The following is an excerpt from an upcoming release, Genevieve Kingston and the Cursed Locket. To see more from this novel, click here.
*This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.*
Directly to my right, an alarm clock buzzed and vibrated the night stand. I opened my eyes, but moved slowly as I waved a hand over the machine, turning it off without even putting a finger on it. The horrid noise stopped and I pulled my pillow over my face. Another glorious school day. At least it was nearly summer vacation.
Footsteps approached my room. The door flung open, but no one stood there. But I didn’t need Grandma’s special glasses to decipher who it was. My cousin’s invisible hands ripped the covers off of me and I groaned at him.
“Isaac, come on! I am awake,” I complained as I reached for the covers. In the blink of an eye, my cousin stood there giving me a toothy grin. His hair was still disheveled as he, too, had just woken up for the day.
More footsteps arrived at my door, except this time I could see Andie. She shared Isaac’s same dark hair and forest eyes, but had a small scar over her right eye she’d had since we were kids.
“Genevieve, if you don’t hurry, all of Mom’s cooking will be gone,” Andie teased, turning on her heels before she headed to the bathroom. Isaac rushed after her, shouting in protest as Andie did as she usually did: she had teleported to the bathroom, so effortlessly that Isaac had no way of actually winning a race with her.
Finally climbing out of bed, I checked the state of my own ratty hair before taking a comb to it and working through the knots, one by one. I wished I had my mother’s hair, for she had thin, straight hair. On the other hand, I was stuck with my father’s mess of curls that never seemed to sit right, no matter what tricks I tried. Not even a simple spell could cure them, yet. I was just beginning to learn glamour spells.
I slipped into the first clothes I could find: a pair of black skinny jeans and my old Chicago Cubs t-shirt, then headed out the door of my bedroom. Stopping just short of the door, I tucked my wand into my pocket, letting it lazily stick out until I would be able to put my boots on and hide it for the day. Mom and Aunt Elaine hated us to carry them around, but after the last Perdita arrival in town in the fall, I wanted to be prepared in case they invaded school again and terrified all the mortals.
The smell of bacon and eggs fled from the kitchen into the foyer as I descended the stairs. Our house was lined with portraits of old relatives of ours: great-great-grandparents, Grandpa Reginald, and others, including my own father, who was tucked away in the corner with my sister and grandparents. Most days I tried to avoid his portrait, for the sight of him brought up nothing but terrible memories from stories I had heard about his more recent years.
“Good morning, sweetie,” Mom called. Glancing into the kitchen, Mom was swiping butter and jam onto toast, while Aunt Elaine used her wand to let breakfast cook itself. As a child, I was always fascinated by how easy she made it look. That is, until she led casting club one evening and taught us how to do everything. Then I realized it was really that easy to cook with magic.
“How did you sleep?” Aunt Elaine asked as she guided a plate full of food over to my spot at the table. It hovered for a brief moment before gently placing itself in front of me. A fork and knife flew over, landing in my own hands. Grinning, I looked at Aunt Elaine and Mom.
“I slept okay,” I told them, taking my first bite and growing quiet. They went back to cooking and cleaning. There was more movement upstairs, and then a soft whoosh and Aunt Elaine jumped.
“Goodness, Andromeda Margaret! How many times do I have to tell you not to do that to me?” Aunt Elaine took her spatula in her hands and swatted it playfully at my cousin, who merely laughed and took her place next to me, grinning as she dug right into the first meal of the day.
“What exams do you guys have today?” Mom asked, joining us at the table with a plate full of toast. Andie was too into her breakfast to answer.
“Just math and biology,” I told her grimly, thinking of the questions I would have to answer and all the answers I most likely would not know. Not that school mattered. If things in our world were back to the way they should be, I would never even have to step foot in Dade Junior High.
“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Mom said to me as she took some toast. Aunt Elaine helped the last plate find its way to the table before sitting next to my mom and checking the giant grandfather clock in the kitchen. It was only seven thirty, as usual.
“Well, if you even get half the questions right,” Aunt Elaine began with a smirk, “you will do far better than I ever did. I don’t understand any of those subjects, honestly. And if things work themselves out, you won’t have to worry about high school, my dear.”
“Really?” Andie spoke through a mouthful of food. Aunt Elaine sent her a judging look before Andie wiped her mouth and swallowed. “You mean…Merlin’s? Will it really open up again?”
“That’s what they’re saying. The Nigaris told me when I went to listen to the Liberita broadcast. They are close to finding Fawkes,” Aunt Elaine announced. I felt a slight emptiness in my stomach at the mention of the name. Fawkes. He had a reputation in the magical community. Specifically among the Perdita.
“And what about Armando?” Mom chirped up, growing more serious at the sudden change in conversation topic. Aunt Elaine gave her a look, but it wasn’t a very hopeful look. I could feel the tension in the room rise.
“I don’t know. Word is he’s still with Fawkes. I don’t know what will become of him when they find either of them,” Aunt Elaine said sullenly. She looked down to her plate and let out a nice long sigh. Then she glanced back up at Andie and I, then to the stairs. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go see what Isaac has gotten into this time.”
