Believe the Magic Read online

  “Don’t even think like that, Ella.”

  He was invisible, but his voice invaded my mind.

  “Was that you?” I asked out loud. I didn’t trust my head. It was deceiving me too much already.

  “Yes,” Quentin laughed. “I figured invisible was safe. And I saw you had a visitor. So it was best to stay this way.”

  “Then you know he left. You could have appeared and not cut twenty years off my life with these stunts of yours. I can’t do this, Quentin. All this fuss over gems and magic and mind reading and who to trust. And you. You play these games with my head and games with my heart and you tease my body and—”

  Gentle arms wrapped around my shoulders. A hug. My God, I needed this hug. “Even if I wanted to deceive you, Ella, I couldn’t.”

  “I don’t know that,” I sobbed into his arm. “I don’t know what, or who to believe.” I was truly breaking down, wasn’t I? This was it. “I don’t know who I can trust. Certainly not Mr. B. But what happened to Sam? I never wanted to trust him either, but he’s never put me in danger.”

  “Sam is doing what he thinks is right. I have my own ideas about saving the world. Which is literally what we have to do. So yes, little mind games are involved. You’re stronger than that. I know you. The first big trick you did was to toss me upside down over you and hold me there. It was amazing. You are not going to back down now.”

  He faded back into to the room. I think I’d forgotten how bad he looked. Those bruises really told the story. It was a serious matter, not some high school scheme to make sure the girl you wanted won homecoming queen. This was about the integrity of people everywhere.

  I let him pull me down so I was sitting beside him. He still had his arm slung protectively around my shoulders. He must have sensed I needed it.

  I said, “I need some honesty. I need answers and plans and most of all, I need to know where I can be safe.” I turned to him, praying I wasn’t wrong to trust. “I need to know.”

  Quentin lifted his hands to my cheeks and locked his eyes with mine. “I promise I will do everything I can to protect you. When I’m with you, you will be safe. But I can’t be here every single minute of the day.”

  I nodded. Asking that would be too much. And I didn’t want a bodyguard.

  “Let me figure something out and I’ll see if you can grasp it all. But I need the same from you.”

  Fair was fair. Here goes.

  “First,” he started, tapping me on the nose. I smiled. “I need to know where you got the gem.”

  I opened my fist. “This gem?”

  “That one.”

  “Dime store?”

  His nose wrinkled and he shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  “Would you believe I lost a tooth and that’s what the tooth fairy brought?”

  “Nuh-uh.”

  I sighed. “You are hard to please, you know? All right. Then the truth. Some man was in the room where I was examined after I fell from the sky. He gave it to me.”

  “Who was he?” Funny how Quentin managed to know when I wasn’t lying.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Would you recognize him again?”

  “Don’t know.” At least my words were partly true. I could forget pretty easily.

  “Ella?”

  “Hmmm?” I was enjoying the texture of his thumb against my cheekbone.

  “About the falling from the sky thing?”

  I opened my eyes wide. “Yes?”

  “Even with magic, we can’t fly.”

  “We can’t?” I chewed my lip after asking. Surely he was joking.

  “Nope.”

  What about the hovering thing? What about Jim and I floating up to the tiny little passageway on the island? Did I know something Quentin didn’t? Ammunition. “Darn. Guess that’s why I fell when I jumped off the building.”

  “Yeah. Right.” We had a thirty second stare down.

  He gave in first. “Why don’t you just confess and save us the grief of discovering your secrets later.”

  Hello, Quentin. Who jumped your body?

  I stopped, frozen. What if? Had I been entirely sure it was Quentin I was talking to all the way through this ridiculous adventure? The answer scared me.

  “Confess to what?” I hoped my voice didn’t portray my nervousness.

  My handsome, if bruised, lover leaned against the headboard. Gulp. Could I say he was my lover? Did I want to be able to say it? I slid from the bed and stood more than an arm’s length away.

  That part of the adventure and the idea of body hopping had me shaking in my panties. And it wasn’t from desire.

