Kissing Magic Read online

  He sounded hurt, but Karina knew he was just pretending and being overdramatic. “If they want me because of my abilities, they won’t kill me.”

  “There are other risks.”

  She took a deep breath. “How long do you think I’ll have to stay in Whyland?”

  “Two, three weeks. One month. I don’t know. Until everything is settled.”

  That would be impossible. Karina had her math final, her summer camp. “I can’t. I trust you, though. Can’t you defeat those things?”

  “In Whyland. I can’t teleport here. If Kyons teleport here, I won’t be able to do anything.” His tone was serious, almost cross.

  “I doubt those stupid things can teleport.”

  He glared at her, with a set jaw. “Well, stay here then. Maybe you’re right. I won’t insist.”

  Karina took a step back from him, his tone surprising and scaring her at the same time. It only convinced her that she had to stay.

  Sian noticed and closed his eyes, then opened them and said, “I’m sorry. I’m just worried. How do you think I’ll feel if something happens to you?” He sounded sweet and she would have felt for him if she didn’t know it was just his exaggerated drama.

  “You’ll be fine and I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

  Sian didn’t say anything. He just crossed his arms and looked away, tugging her heart in the process. But what could she do? She had to take him back to Whyland, and she couldn’t simply walk away from her own life for up to a month. She couldn’t.

  Karina wondered how exactly teleporting worked. She’d seen Cayla do it, and she’d done it, but she had only done it in extreme situations, and never from her own dimension. Cayla had touched a wall. Karina did the same, extending her hand. “Come,” she told Sian.

  Only now she realized they’d need to hold hands, and it made her nervous. Sian still looked grumpy, but he wrapped his hand around hers. It was the first time they touched each other, not counting the time he’d been enchanted. Karina trembled. Trembled. Now was that stupid or what? But she couldn’t avoid it. Awkwardness had become electricity coming from his hand to her entire body. Something odd. He didn’t like her, and she had to remember that. She tried to keep her hand limp like a dead fish, but the hand disobeyed and felt more like an electric eel. At least he didn’t know that. Her heart was beating fast. “Close your eyes,” she said.

  The floor beneath her disappeared. She felt strong light through her eyelids. That was fast. And easy. Teleporting had never been so easy or so fast. When the lights stopped, she opened her eyes. They were in the janky old ruined tower, near the lost castle with the creepy garden. The sun was setting and there was no fog. Karina looked around and smiled. “I did it!” She then noticed she still held his hand and let it go.

  He stared at her. “So you’re just going to ignore what I just told you and go back?”

  Karina wished she could stay. But she knew it would be irresponsible and brash. And something made her afraid. She had no idea what. “I didn’t even bring anything.”

  He puffed and waved his hand. “Oh, excuses. C’mon, be real here.” He put his hand on his chest and made a face as if he were in pain. “I know when I’m being turned down.”

  Karina didn’t like it that he was making fun of that. She just stared.

  He got normal again. “Oh, and what about the magic? All the things I wanted to tell you? Well, I guess you’ll have to live without knowing any of that. Pity, no?”

  That was a low punch. Of course Karina would throw it all away to learn more about a parallel dimension, about teleporting, about magic. He didn’t have to say that. She knew what she was missing. Karina felt as if she had a knife on her heart. Sian was twisting it. But she couldn’t just disappear like that. What about her mother? Her friends? School? She couldn’t. And it didn’t have to be forever.

  “I might come back to Whyland. Cayla told me she'll invite me. Maybe you could tell me about magic then.”

  He snorted. “Not sure you noticed, but I don’t hang out with Cayla or her boyfriend.”

  “The people who saved you. Neat.”

  “You saved me.”

  Whatever. If Sian could play the overdramatic game, so could she. She put her hand on her heart and tried her best imitation at a sad voice. “And you won’t make an exception and try to see me if I come with Cayla. How cruel.”

