Mom looked side to side then leaned in, barely speaking above a whisper. “Don’t worry about Blake Foster or that Stacey girl. Your sister’s magic is useless against them.”
Yeah, ’cause Blake and Stacey were such big concerns of hers.
“Still,” Gray said, “I should probably stay home and make sure Char doesn’t hurt herself.”
“Your sister will be fine. She just needs some time alone.”
Chapter Five
Gatherings were held in a light bluish-gray brick building surrounded by a large parking lot. The outside looked conspicuously like a church or rec center. Take your pick.
That morning’s lecture, predictably, had to do with St. Valentine’s and the dangers of love spells. Graylee’s mom listened attentively on the bench beside her as their chapter president, Mr. Holloway, spoke.
“Love is a more powerful force than magic. You can trick the mind and even the heart, but never the soul. When a person is not free to love with their soul, that is not love and that is why a love spell can never truly work.”
Blah, blah, blah. Graylee picked at her cuticles. Mind control and love spells had never interested her. Now moving objects with the mind—that was fun.
“It can get lonely, being gifted,” Mr. Holloway droned on. “But that is why we’re here. We’re here for each other.”
Oh, brother. Graylee pictured Charlene curled up on the couch at home watching back-to-back episodes of Glee and had to bite back a frustrated sigh. It was at times like these that Graylee missed her sister. Neither of them were fond of Gathering. They paired up when partnering was required, which today—naturally—it was.
After lecture, their peer leader asked that they team up with a partner. Graylee felt her palms begin to sweat. She was fairly certain that Ryan had glanced in her direction. There was no way she was enduring an hour of one-on-one time with Ryan Phillips. He’d probably spend the hour peppering her with questions about Charlene. If she didn’t act fast, she’d be stuck. Ryan was already moving her way.
Graylee took three large steps over to Nolan Knapp. “Hey, want to be partners?”
His initial surprise was immediately followed by a smile. “Yeah.”
Nolan was cute in a boy’s band sorta way. Although they were in the same grade at McKinley High, Graylee never saw him around school. He’d moved to Kent sophomore year. She might have crushed on him if he weren’t a warlock—another preference Graylee and her sister shared: No dating warlocks!
Nolan brushed his bangs out of his eyes and smiled as if to say, Why not? Think about it.
There was nothing to think about. Graylee didn’t date warlocks, period. Anyway, he didn’t make her heart patter.
Shay Baxter stared in their direction before joining a group of children in the adjoining room. Shay had been recruited as a peer leader to coach the coven’s youngest members. Graylee would have loved working with kids, sharing her joy of magic and discovery. But she had nothing to teach.
“Today we’ll work on basics then discuss how they can be used for advanced purposes,” their peer leader announced. “You and your partner should start by practicing what you consider elementary magic.”
Elementary magic. Was this for Graylee’s benefit?
She turned to Nolan and pasted a smile over her face. As far as he knew, Graylee was merely related to witches.
“Elementary,” Nolan mused. His brows lifted. “Moving small objects. Opening and closing doors. Floating.”
He was probably being nice by listing these abilities rather than performing them. Beside them, Ryan was already floating two feet off the floor. Not all witches and warlocks were capable of performing the same spells, but certain basics, like the aforementioned, should have come naturally to any offspring of a witch and warlock.
Graylee looked from Ryan to Nolan. “I wish I could float.”
Nolan’s forehead wrinkled. “Why can’t you?”
“I was able to. Once.”
“If you could do it once, you can do it again.”
Graylee frowned. “It’s not that easy.”
“You need to have faith in yourself. I have faith in you.”
Graylee rolled her eyes. “That’s corny.” Not to mention Nolan barely knew her.
“Give it a try.”
Graylee sighed. “Okay. I have faith in myself.”
Nolan nodded. “Now try floating.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
Nolan stared back at her with his liquid blue eyes.
Finally Graylee closed her eyes. “All right. I’m going to float. All I have to do is imagine my body getting lighter. Lighter and lighter. Lighter than air. I don’t weigh a thing.” Graylee chuckled at the last bit. She kept her eyes squeezed tight because it was easier than watching herself fail yet again.
