Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus Betrayal Read online

  Lily nodded politely as Mrs. Humphrey got up off the sofa to offer a well-manicured hand. The woman was dressed in a fashionable skirt suit the same color as her sofa, almost as if she, too, were part of the decoration.

  “A pleasure, I am sure, Miss Singer,” the woman said in a honey-sweet accent—what Lily’s mother would have called a “magnolia drawl.” It was as perfect as the rest of the woman, and almost intimidating in its refined ease. “Please do have a seat. Would you like anythin’? Tea? Coffee? Water?”

  “Tea would be wonderful, thank you.”

  Mrs. Humphrey smiled and gestured to an armchair, inviting Lily to sit, then went to the couch’s end table, where a green pitcher and several glasses rested on a silver tray. As the woman poured rich, amber-colored liquid into a glass filled with ice, Lily resisted the urge to sigh. When “tea” had been mentioned, she had briefly imagined a soothing cup of Earl Grey. But this was the South. Even in the dead of winter, they served sweet tea.

  Despite Lily’s negative view of the woman based on Seth’s woes, she couldn’t fault Mrs. Humphrey’s manners—though the lady’s extreme obsession with perfection and control reminded her uneasily of her own grandmother, Ursula LeFay.

  “Here you are, Miss Singer. Now please, have a seat.”

  Once they were both seated, Madam Barrington took up the conversation once again. “Mrs. Humphrey called me to ask for advice regarding her son’s magical education. Understandably, she is nervous at the idea of his learning magic. He, however, has his heart set on it, and thus we are at an impasse. I thought speaking to you might help her better understand the realities of a magical education.”

  “I see.” Lily meant to say more, but didn’t know where to start. She desperately wanted to help this family avoid the years of pain her own kin had gone through, but her mind had predictably frozen up under the pressure. What if she said the wrong thing and made it worse?

  Before anxiety could get the better of her, she took a firm grip on her glass of sweet tea and brought it to her lips for a drink, using the delay to compose herself as she mentally cursed her social awkwardness. She just had to stay calm and stick to the facts.

  “Mrs. Humphrey,” she tried again. “I completely understand your concerns about safety. Magic is not a toy and should be treated with care and respect at all times. But it is also an important tool, and a part of those who are born to it. I can assure you from personal experience that Madam Barrington is the best magic instructor in all of Georgia, quite possibly on the entire East Coast. She will take the utmost care in your son’s education.”

  As Lily spoke she noticed that, while Mrs. Humphrey’s face remained calm and polite, her hands were twisting and fretting at a handkerchief in her lap. At the mention of magic, something tightened around the woman’s eyes, and Lily guessed her hostess wasn’t nearly as calm as she was attempting to portray.

  “That’s all wonderful, I am sure, Miss Singer. But it could be as safe as pickin’ strawberries in summertime and I still wouldn’t see the sense in it. It’s—” she stopped, glancing between them and seeming to reconsider her choice in words. “It ain’t natural. My boy needs a better future than fiddlin’ around with strange forces that have no real use in our modern world. He ought to be a lawyer, or a doctor. Somethin’ respectable. His little obsession with magic is just plain childish, and I won’t have it in my house. As long as he’s my son, I mean to look out for him, and the last thing he needs right now is to be playin’ around at bein’ a…well bein’ like you. He should be headed to Harvard next year, but he ain’t even interested! I had hoped Ms. Barrington could talk some sense into him, but she seems to think I should hear you out.”

  Lily shot her mentor a glance, hoping her expression looked politely surprised rather than borderline panicked like she felt inside. Obviously, a simple vote of confidence from a former student was not what Madam Barrington had envisioned when she had asked Lily to “speak” to Mrs. Humphrey. But what more did her mentor want her to say? The elderly woman responded to Lily’s desperate look with only a small nod, as if she had every confidence Lily could handle the situation.

  Oh dear.

  Forcing down her irrational panic, Lily wracked her brain. While her own situation had been similar, it had possessed the added element of the threat from her father, which had been her mother’s whole reason for hiding her magical heritage. Seth, thank heavens, didn’t have the same problem. He only had to worry about his mother’s ire and controlling nature. But how could Lily change the mind of someone who already “knew” they were right?

