Chapter Sixteen
For the first time in my life, I actually enjoyed going to school. Was it partially because I’d executed a number of spells in my charms practical, perfectly? Yes. But it was mostly because Silas spoke to me.
A lot.
Not only did the blonde werewolf drag his chair closer to mine in potions, at lunch he dropped on to the table with Sofia, Raven and I to make sure we were all coming to his game next week. And now he was walking me out of the school building, his usual group of friends seemingly forgotten.
‘So, question for the day: do you think studying with snacks is a distraction or an added bonus to the great time we’re going to have tomorrow?’ Silas questioned, reminding me that after school tomorrow, I was going to be joining him in the library.
‘Depends on the snack,’ I quipped back.
At first, I still found it a little hard to talk to Silas, but I reminded myself we were starting anew. The past was firmly behind us. It made it easier – made me feel like I was building a new person who was meeting Silas for the first time. Someone confident and witty and not, well, the old me.
‘If you’re talking celery sticks and hummus, I’m not sure how much of a bonus that is,’ I added.
‘I’m thinking more like these.’ He twisted his bag around, and pulled out a bag of sweets. ‘Peach rings!’
I wasn’t the biggest fan of them, but I was hardly going to turn down anything Silas wanted to share with me.
‘They’ll do,’ I teased, and he scoffed.
‘I used my ten-per-cent employee discount on these,’ Silas replied, mock offended.
‘Splurging on me already, Silas?’ I asked, eyebrow raised.
‘Gotta keep my lucky charm happy,’ he said back, pushing open the doors of Maple Falls High, and leading us out to the parking lot.
I found Raven and Sofia already there, both waiting for me with wide eyes and tense expressions. I could tell something had happened.
‘Ah, looks like you’re needed,’ Silas murmured, and gently knocked his shoulder to mine. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow, Maya.’
I was sad to see him walk away, but as soon as he’d turned, I sped towards Raven and Sofia.
‘Are you two OK?’ I asked, worriedly. I raked my gaze over both of them – Raven was armed with books for the MAC exam and Sofia had a satchel that was equally full. The two of them were going to be joining me at the Treasure Trove today, studying while I baked and practised with Orion.
‘Aside from the fact that the MAC exam is made by an evil goblin,’ Raven sniped, ‘we’ve been waiting for you to come outside because Orion has been blowing up the group chat.’
‘He has?’
I pulled my phone from my pocket and found that I had it on silent.
ORION-THORN-IN-MY-SIDE
Urgent help needed at the Treasure Trove.
ORION-THORN-IN-MY-SIDE
SOS.
ORION-THORN-IN-MY-SIDE
Help now please
‘Oh wow, it must be serious,’ I said, looking back up at my duo of friends. ‘There’s no punctuation in his last text.’
Sofia nodded grimly. ‘We didn’t want to break up your little lover’s chat –’ I started to protest, but she didn’t wait for me. ‘But I think we’ve got to hurry it up.’
When I stepped into the Treasure Trove, with Raven and Sofia hot on my heels, I wasn’t prepared for the sight before me.
‘What are you doing?’ I asked, eyes wide as saucers.
‘Building a house,’ Orion said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. ‘What does it look like I’m doing?’
Standing before me on my station – not really my station because this wasn’t my bakery – was Orion.
Covered in flour, sleeves rolled upwards, rolling dough out.
And that image made my mind screech to a halt because Orion didn’t bake.
Sure, he taste-tested, threw out ideas, watched me bake.
I had a thousand memories of that summer: sitting in the Hawthorne’s kitchen, baking, while he washed up for me.
I’d cajole him into joining, but he’d never been tempted.
But now, here he was, elbow-deep in flour. On the opposite counter was Melodie, who was frantically trying to place tart shells on to the wire rack to cool.
‘Ooh, testy,’ Raven sing-songed behind me. The glare Orion shot her was the kind of look only a sibling could give. Raven held up her hands and stepped backwards. ‘Fine, fine, we’ll leave you two to deal with the chaos.’
‘Actually,’ Melodie interrupted, breathlessly. ‘Do you think you could help at the front? I hired a new girl to handle the counter, but I think she’s drowning in orders.’
Raven and Sofia nodded and left me, Melodie and Orion alone in the kitchen.
‘What happened here?’ I asked, gaze ping-ponging between the two of them.
