Hidden Worlds

by Kristie Cook

  “That’s not possible.” He shook his head.

  “It is. I don’t know how, but it is.” I told him all about the attic with the red door, the book, the spell, the storm. Everything. Then, I continued on with what I saw hovering over my trash can this morning and everything that had happened after.

  “This isn’t good,” Kace said when I was finished.

  “What isn’t good?” I asked, wishing he would elaborate a little more.

  He sat up and rested his elbows against his knees. He scooped up another blade of grass and then dropped it, letting his hand dangle. “The only way you could have done magick is if Binks was there, which is fine … but, the other stuff … the symbols and what you saw … that’s Hoodoo, Addison. Someone used Hoodoo on you directly.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN - Someone Wanted Me Gone

  “Why?” I asked. “Why would someone use Hoodoo on me?”

  Kace turned to look at me, his eyes somber. “Isn’t it obvious? You’re a threat.”

  I laughed, thinking he was joking, but when his serious stare didn’t lessen any, my stomach flipped. “You’re not joking, are you?”

  “Not in the least.”

  “A threat to what? Who would think that I was a threat?” I asked, astonished.

  Kace ran a hand through his dark blond hair. “Who wouldn’t, honestly? I mean you being here sets things in motion for us Elementals to gain our powers back. Someone could be upset you’re changing the balance of everything that’s been set in stone for so long now. Or, someone could be jealous our generation has the opportunity theirs no longer does. Take your pick.”

  I didn’t speak. Instead, I sat there replaying Kace’s reasons in my head. When he put it that way, I could completely understand someone’s motive to want me gone. My stomach became rock hard. Someone wanted me gone so badly that they’d resorted to paying the Van Rooyens to do creepy Hoodoo stuff on me. Either that, or it was the Van Rooyens themselves.

  I thought of how fast Vera had left, how completely blindsided she’d been with the thought of getting out of town. That spell had been meant for me, obviously, but who’d done it and for what reason? Clips from our first night in Soul Harbor flashed through my mind then, and I remembered everything Twila and Stina had said to me as well as the looks Theo had given me.

  A warm breeze blew, sending strands of my hair flying. I pulled the hair tie from my wrist and quickly twisted my hair up into a high bun, eager to get its thickness off my neck while I thought some more.

  “So, what was it exactly … the spell I mean, the one Vera stepped in?” I asked, staring at a bird of some sort as it swooped down and walked on its stick legs through the muddy section of the water’s edge in front of us.

  Kace looked at me. “I think from the way your friend bolted like a bat outta hell it was a Hotfoot spell.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that. Honestly though, I was sure I wouldn’t like the sound of any Hoodoo spell. Shakiness entered my limbs, and I hoped it didn’t find its way into my words when I spoke.

  “A Hotfoot spell?” I asked in a relatively low voice.

  “Yeah,” Kace said. His eyebrows drew together. “My parents used one once on some people who’d moved in next door to us when I was little. I remember waking up to their loud music in the middle of the night for weeks at a time. They threw wild parties every night. My parents had gone over there numerous times to ask them to tone it down. Hell, I even remember hearing them talking the next morning about how they’d called the cops and still, a few hours later, the noise and music would be even louder than before. Finally, they went to visit the Van Rooyens and came back with some kind of powder. Mom said it wouldn’t hurt them, just make them move on to torment someone else with their loud music and parties. I watched her sprinkle it at their front door and along the walkway in front of their house. The next day there was a U-Haul parked in their driveway and then they were gone.”

  “Wow, instantaneous,” I said, shocked.

  “Exactly.”

  “That must have been what happened to Vera then, and I’m positive it was meant for me.” I drew my knees up against my chest as a sudden thought filled my mind. “Do you think whoever it is that wanted to use that spell on me will do something else to me now that it didn’t work? They have to know by now that they sent the wrong person away. I mean, I’m still here.”

