“Do you see your error?” I asked with barely-controlled rage. My mouth was tight, my dark, almost-black eyes narrowed at her, hands tensed at my sides as I tried not to lash out and strike her.
I watched in satisfaction as the girl shuddered, quaking in fear. She should be afraid. I could end her with a thought and not care in the least. The only set back with that idea would be having to start from scratch to execute my laid-out plan. I stared her down, waiting for her to reply.
She took a deep breath, steeling herself as she tilted her chin up and gave me a look of defiance. That was her answer, and I almost admired her for it.
“How was I to know that she would find her balance? She should have just lost control. We would have had no issues if she had just lost control.” She spoke through gritted teeth, almost sounding like she whining, and I knew she was when she kicked the sand dune in front of her like a child in the throes of temper tantrum.
I sneered, scoffing at her childish reaction. “But that didn’t happen. You underestimated her and her family.”
“How could I have known that?” Her voice rose as she refused to take responsibility. With her hands clenched at her sides, she almost shook, her agitation plain to see.
“Considering the timing, you should have considered it. The Divine always has a reason. It would never have passed these kinds of powers to a weak witch.” I snorted in disgust as I kept looming over her. “You should have known better, considered and compensated for it.”
There was an ugly twist to my mouth as I narrowed my eyes at her. She stared back at me, raising her chin in defiance, but she couldn’t hold it long. When she flinched, she knew that I had won - I always would, so her eyes fell to the ground before she spoke again.
“It won’t matter.” She waved her hand dismissively, trying to downplay it all.
“You have no concept of any of this.” I shook my head in disappointment. “Maybe I should have chosen someone else to do this job.”
She gasped. Her eyes widened as she stared at me. There was no one better at this than she was. She had been doing this for far too long to let him say something like that to her.
“I’ll fix this,” she growled, her eyes full of anger and, if I wasn’t mistaken, hatred.
I almost smirked at her, wondering briefly if the hatred was for me or for the situation at hand, not that it mattered in the least. I had known goading her would get this kind of reaction. Make her work a little bit harder. Besides, I needed results and I wanted them yesterday.
“You better or you won’t have anything to worry about ever again.” I gave her one more glance before completely dismissing her, my eyes falling on the two witches on the shore.
“Don’t make me have to clean up your mess. You will not like the consequences at all. Death would be too good of an option for you.” My voice was so soft but held so much evil there could be no doubt I meant the words I said.
She paused as if to say something but reconsidered, shuddering at the thought of what I might mean. There really were things worse than death and she had no plans of ever learning what those things might be. She would fix this. She knew she could.
“Stupid, unpredictable weather witch,” she muttered, letting out a frustrated breath.
I turned to her quickly, making her jump at the movement.
“Why are you still here? Don’t you have something you need to be doing?”
She visibly gulped, going completely still in panic. She really did not want my wrath upon her head. She gave herself a shake, nodding her head at me.
“Yes, sir. I’ll get right on it.”
“I would think so. I would hate to think my only daughter could ruin my plans so spectacularly.”
Shamed at being reminded of my disappointment with her as family as well only made her more scared, although it made her angry too. No matter. She would do as her father asked. Gaining the power of the weather witch was her mission, she just needed to do a little more prodding first. A grin spread over her lips as a thought popped into her head.
I raised an eyebrow at her, giving her an appraising look as one gives a child. “Thought of a way to fix this, have you?”
“Yes, father. I believe I have.” She gave me a brilliant smile. What a grand game I shall play. He’ll finally be proud of me.
“Then why are you still standing here? Get on it.” I shooed her away, the curl to my lips denoted aggravation that she was still in my presence and I wanted her gone.
“Yes, Daddy.” She took off running back to her car, leaving her father standing and watching the couple kissing on the beach.
Chapter Five
“You realize that this is going to be absolutely amazing,” Bess gushed, excitement bubbling out of her. In fact, she was practically vibrating with energy as she tore through my closet, throwing things out the door.
I could only chuckle as I watched her. The pile of clothes grew as she considered and discarded items, chucking them over her shoulder.
“Is there a reason you’re making a complete mess of my room?” I asked from my perch on the bed.
She turned quickly with a look of annoyance on her face. With her hands on her hips, she tapped her foot to an uneven beat on the floor.
“You should have told me you had nothing to wear for the party. I would have taken you out shopping way before now.” She made an exaggerated flourish with a summer dress she held in her hand.
I chuckled. “You bought most of this with me. Said I had to have it and that they would be perfect for any occasion.” I pointed to all of the clothes that were now littering my floor.
She frowned, her mouth moving into a thin line and her eyes narrowing at me. I tried to keep a straight face and not laugh at her, but it really was hard. She was always so amusing when it came to such things. I couldn’t care less about fashion. It just wasn’t big on my list of things to care about right now, or ever really. Bess was not a snob about such things, but she wanted to go on to work in the fashion industry in some way. She loved to create things; it made her happy. So who was I to deny her some happiness?
