Magician's Muse (17 page)

Then my eyes snapped open. I looked around, disappointed not to see tree tops. If only I could slip back into the dream … with Dominic.

“So who is this Dominic?” Genevieve stood over me, clearly amused.

“Um … just a friend. How long have I been sleeping?”

“Three hours. You must have really been tired. Come on, it’s time for dinner.”

It had been forever since breakfast, a quick cream-cheese bagel before I started my drive up to the mountains. I should be starving, but my stomach was too knotted with anxiety.

I followed Genevieve outside and down the path toward the mansion. Walking past the forbidding statues of long-dead magicians and up the steps, I paid close attention to my surroundings so I could find my way out if I needed a quick escape.

My heart quickened when we entered a huge, narrow room lined with long wooden tables. Men in capes and robes crowded together, talking and laughing. Platters were passed from hand to hand and the magicians reached out, helping themselves to bread and steaming meat. Flagons of wine were filled and refilled. I felt like I’d stepped onto a movie set.

I was both guest and captive here. The men mostly ignored me. I scanned faces, seeking the one I’d once loved. I didn’t see Josh, but it was easy to spot Arturo right away, front and center, his face rapt with attention as he spoke to a slender, dark-skinned man with hoops in his ears. The Amazing Arturo oozed charisma. Gazes were fixed on him, and everyone near him was captivated by whatever he was saying. No one glanced up as Genevieve led me to a small round table by the kitchen.

“Why aren’t you sitting with Arturo?” I asked, glancing up as a waiter in a brown apron set heaping bowls on our table.

“I wondered when you’d ask.” Genevieve grimaced in the direction of her husband. “As merely the assistant to the Amazing Arturo, I used to be relegated to eating in the kitchen. So this table is quite an upgrade.”

“But you’re his wife.”

“That means nothing here. Wives are not allowed, so it’s fortunate I’m also Arturo’s assistant. It’s an honor for us to be in the presence of all these great chauvinistic men … or so I’ve been told many times.”

The bitterness in her words was sharper than the knife she pulled from a pocket to slice her buttery roll in half. Her eyes narrowed as she plopped the roll into her mouth.

Oh, touchy subject. Not going there again. I looked around the room once more, up and down each table, searching for Josh.

He wasn’t here—but I saw Grey with others wearing similar dark cloaks. But no one else had a long white-blond ponytail. Grey caught me looking, narrowed his dark eyes at me, and returned to eating.

I did
not
make the mistake of looking at him again.

Genevieve’s bitter mood passed and we chatted about light, meaningless topics as we ate. This was a stark change from the dedicated magician I’d practiced with a short while ago. It was like she was masquerading, too—as Arturo’s flighty wife rather than a magician equal to or perhaps better than the others in this room.

All the while, I was thinking hard, trying to figure out how to search for Josh. Grey would know—but I didn’t have the nerve to ask him. Maybe I could follow him to see if he’d lead me to Josh. If I got the chance, I’d try it. But even if I had complete freedom to go wherever I wanted (which I doubted), this building was huge and it would be easy to get lost. I’d passed about twelve hallways and three staircases just on the short walk to the dining hall. I wished Thorn were here with her Finding skill.

Noisy pot banging, conversation, and busy activity from the kitchen caught my attention. The shuttered doors flung open with a gush of heated, savory air and two elderly waiters, one stout with slicked-back white hair and the other beanpole-skinny with a scraggly beard, delivered food trays to the tables. Both looked weary, their dingy-brown aprons flapping like feeble birds as they hurried to keep up with the demanding diners.

Then a different waiter came out of the kitchen doors, his head down in concentration as he balanced a large tray with covered dishes. Instead of heading for the tables, he went the opposite direction and slipped out the front door.

I didn’t have Thorn’s gift for Finding, but sometimes I just knew things. And I knew in the depth of my soul that if I followed that waiter, I’d find Josh.

Impulsively, I jumped up from the table, “accidentally” dumping my plate all over myself. Buttered bread, a cob of corn, and a barbecued drumstick spilled down my jeans to the floor. “Sorry!” I cried, as bloodlike sauce dripped down my legs. “I’ll go clean up and change my clothes.”

Genevieve looked like she was going to protest, but I didn’t give her a chance.

I ran from the room—to rescue the boy I used to love.

I caught up with the waiter as he made a sharp left down a high-ceilinged hallway. I pressed against a wall. I felt sticky wetness sliding into my shoes and plucked a kernel of corn off my pockets.

Then I was moving again, as the waiter turned another corner. This hall was narrower and ended at a staircase leading down. I hung back, careful not to be seen. As one of the few women in this place, I didn’t exactly blend in.