  He burst out laughing. “Well played. One day you’ll be as good as me. Pity you don’t want to spend time and learn with the master. You don’t know until when this portal will be open.” He then became serious and looked at her attentively. “The kyons, if they come after you, you can’t kill them, but you can paralyze them for a moment, with a bright light directly into their eyes.”

  Karina shuddered thinking of those things. “The things I saw didn’t have eyes.”

  “I mean the position where the eyes would be.”

  Karina nodded and swallowed, hoping she wouldn't need to use this information. But nothing in those things suggested that they had the ability to teleport. Even Sian couldn’t teleport, and he was smarter than those things.

  He looked at her for a moment as if examining something, then said, “You’re different. You used to be sweet. Now you’re a cold heartbreaker.”

  Karina laughed. But he didn’t laugh and had a serious expression.

  She said, “I’m the same.” Well, actually, she thought she had been too innocent and silly when they had met, but she didn’t want to mention that. “We didn’t really get to know each other, did we? Then maybe I’m just wiser.”

  He took a deep breath. “Fair enough, wise girl. If you need help, come and find me. I may be hurt but I’m fair. I know I’m the one who got you in trouble.”

  “How can I find you?”

  He laughed. “The first step is coming back.”

  How helpful. “Well, goodbye,” she said. Sian didn’t reply.

  Karina closed her eyes and thought about her bedroom, but she didn’t feel any lights or the floor disappearing. She tried to think again, then think about home, safety, her friends, school, her mother. She tried to conjure all the thoughts she could, and nothing happened. Karina feared that she could not teleport alone. But it could be done. Cayla had done it, hadn’t she? In theory, Karina was better at teleporting, so it should be easy for her. But it wasn’t. She opened her eyes.

  Sian asked, “So, is it going to take all night?”

  “I’m sorry. I’m trying.”

  “I’m not complaining. I can stare at you all night. It’s just that if you want to stay, just stay, you know? You don’t need to pretend you can’t teleport.”

  “Ha, ha. Hilarious. I’ve never done it alone, that’s all.” She looked down, then added, “And of course I’d like to stay, but I can’t.”

  “You confuse me. But you can’t be confused, or you won’t go anywhere.”

  “I’m not confused.”

  “Then you’ll have no problem teleporting.”

  Was he right? He couldn’t be. She needed emotion to teleport. Emotion. She had to feel something. She opened her eyes. Sian was there. He looked quite decent in that dim light. Maybe way more than decent. Karina closed her eyes. She imagined Sian’s statue sneering at her, mocking her, making a joke out of flirting with her. She felt the floor beneath her gone and saw strong flashes of light through her eyelids.

  Karina got to her bedroom feeling cold and exhausted. But it was over. She had done it. She should be feeling proud of her powers, but she wanted to lie on her bed and cry. The magic, the adventure, she had just left all of that behind. A horrible feeling took over her chest. But there wasn’t much to be done. She couldn’t leave everything to follow a guy she barely knew. She wished she could, though, and hated herself for it.

  She decided to sleep and changed into her pajamas. After she turned off the light, she remembered the scene in the garden and those ugly things after her. She almost wished she had stayed there with Sian.

  She hadn’t
believed that those things, kyons, could teleport, but alone in her bedroom with her lights off, she felt sure they were coming to get her. She didn’t want to question her decision, though. And still, she felt scared, so she went to the kitchen and got a flashlight. The light wasn’t that strong, but she hoped she would not need it. She lay down with the flashlight beside her. Was it enough? Just in case, she got up and turned on the light. Perhaps that would also help. Eventually, she slept with the light on, a flashlight by her side, and a lump in her throat.

  6

  Kyons

  Darian carried the ax now, relieved that they hadn’t seen any kyons for some time. The fog had dissipated, and the top of the old tower was visible against the darkening sky. He and Cayla had taken a lot longer than expected to get there, as those forms kept appearing even outside the cursed garden. To make matters worse, Cayla was upset, worried about her friend. Darian should also be worried about his brother, but somehow he wasn’t.

