repeatedly, intertwined with a mélange of others: a large house, a nondescript apartment building, a blond teenage boy, and a slim, dark-haired man.
At first they were confused, and sent that back to it; they had never seen the buildings, the boy, nor the man before, nor did they have any idea what the thing wanted with them. They could sense its frustration at their inability to understand it, but also a deep, abiding patience. It had time.
Now that it had made contact with someone it could communicate with, it had all the time in the world.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
As much as Stone hadn’t been sure he’d wanted to take on an apprentice, he found to his surprise that he was missing the time he’d been spending with Ethan.
It had been three days since the boy had hurried out of the house, scared that if he didn’t get there soon enough, his mother might die, and he wouldn’t get to say goodbye. He’d politely declined Stone’s offer to drive him to the hospital and raced to his car, leaving at the same high rate of speed at which he’d arrived.
He’d called back a day later with news: his mother wasn’t dead, and they’d managed to stabilize her to the point where she most likely would survive this episode. Things were still very touchy, though, and she would have to remain in the hospital for the next couple of weeks at least. Ethan had apologized, but told Stone that there was no way he was going to be able to make it up to Palo Alto for a while. He promised to keep up his studies and practice the levitation spell, but that was the best he could do.
What could Stone say? “No, you’re my apprentice now and damn your mother’s precarious health, I want you here promptly at three o’clock”? Yeah, no. Instead, he told Ethan to keep him posted and not to hesitate to call if he needed anything and gone back to splitting his time between his job and Megan.
“You seem distracted,” she said a couple of nights after Ethan had called. “Something wrong?”
He reminded himself again that her quick and perceptive mind was a big part of what was appealing about her in the first place. “Just a bit concerned about Ethan, I suppose.”
“Why?”
“His mum’s taken a bad turn, so he’s spending most of his time at the hospital with her.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing’s wrong with that. I’m just concerned about him. She’s not doing well. If she dies, then he’s not going to know what to do with himself.”
She moved in closer, snuggling her head against his shoulder. “You were enjoying that mentor thing, weren’t you? You’re missing it.”
He shrugged. “Perhaps I am.” That wasn’t quite it, but of course he couldn’t tell her that. In truth, the time he’d been spending teaching Ethan had made him realize just how little effort he’d been spending actually doing magic lately, as opposed to studying it and reading about it. And realizing that made him also remember how much he loved doing magic.
“Well,” she said gently, “He’s going to need you if…something happens to his mother.”
He lay there, staring up at the darkened ceiling and not answering, for several minutes. Finally, he said, “I think I’ll give Tommy a call tomorrow.”
“Tommy Langley?” She seemed startled by the abrupt change of subject. “Why?”
Again he shrugged. “I want to have another look at his aunt’s house. This is as good a time as any. It’ll give me something to do.”
“You want to go back there? I thought you were just supposed to tell her that everything was fine and there was nothing haunting her towel closet or whatever.” She rolled over to face him, her eyes getting big. “Alastair. You’re not telling me you believe that nonsense, are you? You don’t really think something weird’s going on in that house?”
“I don’t know what I believe,” he said, a little defensive now. “Who’s to say there aren’t things going on out there that we don’t
At first they were confused, and sent that back to it; they had never seen the buildings, the boy, nor the man before, nor did they have any idea what the thing wanted with them. They could sense its frustration at their inability to understand it, but also a deep, abiding patience. It had time.
Now that it had made contact with someone it could communicate with, it had all the time in the world.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
As much as Stone hadn’t been sure he’d wanted to take on an apprentice, he found to his surprise that he was missing the time he’d been spending with Ethan.
It had been three days since the boy had hurried out of the house, scared that if he didn’t get there soon enough, his mother might die, and he wouldn’t get to say goodbye. He’d politely declined Stone’s offer to drive him to the hospital and raced to his car, leaving at the same high rate of speed at which he’d arrived.
He’d called back a day later with news: his mother wasn’t dead, and they’d managed to stabilize her to the point where she most likely would survive this episode. Things were still very touchy, though, and she would have to remain in the hospital for the next couple of weeks at least. Ethan had apologized, but told Stone that there was no way he was going to be able to make it up to Palo Alto for a while. He promised to keep up his studies and practice the levitation spell, but that was the best he could do.
What could Stone say? “No, you’re my apprentice now and damn your mother’s precarious health, I want you here promptly at three o’clock”? Yeah, no. Instead, he told Ethan to keep him posted and not to hesitate to call if he needed anything and gone back to splitting his time between his job and Megan.
“You seem distracted,” she said a couple of nights after Ethan had called. “Something wrong?”
He reminded himself again that her quick and perceptive mind was a big part of what was appealing about her in the first place. “Just a bit concerned about Ethan, I suppose.”
“Why?”
“His mum’s taken a bad turn, so he’s spending most of his time at the hospital with her.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing’s wrong with that. I’m just concerned about him. She’s not doing well. If she dies, then he’s not going to know what to do with himself.”
She moved in closer, snuggling her head against his shoulder. “You were enjoying that mentor thing, weren’t you? You’re missing it.”
He shrugged. “Perhaps I am.” That wasn’t quite it, but of course he couldn’t tell her that. In truth, the time he’d been spending teaching Ethan had made him realize just how little effort he’d been spending actually doing magic lately, as opposed to studying it and reading about it. And realizing that made him also remember how much he loved doing magic.
“Well,” she said gently, “He’s going to need you if…something happens to his mother.”
He lay there, staring up at the darkened ceiling and not answering, for several minutes. Finally, he said, “I think I’ll give Tommy a call tomorrow.”
“Tommy Langley?” She seemed startled by the abrupt change of subject. “Why?”
Again he shrugged. “I want to have another look at his aunt’s house. This is as good a time as any. It’ll give me something to do.”
“You want to go back there? I thought you were just supposed to tell her that everything was fine and there was nothing haunting her towel closet or whatever.” She rolled over to face him, her eyes getting big. “Alastair. You’re not telling me you believe that nonsense, are you? You don’t really think something weird’s going on in that house?”
“I don’t know what I believe,” he said, a little defensive now. “Who’s to say there aren’t things going on out there that we don’t
Similar Books
