A Circle of Ashes (18 page)

“And now you bring girls here,” I teased him.

“Uh, a few.” He grinned.

“Are they supposed to be doing that?” I pointed to some people who had climbed over the fence and were actually playing and splashing in the fountain.

Kevin shrugged. “No. But people always do. Sometimes people soap it too. There are fountains all over the city, and people always play in them. It’s too hot to not take advantage of a chance to cool off.”

“You’re right about that.” Here it was, practically October, ten o’clock at night, and it was probably still in the high eighties. I reached back and lifted my hair off my neck to let the breeze get to it. Leaning over, Kevin blew softly on my neck to cool me off.

It was really intimate and really sweet. I looked into his green eyes, a more olive shade than mine, and wondered if he was going to kiss me. But he drew back and gestured to the fountain.

“Wanna join them?”

“Yeah!” We climbed easily over the low fence, and I kicked off my sandals, the only part of my outfit that Clio had approved of. Kevin took off his Tevas, then led me over the shallow rim of the fountain.

Immediately the smaller jets shot up, raining down on us. People around us were playing and laughing, pretending to really splash each other. When we got wet, I gave a little shriek, but Kevin was laughing, and he took my hand and pulled me away from a group that was getting too raucous.

The water was almost cool, and it swirled around my legs. “This feels great,” I said, wading, looking at my bare feet lit up by the fountain lights.

“And your skirt’s so short you don’t have to worry about it getting wet,” Kevin said.

Quickly I looked at him and saw a gentle, teasing expression on his face. He made me feel so comfortable, as if I could totally trust him. “You noticed it, did you?” I said.

“Oh,
yeah
.”

I laughed, and then my foot hit something and I almost lost my balance. Kevin grabbed me, and I saw that I’d run into a little faucet handle set into the fountain floor.

“Thanks,” I said, then realized he hadn’t let me go. He looked at me, not smiling, and I thought,
Here we go
, and caught my breath. Slowly Kevin lowered his head, giving me time to escape, but I didn’t and met his lips with mine, actually kissing someone else besides Luc, which I thought I’d never do again for the rest of my life.

Kevin was a good kisser. He was much more sure of himself than Chad Woolcott had been, and there was none of the deep, heavy urgency that Luc’s kisses had ignited. Instead it was sweet and exploring, not tentative. I kissed him back, and pathetically, I was glad that Luc wouldn’t see this. Then I was so mad that I’d even had that thought, and I went up on my toes and wrapped my arms around Kevin’s neck. It didn’t seem to matter that we were out in public, that tons of people could see us.

At that moment, it was as if someone flicked a switch and turned off the moonlight. Despite the overhead lights around the fountain and the water lights themselves, the area still somehow seemed draped in sudden darkness. A chilly breeze made goose bumps rise on my arms, and I pulled back from Kevin and looked at the sky. Huge, dark thunderclouds were rolling in off the lake, blocking the moon and stars.

Suddenly everything was washed out, so brightly lit with lightning that all color was leached out of my sight, as if an enormous camera flash had gone off.

“Move!” Kevin said, starting to pull me to get out of the fountain. Everyone else was scrambling to get out, and then a huge
boom!
of thunder seemed to shake the earth itself. I was hurrying through the knee-deep water, but about a foot from the edge I had a shocking premonition of death, danger, dying. Without a moment to think, I yanked my hand out of Kevin’s and threw my arms into the air. Closing my eyes, I cried out the strongest protection spell Petra had taught me, hoping I had memorized the syllables correctly. Then I said, “Goddess, hear me! I call on earth, water, fire, and air! Protect us!”

In the next millisecond, an enormous bolt of lightning snaked down from the sky, making my hair fly up with electricity. I smelled something burning, and then the lightning hit the water we were standing in. My whole body tingled, and the fountain’s lights all around us burst, with glass and sparks flying everywhere. But Kevin and I were protected, as if we were in a bubble that slowed time down and absorbed the enormous voltage of the lightning bolt. I whirled in slow motion and saw Kevin, looking stunned, reaching for me. Oh goddess, my magick had
worked! For once, it had worked properly! Ecstatic joy flooded me, and I raised my face to the sky and laughed. In the next fraction of a second, I saw Luc’s face, right in front of me, his eyes wide and startled, alarm making him still. But my magick had worked and now flowed out of me seamlessly, and I was part of the world again.

