No, it’s not that,” Maggie mumbled.
Hilary held up her palm. “Wait, he’s not still trying to convince you you’re hexed, is he?” She stifled a laugh.
Maggie prodded her food a little harder. She couldn’t get into this debate right now. They didn’t know what she knew. They hadn’t seen what she’d seen.
“Never mind,” she said instead. “Forget I mentioned anything.”
“Do you like him?” Blonde Lauren pried, her blue eyes widening in excitement. Before even giving Maggie a chance to answer, she turned to Hilary. “Do you think Maggie likes Joel Tomlins?”
Now there’s a question, Maggie mused. Did she like Joel?
She sighed heavily. How could she not? With everything that had been going on over the past few weeks, things had shifted between them. She and Joel had shared something; she felt safe with him and connected to him. He was. . .
Joel, she thought sadly.
“You do, don’t you?” Blonde Lauren squealed. “You like Tomlins!”
“Shh!” Maggie hissed, glancing over her shoulder into the crowded cafeteria. “Keep your voice down!”
“I will if you admit it,” Blonde Lauren whispered with a wicked grin.
“Fine,” said Maggie, letting her fork drop onto her tray with a clatter. “I like Joel. There, are you happy?”
Blonde Lauren nodded her head emphatically. Hilary was unmoved.
“But it doesn’t matter anyway,” Maggie went on, staring down at her untouched food. “I think he’s dating Lexi.”
Blonde Lauren frowned. “Cheerleader Lexi?”
Hilary’s brow furrowed, too. “Devoid-of-soul-and-basic-morals Lexi?”
Maggie nodded. “Yes, that Lexi.”
Blonde Lauren’s expression relaxed. “Nuh-uh,” she said, shaking her head. “I happen to know for a fact that Lexi is hooking up with Sleazy Dale. They’re a thing now.”
Maggie’s eyebrows shot up. “Lexi and Sleazy Dale?” she echoed. “How do you know that?”
“Everybody knows that!” Blonde Lauren cried. “And if you hadn’t been such a space-case lately, you’d know it, too.”
Hilary nodded in confirmation. “Even I knew about Cheer-tart Lexi and Sleazy Dale.”
Maggie anxiously linked and unlinked her fingers. “But I saw Lexi and Joel kiss at Casey’s party the other week,” she muttered quietly.
“Yeah,” Blonde Lauren replied. “Apparently she tried to kiss him but he wasn’t interested. And then at the carnival he told her he was into someone else.” Her eyes lit up again. “Hey, maybe he meant you!”
For the first time that day, Maggie smiled.
“Look!” Blonde Lauren shrieked suddenly. “There he is!”
Maggie turned so quickly that she almost knocked her tray to the floor.
Finally! she thought. It’s about time. . .
But her bubble soon burst when she realised that it wasn’t Joel whom Blonde Lauren had sighted.
It was Kaden.
Maggie tensed. Kaden was sauntering into the cafeteria, his dark hair styled perfectly around his strikingly handsome face. He had presence, Maggie had to admit. Charm. Charisma. Mystery. He was the sort of guy any girl would dream of.
But his darkness was frightening, and somehow Maggie was the only one who saw that.
She looked away, her skin crawling with the knowledge that he already had a hold on her. Distantly, in her foggy mind, she heard Blonde Lauren chatter on about how wonderful Kaden was.
“Would it be unethical of me to make a move on him whi
le Isla is currently unavailable?” she was musing.
Hilary groaned. “Oh my god, Lauren. How could you even say that?”
“I didn’t say anything. I just asked it,” she defended herself.
Maggie dared to glimpse Kaden’s way again, just for a second. However, a second was long enough for him to meet her eyes. His cool grey stare pierced through her in the most intrusive way.
Her breath caught in her throat.
Joel, she willed silently. Where are you?
JOEL LAY UNMOVING on his bedroom floor. He was awake—sort of—but he couldn’t move. His eyes stared fixedly on the floorboards. He couldn’t say exactly how long he’d been there like this; all he knew was that by the time he’d regained consciousness, it had already been dark. And now darkness had turned to light, and he still couldn’t move.
His eyelids lowered. He’d heard about witches who’d died in this state; they’d gotten greedy with their spells, and their bodies had no longer been able to host the power. Was he destined to join their ranks? Was he going to die?
His eyes began to close.
No, he urged himself. Don’t give up. Maggie needs you. He gritted his teeth. Pippin needs you.
Joel blinked, forcing himself to stay awake. His mind wandered back to a time four years ago—a time that had not only categorically changed his life forever, but had also given him a life worth fighting for.
He had been thirteen years of age, sitting at the breakfast table in their old split-level downtown and ignoring a bowl of cereal as he’d stared into space.
“Eat something, Joel,” Evan had said to him.
Joel had blinked across the table at his brother. Evan had only been fourteen at the time, but somehow, even back then, he’d seemed so much older.
“I can’t,” Joel had murmured, looking down at his cereal which had long ago turned into a pool of mush.
“Please,” Evan had begged, his violet eyes glassy. “Please, Joel, it’s been days. You have to eat.”
Joel had taken in a slow breath, wishing he had a response. But he hadn’t been able to think of anything to say. He’d been empty, no more than just a shell.
“I have to walk Ainsley to school,” Evan had said quietly. “Will you. . . will you be okay while I’m out?”