Of Blood & Magic: Blood Descent Book 1

by T. L. McDonald

  “Ignore them.” Taylor helps pick up my books while the rest of the student body in the hallway, snickers.

  “I never got what he saw in her anyway,” Kayla Preston, whispers loudly to Gabriella and Isabella Parker. It’s clear she wants me to hear her, but I plan on taking the high ground by not saying a thing. “Unruly hair, boring face, practically flat chested.” Kayla looks down her perfectly sculpted nose at me with cold blue eyes. She sticks her chest out as though to show me up with her D cups compared to my B ones. I roll my eyes. She’s had a thing for Evan for as long as I can remember and has always regarded me with claws out. She must be loving this.

  One of the twins giggles. I have no idea if it’s Gabby or Izzy. I can never tell them apart. They are identical in every sense of the word. Green eyes, blonde hair styled in the exact same way, matching nail polish, the same high-pitched grating voice. They even wear the same outfits, just different colors.

  Kayla kicks one of my books down the hallway, then covers her mouth with her fingertips. “Oops. Let me get that for you, never.” All three girls laugh. I grit my teeth and ignore it. Kayla’s hated me since seventh grade when Evan sat by me in art class and not her. I ignored her insults then, I can ignore them now. She’s not worth the hassle of getting worked up for anyway when I’ve got bigger things to worry about.

  “Quit being a bitch, Kayla. Evan will never get with you. He likes intelligent girls, not nasty air-headed vultures. Harassing Indi will not score you any brownie points. It just makes you look stupid.” Taylor crosses her arms, getting in between Kayla and me, the look in her eyes daring Kayla to say or do something else.

  Kayla’s bright red lips pull back in a sneer. “Whatever. Let’s go ladies. We’ve got better things to do than hang around these losers.” She flips her sandy brown hair over her shoulder with a flip of her wrist. “As for Evan, we’ll see what happens.”

  Paige comes around the corner, her strides long and purposeful. She walks straight into Kayla, spilling her latte down the front of Kayla’s white top. “Oops. Didn’t see you there.”

  Kayla pulls her shirt away from her skin with the edges of her long purple fingernails. “You did that on purpose.”

  “Did I?” Paige smiles sweetly then swivels around Kayla. “Let’s see you prove it.”

  “Bitch,” Kayla spats. She stomps down the hall, her ridiculous heels clicking on the tiled floor. Who wears shoes like that to school? She’s going to class, not walking the runway. The twins glare at us then follow Kayla like shadows.

  “And proud of it,” Paige yells. “I so did that on purpose. I could hear her running her mouth around the corner. I’m tired of bullies getting away with whatever they want. Someone needs to put them in their place every now and then.”

  “Damn straight.” Taylor gives Paige a high-five then turns toward me. “Next time you should punch Kayla in the nose. Mess up her pretty plastic face a little bit.” She mock punches the palm of her hand, then grounds her knuckles in, her face scrunched in a scowl. Paige and I both laugh.

  “Nah, she’s not worth getting suspended for. Besides, it drives her nuts when I ignore her.” I pick my book up from the floor, dusting it off with the side of my arm.

  “You’re right. She’s not worth it,” Taylor says with a nod of her head. “She’s a butt-faced meany who will get her comeuppance one day. But until then, fingers crossed, the rest of today will be great… so long as we’re not late for Chemistry and end up in Hell’s detention with Mr. Jackson.”

  “Well then, we better run because the bell’s about to ring.” Paige takes off with a giggle, her backpack bouncing up and down in her haste. Taylor and I run right behind her, the three of us skidding inside the door just in time.

  By the time my last class rolls around I’m ready to ditch and never come back. Taylor’s finger-crossing hopes for a good day did not work out at all. In fact, this has been a day from Hell and I seriously don’t know if I can endure anymore without lashing out in some way. It might be in fits of screams and tears, or it might be flying fists and bloody faces. Or better yet, maybe I’ll cast a hex over half the people at school and give them all a horrible rash in a sensitive area. At this point it could go either way.