Then Kevin started to fall, the moment seemed to pop, and suddenly I was back in the now, hearing scared cries, the fountain’s silence, the distant honking of cars. I lunged forward, almost slipping, and caught Kevin. He was heavy, and the best I could do was sink down against the fountain ledge, propping him against me. Had my spell protected only me? I was suddenly terrified. We’d been standing in water that lightning struck—we should have been killed. But was Kevin more hurt than I was?

“Kevin! Kevin!” I said, holding him in my arms. A man ran over and helped me get him out of the fountain. Kevin shook his head and blinked, looking up at me.

“My God!” said the man. “Never seen anything like it! You two should be dead!”

“Are you okay?” I asked Kevin worriedly, keeping my arms around him.

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “What happened?”

“We got hit by lightning, sort of,” I said with a nervous laugh.

“Y’all better get out of here before you get hit again,” said the man as heavy rain began to fall. “Storm looks bad.”

“Can you walk? Are you okay?” I asked again.

He nodded and got to his feet. He rubbed his forehead with one hand, looking confused. “I’m okay,” he said. “I just don’t remember what happened.” He seemed more himself, and he took my hand. “Let’s get to the car—we’re getting soaked.”

Together we ran back to where he had parked the little Miata. Inside I felt cold, either from the temperature drop or a delayed reaction. I had made magick. I had saved us. It was exhilarating. And scary. And I had seen Luc, right when my spell had occurred. Why? What did that mean? Had he … been part of it somehow?

“You’re shaking,” said Kevin.

“I am? Oh. Yeah, I am.”

He reached into the minuscule backseat and pulled out a soft cotton throw. It was big enough to wrap around both of us, even over the stick shift, and I immediately felt better.

“Are you okay?” I asked for the third time. “Should we go to a doctor?”

“My dad’s a doctor,” he said, “but actually, I feel okay. A little shook up, maybe, but fine. So lightning hit the actual water?”

I nodded. “It broke all the lights. It was pretty scary. I felt like I’d stuck my finger in a light socket.”

He shook his head, trying to figure it out. “It should have killed us—a fountain that small, a direct hit. I don’t know why it didn’t.”

I shrugged, wide-eyed, realizing suddenly that Kevin hadn’t heard my spell. “Just lucky, I guess.”

“Yeah,” he said, not sounding convinced. The rain was pouring down now, with more lightning and huge, rolling booms of thunder, but I felt cozy and safe inside the small dark car. Kevin seemed normal again at last, and he started the engine and took me home.

At Petra’s, I asked if he wanted to come in and dry off, but he shook his head.

“Think I’ll just go home. But… do you want to go out with me again? If I promise not to put you in death-defying situations?” He actually sounded uncertain, and I laughed.

In answer I reached up and put my arms around him, and smiling, he kissed me. He felt warm and smooth and very comforting, and we kissed for a long time, standing there on the porch. Then I felt Clio coming toward the front door, and I broke away.

“I better go in,” I said. The rain had stopped while we were kissing, and now the world was dripping wetly.

“Okay. I’ll call you.” He let me go reluctantly, and I watched him get back into his car and drive away.

I couldn’t get one thought out of my brain: I had made magick. And it had worked.

L
uc wiped the cold sweat from his brow. He sat back on his heels, breathing hard, as if he’d been running.
Get a grip
. The intense darkness surrounded him, and he blew out the candles he’d been using to make the darkness more complete. All around him he could hear night sounds—animals foraging or stalking, insects humming, the rustling of owls as they flew through the trees.

God. Thais. The endless, pain-edged days were making him literally sick—he’d lost weight, couldn’t sleep, could hardly eat. He’d been drinking most of his meals ever since she’d ripped him out of her life.