Aunt Elaine stood up and left the table. We all sat quietly, eating and thinking. Mom was the most anxious of us all. She’d told me the story. Well, what she knew anyways. And that was close to nothing, as my father barely told her a thing about what even had happened. No one had talked to my father in thirteen years, since the last day he stepped foot in this house.
“You guys should head to school,” Mom announced after some time, taking our plates in her hands after we put our silverware down. Both Andie and I exchanged a look before standing up. Lugging our book bags over our shoulders, Isaac emerged from the foyer with Aunt Elaine, who looked less than pleased. Almost as annoyed as she did when Andie teleported to breakfast just minutes ago.
“I’ve told you numerous times not to go through the attic,” Aunt Elaine reminded him, but Isaac shrugged off her request. He took two slices of toast with strawberry jam and smashed them together, bringing the sandwich to his mouth.
“It won’t happen again,” Isaac said half-heartedly, which made Aunt Elaine narrow her eyes even more. Just then, a soft gust of wind entered the room. A navy cloud of smoke came from the chimney all the way into the kitchen, swirling around and disappearing before Grandma stood there, still in the same clothes that I saw her in last night when we ate dinner.
“Mom,” Aunt Elaine greeted her, about as stunned as I was to see her still wearing last night’s clothes. “I thought you’d come and gone already.”
“Oh heavens no,” Grandma said, waving her hand to the breakfast table, retrieving her own toast with magic. She took a bite and hummed in satisfaction, closing her eyes for a brief moment. Then she opened them and glanced at Aunt Elaine. “It was a long night with the team. Even Edmund is still out there.”
“When’s Dad coming home?” Isaac interjected, forgetting about his reprimanding about as much as everyone else already had. Grandma grimaced and finished her toast off, pulling some of her long graying hair from her face. Mom, silent as a mouse, still stood scrubbing away, probably deep in her worries over Dad again.
“Soon. But for now, you need to go to school. Be normal children,” Grandma urged, putting her arm around the three of us. I rolled my eyes, thinking how silly the request was. Be normal. Yeah, okay. Like it’s that easy.
We entered the foyer and slipped into our shoes. I tucked my wand tightly into my boot, out of sight, just in case something happened. Lately, nothing had happened, but it had only been a few months since the Perdita showed up just outside of my P.E. class and demanded to interrogate me, again. I didn’t want to be unguarded this time.
“See you later,” Andie told the adults as we slipped out into the warm spring air. Mom came rushing out of the kitchen holding a brown lunch bag.
“Hold on! I made you vegetable lasagna for lunch,” Mom told me as she thrust the bag into my arm before I could protest. Grinning, I pressed a kiss to her cheek and joined my cousins outside.
“Love you,” I told her, so routinely but always meaning it wholeheartedly. Mom beamed and waved as I shut the door behind us. Isaac and Andie were silent as we turned on Boyston Lane, heading into the forest preserve. It was the long route to school, but we didn’t take it because we wanted to walk for thirty minutes instead of fifteen.
“Ready?” Andie asked, holding out her hand. I nodded, glancing over to Isaac, who still hadn’t combed his hair and gave us a firm look. We locked hands and suddenly, the wind shipped so strongly around us that I thought I was going to vomit. Then, in a millisecond, I opened my eyes again and we stood outside of the forest preserve, absolutely alone, staring at Dade Junior High School in front of us.
“Well, see you at three?” Isaac asked as he patted my back. I nodded, stepping forward while my cousins turned to the right down the sidewalk.
“Have fun!” Andie cheered as she turned to her twin brother, entering conversation and already forgetting that I existed. Taking a deep breath, I checked my phone in my pocket. It was only quarter to eight, and Oliver would be waiting for me.
Ahead of me, I spotted a boy with tanned skin and narrow eyes that hid behind tortoise shell glasses. He saw me and grinned.
“Kingston,” Thomas Nigari shouted to me as I crossed the street. “Are you coming tonight?”
“Of course,” I told him, coming up to the other sidewalk and walking in step with him. Thomas smiled so wide his dimples pressed into his cheeks. “Are you?”
“Duh,” Thomas retorted, chuckling as we came to the giant front doors of the brick school. “I know I’ll struggle, but you’ll be a natural.”
“Yeah, well, I still need practice, you know,” I told him, thinking of tonight’s topic: transformations. Every witch and wizard could do it, with practice, but I was the lucky one out of our casting club. All thanks to Dad, the man I’d never met.
“What do you need to practice?” A boy’s voice nearly startled us from behind. Thomas and I turned, slightly spooked, but relieved when we met Oliver’s curious eyes and freckled face.
“Oh, I am going to do terribly on the algebra test today. Did you study?” I asked him, lying blatantly even though I knew that math was something I’d spent the last week studying for. Oliver shrugged and stepped between Thomas and I. Thomas gave me a look but focused on Oliver after I didn’t show any response.
“I did, but I still feel worried about it. Should we get some extra studying in?” I nodded, gladly ready to take some assistance from Oliver, who was the biggest worry wart I knew, but also seemingly the best math student in our year. We stepped into the giant double doors of the school, putting the outside world behind us, and heading for the library, just like every other day in mortal school.
