Spellcaster All-Stars, page 20
The music ends. There’s a brief moment of silence that’s broken by applause from Jan and the stagehands. Malachi and Cleo both look pleased. Zane smiles, too, and stares at me with eyes that appear lit up from within. I think he may have forgotten he’s still holding a wand. I think he might have actually had fun. Something magical unfolded on the stage. We can all feel it.
“Now that’s a show-stopping performance,” Malachi says, sounding pleased. “That will get you into the semifinals, without a doubt.”
“It could end up being the best performance,” Cleo acknowledges.
Malachi looks at her and chuckles. “Nice to hear we’re in agreement, Cleo.”
The smile she flashes him is less hostile. She lifts her head and turns her attention to me and Zane. “All right, that’s all we have time for today. Keep practicing—especially you, Haylee.”
“Yep,” I say.
“You can keep that wand for practice,” Malachi says to Zane. “It’s a fake, anyway.”
Cleo walks across the stage with the click, click, click of her heels and looks at the few crew members seated in the front row of the theater.
“Amber, send in Dominic and Carolina.”
Amber is out of her seat and moving swiftly ahead of Zane and me. We walk side by side. Zane is all grins. He should smile more. It makes him look like a nice guy.
“That was amazing,” he says in disbelief.
“Careful, Zane. You might catch the spellcasting bug.” I chuckle.
Carolina strides in as we head for the doors. She tosses her hair when we pass, nearly whipping Zane in the face. His smile fades and then returns, looking forced.
“Good luck topping us,” he says in grandiose undertones.
Laughing spitefully, Carolina turns around. “You do know I’m paired with your friend, idiot.”
Zane shrugs. “Only one of us can win.”
“And I suppose you think that’s you,” Carolina bites out.
“I am the best,” he states.
Carolina laughs humorlessly. “Wow, and some people think I’m arrogant.”
Dominic walks in and points at Zane’s hand. “What are you doing with a wand, bro?”
“Sticking it back up his ass,” Carolina says.
Dominic’s chuckle is cut short as he glares at Carolina.
“Any day now,” Cleo bellows from the stage. The way her voice booms at us sounds like she used an amplification spell.
Zane wiggles his brows and flashes a smile that’s all teeth. “Well, don’t let us keep you from spending quality time together.”
Dominic groans.
“Right back at you, wizard,” Carolina snaps. She glares at Dominic. “You’d better not mess this up for me.”
“Sure, I’m the one who’s going to mess up magic,” Dominic replies sarcastically.
As soon as they’re out of earshot, Zane leans in and whispers, “Sucks to be them.”
I can’t stop the laugh that bursts through my lips.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Kace isn’t happy, but I need to squeeze in all the practice I can with Zane before lunch break. At least he gives me space, sticking with Tripp and Tracie while Zane and I work on our scenes in a deserted corner of the lobby.
My opening scene is giving me the most trouble. On the plus side, at least I can get it over with before throwing myself into the rest of the performance.
“Think of yourself as the outline in a coloring book,” Zane says. “Then color yourself in starting at your head and working your way down.” He taps the top of my head with his fake wand. When I shoot him a dubious look, he says, “Give it a try.”
“Coloring book Haylee, here we go,” I say wryly.
I start by casting myself into invisibility, then accidentally unspell myself all at once.
“Whoops. Let me try that again.”
“Don’t forget to visualize or ‘manifest your magic’ as my mom likes to say.”
“Vislara seenara head. Vislara seenara neck. Vislara seenara shoulders.”
“It’s working,” Zane says in excitement.
I keep going, chanting the spell and visualizing each part of my body appearing. When I’ve finished, Zane drops his fake wand to applaud me.
“Perfect,” he says.
I laugh. “You’d make a great coach. Team Zane.”
He lifts his chin. “Maybe when I’m too old to model, I’ll have my agent reach out to Jovi.”
“Maybe Zen will retire by then,” I say. “Zane for Zen. Ha, ha.”
“We’re both aging out of our fields,” Zane says.
I look him up and down and roll my eyes. “I’m sure you still have a long and lucrative modeling career ahead of you.”
Zane’s smile is pure delight. “Are you calling me pretty?” After I huff in response, Zane says, “You’re pretty too. We’d make a cute couple, you know.”
Guilt rushes through me when I look across the lobby to where Kace sits with Tracie and Tripp. This conversation is getting too flirty for my liking.
I fold my arms and frown. “Let’s get back to practice.”
“Certainly,” Zane says, taking a step back. “Maybe you should be the one to take Zen’s seat when the old man retires. Then there would be one of every species sitting in a purple chair.”
I smile, relieved to get back to show business. “I might be persuaded to coach a season one day, though there’s plenty of other things I want to do.”
“Like what?” Zane’s eyebrows lift.
“Like make a real difference in the world. Change the laws that are unfair toward zombies. Come up with a better processing system. Rewrite the zombie guidebook. And I wouldn’t mind having my own beauty line.”
“If anyone could do all that, it’s you,” Zane says. “Do you want to try the opening scene again or move on?”