  “I’d say there’s a good chance,” Kace whispered as he glanced at me, cocking his head to the side, and I noticed how his entire body seemed to stiffen at his own words.

  Great. I hadn’t even been here for an entire week and I’d already managed to piss off either a witch with a jealous streak or the Hoodoo family who lived in town. Possibly even both.

  “So, what do I do now? Sit and wait?” I asked, pressing my knee to my cheek as I turned my head to get a better look at Kace.

  He shrugged and dropped his gaze to the grass. “Pray you didn’t tap all your cat’s magick out last night and attempt to cast a protection spell.”

  “Huh?” I questioned. My nose crinkled as I tried to make since of what he’d just said.

  I’d been so wrapped up in figuring out who was trying to get me to leave that I’d completely forgotten what Kace had said about Binks and magick.

  Kace raised his eyes to meet mine and grinned at me. “You’re hot when you’re confused, anybody ever tell you that before?”

  I ignored his question. “How can Binks have magick? He’s just a cat, isn’t he?”

  My heart pounded as I thought of all the crazy things I’d read in books and seen on TV. Was Binks some sort of shape-shifter human? God, I hoped not. If so, then he’d seen more of me than Kace had, that was for sure.

  “He’s your family’s familiar,” Kace answered simply.

  “Which means?”

  “Which means, he’s your family’s magickal companion. Any natural magick your family does with him in the room, he soaks up the remnants and stores it. Your grandmother must have never tapped into it, even after she lost her powers once her group separated.”

  Huh, so Binks did know what I was doing the other night. He knew more than me probably. That was why he wanted me to get downstairs this morning. Smart cat.

  I stood up and dusted my butt off. “Well, let’s go.”

  “Go? And where is it we’re going?” Kace asked, sliding his eyes up the length of me from where he sat looking deliciously handsome.

  “To my house so I can see if there’s anything about protection spells in that big-ass book I found. Then, we’re gonna see if Binks has anymore magick. Sound all right with you?” I asked with a hand firmly placed on my hip.

  Kace grinned. “Any time I can get to work magick with you, I’m down for.”

  The innuendo in his words was not lost on me, but I didn’t have time to think like that right now. I had to figure out a way to protect myself before whoever it was that wanted me gone decided to strike again.

  ***

  I was cautious of where I stepped when I started up the stairs that led to my front door, searching for any dirt that could possibly be another Hotfoot spell. Kace was in front of me, acting as my self-appointed bodyguard. I let us into the house and headed straight for the kitchen. Now that I knew what was in my trash can, I wanted it out of the house. Immediately.

  “What are you doing?” Kace asked as he watched me struggle with getting the bag out of the can without touching anything besides the drawstrings. It wasn’t working so well.

  “Trying to get this crap out of my house,” I said through gritted teeth as I pulled hard and only managed to stretch the drawstrings out, but not release the bag from the can.

  He chuckled and came over to help. “Here, let me.” He reached out and gripped the sides of the can as I continued to pull with all my might. “You know you can touch the bag now. The spell already worked on someone; it has no power anymore.”

  “I don’t care. I’m still not touching it just in case you’re wrong,” I said as I q
uickly tied the strings into a bow and headed for the back door.

  “One thing you’ll soon come to realize about me, I’m never wrong.”

  I brushed my hands off on my shorts and slammed the back door shut once more. “Whatever. Let’s go see what we can find in that book.”

  I headed upstairs with Kace right on my heels.

  “Go upstairs with you, sure.” He grinned.

  God, he was such a damn horn dog. Problem was … I liked it.

  ***

  I turned the knob on the red door and stepped inside. Binks ran up the narrow stairs, nearly tripping Kace so he could get into the room behind me. I glanced at him in a whole new light now. It was odd that he was like some sponge for magick. I went straight to the book and began flipping through its pages without knowing what I was looking for.

  “What type of spell do you think I’ll need?” I asked, trying to make my voice sound as normal as possible when my words felt anything but.

