Spellcaster

  “Oh, this is unbelievable,” Verlaine breathed, but she wasn’t trying to move away from him. She only wanted to hear his side of the story. She wasn’t so bad, really. “This is not good news. Nadia was explaining this just last night! Seeing the future makes people go loco.”

  “Tell me about it.” Mateo’s mother had rowed out to sea so she could drown. His grandfather had died in the house fire he himself had started, the one that had scarred Grandma for life. His great-grandmother committed suicide in City Hall with a shotgun. So it went—on and on, further and further back—a string of suicides, homicides, and self-destructive behavior that had marked at least one Cabot in every generation all the way back to their arrival in the New World when Rhode Island was still a colony. They’d all gone crazy—because each and every one had seen the future, just like him.

  “You dream of the future. Okay.” Nadia still seemed totally calm. “What are your dreams?”

  Mateo couldn’t speak at first. I’ve seen you lying dead in my arms.

  But he couldn’t say that to her. Not yet and maybe not ever.

  So he went for the simplest thing first. “The night of the wreck? I dreamed about your family’s car going into that ditch. That’s why I was there. I had to see if the dream would come true, and it did. I knew I’d have to pull you out.”

  Once again Nadia brushed her hand along his forearm. She had such small hands. “Half the burden is not being believed. Maybe not believing in yourself. But you know the truth, and now we do, too. And you’re strong, Mateo. Strong enough to take this.”

  He had to laugh at her then, though he instantly regretted it. “Sorry. I mean, it’s nice for you to say that. But you don’t actually know me. So you don’t have any idea whether I’m strong or not.”

  “You have to be. Your whole family has to be. Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to bear it at all. That’s probably why your family was cursed in the first place—because you guys could endure what nobody else could.”

  All his life, Mateo had heard people speak of his Cabot blood as tainted, sick, even twisted. Never before had anybody said that they might be strong. That he might be.

  As she absentmindedly tried to work a tangle out of her long hair, Verlaine said, “So why did somebody curse the Cabots?”

  “So they’d know the future and reveal it,” Nadia said slowly. “That way, the witch gets to know what the future holds, and the Cabots are the ones who endure the consequences. Mateo, who do you tell about your dreams?”

  “Nobody. I mean, nobody besides you guys, today, and Elizabeth, of course.”

  Nadia’s hand instantly went tense, and she pulled back from him, suddenly rigid. “About Elizabeth—”

  “What about her?” Was there something magical after her, too? Mateo wasn’t sure he could take it if anything happened to Elizabeth. He’d have to warn her. The next time they talked, he’d be able to tell her all of this—that the visions of the future really were true, that the curse was true, too, but there might be a way for him to deal with it. Being able to say all this to his best friend felt like the greatest relief imaginable.

  But then Nadia said, “Have you ever noticed anything odd about her?”

  “What do you mean? No. Of course not.” Mateo smiled fondly. “The only unusual thing about Elizabeth is how kind she is. She’s the most understanding person in this entire town.”

  “That’s so true,” Verlaine agreed. “Everybody loves Elizabeth.”

  He hadn’t even realized they knew each other. Pretty much nobody paid attention to Verlaine, but if anybody would, it would be Elizabeth. She had seen someone on the fringes and reached out, like she always did.

  Nadia looked back and forth between them. “I’m guessing neither of you knew that Elizabeth is a witch, too.”

  Verlaine laughed out loud, kicking her heels against the chrome bumper in delight. “Oh, my God. She got even cooler. I thought that was impossible.”

  Mateo wasn’t as sure how to feel about that. His first impulse was that Nadia had to be wrong—but if this witchcraft stuff was true, and it seemed to be, then she’d know another witch, wouldn’t she? Still, Elizabeth? His best and oldest friend? It seemed unreal to him that he wouldn’t know about such a huge part of her life.

  Or that she wouldn’t tell him curses were real, that the dreams truly could be glimpses of the future—

  But she couldn’t, could she? Nadia had said the witch laws or whatever didn’t let them talk about it with men. So Elizabeth couldn’t have told him, even if she’d wanted to. “She’ll be relieved that I know,” he said, starting to smile. “She’s probably wanted to discuss it for a long time now.”

