The Vaga (2 page)

‘Not sure why she doesn’t like me though.’

Rhianna chuckles. ‘If you knew how competitive my cousin was then you would understand. She
hates
to lose. Always has.’ She shrugs her shoulders just as our names are announced over the loud speaker.

We are presented with our medals and cameras blink out from the stadium. I search the faces in the crowd for any sign of him, but to no avail. My magic isn’t picking up anything out of the ordinary either. Did I really see him?

As I step off the podium Jessica walks past and says, ‘Better watch your back, Cole. Never know who might be closing in.’

Anger flares up within me and I turn on her. ‘What is your problem?’

She turns and sneers. Without realising it the magic expands around me. ‘
You
are my problem. You and your whole goody two-shoes attitude.’

Rhianna steps between us. ‘Now hang on guys. What is going on here? Jessica, this is nu—’

‘You don’t even know me,’ I say defensively, cutting Rhianna off.

‘Oh, I know you alright. You and your self-righteousness are well known around here.’ She takes a step towards me.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Jess, stop this!’ Rhianna shouts, placing her hand on Jessica’s arm.

Jessica looks down angrily at Rhianna’s hand and hesitates for a split second before shrugging it off. She looks at Rhianna briefly and gives me a death stare before turning on her heel and storming off.

Rhianna looks after her with confusion. ‘What has gotten into her?’

I unclench my fists, but find it takes me a moment to stop the fire burning within me. I automatically reach for my chest, gently fingering the locket that Phoebe gave me on my sixteenth birthday. The locket containing my mother’s picture sits close to my heart, reminding me of the fragility of life and the responsibility that I bear.

‘Are you alright, Ellie?’ she asks.

I nod. ‘Yep, fine.’

But I’m not fine, not at all. First Julian, now Jessica’s acting all weird, not to mention Sam and his eyeballing fetish. What am I missing?

‘I’m really sorry, Ellie. I don’t know what’s gotten into her. She’s not normally this…’

‘Crazy?’ I finish, giving her a sarcastic look.

She smiles lightly and nods her head. ‘Yeah, something like that.’

‘It’s not your fault. She’ll get over it.’ Whatever
it
is.

We make our way back to the changing rooms and I have a shower before getting dressed and heading towards The Oak cafe for lunch, the image of Julian overriding any other thoughts.

‘What’s the matter?’ Uncle Jo asks, frowning.

I glance across the campus parklands, towards the massive recreation building where the handsome Blake Adams—campus heartthrob and all round nice guy—smiles and raises his muscled arm in my direction. I wave and quickly look away. The corners of Uncle Jo’s mouth turn up slightly and a quizzical expression crosses his face.

I shake my head. ‘Don’t ask,’ I say, premeditating his curious response.

He smirks. ‘What? I wasn’t going to say anything.’

‘Yeah right. I could see it brewing.’ I take a meager bite out of my sandwich.

‘You know you could try dating, Ellie. It wouldn’t hurt.’

I groan. ‘Why does everyone keep saying that?’

He raises one eyebrow. ‘I assume when you say
everyone
you mean Phoebe?’

‘And Ama, and you!’ I flash him my best scowl.

Ama—my dead great grandmother who visits me from The Other Side. She is always telling me to “get some action”.

He raises his hands and shakes his head in defeat. ‘Alright. Mind my own business. I get it.’ He keeps on smiling, his deep laugh lines highlighting his hazel eyes. He takes a sip of water before continuing. ‘So what happened at the track today?’

I put down my sandwich, suddenly losing my appetite, and wipe my hands on my pants. Uncle Jo doesn’t miss the response.

He leans towards me. ‘Ellie?’

If I tell him he’s just going to freak out and get all protective and…and…

‘Ellie,’ he says again, as if I didn’t hear him the first time.

‘I saw him,’ I blurt out.

He sits up straighter, the corners of his mouth no longer upturned. ‘Who?’

Keeping my head down, I slowly start to pick at invisible specks of dirt on the table. To say his name makes my heart do crazy things. The thought of him excites and shames me at the same time. Four years ago he was the enemy and now he’s…what? A potential love interest? A hot bad boy that I’d like to…

The bile rises in my throat.

‘Julian,’ I manage to mutter.

His fists clench together and his aura surges. ‘Are you sure?’

I nod.

His face hardens and the lines of his forehead deepen, resembling a riverbed that’s seen its fair share of struggle.