Lighter and lighter. Lighter than air.
Graylee wasn’t big on words. She was more of a visualizer. She stopped chanting in her head, breathed in and out, and imagined herself hovering above the floorboards. In her mind she was suspended in air. She stopped trying. She let go. The ground gave way beneath her.
“Open your eyes,” Nolan said softly.
Graylee didn’t need to. She smiled, eyes still closed. “And ruin the moment?” She had no sight, no hearing, only feeling and the sensation of soaring beyond reach.
The room became quiet and then Graylee heard the applause. She opened her eyes and saw their peer leader clapping, along with her peers. Their hands smacked together in metered tempo. Nolan simply grinned at her.
Graylee smiled and bowed, still hovering in the air.
Everyone laughed in the good sense of the word, making her feel more buoyant. It was like no other feeling. Graylee had forgotten it. It was sensational.
“So, um, are you able to come down?” Nolan asked when Graylee remained floating.
His cheeks dimpled when he smiled.
“I like it up here.”
She could see Nolan wasn’t sure if that meant she was stuck like a helium balloon at the top of a ceiling—one he might have to jump up and catch and drag down. She imagined her feet as weights and hit the ground harder than she’d intended.
It didn’t matter.
Graylee could float. After a five-year hiatus, her full abilities had returned. She straightened out and studied Nolan’s face.
“What?” he asked.
“You should help with the kids. You’d make a fantastic peer leader.”
Nolan looked at his sneakers and grinned. “Thanks.” He made a semicircle on the floor with his toe.
The gesture reminded Graylee of a girl. But Nolan was no girl. He was tall and fit. His smile was endearing. And he smelled good. Graylee felt herself leaning into him almost as though not of her own free will.
Love spell, she warned herself. Many involved scent.
Couldn’t be a love spell. Not if Graylee was able to stand there considering it might be a love spell. The Power of Reason: a sure sign that one still had their wits about them.
Not to mention Nolan was the one who looked uncomfortable. Certainly not the stance Raj McKenna would take.
Graylee leaned back.
Raj’s wicked words came back in a rush. You, me, and the world to ourselves.
No one had ever spoken to her that way. And the tone he’d used. It had sounded older, husky, accented. Full of temptation. We’d make a powerful couple, you and me.
Graylee resisted the urge to shudder. If she hadn’t turned invisible, Raj McKenna wouldn’t have looked at her twice. And he was wrong. They had nothing in common… well, besides the whole children of witches and warlocks and magical inheritance thing. He was big-time bad news. Opposed to Nolan Knapp. Smart. Cute. Wholesome… Scratch that, wholesome didn’t get a girl’s heart racing. Thoughtful. Thoughtful was sexy.
No one had ever tried to help her regain her abilities. Unless you counted the peer leaders over the years, and they’d all used the same tactic—trying to push her into
it while the class watched.
“I’m glad I could help.”
Graylee blinked several times when Nolan spoke. Somewhere in her ponderings she’d lost the thread of their conversation. “Totally,” she replied lamely.
Nolan broke out into a wide grin.
Sometimes that was all it took. A smile could be more powerful than the most potent love spell.
“Want to take a break?” Nolan asked.
“Heck, no.” Graylee grinned mischievously. She’d always known that if her full powers returned she’d never doubt them again. She’d stretch them to the limits… well, within bounds, and make up for all the time she missed. Graylee looked at the west wall with its dry erase board. “I’m going to move something.”
“Like the eraser?” Nolan said just before the heavy oak desk lurched forward and screeched along the floorboards. Nolan’s eyes widened.
Their peer leader looked over.
Graylee dragged the desk to her, chuckling to herself when Ryan Phillips had to jump out of the way. When the desk stopped a foot away, Graylee leapt forward and levitated the final three feet above the desk. She landed on top as Shay Baxter walked in.