  “You know the fairy, don’t you?” The gentle voice had hardened into something accusing.

  “The one you were chasing?” Hey, it could be another.

  “Is there more than one?”

  “I don’t know any. Isn’t it possible?”

  “None?” This question war was getting old. I couldn’t stay sharp with his bantering.

  “Tinkerbell? Maybe she followed you from Disneyland. Quentin, why is this so important?”

  His smile was weak, at best. “So tell me instead where this gem really came from.”

  “I’m not saying another word. You were supposed to be sharing information with me. I feel like I’m on trial. And I am seriously not liking it!” I was trying to keep my temper intact. I was failing miserably.

  I tucked the gem inside my pocket.

  “I thought you were going to trust me. You accuse me of having secrets and I know you’re keeping things from me. I know there’s something about that fairy that you know. Like her name.” This was a side to Quentin I didn’t like. The hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention. I felt like a cat puffing up and ready to pounce.

  “No. Quentin, no.” The desperate shake in my voice made the tone more pleading than a definitive negative.

  Show him a loose string and he’ll pull it to unravel my cover. I felt naked. My feet were glued in place as he rose from the bed. My breath caught when the covers slid down.

  I tore my eyes from his boxer shorts. I ignored the fear that hummed just beneath the surface of my skin and took a moment to admire the very masculine body as he walked toward me.

  If I were a man I might have said “Down boy,” to myself. The memory of his past lovemaking had my body shifting my fear into anticipation. Touch me.

  All it took was the back of his fingers grazing against my cheek. God, I would have told him anything he wanted to know. But he didn’t stop his assault there.

  “Don’t throw any remotes at me. I’m going to kiss you.”

  Quentin. I sighed. It was him. I wouldn’t have thought of doing anything to distract him from his task at hand. I closed my eyes and waited.

  Instead of his mouth, the pad of his thumb stroked and pulled at my bottom lip. His hand wrapped possessively around my cheek and jaw. I leaned into it.

  I dared not open my eyes. I licked my lips. Still waiting, wanting…needing him to kiss me.

  “Mm, nice,” he muttered, breathing heavy against my ear. He held his body away from mine, purposely torturing me. It wasn’t going to work.

  I snaked my hand out and tucked my fingertips in the waistband of his shorts. A slight tug was all the invitation he needed to shift his body against mine. Perfect fit. Oh yeah, just like that.

  His mouth danced against my cheek. The day old beard scraped my cheek—all the more erotic. I could smell him, the faintest whiff of his cologne still lingering. My entire body sighed.

  He leaned against me. There was proof in the hard lines of his body he wanted me, too. My heart slammed against my chest with the knowledge of it.

  Quentin had the ability to send me over the edge with his lips. And he knew it. Just when he had turned my knees to the consistency of butter, he did. He slid a knee between my legs.

  I pushed against him. His mouth left mine and created a path of hot kisses to my ear. And then he asked me the fairy’s name in t
he deepest whisper I’d heard from him yet.

  I gripped his shoulders and answered back, my mouth once again meeting his. “Winzey.”

  He froze. The icy blast turned my ultra sensitive skin into a breeding ground for goose bumps. System shut down in four-three-two…

  “Nicely done, Quentin, son.”

  …one. I released my grip on Quentin’s shoulders and started sliding backwards. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mr. B stepping through the still solidly locked door.

  I stepped back quickly. No. I wasn’t going to faint. Passing out would be too cliché and I didn’t need Mr. B to see me so off balance. I took a deep breath and stared at Quentin. Poor boy, he had the gall to look surprised, and hurt even. I reached up and patted his cheek.

  “It’s okay, Quentin, you do what you have to do. As will I. Do you gentlemen mind giving me a little privacy? I’m feeling a little under the weather and well, I think I’d like a nap.”

  Bravo, Ella, you just made Broadway collapse with that pathetic acting job.