I listened to the waiter’s footsteps clanging softly on the stairs and once he was far enough ahead, I moved cautiously down the staircase. Ducking low, I saw the waiter slow down and then stop in front of a door near the end of the hall. He set the plate down, then reached up to knock on the door. I waited for the door to open.

Only it never did.

Instead, there was a low murmur of conversation as a narrow wooden panel in the door flipped open. The tray of food was grasped by a flash of hands, then disappeared into the room and the panel banged shut. Anger seethed through me. Poor Josh! How much suffering was he enduring in this prison?

The waiter turned to leave—heading back my direction.

Frantically, I looked around for somewhere to hide. I’d never make it back up the stairs without being seen. Then I noticed a small shadowy hole beneath the stairs and flung myself inside—just as his footsteps hurried past.

Once all sounds had faded except for the roaring of my own mind, I stood up and walked down the hall. I passed two doors, then stopped in front of the door that the waiter had delivered the food to. I closed my eyes and sought out the energy inside—and I knew I’d found him.

But when I lifted my hand to knock, I hesitated. What was I going to say to Josh? The last time we’d spoken, he’d called my psychic ability a tool of the devil. His mind was closed to anything that wasn’t clearly explained with science. In his opinion, magic was merely a form of entertainment using logical illusions. Ghosts didn’t exist. When people died, that was the last you heard from them.

And nothing I could say to Josh would ever change his mind.

So I wouldn’t even try. I’d come here as his friend, and as his friend, I’d warn him about Grey and convince him to come away with me.

Mustering courage, I knocked once, then twice, on the door.

“Did you forget something?”

Josh’s voice. It was startling, although it was what I’d expected. I hardly knew what to say and stood there, unsure what to do next.

“What do you want now?” Josh called through the closed door.

I stared, startled when an arm reached out through the door flap, palm up in questioning.

Memory swept me back to warm nights in Josh’s arms, tasting his gentle kisses and listening to his stories of entertaining sick kids with magic tricks. For a few weeks, I’d thought I loved him. Maybe I had, or maybe I’d just been crushing because he was so smart, kind, and likeable. But “like” wasn’t enough.

“Hey Josh,” I said softly.

“What the—! SABINE!” he choked out, jerking his arm back inside.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“No, you can’t be here.”

“Really, it’s me.”

“I—I can hardly think! I mean, what are you doing here?”

“Horse missed you.”

“You came here to tell me Horse missed me?” He groaned, then laughed—a brittle sound that swept me with a wave of sadness, bringing back our dog-walk dates with Horse, holding hands and just enjoying being together.

“So, can you to let me in?” I asked, leaning one hand on the door.

“No. The door is locked.”

I jiggled the knob but it didn’t open.

“What’s going on, Josh? Jade told me you were locked in, but it seemed so unbelievable.”

“Did Jade send you?” His tone sharpened. “Grey never should have let her come here. Did he bring you here too?”

“No, I came on my own.”

“Why?”

“To find you.”

“You did that for me?” he asked softly.

“And for Horse,” I added, before he got the wrong idea.

Josh laughed. “How is he?”

“Not so hot since you left, but Dominic told me he was doing much better.”

“Dominic?” Josh dropped the name as if it were a bomb. “What was he doing with
my
dog?”

“Encouraging him to eat and get over missing you,” I said accusingly. “Dominic doesn’t let personal feelings stop him from helping an animal.”

“Of course not—he’s a saint.” I winced at Josh’s biting sarcasm. “So how’s it working out with you two?”

“Just great. Except he’s not …” I couldn’t finish.

“Except what?”

“He’s away, that’s all. He’s dealing with some … um
… family issues.”

“No guy would stay away from you too long.”

“Thanks, Josh. That’s really sweet.”

“Like being sweet is a good thing,” he scoffed. “Girls go for the tough, mysterious guys.”

“Someday you’ll find the right girl.”

“I thought I already had,” he said sadly. “But the best lessons are learned from mistakes—at least that’s what Arturo tells me whenever I screw up a trick. How did you get in here without him knowing, anyway? There are cameras, electric fencing, and guards patrolling the property. We’re in lockdown—no one goes in or out.”

“I squeezed under a break in the fence and climbed down from the dam.”

“And no one stopped you?”

“Well … not exactly.” I glanced around nervously. How long before another waiter or someone else came along? “Josh, I came here because I was worried about you. You may not realize it, but you’re in terrible danger.”

“Danger?” he said skeptically. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You can’t trust Grey. He told Jade he’d kill you if she left here.”

“That’s bull. Grey’s my bro. He’d never betray me.”
Not like you did
, his tone implied.

“Jade said he forced her to help him with cruel magic tricks—and I saw knife cuts on her arm. He tortured her, Josh! Don’t trust him! Come away with me.”

“Does this have anything to do with your psychic crap?” His tone had cooled, no longer friendly. “Was my danger something you read in tarot cards or heard in a séance?”

