Wish (19 page)

      I nodded and lifted my t-shirt. The swirling ink seemed
even more frantic. “Oh,” she said as she stroked Magic’s fur and he purred.
“My.”

      Nana rushed over and they both stared down at my mark
without speaking.

Finally Mom took a deep breath. “You can choose to give them
away. Your powers. Grant witches have choices.” She smiled. “We don’t always
make the right ones. Like everyone, we do what we think is best.”

      “Like you gave your powers to my dad?”

      Her lips closed together, her eyes saddened. “I did. He
was my Sentry, the only person who can take them from the necklace or the
witch.”

“I gave him my powers because I didn’t know he was one of The
SHEILDERS. I didn’t realize until too late.” She sighed heavily and Nana placed
a hand on her shoulder.

“Your dad told me I had to choose. He knew I did magic with
Nana when he wasn’t around and he said it made him angry. He told me I had to
give them the powers. That I had to give them up to prove I wanted to keep my
family.”

Magic hissed and Mom stroked his ears.

“I believed him. I was tired, not at my best. He told me I
wasn’t a good mother. He said if I didn’t give them up he would take you and
Cody from me. I gave him my powers to keep you and your brother. You and your
brother meant more than my powers ever would.”

      She paused and Nana put an arm around her, just as Mom
would do to me. Her daughter.

      “He lied to get her powers,” Nana said.

      Mom backed up to her rocker and sat down. She rocked
back and forth. “I fell for it. I didn’t know the SHIELDERS were inside him.
I’m so sorry, Sydney. I didn’t want to have to tell you any of this. I wanted
to spare you and Cody from knowing what your father did while you were still
young. I planned to tell you when you were older, less vulnerable. Cody too.”

Nana kneeled beside her. 

“Nana didn’t agree. She thought I should tell you. Warn you,
but I thought that if I did what they said, your powers would never find you
and you’d never have to deal with him.

She sighed and a sad laugh escaped her mouth. “Lesson
learned, listen to your mother, Sydney. Mother knows best.” She reached up and
twirled a ringlet of her dark, beautiful hair. She seemed close to crying. “And
now, through Keith…” She dropped her head. Nana stood up and faced me.

“Keith? What about him?”

“The SHEILDERS. They’re using him to get your powers.”

“Keith won’t let them. He promised.”

Nana and Mom said nothing.

“You’ve both known Keith as long as I have. He’s my friend.
He wouldn’t hurt me.”

      My mom’s eyes shone with unshed tears. “I never thought
your father would betray me either.”

      She held out her hand and I walked to her and she
reached for my hand and gently stroked my palm. “There is a way to stop all of
this. I mean if you don’t want your powers, you don’t have to keep them.
There’s still time. You have another choice.” Mom said and glanced down at
Nana.

Nana furrowed her brows, shook her head back and forth at me
and then pleaded with Mom without saying a word. The two of them seemed to
argue without even opening their mouths.

      “No, she has the right to know,” Mom said to Nana. She
looked back up at me. “Sydney. There’s a way out of this. You can renounce your
powers. You’re very strong already but you’re not completely transferred. You
still have a chance to send your powers back to the necklace. If you want all
you have to do is make one last wish. You can wish the Powers gone. They will
leave you. You can take off your necklace and you’ll be free. Completely
mortal. Your markings will vanish. The powers will be locked in the necklace
safe from your Sentry and the SHEILDERS. Once the powers return to the necklace
they can’t be retrieved. Not until the next witch in line is marked and claims
them.”

Mom stood and hurried to the dressing table pushed against
the wall. She pulled out a deep purple velvet jewelry box. She opened it. “You
have the right to turn down a gift if you don’t want it.” 

She held out the box. “Make a wish and return the necklace
and the SHEILDERS will leave here. You’ll be free from the Institute. You won’t
have to deal with any of this. You’ll be a normal kid again and they’ll leave
Keith alone too. Without you and your powers, they have no need for you or
Keith.”

Oh boy did that sound appealing. I wanted to curl up in my
mom’s lap, put her hands over my ears and ignore everything going on around me.
I stared at her aching to run to her and bury my head in her arms, to make her
make it all better, like when I’d been a little girl. I wanted to go back to
being a kid, have her keep on protecting me, and shield me from the things I
didn’t want to face.

“There’s just one little problem,” Nana said.  

Mom and I glanced at Nana. She and Mom were communicating
without words again. Mom shook her head.

      “If you don’t keep your powers,” Nana said.

“No,
Mom,” my mom interrupted, pleading with her eyes.

Nana locked her sights on me and stood up. “If you don’t keep
your powers, your mother will have to stay at the Institute. Permanently. She
will not be able to leave. If she leaves without the help of a more powerful witch
of her own Order, she’ll die. You’re the only one who can get her out alive.”

      Great. No pressure. “What about you? You’re a witch.
You came here to get her out in the first place.”

      Nana crumpled. Her body kind of shrunk. She suddenly
looked ten years older, her head hanging with shame. “I tried. I couldn’t do
it, Sydney. I tried, but my magic is weak. I’m too old. I’m not powerful
enough. You’re the only Grant witch who can help.”

      “Well.” I blew out a breath of air and reached for a
fingernail to gnaw on and then put my hand down.

      “You don’t have to, Sydney. I won’t die here. I mean.
You’ve earned the right to be a normal teenager. If you want to be, you can
be,” Mom said.

