Spring Rain (5 page)

“Do you think about her?” Biji asked in the
quiet.

“About who?”

“Morgan.”

“All the time,” he replied truthfully. “Do
you think about Noah?”

“No. Maybe. It doesn’t make any sense that I
do, Beck,” she said with a sigh. “I don’t even know him.”

“I barely know Morgan.”

“Same here. Noah, not Morgan.”

“I understood.” He smiled, gaze on the fire.
“He risked his life to save you and Summer. He can’t be
all-bad.”

“Yeah. It feels like something started and
never had a chance to finish,” she murmured. “I want to know how it
should’ve ended.”

“If
it ended,” he corrected her. “There’s a chance it wouldn’t.
At least, I felt that way with Morgan.”

“Everything ends, Beck.”

Except the pain.
He said nothing.

“At least she didn’t have to see your
beard.”

“Is it that bad?” Beck rubbed his furry jaw
once more.

“Yeah.”

He chuckled. Biji was the most honest person
he’d ever met. “You’re good people, Biji.”

“So are you, Beck. Thanks for letting me
hang out.”

“No worries.”

Not long after, her breathing deepened as
she slid into slumber. Beck listened, not feeling tired despite all
the work he’d done with the Light this day.

His mind was on Dawn and the child she
carried. He and Decker hadn’t known how to deal with her three
months ago when they discovered she was possessed by Bartholomew, a
Master of Dark who committed great atrocities in his time. As far
as he knew, no one understood exactly how to deal with her now.
Decker’s idea about the soul stone intrigued him. He returned to it
again, wishing there were more details known about how
Bartholomew’s sons had managed to trap his soul with the stone
before sending it into the Darkness.

Dawn had to be handled somehow, before the
damage she did became irreparable. Prone to her irrational
emotions, she’d thus far been content to target people who pissed
her off. She hadn’t yet gone after the Light or tried to help
Bartholomew unleash the Dark across the world. It was only a matter
of time before she was completely corrupted, Beck knew, and he was
no closer to determining how to deal with her. At least, not
without killing her child, too.

My child,
he added. At eighteen years old, he didn’t feel
ready or able for the responsibility of another life, especially
when his track record of saving those he cared about was
frightening. He’d nearly lost Summer and Decker, who would bear the
scars of what they’d gone through forever, and he had lost
Morgan.

It couldn’t really get any worse.

He slept fitfully. The next morning, he
walked Biji back to the school then returned to his family’s cabin
for a shower and hot breakfast. With some regret, Beck shaved off
the beard after his shower, all except for a neatly trimmed goatee.
He stared at himself in the mirror and rubbed his smooth cheeks. He
missed the beard already. Its rough texture had intrigued him and
helped pull him back into the real world whenever he got lost in
his thoughts.

Maybe I need to be paying
more attention to the rest of the world.
If he had been, he might have known his brother was lying to
him or that Dawn had been found.

He left the bathroom and pulled on his
clothing and shoes. It felt incredible to be in his old room at his
parent’s cabin once more. A fire burned across the room from his
king-sized bed, and it was toasty and warm. The carpet was plush
beneath his toes. He was looking forward to a good night sleep in a
real bed.

Being back in his environment, he didn’t
think he’d want to leave it to camp out in the forest again. The
scent of baked goods and lasagna filled the house. His grandpa was
making enough food for a small army as a welcome home party and
also to help feed the myriad of witchling families in town for the
equinox.

Before he could check out what food was in
the kitchen, his phone buzzed with a text. The number for Amber,
the Light Arts head instructor at the boarding school, popped up on
his screen.

Hey – need you here this
morning,
she had texted.

Beck knew she wouldn’t call if it weren’t
important and likewise, that there were few things Amber couldn’t
handle. He’d left her and the school alone for most of the past
three months, except when Amber called or he had to drop off new
Light witchlings he discovered during his talks with his
element.

Sensing her urgency, he pulled on his snow
boots and a light rain jacket and ordered his magick to take him to
the school. White, smoky fog billowed around his feet and swept him
away.

He materialized in the front yard of the
main log building housing the administrative offices, girls’ dorms,
and most of the classrooms. The porch, main dining room and
reception area were crowded before classes started, and he wove his
way through the students, waving and smiling at those he knew. He
reached the quiet hallways leading to the teachers’ offices and
paused to look back at the students.

In three months time, he’d doubled the
amount of Light students present at the school. A smile softened
his taut features and warmed the bitterness that had begun to
settle into his heart. The Light was getting stronger, fortified by
the hours he spent growing it and the increase in students whose
concentrated presence here acted as a buffer against the Dark.

He was proud of all those he’d found. Some
had been like Summer and Morgan – lost to the greater witchling
community – while others had been scheduled to attend but faced
delays due to finances, family concerns or other issues. He had
learned multiple sales pitches and approaches to winning over
reluctant parents and skeptical students and brought everyone he
could. He instituted a scholarship program as well to help those
families less well off. The result was a school teeming with life,
laughter and Light.

I did this.
With his blood humming happily from the amount of
magick in the air, Beck turned away and strode down the hall
towards Amber’s office.

He nearly ran into her when she whipped open
the door and started into the hallway.

“Hey!” The cheerful instructor with bright
blue eyes grinned. “Good timing. Walk with me!” She always spoke in
a singsong voice, and her happy air magick had the effect of
brightening everywhere she was. She had a file in hand and was
headed back through the building towards the back door leading out
into the Square, the courtyard area where students gathered for
bonfires, outdoor classes and just to hang out. On either side of
it were the dorms and a fitness center.