  I jerk my locker open, slamming the door against the one beside mine. Good thing my neighbor has already removed his books, or he’d be the unlucky recipient of pent up anger and frustration toward most of the student body. High school sucks and so do the people in it. All day long Evan has shot death rays from his eyes every time he’s looked in my general direction, his I wish you would die glare even worse when he saw Sebastian and me walking out of History class together. Evan’s football friends have called me every insulting name they could come up with. The popular crowd turned their noses up anytime I walked by. Kayla and her shadows cornered me outside the cafeteria and dumped a full can of soda down my back as payback for the latte Paige spilled on Kayla earlier. Then there are the nasty rumors speculating various reasons why Evan and I broke up spreading through the school like wildfire. Every one of them paints me as the villain. The evil girl who broke the heart of the school’s golden boy. With Evan leading the football team in an undefeated season he’s above reproach and can do no wrong, which automatically leaves me to take the fall as the bad guy.

  But the worst part of it all was hoping Evan would defend me and then being disappointed when he didn’t. We were friends long before we tried being a couple. How could he be so quick to betray that? Watching him stay silent or laugh along with his friends at the things being said while he glared at me from across the room really hurt. It still hurts. It’s like a giant hole has been ripped into my heart and with every mean word and glare he gives it tears further apart. I expected him to be mad over our breakup, especially when I realized how deep his feelings ran, but I never expected he’d take things this far. This isn’t the Evan I know.

  I sigh and drop my gaze to the floor. Maybe I deserve it. Maybe I didn’t try hard enough to make it work between Evan and me. Maybe this is karma’s way of coming back to bite me in the butt for letting all our possibilities fall through my fingers after my world changed and Sebastian entered my life with his cocky attitude and mysterious pull. All I wanted to do was keep Evan safe and far away from the supernatural world I fell into. I never meant to hurt him. And I certainly didn’t mean to feel things for Sebastian in the midst of it all, but I do. Whatever this connection between Sebastian and me is, it was always going to bring us together. I just hate Evan got hurt because of it. I wish I could take his pain away. Make him forget he’s in love. Make it so this whole crappy day never happened. Make it so we’re just friends again.

  The charm around my neck warms against my skin as an idea pops into my head. Maybe I can erase this day. Make everyone forget all the mean things they did by making Evan forget the way he feels about me. A simple memory spell over the school combined with an anti-love spell I found in the Book of Shadows from Books and Brew could save us both from the heartache this day has brought. It would take his pain away and give me back my friend.

  Somewhere inside I know this line of thinking is wrong and selfish because it’s not right to mess with other people’s heads and emotions. But how wrong is it really if it brings Evan peace; if it makes him happy? Too bad the book is still hidden under user manuals in the kitchen junk drawer at home and not in my hand because if I had it, I’d be seriously tempted to…

  “Holy sh—” I take a step back, tripping over my backpack. I fall flat on my butt, the Book of Shadows suddenly in my hand dropping to the floor. Students passing by point and laugh at me sprawled on my backside, their giggles adding to a day already full of humiliation. I tune every one out as I slowly reach out for the book. How the hell did it appear like that?

  Lying open facedown, I turn it over, the blank pages filling in with a memory wipe spell. I pull myself up, hiding the book within my locker as I read over it. It calls for blood—namely mine—and intent. I could cast it in
ten minutes. Providing I know what it is I’m doing and I don’t botch it.

  The question now is should I?

  I swore I would never touch this book again after what happened the last time I used it when I’d nearly desiccated a vampire by making blood pour from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. I’d even split open his veins to allow for more blood flow. The magic was dark and intoxicating and scary… and so, so alluring. I didn’t want to stop. What if this spell is dark in nature too? What if I lose myself in the rush of making people forget and I take too much? I could accidentally erase every memory they’ve ever had. But then again I could just as easily not. Who’s to say the spell in this book is any darker than the spell my family cast over me when they made me forget my past? When they made me forget who I was? They cast it to protect me and that’s all I would be doing too. Protecting Evan and myself from having to feel the pain of splitting up, especially when I add in the anti-love spell so his feelings for me fade back into nothing more than friendship.

