“Royce at the center of a bunch of girls,” a guy’s voice said from behind me. “You just love proving stereotypes right, don’t ya’, Redd?”
I craned my neck to search for the source just to be sure, but the disappointment still stung. Not him either. I sighed. Again. I needed to get control of my emotions.
“…stereotype?” I caught the end of Emersyn’s question.
Royce rolled his eyes, but his grin never wavered. “I’m gay. Ignore him. We all do.”
I laughed and opened my mouth to ask a question when out of nowhere the mark on my chest exploded with pain and heat. This was like eight hundred times worse than when I spilled battery acid on my hand as a kid. I gritted my teeth and hissed as pain consumed my thoughts. Breathe through it. My body lit up like I’d jumped into the bonfire. My face flushed and I prayed no one noticed. My fingers twitched with the need to rub my chest, but there were too many eyes nearby. Emersyn was already threatening to tell our parents. I didn’t know why, but something inside me knew I had to keep quiet about it.
Movement on the far side of the beach caught my eye and I jumped. From within the trees and shrubbery, three figures stepped onto the sand about fifty feet away. Are they… Yes. They’re boys. My heart fluttered. Please be Tennessee. Please. The pain in my chest tripled. This time, I didn’t keep myself from rubbing it. After what seemed like an eternity, the moon lit up their faces.
Tennessee.
The world around me spun and got a little fuzzy. I had to remind myself to breathe. I thought I even listened. Heat rushed to my face and burned my cheeks. He’s here. Henley hadn’t lied or tricked me. He’s here. Oh my God. He’s here. Now what?
What do I say? Do I act like nothing happened?
“Oh, cute dog!” I heard Emersyn say, though her voice was muddy.
“The dog is Albert,” Henley said.
What dog? All of my attention was on Tennessee, like tunnel vision. He, on the other hand, hadn’t looked up from the sand. I needed him to see me, to know I was here. Look at me, damn it. Look at me.
His eyes, one green and one blue, snapped to mine like he’d heard me. His eyes widened just a fraction. The way he licked his lips sent shivers down my spine. He remembers. I tried to smile or wave, anything to acknowledge him, but I was frozen.
“Aren’t ya’ glad you came?” Henley whispered in my ear.
I nodded but my mouth seemed to be paralyzed. Royce stood and brushed white sand off his hands before strolling up to them. If he hadn’t openly admitted he was gay, no one would’ve expected it.
“They’re like brothers to him,” Henley whispered in my ear again.
That shouldn’t have been good news but it was. I wanted Tennessee and wasn’t sure I could compete with Royce and pretty girls. Everyone around me got to their feet to greet the newcomers, even Emersyn, but the way Tennessee stared at me…I wasn’t sure my legs would hold me. Part of me hoped no one else noticed. Part of me hoped they did.
After a few seconds, I managed to stand on shaky legs and stumble over, all without taking my eyes off him. I strained to hear the sound of his voice as he talked to the others, but with the blood pumping in my ears mixed with the wind and waves, it was a lost cause.
“Hello, Tegan,” a rough male voice said.
I jumped and looked up to find a huge blond dude smiling down at me. He smelled like soap, like really good soap. I cleared my throat then held out my hand. “Hi, sorry… I’m Tegan, but you knew that.” Something about this guy made me nervous. It was the look in his light green eyes and the way he watched me…and it was nothing at all like Tennessee did.
He gave me a wide, friendly smile. “I’m Cooper.”
“Hi, I’m Emersyn,” my stepsister jumped in beside me.
I knew she hadn’t meant to be rude; she was excited. I smiled and stepped back to let them talk. These people were pleasant and welcoming, and I tried to not be suspicious of it.
“Hello,” a velvety warm voice said from my left side.
THAT voice. Him. I recognized it in an instant. My gaze snapped toward the voice and found him standing a mere foot from me. I tried to smile up at him, but I couldn’t feel the muscles in my face. The burning in my chest intensified, yet somehow I managed to push it away. I swallowed hard.
“Again.” Tennessee added with a crookedgrin that melted my insides.
It was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. Something about the look in his eyes made my lips turn up. The green one, definitely the green eye.
I held my hand out in front of me and pretended I didn’t see the way it trembled. “I’m Tegan,” I said as loud as I could, which was pretty much a whisper.
“Tennessee,” he said roughly and squeezed my hand in his.
My body lit on fire at his touch. I held on tighter. Neither one of us let go. We stood there holding hands and staring into each other’s eyes. I thought I was going to faint. The only blood in my head was in my cheeks. Every other sound around us blurred into nothingness. The smell of fresh rain filled my lungs. It was clean and earthy, with a hint of wildness.
Kiss me.
He licked his lips slowly like he was under a spell, then pulled me closer to his body, when something massive slammed into me from the side. I crashed to the sand.
“Albert, no!”