Graylee crossed her arms over her chest triumphantly. Everyone stared. Shay was unable to hide a tight frown. Graylee saw the disbelief on Miss Perfect’s face, as though she believed Graylee wasn’t capable of excelling at anything.
Graylee couldn’t help thinking it. Once more she was queen of the classroom.
* * *
Graylee hopped from foot to foot on the sidewalk in front of her house Monday morning. In Kent, it was either raining or trying to rain. At the moment, it was drizzling. Her breath leaked out in white puffs. The light rain didn’t touch her. She’d erected a shield around her body.
Thea flashed her lights when she saw Graylee by the side of the road. Graylee waved and walked around to the passenger’s side. “Good morning,” Graylee said cheerfully.
Thea nodded at the Beetle parked in the drive. “Is your sister staying home today?”
Graylee looked over her shoulder. “She hasn’t left her room yet.”
“I take it you’ve been on suicide watch all weekend?”
“More like criminal watch. Charlene wants Stacey’s heart on a plate.”
“So she’s still not over the whole Blake dumping her thing?”
“Ha.”
Brittany and Kiki were standing in the middle of D Hall when Graylee and Thea entered the building. “Mind if we go the other way?” Graylee asked. “I don’t feel like dealing with the brat pack this morning.”
“I hear you,” Thea answered.
She accompanied Graylee to her locker. Thea was in the middle of telling Graylee about her trip to the assisted living center to visit her grandmother when Graylee felt a light kick against her foot.
Her stomach fluttered when she saw Nolan. The tap against her foot was gentle and deliberate. It sent a current shooting up to her chest. He had the widest grin on his face. “Hey.”
Graylee’s hand stilled inside her locker. She couldn’t remember which book she’d been reaching for. She smiled like an idiot. “Hi.”
“I saw you standing here so I thought I’d come over and say hi.”
“Yeah, cool.” Graylee noticed Thea staring from her to Nolan. “This is my friend, Thea. Thea, this is Nolan.”
Nolan’s cheeks dimpled. “How’s it going?”
Thea smiled back. “Good.”
“Great, so you ladies have a nice day.” Nolan tossed Graylee one last endearing smile. “See you around, Graylee.”
She and Thea watched Nolan walk away. They kept staring until he’d disappeared around the corner. Thea’s eyes glittered. “Well, isn’t he cute. How come you’ve never mentioned him before?”
“We never really spoke till this weekend… at church.”
“Uh-oh,” Thea said. Her grin widened.
“What?”
“I see a sin coming on.”
Graylee swatted her friend. “He just said hi.”
“That’s how it starts.”
Graylee’s smile faded. Thea’s words reminded her of Raj. “Let’s go to class.”
Maybe Nolan would ask her out. It wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility. The sooner he did, the sooner she could put an end to any delusions Raj was entertaining in his head about the two of them and the world to themselves.
It might even be worth breaking her own dating rule.
* * *
“You’re in a good mood this evening,” Mom said as Gray sat down to dinner.
“Eh,” Gray replied with a grin and shrug.
Across from her, Charlene blew on her fingernails, which were now ruby red. Char had been acting eerily nonchalant ever since Gray returned home from school. She’d even applied eyeliner and lipstick, which seemed like a waste considering she hadn’t gone anywhere.
“It must be from regaining your powers yesterday. See, I told you Gatherings weren’t a complete waste of time.”
Sure, let Mom think that was the reason behind her dopey grin.
Charlene stiffened. “What’s that?” she asked. “Lee got her abilities back?”
Mom smiled. “Your sister floated yesterday.”
“That’s great.” Charlene practically sneered, dropping her elbows to the table and rocking forward. “About time you caught up to the rest of us.”
Graylee slammed her fork down. “Way to show your sisterly support.”
Mom cleared her throat. “Girls, let’s enjoy dinner.”
Enjoy dinner? Right, with the bad seed sitting directly across from her?
The clank of Mom’s serving spoon against the casserole dish was a distant echo in Graylee’s ear.