  Strangely, he was hopeful and relieved. The truth is that he had been doubtful the entire time they had planned to bring Karina. Although he had a hunch that the plan would work, it wasn’t based on anything tangible. It was just an odd feeling, disconnected from reality. First, he didn’t really think his brother could have feelings for anyone, even if he hoped otherwise. He didn’t know his brother well but knew well enough to have gotten “love is poison” as a piece of—terrible—advice.

  As much as Sian’s friend had claimed that in theory superficial feelings counted, Darian hadn’t been so sure. Plus, it wasn’t as if the girl were remarkable in any way. Why go through the trouble of bringing a girl from another world when his brother could have found someone local to have superficial feelings for?

  But when Karina ran back to Sian, Darian started to believe that there was something real there. Somehow, his brother had chosen to send a book to a girl who’d risk her life for him. The only issue with that logic was that the kiss hadn’t worked. But then, maybe it had been foolish to think that any love-based counterspell would work on his heartless brother.

  Still, Darian felt that something had happened back in the garden, and half expected to see his brother again, no longer trapped in stone. Perhaps indeed Sian had no feelings, but the girl sure did. Of course, he’d better not say any of this to Cayla, who seemed to think Sian was some kind of repulsive monster. Quite a disturbing thought, considering Darian didn’t look that much different from him.

  As they approached the tower, he hoped they’d find his brother and Karina. Seeing Cayla so worried pained Darian. They walked into the tower, but there was nobody there.

  “Karina!” Cayla yelled. She looked at Darian, eyes misty with tears. “They didn’t teleport. They didn’t.”

  “We don’t know it. Maybe they’re around here somewhere. Maybe she teleported—”

  “From that garden? How could she teleport from there? I tell you, something else happened, something bad.” She sat on the floor and looked down.

  He crouched and ran his fingers through her hair. “Let’s not assume. Maybe she’s safe in her world. You could check.”

  She looked up at him, and then her eyes widened in fear. Darian turned and saw many of those creatures from the garden entering the tower. With only one small exit, they would be trapped there. Darian grabbed the ax and ran to the door. Yes, Cayla was faster, but his arms could swing farther. He swung the ax horizontally and cut some five creatures who were coming towards them. He jumped over them. Cayla was close behind him, so she’d jumped as well. He tossed her the ax then. If one of them was to remain unarmed, it better be him.

  As fast as they could, they ran away from the tower, towards their lift. Cayla swung the ax when any of those creatures got too close to them. When they reached their craft, Cayla and Darian entered quickly and took off. Once in the air, Cayla was quiet, looking out the window. Silence was never good news from her. She was probably still worried about her friend.

  Darian considered whether he should say something and risk her wrath or let her calm down, but he couldn’t stand seeing her so sad. He reached out a hand and caressed her cheek. “There was light, Cayla. There was light when your friend held Sian’s hand. It means teleporting or something good; not dark magic.”

  She pushed his hand away. “Teleporting to a trap. What good does it make?”

  Darian still didn’t feel worried. “We don’t know. We escaped, and my brother is a much better fighter than me, you, or both of us combined. They would have escaped.”

  Cayla snorted. “As a statue? He is indeed fabulous if he can fight in that state.”

  Darian exhaled. He still had the feeling that his brother had woken up, but couldn’t prove it to Cayla. “The only thing we can do now is go to the castle and find out what’s happening. We could talk to your mother.”

  “By then it might be too late.” She shook her head. “You know what hurts the most? It’s my fault. I asked her to come.”

  “We did.”

  Cayla rolled her eyes. “She wouldn’t have done anything for you. Or your brother. It’s all on me.”

  “That’s not true. Your friend could have been with us now, but she decided not to. Whether you like it or not, accept it or not, she chose Sian.” There. He’d said it.

  She shuddered. “Yikes. The way you say it, it sounds… She’s just nice, that’s all.”

  “She chose to be nice then. Still, it was her choice. You should respect it. And don’t blame yourself. It was my idea.”

