magic wouldn’t be passed along to the next generation. So Gladys had her twins, and believed that they would not be tainted. So she named them after Saint Eusebius and Saint Justin Martyr, two Catholics who were particularly famous for decrying witches.”
He stopped, looking distressed. Not knowing what to do, Skylar prodded him. “What happened next?”
“ She had thought that since her twins weren’t manifesting powers that her prayers had been answered. So six months later, she was pregnant with twins again.”
“ You and Dymphna.”
“ Exactly. But what she didn’t count on, or perhaps didn’t know, was that infants rarely manifest anything before they are one year old. So when Seb started levitating, and Justin was draining the bathtub to get out of taking a bath, she realized her mistake. She hated herself for it, but more than that, she hated them for being demonstrative evidence of her evil. But she couldn’t have an abortion as a good Catholic, not to mention that she couldn’t get one at six months anyway. Now Dymphna’s name and mine are a little more complicated. We think that she realized that she was going crazy, and her fanatic level of faith wasn’t an excuse for hating her own children. But we don’t really know. But Saint Dymphna is the patron saint of the mentally ill, and Saint Pantaleon is the patron saint of healers.”
“ Is that why you’re a doctor now?”
“ Part of the reason, sure. But when Dymphna and I started manifesting our own powers at one year, Gladys had had enough. She left a note, and walked into the lake. We believe she used her water magic to help force water into her lungs as she went in. But anyway, she was gone.”
Skylar could tell that this was all she was getting from him, so she moved on.
“ You know the main part of my story. It’s actually remarkably similar, except that my mother and brother don’t have any magic. So I bore the brunt of her and my Aunt Linda’s rantings about how I should never ever be tempted to use magic. After my father died in a car accident, it got worse. But then she died in a mugging gone wrong a little after Selby’s eighteenth birthday. My Aunt Linda wanted to take custody of me to make sure I could never use my magic again. But since Selby was of legal age and because I wanted to stay with him, the courts gave him care of his fourteen year old sister.”
Leo’s expression had grown more curious than morose as Skylar told her own story. After all, if he shared, it was only right that she did as well.
“ He continued his job as an auto mechanic, and we got a small apartment near his work. We’ve been there ever since. He sacrificed so much to get us through the hard times and to send me to school that I can never really repay him. Then when my job went bad, he was there for me again.”
“ It looks like we’re more alike than we seem. We both had the crazy mothers, and we both were lucky enough to have siblings to be there for us no matter what.”
They smiled.
“ Dymphna’s a great woman. She’s sweet and caring, despite her hard exterior.”
“ I’m glad you could see that side of her. She doesn’t let many people in on the secret. I’d do anything for my twin. And it’s plenty clear that you’d do anything for Selby.”
“ Damn straight.”
They moved on to safer topics, from a mutual distaste for watching professional sports to the nice weather in Boston this time of year that was certain to change soon. Eventually their focus went back to the movie, and they discussed it a little before lapsing into a comfortable silence.
109
CHAPTER SIX
Leo looked down at Skylar, who had fallen asleep in his lap, slowly but surely. He couldn’t resist planting a kiss on her temple and stroking her soft golden hair. She was doing something to him, and he wasn’t entirely sure he liked it. He’d never felt this way about anyone before, certainly.
She unsettled him.
He stopped, looking distressed. Not knowing what to do, Skylar prodded him. “What happened next?”
“ She had thought that since her twins weren’t manifesting powers that her prayers had been answered. So six months later, she was pregnant with twins again.”
“ You and Dymphna.”
“ Exactly. But what she didn’t count on, or perhaps didn’t know, was that infants rarely manifest anything before they are one year old. So when Seb started levitating, and Justin was draining the bathtub to get out of taking a bath, she realized her mistake. She hated herself for it, but more than that, she hated them for being demonstrative evidence of her evil. But she couldn’t have an abortion as a good Catholic, not to mention that she couldn’t get one at six months anyway. Now Dymphna’s name and mine are a little more complicated. We think that she realized that she was going crazy, and her fanatic level of faith wasn’t an excuse for hating her own children. But we don’t really know. But Saint Dymphna is the patron saint of the mentally ill, and Saint Pantaleon is the patron saint of healers.”
“ Is that why you’re a doctor now?”
“ Part of the reason, sure. But when Dymphna and I started manifesting our own powers at one year, Gladys had had enough. She left a note, and walked into the lake. We believe she used her water magic to help force water into her lungs as she went in. But anyway, she was gone.”
Skylar could tell that this was all she was getting from him, so she moved on.
“ You know the main part of my story. It’s actually remarkably similar, except that my mother and brother don’t have any magic. So I bore the brunt of her and my Aunt Linda’s rantings about how I should never ever be tempted to use magic. After my father died in a car accident, it got worse. But then she died in a mugging gone wrong a little after Selby’s eighteenth birthday. My Aunt Linda wanted to take custody of me to make sure I could never use my magic again. But since Selby was of legal age and because I wanted to stay with him, the courts gave him care of his fourteen year old sister.”
Leo’s expression had grown more curious than morose as Skylar told her own story. After all, if he shared, it was only right that she did as well.
“ He continued his job as an auto mechanic, and we got a small apartment near his work. We’ve been there ever since. He sacrificed so much to get us through the hard times and to send me to school that I can never really repay him. Then when my job went bad, he was there for me again.”
“ It looks like we’re more alike than we seem. We both had the crazy mothers, and we both were lucky enough to have siblings to be there for us no matter what.”
They smiled.
“ Dymphna’s a great woman. She’s sweet and caring, despite her hard exterior.”
“ I’m glad you could see that side of her. She doesn’t let many people in on the secret. I’d do anything for my twin. And it’s plenty clear that you’d do anything for Selby.”
“ Damn straight.”
They moved on to safer topics, from a mutual distaste for watching professional sports to the nice weather in Boston this time of year that was certain to change soon. Eventually their focus went back to the movie, and they discussed it a little before lapsing into a comfortable silence.
109
CHAPTER SIX
Leo looked down at Skylar, who had fallen asleep in his lap, slowly but surely. He couldn’t resist planting a kiss on her temple and stroking her soft golden hair. She was doing something to him, and he wasn’t entirely sure he liked it. He’d never felt this way about anyone before, certainly.
She unsettled him.
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