Haven [1] A Stranger Magic by D.C. Akers Page B

if not more. Still drained, Sam brushed his teeth, turned off the light, and crawled into his bed. The bed seemed to wrap around him in a gentle embrace. It was extremely soft and felt good on his aching muscles.
    The ceiling fan whirled above him, casting down a gentle breeze. His thin sheets smelled of fabric softener as he pulled them tight. He rolled onto his side and slid his arm under his pillow. His eyelids were heavy as he gazed up at the moonlight that shined through his bedroom window. There was no flashing street light tonight; it was the perfect atmosphere for sleep. The adrenaline he’d felt earlier was gone, leaving Sam completely fatigued.
    He lay there, knowing the stranger was still out there somewhere. He knew there was magic in the world now, and that the stranger could use it. But how the stranger, the mirror, and the spiders all fit together he didn’t know. Not yet, anyway, but he promised himself he would find out, and soon.
    Sam took in a deep breath and sighed. He felt every muscle in his body relax before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

CHAPTER 13

    X avier Ward stood in the shadows behind the tall maple tree, as he had for the past several nights, his intense gaze fixed on a single window of the Dalcome home. The window that belonged to the boy they called Samuel Dalcome.
    Xavier had been able to remain unseen by the Dalcome family by hiding in the shadows and staying out of sight. From all except for the Dalcome boy, that is. Samuel had seen Xavier the night before last; they had stared into one another’s eyes before Xavier had evaporated, which in hindsight had been a mistake. It was a mistake because the boy was unaware of his parents’ true past, and was therefore unaware of magic. Evaporating in front of the boy’s eyes would not be something Sam would soon forget.
    Xavier was on a stealth mission. His orders were to observe and not interfere, unless it was absolutely necessary. If the Viper was truly here on Earth then there would be no choice but to intervene.
    The Dalcomes are not even supposed to be alive, Xavier mused. They were all supposed to have died in the Great War thirteen years ago. But they hadn’t; somehow Alisa had escaped with her children. The Majesty had covered up their disappearance by sending them to Earth through one of the three portals known to exist on Haven. Portals that were said to have been destroyed ages ago.
    Xavier removed a small chocolate from a white wrapper and popped it into his mouth. He let the wrapper fall to the ground and placed his hand back on the glass pommel of his staff. His staff, Ian, which he had named after his only son, began to vibrate beneath his palm, warning Xavier that he was not alone.
    “Sneaking up on a Keeper, young lady, is never wise,” he said, still chewing the piece of chocolate. Xavier’s voice was gruff with a thick Irish accent. He was a tall man with sweeping broad shoulders and thin legs. He held firmly on to Ian, his hand remaining on the pommel. The staff was twisted like an old tree branch with a glass sphere at its hilt.
    “Can you still call yourself a Keeper dressed like that, Xavier?” a woman said. He could tell by the tone of her voice she found this amusing. Xavier, on the other hand, did not. Wearing the long, ridiculous coat was uncomfortable and hot. But he needed it to blend in if he was going to move around in the daytime, although people seemed to stare at him regardless. Probably it was because he was wearing a coat in this god-awful heat. At first he thought it was expectable attire, since the man he stole it from had been wearing it. But that person had also been going through discarded items on the side of the road. Looking back now, it was obvious that this human had not been the best example for Earthling attire. It had been too long since Xavier studied the history and habits of Earth.
    “I call this blending in,” he replied.
    “Really, that’s what you’re calling it,