Impractical Magic Part 9

"You sure?" Rose was not going to have her cousin sacrificing herself. "You look like c.r.a.p. Did you sleep last night?"

Sequoia directed a cool stare at Ewan. "Not well."

He grinned in response, then turned his attention to Rose. "I have not yet made love to Sequoia. Is that what you wish to know?"

"Close enough." Rose couldn't help but notice his use of yet. Had her cousin? A quick glance at Sequoia confirmed a bright flame in her eyes. Yep, she'd noticed.

"I am not a part of this deal," Sequoia said.

Ewan only smiled and resumed reading the menu.

"Argh. Men."

"Rather early for that att.i.tude, Sequoia." Brand approached their table and took the sole remaining chair.

Rose tensed. After a restless night in which her body had argued with her mind, she wasn't sure she was ready to deal with Brand.

As if she had a choice.

He glanced at her, his expression bland, but the gleam in his eyes brought a warm flush to her cheeks. "Good morning, Rose."

"Good morning." She devoted her attention to the menu and was grateful when the waitress appeared to take their orders. After several hours of sleeplessness last night, she'd convinced herself that her reaction to Brand had been an anomaly, a temporary aberration of her behavior. She'd never allowed a man to affect her like that before, and she didn't intend to start now-especially not with this story. It was too important to her future.

"What are your plans for today, Tree?" she asked, attempting to ignore Brand. None of them had to be at the theater until later that afternoon, and Rose always enjoyed her cousin's company.

"I have a visit to the hospital scheduled."

Rose smiled. Sequoia made it a point to visit the children's wards wherever she stopped for more than a day. "Care for company?"

"I'm taking Ewan with me." Sequoia grimaced. "It's part of his training."

"That's okay as long as he behaves." Rose didn't want to injure Ewan again, but she would if she had to.

"I have given my word," he said, his eyes frosty, his tone imperious.

"See that you keep it, then." If Sequoia thought she could teach t.i.tania's errand boy anything, more power to her, but Rose had her doubts. The Fae didn't normally experience extreme emotions such as love or hate. Which could work to her benefit, she supposed. The longer it took Ewan to grasp the concept of love-if he could grasp it all-the longer he wouldn't be bugging her.

"When are you leaving?" Rose added. "After breakfast?"

Sequoia nodded. "I told them I'd be there by nine-thirty."

Sequoia and her children. Did Sequoia's parents know how much she did for others? Where her true ambition lay?

Would they still be nagging her to go to college if they did?

A cry caught Rose's attention as a young family was seated at a table beside theirs, consisting of a mother, father, and young boy of about six, who whined all the way to the table and continued after he took his chair.

Rose rolled her eyes and exchanged a dry grin with her cousin. After growing up among a mult.i.tude of cousins, this type of behavior was nothing new.

"I don't wanna see the river," the boy said, slumping in his seat.

"You'll like it, Jeffrey." His mother aimed a quelling glance at the boy. "We're going up in the Arch, too. You can see for miles from up there."

"I don't wanna go to the Arch. I wanna go to Disney World."

"Sounds like Val," Rose said, referring to Sequoia's youngest brother.

Sequoia grinned. "Naw, Val was worse."

"I wanna go to Disney World," Jeffrey said again. "Kyle got to go mere."

"That is enough." His father pointed a finger at him. "I don't want to hear another word."

His mother gave Jeffrey the children's menu. "Why don't you decide what you want to eat?"

He took the menu, his expression fixed in a pout. "I don't wanna see any stupid arch," he muttered under his breath. "I wish we were at Disney World."

Rose gasped, feeling the power being pulled from her as the family disappeared.

It took a moment for anyone at Rose's table to react. She couldn't stop staring at the spot where the family had been as the child's menu drifted to the floor.

"Dear Lord," she whispered. This was much worse than a boy wishing for a candy bar. "Wish them back, Tree."

Her cousin smiled. "Why not let him have some fun?"

Rose sent her a pointed look. This was not funny. She turned to Brand. He'd do it. "Brand ..."