“The squash came out nice,” Mom said. “Just needs a little more seasoning.” She stretched her hand toward the salt shaker. It stood directly between Graylee and Charlene. The salt moved across the oak surface into Mom’s hand. If Graylee’d had any doubt about who’d moved it, it was clarified when Charlene said, “Here, let me help you, Mom.”
Graylee straightened her back and lifted her chin. “Would you like some pepper, as well?” She glared at Charlene and then pushed the pepper grinder toward her mom with her mind. Only it didn’t move.
Graylee’s lower lip dropped. She stared in disbelief at the pepper. Then she caught it: a slight smirk on her sister’s lips.
“You!” Graylee screamed.
Their mom startled in her seat. “What’s going on?”
Graylee pointed a finger across the table. “You’ve been blocking my spells all along!”
If Graylee’d had any doubts, they were wiped clean by the look in Charlene’s eye.
“No.” Mom looked at Charlene as though she were a stranger. She even spoke as though she wasn’t there. “She wouldn’t do that. She couldn’t.”
“Five years,” Graylee all but choked. Tears were threatening, but she refused to let a single one spill in front of Charlene.
“Charlene, is this true?” Mom asked.
“No.”
Graylee flexed her fist and practically leapt across the table. “How dare you lie? I know it was you. How come I’ve never been able to perform spells in your presence? Until yesterday I could never do magic at Gatherings, then low and behold—the one day you’re gone suddenly I can.”
Charlene’s glare was fierce. The best defense was an offense and Charlene rocked the whole “I’m not the one in the wrong, you are” thing.
“Charlene, how could you?”
At least Graylee’s mother believed her.
Charlene’s lip folded over. “Oh, right. So I’m the bad guy. The evil twin.”
“Charlene, I didn’t say that.”
Why not? Graylee grumbled in her head. It was the truth. Five freaking years she’d been stripped of her abilities and confidence.
“You don’t have to,” Charlene cried out. Oh sure, now she was the one sobbing. “You love her more. You always have.” Charl
ene sobbed harder, great big gasping breaths as though she was choking. “You’d be happier if it’d just been her—if I’d never been born.” Charlene leapt from her chair and ran for the stairs.
“Charlene!” Mom called in alarm. She pushed back her chair and hurried after her.
Graylee was left sitting at the table alone. She stared across the table so long everything went out of focus. The dining chairs, the plates, the framed pictures: everything turned to blurred fuzz as though she were altering reality and might cause everything around her to disappear until there was only herself, seated inside an empty room.
Graylee squeezed her eyes so tight her upper lip pressed into her gums. Her desire to transport was so intense that she cried out in frustration when she opened her eyes. The dining room came rushing back into focus.
Graylee stood up so abruptly her chair skidded back.
Fine, if she couldn’t teleport she still had her own two feet.
She ran outside into the rain and took off down the street. The rain beat down and she did nothing to stop it from pelting her, absorbing through the layers of her clothes to the skin beneath.
Her own sister had taken everything Graylee was and locked it tightly away. She’d let the other kids laugh at her in sixth grade. She’d made Graylee doubt herself and feel like a screw-up. What kind of sister would do that?
She hadn’t taken her powers from her completely, but enough to make her out for the fool in front of her peers and her own mother. Graylee had been hesitant to practice on her own. Just when she thought she was getting into the swing again she’d try something at the dinner table or Gathering and hit a brick wall once more. Just think what new spells she could have mastered if her sister hadn’t blocked her for five years!
Chapter Six
The dim room was making Raj sleepy. Adrian’s voice in the main chamber brought it all back into focus.
“Just relax, Mrs. Court, and give me your hands.”
Adrian, or Hedrick, as he went by these days, was barely visible through the narrow gap between the velvet curtain and the doorway leading into the back room where Raj was crouched on a low stool. On the other side of the curtain, the dark chamber was lit with dripping candles. Adrian sat in front of his client at a round table covered in a midnight-blue tablecloth. The setting looked better suited to a psychic reading than a healing session.
Luckily Raj could see in the dark. If only he could absorb an entire book with the touch of his palm instead of flipping through a tome on the art and magic of healing terminal diseases.