The Man in the Box (The Box book 1) Page 16

  Chapter Sixteen

  I don’t understand her excitement, so I attempt to get a closer look at the pages to see why she’s practically bouncing.

  “And there was the rock in the barn,” Sin says. “Of all objects to fall out, it happens to be the one thing we needed at the time. Hell of a coincidence.”

  No matter how much I look at the book, I don’t understand her excitement. “How is the book what you need?”

  She holds the page closer to me and I squint at the writing.

  “That’s my name. It’s written for me, from Gran.”

  It’s convenient she would speak about needing information from her Grandmother only to have such information come through the box. And one idea was drilled into our heads at the University; there are no coincidences when it comes to magic. But still...

  I shake my head. “It doesn’t explain me. How would Lou ever need me?”

  She looks me over carefully, studying me more closely than when I’d first come through the box and was still tiny. You’d think with her being so much smaller now in comparison, her stare would be less intimidating. It isn’t. Her eyebrows raise a fraction, but it’s enough to show she’s figured something out.

  “What?”

  She doesn’t say anything while she scrutinizes me again. When she’s done she shrugs and focuses back on the book.

  “Stewart was probably getting too close. She needed to find out about magic in order to protect herself and what better way than through a person she could trust?”

  I can sense a half-truth almost as well as I can sense magic. I’ve told enough of them in my life.

  As I open my mouth to demand she tell me whatever she’s hiding, she slams the lid of the box shut.

  “That has to be it,” she says. “There’s no other reason why these things would’ve fallen out when they did. And I bet if I could actually read this book, I’d be able to prove it. The magic must sense what its owner needs. Since Lou is... the box became mine which means it started sensing what I need.”

  I ignore Sin’s stumble and say, “Still doesn’t make sense, why would it have pulled me through as opposed to anyone or anything else? She could have discovered her magic a hundred different ways.”

  “Course it doesn’t make sense to you. You’re a guy and by definition, dense. I mean look at poor Rose. Never mind, at least now we have an idea of how it works. But how can we use it to our advantage?”

  Rose? What did she have to do with anything? I don’t get a chance to ask. Sin’s expression turns determined and she concentrates intently on the box for a short time before she once again flicks the latch and opens the lid.

  Nothing.

  Disappointment causes her shoulders to sag and she looks about ready to toss the box across the field.

  “I don’t understand. It’s worked every other time.”

  “It’s not like anything I’ve ever heard of before,” I say. “But even sorceresses need time for their magic to rebuild. The box is probably no different.”

  She perks up a little. “You think?”

  It’s odd that her exhilaration is so catching. “I can’t be sure, but it would make some sense.”

  “Yeah.” She smiles at the box and jumps to her feet. “That has to be it. It just needs to recharge. It’ll work in a few hours.”

  There’s something more to her excitement than simply understanding the box.

  “Why? What are you thinking?” I ask.

  “It might not work,” she warns. “It probably won’t.”

  “Sin,” I say. “Explain.”

  She doesn’t. All she says is, “Think you can get Rose here? We’ll need her help.”

  “Why?” I demand while crossing my arms.

  “We need someone with no connection to magic,” she says. “But who’s also not afraid of it.”

  I glance at the house, remembering the conversation from earlier and I understand exactly what she means. I still don’t feel like she’s given me enough information, but it’s obvious she’s not going to say more until I find Rose.

  “I can get her,” I say. “But I expect an explanation when we get back.”

  She answers with a wiggle of her eyebrows, and then she bounds into the house toward my room. I suppose there’s nothing for me to do but follow her lead for now. As I turn to leave she runs back out of the house.

  “Think you can cut the magic on this?” She holds the book toward me and I cringe.

  “There’s a good chance I’ll destroy it.”

  She considers her options for a moment. “Tiny or destroyed, I’ll never be able to read it. You’ll just have to be careful.”

  After a moment’s hesitation, I take the book and set it on the ground. With my nerves as steady as I can make them, I draw one tiny swipe over top of the object as close as possible without cutting the paper. When I’m done, the wind catches the full sized book and flips a few pages over.

