Moon Set, page 3
“Not Dunstan?” Garrett asked, his gaze narrowing.
Buchannan swallowed hard and nodded. Garrett tightened his grip on his lacrosse stick.
“Tell him to get back here now. She’s on the Terran lacrosse team. She might be trying to find out what our strategies are for all he knows. I don’t want him talking to her.”
Buchannan nodded, took a few steps toward the entranceway, and called out to Morrell.
McHale laughed raucously. “Why? Good luck to him. He’d probably do well at playing our game of love ‘em and leave ‘em. We ought to clue him in, make it an official part of joining the team. I don’t care if she’s a Terran. I wouldn’t mind having a piece of her myself.”
Karisa released an indignant, feminine gasp. All the wizards spun around, trying to locate the sound, their surprised looks almost comical. Their teammate soon distracted them as Karisa, summoning her magic, sent McHale flying across the locker room and crashing into a pole before he landed on his lacrosse stick, snapping it in half. Daniel’s return panicked Karisa, and she ran for it, brushing past the new Beltane defender like an icy wind.
Karisa stopped just outside the locker room door. Still in her ethereal form, she turned and peered through the opening. Ross and Noble were trying to pick up McHale, who was cursing and screaming over the loss of his lacrosse stick and the greasy finger marks left by Ross as he grabbed at McHale’s uniform. Buchannan and Baxter were almost on the floor laughing at their antics, and Garrett and Daniel stared at them as if they were all crazy.
At last, Garrett took charge. “Shut up,” he yelled at his other defender and his goalkeeper. “Get ready to play. You two, get your lacrosse sticks and get out there.”
He waved his arm at Ross and Noble, who stared at him blankly before doing as he requested. He glared at McHale and pointed to a locker that stood a little further away than the others.
“I don’t know what you were hoping to achieve by that little stunt but save it for the game. There’s another lacrosse stick in there and you better play brilliantly with it. You got that?”
McHale nodded, still swearing as he stomped off toward the lockers.
Then Garrett turned on Daniel. “I don’t care who you want to chat up, Morrell, but let me make it clear. One, she’s a Terran. Two, she’s on their lacrosse team and your opposite on the field and three, make it with the witches on your own time, not mine. The last thing we need is someone snooping around here trying to find out our plans and game tactics. Do I make myself clear?”
Daniel frowned but nodded. He collected his lacrosse stick and followed the rest of the team out. Garrett stood there a moment longer, staring at the spot she’d stood in moments before with a puzzled expression. Karisa turned and bolted toward the stands, confusion on her mind.
Karisa sat on the ground with Reuben patting her hand and Elowen stroking her hair as she regained her solid form. She’d slumped over on Reuben’s shoulder, and Elowen was assuring her in a soft voice she was safe now. A moment later, she straightened and yawned. “I’m fine,” she said when they continued staring at her, worry etched across their faces. “Really, I am.”
“I know you said this spell is normal for you, but does it always take that much out of you?” Reuben asked. “Wow,” he said a moment later. “How do they change color like that? Your eyes,” he said when she quirked an eyebrow at him. “Is it part of the spell? They just went from molten silver to your usual color. What do you call it again? Aquamarine?”
When Karisa’s breathing returned to its normal pace, she smiled and said, “No, that’s just me.”
Elowen and Reuben looked at each other and then back at Karisa.
“What did you find out?” Reuben asked as he resumed patting her hand.
“That I have awesome friends who’ll look after me,” Karisa said before winking at them. When Reuben’s mouth set into a firm line, she added, “I didn’t learn anything useful. It’s possible they did all their planning the night after I did the Alchemy test. They mentioned something about the Valentine’s dance, but that might mean anything from spiking the punch to playing that stupid game of theirs.” She didn’t add that Ross had started saying something only for Noble to cut him off.
Reuben stared. “What stupid game?”
Elowen answered. “They put bets on how far they get with their dates and how many witches they can score with, and I’m not talking lacrosse points.”
