Burning in a Memory (11 page)

“Sorry for not keeping you awake or giving you company. You should have woken one of us,” Adelaide said.

“I’ve made this drive half a million times when I was young. It doesn’t bother me. I’d tell you to go back to sleep, but we are almost there.”

On cue, Adam slowed down. He pulled off the road and threw the Jeep into four-wheel drive to climb over the bumpy land. The door squealed loudly now and Angie too sat up awake. He stopped in another few minutes before parking. Once the cloud of dust cleared, she grabbed for the knob and pushed open the door. Then she could see their destination.

             
Built into the side of mountainous terrain was a house of at least three stories. She could spot the faint glow coming from the highest bedrooms. With no other structures in sight nearby meant this place was plopped out in the middle of some heavy acreage.  Her attention dropped back to ground level and she stiffened, spotting the familiar Toyota. Tony waited right outside of it. She could hear the sounds of the twins somewhere nearby but didn’t pay attention to it. She only saw Tony and the glower he gave her.

Adelaide shifted as quickly and as subtly as possible to stand beside Adam. Adam surprised her by taking her hand but the gesture wasn’t necessarily a sweet one. Once he swung her duffle over his shoulder, he tightened his grip and pulled them to the house without waiting for Angie. Her stomach did back-flips
with every step. Even with the massive berth between them and Tony, she could feel the heavy tension in the air. Tony’s eyes bore into her and his painfully rigid figure never budged. Adam led them swiftly into the house and shut the door behind them.

             
Finally and apparently alone, Adelaide let out a hissing breath.

             
“Something tells me that you didn’t tell Tony I was coming,” Adelaide asked.

             
Adam only answered with a hum in his chest. His attention lingered on other things which he shortly pointed out.

             
“We have a spare bedroom upstairs for you. There are three basic floors and the basement. On this first floor there are just family rooms, living rooms, kitchen…”

             
He walked so she followed. Her head spun as she took in the house. The inside had mild decorations for the size and grandeur, leaving nothing that particularly stood out to her. Other than a few dusty corners, it looked like an elegant farm house plucked from the Hollywood hills. Its size genuinely shocked Adelaide. Every time she thought they reached the end of the house, there was an entire extra set of corridors. Adam led them through the stainless steel kitchen to winding stairs.

             
“This place is all yours?” she asked. She’d have chopped it out and rented it out as separate condos if she could.

             
“It is now. It once belonged to a coven bigger than ours but somewhat went down the line of descent until we ended up with it,” he explained, noticeably leaving out what happened to the prior coven. She let it go. With every step up the stairs, he seemed less and less angry with Tony but she gave him extra space.

             
“This is amazing,” she credited him. He nudged open the first door and gestured for her to go inside.

             
Furniture in the room was sparse but sufficient. A full sized bed sat in the corner and smelled of fresh laundry detergent. A desk covered in plastic took up the length of the wall beside the bed. If this place had once been someone’s room, they left no personal ruminants.

             
“I hope you like it,” he said. For the first time, she heard life return to his voice and a hint of nervousness. She plastered on a smile.

             
“It’s nice,” she commented. Her eyes swept from him to the hallway. Just visible from this vantage point was another door. The door was shut and the room unlit. “Is your bedroom up here too?”

             
“No, I’m downstairs. Closest to the kitchen.”

             
She fought off a cringe when she had to ask the follow up question.

             
“Who else has the bedroom on this floor?”

             
Adam followed her gaze and shook his head immediately.

             
“No one currently. What I mean to say is that he isn’t here yet.”

             
“Someone besides those I’ve met?” she asked too quickly. “I mean, I thought there were only five of you. Is Charlotte coming?”

             
“No. There are usually six of us, but it’s not Charlotte. She’s a part of her second husband’s coven anyway.”

             
Adam wouldn’t get into details so she moved to distract him.

             
“You sure you don’t want to move up here then? Within hollering range in case of Tony? He got me like that last time and took me home,” she said. She doubted he’d make the drive to dump her off now, but reminding Adam of it distracted him from their missing coven member.

             
“Please don’t worry about Tony. I won’t let him bother you,” he said sharply.

             
She thought for a moment he would fume all over again, but his anger came and went quickly. He appeared to concentrate solely on her. The entire third floor sounded quiet other than the wind from her open window. Without the sounds of the other coven members, she knew they stood there alone. She suddenly noticed how close they were. Without thought, she licked her lips but stayed put.

             
“I’m glad you came, Adelaide,” he said simply.

             
He leaned down but only kissed her cheek. The touch was fleeting and he left the room. She wished him a quiet goodnight and backed away from the door. Collapsing back on the bed, the full weight of exhaustion hit her. Adelaide fixed the bed sheets, lost her shoes, and slid under the first layer. They had to believe her disguise enough for her to sleep and save up energy. To get this far meant they absolutely believed her in her humanity. But humanity didn’t mean Tony was okay with her and that set her on edge.

             
The wind softly beat the blinds against the wall when another twenty minutes passed, and then she could hear the hint of voices. Adelaide perked up and moved until she could hear clearly. She couldn’t tell the twins voices apart but identified them as a group. She heard Tony clearly.

