Magic or Madness (27 page)

“If you leave,” he said, still blocking the door, “she will find you. Once you go through that door, there’s nothing hiding you. She’ll find you straightaway. I can feel her. She’s not far.”

I stopped. There were barely ten centimetres between us. Jay-Tee’s hand was trembling in mine.

“I’ll risk it,” I told him, my voice still steady despite the thought of Esmeralda sending a spurt of chill terror through my body. “Get out of my way.”

“You will not leave,” Blake said, in the same tone of voice he might have used to say it was still cold outside. The expression on his face, though, had changed. “It’s not safe for either of you. Your grandmother is an evil woman.”

“This is not a choice between you and Esmeralda. I’m choosing
neither
of you.”

“You don’t seem to understand, Reason—that’s not an option. You’re young, ignorant, and unprotected.
Someone
will prey on you. Your only option is to find someone who will give you something in exchange. As I have. Esmeralda will give you nothing. I’m not letting you make the wrong choice. I care what happens to you and Jay-Tee.”

I couldn’t help laughing. “Oh, please.” I’d heard cops say the same thing. None of them knew me or wanted to. Finding me was their job, how they got their pay so they could eat. Blake cared about us in the same way—because we were a source of magic. He was a wolf and we were his food; that’s what I saw in his eyes, that’s why he wasn’t going to let us go.

I tried to push past him and he grabbed me, one arm wrapping around tight, crushing my arms to my sides, the other pressing into my throat. I gasped for air, kicked back with my feet as hard as I could, getting him in the shins. He didn’t react, just squeezed my throat harder. I was furious and scared. He didn’t
have
to use magic against us—brute force would do. I kicked even harder.

Jay-Tee screamed and ran at him. He swung me around to hit her hard, and she went flying to the ground, falling heavily and just lying there. “You bloody bastard!” I yelled. If she was hurt, I would kill him.

Something was growing in me, something hot and liquid, under my skin, way down deep; something uncoiled slow, then surged up fast like bubbles through champagne, going to burst through my skin.

Blake dropped me as if I were on fire. I was.

“Don’t,” he said.

I was staring at him, but I didn’t see him, I saw the veins inside his body, the steady beat of his heart propelling the red liquid out and along those veins. I thought about it slowing. Like I’d done to that boy back in Coonabarabran when I was ten years old, who’d called me a
boong,
who’d tried to touch me.

That day, my anger had gotten bigger and bigger. A scream growing inside me. The rage was like a wave, a tsunami. My eyes exploded in red light; that was all I’d been able to see. When I opened them, the boy was on the floor, dead. Later they told me he’d had a blood clot, but somehow I’d always known it was my fault. It had felt like this. It had felt good.

“Don’t,” Blake said from even further away. Could I really kill him too?

I almost felt like I was flying. I thought about his heart shrinking, the veins contracting, the heart stopping.

His face was purple.

“Don’t,” said someone who wasn’t Jason Blake. It was Jay-Tee. Dimly, I knew that. “Stop, Reason. Don’t.”

I felt incredible; I hadn’t felt this wonderful in such a long, long time. Something sharp cracked across my face. The blow made me stumble. “What?” I asked. The glorious feeling started to recede.

“Don’t, Reason. You can’t do that!” Jay-Tee was yelling now. “It will kill you.”

It had already stopped; the wonderfulness was draining away. I was unsteady now, overwhelmingly tired. Jay-Tee grabbed my hand and dragged me through the door, slamming it behind her.

“You can’t ever lose your
temper,” Jay-Tee said, dragging her into the elevator. She wasn’t sure how much Reason was understanding. “You just can’t. Your mother
never
told you that? Reason?”

She nodded, but her eyes still weren’t fully focused. Jay-Tee was starting to wonder just who the dead boy in Reason’s nightmare had been. Someone she’d killed? With Reason’s temper and no one to warn her not to lose it, it was a wonder she hadn’t taken out half of Australia.