“Sky Stratan, stop giving me crap. This is an important day and everything needs to perfect. As your best friend”—she paused, striking a pose while smiling at me—“it is my duty to make sure it goes off without a hitch and that you look amazing doing it. So, get your shoes on because we’re going to the mall.”
I rolled my eyes at her and she caught me doing it. She crossed her arms crossing over her chest, tilting her head as she frowned. There was going to be no way out of this. Stubborn, stubborn girl.
Grabbing my shoes from the floor, we headed to the mall, and when we arrived I sat in the comfy chair at the posh dress shop watching as Bess searched through racks of dresses. I didn’t want to wear a dress at my own party. I was a pants kind of gal, so a lovely pantsuit would’ve been much better. But Bess wouldn’t listen to me.
“Bess, I am not wearing a dress. I hate dresses, and I only ever wear them by chance. You know this. So why are you trying to make me wear one now? Especially when you know it’s my birthday. Shouldn’t I get to pick what I want to wear to this thing?” I arched an eyebrow at her, clutching at the glass the sales lady had graciously given us.
Bess stopped going through the rack and turned to me with wide eyes. She looked completely put out and aggravated at the same time.
“You are annoying me. It is a special day. You are signing your name and it deserves to be celebrated. You should look absolutely stunning when you do it.” She grabbed a dress she had been eyeing up, holding it out in front of her. “Something like this.”
It was a summer dress of white opalescent silk with thin spaghetti straps and a lace overlay and it was absolutely stunning. I was awed by it.
“Gorgeous isn’t it? It would be perfect.” Bess beamed at me. “It would look absolutely amazing on you.”
She held it out to me expectantly. It was my turn to frown at her. I shook my head, carefully placing the g
lass I held on the table beside me.
“No. I don’t want to look like a sacrificial lamb to the slaughter, thank you,” I told her, even though it pained me to do it. The dress really was pretty, and I knew it would look amazing on me. Biting my lip to keep from saying anything else, I tucked my arms to my sides to keep myself from reaching out to touch the soft silk.
A smirk tilted the corners of her lips up because she knew I wanted it, even though she also knew I’d refuse and she couldn’t do anything about it. Hanging it on the empty hook beside her that acted as the try-on pile, she started perusing again.
“Brat, that’s what you are Bess. A total brat,” I mumbled, shaking my head in amusement when she snickered.
“It’s why you love me. Now let’s see what else we can find.” She gave me a saucy wink.
Over an hour later, we finally left the store, chatting and laughing about how she managed to convince me to get the white silk dress. I also purchased an Egyptian blue vest pantsuit that I had found, so she wasn’t the only one who won in that store.
“I don’t know how you convinced me to buy those heels.” I swung the bag in my hand.
“Because they will go with both outfits. It kills two birds with one pair of shoes.” She chuckled. “You’ll thank me for it later.”
“What will she thank you for? Being a pushy pitbull of a best friend who fights her battles for her?” someone said from behind us in a heavily accented southern voice.
We both went still. Bess gasped and I could feel my heart in my throat. I reached for my necklace with my spare hand, clutching the stone and praying for calm.
I can do this; I can do this. Stay calm. I don’t have to have Braxton here to keep the peace. I can do it on my own. I will not let this power own me. I own the power.
“What do you want you emotionless little …” Bess started to say.
“Ah, ah, ah,” Willow tsked, going so far as to actually wave a finger at her.
When a tranquil feeling passed over me, I opened my eyes to find Willow standing in front of us. Thank goodness I felt blank at that moment, her presence since she arrived in Fall River made my magic go into overdrive. I needed to stay strong because no way would I let her do it in public. Not again. And I sensed that was exactly what she wanted.
“Well, hello Willow. How are you today?” I asked so politely that both Willow and Bess gawked at me like I had two heads. “Are you shopping with Nick today? Having fun?”
Bess seemed to catch on quicker to what I was doing than Willow did. She ducked her head, trying not to giggle at the look of astonishment on Willow’s face, who seemed to be at a loss for words.
After a few moments of Willow not replying, I continued. “Well, my dear, as you can see we’re busy. So, you have yourself a wonderful day.” My grin showed all my teeth, so it probably made me look crazy, but that was all I had in me then.
“Happy birthday Sky, I hope you have fun signing the book,” she growled as we stepped away from her.
Bess hooked her arm through mine, and I paused as she gripped my forearm. It was like she was trying to shove every ounce of encouragement into me as she could, but all I could focus on was the anxiousness to get away, to avoid any and all conflict radiating from her.
Again, I threw Willow for a loop when I turned to her, taking note of the smirk she had on her face. She thought she had me over the barrel, but she couldn’t be more wrong. Her perfect blonde curls bounced as she angled her head, and her cute bow lips were quirked in a sneer that only made her look as ugly as her heart actually was.
“My, oh my. Well, bless your heart, Willow. Isn’t that just the sweetest thing you could say? You just have a nice day now,” I spoke in my best southern accent. If anyone actually from the south walked by, they’d know I had just told her off. When her mouth dropped open, satisfaction swarmed me like a hive of bees.
“Let’s go, Bess. We have things to do.” I nodded at her, even giving her a saucy wink before turning away and tugging Bess with me.
