Watch Me Burn: The December People, Book Two (12 page)

“A catalyst spell? Is that like spark magic?”

“I don’t know what that is. A catalyst spell is when you cast a spell to get something you want, but you can’t decide
how
you get it. Like, you could cast a spell to get a million dollars, and the magic would have your husband get in a car wreck so you get his life insurance settlement.”

“Yeah, that sounds the same.”

“But when you do it, it wouldn’t be bad right? Your magic isn’t destructive.”

“Since when is fire not destructive?”

“Yeah, but light creates, not destroys. So the spark you lit wouldn’t leave a wake of destruction in its path.” She could hear the desperation in her voice, and didn’t like it. Didn’t he see? He was the light. He was the goodness. And if not, then did goodness exist at all?

He gave her a look that combined sympathy and confusion. He could tell what he said upset her, but didn’t know why. “Well, it depends. The problem with spark magic is it’s unpredictable, like you described. It’s like trying to set off an explosion from a mile away. You have to light a long fuse, and the more complicated the magic, the longer the fuse. The fuse takes a long time to wind down, and you hope you set it up right, so the explosion goes off in the right place, or that it goes off at all.”

“What do you mean, an explosion?”

“Well, not a literal explosion. At least, not usually. Just whatever you’re trying to make happen. Fate doesn’t like to be messed with. If you’re successful at breaking it, it makes a loud crash. You know what I mean?”

Emmy did not know what he meant, but let it go. She had broken through his shell, and didn’t have the patience to wait any longer for answers. “Where are Leona and Caroline?”

His face turned pale. Although it might not have actually turned pale, more as if she could sense his light flickering.

“My sisters?”

“Yes.”

“How do you even know about them?”

“Why? Are people not supposed to know about them?”

“No…why are you asking?”

“You’re answering all my questions with another question.”

“Caroline is overseas doing volunteer work this summer.”

“And Leona?”

“It’s none of your business. I shouldn’t be talking to you anyway.” He stood up to leave.

“Wait.” She grabbed his arm without thinking about it. He shuddered at her touch. She pulled her hand away and wanted to shrink under the table.

She thought he would leave, but he didn’t. He sat down.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “I didn’t hurt you when you touched me, did I?”

“No. I thought I hurt you.”

“Oh, no. Maybe surprised me a little.”

“What do I feel like to you? Am I really cold?”

He smiled. “No. Not cold…refreshing.”

“Yuck. You have to be nice about everything. It’s so gross.”

“No, I mean it. Do you have any idea what it feels like to be burning all the time? It’s 100 degrees outside today. What sounds better to you? Ice water or lava?”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“Am I really hot to you?” He blushed a little. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, you’re pretty horrible. I kind of want to gouge my eyes out whenever I’m around you.”

“Thank you for sparing my feelings.”

“Did you want me to say you were like a cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Well…I guess I did exaggerate a little. I don’t really want to gouge my eyeballs out when I look at you. At least, not now that I’m used to you.”

“Well, that’s sweet. I don’t want to gouge my eyeballs out when I look at you either.”

She felt herself blush again. He hadn’t exactly complimented her, but he twinkled far too much when he said it.

“Listen, I don’t know what you think about Leona,” he said. “But I’m sure you’re thinking it’s worse than it is. I don’t want you thinking bad things about my family, so I’ll tell you the truth about her if you want.”

“You will, just like that?”

“Well, can you keep a secret?”

“Yes, I can.” She shifted in her seat, thinking about the giant secret she had in her pocket.

“She
sparkles
.”

Emmy had to stop herself from spitting out pancakes in a suppressed laugh. His tone had been deadly serious, as if he said she had leprosy or snakes for hair.

“What?” Emmy tried to match his serious demeanor, but couldn’t suppress a grin. “Like a
Twilight
vampire?”

Nathan looked confused for a moment and then smiled. “No, nothing like that. I’m sorry, I forget we don’t use the same words for things.
Sparkling
is a nice way to say it, I guess. We always used that word to not hurt her feelings. I mean, she’s a kid. She’s fourteen.”

Emmy didn’t like that, as if he thought fourteen was so ridiculously young that no one could possibly be any younger or naïve.

“What does it really mean?”

“Well, you know how summer wizards can attract people? People are drawn to us without knowing why…present company excluded, of course. Anyway, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. The term you’re probably familiar with is
siren
.”

“The beautiful women that sing and make sailors crash their ships?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“So you’re saying her curse is being too beautiful?”

“I know you don’t think it sounds bad, but it’s bad. Especially when you’re young like that. It seems to come on around puberty, the hormones or something. When she’s older, she might be able to control it better, but not now. She could cause people to lose their minds or be violent, not to mention attract lots of unwanted attention. She can’t be around people.”

“So, what, she’s locked away somewhere?”

“No, not
locked
. She’s at a special school, you know where experts can keep an eye on her and stuff.”

“Like…a wizard school?”

“Yeah.”

“There are wizard schools?”

“Sure.”

Emmy stared at him confounded for a moment, before the obvious fact dawned on her. “Oh, you mean, for
some
kinds of wizards?”

Nathan looked at his plate. “Well…”

“No winter wizards allowed, right? Is there some kind of dating process you have to go through? What dates do you have to fall between to be considered worthy?”

“It’s not like that,” he said. He glanced up and met her eyes, but kept his head lowered.

“Oh, really? How is it like?”

“I’m sure winter wizards have their own things summer wizards can’t be a part of.”