  “I doubt that.” Nadia’s full lips pressed together, as if she was holding back words but for only so long. “Listen—I know she’s your girlfriend and everything—”

  “Elizabeth’s not my girlfriend.”

  Nadia paused, obviously caught short. Verlaine said, “Wow, I always thought you guys were together. Or did you break up?”

  “We’re just good friends,” Mateo insisted. “She’s like the sister I never had.”

  Quietly Nadia said, “Well, she’s important to you, so this is still going to be tough to hear. I don’t think Elizabeth is just any witch. I think—I think she might—know a little about what’s going on here.”

  Mateo stared at her. “What do you mean, ‘what’s going on here’?”

  “Some of the darker stuff happening in Captive’s Sound.” Although Nadia was clearly nervous, she continued, “I don’t think Elizabeth plays by the rules.”

  The anger spiked again so fast there wasn’t even a chance to hold it back. “That’s ridiculous,” Mateo said. “Elizabeth’s a good person. Really good, deep down. There aren’t many people like her. If she does perform magic—whatever, there’s no way she does anything evil. It’s impossible.”

  “You saw something frightening in her,” Nadia insisted, but this made no sense. “In chemistry class, right after I cast the spell of liberation, you looked at Elizabeth and nearly panicked, before she got to you.”

  “What are you talking about? That didn’t even happen! You’re making it up.”

  “She made you forget.” Nadia folded her arms in front of her. “I know this is hard for you to accept, but I know what I saw.”

  Mateo had heard enough of this. “You know what you saw. A few seconds in a room full of people who were all acting crazy, thanks to you, and that means you know my best friend—practically my only friend in the world—you think you know her better than me? You don’t know her at all.”

  Nadia’s dark eyes blazed, like she had any right to be angry. All she said was, “How about you come back and talk to me when you’re ready to face facts?”

  “How about you come and apologize when you realize you’re not right about everything?” Mateo shot back. He grabbed his stuff and stalked to his motorcycle. Once he’d gunned the engine, he wouldn’t have been able to hear Nadia even if she did call after him. He drove off without ever looking back.

  It should have felt good to get away from Nadia and her lies about Elizabeth, but still something gray and wicked roiled overhead, between Mateo and the sky.

  9

  “I ONLY WANT TO ASK ONE QUESTION, OKAY?” VERLAINE’S voice sounded tinny on Nadia’s cell phone. “Is this maybe a stupid thing to do?”

  “I’m walking through my new neighborhood. There’s still almost an hour of daylight. I already made dinner. It’s baking in the oven, and even my dad can handle taking a casserole out when the timer goes off. So what’s stupid about it?”

  “You’re going to confront another witch, who you don’t even know for sure is a witch, but who might be evil? For no reason in particular?”

  “Well. When you put it like that.” But Nadia didn’t turn back.

  The entire length of Captive’s Sound could be easily walked in half a day, and Elizabeth’s home wasn’t even a mile away from her own. She remembered the way well en
ough from her trip on Mateo’s motorcycle—

  —for a moment she remembered the way it had felt to put her arms around him, and her breath seemed to catch in her throat. Then she shoved that aside, replacing it with the way he’d driven off angrily after school. He’d rather accuse her of being paranoid or crazy than believe one word against his precious Elizabeth. Even though she wasn’t his girlfriend after all—a revelation that had briefly filled Nadia with hope so sharp it hurt—Elizabeth mattered more to him than anyone else. More than Nadia, anyway.

  Which of course made sense given that Elizabeth was his best friend and Nadia was a girl he’d known for a few days before she started babbling about witchcraft. But still.

  Verlaine kept talking. “I just think maybe this is something you could do later. Or never. Never also works.”

  “I’m not confronting her,” Nadia said as she made her way along the cracked sidewalk. Weeds jutted up from every chink in the concrete. Twilight had begun to deepen the blue of the sky, but she had time to get there and back before dark. “I’m simply—checking out the situation.”

  “So you’re going to go to her house and sneak around, while hoping she doesn’t catch you in the act. That’s either dangerous for you or creepy for her. Possibly both.”

