Seriously Shifted by Tina Connolly

Author:Tina Connolly
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781466893221
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

9

Who Malkin Had

I jumped up, fanny pack in hand. But I was far too late. Whatever the spell was, it had already been cast.

Devon opened his mouth to sing the first line. “She’s a cool stick of butter—”

But on the word cool his voice broke, suddenly and horribly. It skidded up in the air and then went silent, leaving him gaping, like a fish.

There was giggling from the audience and his ears flushed red. Then he grinned, trying to make it a joke on himself, trying to be on the inside of the laughter. He tossed his hair back and did a goofy lion roar that drew applause and whoops while the rest of the band looped that section of music back to the beginning.

He opened his mouth again—and this time nothing came out. Zilch. Zip.

The band played a few more measures, and then, when it became clear that no singing was going to occur, petered out, one by one.

Devon croaked into the microphone, “I’m sorry—” It broke off in a cough and he turned away, coughing more.

The drummer stepped over the cords on stage and took the mic from Devon. “Sincerest apologies to all you party animals out there,” she said. “Our esteemed singer seems to have something stuck in his throat.”

More laughter. Nnenna rolled her eyes and shouted, “Are you ready to rock?” into the mic.

Whoops and cheers.

She eyed Devon. He waved a hand in dismissal at her, still coughing.

“We’re gonna take five, girls and boys,” said Nnenna. She looked up at the judges for confirmation. They seemed to be amused by her.

They whispered something, and then one of them said, “We had a cancellation at four. You can return in that slot.”

“If your voice is feeling better,” chirped the choir director. “We don’t want strain.”

“No strain,” said Nnenna. “Got it.” She looked at doubled-over Devon for confirmation, and he gave them a thumbs-up. “Peace out,” she said, and put the mic back in the stand.

The band began to gather their things. As much as I wanted to go give Devon a hug, I made myself follow up on my Malkin sighting. She had disappeared in the confusion, of course. But maybe she was still nearby. I ran across the front of the auditorium, up and into the wings. Not there. Out the back door of the stage. The parking lot was half full, and I ran down the main lane, searching to see if she was hiding behind any of the cars. It was hopeless. She was a witch. She could be anywhere.

I went back to the auditorium. The next band was moving onto the stage, chattering, adrenalized by the sudden change of plans. Likewise, Devon was too wound up to sit down. He was pacing at the back of the house, drinking water. His band was setting down their gear a few rows away from him. The house lights were down and it was dim back there, lit only by the aisle lighting, and the ambient light from the judges’ table.

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