Endless Magic (Stella Mayweather Series Book 6) (6 page)

"I didn't do anything."

"You were there at the right moment."

"Like I said, any time."

"And thank you for being my friend," I blurted out, suddenly self-conscious.

I moved to the door, thoroughly aware of Evan at my back. Pulling the door open, I turned to him, but found myself unable to speak. I didn't need to as he pressed me against him in a hug that soon rendered my muscles to jelly. He always had that effect on me; something I would need to keep in check for our
friendship
to continue.

But what he whispered in my ear as we parted threw everything I just decided into disarray.

Chapter Seven

"Hello?" The voice at the end of the line was one I hadn't heard in a long time. "Hello?" she said again, "Who is this?"

"It's Stella. Stella Mayweather," I replied. There was a long pause during which I wondered if she would slam the phone down, but instead, she surprised me by saying, "Ohmygosh! It's been so long. How are you? I heard what happened. Are you okay?"

Chyler was right; it
had
been a long time. When I first met her, she was a terrified teenage runaway, and the target of a particularly malicious, now dead witch named Dina. Dina wanted to return to the living and was promised Chyler's body by Georgia Thomas, only neither of them ever expected Chyler would fight for her survival. Back then, my own life was still in turmoil. Although I found a home and a life in the little town of Wilding, I believed many of my friends might have been dead after our safe house was attacked. I had no idea where Evan was, and grieved incessantly. When he found me, he changed my life again. Later on, we also changed Chyler's life too, by giving her the normalcy she craved.

"I wasn't sure if you'd remember me," I faltered, feeling awkward. I called not to ask about her wellbeing, but to request a favour. Learning that Chyler had clearly kept track of me was both puzzling and heartwarming; but I wondered what she knew about my captivity.

"How could I ever forget? You saved my life when I had nowhere else to turn. You gave me a normal existence so I could go on to college and just be an average kid for a while. I owe you big time!"

I smiled, pleased to hear how glad she sounded. "You don't owe me a thing."

"I do. I seriously do. You know, I'm making the trip to the city in a few weeks. Maybe we could meet up? It would be great to talk to you again."

"I'd like that," I replied, hoping there would be a city to visit in a few weeks time, if we were still alive. The Brotherhood war would undoubtedly have casualties. I was sure I wasn't the only one to whom that idea occurred, but no one admitted having any worries so far. I got the impression my friends all felt the war was justified; and it was hard to argue with that.

"I've been meaning to reach out to you anyway, so I'm pleased you called, but I... I don't want to be impolite, but this isn't a social call, is it?"

I hesitated, wondering if I made a faux pas, or Chyler had simply become more astute since I last saw her. "No, it isn't," I admitted, grateful for the segue to my request. "Actually, I need your help."

"I knew it! The book appeared in my dorm a week ago and has not stopped."

"Not stopped what?"

Chyler laughed. "I guess you could say 'bothering' me. It keeps showing me pages that I can't make sense of, but one of the pictures it drew was definitely you. And now you're on the phone!"

"Really? It drew a picture of me?"

"You know, the book likes you. It always has. It keeps showing me a picture of you; and sometimes, you're wrapped up in magic. At first, I thought it was a whirlwind, but that didn't make sense, then I realised it was magic. I was trying to decide whether to tell someone else, when I heard you were found. Then I thought about calling you to tell you about it, and you called me. Weird, huh?"

I wanted to tell her that a book could not like me, but from my limited knowledge of her family horologican, it almost made sense. The book did decide who could use it, and had presented itself to me. It gave me an opportunity to learn past spells as well as new things, as it appeared to write itself. Simply translated, horologican means
the book of everything
and that's exactly what it seemed to be. Even more interesting was how the book always knew exactly what I wanted even before I knew it. With such powers, it was no surprise when I discovered the demon, Irina, searching for one. Thankfully, she never found it before being banished to who-knows-what punishment. That was a relief. Wrapped up in that was the guilty thought that I wished ill of her partly because of her fling with Evan. Thoughts like that didn't make me feel very good, but they did remind me that I was human.

"I need to talk to you about the book."

"I knew it! I can bring it with me when I visit."

"I appreciate that, but I can't wait. It's really important, Chyler. Can you bring it any earlier? Or I could come and get it from you?" I was fairly sure Étoile's limitations on my movements wouldn't apply to bringing the horologican to The Amethyst. I had to see it, and it was far away.

"I'll need to get another train ticket as well as permission from my tutor to miss a few classes. Maybe the day after tomorrow? If I could shimmer like you, it would be no problem! If I weren't bound..." I recognised the pause in her voice; she was regretting her decision. I wondered if that was why she hesitated in calling me. She couldn't ask a favour from someone who'd just been kidnapped. It wouldn't have been polite. But since I called her... "Are you regretting your decision?" I asked.

"No. Yes. No! Maybe... I think so. When you bound me, it was the right decision. I wanted to be normal. I needed to be normal and I couldn't do that when I was a witch. I got the normal life I wanted, but a part of me still misses the things I could do before. I've had a lot of therapy for what happened to me, and to help me deal with what happened to my mom, and I've found some peace; but I'm still missing a big part of who I was, and I think it's time to find out. I've been thinking about it a lot, especially with all the rumours flying around."

"What have you heard?" I asked, imagining the brewing war.

"Plenty. I keep in touch with the community, mostly via my aunts. So it's true?" Chyler continued, "Did Étoile Winterstorm really declare war?"

"She and the High Council."

"Then I want my magic back. I'm part of this."

"No, you're not. You're in college."

"I became part of this when those bitches thought they could steal my body. Unbind my magic and I'll loan you the horologican."

"I'll unbind you anyway," I told her.

Chyler laughed. "And I’ll give you the horologican regardless."

