The End of Magic by Amber Benson

Author:Amber Benson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2017-05-01T15:22:18+00:00

• • •

Dev wasn’t surprised that the first test of this new, improved version of herself had followed so closely on the heels of saying good-bye to her mother and sisters. What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger, she thought—and she believed this mantra because it had proved true in her case.

As she and Freddy lay in Eleanora’s bed, snuggled up together like two bugs in a rug, Devandra knew she had to reach out to the others. No one had called her, but Freddy had received a text from Arrabelle, letting them know they were in Italy (which was craziness), that Daniela was ill, and they would come as soon as they could manage.

You can’t come back here, ladies, Dev thought, while Freddy’s soft snores tickled the back of her neck. It’s just not safe anymore.

It was heartrending to think the place she’d called home was now an alien thing. No longer would she feel protected. Her house was gone. Her family was gone. The warmth and safety she’d known walking the streets of her beloved neighborhood were gone. There was nothing left for her in Echo Park.

Taking care not to wake Freddy, she wiggled out of his arms and crawled out of the bed. She wore her long strawberry-blond hair loose at night, and it grew so fast these days that it trailed almost to her waist. Her feet protested at the coldness of the floor, but she ignored them and went to Eleanora’s dressing table. Here she found Freddy’s phone and carried it with her out of the bedroom.

The house was silent as a tomb, the air chilly enough to make goose bumps appear on Dev’s exposed arms and throat. She scuttled down the darkened hallway on tiptoe, careful not to turn on any lights as she went. When she reached the living room, she made her way to the couch and settled in, pulling an afghan from its back and bundling up.

“Better,” she said, still shivering. But she could already feel the crocheted afghan doing its job. Warmth was returning again.

She took out the phone and the screen flared to life, the phone vibrating in her hand. She searched through the contacts and selected Arrabelle’s name from the list. She sent her friend a text message:

Don’t come back. We will meet you in another place. Xoxo D

She deleted the text from Freddy’s phone—it was instinctual, there was no logical reason for the move—and then she depressed the power button, putting the phone back to sleep.

She was back in bed five minutes later, Freddy’s phone exactly where he’d left it when he’d gone to bed that night.

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