  “Mrs. Humphrey,” she began after an uncomfortably long silence. “Do you love your son?”

  A crease formed across the woman’s perfect brow. “Heavens to Betsy, of course I do! What a question to ask of a mother. Everythin’ I do, I do for him. If only he would see that.”

  “I’m sure he knows you love him, Mrs. Humphrey. But he is also no longer a child, and right now you are asking him to choose between you and his heart.”

  “What utter nonsense. He’s still a boy and hasn’t a clue what’s good for him. I am only askin’ him to trust me. That’s hardly a difficult request.”

  Lily nodded. “My mother asked that of me once…” She left her thought unfinished, and soon enough, Mrs. Humphrey took the bait.

  “And? What happened?”

  “Well, I chose not to trust her. I left and completely cut myself off from my family. By the time we had reconciled seven years later, we had both suffered a great deal, and had both learned something important.”

  Mrs. Humphrey bit her lip. Lily suspected it was an unconscious gesture, since it ruined her picture-perfect facade of poise and control. Rather than force the proud woman to ask what it was they had learned, Lily continued in a calm, level voice.

  “I learned that mothers really do have their children’s best interests at heart when they ask us to trust them, even if a mother’s own insecurities and problems often muddy the issue. My mother learned that, eventually, children grow up. And if you don’t treat your child as the adult you hope they’ll grow to be, then you will lose the privilege of their trust.”

  For a long, long moment, no one spoke. Mrs. Humphrey’s gaze had dropped from Lily’s face and was now fixed on her own hands, which lay motionless in her lap.

  Lily’s body felt limp, as if the words she had spoken had taken physical effort to force out. Her heart hammered in her chest and she dreaded opening her mouth again, but knew she had to drive the point home. “Lawyers and doctors make vital decisions every day that affect the lives of the people who trust them. How can you expect your son to grow into such responsibility if you won’t even trust him to make a decision about what he would like to study? I am a wizard, and I have a college degree and a respectable career at an honored institution. Studying magic will not keep your son from a normal education, it will actually supplement it.

  “In reality, your son doesn’t want to be a wizard—he already is one. He simply lacks the proper tools to use the power he was born with in a safe and responsible way. That is what my mother found so hard to accept. She didn’t understand that avoiding magic didn’t make me safe, it made me ignorant and unprepared. I only hope you can make a different decision and avoid the pain and heartache that my family suffered for many years.”

  Palms sweaty and heart racing, Lily fell silent, hoping her little speech would be enough. The atmosphere in the room was heavy, and she forced herself not to fidget by taking another sip of her entirely-too-sweet sweet tea. She wondered what things might have been like if someone had sat down like this with herself and her mother seven years ago. It might not have changed her decision to leave, but it certainly could have convinced her to come back sooner.

  “Mrs. Humphrey,” Madam Barrington said into the silence, her voice more gentle than usual. “It is not just a matter of what the boy wishes to study. You are right, he is still only a child, even if he is taking his first steps into adulthood. He nee
ds to be equipped with the wisdom and discipline to use his talents for good, instead of harm. Abilities such as these do not disappear when ignored, they simply lie in wait, often to re-emerge later in life. Take this opportunity, now, to see him properly trained, so that he will not come to grief down the road. Normally, I begin training my mentees at a young age, to better instill in them the proper principles of patience and control. But Miss Singer is an excellent example of a student who began later in life, and she has proven to be an accomplished wizard, more competent even than most of her peers. In addition, she completed all her studies in conjunction with a demanding liberal arts program, and still graduated with honors.”

  Such lavish praise from Lily’s normally taciturn mentor made her blush with pleasure. Mrs. Humphrey’s expression had turned thoughtful, and Lily began to hope that they were getting through. It seemed the woman was more swayed by the knowledge that magic would not disrupt Seth’s mundane education than by their argument that she should treat her son like an adult. Still, progress was progress.