‘Everyone fell in love with your magical knots and the flaming fruit tarts, and just everything,’ Melodie explained, as she piped enchanted cream into the shells.
Her technique had improved a lot, and I felt a glow of pride.
‘Word spread outside just the dragons. Next thing I know, I’ve got an endless line and an overwhelming number of customers. ’
Shock flooded me, and I moved across the kitchen to peek out of the door.
Melodie was right. The Treasure Trove was full of dragons, witches and faeries.
More shocking than anything was the fact that regulars I saw in the Wishing Well were standing in line too.
I felt this odd combination of thrill and horror at the clear appreciation of my bakes.
If Ivy ever found out it was me in this kitchen, she’d never trust me again. She’d never give me the apprenticeship, either. I stepped back from the door, heart thundering in my chest.
‘Melodie panicked, and called me this morning to help,’ Orion continued, and a frustrated edge entered his voice. It took me a second to realize he was trying to braid the dough he had floured, with little success.
While he was talking, I slipped an apron on and dumped my things in the corner.
I moved around him, nudging him to the side so I could braid the dough.
I expected him to take the chance to leave, but instead he watched me intently, like learning how to braid dough was a life skill he’d only just realized he needed.
‘I thought you didn’t bake?’ I asked, quietly.
‘I can change,’ Orion shot back, but there was a slight edge to his voice that made my breath hitch.
I scolded my traitorous heart, reminding it that I wasn’t the Maya of last summer, or even the Maya of last weekend. I was the new Maya, the one who was finally talking to her soulmate and was starting afresh. The one who wasn’t going to be tangled in the past.
‘Silas and I have another study session this week,’ I blurted, and Orion’s gaze snapped away from mine to the dough. ‘We also hung out pretty much all day today.’
‘That’s good,’ Orion said, his tone saying the opposite. ‘One study session and one day of hanging out. Shall we get the wedding chariot out now?’
I scowled, braiding the dough tighter. ‘It’s a start.
A good start.’ Then, because only Orion could pull me into an argument like this, I added, ‘And the Treasure Trove is obviously thriving. I seem to be doing everything in this partnership, Hawthorne. Are you going to become a better teacher or not because I still need to cast the counterspell, and we don’t have much time left before the festival. ’
His gaze narrowed, the slit of his eyes tightening. ‘After your shift,’ Orion said, his tone so controlled I could see the invisible fist around his composure. ‘You’ll master the spell. I promise.’
Orion hustled everyone out of the Treasure Trove when the last customer left.
‘So?’ I asked, when we were finally alone. ‘What’s the lesson for today, Hawthorne?’
Orion was leaning against the counter, texting on his phone. A smile pulled half his mouth up. At my words, he looked up, pocketed his phone and pulled out the pendant from our earlier sessions.
He didn’t move but beckoned me closer. I went to him, arms folded over my chest, making sure there was still distance between the two of us. The necklace dangled between us, almost tauntingly.
‘Cast the spell,’ Orion commanded.
My hand gripped the necklace, and with all the conviction in the world, I called upon my magic. The warm buzz grew beneath my skin, and the words of the spell were perched on my tongue. But then it just fizzled away. Like every other time I’d tried.
‘Reverie,’ Orion growled, snapping my focus back to him. ‘I keep losing you.’
Frustration leaked through his voice, and I tried not to feel hurt.
‘You’re getting lost in your thoughts, and it’s blocking your magic.’ He waved an arm around to gesture at the bakery. ‘Getting stronger at spellcasting isn’t just about feeling safe physically – it’s also about being calm in your mind.’
My throat felt dry, and I wanted to push him away. No one had ever seen me like he did; how I struggled with silencing my mind, like I was driven by fear, when everyone else was driven by determination and confidence.
‘Am I ever going to get this?’ I asked, feeling defeated. ‘Because, if you think I can’t do this, we need another plan –’
‘Turn around,’ Orion said. His voice was stern, but he still added, ‘Please.’
I did as he asked. ‘What are you doing?’ My voice shook as I heard him step closer to me. ‘Hawthorne, if this is some weird game, I will kill you.’
‘No games,’ Orion murmured, and then I felt something brush against the nape of my neck – cool metal – and the drop of the pendant down the front of my shirt. ‘Just humour me. I want to try something.’