  She picks it up, and without any sign of being impressed by my skills or even a thank you, she rushes back into the house. A large part of me wants to follow her and spend some more time sitting with Lou, but I shake off the feeling. Whatever Sin has in mind is more important than whatever odd need I have to be near her sister.

  Sin’s secrecy is maddening, but I make my way toward the village and Rose’s house. The main street is fairly busy, but it’s easy to ignore the basic pleasantries expected of anyone else. While I storm past, my mind examining all of the different options Sin might have thought of, none of them particularly hopeful, my neighbors stand back and watch me with suspicion.

  Once I pass each group of people, their chatter starts again, a whole new bit of gossip to share with the friends during their day’s work.

  As my annoyance fades and turns to the usual unease I feel when I’m in the middle of the village, trapped on all sides by the larger buildings and accusing faces, I walk a bit faster, avoiding eye contact as much as possible, focused on the clumps of dirt and grass patching the cobblestone main road. Most of the other roads, including the one from our house into town, are still a combination of earth and wood where the mud is too deep to walk through. The cobblestone is relatively new, laid after I was sent to the University.

  In fact, the road was the village’s reward for sending one of their own to become a wizard. Since I was the only wizard born in the area for generations, the cobblestone is one of the village’s only modern features. The houses remain small and made of a mix of wood and mud, covered with whatever bits of magical protection from rain and fire the owners can afford.

  The University was so big in comparison. Each building could fit the entire village comfortably inside. And there was hardly any wood in sight unless it was decorative or infused with magic. Everything was polished stone and meticulously cleaned by servants and the occasional student being punished.

  I was never supposed to return from there, at least not to the village. And I was certainly not supposed to bring another wizard back with me.

  A turn off the stone road brings me to a little house, smaller than mine, though there are a lot more people living there. Creaking in the wind above the entrance is a wooden sign showing the symbol of a weaver.

  I step up to knock on the front door and it swings open before I touch the wood. One of Rose’s older sisters peers out at me, wearing the same look of suspicion as the rest of the villagers.

  “Your Mother left already.”

  I’d forgotten this was where she’d said she was going.

  “Actually, I need to talk to Rose.”

  Lilly shakes her head ones. “No.”

  I’d be shocked by her bluntness if it wasn’t the same every time I came to the house. There’d been a time when I was friends with the entire family. I wouldn’t have bothered to knock before barging inside and being welcomed as if it were my home.

  I hold back a sigh and say, “It’s important.”

  “Go away, Aldric.” She takes a small step back inside to allow
room for the door to swing. “We don’t want anything to do with you. And Rose doesn’t want to see you.”

  Lilly tries to shut the door, but I use my weight to keep it open.

  “Rose?” I shout into the house, not caring who I disturb. “Rose? I need your help.”

  Rose’s wide eyes peek out from behind a doorway and instantly disappear again. Her sister sees the reaction and looks pleased.

  “See,” she says. “Rose doesn’t want anything to do with you.”

  And then she slams the door in my face.

  I turn and begin the walk back through the village and to my house, though this time at a slightly slower pace. When the sound of hurried footsteps catches up to me, I smile.

  “You’re getting slower,” I say.

  “My parents are getting smarter.” Her thin face lights up with a grin. “They actually tried to lock me in my room. I’m going to have so many extra chores when I get back.”

  My smile fades as guilt sets in. I know her punishments don’t always end with chores, though I’ve never heard her complain. “Sorry.”

  She lightly jabs my arm with her fist. “Don’t be stupid. What’s so important you had to break into my house to get me?”

  “I’m not sure,” I admit. “Sin’s come up with some sort of plan. She says we need your help.”

  “That’s what I’m here for,” she says, though her smile slips a little at the mention of Sin. I can’t blame her. “Lead the way, and I’ll do what I can.”

  Walking back through the village with Rose at my side makes the stares slightly more bearable. Unfortunately I know the gossip will affect Rose more than me. Her family still has a reputation to uphold, after all. Her walking alone with me isn’t helping her situation.

  Anger flares, but I manage to control it, at least for now. Besides, on whom could I take it out? The entire village? I’m sure they are all waiting for me to crack so they’ll have an excuse to turn on me.