             
“Who is she, Tony? Why is she here?” one of the girls asked.

             
“I don’t know. Just let me deal with it,” he snapped back.

             
Adelaide sunk into the bed.

             
“Great,” she whispered to the empty room.

Ten

             
Overnight the open window was cool and refreshing, but now, with the sun high in the sky, her room grew hot. She woke up when the heavy blankets suffocated her and she immediately shoved them off. The central air kicked in above her and blew persistently until she shut the window. Adelaide could see both cars still parked outside and no one on the porch. Her fingers lingered on the sill as she shook off the last of the sleep.

             
It had to be late morning, but with her schedule being so sporadic, she struggled to pin the time. The room lacked an alarm so she dug out her phone from her bed sheets. It was a quarter after nine. She had no missed calls which meant Bradley had thought better about calling her again. She replaced the phone and felt next for her necklace. She barely noticed the weight any more as she felt the smooth texture of the oval pendant. Tucking it back into her shirt, she turned her mind to other things. She changed into jeans, brushed through her hair, and made her cheeks rosy. Once she was happy, she dared to walk outside.

             
Tony was not waiting for her on the other side of the door this time. The third floor was just as quiet as it had been last night, but it looked different in the light. She headed down the stairs and listened intently to create a mental map of the coven member’s locations. Only when she reached the bottom floor did she hear voices, but they came from the television.

             
She stilled on the last step. If the entire coven was awake this late in the day, they were very quiet. And there was no way five people were down in the living room—it was much too tame. Swallowing her nerves, she headed straight for the living room with a smile on her face.

             
She saw the flat screen first. The bright screen flickered sporadic images of the local news station, but the long three couches that circled it only held one person. This was the first time Adelaide felt so happy to see the redhead.

             
“Hi,” Adelaide announced her entrance. Angie stole a glance backward for only a second before turning her attention to the flickers on the television.

             
“There are fresh bagels on the counter,” Angie said after a moment.

             
“Thank you.” Adelaide sized up the nearby kitchen but found no one. She obediently headed over and plucked a bagel from the platter. She grabbed a plate from the stack and jelly from the fridge when Angie said nothing.

             
“I can’t believe these are handmade. I only buy them premade. Did you make them?” Adelaide asked when she returned to the couches. She invited herself to sit on the sectional but still sat on the opposite side of the room from the other woman. Her stay would be brutal if they couldn’t talk to each other.

             
“Preeti did, but help yourself. Those bagels are meant for everyone.”

             
Adelaide took a bite to find the taste of cinnamon and raisins. She chewed in silence for a moment before she thought of anything to say.

             
“I can help cook. I’m not here to be a mooch,” Adelaide offered the rehearsed line for what it was worth but Angie’s face didn’t change. Her green eyes continued to relentlessly bore into the flat screen, but when Adelaide followed her gaze, she saw nothing special about the headlining news. The world continued turning, just like it always had.

             
“Don’t worry about it. Preeti won’t let you in the kitchen anyway.”

             
The conversation lulled again and Adelaide focused solely on polishing off the rest of her bagel. She wiped the crumbs on her jeans and set the plate down on the coffee table. When the first commercial interrupted the news, Adelaide spoke.

             
“Where is everyone else?”

             
“I think Adam’s in the shower. I don’t know where anyone else is. They should be down here.”

             
“Are they avoiding me?”

             
This got Angie to look at her and mute the television.

             
“I’m not sure…” Angie admitted, surprisingly honest. “I’m not going to take anything out on you and neither should they. I think it’ll blow over once everyone settles in. No one wanted to make this move. They’re frustrated and irritable so don’t take it personally.”

             
“It’s a nice house. I’m surprised no one wanted to come out here,” Adelaide said.

             
“Have you seen where we are? It gets boring fast, not to mention completely uprooting our lives for an indefinite amount of time.”

             
Angie apparently shared Adam’s sentiment—the same sentiment that brought her here. Angie continued.

             
“Anyway, I think it’ll be nice to have a new person to talk to in the meantime.”

             
Adelaide opened her mouth to answer, but Angie suddenly hit the volume to the television. The news came back on the screen and Angie returned to watching the television. Like before, she waited for the commercial until she muted it again and turned back to Adelaide.

             
“Can I get you anything else? Drink? Food?”

             
“No, I’m perfect. Thanks.”

             
“Well, feel free to help yourself…”

             
“Why are you so interested in the news?” Adelaide suddenly asked. It occurred to her earlier but she never considered voicing until now. Angie only looked momentarily startled.

             
“I like to know what’s going on in the rest of the world. Shade attacks make the news quite often…”

             
Adelaide nodded.

             
“I can imagine. They nearly blew half of my street to pieces just a few days ago.”

             
In fact Adelaide was always puzzled that the shades didn’t make the news more often. While mages tried to blend in, shades made little attempt to hide their appearances. She suspected it was always people’s disbelief coloring their perceptions about what actually happened.