“Reason? Talk to me. Say something!” Jay-Tee grabbed her by the shoulders and shook hard, terrified she was losing her.

“Stop it! I can hear you. I’m here.” She rubbed her left shoulder. “Is Blake following us?”

Jay-Tee nodded. “Probably. He was coming around when I pulled you out of there. You know, you only got to him because he wasn’t expecting anyone to do what you did. Which was stupid given that you almost did him at the restaurant.”

Reason was drifting off. Jay-Tee slapped her again.

“Ow w w!” She put her hand to her cheek and glared at Jay-Tee.

“You
have
to pay attention. He’s coming after us. He’s pissed. You’re wiped out ’cause of that really, really dumb display upstairs. He said Esmeralda’s nearby, which could be a lie, but it could be true, and—”

The doors to the elevator opened. They both stepped outside. Jay-Tee glanced out through the glass doors. It looked cold and gray. Everyone who hurried by was bundled up good and tight.

“Give me your gloves,” Jay-Tee said, pushing the door open, stepping through.

Reason looked at her. “Where’s your coat?”

“Back in the apartment.”

“Oh. Bugger.” Reason handed Jay-Tee hat, gloves, and scarf. “This coat’s huge; we could both huddle into it.” She lost her footing on a patch of ice. Jay-Tee steadied her.

“We’re only going a block,” Jay-Tee said. “We’ll buy me a coat after the restaurant. Are you going to be okay? You’re still wobbly.”

Reason nodded, but her skin was more yellow than brown. Jay-Tee was unconvinced. She hoped Danny would know somewhere they could hide, but she couldn’t imagine anywhere they would be safe from
him.

From Tom’s first step inside the restaurant the feeling of Reason was so strong he felt like he was breathing in her essence. He’d decided to have breakfast—a late breakfast: he still seemed to need millions of hours sleep—at the same restaurant where he’d sensed Reason, hoping he’d find another trace.

Tom looked around at every table. She wasn’t at any of them. In the bathroom, maybe? Or had she just left? He half turned to check outside when he realised that the eau de Reason was coming from the far corner. The closer Tom got, the more intense it felt.

He went as close as he could, pretending that he was staring at the black-and-white mural on the wall. It was coming from a bloke drinking coffee, nervously glancing up at the doors every few seconds. The guy was practically glowing. He’d been with Reason, that was for sure, and for quite a while, too. She must be staying with him.

Tom sat down at the nearest empty table. It wasn’t that close, but he could still watch the bloke. A sad-faced waitress brought him water and a menu. Tom looked over the top of the menu. The guy was tapping his fingers, gulping down coffee, and continuing to gaze expectantly at the doors.

Tom pulled the mobile out of his pocket and called Mere. She was close by, she said, and was headed over. He pocketed it, feeling relieved. Without Mere he had no idea how to approach the guy, what to say.

The table hid his trousers or jeans, but his T-shirt wasn’t much to look at, which was a pity ’cause he’d look great in tailored clothing. The coat scrunched up next to him was one of those foul doona coats, completely barren of beautiful lines.

Tom wondered what his connection to Reason was and had a sudden horrible thought. The guy wasn’t hideously old or anything. Actually, he was kind of good-looking. And Reason was gorgeous. And the feel of her was
all over him.
Tom took a large gulp of his water, hoping it would wash the awful thought away.

A waitress came up to the table, standing tall and blond and intimidating, looking down at him with infinite sadness. Tom turned back to his menu in a panic, looking for something clear-cut that would require no endless follow-up questions. While the waitress stood there regarding him as if he were yet another cross for her to bear, he frantically searched.

“What you want?”

“Ah, turkey sandwich,” Tom blurted.

“What bread you want? Challah, brown, rye—”

“Challah,” Tom said quickly.

“You want salad or soup with that?”

Tom sighed. “Soup?”

