Page 81 of Dead Rockstar

“Stormy.” Lee's voice had lowered and sounded weird. “How dumb can you be?”

I bristled. “What are you talking about?”

“Guthrie lives on Jekyll Island.” There was a pause. “You seriously haven’t figured that out?”

I sat there in shocked silence, unable to speak. I had seen the area code right there on my phone but when I'd answered… Lee’s phone was registered in southern Georgia. I’d met him at the Brunswick Farmers Market. He’d snooped around my house so easily because he lived nearby.

With his father.

Guthrie.

“Stormy?”

I stammered. “But your mother said she didn’t know-”

“She doesn’t. She doesn’t want to know where he is; she’s happier in ignorance, so I’ve never told her,” he said. “But you should know the truth.”

“All this time he's been there?” I was dumbfounded. “On Jekyll?”

“Yes.”

“But...” I stammered. “Phillip and I drove all the way to Boston to find him! You knew where we were going and why! You let us go on a wild goose chase knowing all the while that he was back where we started?” My heart began to pound. “All that talk about getting back to Jekyll because I was safer there – you lied!”

“I had orders,” he said.

“You lied,” I repeated, desperate. “Or you’re lying now.”

“Who do you think hired Tess? How else would Guthrie know him if he didn’t live nearby?” Lee argued. “Why do you think you of all people could tap into the spell? Did you think all of that was a coincidence? No, it's because of where you're from – your proximity to Guthrie.” I noticed he didn't call him Dad. “You’ve never understood the scope of this. I tried to warn you…he’s nearer to you than you could ever realize.”

“No,” I said, angry. This was supposed to all be finally over. “No.”

Lee went on as if I hadn't spoken. “When Ma finally kicked him out for good, years ago, Guthrie went to live near his sister in South Georgia, my aunt. He’s always wanted Mom’s magic. She told him she’d hex him if he so much as came near her again. This thing with Phillip and the spell has been a bone of contention between them for over twenty years. So Guthrie has been trying to find other ways to tap into the magic all this time. He’ll use anything – and anyone – at his disposal.”

“How did he find me?”

“I don’t know.” Lee answered, and I sensed he was telling the truth. “I wish I did.”

“Lydia told me,” I said. “That you’re…like Phillip.”

He was silent for a moment before answering. Then in a quiet voice, he said, “It's true. I'm like Phillip – well, that's the only way I'm like him.” There was bitterness in his tone. “But I wasn’t talking about me. I was talking about you. And your loved ones. Guthrie will do anything to tap into the magic.” His voice was tired, but also frantic. “Look, Stormy, ignore everything I said before. It's best for you to stay away. As in, stay away from Boston and from Jekyll. I love my parents, but I can't protect you from them forever.”

“All this time you kept telling me to go back to Jekyll, and now you're changing your tune.”

“That was before,” he said, “Now that I know you plan to use your magic, it's different.”

“I won't,” I said fiercely

“Yes, you will,” he replied. “Both Ma and I could see it in your aura, clear as day. Deny it all you want, but it shines in you.” He paused, his voice tender. “If I'm being honest, I could see the shine right from the beginning, starting with the day I met you. You were glowing that day – really pretty.”

Jesus, how stupid was I? I had run into Lee – literally –the same day I'd seen Phillip. He said he was visiting his aunt. And I suddenly knew, with absolute certainty, that his aunt was the Goat's Milk Soap lady. The woman who had sold me the bundle of sage. The one I'd used in the spell. I remembered seeing her holding out a delicate pink soap to Phillip, who had been watching me. None of this had been a coincidence. Fuck. FUCK. It had all been smoke and mirrors, to use Phillip’s term. It had all been by design, all part of an elusive, enormous trap. None of us had any choice in anything at all, it seemed. It seemed that everybody in my orbit, in one way or another, belonged to Guthrie. “I'll never use magic again. Ever.”

“Oh, Stormy.” Lee’s voice was tired and sad. “You can't un-ring a bell.”

I ripped at the skin around my fingernails, my mind in a whirl. “Why me?”

After a moment, he continued, as though I hadn't asked the question. “I wish you all the happiness in the world. I hope to see you again, in this lifetime or another.” There was a click and I dropped my phone in my lap.

As I heard Phillip's razor-velvet voice echoing among the spray of the shower, I looked down at the phone at my list of received calls, the Jekyll Island area code, and over to our already-packed bags, and let out a long sigh.

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