Burning in a Memory (18 page)

             
The door opened again, distracting them both. A stampede of footsteps followed and the mages pooled into the room. The twins came in first, both dusty and bloody. Their auras flailed but they looked equally exhausted. Angie and Adam came next. They carried Leon between them but barely kept him off the ground. Every second step, his knee hit the ground. Adam grunted and pulled harder. Muscles visibly straining against the exertion, he stopped them both at the opposite couch. Angie finally let go and Leon collapsed, his face sinking into the cushions. 

             
Everyone in the coven seemed frantic to catch their breath as the dust storm settled. Angie was the first to speak.

             
“What now, everyone? I don’t think Leon should be pitching the next great idea.”

             
Adam rubbed the side of his head frantically as if he could stir up ideas.

             
“Look, even if more shades come eventually, we bought some time. It’s tough to assemble when they think they’re walking into a certain death,” Adam said.

             
“Will Leon be able to do that twice?” Angie asked.

             
“He’ll have to. They’re coming here because of him. They nearly took my head off a minute ago. And look at my sister!” Preeti snapped.

             
Priya had settled on the edge of the stairs with her forehead buried in her knees. Tony hurried to her side.

             
“Take her upstairs, Preeti, and rest. We can take care of things down here.”

             
Priya grunted in protest but Tony laid his hands on her shoulders. He whispered to her then. “You’ve done well. Please go upstairs now.”

             
Preeti maneuvered by his side, helped her sister to her feet, and then walked them both upstairs. When they were gone, Tony growled.

             
“We can’t let Leon keep doing that. Using that much magic will probably keep bringing shades here,” Tony said.

             
Adam nodded methodically. The blast of Leon’s magic a few minutes ago made everything else dull in comparison, but Adelaide could imagine shades would sniff that out. It also meant more shades were certainly coming.

             
“I’ll check outside. I’ll sound the alarm if I see any more,” Angie offered. Tony gave her a grateful look and the woman let herself out the front door.

             
Adam moved, leaned over, and shook his brother’s shoulder. Leon moaned into the cushion and Adam shook harder. Leon finally stirred and flipped onto his back, blinking madly.

             
“Leon, go to bed. I can’t carry you there,” Adam said.

             
Leon looked at his brother but his expression was distant.

             
“Leon, bed,” Adam said again while gesturing upstairs.

             
“No, I need to talk to Kathy. Where’s Kathy?” he asked. Leon stood awkwardly, as if his massive legs wouldn’t support his body.

             
“Where’s Kathy? I was going to get dinner with Kathy,” he said. His tone was higher pitched than usual and his eyes darted wildly around the room. They landed on Adelaide and stayed for a brief second.

Adam suddenly sprung to his brother’s side.

              “I’m not going to ask again. Go to bed,” Adam said.  Leon stood up straighter but looked lost, as if the living room had too many exits.

             
“It makes you sicker,” Adelaide said suddenly, unsure of what possessed her, but feeling enlightened. “You shouldn’t use your magic anymore, it makes you sicker.”

             
“Did Kathy send you?” he asked in a broken voice.

             
“No, but she told me she wanted you to go to bed,” Adelaide said. She felt like she was speaking to a child and Leon reacted like one. He nodded furiously and made for the stairs. She stood to follow, but Tony’s hand smacked her chest so hard, she fell back onto the cushion. Air stolen from her, she struggled to right herself. Leon was already gone.

             
“Don’t touch Adelaide,” Adam snarled before lowering his voice. ”Tony, he’s fine for now. He’ll sleep it off. It worked.”

             
“What worked about it? Everyone assumes that Leon’s our only hope, but meanwhile he’s going bat-shit crazy every time he uses a bit of magic. Even the human figured that out!”

             
Adam lacked a response for that. Tony took to pacing a circular pattern in the floorboards.

             
“Look, we need to plan now. We need to get rid of that shade in the basement so none of his little buddies try to come save him. We also need to figure out why Leon brought him here,” Tony said.

             
“I’m sure he thinks the shade knows something about the attack in Denver,” Adam said. Tony gave him a dark look but Adam waved him off. “No point in keeping it a secret now,” Adam added.

             
“I guess there’s no point to keep secrets because Adelaide can’t leave. My mother can’t come here and pick her up if there will be unexpected shade attacks. It was already dangerous enough for her or her coven to move. They won’t even make it back to the city alive!”

             
Adam suddenly cursed, revealing that he never considered that option. Tony kept talking.

             
“But at least that’s nothing we have to deal with right now. Go check on your brother, Adam. It wouldn’t surprise me if he can’t even find his bedroom.”

             
Adam hesitated, glancing between Adelaide and Tony before heading for the stairs. When he was gone, Tony and Adelaide stood alone with one another. Eager to change that, she walked straight for the kitchen.

             
Her stomach wound into knots and she wasn’t hungry. Desperate for something to busy her hands, she spotted the Keurig in the corner. Punching the buttons madly, she turned the machine on and let it warm up. Ceramic mugs were in the counter above it. She pulled one down when she heard footsteps follow her into the kitchen. Tony leaned against the wall and watched her again.

