Magic's Mark

Chapter 18

I twisted and turned in the bed, staring up at the ceiling as the light of dawn pushed its way in. Go on with every day life. I rolled over and stared into the wall. How could Taylor even suggest that? Stay away from west London and don't go anywhere near the royal court. I reached over to grab my phone, annoyed at Taylor's words that were bouncing through my mind. At every turn I seemed to sink further into the magical world and now when the king was about to drop dead at any moment, he tells me to get on with my life. Aaron might tell the other warlock's what I am? A knot of worry tightened in my stomach as I swiped across my apps, in the warm glow of the screen I tapped my way to Twitter. My finger scrolled down but my eyes were not registering any of the tweets, something at the back of my mind keep pulling for my attention. I pushed myself out of bed forcefully. Enough of this.

My fingers locked tightly around my phone, I softly walked over to the kitchen. Even though it was a weekday it was far too early for Matthew to be up. My eyes scanned the kitchen for a moment, locking on the kettle as I settled on my decision. A couple of cups of coffee and some toast might be a good idea. There was no way I was going to get anymore sleep, so I might as well get an early start.

I pushed the last edge of the toast around the plate with my index finger. Go back to every day life. Stay away from West London. At least until the new king has been crowned. I felt helplessness well up within me. I hadn't asked for any of this. I never even entertained the thought that magic was real. Once I found out, I think I took it well. I did freak out but not much. I went with it. I learned about it, I thought I could have it under control somehow. But now... My body shivered as I thought of all those people in the grand hall of the court. If they ever found out what I am, they will hunt me until I'm caught. The flashing light of a notification on my phone screen distracted me, I swiped through to my messages,

"I have your things. My father got them back pretty quickly. No one knows what you are."

Taylor's message filled me with a sense of relief. I put my phone down and took another sip of my coffee. They don't know what I am. And if they find out... I am a Vortex after all. Surely I can figure out how to suck the magic out of all of them.

"What are you smiling about?" Matthew's sleepy voice cut through the silence of the kitchen.

"Nothing," I replied maybe a little bit too quickly.

He poured himself some coffee from the pot and shot me a look. It was a look that I had seen before, the one that told me he didn't believe a word I was saying.

He pulled out the bread from the bread bin and threw me another look over his shoulder "So you are up early today?"

"I couldn't sleep," I countered and took another sip of coffee from my mug.

He pushed down two slices of bread into the toaster before turning around to study me.

He took a deep breath, "I wanted to talk to you..."

I raised my eyebrows and took another sip of coffee.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in ages and I am starting to get worried. I've felt almost as if you've been hiding away lately."

"What do you mean?" instantly I felt defensive.

He continued in a calm voice, "I know you are working on becoming a photographer..."

"I am working as a photographer," I cut in, correcting him.

He shrugged his shoulders gently as if to indicated he didn't want a fight, pausing for a moment and taking a sip of the coffee.