Winter Fire (Witchling Series) (5 page)

“A foot?” she asked, kneeling beside him.

She was careful to stay opposite the Light source. Her Dark remained powerful, even after passing off the hereditary title of Mistress of Dark to his brother, Decker.

“After months of nada,” he summarized. “Suddenly a foot. I know Decker’s behaving.”

“Summer is seeing to that,” his mother answered with a smile.

“Great. Except that means I’m screwing up something.”

“You’re too hard on yourself, Beck.”

“A lot I gotta take care of.”

“Your dad can help you with the Dawn issue,” his mother said. “I can help you a little with this one.”

“You know what’s wrong?” he asked.

“No, but I know what’s not wrong.”

“No riddles, mother!”

“It’s not Decker or me. It’s not Darkness growing that caused this,” she said, ignoring him. “And, while I don’t know for sure, I’m going to guess it’s not anything you are or aren’t doing.”

Beck thought hard. “What does that leave?”

“I don’t know.”

“Seriously?” he demanded. “That’s it?”

“That’s all I know, son.” She said, laughing at his baffled look.

“So, something did this, but it has nothing to do with the three people most likely to cause it.”

“When did you notice it?” she asked.

“Today,” he answered.

“What’s happened on campus?”

 He thought hard. He spent some time catching up with Amber. She’d reported no issues, no trespassing of Dark students, nothing. Even Decker had obeyed the rules about staying off campus when he came to see his girlfriend, Summer, and stood at the edge of the Light source.

“Nothing,” he said.

“Something did. I suggest you figure that out, son,” his mother said, amused.

“I’ll add it to my to-do list.” He rolled his eyes. “You’re certain about the usual suspects?”

“Absolutely. Only Dark can chip away at the Light source. All I can sense is that it wasn’t from a Dark source we know of.”

“If you think of anything else, will you tell me?”

She nodded and rose. Beck did so as well, attention on the ground beneath their feet.

“You coming for dinner?” she asked.

“Not tonight. The past few weeks put me behind. There’s no chance of me breaking for Christmas if I don’t get caught up at school.”

“You’re a good kid.”

“Whatever.” He flashed her a smile.

“Your dad will need to see you tomorrow during lunch. About the Dawn issue.”

“Oh, god.” He wasn’t going to ask what was wrong now.

“Remember that next time you think of sleeping with anyone,” she reminded him, not for the first time. “Think with your head, not your hormones.”

“I know, I know, I know.”

“You’ll do fine, kid.” She smiled. “Call me if you need anything.”

“Will do.” Beck stepped back. Black fog unfurled around his mother and absorbed her. Her Dark shadows swept her away.

He stayed where he was for a long moment, pensive, then crouched to the ground again.

“So, what’s up, earth?” he asked playfully of the magick. “What happened that you’re not telling me about?”

The earth memories floated through him. They showed him a heavy snow around the campus that receded with the spring. It stopped when all that was left covered the source of remaining Light. The melting stopped there, at the edges where Beck stood. He waited for more, not noticing the melt that began in the center of the campus, until it grew.

Startled, Beck watched. The earth memories stopped there.

“What was that?” he demanded.

The element didn’t answer. Known for their mysterious ways, elemental magicks spoke in a language only they really understood. When it was clear the earth was done talking to him, Beck rose. He traced his steps back to the center of the campus, ignoring the students decorating the tree. Instead, he went directly to the point the earth showed him. At least, he tried to. It was beneath the school itself.

Beck entered the schoolhouse and trotted downstairs to the basement, which was used primarily for storage. He flipped on the lights in the chilly basement and oriented himself. He found the spot the earth showed him and moved the stacks of plastic bins away.

Placing his hands on the cold cement floor, he summoned the earth magick. It drifted upward to him. There was no sign of a retreat of Light at the core of its source, like the earth’s visions showed him. Perplexed, Beck pushed more of his magick into the cement and pulled it back into him, wondering if amplifying the earth’s subtle voice would help.

It didn’t. There was no sign of weakness below him. Unable to decipher what exactly the earth was showing him, Beck didn’t hear anyone descend the stairway or approach him, until she spoke.