“Let’s keep going.”
We continue to practice while pairs are called into the theater and then return. It’s how I keep track of the hours passing until Kace and Nathaniel leave the lobby, which means we have one more hour until break.
Suhani and Tripp are the only other pair who use this time to practice. Carolina and Oliver hang out on a couch while Tracie and Dominic sit on their own scrolling through their phones.
“Ugh,” I say when I accidentally disappear myself too quickly for the end scene. I was wrong about everything being smooth sailing after the opening. I can’t just “erase” myself little by little at the end. After casting the illusion of decay, I need to crumble away.
“How come I get all the hard stuff? You’re the wizard,” I grumble.
“Easy fix. I’ll do the spell for you,” Zane offers.
I shake my head. “No, thanks. I’m not Carolina.”
Zane nods. “Good point. She should have been disqualified for her levitation performance after hiring Spencer Hall to cast from backstage and make sure she didn’t fall flat on her ass in front of millions of viewers.”
“She did what?” My mouth hangs open. I mean, I’m not entirely surprised, but still. This is outrageous! “Did you tell Jovi?” I demand.
Zane’s trademark sneer returns. “Did I tell on a vampire to another vampire? That would be a no.”
“Jovi’s not the only producer,” I remind him.
“Right. Her werewolf lackeys. Again, pass. I had no proof. It doesn’t really matter. She won’t make it to the Top 3.”
“How can you be so sure?” My eyes widen. Carolina Bellmore really is the worst. First, she cheated to get on the show. Now, she’s cheating to remain in the competition. Who knows how many performances she’s had help with? Is she even capable of magic? She’s like a lip syncher pretending the vocals are her own. It’s awful!
“I told Cleo after I saw Spencer appear backstage after Carolina’s performance. I’m betting he made himself invisible while he used his wand to keep Carolina afloat. Without naming names, Cleo got Jovi, along with the rest of the producers and coaches, on board to spell the stage against outside interference. I was surprised they hadn’t done it sooner. Cleo said it’s because it would interfere with coaching during practice and some guest performances who use a hired caster to add certain effects from the sidelines. Anyway, they started spelling the stage for our live performances only.”
“Jeez, unreal,” I grouse, still processing what a horrible impostor Carolina is.
Vampires think they can get away with anything. Cheating. Crime. Murder. I hate them all so much. Well, not Malachi.
I hang out with the wolves during lunch break. We stand together at one end of a table filled with food and snacks.
Kace fills his plate for the third time. Tripp’s already finished, sipping from a bottle of water while Tracie drinks orange soda. She sets the can down on the table and says, “This sucks balls.”
Kace chews, swallows, and nods. “At least I don’t have to go up against any of you.”
I would love for Tracie to steal votes from Tripp, but I keep that to myself.
After lunch, I sit with Kace on a couch in the lobby. Tripp and Tracie are the first to be called in. I shoot Cameron a quick text update and ask if he and Joni are having a nice visit with his parents.
“So,” Kace says.
I set down my phone and repeat, “So,” with a smile.
“Alone at last,” Kace says.
I look around the lobby, then back at him. “Close enough.”
“Nah, I think we could get closer.” He scoots against my side, his thigh pressing warmly against mine. “That’s better. Are we going to talk about those texts? I meant what I said.”
“So did I. I love you,” I say.
The words are a leap off a cliff, exhilarating and terrifying in equal measures. A rush of warmth spreads through me, a giddy, dizzying thrill wrapping around my ribs. I’ve never said words like this before—not with my heart so wide open, not with every part of me trusting he’ll catch me.
“I love you, Z. Forever.”
He can’t know that what he feels is forever, but it melts my heart all the same.
“I really want to kiss you right now,” Kace says.
I look into his eyes and smile. “Me too, but then our relationship becomes a showmance. I want more than that. And I don’t want the stigma or focus to shift in the eyes of reporters and viewers.”
Kace strokes his wolf neck tattoo. “I hear you, Z. I know why you’re here, and we’re almost to the finish line.” He stretches his arms over his head and leans back with a yawn. “Man, I need a nap.”
“After all that food,” I tease.
Kace lowers his arms and pats his belly. “That’s the beauty of going last—plenty of time to digest.”
“Should I get up so you can lay down?”
“Nah, I’d rather spend time together—or use your lap as a pillow. That would be nice, too.” Kace does just that. I laugh as he settles in on his back with his head in my lap, looking up at me. This looks so showmancy, but the wolves do stuff like this all the time with each other. Friendly friends. Plus, Kace was a good sport all morning. This is my way of making it up to him.
My phone buzzes with a new text.
“You hear back from Cameron yet?” Kace asks from my lap.
“Yeah,” I say as I open the text. “He says that he and Joni are having a good visit with his parents.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah, it is. I’m glad he took time to visit them. I feel like we’ve been hogging him from his family.”
“He’s a grown man with his own life,” Kace says.
“I know. I just understand his parents worry and miss him.”
“You’re sweet, Z.”
“Only to the special men in my life.” I stroke his forehead with gentle fingers.