Magi sidles closer to me, immediately sensing my concern. She licks my hand and the gesture moves me.

Over the years Magi has come to understand my feelings for Julian, having been witness to my dreams and thoughts. Her compassion claws at my chest like a guilt-laden talon. Julian nearly ended Magi’s life…and mine. She shouldn’t be alright with me feeling these emotions. She should hate him.
I
should hate him.

But I don’t.

‘Why would he be here?’ he asks sharply.

How the bloody hell should I know
! I want to scream. ‘I don’t know. All I can figure is that something is happening. Or at least…something is
about
to happen. I don’t know what.’

The burning embers of Isis alight within me, spreading from within my stomach and flowing into my limbs. Magi nudges my hand, feeling it also.

‘Do you remember the letter?’ I ask him, trying to keep Isis’ magic at bay. It’s getting harder these days to keep it under control, especially when my emotions are heightened.

‘Of course I do,’ he responds brusquely.

Of course he would remember. As if he could forget. As if
any
of us could forget.

Julian left the letter under our front doorstep, only a day after trying to kill me. At first I couldn’t believe the words he wrote, and I sure as hell didn’t want Uncle Jo knowing about it straight away. I couldn’t bring myself to tell him about the letter, not after everything we had just been through. I kept it hidden for about a month before reluctantly sharing its contents with him. He didn’t talk to me for two days after that.

‘In it he said that they weren’t the only organisation threatened by power like mine. What if the Puritans found out I’m alive? Or worse, what if there are others who have figured out what I am meant for?’

His brow furrows and he shakes his head. ‘Will you please stop saying that? You weren’t
meant
for anything other than to be who you are. Do you understand that, Ellie?’ He reaches across the table and places his warm hand on mine. ‘You are Elena Cole—a kind, smart, strong, loyal, and courageous young woman. Always remember that.’

He waits for my silent acknowledgement before he pulls his hand back and looks off across the courtyard, taking in the faces of those milling about with newfound suspicion.

Magi growls low in her throat.

‘What is it, girl?’ I ask.

‘I think you have company,’ Uncle Jo says, moving his hands subtly to the back of his pants.

Across the courtyard Blake comes walking towards us. His tanned skin glistens in the midday sun, the light bouncing off his muscular legs. His smile widens as I make eye contact.

Oh crap
!

‘Will you put that away,’ I hiss, knowing Uncle Jo has his hand firmly wrapped around the hilt of his dagger.

He gives me a tight-lipped stare before slowly sheathing it.

Magi gets up on all fours and positions herself in front of me.

Exasperated I say, ‘Oh for the love of Pete, will you two stop. He isn’t here to hurt me.’ I stand up as he nears.

‘Is that his name? Pete?’ Uncle Jo asks, watching Blake’s every step with wariness.

‘What?! No…ugh, please just be normal alright? For me, just once, can we all just not act like…like...’

‘Hi, Ellie.’ The way my name rolls off his velvety voice causes me to flush.

‘Hi, Blake. How’s training going?’ I manage to ask, my hands automatically going into my pockets to hide the fact that they’ve just broken out in a nervous sweat.

He smiles. ‘Well, it’s going. Not sure I’m as focused as I should be.’ His eyes lower to my lips.

Oh geez
!

Magi takes a step towards him. Telepathy with a dog has its pitfalls, especially when the opposite sex is involved.

‘She still doesn’t like me, hey?’ he says, making sure to keep just enough distance to keep Magi happy.

‘She’s just…protective is all.’ I pat Magi’s head and silently tell her to back off.

Uncle Jo clears his throat. I don’t miss the cue.

‘Oh, sorry. Blake, this is my uncle, Jo Olsen.’

Blake holds out his hand. ‘Nice to meet you, sir.’ There is an awkward pause before Uncle Jo grabs his hand.

They are well matched in size, but I see Blake’s arm falter slightly under the pressure of my uncle’s strong grip. The corner of Uncle Jo’s mouth curls upwards.

I roll my eyes. ‘So, are you guys getting ready for the game on Saturday?’

Blake’s brown eyes twinkle. ‘Are you coming?’ he asks a little too enthusiastically.

I glance quickly at Uncle Jo, noticing that his temples are pulsating. ‘Uh, maybe. I’m not sure what we’re doing yet. Sounds like it should be a good game though.’