  “Very well,” Mrs. Humphrey said finally, then stood, as if she’d agreed to a business deal and was now prepared to shake hands on it. Instead of extending a hand, however, she strode to the doors of the drawing room and threw them wide with a cry of “Seth! Come here, darlin’,” then returned to her perch on the cream-colored couch.

  The boy entered the room a moment later with apprehension written all over his face, shoulders hunched like he was readying for a fight. He did not meet his mother’s eyes as he came to stand before her, but instead kept glancing at his wizard guests.

  “Seth, dear, Miss Singer and Ms. Barrington were tellin’ me all about wizard classes and how it needn’t interfere with your schoolin’. While I had my heart set on Harvard, I suppose Emory would do fine, if you had to settle. I’m willin’ to hire Ms. Barrington as your tutor, provided you make school your priority and finish your senior year with top grades. If your…extracurricular activities start affectin’ your performance at school, I won’t hear another word of this magic nonsense, do you understand me?”

  “Y-yes, ma’am,” Seth said. During his mother’s speech, his head had come up and his eyes had grown wider and wider in shock that soon turned to barely contained glee.

  “Now, you had better mind your manners and do exactly as Ms. Barrington says. If I hear of any backtalk or foolishness, it’s off to Harvard with you.”

  “Oh, I will. I promise.”

  “And don’t think I’ve forgotten your little temper tantrum from earlier. You are still grounded for a week, and I had better see an improvement in that attitude if you expect to see your phone and keys again.”

  “Uh, yeah, sure.”

  At this point, Lily was certain Seth was barely listening to his mother, his eyes having swung toward Madam Barrington, eager anticipation in every line of his body. Lily thought she saw a bit of crinkle around her mentor’s eyes, but it was gone in an instant as the regal woman rose from her seat, cane gripped firmly in one bony hand. Despite her age, she still stood tall, and fixed the excited young man with a hard stare.

  “Before I agree to take you on as my student, Mr. Humphrey, I must be certain that you understand the gravity of this matter. The instruction of magic is a serious business, to be undertaken with the utmost care. I shall expect you to comport yourself as a responsible adult in all matters, and I require your word that you will trust my decisions as your teacher and never skip ahead or attempt spells for which you have not been approved. This is not only to protect you, but to safeguard those around you. Do you agree, Mr. Humphrey?”

  Lily hid a smile, remembering a time nearly six years ago when she had received a similar speech. She had been both exhilarated and terrified, and by the look on Seth’s face, he was experiencing the exact same mix of feelings.

  “Yes, ma’am. I promise.”

  “Very well.” Madam Barrington nodded, then paused, as if noticing something for the first time. “Young man, what is that on your finger?”

  Seth glanced down at his hand, then hid it self consciously behind his back. “Uhh, nothing. Just something someone gave me.”

  Lily, who had just caught sight of the intricately carved silver band on Seth’s middle finger instantly recognized it. It had been Sebastian’s when Lily had first met the witch. He had called it his “Ring of Cacophony” for its ability to silence any sound its wearer might make. Sebastian had taken pity on Seth after their fateful encounter and had given him the ring so the boy could at least practice memorizing his Enkinim on the sly while he waited to come of age. Since then, Lily had learned how Sebastian had suffered in his own childhood, wishing to study a magic that his aunt Barrington had forbade, and so she knew that his gift of the ring had been a reaction to his past. She also knew it was probably best if Seth were not questioned about the nature of his ring in front of his mother. She cleared her throat. “Madam Barrington, if you recall I have an urgent matter I needed to discuss with you. Might we be going?”

  Her mentor gave her a quizzical stare, but at Lily’s raised eyebrows she seemed to accept the interruption, turning finally to Mrs. Humphrey. “I shall be in contact to arrange the details of Mr. Humphrey’s schedule. Thank you for your time, Mrs. Humphrey. I bid you good day.”

  Their hostess led the way out to the hall while Lily held back to walk beside Seth, who was nearly vibrating with excitement.

  “Good luck,” she murmured to him, taking care his mother wouldn’t hear.

