Page 23 of Mistaken Magic

"Don'tcare,"Iassured him. "IpromiseI'llwork hard."

"Andyou'll be sharing a suite with the girl by the trees," he reminded me. "Theone with enough power to make or break your future.Areyou sure you're not trading one type of restriction for another?"Helifted a hand beforeIcould answer. "Justthink about it,Rain?Thinkhard, because when things seem crazy,Idon't want you to say you didn't have the chance."

"Iwill,"Iassured him. "Myanswer will still be the same, butIpromiseIwill think about it."

"Thenenjoy the books," he said. "I'llbe backSundayafternoon to pick you up."Heturned for the door, but paused. "They'llknow you aren't like them.You'llget picked on for it.Thisisn't going to be easy,Rain."

"Stillthe same answer,Liam,"Isaid. "SeeyouSunday."

"Yes, you will," he mumbled as he left. "Imade a deal."

Chapter Eleven

AfterLiamleft,Ilost myself in dragons.Aroundseven,Stephanietapped at my door, letting me know it was dinnertime.Ihurried to put my things away and made it to the table just beforeMrs.Sparksput the main dish in the middle.Thewoman gave me a dirty look, pulling in a deep breath like she was forcing herself not to say anything.

"Sorry,"Imumbled asItook my chair. "Iwasn't sure ifIwas allowed to eat down here today."

"Tone,"Mr.Sparkssnapped.

"She'sonly eaten with us once this week," the girl beside me pointed out. "Iwasn't sure it was allowed either."

Ismiled at her, but she refused to meet my eyes.Clearly,Iwas still a pariah in the house.Ohwell.Icould deal with that a little longer.Justlike the first time, the whole family got to take their serving before it made it to me.Tonight, it looked like some hamburger helper thing.Regardless, it smelled good.

Butthe momentIput the bowl back where it belonged,Mr.Sparkscleared his throat, making everyone look at him. "Mostof you haven't heard yet, butLorrainehere has been given a scholarship toSilverOaksInstitute.It'sa unique situation, so she won't be going to school with the rest of you.Sunday, she willbe picked up by your caseworker,Liam, so she can move into her dorm."

"Really?" one of the boys asked.Dominik,Iwas pretty sure, since he wasn'tMarkus. "Ithought that was a college."

"LikeIsaid,"Mr.Sparkstold him, "it's a unique situation.Atany rate, we will be keeping her room, and we will not get another foster so long as she's in attendance.Lorrainemay come back for some holidays, but with the rigorous schedule,Iexpect it will be infrequent."

Inodded, hoping it looked excited instead of annoyed.Icouldn't believe the gall of this man.Hewas ready to kick me out of the house, and nowMr.Sparkswas acting like he'd somehow done me a favor.Whatever.Liamhad said he wanted me to honestly think about this, and so far, all signs were pointing not just to "yes," but to "run fast."

Whenthe meal was done,Idecided to help with dishes.Supposedly,Ididn't have to do any chores, butIfelt bad about it.Iended up with the girl who'd spoken up for me.Hername wasEsperanza, and she was in the tenth grade, but almost sixteen.Whenboth of theSparksleft the room, she even admitted they'd all thoughtIwas going to be sent back after the incident with the crow.

Butno one knew what the big deal was with that.Esperanzasaid theSparkswere weird about some things.Noplants were allowed inside, not even a cactus.Nosymbols either.EvidentlyDominikhad gotten into trouble for a game logo on one of his book covers.Mrs.Sparkshad ripped it off and stuck the thing in the garbage disposal.Thenthere was the whole church requirement.

Becauseif a kid was possessed, they clearly couldn't go into a church?Iwas too scared to ask, afraid that would start an entire discussion on the rules around religion in this house.Yep,Ihada day and a half, andI'dkeep reminding myself of it any timeIgot curious about things.

Thatnight,Iwent upstairs and lost myself in my book again.Iread until late in the night, so engrossed in the storyIcompletely lost track of time.Whenthe door to my room opened,Ijumped, letting out a little squeak.Mrs.Sparksstood in the opening, glaring at me.

"Whyaren't you asleep?" she asked.

"Uh..."Ilooked over at the clock. "Ikinda had no idea what time it was.Sorry.Dowe have set bedtimes?"

Herstare could've frozen hell over. "Notthat it matters now, but don't think you'll get to sleep in tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am,"Isaid.

Then, just to be a smartass,Ileaned over and shoved the little metal dog out of the way and set my book where it had been.Yeah, that woman watched me like someone trying to figure out a magic trick.Superstitiousdidn't begin to explain this family.Abunch of other words jumped to mind, though.Whack-jobs, lunatics, and psychopaths, just to start.

Thankfully, whenIturned out the light, she left.Clearly,I'dpassed the midnight inspection.Although, the next morning, no one woke me.Islept until just after ten.Eventhen, it wasn't the people in the house who woke me up.Itwas a small tapping on the window.Idebated going back to sleep, and thenIheard it again.

Igot up and raised the blinds.Startled, the bird flew off, but it came back only a moment later.Onthe window sill, right about whereI'dleft the ribbon trinket, there was a collection of pretty little pebbles.Thecrow dropped another whileIwatched, then tapped its beak on the glass again.

"Well, aren't you kind?"Iasked, carefully cracking the window.

Caw!

Damnit,Ididn't have anything to give it, butMr.Sparkshad saidIcould have an extra piece of bread for them.Decidingthis was worth tempting my luck,Ihurried to get dressed and headed downstairs.TheTVwas on in the living room, and everyone was sitting around it, watching some movie.Well, at least there was a little relaxation in this house, butIwas more interested in the bird.

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