A Murder of Magpies by Sarah Bromley Read Free Book Online Page A

earth to reclaim the wraparound porch. The ivy pulled as if wishing to
     snap off pieces and drag them under the dirt after sunset.
    A silver dog wandered off toward the evergreens, and Ward trotted across the grass,
     tucking the dog under his arm, and met me on the porch. “Bernadette wants to say hi.”
    My mother’s vitsa never let her keep dogs or cats because they weren’t clean. Yet we had barn cats
     that my father fed with cans of tuna in Montana. I offered the snuffling schnauzer
     my hand. Her irises were milky, and the fat stump of her tail convulsed. “She’s cute.
     You bring her when you moved?”
    “Like I’ve ever had a pet.” He set the dog in a wicker basket and patted her before
     standing. “Bernadette’s my sister’s dog, but she likes me best.”
    In the fading sunlight, the waves of his hair gleamed copper, which he pushed behind
     his left ear to reveal a steel-ring cartilage piercing. As he rose from settling the
     dog, his gaze locked on mine. I should’ve slipped away and waved him goodbye, but
     I stayed. His chest swelled with breath. The toes of his combat boots nudged against
     my blue Chucks, still I didn’t back away. Something held me because I needed to know
     what would happen if I stayed beside a boy I shouldn’t be near. The tip of his tongue
     wetted his lip. Heat melted my cold as his face inched near mine. My fingers twitched.
     I wanted to touch him.
    “Vayda,” he whispered.
    I turned my face. “I should probably go. Here’s your coat.”
    “I think it’s going to rain. I’ll get it later.”
    I hopped down the steps.
    “Vayda,” he said again, louder.
    I stalled, spying a funny twist on his mouth.
    “You have the longest hair,” he remarked.
    “Thanks, I guess.” Again, we said goodbye, but I pivoted to see him on the porch,
     arms crossing his chest. “Something working your mind, young man?”
    He approached me. Our fingertips touched. A small zing , enough to make my fingers prickle. Again his mouth was close, his cheek not quite
     against mine. I lowered my barrier to touch him. The energy was easy and light, a
     tickle. I wanted more.
    “It’d be cool to hang out. Without Jonah,” he said.
    I wanted to see him again, but so many complications made it hard to say okay. The
     memory of my dream—the pine trees, his hands. Why him?
    I lifted my barrier, retreating. “I don’t know if I can.”
    “I see.” He trudged up the steps and held his dog, scratching her ears. I thought
     he was going inside with nothing to say until he swung around. “It’s the whole Romani
     thing. Or maybe you want someone who isn’t a wreck.”
    Before I could tell him it wasn’t either of those things—I wouldn’t have walked with
     him if I had a problem with him being gadje , and I didn’t care what kind of background he had—he wrenched open the screen door
     and disappeared inside the towering house. The door clattered behind him with such
     force I covered my ears to drown the sound and his annoyance with me still echoing
     where we had stood.
    Alone, I kicked the dirt. “Shit!”
    My vision swam, all the sharp evergreens jarring right. The woods were menacing as
     I faced them, the points of the branches like knives seeking to cut and bleed me.
     To open me. To Ward. My family kept the kinds of secrets we couldn’t share. With anyone.
     I stayed away from everyone for fear that the truth might slip out. Hiding was exhausting,
     loneliness tiring.
    As I walked home, I wrapped tighter in Ward’s coat, but nothing stopped the chills.
     
    ***
     
    A silver Toyota parked by the barn. Chloe’s car. I supposed when she’d dropped me
     off and saw Jonah again some bit of remaining feeling for him rekindled. Neither Jonah
     nor Chloe were around when I let myself inside.
    Yet I remained by the open door a moment. Energy swelled around me, the snarl of regret
     and want inside me. I tried to push out those feelings but only pulled them in deeper.
     The