Witch & Wizard 04 - The Kiss (28 page)

I blink at him, surprised by the simple kindness, though I guess I shouldn’t be. I treated him so badly, and here he is giving me his coat. Who else would do that for me?
Certainly not Heath…

“Thank you,” I say, and burst into tears.

“Hey, there. No need to cry.” He rubs my back somewhat awkwardly. “If my face offends you that much, you can always turn me into a rodent. I don’t even mind that much anymore, really. I’m happy to run around in a hamster wheel if it’ll cheer you up.”

I snort with laughter and wipe my eyes. “Really, Byron? You’d do that for me?”

“You know I’d do anything for you, Wisty,” Byron says a little too solemnly.

“Anything?” I challenge with a smirk.

He grins and reconsiders. “Well, maybe I wouldn’t melt off my grandfather’s face,” he answers, nudging me playfully. “But then again, I’m not that close to my grandpa, so if you promised me a kiss, maybe…”

I shake my head, but I can’t help but smile. The hurt is raw right now, but I know it’ll get easier, and this stupid heart will stop short-circuiting.

“You’re a great friend, Byron, you know that?”

“Just a friend?” he asks, wiggling his eyebrows comically.

“You never give up, do you?”

“How could I?” Byron shrugs. “What can I say? You definitely make an impression, Wisty Allgood.”

Chapter 86

Wisty

“MISSUS FIRE WITCH?”

The tiny girl beaming up at me is one of the kids we saved from the van—
Bettina Alexandra Gannon
. She was right: I didn’t forget her.

“What’s up, munchkin?”

“Well…” Bettina twists her pink dress in her hands. “Since you’re the most famous person I ever met and you saved me and my friends and the whole world, can you make me a souvenir?” She says all this in one excited breath that grows in volume until she’s shouting in my face.

I grin. “Sure. I guess I could do that.”

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!” Bettina squeaks.

Thing is, I have no idea what to give her. What does a famous witch known for her firepower get a kid? Matches?

I hide a smirk.
I’m sure her parents would love me for that.

“Bettina!” her mom calls, as if reading my mind. “It’s time to go home—it’s getting dark.”

“Just a minute, Mom!” Bettina looks at me expectantly.

Bettina’s mother isn’t the only one concerned with the twilight, I notice. Families are packing up food and hurrying their kids out of the pool. I wish I could give them back their innocence; I wish they didn’t have to be afraid. But even though the City feels safe again, we don’t always know what can happen after dark.

I feel a tug on my pant leg. Bettina’s still looking at me expectantly, waiting for her souvenir.

I crouch down so I’m at eye level with her. “Okay, what kind of stuff do you like?” I ask.

“I like magic!” She beams. “And dancing! And sparkles!”

Something sparkly. Hmm.

The first star of evening catches my eye, twinkling brightly. It reminds me of Pearl’s chandelier, and how the colors shimmered in the Needermans’ dim basement. With broken, discarded glass, Pearl gave us hope.

Everyone should have a light like that.

“Ready?” I raise an eyebrow at Bettina.

She nods eagerly, and I concentrate on the darkening sky. That hum of energy that I know so well—the thrilling heat—starts to make me flush. I swallow hard.

You can do this.

The truth is, I’ve been avoiding this feeling since my battle with Pearce. Whit and I used magic at Bloom’s trial, but not fire. The memories of Heath are still raw, and the thought of that warmth felt so negative, so destructive, I wasn’t sure I could ever face it again.

But this feels different—not tainted by lies or vengeance.

It feels
good
.

I can’t protect this City from everything—I realize that now. But this is something that I
can
do. A gift, not just for Bettina, but for all the City’s children.

The power builds slowly, a low, simmering burn that moves up from my toes and through my veins. I take a deep, shaky breath, clenching and unclenching my fingers, making sure I’m in control.

I let all my hopes for these kids, all my pride from the incredible things we’ve accomplished, all my joy, all my love, swell inside me. That energy makes me shudder with its force; it’s as strong as anything I had with Heath.

Stronger.

When I can’t hold it in anymore, I fling my fingers out and release a massive fireball. It blazes into the sky and settles above us, an awesome sphere of color and light, glittering like a second sun for all the children of the City.

It’s for anyone who needs a blast of color on a gray day, too, and for others lost in darkness who need to find their way home. And it’s a reminder that things are going to be all right—for all of us.

Bettina claps her hands joyfully as she looks at the sky, and I spot Pearl and the other Needermans across the open field, gazing up, too. There’s Mrs. Highsmith and my parents, a few other magicians, and an old former Councilman, all of their eyes shining. More and more people stop to look.

It took the trauma of war to make our community strong again, to trust one another, but here we are. Young and old, from the suburbs or the Gutter, all the citizens are smiling under the same sky, faces illuminated by my gift.

“Not bad.” Whit steps from behind me, arms crossed over his chest.

I turn to him, screwing up my face. “Not bad?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Whit breaks into a smile and drapes his arm around my neck, hugging me to him as we walk across the meadow to join our family. “It’s pretty much perfect.”

About the Authors

James Patterson was selected by readers across America as the Children’s Choice Book Awards Author of the Year in 2010. He is the internationally bestselling author of the highly praised Middle School books,
I Funny
,
Confessions of a Murder Suspect
, and the Maximum Ride, Witch & Wizard, Daniel X, and Alex Cross series. His books have sold more than 260 million copies worldwide, making him one of the bestselling authors of all time. He lives in Florida.

For previews of forthcoming books by James Patterson and for more information about the author, go to
www.JamesPatterson.com
.

Jill Dembowski graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in literature and creative writing. She has also collaborated with James Patterson on
Witch & Wizard: The Fire
. She lives in Pittsburgh.