Her contemptuous expression was obvious, even in the deep shadows under the stands. Karisa nodded as she remembered sharing Buchannan’s attempt on her the night of the Yule Ball with Elowen. She already knew about the boasts of how much money Buchannon would ‘win’ for seducing her. One of her Mistral friends had learned it the hard way after a date with Baxter. The witch had been crazy about him, but Baxter had been out to make a name for himself. Unfortunately, the poor witch had been so humiliated when she realized what happened, she’d transferred to another university. Much to Karisa’s and Elowen’s surprise, Reuben swore.
“You better tell me if they ever say anything about you. I’ll sort them out.”
At first, all Elowen and Karisa could do was stare at their chivalrous friend. Then they looked at each other and laughed before they helped each other up. They each kissed Reuben on the cheek.
“What was that for?” Reuben asked, blushing.
“Just for being you,” Karisa said with affection. “Now we better get back to the stands before the game starts and people wonder where we’ve been.”
Soon they were making their way up the steps toward the seats Casey saved for them. As they walked toward their friends, Karisa pressed her teeth into her lower lip.
What had Garrett meant by his ‘after the dance’ comment?
She should have followed him to the library that night to see what they were doing. If that’s where they’d been going for their meeting. Ross hadn’t looked like he’d known what was going on. She smiled at that thought.
Did Ross ever seem like he knew what was going on?
Maybe it meant nothing at all, but Karisa had a bad feeling about the next dance. As for Garrett, try as she might, she couldn’t shake the feeling he might have seen her.
When they reached their seats, Elowen took the furthest one from Casey. Karisa sat down and stared out into the lacrosse pitch as another thought dawned on her.
The necklace! Why wasn’t he wearing it? Did he hate it, or didn’t they wear jewelry when they played?
A tap on Reuben’s shoulder caused him to bump into her, knocking Karisa out of her reverie.
“Did you find your alchemy book? Was it in the library?” Petra asked, then stared at him with narrowed eyes as the color drained from the Terran’s face. Then she glanced at Karisa’s face and frowned harder, if that were possible. With a sideways glance at Elowen, whose expression was as unreadable as Karisa’s, Petra returned her attention to Reuben. “Well? Did you find it?”
Reuben stuttered and looked at his feet when there was a loud bang. Some freshmen witches below them screamed and jumped up and down, doing a marvelous impersonation of Osman once he spied the mess in the alchemy classroom after every freshmen lesson. One witch blushed as she tried to stuff everything back into her bag. Something fluttered on the seat.
“Hey,” Reuben said. “It’s my alchemy book. How did it get there?”
“Oh,” she said, retrieving the book and passing it to him. “I must have picked it up with my notes when I was in the library this morning. I’m so sorry.”
Reuben grinned. “Thanks, and don’t worry about it. I’m glad you found it.”
The witch was blushing before, but now she flushed crimson. “You’re so welcome,” she said, and giggled before sitting back down and whispering to her friends. They took turns stealing glances back at him.
“Well, that explains it,” Reuben said, his face still pink as he waved his alchemy book in Petra’s direction, careful not to meet her gaze.
Petra gave them all another shrewd look, nodded, then leaned back in her seat. Karisa released a mental sigh of relief, but she didn’t concern herself with the book’s convenient appearance. Her thoughts were elsewhere. Guilt struck her. She’d learned nothing of any real value in the Beltane locker room. She risked being caught, and she’d let Reuben and Elowen lie for her. It made no difference they’d willingly helped her and were excited to be part of her plan. Reuben had even come up with the idea of needing them to help find his ‘missing’ book, and it had gone off without a hitch.
As for Elowen, well, wasn’t she the smooth one the way she chatted to Daniel about some homework from the Transmutation class they shared? The whole time Karisa was in the Beltane locker room, she heard Elowen laughing almost seductively. She needed little imagination to picture Daniel standing there, jutting his chest out with pride as he engaged her in conversation.
What a pity she didn’t use that charm on Casey.