“As long as that doesn’t include Zane or Malachi, I’m good.”
My hand stills on his forehead. I huff. “There are benefits to befriending other species, you know. You can learn some valuable information.”
Kace smiles up at me with glittering eyes. “You been spying, girl?”
“No,” I say. “Information gathering.”
“Is that what they’re calling it these days?” Kace teases. “Tell me more. I want to know all the goss.”
“Just remember, you wouldn’t know any of this if I wasn’t friends with a wizard.”
Kace’s long-suffering sigh makes me laugh. I grab my wand and cast a silencing bubble around us before telling him what I learned about Carolina’s underhanded ways.
Kace sits up angrily. “She should be kicked off the show.”
“Agreed, but Zane has no proof.”
Kace shakes his head. “This is some fucked-up fanger bullshit.”
“He also swears that he and his friends had nothing to do with poisoning you and the other wolves. I believe him.”
Kace grips the back of his neck and frowns, staring at the carpet in deep concentration. “I don’t know what to believe, Z.”
“Tripp’s the only one who didn’t get sick,” I remind him.
“Nah.” Kace shakes his head. “It wasn’t him.”
“How do you know?”
“I just know.”
So, we’re back to this.
“Because he’s a wolf?” I ask moodily.
Kace sits back and looks at me. “I’ve dealt with a lot of lowlifes, and Tripp Peters isn’t one of them. You need to let it go.”
“Fine,” I say.
But if it wasn’t Tripp, and it wasn’t the wizards, that leaves the vampires. I look at Carolina, who stands huddled with Oliver laughing at something on her phone. She’s a cheat, but I think her focus has been on keeping herself in the competition. Oliver probably thinks he’s above such antics. My gaze swings to Suhani, who seems to assess Carolina from a chair near the other two vampires. Could her master have arranged for the wolves to be poisoned?
I feel like I’ll never find out the truth on this one, and it’s frustrating as hell.
Tripp and Tracie join Kace and me once they finish. We learn from them that the next pairings will all be performing to a different color in a song title and that the “Outshine” performance is quite literal because we’re going full-on sparkle and shine.
“They gave us orange, or rather, gold,” Tracie says.
“Our song is ‘Golden’ by Harry Styles,” Tripp supplies.
“What do you want to bet they’ll give me black?” Kace jokes.
“They’re planning to dress us all up in sequins and sparkles and shit,” Tracie says.
“Sounds fun.” I grin.
When Oliver and I are called in for our turn, it’s only Malachi coaching us this time.
“I’m telling you the same thing I told Carolina and Suhani. Just because you’re going up against one another doesn’t mean one of you will go home. The votes will be split for this performance, but that’s true for everyone. If contestants from other pairings don’t secure as many votes during Outshine, you could both make it to the semifinals. Our entire team could, which is what I want to see. So, let’s get started. Your color is purple. You will be performing to ‘Lavender Haze’ by Taylor Swift.”
Our hour goes by in a, well, haze, ending with the appearance of Brody and an even more impatient-looking Cleo. Like Jovi warned, it’s been a long day. They have the last coaching session with Kace and Dominic.
Oliver leaves as soon as we’re dismissed. I follow Malachi backstage and clear my throat. He turns and regards me with tired eyes.
“I just want to know that I can perform without repercussions,” I say, folding my arms to hold myself together.
Malachi glances left, then right, before stepping closer and dropping his voice. “You don’t have to worry.”
I let out a dry laugh. “Ha. That will be the day.”
Malachi looks upwards in exasperation. “You know what I mean.”
“I’d like to know more,” I say. “Did they get reassigned?”
“No.”
My stomach knots. “Please don’t tell me Serafina is the new master of her clan.”
Malachi’s jaw tightens. His gaze meets mine—and that’s all the answer I need.
“Well?” I demand.
“You told me not to tell you,” he says.
My voice spikes. “What? That’s not fair! What kind of sick world do we live in?”
Malachi doesn’t flinch. “You already know the answer to that question,” he says softly, like he regrets it. “But at least she and your uncle now understand, without a doubt, not to interfere in the show and to leave you alone.”
“Until the show’s over,” I mutter, eyes dropping to the floor. I barely hear my own voice, but Malachi does.
“I know how messed up this is,” he says. “So I hit her where it hurts. My clan helped me put a freeze on their assets. Everything Serafina needs to secure her role as master is locked tight. She’s lost the East River Vespers their revenue and their stockpiles. That will keep your aunt occupied watching her back. The only thing vampires hate more than hunger is looking weak.”
My anger doesn’t vanish, but it settles into something colder. At least Serafina won’t walk away unscathed while I figure out a fitting end for her.
“Thanks,” I say.
Malachi offers a tight nod. “My pleasure. Good night, Haylee.”
“Night, Coach.”
I step into the lobby and sink onto a sofa to wait for Kace. I bury the information about Serafina somewhere deep, a bone I’ll dig up when the time is right.
When Kace finally walks in, his smile lights up my frozen heart like a spark catching fire. That smile makes every minute I’ve waited—and every bit of fury I’ve buried—worth it.
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