Reckless Magic (33 page)

“
Why? Why can’t I go?” I
asked stubbornly.

“
The simple answer,”
Principal Saint looked up from the counter straight into my eyes
and said simply, “They would kill you without hesitation,” I
swallowed loudly, afraid to ask his reasons. By the look on
Principal Saint’s face, and the tone of his voice, I understood
without any doubt that he was serious.

“
Amory….” Aunt Syl rejoined
the conversation and gave him a concerned glare. “She’s just a
child. There’s no need to frighten her,” as soon as she finished
her sentence, Aunt Syl’s cell phone buzzed and she flipped it open
to read a text message. I watch her expression turn from concerned
to disappointed. “They need me at the hospital. Avalon, make
yourself comfortable, there are clean linens on the bed and I laid
out fresh towels in the bathroom. Keep her safe,” she winked in
Avalon’s direction and gave Principal Saint a kiss on the cheek
before exiting the kitchen. I cringed a little at the familiarity
between Aunt Syl and Principal Saint, not only because he was my
principal and she was my aunt, but there had to be like a huge age
difference.

“
Well ok, but what about
Kiran and Talbott?” I stood up and began to put the leftover
Chinese food back into their respective containers.

“
Talbott is not allowed to
testify because of his position in the Royal Guard. By law, Titans
must remain loyal to the crown under every circumstance. Since
Lucan already has charged Lilly, Talbott’s testimony would be in
direct opposition to Lucan’s charges, therefore making Talbott a
traitor to the crown. And Kiran has no backbone, no sense of
responsibility; the last thing he would do, is to stand up to his
father,” Principal Saint accused Kiran like he was heartless and
foolish. I flinched a little, refusing to believe the accusations
were true.

“
It’s not like he would
stand up to him anyways,” Avalon yawned in the middle of his
tirade. “There’s no way in hell the Crowned Prince is going to
stand up for a shape-shifter like Lilly Mason. Trust me on that,”
Avalon slammed his hand on the kitchen counter to make his
point.

“
But why? Why do they hate
the shape-shifters so much?” I asked out of ignorance.

“
Lucan, like all of the
royal family and much of the kingdom, believe they are manipulative
and untrustworthy. But even more, Lucan is extremely paranoid. He
truly believes they are after his crown, and after his life. I
don’t think he’s wrong to believe that now; but they weren’t
always. After Derrick outlawed them, he had hundreds of them
executed in the worst ways to prove his point. Things settled down
for a while, but during Lucan’s reign they have escalated almost to
the point of extinction. During the first several years he was on
the thrown, his main goal was to hunt every last one of them down.
I don’t think he would have stopped killing them either, if it
weren’t that….” Principal Saint suddenly cut off his sentence and
shut his mouth as if he had said something he hadn’t intended
to.

“
If it weren’t what?” I
asked hoping to glean more information.

“
If he hadn’t found the one
shape-shifter he was looking for,” Principal Saint coughed into his
hand and walked over to the sink to work on the dishes. I gave
Avalon a curious glance, but he shook his head as if he was just as
confused as me.

“
Well, you two, there is
school tomorrow, so why don’t you head off to bed. I’ll finish
cleaning up the kitchen,” Principal Saint moved around Aunt Syl’s
chef’s kitchen as if he knew exactly where everything was. He must
have been using his magic.

“
Goodnight,” Avalon yawned
again, raising his hands far above his head to stretch. He turned
to leave and something finally dawned on me.

“
You’re staying here?” I
blurted out, suddenly putting the random suitcases and Aunt Syl’s
instructions together.

“
Yep,” Avalon barely
acknowledged me before making his exit. I heard him on the stairs
and then into the guest bedroom where he slammed the door shut
behind him.

“
We thought it best if
someone stayed here with you Eden. I think it’s best that you have
some protection,” Principal Saint turned to look at me, and I found
it strange that we are alone in the kitchen together.

“
Why? Now that I know it was
Avalon behind all of those attacks I’m not afraid anymore,” I
crossed my arms and fought back my own yawn.

“
Yes, I know. But you should
be afraid. Kiran could be very dangerous; you don’t really know
him, do you?” I held back a snotty response, realizing that they
were the ones who didn’t really know him. “It’s just a precaution
anyways,” Principal Saint waved it off as if it was no big deal,
“Besides wouldn’t you like to get to know your twin brother a
little more? I’m sure the two of you have a lot to catch up on,” he
gave me a genuine smile and I relaxed. After all of the information
I just received I had almost forgotten that Avalon and I were
twins…. actual twins…. actually related.

“
I guess you’re right
Principal Saint,” I conceded, sending him my own version of a
genuine smile.

“
Amory, please,” he
implored. “I’m so much more than your high school
principal.”

“
Amory…?” I tried his first
name a bit uneasily, “My first question never got answered. So what
is the exact purpose of the Resistance?”

“
Ah,” Amory, took a moment
to look out the window that sat above our kitchen sink. “Well, it
has many purposes, such as to completely wipe out the royal line so
that the Titans may have their freedom back. Also, to protect as
many Shape-shifters as possible so once we do have freedom again,
our magic will not be missing anything and can be restored to its
full glory. And then finally I suppose, to protect you my dear,” he
smiled at me gently, but also a little sadly. I took his reference
to me as a general idea to protect the Immortal population as a
whole.

I smiled again and nodded my head; but
suddenly I had a very uneasy feeling about the true meaning of his
words. I remembered back when my life as a human was so simple; all
I had to think about was myself. Sure, I lived in fear of what I
would blow up or burn down next, but even that seemed so much
simpler than now. This whole fairy tale kingdom came with a lot
more baggage than you read about in Disney books. Not to mention
the super powers; they had a different playbook all together. I
stalked up to my room, exhausted and overwhelmed, hoping to forget
it all in the sweetness of sleep.