  Quentin looked at me as if I’d grown wings. Or horns. Heck, maybe both. I could be an angel and the devil himself if I tried, right? Almost. But we won’t tell him that, will we?

  We? I stayed silent for a minute. Had I been body hopped? Had Quentin?

  I felt like an old lady herding her chickens across the yard as I followed the men to the door and bolted it tight. Not that anything I did would keep them from walking back in, but just the same…

  I threw myself head first and face down on the bed. Thank God it was empty. I might just sleep like this.

  When I pulled my knees up, I felt it. I still had the gem.

  “Ella, wake up.”

  “Huh?” The sound was the most welcome thing I could have wished for. “Sam?”

  “Shhh. I’m here. Listen to me for a minute.”

  I nodded. But I sat up and searched the room. I needed to see him. Know it was really him. “Where are you?”

  “Here. That’s enough for you to know. I’ll be here as much as I dare. It’s too easy for them to pick up on my magic. I won’t be able to watch over you. Trust your instinct. Do the right thing. “

  I felt duly scolded. That’s what I get for giving away secrets. The memory forced me back against the pillows. Damn. How could I have betrayed my little friend so easily?

  “You love him. You clung to him and trusted him because there was no one else.”

  “Thanks. You know how to make a girl feel good.”

  “It doesn’t matter. We need to take a walk. You never know who will just pop in.”

  “You got that right.”

  I knew my face was smeared with tears and my eyes undoubtedly not far off from matching the red of Quentin’s. At least his boxing match had been physical. I felt like I’d been gutted. This emotional stuff wasn’t really supposed to hurt, was it? Like as in physical pain?

  Well, it did.

  “Ella, go brush your hair and wipe your eyes. Is he really worth crying over?”

  If I could have seen him I would have gifted him with an evil stare. “You’re messing with a heartbroken female here, mister. What’s the saying about a woman scorned?”

  “I could leave, you know. I’ve learned quite a lot about this operation here. Enough to spot a few weaknesses. I don’t really need you, but I hate to see you killed when it all collapses upon itself.”

  “Sam Nelson, you wouldn’t dare do that to me.” I tried to make my mental voice reflect humor, but it came out scared of its own shadow.

  “So how, exactly, do you intend for this to work? Mr. B. has nine gems. I have one. And Quentin knows it. What if he asks for it back?”

  Sam’s voice was low, rough. His eyes glinted and one eyebrow arched, just slightly. “My father’s here.”

  “Lou?” I breathed. “How?”

  Sam slung his hand out. “The ocean has carried him here, and even now, a storm is brewing.”

  I squinted up past the bare tree branches and into what seemed like a permanently colorless sky. Still I didn’t see anything foreboding in the emptiness.

  “Not today. Perhaps not for a few days. Storms need time to gather, to strengthen. Find Winzey and be ready.”

  “You mean she’s not with you?”

  Sam’s head tilted and he gave me one of those parental you-had-better-be-kidding-me looks.

  “I haven’t seen her since…” Heck, even I couldn’t remember. I didn’t even know how long I’d been in this place. We walked past the courtyard and away from the giant structure. It was the only fathomable place to hold a conversation, and even then, not having eavesdroppers wasn’t guaranteed.

  “You must find her, before Bergestein does. She could easily substitute for the missing gem and make our job much, much more difficult.”

  I cringed at that second “much.” One was too many for my liking. I wanted it easy, like my life had been before this. That’s it, my life now had a BM and a AM. Before Magic and After Magic.

  I was afraid to find out just what I was going to have to face AM.

  It made me think of my parents. I walked to the edge of the yard and stared over the bluff at the waves below. Did they know I was gone? Did they worry? And what about Jeannie? I couldn’t help but guess she figured I’d up and taken off with some guy. Or else she’d had Jessie remind her I was talking to the TV Guide and she just chalked it up to needing a vacation.

  This was not a vacation.

  “Well, of course it is, Ella. Aren’t you enjoying your stay?”