  “Listen. I know she’s a witch. If she’s not dangerous—and maybe she isn’t, I don’t know—then she’s a potential friend, okay? Someone we need to know.”

  Unconvinced, Verlaine said, “If you want to make friends with someone, I’m pretty sure snooping around her house at sunset isn’t the way to go.”

  She had a point. Nadia knew it. But she couldn’t shake the idea that something was seriously not right about Elizabeth Pike, and if Elizabeth was in any way, shape, or form part of the darker forces at work in Captive’s Sound, then a direct confrontation was a bad idea—at least until Nadia knew more about who she was dealing with. “I swear, I’m not going stalker on her. But if I walk up to her and start talking about witchcraft, and she doesn’t know anything about it, then that’s even worse than my taking a look at her house, right?”

  “Maybe.”

  “And remember—there’s trouble coming to town. Big trouble. If Elizabeth knows anything about it, we should find that out sooner rather than later.”

  “Okay, okay.” Though Verlaine didn’t sound enthusiastic, she gave in. “Text me the second you’re done, all right? Which should be soon.”

  “A few minutes. That’s all. Promise. I’m going now, all right? Catch you later.”

  Finally Nadia slid her cell into the pocket of her jeans. Within another couple of blocks, she’d reach Elizabeth’s home, and she needed to concentrate. There were certain basic protective signs to look for—plantings by the front or back door, certain stones, things like that; Nadia had done a little of this around her family’s new house already. Maybe she could spot Elizabeth’s own wards against evil. In the end, though, she thought she might end up peeking through Elizabeth’s windows like any Peeping Tom.

  Was that weird and creepy? Even if she was doing it for a good cause?

  But Nadia didn’t know what else to do.

  Just as she got within a couple blocks of her goal, though, she saw Elizabeth.

  She sat on a cast-iron bench in a weedy, bedraggled garden—a public garden, Nadia now saw from the chipped sign. Before, when she’d gone past it, she had assumed it was an abandoned lot. Swiftly she ducked behind one of the overgrown hedges, so she wouldn’t be seen.

  To herself she said, You know, this is definitely going over the edge into stalking.

  Elizabeth’s white cotton dress was painted periwinkle blue by the dusky sky, and her curls blew softly in the breeze. In one hand she held a bottle of water, which caught the last rays of sunlight. Nadia heard an engine’s roar—a familiar sound. Peering through the leaves of the hedge, she saw Mateo’s motorcycle zoom down the street toward her.

  No. Toward Elizabeth.

  He braked his bike, shut it off. The look of rapt adoration on his face as he took off his helmet—it cut Nadia deeper than she would have thought possible. Elizabeth held out her arms, and Mateo went to her. Their shadows became one as he was enveloped in her embrace.

  Nadia couldn’t look anymore. For one split second, she was angry with him; then she was angrier with herself.

  Why are you upset? Why are you even surprised? He cares about her. Something horrible has just happened to him. Of course Mateo would turn to Elizabeth.

  No doubt Mateo was telling the truth about him and Elizabeth. But even if they weren’t together—maybe he cared more for her than he’d revealed. Maybe even more than he realized.

  Nadia started walking back the way she’d come—then running. As the pavement slapped beneath each step, she felt like more and more of an idiot.

  Why would Elizabeth be connected to the evil force behind everything in Captive’s Sound? Okay, she didn’t freak out today. So what? You’re pretty sure she’s a witch—that’s all—and so you ought to be making friends with her. Not spying. Not having some kind of a freak-out because she’s being nice to Mateo, the guy she’s known her whole life.

  Holding Mateo—

  Admit it. You wanted her to be evil, because you wanted to get her away from him.

  Why am I so stupid?

  Nadia came to a stop just short of her own house and braced herself against a neighbor’s car, breathing hard, until the flush in her cheeks cooled and she felt like she was in control again. Dad and Cole couldn’t see that she was hurting; they didn’t need her to break down. They needed her love. They needed dinner.

