Brush of Darkness by Allison Pang Page B

Magic. There’s no way to trap that within walls, let alone capture it within the regulations of a classroom.”
    I gazed at him in surprise. “Wild Magic?”
    “It’s part of what allows her to open Doors. But you’re changing the subject.”
    “Right. Anyway, I went to Juilliard for a while before becoming a principal for the American Ballet Theatre.”
    “And then?” The words were soft and dark, gently prodding. I took a shuddering breath.
    “And then. And then my mother came to pick me up one evening for dinner. It was lovely, she was lovely, the evening was all perfectly lovely.” My voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. “The drunk asshole who plowed his truck into my mother’s Ford Focus? Not so fucking lovely.” I stopped walking, stopped talking, and for a moment all I could see was the blurring streak of headlights against the windshield and the squalling wrench as the side of the car was pushed forward, punching through the passenger side door, metal and bone ravaged beyond repair, beyond help, beyond the tremulous sighs of my breath in my ears.
    I wiped madly at my eyes. I’d reached the end of the pier, and I turned on my heel to head back the way I’d come. “I woke up in the hospital two weeks later with a knee that bends a little farther than it should and a metal plate in my head.” I tapped the side above my left ear with a humorless grin. “And of course, my mother died, so I suppose I should mention that too.”
    If he heard the sarcasm in my words, he gave no sign of it. “And the man who hit you?”
    “In prison. There’s going to be another hearing, I think, but that’s got nothing to do with me. Fucker already had two prior convictions.” Rage rippled through my chest, spreading over limbs until my hands shook. “The dance company didn’t want me back. I tried, but the leg just wouldn’t hold me well enough. And the damage to my head . . . they don’t know how bad it is, but I have seizures sometimes, or horrible vertigo. It’s unpredictable.”
    We reached the end of the dock where we’d started and I sighed, slipping out of his coat. “So, yes, I lie to myself. All the time, really, but I’ll be honest with you, I’m pretty shitty at it.” I blinked back another rush of tears, giving him a wan smile as I pushed the coat back at him.
    He frowned at me. “Keep it,” he said. “I don’t really need it anyway.”
    I shrugged, but didn’t put it back on; I folded it over my arms. My watch beeped in warning. “I should probably get back to the store and get ready to open up the Marketplace.”
    “You really don’t have a choice, do you?”
    “Nope. The Contract stipulates what I have to do, so I do it. On the other hand, the Marketplace isn’t open every night, so it’s not quite as bad as it seems.” A slight blush slid over my cheeks. “Will you . . . uh . . . be stopping by later tonight? Assuming that actually
was
you and not just a dream.”
    Silent laughter rippled around me. “Did you want me to?”
    “I don’t know. Just what was it you were trying to accomplish?”
    “Loaded question.” He turned toward the water, his gaze growing distant. “To get your attention, I guess.” He eyed me sideways. “Did it work?”
    “A little.” My lips pursed. “A bit odd waking up to find myself on the brink of getting off, but I suppose as wake-up calls go, it’s a pretty nice one.”
    “Not enough to drive you over the edge,” he noted slyly.
    “No. I don’t like unknowns. At the time, I didn’t know what your motivation was. For that matter, I still don’t.”
    “It’s becoming rather complicated, actually.” He exhaled sharply. “But the overall is still the same. My sister is missing. She was looking for the others.”
    “Others?”
    He nodded, kicking away a loose stone. “More succubi have gone missing. Or showing up dead is more like it. It just took us a little while to figure out the timeline. Sonja was on the trail of someone when she