First Magic by Raven Steele (ebook reader screen txt) 📖

It was the day before Thanksgiving. Both Jake and I sat in the living room watching TV, but it was turned too low to hear. Neither of us noticed because we were too busy watching the clock. In one hour we were supposed to pick up my aunt at the airport.

The last couple of weeks had flown by no matter how hard I tried to slow them down. I dreaded the day of my aunt’s arrival more than the time I had to give a speech in front of the school board last year for missing too many school days. I’d been so worried about it that I’d barely noticed Christian or anyone else for that matter.

“You ready for this?” Jake asked, breaking the silence.

“About as ready as a cow is before it’s branded.”

The knot in his throat bobbed up and down. “I know the feeling.”

“How’s Heidi?” I asked to break the tension.

“I talked to her last night. She’s having fun visiting her family.”

“So she likes California?”

“Yup.”

And then we were silent again. Jake’s knee bounced up and down. He jumped to his feet. “I can’t just wait here. Let’s get something to eat.”

“Right behind you.”

I was putting my coat on when Jake opened the front door and made a choking sound, almost like a gasp, but more like the sound a chicken might make right before its head is cut off.

“Surprise!” a woman’s voice said.

I didn’t want to do it, but I couldn’t help myself. Very slowly, I peeked onto our porch. Walking up the stairs, in what looked like a hundred pounds of flowing material, was my Aunt Sophie.

“I thought we were picking you up at the airport,” Jake stuttered.

“You were, but I love to surprise people.” She brushed by Jake and moved into the living room. “Llona! Look how you’ve grown.”

I looked down at myself.

She threw her arms around me. “You are the spitting image of your mother, with your father’s nose, of course.”

I frowned, unsure if that was a good or bad thing. Very lightly, I returned the hug. She was almost the same as I remembered except older. Her long, wavy brown hair smelled of cinnamon and nutmeg, and her face was still covered in way too much white powder.

Sophie was my mother’s older sister by twelve years. There was such an age difference that they had very little in common. Where my mother was sensitive, full of life, and always willing to help others, Sophie tended to be blunt, reserved, and highly suspicious of others to the point where she seemed paranoid.

“It’s good to see you, Aunt Sophie,” I said.

“Please, call me Sophie.” She tossed her bag onto the couch, removed her coat and sucked in a deep breath while looking around the house, her mouth turned down.

Jake closed the door.

“So this is where you’ve chosen to live?” It wasn’t really a question but more of a statement. Her bright red lips tightened to match the lines on her white forehead.

“Llona chose it,” Jake blurted.

I glared at him.

“Is that true, Llona?”

“I like this place. It’s right next to a mountain.”

“But with all the money your parents left you, couldn’t you have found a nicer place?”

“I don’t want a nicer place.”

Sophie leaned toward me and whispered, “Has Jake been spending your money?”

“I can hear you,” Jake said, as he walked into the kitchen.

“Sophie,” I emphasized her name. “I like it here. I don’t need anything big or fancy. Simple and plain is what I like.”

She straightened. “Odd for a daughter of my sister. She never liked to keep Light hidden.”

At the mention of Light, Jake said, “I have to go to the store. I’ll leave you two alone.”

“No,” I blurted. “Stay. She just got here.”

Sophie placed her bony hand on my arm. “Actually, I think that’s a good idea. It will give us some time to talk about things he wouldn’t understand.”

Sophie gracefully lowered onto the couch. It took several seconds for all the rainbow-colored material to settle against her thin frame. There was so much of it that I couldn’t tell if she was wearing a dress, or some sort of blouse/skirt combo.

Jake grabbed the car keys off the counter. “Right. Well, you girls have fun. See you, Tink.” He shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “she’s your problem now.”

With Jake gone, I felt exposed. Sophie’s eyes were examining me up and down. I tried to think of something to say, but my mind drew a blank.

“You look so much like your mother,” Sophie said again.

I sat down next to her. “That’s what I hear.”

“You’re a little thin though. Are you eating enough?”

“Put food in front of me and I’ll eat.” I glanced up at the clock. This was going to be a long day.

“Do you have friends at school?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

Sophie brushed hair away from her face. “You didn’t have any friends last year or any other year for that matter.”

“How would you know?”

“I make it a point to check up on you.”

I clenched my fist beneath a pillow on my lap and made a mental note to get after Jake later. He shouldn’t be telling Sophie anything. “I have friends.”

Sophie flicked her wrist as if swatting at a fly. “Maybe. But it seems that ever since your father died you’ve withdrawn yourself. It’s not healthy.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course I do, dear. I saw you at your father’s funeral. That was the day your wall came up. I saw it in your eyes.”

“This is not a conversation I want to have.”

“I know you don’t, but it’s time. It’s not safe for you out here without proper training.”

“I’ve made it this far, haven’t I?”

“Pure luck, but something tells me it won’t last.”

I swallowed hard, remembering the dead bunny and the murders.

Sophie shifted her position more toward me. “Vykens are always watching and waiting for one of us to make a mistake. I know you think you’ve been careful moving around as much as you have, and that’s probably what has kept you alive this long, but it’s been almost a year-and-a-half and you’re still here. It’s not safe for you anymore.”

“How do you know?” I wouldn’t admit she might be right.

She answered my question with a question. “Do you feel safe?”

I hesitated. “I like it here. For the first time since my dad died, I feel normal. I have friends, I’m in a book club, I’m on the basketball team—”

Sophie scowled. “You know how we feel about competitive sports.”

“But that’s just dumb. I’m not trying to be better than anyone. I’m just trying to work off Light’s energy. Sports help me do that. Plus, they make me feel good about myself.”

“That’s where we can help. Don’t you see? You don’t know how to control the energy yet, but you can learn this at Lucent and learn how important you are.”

I shook my head. “Not now. Maybe after I graduate.”

“What if that’s too late? You know your mother’s killer was never found. It could be stalking you right now.”

“Stalking?”

Sophie nodded. “Yes, stalking. That’s what Vykens do. It’s never a quick kill for them, especially the ones who have tasted Light and are no longer confined to the darkness. There’s a very good chance your mother’s killer can still walk in the day, and if he can, you’d never know who it was.”

“What do you mean still walk in the day? I thought once they tasted Light, they can always be out in the day.”

“That’s what we thought too, but years ago we found out the Light they steal is eventually snuffed out by their darkness and the Vykens have to find someone new to feed on. If the Vyken who killed your mother knew she had a daughter, then it would be looking for you. You’ve made yourself an easy target, Llona.”

“Would I recognize a Vyken if I saw one?”

“Unfortunately, no. They are masters of deception. That’s why we fall victim to them so easily. We are, by nature, very trusting. It’s what happened to your mother. The Vyken who killed your mother was your father’s closest friend. He preyed upon your family for over a year before he finally took your mother’s life. She trusted him completely.”

My breathing hitched. “It was a friend?”

She nodded grimly. “I tried to warn your parents. I told them they shouldn’t allow others into their lives so completely, but your mother wouldn’t listen. I’m afraid to say that’s what caused the rift between us. She thought I was being paranoid.” Sophie’s voice cracked. “I should’ve made her listen.”

The sudden rush of emotion from Sophie, and the discovery of my mother’s killer was not something I wanted to think about. At