  She looked away. “And I agreed.” Her voice was a whisper, as if the words had been said to herself.

  Darian tried to come up with something to tell her, something that would make her feel better, when the communication channel blinked.

  Cayla touched it and stared at Darian. “Written. Unknown sender.”

  “Let’s see it.”

  Cayla read the message, “Hello, little brother. It warms my heart to know that you still care about family, at least a little.” It sounded bizarre in Cayla’s voice. “Unlike you, I appreciate kindness, and I want to thank you for what you did. I know you don’t care, but I’m happy to tell you I’m safe, although I won’t say where. Karina is also safe, back in her own world. Poison in small doses can also be medicine. Who would have thought?”

  Safe. His brother was safe, alive, and no longer enchanted. Relief washed over Darian. “See? They’re fine.”

  Cayla was still serious and looked unconvinced. “Not necessarily. How do you even know it’s him?”

  “Oh, that’s Sian all right.”

  Cayla bit her lip. “I wish we could see them in person. I don’t know… Karina…”

  “I don’t think Sian would lie about it, and we can’t go back to that tower now.”

  Cayla shook her head. “I don’t trust your brother. He could be planning something.”

  “He doesn’t have his position in the army. He’s powerless, Cayla.” In a way, Darian almost pitied Sian, except that he hoped the humbling lesson would bring him to his senses.

  Cayla sighed. “True. I guess it’s something else then, not your brother. There’s something wrong here. Something very wrong.”

  “I kind of noticed it, you know?”

  “We’ll need to go home and get help,” she said.

  Darian nodded.

  Cayla sighed, looked away, then looked back at him. “Darian. I’m glad we saved your brother. I’m sorry I was… well, I am still worried, but—”

  “I understand. But I think we can believe him when he says your friend is fine. Look, he even knew we’d be worried. It’s not like I get written communication from him from time to time. As to those creatures, we’ll get to the castle and figure it all out. I promise. And we could try to find another way to teleport. You’ll be able to check on your friend. I’ll do whatever it takes—”

  “I know.” She smiled.

  Cayla then suddenly got up. Darian felt startled, and more surprised when she sat on his lap, wrapped her arms aroun
d him, curled and rested her face on his chest. Darian wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. They remained like that for a long time, her face near his heart.

  After some time, Darian ran his hands through her hair and asked, “What is it?”

  She looked up. There was a hint of fear in her eyes, unseemly in Cayla. She whispered, “Darkness is coming. I don’t know what it is—but I can feel it.”

  Next day at the small, old hardware store near her apartment, Karina asked help from the owner. “I need the strongest flashlight you have. One that flashes.”

  “You want a camera flash then.”

  That was brilliant. Literally.

  Karina walked back home feeling guilty that she’d spent more than she’d planned. At least now she had a professional flash, even though she had no camera to go with it. She knew—or hoped—she wouldn’t need to use it. It was just that she wanted to make sure she slept well. She also wanted so much more. And there was that tinge of regret she had. But isn’t regret the worst feeling of all? It has no solution. It just gnawed her inside. She tried to think about something nicer instead. Math final. For her it was happy. She was hoping she would finish the class with a 100% grade. That would be a first. And then perhaps all the school would gather around her and tell her how bright she was. Ha, ha, not. But it would be nice to think so. Maybe her grades in History and French were not the greatest, but she was still smart, and she could prove it.

  Karina walked into her apartment and had the feeling that there was something in her bedroom. She took in some breath as if sucking courage. The flash was still in the box. There would be no time to open and charge it. But it was still day. Late afternoon perhaps. Could it be a kyon? Well, her phone had a flash. She had to do something, and maybe she should be glad that they had come to visit during the day, not at night when she was asleep. She set the camera flash on her phone, ran to the bedroom and pointed it to the thing on her bed. But the thing on her bed was just a very beautiful girl: Zoe, who was lying with her tummy down reading a book.