He turned his head and his eyes were far away, trapped in another place—another time.
“Days passed, and no one came. I was convinced we were going to die down there. I no longer heard the noises of the ones looking for us which was somewhat of a relief. I began to ration our food. I was scared, really scared, but I pretended I wasn’t for Adelaide’s sake. And then, someone finally showed up. At first, I thought it was my dad, but it was our neighbor from five miles away. I had only met him once before and didn’t know if I should trust him. Sensing this he closed his eyes and waved his right hand. Thousands of fireflies filled the small room. But instead of glowing yellow they were a teal color. I knew I was safe then.”
“Why?” I asked and covered my mouth, fearing his wrath for interrupting.
He didn’t seem mad this time, though. “It’s the symbol of enchanters. Only those who mean you no harm can conjure it. It’s sort of like our greeting,” he explained. “I knew then he couldn’t be a bad guy.”
“What happened next?” I prompted.
“James took me and Adelaide to a nearby safe house—a small one meant for temporary placement. From there we were transferred here, and we’ve never left. When I came to get you, it was the first time I had stepped off the grounds since I left my home.” He swallowed thickly.
“How does everyone know I’m chosen, though?” I asked softly. Somehow, my hand had ended up on his but he seemed oblivious, so I didn’t move it.
“Don’t you see? I spilled the beans. When I told my parents and they went to The Order, you became common knowledge. You were exposed, bared to the world. But you shouldn’t have been. The Order should have kept you a secret, but they didn’t. They may have kept you safe but they didn’t keep you a secret. If I had kept the knowledge about you to myself … my parents would still be alive and so would your mom.” He stared into my eyes and he looked tortured. “Every bad thing that has happened to you is my fault.”
“Theo, don’t say that,” I pleaded. I yearned to reach out and put my arms around him, but I knew he wouldn’t let me. He looked so broken. It didn’t seem right. I wanted to make him whole again.
“It’s true,” he whispered and looked up at me. His eyes were pale now, washed of color, his lashes startling dark and long. “I might as well have killed them with my bare hands.” My hand dropped from his as he lifted them, gesturing as if he was choking someone.
“Theo—”
He stood abruptly, his face full of fury.
“Leave it alone, Mara. I can’t leave you so the least amount of respect you could show me would be to shut up.”
Hurt filled my chest.
He stalked like a lethal panther and gripped a bookshelf. Even from this distance, I saw his knuckles turn white. His back muscles flexed and I heard the air hissing between his teeth.
I knew there was more he wasn’t telling me, maybe that he simply wasn’t ready to tell me, and I wouldn’t push him. I was stuck with him and he was stuck with me. We might as well make it as easy as possible on one another. I’d keep my mouth shut and he could open up to me when he was ready.
I stood and began to scan the books. Some were regular books, the kind you’d find in any library, but most weren’t. Spell books would be my guess and histories on enchanters. I pulled one out; its cover was dark blue and velvet. Before I could attempt to decipher the title, it was snatched from my hands.
“Hey,” I cried out.
Theo shoved it back on the shelf. “It’s dangerous to mess with spell books before you come into your powers. You’re a novice, you don’t know what you’re doing, Mara.”
“I was only looking,” I defended in a small voice.
“And looking leads to reading which leads to saying the words aloud which then leads to casting a spell,” he rambled.
“I wasn’t—”
His whole demeanor softened. “Just stay away from spell books until you come into your powers. For someone that’s still non-magical they’re volatile. Trust me, doll face.”
I hated that I was relieved to hear him call me doll face again.
“What happens?” I asked softly.
“If a human, or an enchanter that hasn’t come into their powers, reads a spell aloud it backfires and kills them and that’s if they’re lucky. This isn’t the movies where people don’t die and everyone lives happily ever after. This life we lead as enchanters is dangerous at least now.”
“You don’t think I haven’t come to that conclusion on my own? My mom is dead, your parents are dead, The Iniquitous killed Ian simply because he was in the way, and poor Winston can only see his family once a year.”
“At least Churchill has a family,” Theo said softly under his breath.
“And I hope it stays that way for him.” I swallowed and licked my lips. I looked up at Theo and said, “At least you have your sister. I … I have no one.” I closed my eyes as the realization of how alone I really was flowed over me. I turned away from Theo so he couldn’t see how affected I was.
His hand closed around my arm and he flipped me back around to face him. “You are not alone,” he said firmly, his eyes flaring with his words. “Ade and I are your family now.”
I shook my head back and forth.
He held my chin in his hands so I couldn’t move. He opened his mouth to say something else when a voice sounded behind me.
“Can I come in? You two aren’t kissing, are you? I really don’t want to see that.”
Theo released me, and I turned to see Adelaide coming up the spiral staircase with one hand over her eyes and the other on the rail.
“You have nothing to worry about,” I said, and she uncovered her eyes.
“Oh, good,” she breathed a sigh of relief. “What are you two doing up here? You disappeared so quickly I couldn’t find you.”
“I needed to explain some things to Mara.” Theo toyed with his lip ring. It must be a nervous habit, even though nothing about him struck me as nervous.
“Uhm,” Adelaide harrumphed. She pointed between us. “I’m not stupid. Even if you two can’t see it, I can.”
“And what can you see that we can’t?” Theo asked and leaned against a bookshelf. He crossed his arms over his chest as a smirk lifted his lips.
“This insane sexual chemistry between the two of you. If you don’t tend to it, it’s only a matter of time before you jump each other’s bones probably in front of everybody and, honestly, I do not need to see your junk.”
My jaw dropped and Theo snorted. He reached out and playfully tousled his younger sister’s hair. “Oh, Ade,” he chuckled. “You’ve been reading way too many romance novels.”
“Have not,” she defended but her cheeks turned red. Deciding to ignore her snickering brother she turned to address me. “I came to see if you wanted to hang out in my room. I figured Theodore was driving you nuts.”
“Sure.” I shrugged. Hanging out with her sounded enjoyable. I imagined given enough time we could become close like Dani and I had been. I began to follow Adelaide down the steps.