Page 33 of Silver
I feared she was right.
Chapter 27
Wilston
“Amazing place!” I exclaimed, looking around the clearing. We’d used our earth magic to allow the RV to pass through the forest and had reached deep inside of it, stopping beside a lake, knowing we needed to fish.
We’d shopped a bit before coming here, grabbing essentials for a week and camping equipment for when we entered the portal. We hoped it wouldn’t take more than a week, but bought lots of canned food for when we left this world. The thought of us having protein rich food with us helped the unease of going to yet another world.We could easily get vegetables and fruit, but meat was a luxury we needed to plan for.
“It really is!” Silver gushed beside me. We’d made sure the ward around the RV was in place at all times and on ourselves so we wouldn’t be traced here. Now we just needed to put a ward in place around this area, using big stones as a guide for where the ward would end. We didn’t want to deal with walls this time, knowing how ineffective they’d proven to be. Besides, we had better wards in place now and since no one was getting any new magic here, we were safe.
“Ready?” Niam asked, taking Silver’s hand in his. I grabbed Xarius’s and together we began creating the ward. As soon as it was firmly in place, we decided some food was in order. We’d bought fast-food while shopping and even though it was no longer warm, we’d quickly heated it up as much as we could without burning it. There was no better way of learning control than the fear of frying Silver’s favorite burger to ash. It had been the most intense practice of magic yet.
Silver hummed in satisfaction next to me as he swallowed down his perfectly warm chicken burger. I ate my bacon cheeseburger withone hand, while my other held onto Silver’s thigh. It wasn’t easy eating with just one hand, but I longed to touch him.
It was early morning, but that hadn’t stopped our craving for burgers. The town we’d passed had a big convenience store that also sold burgers and fries, so we’d stocked up on that before driving the last thirty minutes to come here.
“I’m so glad we get to sit outside like this and eat,” Julie murmured, her mouth filled with fries. Xarius and I had made six chairs and one big table out of wood, making us able to enjoy the fresh air outside while eating. We could always eat inside whenever it rained.
“Me, too,” Altair said, wiping his ketchup-covered lips with a napkin. “I’ve always been a fan of nature.”
I loved getting to know him better, every little piece of information was welcomed. We were family now, and I found I already liked Altair a lot.
“It’ll be fun to see if you get earth magic then,” Silver said, smiling adorably at him.
Altair shrugged. “I don’t really care what I get, just that I’ll be able to get any magic is amazing.”
Julie’s phone rang and once she’d seen the caller, her eyes met Xarius’s. “You’ve put a ward on my phone, right? They won’t be able to track me if I answer?”
“You can answer,” Xarius replied.
Julie swiped right and left us to speak in private, although we could hear everything she said.
“It’s Julie,” she said, sounding like she didn’t want to sound too familiar with the caller. “I’m safe, yes. No, I won’t return for a while, if ever. Maybe. That’s no longer your business. I’m grateful for your help, I really am, but you don’t deserve any answers from me. I promise to tell you if I’m coming back. If I’m not, I’ll let Steve know.”
“Who’s Steve?” Silver whispered to Xarius.
“He’s one of her employees,” he whispered back, both of them loving the gossip it seemed. Who was I kidding, I was loving it too.
“I hope you’ll be happy,” Julie said, finishing the phone call. She slumped back down into her chair and sighed. “That was something I didn’t know I needed.”
Xarius gave her an understanding smile, clearly feeling everything she felt too. “I’m proud of you, Jules. But you don’t have tocome with us if you don’t want to. I can’t even promise you how our future will look.”
“I have nothing left here, Xar. You’re the only family I have. It hurt to think of you leaving me behind, but I feared you didn’t want me to come. When Silver said he wanted me to come without knowing I was listening in… it… it made the choice so easy. I’m not staying. I’ll go wherever you go.”
“Damn,” Silver whispered, wiping his eyes.
Xarius wiped his, too, taking Julie’s hand in his. “We’ll do our very best to protect you. I just hope you’ll find happiness when we reach our home world.”
She waved him off with her free hand. “I’ll figure something out. Hopefully they won’t hate me for having no magic.” We all winced, still feeling too raw over that fact. “Oops, sorry!” She gave us a sheepish smile.
“What about you, Altair? Did you also struggle growing up without magic?” I asked, hoping he was ready to talk about it. Afterall, we’d understand.
He sighed. “I did. I had a friend growing up who was a late bloomer like me, I just never got my magic in the end. But I at least had him for a few years.”
“And then he got his magic?” Silver asked with a frown.
He shook his head. “No, his father got a job somewhere else and they moved away. I never spoke to him again after that, my letters to the address he’d given me went unanswered, so I figured he’d decided not to bother with being my friend when I was likely never getting my magic. I sent the last letter before I was shunned, saying goodbye. It was mostly for myself, since I knew he didn’t care anymore.”