When we had put enough distance between us and her, Bess cackled. I halted and she leaned against the wall, obviously needing support so she didn’t fall over from her laughter. It was contagious and I found myself joining her.
“I can’t believe you managed that,” she spoke through her gasps. “That was amazing. The look on her face when you said ‘well, bless your heart …’ I really thought I was going to choke. It was priceless. I wish I could have gotten it on video so I could stream it online.”
That comment nearly doubled me over. “Only you would think to post something like that.”
“But think of the views we’d get. We’d be internet famous,” she crowed as she tried to gain control over her mirth.
“You are priceless. Let’s get out of here please,” I told her, grabbing her hand to drag her toward the doors to get home.
Chapter Six
“You won’t have to worry about anything. You’ve been training so hard dear. Everything will be alright.” My mother rambled as she pinned my hair.
“Ouch! Geez, mom. Chill out,” I winced, jerking away from her.
Mom looked back at me from the mirror, her eyes wide in shock. She dropped her hands and the pins she had been holding.
“I am so sorry, Sky. I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she said in a sad voice.
“Mom, I know. But you need to calm down. You’re making me nervous and that is what you’re trying not to do, right?” I asked, glancing down to clutch my necklace again.
“Oh, Sky.” The pity in her voice was almost too much for me to handle, and when she touched my shoulder with her gentle hand, it almost undid me.
A ball formed in my throat, and I knew I would cry if I couldn’t make it disappear. Mom hadn’t held back in sharing how afraid she was that the coven would come for me and take me away forever. How much fear she had at the thought they would put me to death for something I had not a single ounce of control over. Because of it, I’d created several thunderstorms already. I knew she was frightened for my welfare, but she didn’t realize she was only making things worse for me.
I closed my eyes and started to count, letting the serenity in that keep me steady. But if Mother kept going on like she was, I wouldn’t be able to keep it up on my own.
Where was Braxton when I needed him?
Once I had finally counted in several languages, I met Mom’s eyes. “Mom, I love you but you’re freaking me out.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” she stammered.
“I know you don’t. For that reason, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” There was regret in my voice, and that feeling intensified in my head when I saw the hurt in her eyes.
“But honey, I’m not done with your hair.” Plastering a sunny smile on her face, she tried to hide the fear. It didn’t work.
“I can finish it. Thank you. Please, Mom,” I said pleadingly, my nerves making my voice crack and shake. Glancing out the window, I frowned when I took note of the clouds darkening the once-blue sky.
Mom followed my gaze, wringing her hands. “Umm, okay. Okay, sweetie. I’ll just go make sure that everything is getting set up properly in the backyard,” she said, nodding to me in the mirror before she leaned down and kissed my cheek. “I love you, Sky. Never forget that. I am so proud of how far you’ve come.”
“I love you too,” I whispered, my eyes brimming with unshed tears. If I didn’t find some inner peace fast, a rain shower The Weather Network never forecasted would start any minute.
There was a knock on the door and Braxton peeked in. “Can I help?” He winked at me. “Or is it bad luck to see the birthday girl?”
“That’s the bride, young man. Stop being so foolish.” Mom chuckled.
Braxton smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. “Right, right. Silly of me to get it mixed up,” he said with a straight face, which only made us both grin at him.
My mother turned back to me and gave me a g
enuine smile. Patting my shoulder one last time before walking away, she paused at the door right in front of Braxton.
“You take care of my little girl. She’s special.” She cupped his cheek in her hand, tilting her head as if looking for something. “Then again, so are you.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek before walking away.
“Wow, your mom is pretty dang awesome,” Braxton said as he walked into the room, shutting the door behind him.
I turned on my chair to face him. “Yeah she is, but she was starting to overwhelm me.” I folded my hands in my lap, then thought better of it and tugged at the bathrobe I wore so I didn’t get makeup on my new pantsuit for the party.
“I felt your power rise a little and the sky darkened. Figured I’d come and check on you,” he told me as he knelt in front of me and took my hands in his.
Instant calmness poured over me. I gripped his hands a little tighter while giving him a bright smile. “How did you know I wanted you here?”
He reached up to brush some hair behind my ear. “Don’t you always?”
I choked on a laugh. “Think highly of yourself much?”
“Why Sky Stratan, are you saying I’m conceited?” he mocked, his hand going to his chest as if wounded.
I actually snorted at that. “You are priceless.”
He chuckled. “It’s part of my charm. You know you love me for it and I know I love you too.”
I froze. Did he just say the “L” word? Stretching back while sitting on his heels, he almost lost his balance as he seemed to realize what he’d just said.
Grabbing his hands, I made sure he didn’t topple to the floor. “Did you just say—” I started, my heart stuttering in my chests.
He gulped and cut me off. “Yeah, yeah I did.”
“Did you mean it?”
“I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t mean it. It feels right,” he answered. “We feel right. I am falling hard and fast for you, Sky Stratan.”
I saw the love in his eyes and I didn’t doubt a single word that he said. The happiness radiating through me almost overwhelmed me. I couldn’t disagree with him; it did feel right.
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