A large tongue licked the side of my face repeatedly as a dark shadow loomed over my body. Albert. The black mastiff. Well, I did say kiss me. I threw my head back and laughed.
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry, Tegan,” I heard what had to be Albert’s owner talking to me. “He’s just a puppy…”
A puppy? Good God. I was still laughing until I sat up and found Tennessee standing twenty feet away at the snack station with Cooper. No. Why did you go?
He’ll come back.
Please come back.
Chapter Twelve
Tegan
One hour and thirty-two minutes later, Tennessee still hadn’t come back to me. Not that I was counting. Because I wasn’t. At all. Simply a coincidental observation of time.
Okay, so I counted. But it was driving me crazy. He moved around, hanging with the other guys. I watched him, though I tried to be sly about it. A few times, he came close enough for me to hear the velvety sound of his voice. It was like a glass of water on a hot summer day. And his smile… I loved the way he smiled, like he was surprised every time he did it. He’d look down at the sand like he wanted to hide the reaction.
There was a whisper in the back of my mind that maybe he was avoiding me. Why would he? I mean, he kissed me, not the other way around. Maybe he wanted to torture me.
I sighed. The only saving grace for the night was how nice the group actually was. It didn’t appear to be a trick either. Despite my fears, I really liked them. This surprised me more than anything else. Being around them was natural and comfortable, like we’d known each other forever. I couldn’t put my finger on why, though.
I cleared my throat and glanced over to my right. The ocean sparkled like ice under the full moon. I loved the way the waves rolled onto the shore softly; it looked calm and inviting.
I smirked and turned back to face the group with an idea in mind. “Swimming anyone?”
“Oh, me!” Emersyn scrambled to her feet with a grin.
I jumped up, eager for a distraction from myself. Thankfully, I’d thought to wear a bathing suit. I pulled my Star Wars tank off then stepped out of my black cutoffs. Beside me, Emersyn made quick work with her romper.
“Is that a tattoo I see?” Henley asked, her voice sharp with excitement.
Oh, right, I wanted to ask her what hers meant. Someone else I knew had Roman numerals inked into their skin. Who was that? Had to be someone new, because no one back home had it. Definitely not Bettina.
Royce said something, and I glanced over to him. Ah-ha. It was him. There on his left forearm the letter X marked his skin. Must’ve been some kind of family thing. I looked over at the three girls huddled together to see what tatto
o Henley questioned when I spotted the letters XVI etched into Larissa’s mocha skin. What…?
My gaze moved to Tennessee before I consciously told it to. I immediately scanned his left arm… Him too? Roman numeral VI, right on his skin. I frowned and looked at every other person there, and sure enough, they all had a Roman numeral tattoo on the same part of their bodies. Only the two younger boys and Emersyn didn’t.
Okay, that’s weird. Are they a gang? Are we being asked to join? Why else would everyone have the same marking? They were numbered, and that had to be significant. The youngest looking girl had the letter I, and I found it impossible to believe she’d outrank Tennessee in a gang. Or anyone else, for that matter.
Then I heard Henley say my name, and I realized her eyes and question were directed at me. I froze. The mark. I forgot. I’m such an idiot—wait. I’d purposely worn a high-cut bikini top to cover it. But then what was Henley seeing? I didn’t have a—oh yeah.
I blushed. “Sorry, I forgot I had that. It’s fake. Deathly Hallows. Dad won’t let me get a real one.”
“I can give you a real one, if you want. I do all of ours.” Henley winked.
Oh my God. What are we getting into here?
“Race you to the water!” Emersyn yelled and sprinted toward it.
“Cheater!” I chased after her, thankful for the escape.
“I win!” Emersyn shouted before diving in.
I laughed and walked into the waves. When Emersyn reemerged on the surface, I splashed her. I waited until we swam out a little farther to ask her if she noticed their tattoos, but then I thought better of it. I didn’t want to freak her out. Again. “I haven’t seen this side of you.”
Emersyn smirked. “I’m not always scared and timid. This move was harder than I expected.”
“Well, I like it.” I smiled and swam around her so I faced the shore. My gaze immediately latched onto Tennessee like he had some kind of beaconing system. I wonder if he saw me in my bikini? Focus, Tegan. He might be in a gang. We don’t date gang members, do we? No.
“I like them,” Emersyn said, bringing my attention back to her. “They’re nice and fun. Have you noticed—did you just touch me?”
I blinked and shook my head. “No, I’m all the way over here.” I opened my mouth to assure her it was seaweed, when something hot wrapped around my ankle. I kicked out. Heat spread through my foot and up my leg. I hissed and swung my legs around.
“What is—” Emersyn screamed and then was pulled under the water.
“EMERSYN!” I dove under and saw something had grabbed her leg and was dragging her down. What the hell?