  “Oh my gosh, thank you. Thank you so much. I don’t know what you said to her, but it must have been brilliant.”

  Lily ducked her head, trying to hide the blush she felt heating her cheeks. “It was nothing, really. But please do promise me that you will listen to your mother. I know she seems…overbearing at times. But she does love you, and wants you to have a future full of opportunity.”

  “Um, yeah, I guess. She sure does have a weird way of showing it, though.”

  “They do the best they can,” Lily said with a sad smile, thinking of her own mother and the hard decisions John Faust had forced on them both. “Just give her a chance, and…remember that family is forever. Even broken and imperfect, something that permanent is worth fighting for.”

  “I will,” Seth promised, and Lily hurried forward, hoping he hadn’t seen the glint of tears in her eyes.

  When they finally made it back to Madam Barrington’s house, Freda and Jamie met them at the door with all the exuberance and nosiness of true southerners. As much as Lily loved her family, however, she deflected them with mumbled apologies, insisting she and her mentor had important matters to discuss that could not wait. In all honesty, they probably could have waited. But after Sebastian last night, and Richard today, and then Mrs. Humphrey, Lily felt too emotionally drained to deal with her family at that moment. The past twenty-four hours had all but exhausted her capacity for human interaction, and she still needed to discuss Richard’s troubling news with Madam Barrington. Of course, she was hardly immune to the look of disappointment on her little brother’s face, so with a bit of quick thinking she assigned Sir Kipling to keep him entertained while she retreated to the sun room with Madam Barrington and a tray of hastily brewed tea. Hopefully the two miscreants would keep each other occupied and give her some peace.

  Once safely ensconced in the sun room with a cup of steaming tea, Lily was able to relax and describe the details of Richard’s visit. Oddly, the old wizard seemed more worried about Sebastian than the demonic activity itself based on her thinned lips and deep exhale through her nose when Lily mentioned his absurd insistence on working alone. Not that her mentor ever showed much in the way of worry, but things had always been rather sensitive around the topic of her great-grandnephew. For once, Lily was not left to wonder why.

  “I know I have shared little of my nephew’s past,” Madam Barrington began as Lily poured them each another cup of tea. “Partially out of respect for his privacy and partially out of my own regret.”
She sighed deeply, then paused. “I know the two of you have grown…close. Has he spoken of his youth at all?”

  Lily blushed and looked down at her tea, not missing Madam Barrington’s delicate choice of words. She wondered whether her mentor even approved of their relationship—if that was what one could call a few months of awkward dates, in any case. “In England, when we went to…well, when we were in Oxford, he did speak of it. Briefly.”

  Madam Barrington nodded, eyes very grave. “I know little factual detail of his doings after he left my care. Yet word travels among those who desire to stay informed within the magical world, and word of his…exploits did, occasionally, reach my ears. What I do know is that ever since his parents’ death he has been a very troubled boy—man,” she amended, shaking her head. “His foolish dabbling in witchcraft only compounded his struggles. There was a time in the year or two after he turned eighteen that he had some, shall we say, altercations with witches. Possibly with the same ones who had originally entangled him in their evil web. I only ever heard of the fallout, but there was one witch in particular, a man who called himself Roger Darthe—no doubt a nom de guerre—who seemed to have developed a particular dislike of my nephew. Not that I blame him. Sebastian is a trying soul to tolerate even at the best of times.”

  Lily smiled into her tea, memories of her friend’s many antics coming easily to mind. She looked up, though, at a heavy sigh from her mentor, who continued in a more subdued tone.

  “There was a time, long, long ago, when I was more…rigid in my stance against tolerating the presence of witches.” Madam Barrington paused, her halting speech as distracted as the distant look in her eyes, then she shook her head. “But over the decades I became less vigilant about keeping my eye on the worrisome individuals in the area. It was not until Thomas and Alison died and Sebastian became involved in dangerous witchcraft that my concern was again aroused and I made an effort to remain informed. I had not heard of Mr. Darthe before that point, and since then his movements have been hard to track. He is an exceptionally cautious and wily individual, which is rare among witches.