Enchanted Secrets (9 page)

“Um, so what is it that you wanted to show me?” I asked, clearing my throat. The electricity in the air between us and was intense.

“Oh, that’s right,” he said
, putting on his sunglasses.

I pointed.
“You don’t have to wear those all the time, do you?”

He
removed the sunglasses and folded them. “Sorry, I guess it’s a habit.”

“I just think it’s probably good for your
eyes to take them off now and then. You know, rest your peepers a little bit.”

Okay, so that sounded kind of lame.
The truth was, I really just wanted to see his dazzling eyes.

He smiled. “Well, I never really considered
‘resting my peepers’, unless I’m going to bed at night. But I’ll take your advice.”

I nodded. “It
must be difficult to see indoors when you’re wearing them anyway.”

“Actually, I can see much better than the average person. In fact,
I can see things others can’t.”

I cr
ossed my arms over my chest. “Oh? You can’t see through clothing, can you?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Yes,” I said. “I’d like to know if you can see…”

“What you’re wearing underneath?” he asked with a wicked grin.

Then I remembered
in horror that I wasn’t wearing my panties and I quickly lowered my hands over my pelvis. He noticed this right away and raised his eyebrows.

“Tell me,” I demanded, my cheeks burning.

“Fine, I can’t tell what you’re wearing under your clothing.”

I released a
sigh of relief.

“Unless
, I try really hard,” he said and then threw his head back and laughed when he saw my horrified expression.

I
marched over and swatted him on the shoulder. “You are so… bad!”

“Ouch!” he laughed
, again. “You wanted to know.”

“Are you two okay back
here?” murmured Rebecca, peeking through the door.

“Yes,” said Tyler.
“I was just going to find the picture.”

Picture?

“Okay. I’ll be out here if you need me,” she said, walking away.

“I’ll be right back,” said Tyler, walk
ing toward the back of the warehouse. “Don’t touch
anything
… please.”

I rolled my eyes.
“Yes, you warned me yesterday.”

I sat down on a metal chair and
looked around the cluttered room, eyeing the boxes now with a new respect. Who knew what kind of magic was hidden in all of this cardboard?

“Okay,” said Tyler. He was holding a five
-by-seven picture frame but I couldn’t see the picture. “I have something to show you and it’s quite possible that you’ve seen it before. However, something tells me you haven’t.”

I took a deep breath
. “Okay.”

He handed me the picture frame and I stared at it in confusion.
It was an older picture of two little girls, around five or six, and they were obviously twins.

“I don’t understand,” I said
looking up at him.

“Look closely at the picture. Doesn’t it remind you of someone?”

There was indeed something familiar about the girls. I couldn’t quite place my finger on it.

“Look at the shape of their noses and the fullness of their lips. Ignore the color of their hair, she’
s obviously changed it. That’s to be expected.”

I nodded. Both girls had luxurious red hair. Their eyes were a dark blue with
a catlike slant. “They’re certainly cute,” I said. Then something clicked and the blood rushed to my ears.

“Yes?” he asked, prodding me.

I looked at him in shock. “It’s my mother!”

Tyler smiled. “Bingo.”

I shook my head. “But she’s not a twin. My mom told me that she was an only child.”

He shrugged
. “I would too if my twin sister was a ruthless and evil witch.”

“
Excuse me?”

“
Your aunt Vivian and your mother are very powerful witches.”

I stared at him for a few seconds and then burst out laughing.

His eyes narrowed. “Well, I’m glad you’re amused, but it’s the truth, and believe me, there’s nothing funny about Vivian.”

I wiped away the tears from my face
. “Okay, that’s enough. Quit messing with my mind, Tyler.”

“He’s not messing with you
, at all,” interrupted Rebecca, closing the door behind her. “Your mother is a twin and she’s also a witch. I should know, we used to be best friends.

“I
don’t understand,” I mumbled, looking at each of them, “My mom? You seriously expect me to believe that she’s a witch?”

Rebecca
smiled sadly and then pulled out another folding chair. She sat down next to me and looked at her son. “Tyler, go mind the store for a little while please.”