             
“Would you like some coffee?” she asked, postponing the inevitable. She brought another mug down from the cabinet regardless. Putting the first cup under the spout, she pounded the activation switch. The Keurig churned and exploded with the scent of hazelnut.

             
“I’ll make you coffee,” she said when he failed to answer. The first cup done, she slid it across the counter. The second cup she took herself. She sipped the bitter concoction until it burned down her throat. Tony stood too close to the fridge, blocking her access to cream so she decided that she could go without. Adelaide swallowed another strong sip.

             
“I don’t know what to do with you,” he suddenly admitted.

             
“What do you mean?” she cued.

             
“Well, you heard that my mother can’t come here to pick you up because of the shades. Because of the shades, you can’t even leave on your own unless you have a death wish. So you’re stuck here. Which I’m sure makes you happy. It’s more time for you to crush on Adam.”

             
She nearly choked on the coffee. Fighting off a coughing fit, her face lit up red when she looked back to him. Tony didn’t seem interested enough to linger on that part.

             
“We need to deal with your family. If you go missing, they’ll come looking for you. How far do they live away? Seven hours? That’s a day trip to your house to conduct a welfare check…”

             
“What?” she whispered. Putting her coffee down, she watched him carefully now.

             
“I’m saying they might show up at your house. You’re nineteen, Adelaide, hardly the age that your parents won’t worry about where you are. If you go missing for a while or don’t answer their phone calls, they might show up at your house. Or worse, they might even report you missing to the authorities.”

             
She let out a breathy laugh.

             
“I don’t think that’s an issue. They won’t,” she said. If her family ever had those intentions, she’d broken them of it over time. Even Bradley had learned when not to call her. She shook her head again. It was a nonissue.

             
Tony frowned.

             
“They will. They obviously care about you a lot,” he insisted.

             
She made a face.

             
“Tony, you don’t know my family,” she said. She paused and replayed the last minute of conversation in her head. “Why did you say seven hours?” she asked. Seven hours away for a welfare check.

             
“I just guessed how long it would take them to drive.”

             
It slipped by her before, but now Adelaide paid attention.

             
“How do you know where they live?”

             
It was impossible, she thought. Adelaide hid all of her connections to them and never let her phone out of her sight. But seven hours was a pretty good estimate. She let out a breath and then pinched the bridge of her nose. Keeping her composure grew more difficult by the second.

             
“How do you know where they live?” she asked again.

             
“Where your family lives? Come on, I looked them up when I looked you up. You don’t give me enough credit apparently. I would never have anyone near the coven unless I was certain I knew exactly who they were and Adam wouldn’t have been able to convince me otherwise.”

             
“You looked me up?” she said but her words sounded hollow.

             
“I’m not going to lie, finding out anything about you was very difficult. But I found your brother first—I guess you talk to him somewhat often. Then I found your parents. I tracked back to your birth certificate and your schools. I saw your damn graduation photo from Mayweather Academy and your awful GPA.

“You were lying to Adam about being a college student—but I don’t care about that. All I cared about was to make sure you were human and that you didn’t pose any danger to us.”

              She couldn’t hide her surprise.

             
“How did you find that?”

             
It was impossible, she thought. But here they stood and impossible didn’t have the same meaning in this house. Tony had been right about everything thus far, minus a few details.

             
“I’m good with computers.”

             
Adelaide realized now that she had underestimated him. Horror consumed her but she kept her face straight.

             
“I’m surprised, I guess. I didn’t want my family involved in this. I’ve seen bad things in your world and I don’t want my family hurt.”

             
Tony actually laughed.

             
“Well, that we have in common, huh? Don’t worry, I have no intention to harm your family—I have no grudge against you. And, between you and me, if you break Adam’s heart then I’ll just like you all the more.”

             
She didn’t have to feign her glare. Their voices echoed in the small kitchen, and could reach upstairs to a good listener. The initial shock already gone, she held out a hand to regain control of the conversation.

             
“I think you’re overestimating the Adam and me thing,” she interjected, but her words didn’t have much force.

             
“Whatever the case, I do have some ground rules. And believe me about these—I don’t want to hurt you or your family, but I can’t have my coven in trouble. You need to listen now,” he said and with his smile completely gone, he strode forward to stand much closer to Adelaide. His aura flailed for effect and made the kitchen feel painfully small.

             
“You need to stay away from Leon. I mean as far away as this house allows. I do not want to catch you even looking at him. Do you understand?”

             
There was no room to argue so she quietly agreed. Tony took a small step back. He wore an odd expression now, the same she had seen earlier. But this time, she could place it. The underlying emotion Tony showed was more than discomfort. It was fear, she realized. Tony was afraid of Leon too.

             
“Of course,” she vocalized softly.

             
Tony backed off again and stood at the edge of the kitchen, suddenly looking out of place.

             
“I’m going to check on Priya,” he finally decided aloud. Before he left, he gave Adelaide an awkward smile. “Until we figure out what’s going on, I suggest you try to feel at home,” he said.