Shadowed (Unbound, Book 2)

Chapter Thirty Three

           

I let go of my breath as I turned my head. Duvessa winked, already wearing a smile.

She stepped away from the table and closed the curtain before coming to my side, like she had all the time in the world and I would simply wait. She stopped and held my gaze, completely unfazed. Either she was crazy and believed in her delusions, or what she said was true. The locked door suggested I would be crazy not to believe her.

I shifted my weight. "So, magic? Seriously?"

She smiled. Her eyes lit up and widened as she leaned forward. "Seriously." A moment passed and then she started laughing, standing straight again. "I can use it. You could use it. Even Calin's special."

"And this place?"

"Like I said, there are better ways of getting high than using drugs. There are four founding families in Wickenton—you know three. Your family, mine, and Calin's."

While I heard what she said, I felt hollow, like the information was being stored so I could react later. I crossed my arms and attempted to remain emotionless. "The fourth?"

"Nobody you've met," she said. "Our parents gave us this place to chill out, practice the Craft without becoming exposed to the twenty percent of regular people in Wickenton. It started with just the four, but then more council members were added to accommodate for the surge in our population—every witch wanted to live here and all that." She waved her arms around her head and rolled her eyes. "Makes it lose its uniqueness, if you ask me, but then I'm not a leader, so my opinion doesn't count." She stood still and narrowed her eyes on me. "I bet yours would, though."

"I—"

She cut me off with a wave of her hand and laughed. "Whatever. This place is only open to children of the council members. There's one human representative, but obviously their children aren't welcome."

"That's why the door is camouflaged?"

"Yep. It also has an invisible barrier within the doorframe that denies access if you aren't from an authorized lineage. Obviously, since your father leads the council, you fall into the select few with authorization."

My dad is the leader of this Loony Toon? Is that why Ericka was so happy to meet me? Calin's warning began to not only make sense, but left me feeling like an idiot for not listening. People might not want me, just my connection with Devland. Exploit our relation like it was a weakness.

"This is insane, Duvessa." I shook my head and grabbed the doorknob again. It turned, but no matter how much I jiggled and pulled, it wouldn't open. I let my hand fall to my side and faced Duvessa. "Open the door."

She raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead."

"I can't!"

Duvessa rolled her eyes and then narrowed her gaze on me, becoming deathly serious. "Only because you haven't bothered to try."

"What? And give into your psychosis?" I shook my head. "I don't think feeding your delusions is healthy."

"You just saw something that is impossible! That didn't prove to you that what I'm saying is true?"

Unfortunately, it did, but I wasn't about to admit that. She would want me to try using it. I didn't know how I knew that, but I felt its truth as much as I understood she couldn't see me succeed. No good would come from it. But that didn't mean I wouldn't be trying once I was alone.

"I don't know, Duvessa," I told her, not admitting or denying what I believed. "I need some time to digest all of this. That'll be easier at home. Alone."

Duvessa looked away to stare at the curtain. Her thoughts played across the side of her face so that I could see, so transparent it was like I could read her mind. She wasn't happy I wasn't willing to try, that much was clear. But whatever else she was feeling, she attempted to hide. In doing so, she managed to combine it all so that it was impossible to read. The emotion obvious, the cause unclear.

"Fine," she finally said. She turned back around, mumbling words too low for me to hear, and reached out towards the door with an open hand. When her fist closed and rotated ninety degrees, the lock clicked.

Again, magic was impossible to deny. Even if I hadn't been watching, I opened the door before Duvessa could change her mind, and saw Ericka sitting behind her desk. Not one other person was in sight, making anything else more impossible than what I saw Duvessa do.

"Let's go." I clenched my teeth together to prevent what I wanted to say from coming out. Whether Duvessa followed was her choice, but I was leaving. Ericka said goodbye. I didn't reply. Ignoring everything else, I didn't stop until I was inside my car, already driving before Duvessa closed her door.

A list of tasks formed in my head while we rode in silence. Drop Duvessa off. Go home. Talk to Devland. Demand answers. After all, he was a leader. Who better to explain what Duvessa had revealed?

*****

Devland wasn't home. In the fifteen minutes it took to drop Duvessa off at her car and get to the Manor, I convinced myself he would be waiting and ready with answers. That he would lecture me for cutting class and making him worry, and then excuse my absences and talk to me until I understood what Duvessa said.

But if I knew magic, it had nothing to do with premonitions because I was wrong.

I rushed up to my room, neutralized Onyx with a warning as she started to growl in greeting, and then flopped down face-first on my bed. Obviously, magic was real. It was what I felt in the car after Maible left and before Duvessa arrived, which made me realize I didn't have to try determine if I could use it. That made me curious about what else I could do. If Devland was a leader, then he must be powerful, and so as his daughter... What did that mean? Was I strong?

More than anything, I wanted to get up and go back to Duvessa now that the shock had worn off and ask. Maybe try asking Devland and then, when he clammed up like I knew he would, ask Calin. After all, Duvessa had said he was one of the original four families. The topic wouldn't be foreign and the more people I asked, the more I might discover, each telling me something new or slipping where another hadn't.

Just the idea of playing their game better than them made me smile.

But I wouldn't be doing that. I didn't know what had caused my multiple setbacks—just that they occurred. Had I simply pushed too hard too fast, and my mind couldn't keep up? Not asking anyone for anything should help slow that down, at least, and I would trust what I found to be true. Of course, if someone offered, I wouldn't reject hearing what they had to say.