  “I don’t know,” Kace said, flopping on the puke-colored loveseat up against the far wall.

  I stopped and glared at him. “What do you mean, you don’t know? You’re supposed to be helping me figure this crap out because you know more than me.”

  “I’ve never actually had to use a protection spell for anything, though.” He shrugged while messing with the tassels on one of the throw pillows.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” I said as I resumed my frantic search for a spell to help me. One caught my eye: A Spell for Protection. “I think I found one.” I skimmed the spell, searching for the ingredients.

  Black candles to line a circle with.

  There were plenty of black candles on the shelf. I went over and grabbed an armful as Kace stood and glanced over the spell I’d found.

  “This one is so basic. I hope it will be enough,” he said, already sounding pessimistic about the whole thing.

  I ignored his comment and went back to the book to figure out what I needed to do next.

  Create a circle, and then line the candles around you within. Clear your mind before lighting them to sweep away negative energy within yourself. Light the candles while thinking of your intentions: protection, safety, comfort.

  I created a circle with the chalk like I had done before and set out the candles around me like the book had said, feeling as though I had a ticking time bomb fastened to my chest. Before I set the final candles into place and closed the chalk circle all the way, I called for Binks. He came directly to me and curled up in my lap. I wasn’t sure whether or not he needed to be enclosed within the circle in order for his magick to work, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I looked to Kace next.

  “Are you going to help, or are you just going to stand there and watch?” I asked him.

  He flashed me a wicked grin. “I already told you, any time I get to work magick with you I’m down for. I was just marveling at how easily you’re taking all of this. I mean you just drew a circle.”

  He moved to sit beside me on the cold hardwood floor, and I didn’t say anything. His presence mixed with mine in the circle I was creating and made the area seem too small and suffocating as I closed us inside with both chalk and candles.

  I sat Indian style and Kace did the same. His knees brushed against mine in the confined space I’d created, and I felt tendrils of warmth swim to the surface of my skin there. For the first time, I wondered what he felt when we touched. Did he feel warmth like me, or was it something else entirely that sparked to life inside of him?

  Kace sat the book on the floor beside us, and I glanced at him, allowing my eyes to rake over every inch of him. He’d worn a faded, baby blue, cotton T-shirt and a pair of khaki cargo shorts that were well broken in, just like the shirt.

  “Are you ready to attempt this?” Kace asked, a smirk playing in his words.

  “Yeah.” I looked up to find him smiling knowingly at me, as though he’d borne witness to the way my eyes had been taking him in and he liked it. My cheeks warmed under his stare, and I shifted my attention to the book.

  “Okay, now it says to clear your mind of negativity,” I said, struggling to do just that.

  “All right, not a problem,” Kace said.

  I watched as he closed his eyes, their thick lashes fanned out against his cheeks. Why did guys always have lashes girls dreamed of having? All the mascara in the world could never make my lashes look as long and dark as his did right now.

  I took in a breath and closed my eyes to clear my thoughts of anything negative—something that wasn’t going to be too hard, because I really wasn’t thinking anything negative at the moment anyway. Kace shifted his weight, causing his knee to brush against mine a little more. Nope, all thoughts were good at the moment.

  I opened my eyes after a few minutes and found Kace staring directly at me. He flashed me a crooked smile and I grinned back.

  “Now, I light the candles while thinking of my intentions. Protection, safety, comfort. I guess you should think those things too,” I said, my voice sounding a bit husky and unsure. Kace’s eyes flashed and he looked boyishly pleased to have the effect he did on me.

  I shifted my gaze to the candles and began lighting them, while repeating the same three words in my mind: Protection, safety, comfort.

  Kace picked up the book and glanced at its pages. “Envision the fires creating a flaming, bright sphere of protection around you. One that cannot be penetrated. Envision this sphere growing until it encases the house in a bubble,” he said, reading from the book.