Before he could respond, Sequoia held up her hand. "I'll do it. I wish for that family to have a great time at Disney World, then return to their seats at that table five minutes after they left." "Could you be more precise?" Rose asked with a shake of her head. The family popped back in their seats just as suddenly as they had vanished. The parents appeared sh.e.l.l-shocked, but the boy was ecstatic, his smile splitting his face. They wore the same clothing, but now Jeffrey sported Mickey Mouse ears.

The father stared at his wife. 'There was a mouse ..."

"And a duck. With pants." Her face was pale. "It looked like Disney World."

"It couldn't have been."

'That was great, Mom, Dad. Can we do it again?" Jeffrey asked.

The father pushed back his chair. "I think we need to get out of here." He ushered his family out, waving off the waitress who approached.

Ewan chuckled and turned to Sequoia, his admiration obvious. "That is the most precise wish I've ever heard. Have you done that before?" Sequoia grinned as she glanced at Rose and raised her eyebrows. "Oh, once or twice." "A long time ago," Rose added. They'd been young. Shortly after Rose had discovered her magical abilities, she and Sequoia had played a game they called fairy G.o.dmother in which Sequoia had received three wishes and no more. After Rose had teasingly translated Sequoia's requests into something slightly different, her cousin had learned to be very exact about what she wanted.

"I suggest we eat quickly before anything else happens," Brand said. His gaze had cooled considerably, and the look he gave Rose held condemnation.

How dare he make this out to be her fault? Rose pushed back her chair, nearly toppling it over. "Excuse me. I find I'm no longer hungry." She hurried out, ignoring Sequoia's cry of protest.

When someone grabbed her arm, she turned to glare at Brand. "What do you want?"

"You don't have to leave," he said, not releasing her arm.

"Don't I?" She jerked free. "Why is it when my magic gives you what you want, it's wonderful, but any other time it's a sin?"

He hesitated. "I-"

"Don't bother to explain. You're the same as everyone else. All you see is my magic. You still don't see me." Whirling around, she stalked from the restaurant.

He didn't follow her. Which was a good thing.

Or so she told herself.

Thankfully, Brand didn't accompany Sequoia, Ewan, and Rose to the hospital, so Rose could enjoy listening to Sequoia try to explain love for others to Ewan. Caring for others was a totally foreign concept to him, but Rose had to give her cousin credit for trying.

"It's more than what you see between a man and woman," Sequoia said to Ewan as they rode up to the children's ward in the elevator. "It's the way you feel about others as well. It's caring what happens to them, wanting them to be happy."

"Why?" Ewan shook his head. "Where is the gain in that?"

"Why does there have to be gain? It makes you feel good, too."

When Ewan only stared at her, obviously not getting it, Rose laughed and put an arm around her cousin's shoulders. "He just doesn't know what he's missing," she said.

"He will." The determined set of Sequoia's mouth would have frightened a lesser man, but a glance at Ewan gave evidence of the sparkle in his eyes.

From the looks of it, he liked thwarting Sequoia. Rose grinned. He'd learn.

Reaching the nurse's desk, Sequoia took charge, introducing them and asking for the head nurse to whom she'd spoken the day before. The woman came toward them, wearing dark blue scrubs decorated with glow-in-the dark s.p.a.cemen, her stride and manner firm, but the tendrils of dark brown hair that escaped from the bun on her head softened her appearance. When she smiled and held out her hand, Rose chose to believe the tendrils.

"I'm Maureen Travers. Call me Mo." She turned to lead them to a large open room at the end of the hallway. "Most of the children who feel well enough will be in here right now. How long do you expect to be, Miss Adams?"

"Usually I only take an hour or so."

'That's fine."

Sequoia paused outside the doorway and set down the gym bag she'd carried in. "Let me change before I go in."

"What are you doing?" Ewan asked as Sequoia donned a swirling black cape and top hat.

"She's going to entertain the sick children." Rose had known for years that her cousin did this on a regular basis, but this would the first time she'd be able to witness it for herself.