  I tuck the book in the crook of my arm intending to go to the bathroom to cast the spell when the voice of doubt and morality quietly whispering in the back of my mind shouts a little louder.

  I can’t cast the spell.

  It wouldn’t be right. I can’t mess around with people’s minds or memories, especially when I know firsthand how much it sucks to have things taken away against your will. And I can’t take Evan’s feelings away from him either. As much as it hurts him and me both, he needs to feel what he needs to feel. I just wish there was a way to make it a little easier.

  Resigned to let crap continue to pile on, I slip the book onto the top shelf of my locker, shoving it all the way to the back. Just as I’m about to close the door the pendant dangling from the chain around my neck grows warm once again. I absentmindedly place a hand over it on the outside of my shirt, wondering why it does that. A small wooden box falls from the edge of the shelf, landing by my foot. I pick it up, turning it over in my hands. It’s the box Ivy from Books and Brew gave me. She said its powdery contents would ease Evan’s heartbreak, so he’d be able to find happiness. I forgot she’d even given it to me. I had it buried in the back of my nightstand drawer. I wonder if I conjured it too like I must have with the book?

  Maybe I should use it.

  No. Using magic like this isn’t the answer either. Or fair. It’s not my place to take Evan’s feelings away from him in any capacity, not even if it makes the pain easier. Eventually, he’ll cool off and things will blow over. I just hope it’s sooner rather than later because being the schools outcast really sucks.

  I put the box on top of the Book of Shadows and close my locker.

  Evan and a few of his football buddies go past. One of them calls me a skank while another knocks the books from my hands. Evan doesn’t say a word. The smirk on his face, though, speaks volumes.

  “Enough.”

  I grab Evan by the arm and pull him aside. “Why are you doing this?”

  He shoves his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “I’m not doing anything.” His face gives nothing away, but his pale blue eyes don’t hide a thing. They churn with anger and hurt. He knows exactly what he’s doing, and he’s doing it on purpose. This is revenge.

  “Yes, you are. You’re letting your friends and everyone else treat me like garbage. I know you’re upset with me, I get it, but don’t you think things are going too far? The name-calling. The meanness. The rumors. You know what people are saying about me isn’t true. All you’d have to do is say something and all of this would stop.” I search his face, looking for a glimpse of my friend. If he’s there, he’s buried somewhere deep.

  “Maybe I don’t want to say anything. You hurt me Indi, so now I’m hurting you.” He takes a step back. “It sucks when someone breaks your heart doesn’t it?”

  Hot tears collect along my bottom lashes, blurring his face. I don’t know if they’re tears of anger, frustration, or loss over the friend I once had. I had no idea he could be so cruel.

  Screw him and screw his feelings.

  The box of powder suddenly appears in my hand. Before I realize what it is I’m doing, I slide the lid off, dump the contents in my hand and blow it in his face. His eyes dilate and contract, his gaze becoming unfocused. “I’m sorry I hurt you Evan. I really am. I swear I never meant to. All I want is for you to be happy and for us to be friends like we used to be.”

  “Happy,” he mumbles.

  “Yes, I want you to find what makes you happy.”

  “Find what makes me happy,” he repeats as though I were compelling him. God, I hope I’m not. Please say I’m not. Please say it’s the spell working in a similar fashion and it’s not something darker at work like potential vampire abilities.

  Evan blinks a few times, the vacant stare in his eyes fading into one of confusion. “I’ve got to get to class. I’ll make sure the rumors and everything else stop.” He rejoins his friends. The one who called me a skank says it again. Evan grabs him by the shirt and slams him into a locker. “Never call her that again. Do you understand?” He waits for his friend to nod before he lets him go. “Good.”

  Evan looks back at me with a smile that’s both familiar and foreign at the same time. The hairs on my neck rise.

  What did I just do?