  For a moment she imagined how different it could be, how it ought to be. She would run inside to find Mom there, smiling and steady and smelling of her perfume, Dad’s arms around her waist as he hugged her from behind. Nobody would have to worry about Cole. She could ask Mom what it all meant—what was sick in this town, what Elizabeth might or might not be, how Mateo could be her Steadfast—and Mom would know, because she always knew. They’d figure it out together.

  The longing swelled inside her until it felt like it would bend her ribs outward, crack them, swallow her heart.

  But Mom wouldn’t ever be home again.

  Stupid, Nadia thought again. So stupid.

  Then she pulled herself together and walked inside with an almost-believable smile.

  “So, like, I felt like everybody else was doing it, okay? And it’s not like I actually wanted to steal Jinnie’s phone. It’s not even that good a phone.” Kendall was the last one taking her turn around the circle in what was usually chemistry class. Today, it was a weird therapy session about not acting on inappropriate urges, and mob mentality, or something like that. “But, like, everyone else was doing something, and I figured I ought to do something, and that’s what I did.”

  Nadia sighed. The overwhelming sense of unease she usually felt in the lab had been completely buried by boredom. Everyone in class, including the Piranha, had been forced to come up with some reason why they’d lost it yesterday. Since nobody knew the real reason was a magic spell, their excuses made no sense whatsoever. Some people blamed their ADD meds; one guy thought they might have accidentally made some kind of drug using the chemicals for their experiment, though the Piranha said this was impossible.

  Faye Walsh crossed her arms in front of her. With her chic aquamarine wrap dress and high heels, the only sign that she wasn’t totally confident and in charge was the little worried line between her eyebrows. “Okay. I don’t know that we got at the root cause of what happened here, but this isn’t about blame or punishment. Somehow, somebody got out of control, and everybody else went along with that. What was needed here was a little more self-discipline. Maybe somebody with the courage to stand up and say, ‘What’s going on?’”

  Nadia hugged herself and glanced directly across the circle—where Mateo sat. He was already looking at her. Their eyes met instantly, and the doubt she saw there pierced her through.

  But he had
to have noticed the same thing she had: Elizabeth wasn’t in chemistry class today. As far as Nadia could tell, she simply hadn’t shown up for school.

  And neither their teacher nor Ms. Walsh had said anything about it.

  The bell rang, and Ms. Walsh said, “Okay, everybody, good session.”

  “Tomorrow we’re picking up the labs where we left off!” the Piranha said loudly.

  From his place next to Nadia, Jeremy Prasad muttered, “She thinks she can get her dignity back if she shouts enough.”

  “You’re the one who started taking your clothes off,” Nadia said, grabbing her stuff.

  Undaunted, Jeremy grinned at her. He really would have a gorgeous smile if he weren’t such an ass. “You noticed, huh? Guess you liked the view.”

  “Spare me.”

  She’d assumed Mateo would be avoiding her, but as she walked toward the door, she realized he was hanging back—waiting for her. Nadia hesitated, but only for a moment. “Hey,” she said, as he fell in step beside her.

  “Hey. Listen—yesterday—I’m sorry I freaked out like that.”

  Was he starting to doubt Elizabeth after all? Had she left too early last night? A wild, painful thumping quickened in Nadia’s chest.

  But then he added, “You’re wrong about Elizabeth. But I can see why you’d have to ask. Weird things are going on, Elizabeth’s the only other wi—the only other, um, w-i-t-c-h you know of around here, and so you’d have to figure out if they’re connected. But they aren’t.”

  Nadia managed to smile. “I think most people can spell witch by now.” Mateo laughed once, more in surprise than anything else, though he glanced around to see if they were being overheard. “Don’t freak about it. Remember the cafeteria yesterday? You’d be amazed how much people aren’t paying attention to what happens right in front of them.”

  “Okay.”

  They stepped onto the grounds together, the big quad between the school’s buildings. Different groups were gathering for the lunch break—the rich kids from the Hill glossy and bright around one of the picnic tables, the jocks laughing loudly about a stupid joke, the drama geeks gathering around somebody’s tablet to watch some video or other. Nadia didn’t know whether to go into the cafeteria, or to stand there and wait for Verlaine, or to start talking; the tension between her and Mateo still crackled like static electricity. Amid all this noise and activity, they were motionless. Together alone.