I glared at her. “And leave you here? Cody would hate me.
Besides, it’s a little late don’t you think? For me to be a normal teenager.
Knowing what I know. Isn’t a teenager’s job supposed to be worrying about boys
and clothes and pimples? How could I go back to that now? How can I be
completely self-absorbed if you’re stuck in here because of me?” 

      “It’s not because of you, Sydney,” my mom whispered,
looking incredibly guilty. “I’m the one who caused this.” She studied the
velvet box she still held in her hands.

“Well. I’m sure I’ll find a way to pay you back.” I frowned.
“I would have got these stinking powers even if you hadn’t given up yours
right? So I might as well learn how to use them?”

She smiled through her pain. “You’re right. You would have
gotten them. You’re a Grant Witch. For now.”

I didn’t say anything.

“You’ve grown up, Sydney. You handled your father. Sadly,
it’s not him I’m worried about now.” She paused. “It’s Keith.”

      “Keith?” I glanced to the doorway I’d come in through
as if he might walk through it at the mention of his name.        

“Honey. The SHIELDERS want him.”

      I shook my head. “No way. Not Keith.”

      My mother didn’t say anything. She glanced at my
necklace and swallowed. She didn’t have to articulate what she was thinking.

“He wouldn’t even come inside here with me. I asked him to,
told him to but he refused.”

I set my jaw and scrunched up my face. “He’s on my side.”

      “Well that’s good,” my mom said. “Pure Sentries can’t
come through the Institute doors. But SHIELDERS. They can.”

      Nana cocked her head to the side and moved closer to
the door. A breeze licked my arm as Nana sped by.

      “What is it?” My mom asked.

      Nana’s face drained of all color until her skin tone
almost matched the robe she wore. “It’s Keith. He’s inside.”

The blood in my veins stopped flowing. I went completely
cold.

Outside the door Keith bellowed. “Sydney, let me in. It’s
important. I need to see you. Now!”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“He’s a Sheilder,” Nana said. “Oh. No. Keith.”

      My heart grew legs and leapt straight into my throat.
For a moment I couldn’t breathe. “No. He’s worried about me, that’s all. He
came to see if I’m okay.”

      Nana and my mom stared at me. They didn’t have to tell
me they didn’t believe me.

He’s my best friend. He would never, ever hurt me.”

      They both gaped with wide, sober eyes. Not even shaking
their heads.

      “Who was your Sentry?” I snapped at Nana.

      “Your Grandfather.”

      “He didn’t betray you.”

      “He was a strong man.”

      “So is Keith.”

The door to Mom’s room echoed as Keith’s pounding. “Sydney?
You in there? Sydney, let me in. I only want to help you. You know that. Let me
in.”

I paced the floor in front of Mom’s rocker. Back and forth. 
I stopped. “How did he know where to find me?” I asked my mom. “I couldn’t even
see the door in the wall. Nana had to show me.”

My mom’s eyes went to the door and back to me. “There’s no
way he could find it on his own,” she said softly. “The SHIELDERS have
incredible strength, Sydney. They’re combining them inside of Keith. They’re
using Keith to get to you. He couldn’t have come into the Institute on his own.
It’s not possible.”

The pounding continued. “Sydney,” Keith called. “Let me in.”

      My mom shook her head. “You don’t have to let him in Sydney.
Even the SHEILDERS can’t get inside without you opening the door for them. But
if you do, once you let them in, it’ll take everything you have to fight them
off.”

      Magic hissed at the door and jumped from Mom’s lap.

“A normal teen wouldn’t be out somewhere getting into
trouble? Why do I have to be the one who is brave? Why do I have to figure out
the right thing to do?”

I stared at the door, angry with everyone. “I am so staying
out past my curfew when I get you home.”

I stared at the door and glanced longingly at the box my mom
held in her hands. Magic curled around my legs, purring softly. His warm body
pressed up against my legs, as if trying to give me courage. 

      “Sydney?” Keith yelled from the hallway. “Come on. Let
me in.”

      “If you let him in, he will harm your mother to get
your powers,” Nana said. “He is not her Sentry and he owes her no protection.
The SHEILDERS don’t need her anymore because they found you, her purpose is
done. They will use her, even me to get what they want. You can’t let him in
here.”

“She sacrificed a lot trying to shield you,” Nana said in
mom’s defense. “She thought she was doing the right thing. She didn’t know it
would come to this.”

I glanced at the door and back at Nana, scowling at her. “I’m
not about to let him get Mom, Nana. Chill. I have to go out there.”

Nana and mom were silent for a moment. Nana nodded. “If you
are to keep your powers, you’ll have to face him. You have to reach inside
Keith and fight off the SHEILDERS power over him.  He’s dangerous as he is now.
I can come with you.” 

I shook my head, glad she’d offered, but I couldn’t risk her
safety.

“What happens if I can’t get through to him? To Keith?”

“Then he’ll take your powers.”

“And?”

“And we’ll be stuck in the Institute. There will be no one to
get us out.”

I nodded. I thought about Cody, lying out in the clearing, no
idea I was responsible for keeping him from living the rest of his life with no
adult supervision. Well. He’d have Stevie. I smiled, thinking of them. And then
I thought of Keith. My friend.

I knew Keith better than they did.

“I’m going out.”

“Be careful,” said Nana.

My mom shushed her. “Keith can’t force you to give him the
necklace, remember that. You have to give it to him on your own free will.”

      I shook my head. “He won’t even try.”

      Mom smiled and nodded her head to the door. “Go now. Be
brave. Magic will go with you.”

      I stared down at the cat and then bent to pick him up, and
looked back at my beautiful mom in her old fashioned rocker.