Page 53 of Junk Magic

I looked at him some more.

“You can’t use a scratched pan, Lia,” he said condescendingly. “The nonstick coating can flake off into your food.”

Before I could even try to respond to that, I heard a commotion coming from the direction of the house. I looked up to see Sophie, who must have left while we were talking, leading Kimmie this way by the hand. Or dragging her might be more accurate.

Kimmie had also changed from the jeans and button up shirt she’d been wearing into a cute pair of cut off overalls. They were embroidered with different sizes of daisies and matched her yellow t-shirt and the couple of daisy pins in her braids. She was bright, sunny and cheerful, except for her expression.

“Just eight or ten,” Sophie was saying. “Like that one.”

She pointed to the pot of water, now sitting on what had once been somebody’s firepit grille, and just managing to avoid falling into the hole.

“In a line down the grates,” she added, when Kimmie just stood there.

“I can’t—”

“Sure you can. It’s easy. They’re just pots—”

But Kimmie wasn’t finding it easy. Her head was shaking and she was backing away. “No, I can’t. They said not to—”

“They aren’t here,” Sophie said patiently. “And we signed up for this, right? To start using our abilities? We have to begin somewhere.”

“Not with her,” Chris said, scowling. “She’s the weak link; you know that.”

“Shut up!” Sophie said. “She’s fine.”

But Kimmie did not look fine. She was backing up, and appeared to agree with Chris. “No, I’ll screw it up. I screw everything up—”

“You don’t,” Sophie said, encouraging her. “That’s them talking, the teachers and so-called therapists—”

“I can’t, all right? I can’t!”

“—acting like we were about to go off like a bomb ever since we were children. But they’re not here. Nobody’s here—”

“Hey,” I said, because Kimmie clearly didn’t care who was here. Kimmie was starting to panic again, with the whites showing all around her eyes and her head shaking furiously.

“No! I’m a good girl. I’m a good girl!”

“It’s okay,” Sophie said, finally realizing that easing Kimmie out of her phobia wasn’t going well. “It’s no big deal, Kim—”

But Kimmie was no longer listening. “I’m good, I’m good, I’m good, I’m good—”

And crap, I thought, because the pitch on that last phrase was practically a scream. I readied a knock out spell, and glanced around to see if there were any knives out here. There was one, along with a pair of firepit tongs, both of which were disappeared by the scarred Were before I could so much as flinch.

Guess he’d heard about what happened yesterday.

And what was about to happen today, because the mismatched grilles had started to tremble, all along the two lines. I didn’t understand why until Jen gave a cry and stumbled back, and I saw the burning coals underneath them begin to rise, making the trenches glow like gashes staring straight into hell. And then spill over the top to scorch the sand, like lava flowing up from the earth.

Chris wasted no time jumping acrobatically out of the way, covering as much territory in one go as a transformed Were. And then Aki grabbed Jen and disappeared, only to reappear with her over by the house. I started to call for everyone else to do likewise, since burning coals were beginning to fall off their mountains and bounce across the landscape.

But, just as fast as it had started, it was over. And I found out what Sophie’s special talent was, and why she was the glue that held this crazy group together. But it had nothing to do with magic.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” she murmured, enveloping a shaking Kimmie in a tight hug. “This is my fault, all my fault. I shouldn’t have pushed you—”

“I’m a good girl! I’m a good girl!” It was still a scream, but wheezy now, as if she’d started to hyperventilate.

“Yes, you are.” Sophie’s arms tightened, and her eyes closed. “Yes, you are.”

Chapter Fifteen

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