Scary Cool (The Spellspinners) (19 page)

He had reached the front of the room. His nearness, in the strange, shadowed intimacy of the deserted classro
om, sent my pulse into a gallop
. I tried not to let on, but it’s hard to know what Lance picks up and what he doesn’t. The mocking smile he gave me matched his words, so it might have had nothing to do with my unruly emotions. Because what he said was, “
Not if
the
spellspinner
is you.”

I had to gather my wits for a moment.
Huh?

He grinned. “Yeah. Sorry. That’s why I had to warn you. You won’t be able to cross that shield. You can leave your house—you just can’t return. Unless you
skatch
.”

“What?!” My voice cracked like a whip in the stillness. I clapped my hand over my mouth
for a second
and forced myself to calm down
. “What do you mean? Are you
positive
?”

He nodded. “I wouldn’t ride my bicycle through it, if I were you.”

I clutched my head with both hands. “Ai
yi
yi
. I won’t be able to go anywhere with
Nonny
!”

“Well, you can
go
with her. You just can’t
return
with her. In a car.”

“What would happen?”

He shook his head. “It wouldn’t be pretty.”

“No, seriously. What would happen?”

His expression was grim. “I’
m not sure
. But I think
Nonny
and the car would
sail
through the barrier, no problem. You’d hit it like a bug hits a windshield.”

“
Holy cow!”

“
I’m
guessing
your body would stop when it hit the shield. So if the car kept going…”

“It would be like getting run over. By the back half of the car smashing through me.”

“Yeah. Something like that.”

I pressed my palms together in front of me, trying to concentrate. “Okay. Okay. Help me think. How am I going to get to
and from
school?
I have t
o leave the house on my bicycle or
Nonny
will know something’s up.”

“Ditch it somewhere safe before you reach the shield. Then
skatch
to the well and I’ll take you to school
.
”

I looked at him. He had leaned one hand on the desk, beside me, and was looming over me—very close. The air in the few inches that separated us seemed supercharged; every breath I took w
as filling me with his essence.

We
were both picturing me, sharing his motorcycle. My body pressing against his back. My arms around him.

I had to close my eyes against the image. “Oh, Lance,” I whispered. It sounded like a moan. “I can’t.”

The attraction
between us was like getting caught in a tractor beam
. Was it him pulling me, or me pulling him
? Both, I saw. It wasn’t just Lance, and it wasn’t just me. We belonged together.
We were going to be together.
And we both knew it.

I opened my eyes. “I can’t,” I whispered again. “Not yet.”

His eyes were like molten glass, hot and clear and brilliant green, even in the tricky light. “Why do you
fight it
?” he murmured. His voice was husky. “Why do you push me away?”

I’m afraid.

“Of what?”
He was leaning closer. Slowly, slowly. “Zara,” he whispered. “Let it go. Let me touch you.”

“No.” I broke away, darting sideways. I couldn’t breat
he with him so near. Then I whirled
to face him and gave a shaky laugh. “You know I
probably
will someday. I just…I’m not ready.”

His mouth turned down wryly. “I’m not going to…”

“That’s not it.” I crossed my arms over my chest and shivered. “When you touch me, I…lose track of who I am.”
I don’t know how else to explain it.
“I’m not ready to give myself over to that. Whatever it is.
Wholesoul
.”

That made sense to him. I
felt the shift in him as he acknowledged it
. Lance not only knew what I meant—
part of him
felt
the same way
.

He straightened
up
and ran one hand through his hair, looking away from me. “Yeah,” he said softly.
“
You’re used to being one person
.
It knocks
you
for a loop to suddenly…double.”

I nodded. He wasn’t looking at me, but Lance doesn’
t need to see
my signals to pick them up.

“Maybe we’ll get used to it someday
,” I said
.
“
Take it for granted.
It’ll be no big deal.
”

“Maybe,” he agreed. Then his eyes met mine and something in his expression set my pulse racing
again
. “But I wouldn’t
bet
on it.”

We stared at each other, motionless. Outside, a car drove past the school. Its headlights swept through the room like a ghostly searchlight, then passed, leaving the r
oom seeming darker than before.

“
So. No motorcycle,” he said
.
“I’ll have to drive you to school in Rune’s car
.
”

I’d almo
st forgotten about Rune.

“Would he let you? I thought you said Rune was part of the anti-Zara brigade.”

“
He is, but he doesn’t
feel
good
about it. I figure the more he sees you, the better.”

I would have laughed if the situation hadn’t been so serious. As it was, I rolled my
eyes. “
You
want me to
turn on the charm when I’m around him
?
Would that help?
”

Lance’s grin flashed in the darkness. “Be yourself, cookie. He’ll still feel ba
d about squashing you like a spider
.”
He sensed my reaction and t
hrew one hand up like a stop sign
. “Kidding. That’s not the plan.”