I felt him fiddling with the clasp, his warm breath making the back of my neck erupt into shivers; I wanted to be unaffected, but I was too dizzy to be anything but unsteady.
‘Grab the pendant,’ Orion said, and his voice was closer now. Close enough that I could smell the faint sweat that came from working in a hot kitchen all day, mixed with that campfire scent that was so distinctly him.
My hand scrambled to grip the pedant, my limbs entirely independent of my mind, which was saying, Leave. Don’t do this, don’t fall again.
‘Close your eyes, Reverie,’ Orion murmured, and I felt my eyelids shut.
He’d spelled me, compelled me, made me compliant. Or maybe it was that part of me that always responded to Orion – menacing, or soft, or authoritative. The part of me that I’d tried to bury deep, but clearly not deep enough.
‘I want you to visualize things that make you feel protected,’ Orion said, and a protest rose on my lips. ‘I know, visualization is a tool used when you’re just starting to learn magic. But we need to rewire the way you use your magic, and this is the best way.’
I sighed, feeling childish. But I did what he asked.
I imagined all the things that screamed safety to me.
I inhaled deeply and let my mind flit through images.
They started off abstract: a lock clicking shut on my door, a seat belt, before they turned personal; the feel of a whisk in my hand, the interior of the Wishing Well Bakery, my bay window, my mother, my sister.
I felt my body loosen, and my magic hummed to life under my skin.
‘Say the spell,’ Orion murmured, and his voice felt like he was tracing his index finger around the curve of my ear.
‘Guard from evil, day or night, protect the wearer from every fright,’ I said, and my whole palm felt warm.
‘Good, you’re doing good,’ Orion said encouragingly. ‘Keep thinking of those images.’
More thoughts flashed through my mind, like my brain was attuned to follow his every command.
‘Guard from evil, day or night, protect the wearer from every fright.’
And then, with my palm hot and the pendant pressing against my flesh, another image came into my thoughts.
Orion Hawthorne. That summer. Driving me back home in the dark. That night he caught me. That night I got the second point on my licence. The terror in his eyes, the fear that I was disappearing right before him. My anger but also my relief at being stopped – no matter how deep it was buried.
‘Guard from evil, day or night, protect the wearer from every fright.’
‘You did it, Reverie,’ Orion said, and his tone was downright gleeful.
My eyes flew open, and I saw that the pendant in my hand was glowing brightly.
The illuminated rubies cast red shadows across my face.
I lifted my gaze away from the pendant, disbelief coursing through me, and met his eyes.
There was that self-satisfied grin on his mouth, and a glimmer of something akin to pride in his eyes. It made my heart glow.
‘Let’s test it,’ Orion said, and his smile turned a little wicked.
‘Wait, how are we going to test it?’ I asked, my thoughts just catching up to what Orion said.
Not fast enough though, because with one whistle Orion had directed a burst of flames right at me. I yelped, preparing to dodge out of the way or throw up some sort of hex back, but I didn’t need to. The flames never touched me, and when they died down I could see Orion was grinning widely.
I hated how much I liked that look on him.
‘You could have killed me!’ I shouted, more in shock than in anger.
The dragon shifter simply shrugged a shoulder. ‘Oh, come on, Reverie. Where’s your sense of fun gone?’
Who was this guy? Seriously – where had the Orion Hawthorne I’d been tortured by my entire life gone?
This new person who stood in his place was not the boy I’d grown up with, or the boy I’d spent last summer mistakenly mooning over.
He was someone almost entirely new. The thought left me feeling unsettled.
‘I think I lost it somewhere last summer,’ I said, just to be spiteful.
His smile dimmed, a shadow coming across his face.
There was a knock on the back door of the Treasure Trove, and I could see the outline of a figure backlit by moonlight.
‘I’ll get it,’ Orion said, stepping neatly in front of me.
Something in me – call it a witch’s intuition – told me nothing good was on the other side of that door, and I wanted to yank Orion back.
But I didn’t move, and Orion opened the door.
Behind it was a face full of soft angles, a mouth that was made for pouting and copper waves that framed eyes which were the kind of blue that belonged to the depths of the oceans. A siren’s eyes.
‘Celine,’ Orion said, surprised.
Celine stood in the doorway of the Treasure Trove. The girl who ruined my summer with Orion.