“Chicken noodle, borscht, lentil, vegetable—”

“Chicken noodle,” Tom said. At least he’d discovered the trick of cutting her off early. The waitress departed, menu in hand.

Tom grinned, feeling well pleased with himself.

“Tom?” a startled voice asked. He looked up. It was Reason.

When I walked in past
the second set of doors, the first person I saw was Tom. I stopped in my tracks. Jay-Tee ran into me. “Tom?” I said out loud. How could Tom be here?

“Keep going, Reason. I’m frozen.”

Tom stood up. “Reason?”

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Looking for you.”

“But how?” I stopped, conscious of Jay-Tee beside me. “This is Jay-Tee. Tom’s a friend from Sydney.”

Then I saw Danny further back, smiling, waving at us. Jay-Tee returned the wave. I did too, grinning like an idiot. He was even prettier in daylight.

“And here’s Mere too,” Tom said, sounding happy.

“What?” I turned to the other door, not quite believing that I’d heard him right, but there she was, walking towards us. Tom had betrayed me. Jay-Tee turned to look as well.

“The witch,” she said. “We got to run.” She grabbed my hand, dragging me out onto the street. Tom cried out behind us. I was so tired my bones ached. I didn’t know if I could run.

“Run where?” I asked as I stumbled along behind her. Jay-Tee was sure-footed, agilely weaving her way through the crowd. “Know anywhere warm we can hide?”

Jay-Tee nodded, still moving fast. She dropped my hand. “Follow me,” she called, then bolted down the street.

I ran after her as fast as I could, slipping and sliding, almost going arse over tit, knocking into people, apologising, trying not to break stride. It was torture lifting my heavy legs. Within seconds Jay-Tee was half a block ahead, sprinting across the road. I was terrified she was going to leave me behind.

“Goddamn,” came Danny’s voice, suddenly behind me. Strong hands brought me to a halt. “What the hell’s going on? Why is Jay-Tee running away from me? I thought she wanted to see me.”

“She does. We’re not running from you. We’re running from my grandmother.”

Danny let go of me, looking at me like I was insane. “Your grandmother? You know, I think I can deal with a grandmother.”

“You don’t understand. I don’t know where Jay-Tee’s running to. We can’t let her get away.”

We both looked up ahead to where Jay-Tee was fast disappearing. “We got to catch her.” The air was cold and hurt my lungs. All I wanted was to lie down and sleep.

“Reason!” someone yelled from behind me. Tom.

“Bugger.” I started running again, slipping and falling almost immediately. Danny hauled me up as if I weighed no more than a kitten. “Crap,” he said, looking up ahead and then back at me. “She’s almost out of sight!” He slung me over his shoulder in a fireman carry before I could answer and then started running hard after Jay-Tee.

“No way!” I yelled, but I was shouting at the people behind me. Danny didn’t respond.

I couldn’t see or hear much of anything. My stomach felt like it was being sawed in half by Danny’s shoulder. It hurt even more when I tried to raise my head to see better. I wanted to figure out where we were going. I could see flashes of shop fronts and people’s legs and shoes flying by on one side. On the other, mounds of dirty snow and parked cars.

I could tell when we were crossing the road more from the sound of horns honking than from anything I could see. Even if I’d been upright, I’d’ve had no clue where I was. I hadn’t exactly managed to get oriented during my few days in this city.

My vision was blurring, my eyelids fluttering, struggling to stay open. I was exhausted, beyond exhausted. It was as if something had been sucked out of me, the thing that kept my blood pumping, my neurons snapping. My magic gone.

It was hard staying awake even bouncing up and down, with Danny’s shoulder cutting me in half. I had to force myself to think. I’d seen Tom. What did that mean? What was Tom doing here? Was he waiting for Esmeralda? Had he
known
I was going to be at the restaurant? How?

My head pounded. The cold air hurt my eyes, made tears streak down my cheeks. The salt stung. But when I closed them, I could feel myself drifting into sleep. Staying awake felt important.