I started breathing again. “
Oh, super
. What is the plan?”

“The good news is, there’s no consensus. So while they argue about it, they want to get you back to
Spellhaven
and bind you
.”
He gave a contemptuous little
snort. “Like they can do that.
”

“
Bind
me? Are we talking ropes and chains?” I tried to keep the fear out of my voice, but naturally Lance heard it.

“No. And it’s not going to happen anyway, so don’t worry about it.”

He sounded very certain. I sent him my doubts and he smiled. “Zara, they’re afraid of you. They aren’t going to move against you until they’re sure they have a plan that will work. And you and I are going to make sure they’re never sure.”

“Can we do that?”

“We have an ace up our sleeve.”
Wholesoul
.

I took a deep breath and let it out, slowly. “Okay. Lance, it’s time for you to te
ll me exactly what
wholesoul
i
s, exactly.
What it does.
How are you and I different from other
spellspinners
?”

I felt his surprise, and then his hesitation. “I keep forgetting that you don’t know much about us.” He was silent for a few seconds, trying to figure out how to explain it. Evidently it was tricky to explain. I just waited.

He wandered over to the window and looked out into the
dark
ness,
thinking. “Okay,” he said. His voice was so low I could barely hear him. “
Do you have any sense of Rune, or Amber? Can you tell where they are or what they’re thinking? Do you know how they feel?”

“No.”

“Me neither.”
He turned to face me. “
But
Zara, if you got hit by a bus in
Timbuktu
and I was in Alaska, I’d feel it.”

“Ah.” I sat sideways in one of the front row desks
and put my feet up on the next chair over
. “And vice versa.”

He nodded. “When you were with Rune, could you read his
mind
?”

“Not
quite
.” I thought back. “I had a sense of what he was thinking. If he wanted me to read his thoughts, couldn’t he have sent them to me, the way we do?”

“Yes, as long as you were able to make eye contact. But he’s
a fairly powerful
spellspinner
, and it still wouldn’t have been as clear as our communication is.
Amber couldn’t do it at all. She’s
almost as opaque as a stick.”
He raked his hand through his hair again. “I’m not explaining this well.”

“When we first met, you sent me your thoughts.” I frowned, puzzled. “Was it a test? To see if I could hear them?”

“Sort of. I was already pretty sure you could.” He grinned. “I could hear yours.”

I felt a blush climbing up my neck, and looked away. “Great,” I muttered. I don’t remember what I was thinking that night, but whatever it was, I bet I didn’t want Lance hearing it.
“So
you already knew we had
wholesoul
?
”

“No. Like I told you, it’s rare. I
thought
wholesoul
was just an old legend.” His mouth quirked
ironically
. “We have a lot of old legends. That’s what happens when a race of people doesn’t write anything down. The stories survive, but they warp. They get crazier and crazier over the years.”

“Then what
did
you think
, when you picked up my thoughts so easily
?”

“I thought you were one powerful
spellspinner
.” His smile softened. “I still think that.”

“And so are you.” It wasn’t a ques
tion, but Lance nodded in reply.

He must have heard me thinking that total communication was what
wholesoul
was all about, because his next words were: “That’s not all.”

I looked up sharply. Lance’s eyes bored into mine. “We get stronge
r,” he said softly. “The more you and I
are together, the stronger we
will
get.
Or so the legends say.
I already told you, that’s why we can’t let the others know. They’ll fear us. They already fear you, and they don’t even know what they’re up against.
”

I shifted uneasily on the plastic seat. “
Yeah
,” I said. “
I sure don’t like having all the
spellspinners
against me. I have
a hard enough time as it is.”

“
Y
ou’ve had
a hard time because
you’re
trying to blend
in with sticks.” Lance strolled back over and dropped into one of the desks across from me. “You
gotta
let go of that, babe.”

I frowned. “
Maybe. Maybe not.
”
And stop
call
ing
me ‘babe.’

Lance shook his head. He looked regretful, but firm. “Zara, the die is cast. The Council is about to force the issue.
No more stick life for you.
Nobody wants to
risk exposure
, but something is going to happen.”

“Like what?”

“I
don’t know. They’re hiding their plans from me. They don’t realize that you and I have
wholesoul
, but they know I’m on your side
and that’s enough
. I can tell they’re plotting, but they’re blocking me. I don’t have a clue what’s about to go down. I just know something will. I think they’re hoping I’ll talk you into coming in on your own.”

“Coming in to what?”

“Not what. Where.
Spellhaven
.”

“
You’re joking.” I stared at him. “
I can’t! I can’t
skatch
there. I’ve never been.”

“Haven’t you?” Lance leaned forward, studying my face. “Remember, that’s where all
spellspinners
are born.”