He felt like he’d been flayed alive and Thais was the balm that would heal everything, make him whole again. He missed her solemn face, her quick laugh, the way she touched him. She’d been shy and a little scared, yet she’d never held back from him. She’d given everything he’d asked for, given it freely and with all her strength.

He’d seen her tonight, scrying. She’d been wrapped around that kid, kissing him, their mouths open, drinking from each other. It twisted in Luc’s gut like an
athème.
It had been unbearable.

His heart was going to explode. Angrily he smashed the bowl of water aside, then picked it up and brought it down hard on the salt chunks he’d been using. The heavy stone bowl smashed them into powder, and feeling rage wash over him, Luc raised the bowl again and slammed it down, twice, three times. The third time the bowl itself broke, and Luc stared at the shards in disbelief.

This was his main tool, the bowl his mother had used and her mother before that. It was incredibly old and had a carved border of
plumes
around the top. His grandfather’s element had been air, his grandmother’s water, and the bowl had symbolized their joined powers. He’d always used it in his magick, used it to scry, to hold water or fire. Now he’d broken it, and it could never be repaired. One of the biggest shards had an almost complete
plume
, a feather, on it. He picked it up and stroked the cool stone against his cheek.

Remorse doused his rage. Dropping his head into his hands, he tried to slow his breathing, cool his blood. The bowl was broken forever, like his relationship with the one person he’d actually loved over the last two hundred years.

Sighing, Luc stripped off his shirt and walked over to the narrow river running twenty feet away. The cold water was clear and red-tinged. He dunked his shirt into it and wrung it out, then squeezed it over his face and shoulders. It felt incredible. Standing up, he pushed off his jeans and then, naked, walked out into the river. It was shallow, barely up to his waist, and cool against his hot skin. He dunked under, getting his hair wet and pushing it out of his eyes. He leaned back, looking at the sky. Tall trees on either side of the river left only a narrow channel of dark sky above him. Sinking down till the water was up to his shoulders, Luc watched the stars and thought.

He wanted Thais. Neither twin wanted him. Or… was that really true? It always came back to the plan. The plan called for his being with one of them. It didn’t matter which one. And it had to happen soon, if it was going to work at all.

“W
hat’s up?” Clio said, looking around the front door at me. Then she really saw me. “Whoa. Guess you got caught in the rain. You look like you got dragged through a hedge backward.”

I made a face and followed her into the house. “Thanks.” I felt cold and damp and chilled all the way through.

“Thais?” said Petra, running into the room, her brow furrowed in worry. “Are you all right? A while ago I felt—I don’t know. I just felt you somehow.” She looked me up and down, and her frown deepened. “You’re all wet.”

“Yeah. It’s been kind of a full night. Let me put on something dry, okay?”

“I’ll make something hot to drink,” said Petra, watching me as I climbed the stairs. “But you’re sure you’re okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah, pretty okay. Considering I got hit by lightning.”

“Tell me again.” Petra looked at me seriously across the kitchen table.

I took another sip of hot chocolate, surprised it wasn’t some herbal magickal anti-damp-and-wet concoction.

“We went to the Mardi Gras fountain, by the lake,” I said again. I’d already told them once, but I guess Petra was hankering for any juicy details I’d missed. “A bunch of people were playing in it, so we got in too. And then, completely out of nowhere, it was storm city. There was lightning and everyone was yelling to get out of the fountain. Do we have any cookies?”

Clio tilted her head toward the pantry, and I went and got the package of cookies.

“So everyone was scrambling to get out of the fountain,” I went on, trying not to spit crumbs. “We were rushing to the side, but then I suddenly felt that we were about to get hit by lightning. So I just shouted out that protection spell you taught me, not even sure I was remembering it correctly. And I called on earth, water, fire, and air to protect us. And it
was like we were in a little bubble, and the lightning hit the water and made my hair stand on end, practically. Then the bubble popped, and it was all over, and Kevin fainted.”