“No,” I lied, flashing back to my vision of Josh stabbing himself with a knife.

“Well, I still don’t get how you got past the security,” he muttered.

I touched a curl of fake red hair. “Look through the door flap.”

The rectangular flap flipped up, and I had a glimpse of Josh’s dark eyes through the narrow opening. “Jade!” I heard him gasp. Then the flap banged shut.

“Everyone thinks I’m Jade,” I admitted. “That’s how I can stay here. I’m worried about you.”

“I’m nothing to you anymore. Don’t waste your worry on me.”

“It’s not wasted. No matter what you think, I still care what happens to you. Maybe not the way … well, the way it was … but as a friend. When your mom said you were gone, I was afraid you were in trouble and wanted to help. That’s why I’m here.”

“Sabine … I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll leave this place with me.”

“It’s not that simple,” he said, his tone softening.

“Is there any other way out of your room?”

“No. But Sabine, you’ve got it all wrong. I’m not a prisoner.”

“Then why else would you be locked in?”

“For secrecy. It’s a tradition for initiates to work in isolation. The door may be locked, but I’m the one with the key. I can leave any time if I want.”

“Then why do you stay here?” I asked.

“To practice my act for my initiation.”

“At the Solstice ceremony,” I said, frowning.

“Yes. Tomorrow night I’ll finally become a full member of Arturo’s brotherhood of magicians. Normally I wouldn’t be invited to audition until I turned eighteen, but Arturo knew I was unhappy and needed to get away from, well … you know.”

Oh, I knew. He needed to get away from me.

“Only one apprentice is allowed to join the society a year,” Josh added. “Most years no one auditions, but this year there are two of us hoping to be chosen. To win, I need to astonish everyone with my performance, so I’m working in total secrecy.”

I’d known that being a professional magician meant a lot to Josh, but hearing the pride and excitement in his voice made me realize just
how
important.

“So you won’t leave with me?” I asked.

“No. But I promised Mom I’d be home for Christmas, so I’ll only be here a few more days. By then I should be a professional magician.”

“Does this have something to do with the PFC tattoo on your arm?”

“No, that was all Grey’s idea. Arturo has one, so Grey and I had it done too. It’s supposed to be secret, but you should know—since it explains why I was so freaked to see you at a séance. It’s our personal vow to uphold the science of magic.”

I winced. “So what does it mean?”

“Performers against Frauds and Charlatans.”

I could hardly believe what I was hearing. His tone held anger and judgment. I tried to understand where he was coming from, although I knew he’d been influenced by his mentor for years. When the Amazing Arturo said psychics were all fakes, Josh believed it with his whole heart.

“Some psychics might be frauds,” I told him, “but some are real.”

“I’m sorry you believe that.” His words shut me out as divisively as the heavy wood door I was leaning against.

“And I’m sorry you don’t.” I sighed. “I’m sorry for …
well, everything.”

There was a silence full of the things neither one of us could say. Then the door flap jiggled and Josh reached out again. I hesitated, then entwined my fingers with his. It was part apology, but mostly good-bye.

Then our fingers slipped apart … and the door flap closed.

“I—I better go,” I said awkwardly.

“Yeah … you should. But thanks … this has meant a lot to me.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant, but asking would only make things harder.

I started to leave, but thought of something and turned back.

“Just one more thing.”

“What?”

“Who’s the apprentice you’ll be competing against?”

“I thought you already knew.” Josh paused. “It’s Grey.”

* * *

Dread weighed me down, making it hard for me to breathe as I made my way back down the hall and up the stairs. Grey was Josh’s competition—and Grey had threatened to kill him. But Josh wouldn’t believe this any more than he believed that the ghost of his older brother would pop in for a visit.

If only I could manage a small miracle like that—arrange a reunion with Josh and the brother he’d lost too soon. But ghosts chose to come to me, not the other way around.

There wasn’t anything else I could do here. I’d found Josh, and he was fine. For now. He wouldn’t leave before his initiation performance. It was tempting to stick around to watch the show, but I didn’t belong here. My family and friends must be worried about me and I couldn’t wait to get home.

But I’d have to wait till morning. I’d never find the trail back in the dark unless I could find a flashlight. Did anyone even have a flashlight around here? They all seemed so back-in-time, I’d have a better chance of finding a torch. But it wouldn’t hurt to search for a flashlight, since there was nothing keeping me here now. Genevieve could find another assistant. I wouldn’t be around for the show.

Lost in my thoughts, I wasn’t paying attention as I stepped out of the main house and started down the front steps. I’d only taken a few steps when I heard the sound. A thud, like a footstep. Before I could turn, a hand reached out. Sharp fingernails stabbed into my wrist, and I felt hot breath near my ear.

“Where do you think you’re going …
Sabine
?”