Shift

EIGHT.1

Blaze stood stunned in the hallway. His father wasn't the only one at the door; Helio stood beside Silas, carrying a blue duffel bag.

"What are you—?" Blaze started, but Helio had already taken a few steps past him into the apartment. Blaze spun around to stop him from going down the hall, but his father interrupted him with a stern, "Blaze."

Blaze turned back and watched as his father removed his heavy raincoat. "Father," he started a little hesitantly, "what are you doing back home so soon? And Helio...?"

"Come here," Silas Merg commanded.

Blaze winced at the tone and took a step forward. But his father pulled him into a hug.

It was an awkward embrace. Blaze could hear the rush of air through his father's chest as he breathed in. "I was worried when I heard the news at work," Silas said, letting go of his son and looking him straight in the eye. "You haven't done any spells since you were at Sir Mallard's, have you? You've heard about everything, right?"

"Yeah a magic warp..." Blaze mumbled, turning away as he glimpsed Helio disappearing into a room down the hall: his bedroom.

"What's Helio doing here?" Blaze asked, his words coming out quickly.

"Apollo flew back to Los Angeles yesterday afternoon, following the Congregation," Silas said. "And you know Helio and his mother have never gotten along— she can't really control him. So she asked me to keep an eye on him until this magic thing is sorted out."

"But... he's staying here?" Blaze asked, his heart pounding in his chest.

"Yes," his father said firmly, strolling down the hall. "I know you two haven't been on the best of terms lately, but Apollo is my closest friend. If his wife says her son needs a place to stay, then I'm going to do everything in my power to help her out. We all need to stick together, especially during a time like this."

Blaze felt his stomach lurch, remembering Carlos lying on the white stretcher, eyes closed and chest unmoving. "Of course," he muttered under his breath.

"Anyway," his father dismissed with a wave, "go and help Helio get settled. He can stay in the spare, but I told him to put his stuff in your room until we can set him up properly."

"Yes, Father," he said with a nod, suddenly remembering Kayden hiding under a pile of dirty clothes. "Right away."

Blaze turned on his heels and darted for his room, hoping that by some miracle Kayden had managed to remain hidden. But as soon as he stepped inside and shut the door behind him, he saw that it was too late. Kayden was no longer covered in clothes. Instead, she was crouched on the ground, looking up at Helio who was staring down at her with his usual smirk.

"Hey, Blaze," he greeted, not even bothering to face him. "Just met your girlfriend. Shame you keep her under your bed as opposed to in it."

Blaze groaned; he was not in the mood for Helio's crass sense of humor. "She's not my girlfriend. It's kind of a..." He struggled to explain it. "A spell gone wrong."

"Really?" Helio inquired, an eyebrow raised. His hazel eyes skimmed over Kayden's figure as she stood up and brushed off the socks clinging to her camisole. "Well, if you were trying to magic up a girlfriend, you could have at least given her some Ds."

"Asshole," Kayden muttered.

Helio's eyes widened. "And a better attitude."

"She's not an illusion," Blaze said. "We had some spell issues."

Helio's smirk deepened. "Such as?"

Blaze found himself at a loss. If this magic warp had happened five years ago, he would have gladly told Helio everything that had happened. But now he didn't know if he could trust him. A lot had changed in the past few years.

Blaze glanced over at Kayden to see what she thought. She shot him an annoyed look, but after a moment, she nodded.

Blaze sighed. "All right, but you got to keep your mouth shut." Quickly he told him the entire story, starting with the World Financial Building and ending with how the spell warp transported Kayden to his kitchen. Helio's expression didn't change at all—he maintained his self-satisfied smirk until the very end.

"And your dad doesn't know anything about this?"

"No," Blaze said, slipping his hands into his pockets, "and I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell him."

Helio whistled through his teeth. "I don't know... You want me to lie to the man who's going to house and feed me for the next few weeks?"

"Come on," Kayden said, piping up impatiently. "I just want to get out of this mess as quickly as possible."

"Quickly?" Helio laughed. "You are such a non-er. What do you think, that we all have magic wands and an endless supply of fairy dust at our disposal?" He waggled his fingers mockingly. "Magic isn't working now. That means you're not going to be 'out of this mess' until something is done about this shift. And with the sorry state of the Congregation, that could be months, or even years." He plopped down on the bed, shoving aside Blaze's clothes carelessly and dropping his duffel bag onto the comforter. He looked at Kayden with the eyes of a jungle cat. "I'd start making yourself comfy. That's what I plan on doing."

"Are you really not concerned about this at all?" Blaze demanded. He had expected Helio to be particularly irritated by the inability to cast spells, but he seemed relaxed—almost relieved.

"Volo mundare ad negotiandum potentia pro liberate." Helio smiled.

Blaze caught Kayden squinting at Helio, attempting a translation, but Blaze had no clue what Helio had just said.

"Listen," Blaze said, ignoring the Latin, "I need you to keep Kayden a secret. If my father finds out on his own terms, so be it, but I don't want to deal with that if I don't have to. Can't you just help me out this once?"

"This once?" Helio's eyes widened in feigned shock. He glanced over at Kayden. "Did you just hear what your boyfriend said to me?"

"He's not my boyfriend." She glowered.

Helio rolled his eyes and turned back to Blaze. "What about all the times I helped you in school? Does that count for nothing?"

"You are seriously counting something from when we were ten?"

"Without me, you would have been held back. You were having a rather difficult year, if I recall. Not quite managing to cast any spells—"

"Shut up, Helio," Blaze warned.

Helio clicked his tongue. "Now, you really shouldn't treat guests like this."

Blaze rubbed his face with his hand, feeling another wave of exhaustion wash over him. The day had been long enough. "Promise me you'll keep your mouth shut. Please."

Blaze expected another retort, but Helio simply rolled his eyes and stood up. "Fine. I won't say anything. Though if you get caught, you're on your own." He reached down and grabbed his duffel bag off the bed. "Now help me move my stuff into the guest room. Seeing as I'm going to be stuck here for a while, I need to at least make myself comfortable."

"What about me?" Kayden asked.

Blaze had almost forgotten she was in the room with them. "You need to stay in here," he said.

The girl crossed her arms over her chest. "No, I mean in general. I can't just spend an entire month hiding under your bed." She held up her phone; on the front screen, the words "Missed call from Mom" flashed. "My mom called when I was hiding in your filthy clothes pile and I had to send her to voicemail. I bet she's realized I'm missing by now, and she's probably flipping out. We can't just postpone all my problems; I'm not a social event."

"Feisty," Helio said with a smile. "I like that."

Kayden shot him a look.

"Okay, okay," Blaze muttered. "Call your mom back and tell her that you had to get away for some reason. Like you're pissed off or something and you're staying with a friend."

"None of my friends are around this summer. She won't believe me." But then she paused and bit her lip. "But maybe if I say I'm at my dad's, she will."