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

Christian’s grin couldn’t have been bigger. Jake turned the box around to show me.

“What is it?” I asked again.

“It’s a VGS! It’s not supposed to be released for another few months. Who did you have to kill to get it?”

"A what?" I asked.

Christian laughed. “My dad pulled some strings.”

Jake stared at the box. “I can’t believe it.”

"What's a VGS?" I asked again.

"Virtual Gaming System," Jake said, his mouth still hanging open.

Christian pointed to the other wrapped gifts. “Open the others."

He didn’t have to ask twice. Jake tore into them and laughed every time he discovered a new game for the VGS.

“I’m going to set it up now.” Jake darted off to his room.

“What about my present?” I called after him.

“I’ll open it later,” he yelled back.

“Great, Christian. You ruined Christmas.” I stormed off to my room.

“Maybe this will make it better,” he said from behind me.

“You can’t buy me off so easily.” I was about to shut my bedroom door, but he blocked it with his foot. “Come on, Llona. Just open your present. It’s combined with your birthday present too. Please?”

This stopped me. “I told you to forget about my birthday.”

“And I said that wasn’t happening.”

I let the door open a little. “If I do, will you promise to go afterwards? We were just starting to open our presents.”

“Agreed.” Christian handed me a small square box that wasn’t wrapped. “Open the letter when you’re alone.”

“I really wished you wouldn’t have,” I said as I opened the box.

Inside rested a diamond pendant framed in silver. I gasped and looked at it more closely. Symbols or some kind of writing had been etched into the silver. I pulled out the necklace and tried to read the inscription. It read: Αντέξει μέχρι το τέλος.

“This is so beautiful. What does it say?”

“Endure to the end in Greek.”

I examined it closer, emotions crowding my chest. The surface of the diamond fractured the light in the room, sending it a thousand different ways.

“Will you put it on me?” I turned around.

He took the ends of the necklace, and, after pushing my hair to the side of my neck, fastened it.

“Why did you choose that inscription?” I asked, pretending his touch hadn’t ignited a heated chill within me.

His hands moved to my shoulders. “I know I don’t act like it, but you have no idea how much you mean to me.” He paused to suck in a breath. “I need you to endure, to do all that you can to live a good, long life. I couldn’t bear it if anything were to happen to you.”

His body moved close to mine until our clothes touched. In one swift motion, I turned around and stared into his eyes inches from his face. Any thoughts of him thinking I was like a sister were suddenly erased.

The way he was staring at me with such passion, such hunger, made me wonder how he had kept it hidden for so long. He leaned his forehead against mine and gripped my waist, his fingers digging in. My lips parted and air escaped in the sound of a desperate plea. I slid my hands around to his back and up and under his t-shirt. My fingers caressed upward across the hardened muscles on his back.

The motion must’ve startled him because he froze and closed his eyes. His jaw muscles bulged.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered and stepped back, pain etching the lines on his face. “I’m going to go set up a game or something.”

“Can it be Twister?” I called after him.

He didn’t answer.

The rest of the day passed without incident between me and Christian—much to my dismay. I felt stupid giving him my present after he’d given me such a considerate gift. All I gave him was a jersey from his favorite football team and a pink sugar cookie, his favorite snack food. We played games for a while, watched a movie, and ate way too much. Around six, Jake got called into work because of some computer glitch, leaving us alone.

I enjoyed it, but after twenty minutes, Christian began to pace and then inexplicably said he had to go too.

“Do you really have to?” I whined.

“Yeah.” He stood up and glanced around. “Where did I put my jacket?”

“Um, I think it’s in my room. I’ll get it.” I walked down the hallway, mumbling, “I wouldn’t want you to stay here any longer than you have to.”

“I heard that,” he called after me.

I ignored him and opened the door to my room. The light from the hallway let in just enough for me to see Christian’s jacket on top of my dresser. I moved in to grab it but noticed something on my bed. It was a box wrapped in black paper with a red ribbon on top. Christian must have left it as a surprise. I smiled. He wasn’t really leaving after all. The whole ‘where’s my jacket’ thing was just a ploy to get me to find another present.

I picked it up, removed the lid, and frowned as my brain tried to process what was lying in the box. At first, I thought it was a small stuffed animal—a teddy bear perhaps. I reached in to touch it, but when my fingers felt the course white hair, I knew there was nothing synthetic about it.

The box dropped from my hands and as it hit the floor, the limp body of a dead rat tumbled onto the carpet.

White mouse. White rabbit.

And now a white rat.

The Vyken had been with me since the very beginning.

Just then a dark figure appeared at my window. Instinctively, I screamed.

When I heard Christian rush down the hallway, I kicked the box and the dead rat under my bed.

“What’s wrong? What happened?” he said, the moment he entered the room.

I mentally flipped the lights on, my eyes darting to the window. The figure was gone.

“Nothing,” I stammered, trying quickly to gain control over my nerves. “I thought I saw a mouse.” That wasn’t too far from the truth.

“A mouse? It sounded like you just saw death.”

I swallowed and forced a smile. “Death, mouse, same thing.”

“Which way did it go?” Christian scanned my room, then moved to the window to peer into the darkness.

“Um, I think it ran into the closet.”

Christian opened the closet door and pushed aside several shoes. “I don’t see it now.”

“It’s probably long gone. It was a fast little bugger.”

“Do you want me to stay?”

Inside I yelled yes, but I heard myself say, “No. I think I can handle a mouse.”

“Okay then.” He pulled his jacket on.

I followed him to the front door, all the while trying desperately to think of something that would get him to stay but came up empty. I knew the moment I saw the rat and the shadow at my window, I couldn’t tell Christian. He’d insist I go to Lucent. I couldn’t go to Lucent, especially now. I was finally learning to take control of my life by learning to defend myself. I’d never get this opportunity again, and the last thing I wanted was to be dependent upon a guardian to feel safe for the rest of my life.

At the door, I said, “It’s been three weeks, Christian. You said I’d quit fighting, but I haven’t. You owe me.”

He nodded and reached into his pocket. “I was wondering when you’d bring that up.”

“You’re not going to back out, are you?”

“No. A deal’s a deal.” He removed his hand from his pocket and revealed what looked like a watch. “Here’s your first lesson. Give me your arm.”

“This may surprise you, but I already know how to tell time.”

“This isn’t a watch. It’s a heart monitor.” He latched the black-looking device tightly to my wrist.

“I don’t get it.”

“For the next twenty-four hours, this monitor will determine your base heart rate. After that, it will automatically set itself to beep if your heartbeat goes over your base rate. The goal is to always remain calm and keep your heart rate normal. If you can do that, you’ll be able to think your way through tough situations, and this is what will save your life. Once you master this, then I will teach you what I’ve been taught.”

I examined the monitor. “How long did it take you to do this?”

“Months.”

I groaned. “Months?”

“It shouldn’t take you as long. Use your Light to help keep you calm. It should be easy. Light loves being at peace.”

“Then what’s wrong with me?”

“What do you mean?”

“How come I like to fight?”

He tilted his head, thinking. “I don’t think you like to. I just think life has put you in a position where you feel you have to fight to survive.”

Christian opened the front door but stopped before going through. “Do