  26

  Jack and Liv climb out of the back of Sebastian’s Camaro, each with a bag of supplies in hand. Part of my training is to learn how to access and use my magic. My cousins and Sebastian thought it would be best to practice somewhere secluded since I don’t yet have the best control over my emerging abilities. My crispy robe, and a town drowning in unexpected downpours can attest to that. Plus, Uncle Caleb and Aunt Claudia are under the impression my powers are still suppressed.

  A twinge of guilt and fear worms its way through my stomach at the memory of how I’d compelled them. It was the one and only time I’d ever done it—unless it’s what I did to Evan a week ago too. Truth be told, I’m not sure if I compelled him or if it was the spell Ivy gave me. Either way, I’ve been avoiding magic, or anything to do with the supernatural ever since. But I guess I can’t stay in the dark forever. Vampires, witches, and possibly angelic bounty hunters are coming for me and I need to be prepared. Which means I have to learn how to control and use my magic even if the idea of doing so scares the hell out of me because of the things I’ve already done.

  I stare out the window at the big blue water tower looming above us. It’s so huge this close up. Nervous energy prickles along the back of my neck and down my arms. I hope my magic doesn’t go astray and I knock it down somehow since I don’t really know what I’m doing. The entire town below would be flooded if I did. I bite my lip as my heartbeats increase and my lungs become squeezed from within. I wonder if it could really happen. Could I really flood the town? Maybe this isn’t such a good place to practice after all, especially when I account for the hundreds of trees surrounding us. What if instead of a flood, I freak out, conjure fireballs, and burn the whole forest down? According to Liv I nearly burn the house down every year near my birthday, and that’s in my sleep.

  I clutch at my chest, tugging my shirt away from my skin. It’s too tight. I can’t breathe. The tower outside my window sways. Or maybe it’s me swaying because everything else is starting to look off balance too, and it can’t all be dancing in the wind. I’m not even sure if there is wind. I grip the seat as though it’ll hold me in place.

  “Indi.”

  The voice calling my name seems so far away. I can’t find it. Not when the world is spinning so fast, and I...

  “Indi.”

  A hand comes down over top of mine, prying my death-gripped fingers away from the edge of the seat cushion. I stare at scraped knuckles, my gaze shifting to follow the line of his arm to his shoulder, then to his neck and face. Perfect eyes with irises the color of a deep dark ocean sweep me up in their gaze, the speck of brown in his left eye like a little island pulling me to shore. His mouth moves, lips forming m
y name.

  “Indi.”

  “Yeah,” I somehow manage to say between rapid breaths.

  “Are you okay?”

  I shake my head. “No. Can’t catch my breath. Need to find something… to breathe into, or something to… distract me.”

  Sebastian shifts around, looking for something in the backseat, then the glove box. “I don’t have anything you can use. But I have an idea.” He flips my hand over and begins rubbing circles over my palm with his thumb. “This technique used to help my sister with panic attacks when our parents would fight. It should help you too. Here’s what I want you to do. Keep your eyes on mine.” He waits until our gazes are locked. “Okay, good. Now take a deep breath in while counting to seven, then release it counting to eleven.” He breathes with me. “Again. In to seven, out to eleven.”

  After a couple of minutes the vise around my lungs loosens, allowing me to breathe regularly. “Thank you. That helped.”

  “It’s the least I could do, since I’m sure my stunning good looks are more than likely what caused your attack. My effect on pretty girls is legendary, you know.” Dark lashes kiss his cheekbone in a wink while a teasing grin plays at his mouth.

  “Yes, I’m sure that’s what caused it.” I punch him in the shoulder. “You’re such a dork.”

  “Better than being an annoying asshole with a staring problem.”

  “Oh, no, you’re still that too.”

  He drops his jaw in mock offence and I laugh. “I can’t help it if you make me stare.” The playful look in his eyes deepens into something sultrier, making my cheeks blush like usual. I bite my lip. His eyes flick to my mouth.

  “And the annoying asshole part?”

  He chuckles. “That’s all me.”