I told her I'd let her know the arrangements. I would either bring her to the city, or I’d go to her, and we said our goodbyes. I favoured the latter option, and not just because it seemed a lot safer for Chyler. I admired her determination to contribute to the war effort, but I knew well enough that an untried witch could also be a liability. I wasn't even sure Étoile would want her involvement. I had no authority to insist one way or the other where Chyler was concerned. As I pondered how to get to Chyler without taking an entourage with me, or sending an emissary, I moved around my new room. I was checking out the bathroom, then turning around, I noted someone left my phone on the console and my suitcase on the case rack, next to the loveseat. Finally, I stopped to survey the view over the city. My thoughts were too full, however, to enjoy the vista.

Taking an entourage would be sensible for my own protection, but I didn't want my every move being watched like I was a danger to myself or others. Sending an emissary had even more pitfalls. Not only would they have to shimmer in and out swiftly to collect the horologican and return with it, but I would also have to find someone I could trust implicitly. Besides Étoile, the only other person I could think of to perform such a task was Evan. I tried hard to keep him off my mind since his parting words.

What did he mean by saying
I didn't misinterpret him
? Was that how he felt? I was fairly sure I didn't say anything out loud that suggested I misinterpreted something he said or did; so he had to have plucked some stray thought from my mind. It was confusing. Men were confusing. I wanted the luxury of time to be alone and work it out, but there was no time. My task was too important. I needed the horologican, and it was the only thing I could think of now. With no other leads, perhaps it could be the key to finding the other talismans. That Chyler seemed to think it was waiting for me was very positive. It meant one thing: I had to push aside my confused feelings and appeal for help from the one person who could absolutely protect me, and also shimmer almost like I could.

Sighing, I picked up my phone and hit speed dial. "I need your help," I said when Evan answered the other end.

"What happened?" he asked, immediately on high alert.

"Nothing. Everything's fine," I assured him, "but I have to pick up something and I need your help to accomplish it."

"This isn't a simple trip to the store, is it?" he asked, his suspicion lacing his words.

"No. It's more of a
leave The Amethyst and get back before anyone sees us
."

"There's no reason why you can't leave the building."

"Étoile wants me here at all times. I can't leave, and I can't do what I need to do with someone watching me. I just need to... to..." I struggled for the word, faltering.

"To be autonomous," Evan filled in. "How do I fit in?"

"Can I come to your room? I'll tell you there."

"Not necessary. I'm on your floor." A knock sounded at my door. I walked over to it, expecting to see exactly who was standing in the doorway when I opened it. I didn’t know whether to be surprised or annoyed. Did Evan anticipate my moves before I did? Was I telepathically transmitting everything I planned? If so, I needed to work on my shields. "What are you doing here?" I asked. Then I began wondering what if he
had
been waiting to see me? What if he were already in the corridor just waiting for an excuse? Had my phone call come just at the right moment? "Never mind. Come in," I said, hitting end on my phone screen. I could waste my time trying to hypothesise something that might not have even been true, or simply talk to the guy.

"So?" he said, closing the door behind him, eager expectation written across his face.

"I need your help getting out of here."

He raised his eyebrows. "A jailbreak? Why do you need to leave? Are you planning on returning? Or have you finally gotten your fill of the supernatural world?"

I couldn't help the flicker of a smile. "Not quite yet. I need to collect something, and it has to be in person."

"Are you going to tell me what it is?"

"No. Not yet anyway."

"It can't be mailed?"

"No, it's not that kind of thing."

"Does it breathe?"

I paused, wondering how to answer that. Of course, a horologican didn't breathe but... it wasn't exactly any old book either. It possessed life in a strange sort of way. "No, it's precious though."

"I can collect it for you, or I can have Micah retrieve it and bring it here."

"It has to be done in person. The owner of the item won't hand it over to anyone else."

"Sounds mysterious. Are you telling me where we're going?"

"I will as soon as I know."

"Obviously, I need to know if we're likely to run into danger."

"Only from the local humans," I said facetiously, thinking of how a campus of college girls might react to seeing someone like Evan. Tall, handsome, with a body to die for, he turned many heads even if he didn't appear to notice them. I learned to ignore it during our relationship; and the only thing that stopped the witches in our company from giving him too much unwanted attention was his half-demon, half-human heritage. Witches could be snobs, I discovered on more than one occasion, but he paid them little notice. Besides, it was all moot if we were going to be friends. Evan gave me a quizzical look that morphed into something incredulous, even amused. Dangerous humans versus a powerful demon? I could see his reluctance to accept any kind of threat there. I was about to tell him to forget what I just said when my phone rang. Turning away, I plucked it from the desk, noting Chyler's name flashing on the screen.

"Hey, I was just making arrangements to come to you," I told her.

"No need! I explained to my tutor that I had a family emergency and had to leave; and he said to take the rest of the week off since we're heading into break anyway. I booked my ticket and I’ll be in the city tomorrow," she said in a rush.

"Are you sure? I can come to you."

"Totally one-hundred-and-fifty percent sure! It's all arranged. My aunt is going to meet me and we'll travel together."

"Do you feel safe?"

"Absolutely. Why wouldn't I? I don't register as a witch to anyone. Besides, the book showed me the journey and it's all trouble-free."

"So long as you're sure. Call me when you get here," I told her, encouraged to hear her journey was expected to be
trouble-free
. I had to hope her bound-witch status would protect her from anyone that might be searching for supernaturals. She simply wouldn't register as anything other than human, and that was probably a very good thing.

"Sure will!"

"Forgot everything I said," I told Evan, hanging up. "There's no need now."

"Are you going to tell me what this is all about? We're hastily planning a mystery break out and just as swiftly, it's cancelled?"

"Soon," I replied. "I'm sorry to waste your time for now."

"Don't think about it. I came here to discuss your training."