“I don’t like the holidays.”

He jumped and twisted to see the girl he most wanted to avoid. Morgan’s face was flushed still, but she appeared worried rather than angry this time. Her arms were crossed. She wore snug jeans and a dark blue, V-neck sweater that drew his gaze to her breasts. He straightened, reminding himself of Tanya and Dawn.

“Sorry. I’m not following,” he said, smiling at her.

“That’s why I’m not … adjusting well.”

Her air sizzled faintly with agitated fire magick. Instinctively, he had the urge to touch her and calm the magick. Instead, he shoved his hands in his pockets and kept his distance.

“Like Scrooge or something?” he asked.

“I guess.”

He waited for more. She said nothing. As with Connor, Beck sensed there was much more behind her shuttered features.

“Look, Morgan, I’m not trying to be a dick,” he started. “You’re flunking out of everything. You want me to tell Amber not to worry about it, because you don’t like Christmas?”

“It’s only two weeks away. It’ll be gone, I’ll be eighteen on the first, and everything will be okay,” she reasoned.

“I remember thinking that when I turned eighteen,” he said with a snort. “It didn’t happen that way.”

“I promise. I’ll be out of your hair.”

Eighteen. Out of his hair. It didn’t take Beck more than a few seconds to realize she could leave school the day she turned eighteen. She wasn’t concerned, because she had other plans. The school and its instructors created the most positive environment on the planet! What made her so desperate to leave them?

Morgan was watching him, her full lips pressed together as if to keep more words from coming out and her large eyes unblinking. The need to settle her magick was distracting him, almost as much as her shapely body and direct look.

His first challenge as a mentor, and he wasn’t certain how to respond. Would she risk running away sooner, if they put her in a corner? Or would she realize things weren’t that bad, if she gave this place a chance?

“I think Amber needs more than that,” he said. “Maybe just … try harder this week? Show her there’s no reason to call your parents?”

“There isn’t any reason to call my parents.”

“Except you’re flunking.”

Morgan sighed. She appeared thoughtful, gaze distant.

“Look, if something is wrong, if someone here is bothering you or you really do hate it here, you can tell me. I can keep a secret and run interference with Amber, if needed.” You wouldn’t believe how well I can keep a secret, he added silently with dark humor.

“You would do that for a total stranger?” Morgan asked.

“Let’s just say, sometimes horrible things happen and you get sworn to secrecy by a bigfoot,” he said, grinning.

“Bigfoot?”

“It’s an inside joke. But, I’m serious about the secret. You can trust me.” He had her attention; that much he saw. What she was thinking, though, was beyond him.

Chapter Four

Morgan saw the flash of darkness that crossed Beck’s gaze, even as he forced a smile at the weird joke about a bigfoot. She hadn’t gotten that vibe from him at all; he seemed like someone who had a perfect life. His family was richer than God, according to everyone she spoke to. He was sexy with a perfect body, and he went around sleeping with models.

Yet the instinct whispering to her that something … bad happened was unmistakable. If there was one gift she hated about her fire magick, it was her sensitivity to pain in others. She had the urge to burn it, to turn it into something happier, warmer, because pain was like snow: cold, bleak. Fire was a purifier, one that created hope and potential and life out of despair.

“What happened to you?” she asked, before she was able to stop herself.

Beck held her gaze, unaffected, despite the heat creeping up her face once more.

“Technically, nothing.”

“That’s not true,” she returned with a shake of her head. “I mean, I know it’s none of my business. But I know something happened.”

“Yeah,” he said and then paused. “Bad stuff happened to people I cared about. So, technically, it didn’t happen to me.”

“Right, because bad things happening to someone else have no impact on you whatsoever. You just go on with life like everything is fine.”

“Okay, you’re right,” he said, smiling. “I nearly lost my brother a few months ago. To help save him, I had to do things I never thought I would, like walk away when he needed me most.”

“How awful,” she whispered. The pain was in his voice this time, and it disturbed her more than she thought it should. “Is he okay now?”

“Better off than I am,” Beck said with a laugh.

“I couldn’t imagine losing Connor,” she said, upset by the thought. “He’s the only one who cares.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

“It is.”