‘Yeah, we need the win to make it to the finals, so it should be a close game.’ He pauses, his eyes roaming over my face with interest. ‘Anyway, I didn’t want to interrupt you and your uncle over here. Just wanted to say hi, that’s all.’

‘Oh, well that’s okay. Um…I might see you at the game then.’

He lowers his gaze and nods his head, knowing that I probably won’t be there, as I never turn up to these things. My lifetime commitment of staying under the radar has become the norm among any and all social situations.

‘That would be great.’ He gives me a hopeful look before saying, ‘Nice to meet you, Mr. Olsen.’

‘You too, Blake,’ Uncle Jo replies, lowering his voice just enough to come across as the alpha male.

I cringe at my uncle’s behaviour.

‘Bye, Ellie,’ Blake says quietly as he brushes past me, flashing me another sexy smile.

My stomach does a flip. ‘Bye,’ I say, my voice a little shaky. What is wrong with me?
Get it together
.

When Blake is out of sight Uncle Jo folds his arms in my direction. ‘What was that?’

‘What?’ I answer defensively.

‘Oh, you mean the sexy guy who’s hot for Ellie?’ Phoebe squawks so loud the entire cafe can hear her.

Where the bloody hell did she come from? ‘Shh! Geez, Phoebs.’ I want to crawl into a hole. She has no shame.

I sit down quickly and hide my face behind my hand.

She laughs as she sits down next to me. ‘What? Your uncle should know you’re a hot ticket around here.’

Uncle Jo moves forward in his seat. His face turning a nice shade of purple. ‘She’s a
what
?’

Phoebe holds her hands up and laughs again. ‘Settle, Mr. O. I’m only joking. She doesn’t even date, you know that.’ She takes a bite out of my barely eaten sandwich, unaware of the reaction her words have sparked. ‘So what’s going on?’ she mumbles through a mouthful of food.

Uncle Jo and I share an amused look. Phoebe has no idea how completely charming and bluntly candid she is. I’d find it hard pressed to find anyone who didn’t like her.

‘Not much,’ I reply.

‘Didn’t look like that from here. Blake asking you out
again
?’ she says, flitting her eyes towards Uncle Jo.

I swear she riles him up on purpose.

He pretends to ignore her and picks up the newspaper, and she smiles with satisfaction.

‘No, he was just seeing whether we were going to the game, that’s all.’ I shrug.

Her Diet Coke fizzes open. ‘So he
was
asking you then. When will that boy give it up?’ She takes a sip and puts the lid back on.

‘Does he keep bothering you?’ Uncle Jo’s voice sounds out from behind the newspaper.

Phoebe stifles a smile and I poke my tongue at her.

‘No, not really,’ I tell him. ‘Anyway, I thought you said I should date?’

He folds the edge of the newspaper down so that one eye is peering at me. ‘That was before I knew about Pete.’

‘Pete? Who’s Pete?’ Phoebe asks.

I groan. ‘It’s not Pete, it’s Blake.’

Phoebe picks up the sandwich again. ‘But your uncle just said Pete.’

‘I know, but I said
for the love of Pete
and he thought…’ I rub my temples. ‘Never mind.’

Uncle Jo’s eyes twinkle with amusement and he lets the newspaper flip back up.

Magi sends me an image of our house, interrupting the taunting conversation going on. ‘Okay, Mags. See you in a bit.’

I watch her walk towards the edge of campus before she disappears past the pines and into the brush, where on the other side sits our temporary home—a quaint yellow caretaker’s cottage that looks like it’s been here since the dawn of man.

When I decided to come to college, a lot of things changed. Not only did
I
have to make some big changes, but my family rallied around and made decisions that affected their lives as well. One of those being that Uncle Jo wasn’t letting me go to college alone. With his long history of working in Special Forces, particularly in intelligence, he is now the college IT support guru. A handy position to have when your niece is a powerful witch, and you can make her name untraceable on the college database.

It also meant that we had to meet with the college dean, Eric Meyer, and convince him to pull a few strings in the dog department—the policy being that pets are only allowed on campus if there is a medical reason for doing so. It was one of the few times I have ever used a persuasion spell on somebody.

‘She’s been disappearing a lot lately,’ Phoebe says.

Uncle Jo flops the newspaper edge down again. ‘She has?’

I shrug. ‘She’s allowed to have time to herself.’