Crave (Harlequin Teen)

you think you ought to practice that one a few more times?”
    I reached for the energy within. Closing my eyes, I mentally whispered the word to that energy. When I opened my eyes, I focused on Dad and visualized myself performing the wrist flick at him. He reappeared at the other end of the yard.
    He strolled back, shaking his head. His eyes, green copies of mine but wrinkled at the corners, were wide beneath his thick eyebrows. “Wow, son. You didn’t even use the word or hand gesture!”
    “I did, just in my mind instead.”
    “Impressive. That’s not usually something we teach until the fourth or fifth year of training. Remember, though, you can use the silent casting method, but you’ve gotta be extra careful if you’re only considering casting the spell. You have to keep your will out of it. Otherwise as soon as you think of the spell, you’ll end up casting it. That’s why we usually start off with the verbal method first. It gives you better control.”
    “I understand.”
    He shook his head one more time then grinned at me. “Should’ve known my son would be more advanced at this stuff than normal.”
    “Of course. I’m a Coleman, right?”
    “Right!”
    I smiled back at him, but guilt made it tough to pull off. He looked so proud of me, so happy that I’d decided to focus on my training. But the truth was I still wasn’t the slightest bit interested in leading the Clann someday like he wanted me to. I just needed a spell or two so I could help Savannah. Then I could go back to trying to be normal.
    “Uh, Dad? Can we…”
    “Right, right. Back to work. Okay, so what other defensive spells might be useful?”
    I remembered Emily’s advice. “How about a memory confusion spell? You know, so I could block someone from messing with something.”
    “Ah, yes. Emily likes to use that spell to get rid of punks who bug her too much.”
    “How long would a spell like that last?”
    “If your sister cast it, a couple days at best. She’s too soft-hearted to will anyone to stay away longer than that. If I made it…” His face darkened. “A few months. Maybe years.”
    “And if I made one?”
    “Thinking of Christmas presents for your sister already?”
    I laughed with him. “Yeah, something like that.”
    “Well, like I said, it would depend on how often the boy tried to go near her. And how much you wanted him to stay away. But for one of Emily’s normal punks, I’d say at least a month if you cast it.”
    The Creepy Three seemed pretty obsessed today. They might wear out a spell quicker than one of Emily’s usual fans. Then again…I thought of how much I wanted them to leave Savannah alone. I bet I could make my spells last at least a couple months bare minimum. Maybe by then they would move on to someone else to obsess over.
    “Okay, what do I do?”
    He grinned at me. “Well, you know your sister. She hates to feel like she can’t handle her own problems. So it’s best if she doesn’t know what you’re doing.”
    “So I’d need to know who the creeps are without asking her, then find objects to charm that she’d carry around with out suspecting?”
    “Exactly!”
    That last part might be tough. What could I give Savannah that she would keep with her at all times and not suspect? She’d question anything I gave her.
    Unless she didn’t know about it. Emily said I should put a small charm in Savannah’s backpack. Maybe I could manage to sneak something small in there without her noticing.
    “Okay, what else do I have to do?”
    He taught me what to say and how to tap a finger on the object to load it with the memory confusion spell. “Every time you tap it, you’ve got to sort of push your will into the object. Every push should equal one memory block.”
    “Should?”
    He shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. “Well, I’ve never been able to ask your sister or mother how many times certain people we know have started to approach them then ended up walking away confused.”
    Ah. So he had been doing a little secret protection work of his own. Mom and Emily would go nuts if they ever learned what he had been up to. I grinned. “I see your point.”
    “All right, let’s try it. I’ll turn my back, and you charm one of the lawn chairs. Then I’ll try to approach each one. That way when I get confused, you’ll know it really worked.”
    “Sounds good.”
    We practiced for a while to make sure I had the spell down. Then he had to call it a night. “Sorry,