Emmy glared at him.

“Besides, it’s not a place you want to be. More like an institution than a school, I guess.”

“Kind of like how you say she ‘sparkles,’ when you mean she’s a dangerous monster? And she’s not locked in an institution, she’s in
school
.”

Nathan bit his lip and poked at his scrambled eggs. He was useless in an argument. As soon as he looked sad, Emmy wanted to back down. No fun at all.

“I’m sorry I said your sister was a monster,” she said rolling her eyes. “I’m sure she’s just sparkly.”

“No, you’re right. It’s easier not to think of it like that, I guess. It is bad for her. She’ll always be alone. She can’t ever fall in love or get married.”

“Why not? You’d think she’d have her pick of anyone she wanted. They’d have to love her back.”

“No, that’s not how it works. Anyone she was attracted to would fall under her spell. It’s a hormonal reflex she can’t control. If she finds someone attractive, it releases pheromones that cause the siren song effect. She’d become like a drug to them. And if they managed not to destroy themselves getting to her, they’d never have a normal relationship. She’d never know if they really loved her or were addicted to her. But the siren effect isn’t always sexual. Sometimes it’s more like extreme charisma. Some cult leaders have been sirens.”

“So, cult leaders, like the ones who lead mass suicides and have a hundred wives. Those have been
summer
wizards?”

“A few have. I told you not all summer wizards are good. Summer wizards are powerful, and power corrupts. It’s almost impossible for a siren to avoid being corrupted by their power.”

“Are your other sisters sirens too?” Emmy asked.

“No,” he said.

Nathan’s phone trilled, and he glanced at it. He winced. “My parents are coming out here.” He looked her square in the eyes. “You should go home,” he said, and he tried to command her.

Emmy did the same thing she had before. She got still and quiet and focused hard on what she would say next. The reaction, the easy thing, would be to obey. But she could resist him if she concentrated.

“No,” she said finally.

He raised his eyebrows. “No?”

“No.”

He sat up straight and looked confused. He looked at his phone, and then out the window, and then back at her. He looked so lost.

“Oh, calm down,” Emmy said. “I don’t want to get you in trouble. I’ll go. I just wanted you to know that it was up to me.”

He nodded slowly, as if now he was the one in the trace. “Okay. Thank you.”

He insisted on paying for her breakfast and she didn’t know if that meant it had been a date, or if it was a side effect of his unstoppable niceness.

He also walked her to her truck, keeping his eye on the road the whole time.

“Can I see your phone?” he asked.

“Why?”

“I know you don’t need my phone number to call me. But it is a lot easier.”

“Oh,” she said. She turned on her phone and handed to him.

When Emmy got home, Mom and Dad waited for her. But they didn’t yell, they just glared at her. Their seething silence intimidated her more than yelling.

“So, where were you?” Dad asked.

“I was at a strip club smoking crack. And then I robbed a convenience store.”

Mom and Dad glared harder.

“You know what, Emmy?” Mom asked. “I don’t even care. It doesn’t matter what I do. Nothing I do or say matters. You’re so selfish and childish, you’re beyond hope.”

Mom handed her an envelope and Emmy stared at it.

“If you’re working as a stripper, dealing crack, and robbing convenience stores,” Mom said. “Then I’m going to ask you to use your ill-gotten gains to pay this credit card bill.”

“I was obviously joking.”

“Then, go get a real job.”

“I’m fourteen.”

“Are you? Really? I thought you were a grown-up. You know, since you can do whatever you want all the time and don’t have to listen to your parents.”

“I—”

“Do whatever you want, Emmy. I don’t care. I give up.” Mom went into her bedroom and slammed the door.

Dad continued glaring at her.

“So, am I grounded, or what? Are you going to take my phone away? Why don’t we skip to the punishment part?”

“What’s the point of that? You’re going to find a way around it,” Dad said. “We’re trying to keep you safe. Why do you to have to make that so hard for us?”

“I’m not putting myself in danger. I can take care of myself.”

“You have no respect for us. And you have no respect for yourself.”

“Would you please punish me already?”

“Are you sneaking out to see
him
?”

“Who?”

“Your brother.”

“What, you can’t even say his name now? Are we going to call him he-who-must-not-be-named?”

“That’s not funny.”

“No, I’m not seeing
Jude
. We haven’t spoken.” Her voice hurt when she said it. She felt her throat tightening.

“I obviously don’t think you should see him. But if you have, you can tell me. I know it’s difficult to be away from your talisman.”

Just hearing him say it out loud made her chest hurt. It also made her eyes hurt, and the bottoms of her feet hurt.

“Why don’t you just punish me?” She had to push the words out of her constricted throat.

“I will. When I think of an appropriate punishment. One that might actually work.”

“So, you’re going to hang the axe over my head and not even tell me?”

“Just go to your room, Emmy. Get some sleep.”

She started walking away and then turned around. “Dad, I wanted you to know. I don’t think Leona and Caroline are missing like Julie. Caroline is in some third world country building wells or whatever…that’s why she hasn’t come home right away. And Leona is at some kind of institution for messed up wizards.”

Dad’s curiosity must have gotten the best of him, because his glare melted. “How do you know?”

“I’m trying to help find Julie. Just like you. And that’s what I was doing. If you must know.”

“You can’t go around investigating summer wizards on your own. They’re dangerous.”

“You told me to go to my room and go to sleep. That’s what I’m going to do.”