Duplicity (Spellbound #2) (27 page)

Lee had to wonder for the second time if her mom had regained some of her powers. Or maybe a mother’s wishes were just that strong.

Once Adrian left, Lee turned to Raj. He was looking at her like someone had died. “Lee, this is all my fault. If I hadn’t upset you…”

“Raj, it’s going to be okay.”

Mom joined them. “She’s right. We’re all going to be fine.”

The sound of groaning at their feet caught Lee’s attention. She crouched down and placed a hand on Gray’s arm. “Are you okay, Gray?”

Her duplicate stared at her with forlorn eyes. “Why did you do that?”

Lee pulled her hand back and shrugged. “To save you.”

Gray lifted herself to a sitting position. She winced halfway up then ground her teeth and straightened up. “But magic means everything to you.”

Lee looked beyond Gray’s head to where her mom and Raj stood watching them. “Not everything.”

Mr. Morehouse agreed to let Lee spend a girl’s night out with Ms. Perez and “Charlene” the next evening.

“You ready, Stace?” he called from downstairs.

“Just a minute, Dad.” Lee paused in front of her window.
Dad
. It was the first time the word came out naturally, unlike the classic Stacey Morehouse “Daddys” she was so accustomed to faking.

Lee smiled to herself and went to her jewelry box. The evil eye stared at her when she opened the lid. No one had to wear the amulets anymore. Adrian had done what Lee said: removed his spell and left town. The empty fixtures were all that remained of his shop.

The luck amulet with the letters “GP” rested in the spot beside the nazar. Lee lifted it gently out of the box and held it, dangling, in front of her face. Since assuming the identity of Stacey Morehouse, she had stopped carrying it with her. It was silly to keep it boxed up. Besides, it didn’t belong to her.

Lee closed her fingers around the amulet. “I’m coming, Dad!”

At dinner, Lee and Gray each ordered the spaghetti marinara. Gray laughed as she told their waitress she’d have the same thing as Lee. The waitress grinned. “Are you two sisters?”

Gray’s head turned to face Lee, a question forming on her face. Lee flashed her a grin, then turned to the waitress and said, “we’re really close friends. I swear sometimes Gray knows my own mind better than me.”

With a smile and shake of her head, Mom went back to sipping her glass of Merlot. She was seated beside Lee.

Lee rested her elbows on the table and looked across at Gray. “So, Gray, what now?”

“You know, I’ve always wanted to go to Spain.”

Lee smiled. “I know.”

Mom’s cell started ringing inside her purse. She turned to dig it out.

Gray rolled her eyes. “Let me guess.”

“Mr. Morehouse,” Lee finished for her.

Mom scooted out of the booth. “I’ll be right back, girls. Hi, Daniel. We just ordered food. Yes, having a wonderful time with the girls.” Before she’d walked out of earshot, Mom giggled. This time Lee rolled her eyes.

“He makes her happy,” Gray observed.

“He’s a good guy.”

“Heck of an improvement over Marc Phillips.”

Lee wrinkled her nose. “Don’t spoil my dinner.” She glanced over her shoulder. “You know Ryan’s not going to rest until he finds you.”

Gray shrugged then studied her fingernails. “Yet another reason to flee town.”

Silence fell over their table. A young couple was seated in the booth beside them, and their waitress began reciting dinner specials.

While Gray listened in, as though considering the options, Lee reached inside her purse and pulled out the luck amulet. She ran her thumb over the smooth moonstone and lifted the charm up and down in her palm as though weighing it.

When Gray met her stare, Lee pulled her hand out from under the table and held the charm out to Gray. As soon as she saw Gray’s eyes light up, Lee knew it was the right thing to do.

“The luck amulet from Raj!”

“It’s yours.”

Gray’s eyes jumped from the amulet to Lee. “What do you mean?”

“Take it.” Lee shook the amulet in front of her, but Gray made no move to take it.

Gray shook her head sadly. “That belongs to you now.”

It was like looking into a mirror. This one reflected her true self—from the snowy hair that tended to crimp if a straightening iron weren’t taken to it; the pale, but flawless skin, fresh as snow; right down to the pouty lower lip when she wanted something, but was too proud to take it.

Graylee Perez lived on.

“Raj didn’t give it to me,” Lee said. “He gave it to you.”

“Are you sure?”

Lee nodded. She had her own trinket, hidden beneath her sweater. The silver heart rested beside her own beating heart. It was better not to mention it to Gray. If the roles had been reversed, Lee wouldn’t want to know.

Gray took the amulet from Lee’s fingers. Tears misted her eyes. “Thank you, Lee… for saving me.” She looked down. “And giving up your powers. I’ll carry that guilt with me for the rest of my life.”

“Don’t you dare!” Lee said.

Gray blinked.

Lee sat up straight, ready to present her case, Morehouse style. “Look, neither of us were supposed to be alive at this point. And now we’ve been given a second chance—twice. I get a father, a boyfriend, a senior year… and I get to go to college. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t feel like the luckiest girl on the planet.”

From the tilt of her head, Lee knew she was beginning to convince Gray. Who knows, maybe Lee would follow in Mr. Morehouse’s footsteps and become an attorney. Or maybe she’d go into counseling. Then again, maybe she should finish senior year before she worried about the rest of her life.

“I’ll learn to live without powers,” Lee said. “Besides, I have a feeling you’re going to need them more than me.”

Enchantment

AVAILABLE FALL 2012

And now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, it gives me great pleasure to introduce the magnificent, the amazing, the fantastical, the world’s greatest magician…

Adrian Montez!

Someone please tell Gray she’d not only heard wrong, but was likewise HALLUCINATING… or having a very bad dream.