  Rose studies me carefully as we walk the rest of the way home. I’m sure she can read every tiny change in emotion on my face, so I struggle to calm down. I pick up the pace, hoping the briskness of the walk will help hide my annoyance. Rose matches my speed without a word, though I notice a hint of concern in her eyes, though she quickly covers it with another smile.

  “Finally,” Sin says from the front step. “Could you have been any slower?”

  I’m about to say something rude when Rose interrupts.

  “What would you like me to do?”

  “For now, nothing.” There’s excitement in Sin’s eyes that piques my curiosity. What is she up to? “I don’t know if this is going to work. I’ve been trying to concentrate this entire time, but it’s hard.” She frowns at the box in her hand. “I hope that’s been enough time.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to explain now?” She ignores my reminder, squeezing her eyes shut as though she’s focusing. She flicks the latch without opening them and lifts the lid. Rose and I lean in to see what’s inside while Sin slowly opens one eye.

  At the same moment Sin exclaims, “Yes!” I catch sight of a bit of blue fabric. I pull the box out of her hand, much to her annoyance and stare, recognizing it instantly.

  “But...how?” The material feels soft and smooth in my fingers as I examine it. “There’s no hole in it, is there?”

  Sin reaches over and pulls out the miniature blue bag, identical to the one Lou cut open to regain her magic, except without the cut.

  “Five bags,” she says. “I never understood why Gran wanted to split up the magic, but maybe, just maybe, it was in case this exact situation came up.”

  “You want to open it and hope it releases her magic?” I don’t know whether to laugh or be impressed. “Will it work?”

  “Don’t know,” Sin says with a grin. “But the fact it’s here is a good sign. To be safe, Rose will have to make the cut. Because you’re right, I’m too much like you. Either of us might absorb the magic before it has a chance to find its way to Lou.”

  I don’t hesitate or ask questions or even think. I simply draw my sword and hand it to Rose. She doesn’t take it right away.

  “Please,” I say. “I need you to do this.”

  She doesn’t move. Her eyes go wide and she moves her head back and forth in small shakes. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing. You find a bag in a box, get all excited and then hand me your sword. What’s going on?”

  Fair enough. “You need to cut the bag open with the tip of my sword. It shouldn’t be hard, but you need to do it as close to Lou as you can get. And we can’t be there.”

  My words only seem to make her more frightened as she asks, “What? Why?”

  “It’s how it has to be.” I don’t want to have to explain more since I know it will only make her more worried. I just hope her trust goes this far. “Sin and I shouldn’t be anywhere near the bag when it’s opened. And you have to make sure it’s close to Lou.”

  Rose hesitates for a few more seconds and then quietly says, “Why her?”

  At first I’m not sure what she means, but then I recognize the pain in her eyes. Loraine.

  “It won’t work,” I tell her softly. “This magic is linked directly to Lou. No one else can use it but her. Trust me, if I thought...”

  I stop when I remember Sin standing next to me. But she’s not the only thing making me hesitate. I’d always been so determined to find a way to help Loraine. I’d have done anything to bring her back. But when Sin revealed the bag, my only thought had been on helping Lou. If I hadn’t already known the bag wouldn’t work with Loraine, would I have thought any differently?

  Rose looks like she’s about to argue or maybe cry. Either way, I am not capable of dealing with the burst of emotion. Instead, I press the sword into her hand and step away. Rose tries to hide her fear and confusion while taking the bag from Sin. I want to say something encouraging, but I’m too confused myself.

  After an excruciating length of time, Rose finally nods her agreement and makes her way into the house. Sin and I watch her go until I can no longer stand still. I pace back and forth in the yard.

  “Thanks,” Sin says suddenly.

  “Of course. Anything to help.”

  “No, I mean thanks for calling me Sin.” She nudges me with her elbow. I guess that’s the closest to a sign of affection she’s capable of. “I figured you never would because Lou doesn’t.”

  “Really?” I ask. “You may have figured out how to save your sister, and you’re worried about what people call you?”

  She shrugs. “I really hate ‘Cindy.’”

  I don’t know whether to laugh or roll my eyes, so I don’t do anything but stand there, waiting for something to happen.

  “How do you think we’ll know if it works?” she asks.

  Whatever reply I’m about to give her is interrupted by a horrified scream from inside the house.

  Lou