Karisa sighed. The last thing she wanted to do was watch the game. She wanted to make her way up to the Terran common room, climb into her bed and dream of home. Instead, a loud whistle shattered the surrounding chatter as the referee, Mrs. Lawrence, drew everyone’s attention. The next lacrosse game of the season was about to start.
4
BELTANE VERSUS MISTRAL
Tristan began calling the players’ names. First, the Beltane team ran onto the field. Karisa observed with a thin smile that McHale was a little shaky. They strutted past the Terran stands as though they’d already won the game. Wizards from the undergraduate and graduating class stood and shook their fists at the Beltanes, which only made them laugh and jeer more. Karisa huffed. The rivalry was still strong between the wizards of the Terran and Beltane houses as far as lacrosse was concerned.
Moments later, the Mistral team joined them. The whistle blew again, and students and professors alike roared with excitement as the game began. Karisa cheered up despite herself. The air seemed to swirl and engorge with positivity. She could no more resist the euphoria surrounding her than she could resist Garrett’s kisses the other afternoon.
She stamped her foot. Don’t even think about him.
“Are you all right, Karisa?” Casey asked with a pained expression on his face.
“What?” Karisa asked, looking at him stunned as he bent forward to rub his shin. “Oh, Casey, I’m so sorry. I, er, couldn’t believe how quickly Baxter got the ball.”
With a wink, she brought a finger to her lips, then placed it against the bruise and scratch her shoe had imprinted on Casey’s shin. In an instant, she’d taken away his pain, and the marks were gone. For a minute, he stared at her profile as Karisa turned her attention to the game once more.
“That’s some kiss you got there, Miss Euterpe,” he whispered in her ear.
Karisa laughed, but a second later was screaming “Look out!” and pushing Casey aside as Noble flung the ball their way. He’d set it alight, and flames blazed a trail behind it and dropped ash on them as the ball put itself out. It wasn’t hard to miss his gloating expression. Or his glare when he realized the wayward ball missed its target, soaring over the stands before curving back toward the Mistral goal, smoke billowing out behind it.
“Nice reflexes, Mr. Colton.” She grinned at him as he twisted back up into a sitting position once more. Casey laughed, and they returned their attention to the game.
Karisa sat on the edge of her seat watching every move the teams made as they vied for the ball. She smiled as Ross raced toward Penny Henderson, the Mistral witch streaking away with the ball nestled in her lacrosse stick. She waved her wand, and a puff of breeze picked her up and placed her out of harm’s way. Wand tucked back in her uniform, she tore down the field to score what might well be the first goal of the game. Buchannan was ready for her, never taking his eyes off her the entire way. Tristan was almost screaming as she weaved her way toward the goal. With a mighty twist, she hurled the ball through the air only to watch it fall into the goalkeeper’s hands. In seconds, the ball was on its way toward the opposite end of the field.
“Oh damn,” Elowen said. “I really thought Penny had that goal then. She was so close.”
Casey reached across Karisa and Reuben so he could pat her knee and get her attention. “Don’t worry, Elowen. If it had been you out there, I know you would have scored.”
He paled as though he remembered too late things were strained between him and the auburn-haired beauty since he’d made the comment about her being ‘just a kid’ over the Christmas break. Karisa sat there, torn between watching the game and waiting to see how Elowen would answer.
“Why thank you, Casey. That was a nice thing to say,” Elowen said, her voice solemn.
All around them, an echo of sighs sounded from their immediate circle of friends who’d been waiting on Elowen’s reply. When Casey and Elowen realized this, they blushed, stole a glance at one another, and their blushes deepened.
Casey released a breath, then leaned in close to Karisa. “Can I talk to you privately later, after the game?”
Karisa nodded before jumping up, almost clipping Casey’s ear, and clapping when Hanuel Kahale, the Mistral captain, scored a tricky goal. As the graduate class wizard jogged back into position, he bowed to Karisa with a huge grin before joining the fray once more.
Karisa turned away, missing the longing look Garrett flashed at her as he neared the Terran stand and hid again in case any of his team saw him. Baxter and McHale both ogled Karisa and the Dunstan witch, and he had to adjust to keep out of their way. He almost ran into Noble but changed direction at the last moment.