Sequoia applied a bright red lipstick that totally changed her appearance, somehow making her appear more vivid. Straightening, she tossed back the cape and held her head high. 'The Sensational Sequoia is ready," she announced.

Mo smiled and pushed through the doors. "Children. Your attention, please. Come this way. We have a special treat this afternoon." With a sweep of her arm, she indicated the doorway. "May I present the Sensational Sequoia."

Sequoia burst into the room, juggling three b.a.l.l.s even as she launched into a teasing repartee with the kids. She captured their attention immediately, especially when she captured each ball on a down spin and made it disappear.

Everyone crowded closer. "How did you do that?" "Where did they go?"

Rose and Ewan slipped in to stand by the door in the background. Sequoia was good. Better than Rose had expected-not that she'd tell her cousin that. The magic tricks she performed were fairly simple-standard magician fare-but it was her att.i.tude that made the difference.

'That's love at work," Rose said.

Ewan turned his gaze from Sequoia. "What does that mean?"

"You can practically see it. You have to feel it. Sequoia loves these children. She wants them to be happy. That's why she does this." "Does she know them?" "No. You're missing the point." "I have no doubt," he said dryly. 'These kids are very ill with cancer. Some may die. If she can brighten up their lives for even a short while, they'll feel better and so will she."

"How will this make a difference? Will her love heal them?"

Rose paused. "It might." Laughter and love, like prayer, was always underrated.

"She's pretty good, isn't she?"

Rose jumped as Brand spoke, and turned to see him standing in the doorway. "What are you doing here?" she asked. There went her enjoyment of the morning.

"I finished my errands and wanted to see Sequoia at work." He came over to stand beside them. "She's always bugging me to teach her new illusions. Now I finally get to see her putting them to use." His expression softened. "They really love her, don't they?"

"Love again." Ewan rolled his eyes. "Is that all you mortals think about?"

"It's part of who we are," Rose said.

"But you are Fae."

That made her smile. She sometimes forgot that fact. "True, but I was raised as a mortal, and I wouldn't trade that for anything."

"Life is far simpler in the magical realm," Ewan said.

"You would think that. You have no real emotions other than fear." She'd rather deal with the highs and lows of emotions than exist without them.

Ewan frowned. "We don't fear anyone."

"You fear t.i.tania." When Ewan started to protest, Rose continued. "Come on. You're afraid to go back and tell her I refused to come with you."

"That is not fear." He held himself stiffly. "That is obedience."

"Yeah, right." Rose turned her attention back to Sequoia, careful to avoid looking at Brand. Without trying, she could still feel the touch of his lips on hers. Talk about emotions. He'd turned hers upside down and she hated it. Especially when he was no different than all the other men drawn to her because of her magic.

"I can't see it."

A soft voice caught Rose's attention, and she skirted the crowd of children gathered around Sequoia to see a tiny little girl at the edge, her head bald, her eyes large.

"Need help?" Rose asked.

When the girl nodded, Rose lifted her in her arms and moved to a good vantage point. The child weighed practically nothing. Rose could feel the sharp edges of her bones beneath her skin. It wasn't fair. Why did children have to suffer this way?

The girl giggled as Sequoia performed another illusion, and the smile made all the difference. Rose's chest tightened. Now she understood why her cousin worked hard to do this in every city she visited. For a short time, it mattered to these children. It made them forget for just a moment the reality of their lives.

"Now I will make a rabbit appear," Sequoia declared. She held up her hands and tugged at her sleeve and pulled out... an umbrella. Frowning, she tossed it aside. "That's not it." She examined her other sleeve and pulled out a long string of tied scarves. "Hmmm."

The children roared with laughter, and Sequoia kept trying to produce a rabbit and ended up with everything but. Until abruptly a small white bunny hopped out from between her legs.

Sequoia's eyes widened and she glanced at Rose. Rose shook her head. She hadn't done anything. Together, they turned to Ewan, who had a broad grin on his face.