He
nodded and left us alone.

She
reached over and took my hand in hers. “It’s probably not my place to tell you this information, and I’m sure your mother will be furious when she finds out. But Tyler and I, well, we didn’t have any other choice.”

I stared into her eyes. “
I just don’t understand. Why would she hide all of this from us?”

Rebecca sighed. “Because of Vivian. Her sister is one of
the most vicious sorceresses in the world. She’s cruel, evil, and will stop at nothing to get what she wants.”

A shiver went up
my spine. “Well, what does she want?”

“She wants your mother’s power
all for herself. You see, when you’re a witch and a twin one at that, it makes for a very powerful combination. In fact, when one of them dies, the other inherits the other’s magic.”

“And my mother’s sis
ter, my…aunt… wants her dead, so she can be more powerful?”

She nodded. “Vivian has been looking for
your mother, Adrianne, for the last twenty years.

I raised my eyebrows.
“Adrianne? My mother’s name is Holly.”

“
Dear, Holly is your mother’s middle name,” said Rebecca, softly.

“Okay, this getting too deep for me,” I said, standing up. “I need to go home and talk to her.”

“Wait,” said Rebecca. “I’m sure your mom has kept this from you and your sister, to keep you safe. It’s very dangerous for all of you right now. Especially since…”

“What?”

The f
ear in her eyes made my pulse race. “Vivian knows your mom is here, in Bayport, and she’ll do anything to find her, even if it means using you or your sister, Kala.”

I
bit the side of my lip. “You mean hurting me or Kala?”

She nodded. “Oh yes. If she finds you, she’ll definitely use whatever means possible to hurt and destroy your mother.”

“So, basically, we’re all in danger?”

“Yes.”

“How come you’ve found us, but she hasn’t?”

She shrugged. “I’m sure your mother used a spell to keep her from locating you all these years.”

“How does she know we’re in Bayport?”

“Some spells get weaker over time. Or it could be that Vivian had help from someone else.”

“So, is this why you moved here, to warn us?”

She nodded.
“We’d hoped you were here, Adrianne once mentioned this place. She’d read about it and wanted to travel here. But I didn’t know for sure until Tyler lucked out and found you at school.”

I bit the side of my lip. “I know this sounds
weird and I don’t want to seem ungrateful, but why do you care so much? Why would you move here just to warn my mother about Vivian? Isn’t it too dangerous to risk your own lives?”

She smiled. “Two reasons. Adrianne and I use
d to be best friends growing up. I do care what happens to her.”

“And Vivian killed my father,” interrupte
d Tyler from the doorway, his expression somber. “We need your mother’s help to destroy her, once and for all.”

“Are you okay?” asked Rebecca as I stumbled towards Tyler and the exit. I’d had enough of this magic talk, and just wanted to go home to my mom, so she could tell me that these people were crazy.

“Oh, I don’t know,”
I answered thickly. “I’ve just shed thirty pounds, I witnessed a doe turn into a girl, and now I’ve been told my mother’s a witch who’s being hunted down by her evil twin sister. Seriously, I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again.”

Tyler
held up a bottle of water. “You don’t look so good. Drink this, you’re probably dehydrated from the potion.”

“Good grief,” said Rebecca
, looking at her watch. “You two haven’t had lunch yet. Tyler, take her to our house and feed the poor girl. You can try and answer any more questions she may have, there, where it’s safe.”

He
nodded. “Are you hungry?” he asked, holding out his arm to me.

I
stared at him for a minute, trying to decide what to do. Food sounded like the only sane thing right now.

“Food will take the edge off of everything,” he joked. “Seriously.”

I sighed and slipped my arm through his. “Sure, but to tell you the truth, I’m pretty exhausted. I don’t know if I can walk to your house.”

“Who said
anything about walking?” he asked with a sparkle in his eyes. He turned to his mother. “Um, it is okay if we teleport, isn’t it? I know you said not to perform magic, but surely this is an exception?”