The second the whistle blew, Garrett’s mind was no longer on Karisa, or the weather that had eased off, although it was still windy and cold. Nor was he concerned with Tempest’s plans or his teammates’ wandering attentions. Instead, he put his heart, mind, and body into the game ahead. He was here to win. They were right behind Terran on points and he’d no intention of staying there. This was his last year at university, and he was determined to win the lacrosse championship at least once during his years at Takoda. He wanted to beat Colton.
Already it seemed the final would be between Terran and Beltane again. Well, this year, the outcome would be different. Garrett wanted that win so badly, he could taste it. With a determined sneer, he watched as Kehale, the Mistral attacker, scored the first goal and determined it would be Mistral’s last. He needn’t think he had any claim on Karisa just because she’d cheered for him either.
A yell in the distance let him know they had the ball. He swerved out of the way of an oncoming player, then swore when another Mistral player intercepted the ball. It appeared Baxter and McHale were too busy thinking how good they looked rather than playing the game. When they saw Garrett’s murderous glare, they raced after Kahale, who was once more making for the goal. Buchannan was ready to face him, teeth bared, legs sturdy, and equal determination etched across his face.
Tristan was almost hoarse as he screamed out the plays for the equally energetic crowd.
From out of nowhere, Daniel charged toward Kahale, who was busy watching both the goal and Ross, who was hot on his trail. The attacker panicked because it looked like he was about to be part of a Beltane pile up and the Mistral had no desire to be caught in the middle. He changed tack and ran back the way he came, avoiding Daniel, who raced toward him yet again. Unfortunately for Ross, the rolling winds, his lumbering build, and his speed had built up such momentum, he couldn’t stop nor change direction when Hanuel evaded him. Ross barreled into Buchannan, knocking the Beltane goalkeeper unconscious, and crashing them both into the goal post.
Garrett swore again and called a timeout so Healer Reseda could place the wizard on to a waiting stretcher. He snarled when his teammate approached him. Ross gave him an extra pitiful look, thanks to the black eye and the mark of the goal post across his cheek. “You idiot! If you’re going to take out a player, don’t make it one of your own team.” He waved him away and called Morrell over. “Not bad. Next time, keep following him to the left. He seems to favor that side. I need you to cover the goal posts, too. Think you can handle that?”
Morrell nodded and grinned.
He’d impressed Garrett. It was only his second game, and already Morrell was proving to be an asset to the team. Unlike the rest, the wizard was a team player, and unlike most of his fellow students, he knew Morrell admired Garrett’s focus with lacrosse and his abilities in Alchemy.
If the truth be known, Karisa wasn’t the only person Garrett had successfully tutored in Alchemy. The first Terran, absolutely, but it wasn’t something Garrett wanted to get around and he’d made that clear to Daniel at an early stage. Surprisingly, they found they’d a lot in common, although Garrett couldn’t imagine calling him a friend. Daniel didn’t approve of Garrett’s treatment of the many beautiful witches who adorned the university, but they had a respect for one another almost unheard of in Beltane circles.
With a nod, Daniel was off, and the game restarted.
The wind picked up, lulled again, and came back harder before dropping away altogether. The sleet had long ago downgraded to a drizzle, but it was still dark and gloomy. With air as their element, the Mistrals played it to their advantage, but even with six players, Beltane still seemed to be everywhere at once. Not that the Mistral players weren’t doing a great job. They just didn’t seem to have the same drive. Something was missing. Then Kahale and Henderson, the Amazonian-looking witch who’d missed the first scoring opportunity, were back in form. They ducked and weaved through the Beltanes like falcons soaring through the sky. It seemed only a matter of minutes and Mistral was ahead by two points. Although he was upset about the score, even Garrett couldn’t fault Morrell’s efforts.
He stopped at Daniel’s side, regarded him for a moment, and said the words he never thought he’d say to anyone. “Well done, Morrell. You’re doing your best.”
