EXCERPT
“You
aren’t concentrating, Marley,” Gavin accuses me in his overtly annoyed tone,
looking down at me after he’d knocked me to the ground. My thoughts had
strayed. Again. When I look up into his big brown eyes, I want to forget
everything. All my troubles and worries and the fact that two people I loved
are gone. And I have to fight the fact that there is a very real possibility
that one or both of them are never coming back.
“I
am concentrating. It’s just that my powers are gone.” Gavin helps me up.
“And I heard this voice.”
Oops.
Those words just slipped out and based on the look Gavin’s giving me, it’s too
late to take them back.
“What
kind of voice?” he questions, eyebrow lifted.
“I
wasn’t going to say anything. It’s no big deal.”
“It
might be. What kind of voice? Where? When?”
So,
I explain all that I know.
“So,
you heard a voice inside your head and you’re just telling me now. And this voice
wants you to get control over your powers? Well, maybe we shouldn’t be trying
to get your powers back. It could be one of Crystal’s Limbonians.”
“I
don’t think so. If it were, he’d have probably spoken to me before now. And
besides, I’m more worried about who I can save. It can’t be Kimmy. Only Noah
can do that.”
“It
sounds like a trick to me. Who else could it be?” he questions, shoving his
hands into his pockets.
I
brush a hand through my hair and look down at my shoes. “I have no idea. No
clue. He just disappeared, and I didn’t get to ask questions.” I look back up
at him.
“Are
you all right? Should I be worried?” He asks that question like he’s not
already up to his eyeballs in concern.
“I
don’t think so.”
“Promise
to tell me if it happens again?”
“Of
course. But right now, we should be out there looking for Noah. He’s only got three
days left.” I decide I’m not trying to change the subject but that was a good
way to change it. “He just shows up at my house, claiming to be Kimmy’s soul
mate and then disappears off the face of the Earth. And my father is God knows
where. Crystal is doing God knows what to him. I don’t even know if I can save
him. So, tell me, how am I supposed to concentrate on anything else? And with
this voice, everything is falling apart, Gavin.”
My
tone sounds angry and annoyed, thankfully covering my shame. Shame I hadn’t
told Gavin about the voice right away. Shame I hadn’t been able to save Kimmy,
and shame I hadn’t been able to get my dad out from underneath that woman’s
clutches.
I
let everyone down, especially Kimmy. She should never have been at that stupid
school in the first place. I never should have accepted her help and put her in
danger in the process.
There
was more I could have done, should have done. I know it.
“This
is not your fault, love. None of it,” Gavin tells me. I nod, knowing full well
that if he wanted to, he could hear my thoughts and would know exactly how I’m
feeling. “I know it’s a terrible situation,” he continues, “but we’ll win in
the end. If anyone understands how you feel, it’s me. Trust me, love. But if
you want to go and find Noah, let’s go and do that.”
I
sigh and kick the nearest rock at my feet. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. Again.
What’s that now? A hundred times in the past few days?”
“107
but who’s counting?”
I
chuckle. “Let’s take a break and then we’ll go and find Noah.”
“You
know, love, if you want to help anyone, we need to get your powers under
control.”
“Really?”
I ask, raising an eyebrow up.
He
looks as confused as I am. “What?”
“I
just thought I’d have to fight you about my powers. You seemed worried about
their origin.”
Gavin
smirks. “Not this time, love.”
“Oh,
okay. Good, because the pressure does not help.”
“All
right, all right.” He puts his hands up in defense.
We
go inside since my mom is still at work for a few more hours. I need to be able
to practice my magic and I am forbidden to practice in the house, per my
mother’s request. Something might break, of course. Or worse, Sammy might see
something. It was dangerous practicing outside—someone might see—so Gavin and I
started using the park behind my house where a wide gulf of trees opens out
into a children’s park. No one comes back here, so it works nicely.
My
mother was surprisingly stronger after we lost my dad the second time—the first
she took it a little harder. I expected her to completely shut down when he’d
been kidnapped, but she didn’t. Every day she gets out of bed and goes about
her routine as if nothing happened. She doesn’t mention anything about my
father or Gavin’s ‘trip’—as she calls it when someone brings up his
death-slash-resurrection in front of her. And when we try to talk to her about
it, she nods and says, “uh-uh,” before finding some reason to excuse herself
from the room. I suppose it hurts too much to think that she’s lost my father,
not only once, but twice.
After
she was kidnapped by Crystal and saw magic right before her eyes, I expected my
mom to be better about it. But I have the feeling she hates the fact that I had
magic, maybe that magic even existed in the first place. Who knew?
Gavin
opens the back gate and slowly follows me into the house. “Marley, are you all
right?”
I
smile back at him. “It’s tough, but there’s still time to fix this.”
He
nods. “Yes,” he says, lifting his arm into the air. My mother’s vase floats off
the shelf.
“Gavin,”
I warn.
“Just
try to put it back on the shelf.”
“But—”
Gavin
smirks, “Come on, love.”
“If
my mother catches me using magic in the house, she’ll tear my head off.”
“If
it comes to getting Len back or losing a vase, I’m sure your mother won’t
complain. I won’t let you break anything.”
“Promise?”
He
nods.
“Fine.”
I wave my hand toward the crystal vase, concentrating on the task and what I
want to accomplish—as Gavin taught me. I dig down deep, attempting to counter
Gavin’s magic. I seek out the light feeling I enjoy so much, as if I am in a
rocket and heading to the moon. I’d always enjoyed the weightless sensation,
even though Gavin’s jokes and says it’s because of how small I am.
But
the magic weightless feeling never happens.
I
growl and swear. “I can’t. Just when I was getting used to having powers they
go away.”
Gavin
places the vase back onto the counter, making it look easy.
“Show-off.”
“Me?
I wouldn’t dare.” His brown eyes are wide with fake shock at the insinuation,
though there is a wicked curve to his mouth.
“You
would. And you did,” I tell him, smirking right back, teasing.
“Doesn’t
sound like me.”
“Oh,
I’ll tell you what sounds like you.” Slinking up close to him, I wrap my arms
around his neck and link my hands into his hair. One of my new favorite places
to be.
“Tell
me,” he whispers, bending his head slightly. His lids droop to halfway, as if
he’s expecting me to kiss him. Just when he’s about to touch his lips to mine,
I snatch a muffin off the counter and shove it into his mouth. Then I run away,
giggling.
I
make it to the front door and burst outside, knowing that Gavin will chase me.
He might have magic, but I am the faster runner. He laughs, following closely
behind.
As
a car door slams and another one clicks, I halt, glued to the spot on the lawn
where I’d stopped, my stomach starts churning nerves and twisting them up.
Gavin nearly runs into me. He wraps his arm around my waist before he realizes
what’s going on. “Marley? What’s wrong?” he asks, when I still stand there
frozen and in awe. He looks up then sighs. “Oh. Awk-ward.”
