Haunting Shadows (Book 2)

Before

Lights flickering. On and off. On and off. Each time Andreas’ eyes closed, the flame would die. When he opened them again, they’d come back to life. He had perfected the spell; it had only taken him all night. Emilia wanted him to learn, but he could see the conflict in her yellow eyes. She was scared the power would consume him -- scared that he would lose control and it would consume him. Even with her concerns, the magic was like a drug. He couldn’t stop using it no matter how hard he tried.

Andrea’s parents were out of town and he couldn’t remember why. They had told him the reason, but it slipped his mind. That had been happening more and more recently. He couldn’t focus on much more than honing his craft. Perhaps his mother’s concerns were justified.

Kalen and Andreas were left to take care of Dylan. Andreas smiled simply thinking of the little guy and his massive spirit. That kid never ran out of energy. He slid off my bed and walked over to his desk, picking up a book. Kalen and Dylan would be out training today; he’s have to wait at least two hours before checking on them.

He flashed himself to the kitchen – or at least that had been the destination in mind. He ended in the living room. Shit, he cursed himself. He was still new at the teleportation spell, and so far it hadn’t been going according to plan. He rubbed his temples as he went down the hallway into the kitchen. One day he would perfect that. One day.

He threw a tea bag into a pot and poured some water into it before placing it onto the stove. Time to test if the fire spell would work without an incantation. He closed his eyes and focused on the wood, willing it to spring to life. At first, nothing happened and he was almost tempted to give up, but the flames ignited. Satisfied with himself, he leaned against the counter, folding his arms across his chest.

It took several moments for the water to boil. He wasted time by trying to think of what to do for the rest of the day. There were several spells on his agenda that he had wanted to practice to perfection, but it was about time he spent some quality time with Dylan for a change. It had been a while since it had been just the two of them. Andreas didn’t like that Dylan spent so much time with Kalen, it meant Dylan would start thinking less of him. But he didn’t have enough patience to teach Dylan the basics and thus he knew Kalen was necessary. Andreas just wished it could be different sometimes.

After the tea pot screamed, he removed it from the flames and brushed his hand through the air to extinguish the flame. He smirked when it worked and poured himself a cup of the tea before painstakingly walking to his study. He sunk down into my desk chair, careful not to spill any of the tea, before opening the book he had been reading before retiring to his room the previous night.

The page was detailing all about how to do spells without needing to chant them. How useful would it be to simply think of something and just have it happen? It was entirely possible with some practice, but he would require a lot of it. So far he had had many successful attempts, but more failures. He was determined to perfect it though.

Kalen strolled into Andreas’s study just as he was about to turn the page and he downed the last bit of his tea. Kalen’s skin was as white as ash. He looked like hell and Andreas merely raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s wrong with you?” Andreas asked, not too overly concerned.

Kalen’s eyes closed against his will, but he forced them open. “I just came to tell you that I’m not feeling very well.”

“Clearly.”

“And that I’m not going to be instructing Dylan today as a result. You should keep an eye on him, since I’m not even sure I’ll be able to stand upright until I beat this bug.”

Andreas nodded, but kept his face neutral, not wanting to admit he was glad for the time with my brother. Dylan needed to be spoiled a little and this way Andreas could get Dylan to like him better than Kalen again. He knew it was foolish, even petty perhaps, but he didn’t want Kalen to be better at something than him.