Beck had been avoiding the area after the
arson in December that Morgan was framed for setting. He recalled
too easily her humiliation in front of the witchlings who battled
the fire and hadn’t wanted a reminder of her pain. He saddened
thinking of how much he loved the boarding school, and how cruel of
an environment it had ended up becoming for her. She was the reason
he insisted on changes with regards to how bullying and student
relations were handled. There had been a lot of changes during the
time he exiled himself to the forest.

“Wow. You can’t tell it even happened.” He
looked around. His father had dumped a ton of money into repairing
and expanding the school. The dorms were now two-story to make up
for the influx of Light students, and the fitness center was being
moved to a fourth building that would be located at the far end of
the Square. “It looks amazing.”

In the crisp air, he was able to smell the
new paint and construction materials of the new buildings.

“The second stories are done, and not too
soon! We are busting at the seams!” Amber led him towards the new
dorms and the stairs leading to the brand new second floor. The
bottom floors of each building consisted of the original dorm rooms
that survived the fire and were lined by a new wooden walkway
beneath a canopy so students could walk between each other’s rooms
without having to deal with the elements.

The second floor, he soon learned, had an
inner hallway and doors on either side. There were bunk beds in
each, a private bathroom and study areas along with a central
common area at the middle of the dorm.

“Fantastic,” he murmured. “Dad did awesome
in so short a time.”

“He did. He also said you have to approve
everything before we can open it.”

Beck nodded, expecting the news. His father
had pushed a lot his way since he turned eighteen, slowly turning
over responsibility for the Light witchling students where it
belonged, with the Master of Light. Beck had little business
experience and no administrative knowledge, so he relied heavily on
both his father and Amber to help guide his decisions.

“We have the building inspector’s approval?”
he asked.

“Yep. New blueprints filed with the county
and all paperwork in the main office.” She grinned. “Do you want a
ribbon cutting ceremony?”

“Not if people are triple bunked. Open this
wing up,” he replied.

“But we should do something,” she prodded.
“This is the first time the school’s expanded in two decades at
least.”

“I hadn’t thought of that. I guess it is
pretty cool.” Beck smiled and looked around the common living area
with its large television and multiple couches. “Could we open them
today and then have something on the equinox?”

“Sure. Ribbon cutting and cake on the
equinox then your parent’s gathering after. I’ve already drafted a
release to go out to the witchling community writ large about the
expansion. I emailed it to you for approval.”

“You haven’t been waiting long have you?” he
asked, sensitive to his struggle with his new role.

“No.” Amber was too sweet to say if she had,
and Beck made a note to check his email daily from now on in case
she needed something. A lot of what she did on the administrative
side – he should be doing more of.

Why did it always feel like he was not quite
living up to who he thought he should be? Amber didn’t seem
disappointed, and neither did his parents. But no Master or
Mistress of Light had existed in over twenty years, so no one knew
how much he was dropping the ball.

“You’re making real progress, Beck,” Amber
said.

It doesn’t feel that
way.
He offered a smile, unwilling to ruin
her optimism by voicing his own frustration. He was making
progress, yes, but it was grueling and nowhere near what he thought
it should be.

“Looks great, Amber,” he said. “Any
issues?”

“We need another teacher.”

“I’m working on that one.”

“And …” She drifted off, worry flitting
across her feature before disappearing. “Decker is good about
policing the Dark students who get too close to the school, but a
few students have reported something odd going on in Miner’s
Drop.”

Miner’s Drop was on the side of the school
opposite where Beck was working on growing the Light. He rarely
went there anymore, mainly because it held nothing but painful
memories, of the night Summer jumped into the Drop and the
suffering of his brother that followed.

“Odd how?” he asked with a faint smile. “Not
just kids learning to use their magick?”

She rolled her eyes. “We’ll table that
comment for another discussion. Some kids are just …” she sighed.
“Anyway, it’s not that. It’s more sophisticated use of magick.
Students or witchlings with training who know how to control their
elements.”

“Dark students are permitted to practice in
the forest. Did you tell the Light students to stay out of the
woods?”

“Of course. But it’s not practice, Beck.
It’s … Dark.”

He studied her. The idea of Dark witchlings
camping out and devising spells so close to campus didn’t sit well
with him, but it wasn’t exactly illegal either. The forest belonged
to the elements and therefore to any witchling who wanted to visit.
“I’ll check it out,” he said.

“Thank you.” She appeared relieved. “How are
you, Beck?”

“Good, thanks.”

“I can feel the work you’ve done. It’s
amazing. Do you need any help?”

“I don’t think so. I think it’s just a
matter of time.”

“Well let me know if you decide you do.” She
smiled and passed him, headed towards the stairs. “If you’re good
with the dorms, I’ll open them up today. Wanna take a look at the
other dorm and new fitness center?”

“Sure.” He trailed her out of the first dorm
building, toured the second, and finished his inspection with the
remodeled fitness center. His father was a marathon runner and
workout fanatic; the equipment was top of the line. His eyes
skimmed all of it and settled on the wrestling mats where he’d once
challenged Morgan to a match.

His blood warmed at the remembrance of her
soft skin and fire. She could fight well, compliments of an
overprotective brother with several black belts. He’d won only by
dragging her to the ground where she couldn’t use her size and
speed to best him. He smiled at the memory of her raw sex appeal
and quick anger. She was too naïve to know why every guy in the gym
had wanted to wrestle her that day. A combination of the natural,
burning sultriness characteristic of fire witchlings and her beauty
had stopped even him in his tracks.

“Beck, you coming?” Amber called from the
doorway.

He blinked away the warm memories and
followed her out of the fitness center to the administrative
offices. Classes had started, and the hallways and common areas
were quiet once more.

“…
review the spring
semester class schedule,” Amber was saying and plopped an iPad on
the desk before her.