Rebecca
stared at us for a minute and then nodded. “Okay, but just this once.”

Tyler
turned back to me and smiled. “You’re in for a wonderful surprise.”

“Swell,” I mumbled, not really digging his surprises anymore.

He grabbed my hand and dragged me through the store, into their small public bathroom.

“Don’t tell me…
we’re going to teleport through the toilet and end up at your house?” I asked dryly.

He shook his head. “No, silly…
that’s too gross. We’re going to go through the drain.”

I looked at the sink
and studied the drain hole. It didn’t appear any less gross or absurd. “Seriously?”

He burst out laughing
.  “No, I’m just messing with you.”

I tightened my lips
, not really in the mood for jokes. “Tyler…”

Sighing, he pulled me to him and circled his arms around my waist. “I’m sorry,” he whispered into my hair. “I keep forgetting how new all of this is for you.”

“It’s okay,” I said, inhaling his delicious smell, which seemed to comfort me somewhat. I looked up at him “Um, has anyone ever told you that you smell like vanilla bean ice cream?”

He smiled
. “Hold onto me, tightly, and don’t let go, for anything.”

Although everything was crazy at the moment, being in his arms was better than anything I’d experienced in a long time.
I certainly wasn’t about to let him go. Not if I could help it.

Tyler
closed his eyes and began chanting something under his breath. I shut my eyes, too, and held on as tight as I could, even when I felt his body temperature begin to rise at an alarming rate. Just when I thought I couldn’t bear the heat radiating from him, there was a loud popping noise and I felt like we were being pushed through some type of spinning tunnel.

“Hurry, open your eyes
,” he said.

When I opened them I gasped in awe. Multiple colors of light, almost like a beautiful rainbow at the end of a storm,
engulfed us as we moved through some type of twisting vortex.

“Wow…” I whispered
, stunned by the beauty of the colors intertwining and bouncing off of each other.

He tightened his hold on me.
“Almost there, get ready.”

A second loud popping noise
and we were pushed out of the traveling tunnel with such force that we both landed on plush, white carpeting, with me, lying right on top of him.

“Well, hello there,” he said with a sly grin. “Come here often?”

I groaned and
stood up.

“What?”

I shook my head and looked around in amazement. “So, this is your home?”

He stood up
and smoothed down his shirt. “Yes, our humble abode. At least the one we feel the safest in.”

I was surprised to find that they lived in such a contempora
ry-styled home. Since they were witches, I thought they’d live in something old and mysterious. This place was white, spacious, and from where I stood, appeared to have all of the modern luxuries. 

“This place is beautiful,” I said
, looking up, admiring the tall vaulted ceilings and sky lights.

“Check out the view outside,” said Tyler.

I walked over to a tall window that extended from the floor to the ceiling and looked out.

“
Whoa, where in the world are we?”

“I told you it was a nice view,” he smiled.

“A nice view? We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

Well we were somewhere, som
ewhere high up in the mountains and surrounded by snow.

“We’re in Va
il,” he said. “It’s a good place to hide. Vivian hates any kind of arctic weather.”

My mother was the opposite. She dragged us skiing and ice skating every winter. My sister loved the cold months as well. I
, on the other hand, didn’t really care for winter. If it were my choice, I’d live in Florida all year long.

“
So, you’re hiding from her, too?”

He handed me a cup of cocoa
, which seemed to have just appeared. He nodded. “Something like that, We moved here after she murdered my father.”

I touched his hand.
“I’m really sorry, Tyler,” I said softly. “How did it happen?”

He sighed
and then walked over to the white leather sectional facing the window. “I should probably start from the beginning,” he said, sitting down. “My father worked for Vivian years ago, he was the head of her security.”

“
Security?” I snorted. “Why would she need bodyguards if she’s so powerful?”

He scratched his chin.
“Mostly for appearances. You see, she’s also a famous pianist and doesn’t always use her magic.”

“
Seriously?”

“Oh, yes. She’s
very vain about it, too,” he said, his lips thinning. “I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Vivian Reynolds, but she’s your aunt.”