  Somehow I turned around and managed to keep my balance. “You startled me.” I slapped my hand over my chest and took a deep breath. “Just feeling homesick is all.”

  “Your family is okay. They’ve received a postcard from you and think you are vacationing with the man of your dreams.”

  I closed my eyes and shook my head. I felt so helpless. “What would you have sent if your men had killed me?”

  “The same thing. And then news of a terrible boating accident and word that unidentifiable remains were located in a well-known shark-infested area. Poor Ella.”

  I shuddered. And there wasn’t an ounce of emotion apparent in Mr. B’s voice. The pure emptiness was the most frightening part.

  “So is this your headquarters?” I waved to the house that sat back a hundred or so yards behind us. “Or do you have places like this everywhere?”

  He laughed and flipped up the collar on his jacket. The wind had picked up.

  “I never stay in one place for long. And I think it’s nearing time to move someplace warm. I hear there are some nice, uninhabited Caribbean islands. I should check them out.”

  With that, he left.

  I bunched my hands into my pockets and turned back to the ocean. The water rushed toward the base of the cliff about a story below me with the energy of a raging bull and then locked horns with the rocks, only to back up and try it again. Over and over.

  I smiled down. “Don’t let it give you a headache, Lou.” I winked down as I hit send on my mental thought. I searched for an answer in the gray vastness. Then decided that was about as fruitful as counting the blades of grass. Which were growing much too quickly under my feet. The time had come to mow. I turned and walked straight into Quentin’s arms.

  I was tempted to turn and leap from the cliff. He was going to be the dandelion that kept coming back, no matter what. Since I couldn’t guarantee Lou would save me, I hesitated. And, well, I was a coward deep down inside.

  “What?” I pushed past him and stomped toward the castle.

  “Wait a minute, Ella, I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry for what, Quentin, being yourself? For worrying about power and not giving a damn about other people’s loyalty and feelings? The idea of “us” obviously didn’t mean anything to you, because you threw it all away.”

  “You don’t understand. I didn’t want to. I was supposed to make you lure the fairy in. When I didn’t deliver I got my ass kicked. Do you think that was fun?”
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  “Step back, Quentin. You made the bed, sleep in it. I’m not pretending to be a partner to this guy. I have my morals and ethics. Don’t try to blame this on me.”

  I stood up on my tiptoes and got right into his face. Atta girl, Ella! “Leave me alone,” I warned him. “I’m not sorry for what you did. I’m sorry I let it happen.”

  Wow. Someone had just opened me up from sternum to belly button. And then liberally salted me and stuck me over an open fire. But from the look on Quentin’s face, the shock, the open mouth and glassy-eyed stare…he felt the same way. Good for you, buddy. Enjoy the sensation.

  I just knew something was going on I had no control over. It vibrated the air. I studied the building as I walked back, alone. It dawned on me I’d been allowed outside without handcuffs or at least a leash. Of course, Quentin’s appearance might have just been that, a bloodhound on a trail. Maybe he was checking to see if I had some secret rendezvous planned with Winzey or something. Stranger things have happened.

  Today, I decided after realizing I barely knew my way around this…this…asylum, I needed to explore. I knew what I hoped to find, was completely aware of what I didn’t want to find and…

  Ow!

  I felt a flash of heat at my ankle. I leaned over to rub the spot.

  I jerked up when I heard an unmistakable, yet dreaded voice bid me good day.

  “Sorry, I…uh, had an itch.” I twisted my ankle, hoping my secret was still hidden. I put my hand over my chest. “And you scared me!”

  “Ah, I see.”

  Damn, I hope not. I forced out what I hoped sounded like a nervous giggle. It worked, after all, I was nervous.

  “I’m going to go lie down…I’m tired.” I gestured madly with my hands, likely managing to look more like a rabid marionette than a person indicating the need to excuse themselves.

  He frowned. His eyebrows tilted downward in synch with the corners of his mouth. It creeped me out. He asked, “Are you eating enough? Keeping yourself healthy?”