“Your parents? Cousins? Friends?”

She flushed. “No.”

“I don’t believe that for like a second!” Beck said. “You’re sweet and cute.”

Her heart fluttered at his words. She was suddenly aware of her situation, of being alone with some guy she had just met in a place where no one would be able to hear her scream, if something bad happened.

Like four years ago.

Morgan pushed her fear away. She’d learned to manage it, but she couldn’t stop it or the urge to run to her room, lock the door and take two hundred showers. Sometimes, she still felt his hands on her, and it made her feel sick. Dirty. Disgusted.

Only Connor had believed her. She’d never trust anyone but him, and she would never deserve someone as good looking as Beck. Even if she got him, how was she ever going to tell a boyfriend what happened? How did she make someone understand that other girls her age were having sex, but she may never be ready for that?

“Yeah, well, you’re wrong,” she told him, withdrawing from her dark thoughts.

“Did something bad happen to you?” he asked.

She looked up, startled.

“Or to Connor?”

“It’s none of your business,” she said.

“If you ever need to talk …”

“I don’t.”

“Morgan, give me something to work with here,” he said. There was no sign of impatience or anger in his voice, nothing but firm determination.

She hesitated. “Okay, something bad happened to someone around this time of year. Every year, I think about it, and it bothers me. Once the new year starts, I’m fine.”

Beck nodded slowly.

“It has nothing to do with this place,” she said, glancing around.

“So, you don’t hate it here?”

“No.”

“Do you want to stay?”

Morgan wasn’t certain how to answer. She wanted to escape. She was purposely not getting attached to anyone or anything, because she would be gone in two weeks, maybe to Hawaii or someplace warm.

“I’d like you to stay,” Beck added with a wink. “Not flirting. Just saying.”

Talking to him flustered her. Morgan wasn’t about to let herself fall for any guy, even the hottest one she ever saw, who was for some reason, interested in talking to her and trying to help her stay in this school.

Probably because he had to be, she reasoned. He was her appointed mentor.

“I’ll try harder this week,” she said. She didn’t want to, but she had to give them something, or they’d call her father.

There was no way she was ever going back to New York or her father’s house. She just had to make it two weeks here. Then, when she turned eighteen, she was gone. “Every time I meet a beautiful girl, she’s got a backpack full of secrets,” Beck said with a shake of his head.

It was hard to stay mad at him, like she could Connor. Beck’s disarming smile and gentle flirting – along with the unusually strong calming effect of his earth magick – made her want to relax and give this place an honest try. If for no other reason, then because she sorta almost liked him.

But there was no way he would like her. She’d heard people talk about the girls he dated, and she definitely wasn’t a model. Or a blonde. Or beautiful. She was … Morgan, and no guy yet had ever risked making her brother angry to try to ask her out. She couldn’t be pretty or worth knowing, if no one even tried! The fact that Connor wasn’t there now – standing between her and Beck calling her beautiful – was almost freaking her out. Now that no one stood in the way, she didn’t quite know how to act. Fortunately, it wasn’t possible that Beck was at all serious in flirting with her.

“You have secrets, too,” she pointed out.

“Mine won’t get me kicked out of school.”

“Omigod! I get the point. I’ll be a good student for a couple of weeks.”

“And then … everything will just magically be okay?” he asked.

“Yes.”

It was his turn to cross his arms and study her pensively. Morgan refused to look away, not about to let him know there was more to her plan.

“Yeah, I don’t believe that at all,” he said at last. “Sorry.”

“Well, I do. Will you at least agree not to call my parents for two weeks, and I’ll agree to try harder?” she asked.

“Ultimately, it’s up to Amber, but I’ll let her know.”

Morgan didn’t like that answer. She frowned at him and planted her hands on her hips, ready to give him an earful, like she did Connor when he was being a jerk.

“Uh oh,” Beck said. “I can see it on your face. Let’s just chill, okay? It’s hard enough for me to keep so far away when your magick is pinging around.”

“It doesn’t ping around!”

“I’m not picking a fight. I promise.” Beck laughed. “Don’t set my shoes on fire or anything.”