My
eyebrows shot up. “Vivian Reynolds? Although I’ve never actually seen her, I know that my mother has some of her CDs. She doesn’t listen to them, which I always thought was a little strange, in fact, they’re actually still in the wrapping. Wow, I just can’t believe that’s her.”

“
She’s probably too afraid to listen to them. Anyway, my dad worked for Vivian before he met my mother and then something happened. Something she didn’t expect.”

I leaned forward.
“What?”

“Well,
one night, Vivian paid my mother a visit and took my dad along with her, probably to try and scare her into telling her where Adrianne was. It didn’t work. In fact, Vivian left in such a huff when my mother refused to tell her where Adrianne was that she demanded my dad go back that same night,” his face darkened, “and kill her.”

My eyes widened. “Vivian told your dad to murder Rebecca?”

“Yes. But my dad wasn’t a killer. In fact, something drew my dad back to mom’s shop, but it had nothing to do with murder.”

I smiled
. “Your mom is a very beautiful woman.”

“Yes and
she has a heart of gold. I’m sure that’s what really drew my dad to her in the first place. Anyway, all I know is that he and my mother disappeared together that night.”

“
And Vivian freaked?”

“
You could say that. I’m sure it’s why she spent all of those years searching for them, as well as your mom. Obviously, she found my parents first and…” he looked down at his hands.

“
Killed your dad,” I said, softly.

He looked back up at me and his
eyes were burned with hate. “She did and I’m not going to let her get away with it. I don’t care if I die trying, I’m going to make sure she pays.”

“I understand,” I said, thinking of my father. If someone had killed him, I’m sure I’d feel the same way.
“I just can’t believe how evil that woman is,” I said. “Thank goodness you and your mom survived. How long ago was this?”

“
It happened almost two years ago,” he said, his voice cracking. Embarrassed, he looked away.

“I’m
so sorry, Tyler. I wish there was something I could do.”

“There is,” he said,
standing up. He walked over to the window and put his hand on the glass. “Help us talk to your mother.”

I moved closer and put a hand on his shoulder.
“I will. I promise.”

The snow began to fall and we both
stared out of the window in silence, watching the flakes.

“It’s amazingly beautiful here,” I said
.

He smiled.
“I love it. You’ll have to go skiing with me sometime.”

“I’m not much of a skier,” I snorted.
“I suck, actually.”

He grabbed my hand. “Maybe you just need the right guy to
show you how to ski.”

I smiled. A guy like him could make a girl forget all about the cold. “Maybe.”

He bent down and kissed my lips, taking my breath away once again. “Kendra,” he whispered, resting his forehead against mine.

I smiled.
“Tyler.”

He let out a ragged breath and stepped back. “I’d better watch myself
. My mom would kill me if she knew…”

“Knew what?”

He smiled, darkly. “That I was kissing you when I was supposed to be feeding you.”

“I won’t tell
.”

He raised his eyebrow. “Are you flirting with me?”

Oh, my God, I was.

I put a hand over my mouth. “Yes, sorry.”

He threw his head back and laughed.

“What?”

“You just looked so flabbergasted there for a minute. Like flirting with me was so… horrific.”

“No, I just don’t want to be one of
those
kinds of girls.”

“
What do you mean ‘those’ kind of girls?”

I looked down.
“You know – a tease.”

“Listen,” he said, tilting my chin back
up. “You’re unlike
any
girl that I’ve ever met.” Then he brushed his lips against mine.

“I
s that good or bad?” I whispered, when he pulled away.

He nodded. “
Very good. Now,” he stepped back and patted his stomach. “I’m starving. Let’s eat”

“Okay. Um, one more thing
, though – I was just wondering, did your dad have any special abilities?”  

He
smiled proudly. “My dad was also an Enchanter.”

For some reason, his answer didn’t comfort me one bit.
“So he was a pretty powerful guy, but still couldn’t beat Vivian?”

He sighed.
“To tell you the truth, Vivian is already so fierce that if she finds your mother and steals her power, we’re all doomed.”