It couldn’t be.

She had not traveled halfway around the world to end up in the front row of Barcelona’s
Teatre Poliorama
 
to see Adrian Montez live on stage.

Applause erupted around Gray after Montez the Magician was announced, in Catalan, as the evening’s live entertainment. Her friend, Hannah, was hooting beside her, clueless that her attempt to cheer Gray up with a night of festivities was crashing down with each footfall Adrian made across the smoke-filled stage.

Gray could only make out the pleated bib of his tuxedo and white gloves. The rest of his body was shadowed in the dim light. An eerie tempo cranked through the sound system. Adrian stopped to light a cigarette, his side profile silhouetted in the dim haze. When he faced the audience a spotlight slowly illuminated his face.

Smoke now clung to his legs thick as London fog. The set, complete with a Victorian gas lamp, looked like something straight out of a Jack the Ripper horror flick.

Maybe this really was a nightmare.

Except when Hannah pinched Gray’s arm in excitement, she did not wake up.

Now that Adrian was illuminated, Gray could see his hair parted and slicked to one side. He held a top hat in one hand and a cane in the other. The cane he twirled in his fingers before lighting one end with his cigarette. After it caught fire the flame traveled up the cane. Adrian’s hand followed the flame as though guiding it, twisting his cane till the end pointed skyward. When the flame reached the end he grabbed it and fiery sparks erupted in his hand. The fire turned to wings as a dove appeared and landed on Adrian’s fingers.

The theater thundered with applause. Adrian took a slight bow and lifted his arm. The dove took to the air then perched on the gas lamp. Adrian secured his cane and hat against the lamp pole then walked forward.

Little did the riled-up crowd realize that the man before them was no magician, but a warlock—and a dangerous one at that.

Hannah turned to Gray, mouth widening in that pleased way that showed off all her molars. “Isn’t this brilliant? When we saw an old-school magician was in town we couldn’t resist. And he’s an American.” Hannah nudged Gray with her elbow.

Yes,
huge
comfort that.

On Gray’s opposite side, Will smiled as big as Hannah. They really had no idea the suffering they were inflicting on her. Gray tried to look across Will to Marco. Surely the suave Italian had dragged his heals when presented with the idea of watching a hack performer, but Marco’s eyes were glued to the stage and he was clapping along with the rest of the crowd.

These were Gray’s closest friends since arriving in Spain. They each had their reasons for enrolling in Benita’s Summer Retreat, a place where young adults took a break from their powers rather than developing them. Participants were also expected to face their inner demons alone, which was why—unless you were a Brit named Hannah—you kept your past problems to yourself and focused on the cultural experience, making friends, and being normal if only for a summer.

Now Gray was beginning to wish she had swapped stories with Hannah. At least then her friend would know why she was fidgeting in her seat, eyeing the theater’s exits.

Gray had put fifty states and the Atlantic between herself and home, only to end up face-to-face with one of the reasons she’d left.

Well, not exactly face-to-face. Maybe Adrian would continue to look over her head rather than directly down into the blasted front row Hannah had so cheerfully procured.

“Good evening,” Adrian said. He cast his voice across the audience without ever approaching the microphone. “I am Adrian Montez, the world-famous magician, and tonight it is my pleasure to show you wonders never before seen.”

A Catalan translator standing on the far right of the stage spoke hastily after Adrian finished.

Gray momentarily forgot both Spanish and what little Catalan she’d learned. It hummed merrily like a familiar tune without words. Only Adrian’s speech registered. Although he addressed the audience, his speech moved directly from his mouth to her ears.

He removed one of his gloves and tossed it into the air, where it turned into another dove that flew to the gas lamp to join his friend. By the time the first act was finished, Adrian had set no less than fifteen fires and produced six doves.

Gray was beginning to think she’d make it through the performance when Adrian switched gears halfway through. The lighting became brighter, the music and set more whimsical. The audience laughed when Adrian swallowed a sword, pulled it out, and moved his lips around as though getting rid of a bad taste.

“I think it’s time someone else went under the blade, don’t you agree?”

The audience cheered. At that point, they probably would have cheered if Adrian suggested setting the auditorium on fire. Two men wheeled out a table with a casket-sized box on top. Gray knew exactly what it was. Apparently a handsaw wasn’t impressive enough for Adrian. Attached to one side of the table was a round, sharp-toothed blade at least five feet wide.

Gray pitied Adrian’s unfortunate assistant, even if it was just an act… but no leotard-clad lady in sequins appeared.

Adrian grinned across the stage. “Now I need a volunteer from the audience…”

Before the translator could open his mouth to repeat Adrian’s words, Hannah was yelling, “Here! Over here!” pointing frantically at Gray.

Hannah missed the desperation behind Gray’s “No.” Before Gray had a chance to run for the nearest exit, the spotlight was blinding her. Gray didn’t realize she’d been crouching. Her chair wasn’t going to swallow her up no matter how much she wished it. Gray straightened and squinted into the brightness—a deer caught in the headlight.

“Wonderful! Come on up, young lady.”

There was no hint of recognition in the way Adrian spoke. Maybe he was having a difficult time seeing into the audience with all the stage lights shining in his face.

Gray quickly grabbed Hannah’s arm. “Go up for me.”

“No way!”

“Hannah…”

“I think someone is experiencing performance anxiety,” Adrian said.

Laughter.

“Go on! Everyone’s waiting!” Hannah said. She’d never spoken that harshly to Gray before.

As Gray stood, she had to bite down on her lower lip to keep it from trembling. Little did her friend know she was sending Gray up to the executioner’s block.

“Here she comes,” Adrian said as Gray dragged her feet to the set of stairs leading onto the stage.