#Chapter 215 – Between Us

Alvin folds his hands in his lap, shrugging one shoulder. “Ever since we were very little –“

“Since we can remember, I guess,” Ian picks up, miming his brother’s action.

“We’ve always been able to see the magic. To notice it, when others don’t,” Alvin finishes. Both boys look apologetically Victor and I, then, as if they’ve been keeping a big secret and are sorry for it.

“But what is it?” Victor presses.

“It’s just…extra stuff, I guess,” Ian says, frowning, trying not to be vague but failing. I sit back and try to be patient, to let them work through it. “Like, it is the thing that is between Alvin and me. The thing that makes us able to talk to each other. The thing that makes us able to do…extra stuff.”

I frown at this, confused. What kind of extra stuff?

“When we were little,” Alvin says, “it was just around, the magic. And it was just between us – like always floating there, in the air.”

“Do you mean,” Victor says quietly, “that you can see it?”

Ian nods lightly. “Sometimes, we can. Not all the time. Or maybe we just don’t notice. But when we look for it, and it’s there, we can see it.”

Alvin nods, agreeing. “And then,” he continues, “as we got older, we learned how to start to use it.”

“That’s actually pretty new,” Ian says, excited. “Alvin figured it out most – like, he was able to use it just a little bit ago – on the battlefield –“

“The Alpha command,” Alvin clarifies, nodding. “I was able to…grab the magic. In the air. There wasn’t a lot. But I was able to use it to make the command work, even though I’m not technically their Alpha.”

Alvin smiles at Victor then, the Beta’s actual Alpha from whom he had briefly stolen command. Victor just shakes his head at him, not in denial, but in wonder and confusion.

“We thought,” I say, hesitating, “we thought you could just do that stuff because you’re smart. But you’re saying it’s because you’re…magic?”

laughs a little at this. “We’re not magic mom,” he says, wrinkling his nose at the idea of it. “We can just see the magic, and now, I guess, move

as well. I shake my head, not able to figure any of it

I now imagine brushing up against the fabric of the tent. I shudder at the thought. “They’re

likewise curious. He

because it is…different here.” Ian says, stretching his arms over his head. I can see that he’s starting to get tired, but no way in hell I’m letting

there’s a lot of magic out here,” Alvin says, his eyes going wide and excited at the thought of it. “Like, so much, that it can make itself present. Like

says, thinking even harder, “maybe you could

sputtering from my mouth. “I

“You always had a little bit of the magic, when we were little. But then you got more when we started

at Quiz Nation. You had a little magic around you. Just blip blip blip!” Alvin pinches his fingers

pulling his little backpack forward. He looks at me as he scrounges through it.

open as Ian pulls a chocolate bar out of his pack.

says, nodding. “And then you got lots more right before the wedding. And then more and more later, when you

little squeak of protest, which I ignore as I take a bite and hand it back to him. I

Alvin says, looking at us in disgust.

baffled and frankly

his nose wrinkled. “We didn’t want to tell you, because we didn’t want to hurt your feelings – and because, like, you wouldn’t get it – but ever since the first night after daddy came home from the hospital…you guys are

for any sign of the magic. Covered in it? What

through the air around me, like he’s

I murmur, swatting his hand away. But my eyes meet Victor’s, then, and we both know that it…well, it kind of makes sense. I still don’t know what the hell this magic stuff is, but if it is…between us. Then

certainly explains how so many unexplainable

shrugging and handing the half-eaten candy bar unasked to Alvin, who accepts it gratefully and takes a bite. “That’s what the ghosts were drawn to, tonight.

into my hands. “That’s

century, but I can’t think of any

kids. “For telling us. Explaining it. If there are

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