32.

“
Eden, let’s go!” Avalon
yelled at me from the driver’s seat of his oversized
truck.

I took a final glance in the mirror,
and applied another layer of lip gloss, before I grabbed my back
pack and rushed out the door. Avalon revved his engine,
accentuating his impatience. I flung the door open, and threw my
back pack in before struggling to make the climb up into his
cab.

“
Tomorrow we are taking my
car,” I said, out of breath as I worked to buckle my seat belt,
although Avalon had already taken off and was flying through the
neighborhood streets haphazardly.

“
Only if you let me drive
it,” he replied, swerving in and out of spaces I was convinced were
much too small for this tank.

“
Why can’t I drive?” I
whined, remembering my Land Rover with sentiment.

“
First of all, you don’t use
magic enough for me to trust you,” Avalon explained as if I was the
unsafe driver, meanwhile I was pretty sure he just ran the last
three cars we passed, off of the road. “Second, it’s not safe.
Eden, you are in real danger whether you believe it or
not.”

“
I do believe I am in
danger!” I folded my arms across my chest defiantly. “I believe
your driving is the most danger I have ever been in!”

“
You’re such a human.
Relax,” Avalon demanded.

I laughed out loud. I was pretty sure
Avalon meant “human” as an insult. He could insult all he wanted,
but at least when I was a human I wasn’t in life threatening
jeopardy constantly.

“
No, only everyone around
you was at risk. Do you remember what you were like as a human?”
Avalon answered my thoughts and I let out a small grunt of
frustration.

“
Just because you can read
my mind doesn’t mean that you should,” I growled.

“
Alright, alright,” Avalon
lifted his hands off of the steering wheel and held them up
gingerly as if to say he conceded; but I knew it was only an act.
He would be in my mind as long as we lived; and apparently that was
going to be a very long time.

As it turned out twins were able to
connect to each other’s minds without letting their other defenses
down. We could always communicate with each other and read each
other’s thoughts, no matter how far away we were. Amory said that
to a certain extent even human twins had this ability; ours was
just strengthened because of our other powers.

I was sure this would come in handy
one day, but right now I found it extremely irritating. Since he
moved in with us over two weeks ago, he was always there, always
around and always in my head. I found it ironic that even though
Avalon and I only just met we fell easily into the role of siblings
without any extra effort by either of us.

“
How did you sleep last
night?” Avalon asked a little more sensitively than I was used
to.

“
Fine, thanks,” I replied,
not sure how to read his question.

“
No weird dreams?” he pried
further.

“
No, not that I remember.
Why?” I asked, suddenly suspicious.

“
Just wondering,” he turned
sharply into a parking spot in the student section and I was
convinced he was going to scratch the cars to either side of us.
When he shut the engine off, I found myself clutching the seats and
holding my breath. “Calm down, Eden. See this is why you can’t
drive, you rely too much on your human senses and forget to use
your Immortal ones,” he jumped down from the cab with ease and I
followed behind carefully but awkwardly.

We were two of the last students to
arrive, due mostly to my inability to be on time. Only a few other
students hurried up the walkway to their respective classes. I
watched Kiran and Seraphina from a distance. Her long blonde hair
bouncing with every step she took. They seemed to be laughing about
something and then he held the door open for her and let her pass
with a small bow. Gross.

“
Let it go, Eden,” Avalon
growled in my ear. He had obviously watched the same scene, but for
completely different reasons. And I could guarantee his stomach
didn’t feel empty and his heart didn’t tighten with jealousy after
it happened.

“
You’re right. He’s the bad
guy,” I sighed quietly, watching him walk through the door to the
English building with longing.

“
And you’re the idiot,”
Avalon nudged me with his hand, pushing me in the direction we
needed to continue to walk.

“
I just thought that… I mean
he didn’t even let me thank him for the night of the dance,” I
referred to the fight on the gymnasium rooftop. It had happened
over two weeks ago, and Kiran had yet to say even two words to
me.

“
Told you. He’s the bad
guy,” Avalon picked up his pace, and I had to run to keep up with
him.

After the dance, it was days before
Kiran returned to school. I had looked forward to each day, when I
would hopefully find a chance to talk to him, to thank him for
saving my life, and then to apologize to him for what had happened
next. But by the end of the week, when he had finally come back to
school, looking more beautiful than ever, completely unscratched
and completely perfect, he did not pay me even an ounce of
attention.

I had expected to feel relieved; not
only did his inattention appease Amory and Avalon; I thought I
would be able to forget about him and therefore stop suffering from
all of the mixed feelings I had for him. And although Amory and
Avalon were quite pleased that he seemingly wanted nothing more to
do with me; and although my feelings had become clear, it was not
quite in the way I had anticipated. I found myself missing him more
and more every moment. Memories of our kiss, or the strange dreams
I’ve had of him, flooded my thoughts and I realized that I had
utterly, hopelessly and pathetically fallen for him in a way that
must be categorized as much more than a simple crush.

“
We’re skipping after lunch,
so be ready,” Avalon whispered to me before opening the door to
English class. I mumbled a reply, too wrapped up in my thoughts of
Kiran to really understand what Avalon just said to me, and then
prepared myself for the verbal lashing Mr. Lambert was sure to give
me on the crime of tardiness.

----

“
Where are we going?” I
demanded of Avalon, as he once again controlled his truck
carelessly. I gripped the door-frame and whispered a silent
prayer.

“
I told you, it’s a secret,”
I could hear the smile in his voice, but I refused to open my eyes
and view the destruction ahead of us. Suddenly the road was very,
very bumpy and I bounced around violently in the passenger’s seat.
If I had not been born and raised in Nebraska and realized the
transition from pavement to gravel, I would have lost my lunch all
together.