  I closed my eyes again, this time envisioning what Kace had told me to. Binks purred loudly from in my lap, and I wondered if what we were doing was actually working. I opened my eyes after a few minutes and met Kace’s stare dead-on.

  “How do we know if it worked?” I asked.

  “What did you feel last time, anything?”

  I thought for a moment before answering, remembering the sudden flare of heat that had overcome me. “I don’t know. There was a clap of thunder and then a storm came afterward, but I’m not sure it was from doing magick. It was probably just a coincidence.”

  “But did you feel anything?” Kace asked again.

  I shook my head. “Not much. There was some sort of heat I felt. It was different than what I feel when we touch though, so I’m not sure it was anything.”

  “Hmm … I don’t know. I guess we’ll just have to hope for the best. Maybe he doesn’t have any more magick left in him,” he said, looking at a sleeping Binks in my lap.

  “Maybe.” I glanced down at him.

  Disappointment crept through me. I had expected some sort of sign that the spell we’d done had worked, like maybe for the candles to blow out on their own or something of equal creepiness like the last time. This time, though, there’d been nothing.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - Sexier Than Sin

  “So, should we order in or go out?” Kace asked after we’d cleaned everything up and headed downstairs.

  “Umm, whatever you want to do, I guess,” I said, not realizing he’d been planning on staying after.

  “Oh, God, you’re one of those people.” He scoffed in a tone I didn’t much care for.

  I turned to face him. Scowling, I blew a strand of hair that had fallen from my bun out of my face and crossed my arms over my chest. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  His oddly colored eyes flashed with amusement. “One of those people who never really know how to give someone an actual answer when they’re asked to make even the simplest of decisions. You’re a deflector.” He pointed at me and grinned.

  He’d said it like he’d had me pegged from the beginning or something and was just now getting to see that he’d been right all along.

  “Whatever, I’m not one of those people. And what’s a deflector, anyway?” I asked, bemused.

  “A person who deflects the question back on you, the questioner.”

  “Order in,” I said, sounding more firm than I’d been going for. I was not a deflector. I
hated people like that; no way was I going to be labeled as one of them. “That’s my answer. We’ll stay and order in. What do you feel like eating?” I asked, heading toward the kitchen where I’d seen a phone book at some point.

  “I don’t know. Whatever you feel like.”

  I spun around and glared at him. “Nu-uh, you are not going to do that to me. Especially not after that.” I motioned toward the staircase where we’d just been. “I don’t even know what there is around here for takeout.”

  He grinned and crammed his hands into the front pockets of his shorts. “Doesn’t feel too good, does it?”

  “You’re such an ass.” I smiled and shook my head. “And you called me a deflector.”

  “Takes one to know one.” He licked his bottom lip and his grin deepened, igniting the dimple I was beginning to love. “Seriously though, Collette’s delivers and if I tell them it’s me they’re delivering to, they’ll allow me to order a bottle of wine.” He raised a challenging eyebrow at me. “What do you think, want to have a drink or two with me?”

  “Sure,” I said. I could use a drink. After all, someone was trying to get rid of me, and anything I could do to relax seemed needed because of it.

  This was what I told myself, even though alcohol and Kace did not seem like a good situation for me to put myself in. I was practically setting myself up for a hot fisherman fling as Vera had called it.

  No, I could behave … as long as Kace did.

  ***

  True to his word, dinner came with a nice bottle of wine after Kace had mentioned who the order was for. I scoured the cabinets in my grandmother’s kitchen for two glasses we could drink from that weren’t plastic. Finally, I found her stash in the cabinets above the refrigerator.

  “Geez, Grandma liked her drinks,” I said as I glanced at the loads of tumblers, shot glasses, and an assortment of wine and champagne glasses hidden away.

  Kace came over and placed both of his hands on my hips. He lifted me up and slowly set me down in front of him so I wouldn’t have to shimmy my way off the counter on my own. The motion of brushing against him sent shivers across my skin and ignited images in my mind that I’d thought would only appear after a glass or two of wine.