Something with black hands and eyes like red lava. I tried to scream out, but the water muffled the sound. My chest burned. I didn’t have much oxygen left. I gripped Emersyn’s hand and yanked as hard as I could. I used every ounce of energy I had in me and pulled until our heads broke the surface. We coughed and gasped for air.
The water lit up a bright green color. In a flash, the moon’s reflection was gone. I looked down with wide eyes and froze. Dozens of big, red eyes stared up at us. Creatures with white fangs snapped at me. I barely moved my leg in time to miss them. I screamed. I screamed louder than I ever had before. I couldn’t stop myself. It was those same creatures from Hidden Kingdom that had devoured the fairy ghosts. We had to get out of there. We had to get to where we could stand.
I turned to scream for help when I saw something running on top of the water. No, not something. Someone. The person held two swords that glowed brighter than the moon. Tennessee. Just like at Hidden Kingdom.
He crossed the ocean’s surface in the beat of a second. He dropped into a slide and swung both glowing swords in the air, then dove into the water. Those red eyes bounced and scattered as white light swirled. In seconds Emersyn’s were free.
I didn’t hesitate. I grabbed Emersyn and swam for the shore. Large, black tentacles flew up out of the water with little Venus-fly-trap looking things on the ends. I scrambled to swim away until my feet slammed into the sand. We’d made it to shallow waters. I stood and started to pull Emersyn to her feet when a tentacle sailed toward my face.
“DUCK!” a male voice yelled out from behind us.
We both dove. There was a flash of blue light and the sound of metal scratching metal. When I turned, Easton stood between us and the monster with a sword in hand. One second he looked like a normal human, but the next second his body was covered in shiny armor like an old-fashioned knight. The silver metal shimmered in the moonlight while he sliced his sword through the air, chopping tentacles off left and right.
There was another flash of blue light, and the monster was gone. Easton staggered forward, his armor dissolving with every step. His face was pasty white, but his stomach was red with blood.
Oh no. I jumped forward and caught him before he fell. We didn’t make it three more steps before the girls surrounded us. Together, we carried him up the sand. The girls all screamed orders at each other. Get the crystals! Grab a blade! I tried to help, but I had no idea what they were doing. Something about energy, salt water, and purified sand. I was lost. Larissa ran off to get a potion, whatever that meant.
“ROYCE,” Henley shouted toward the water. “FLOWERS. NOW.”
I glanced toward the water, and my jaw dropped. There had to be fifty of those red-eyed creatures. The guys and Libby stood in knee-deep water fighting them off. Tennessee was way out, a blur of white light walking on the water’s surface like it was cement.
“Stay with me, baby,” Lily cried to Easton. “We’re making a circle.”
Something moved in my peripheral vision. I swung my arms to fight, but it was only sand…floating in the air. The little specks hovered like gravity had no effect on them. There was a sucking noise, like a vacuum on carpet, and the sand smashed together in the air until it formed into…things.
What the hell? A dozen sand monsters emerged out of nowhere and charged toward us. They towered over me with hunched backs and four arms. Their legs bent the opposite way of humans. The other guys were still by the shore finishing off those sea creatures.
“Guys,” I shouted, without taking my eyes off the sand. “Can sand things hurt us?”
“Only if they have blades!” someone answered.
Blades? How would they get blades?
The wind shifted, and the sand creatures lurched forward. Arms made of sand flew up. Something metallic shined in the moonlight.
Too soon. I’d asked that too soon. My pulse skyrocketed. “Guys, they have blades!”
“Tennessee!” Henley screamed.
Tennessee’s head snapped toward us. His gaze landed on me first then moved to our new enemies. Faster than he should’ve been able to move, he appeared in front of me, swinging his glowing swords through the sand creatures. He moved on to the next before the first exploded.
I stumbled backward and stepped on something hot with my barefoot. I hissed and looked down… Easton’s sword.
My heart hammered in my chest. I only hesitated a second before I reached down and seized the weapon. It was heavier than I expected. I had to hold the hilt with both hands. I took a deep breath and raised the sword like a baseball bat. A sand monster popped up in front of me, and I swung the sword through the center of its stomach. It exploded into dust. Sand stung my exposed skin.
I smiled. It worked. I turned and swung my weapon again and again. A warm buzzing filled my hands, spreading up my arm. I looked down to find the hilt shimmering a bright white, just like Tennessee’s sword. It felt good in my hands. It felt good to do something.
Bright white light sailed by me. My hair flew in the air and wrapped around my face on a wild gust of wind. Tennessee swirled around like a tornado. The ground opened up around him like a valley. Each monster he slayed dropped into the abyss, and then the ground closed again.
Within seconds, everything went silent. The ocean was flat, the sky dark and cloudless. The sword still buzzed in my hands. I glanced down at the weapon
and choked on a scream.
Every inch of my body glowed brighter than the sun. Oh my God. What is it? I threw the sword down and swatted at my arms to get it off of me. Get off me, get off me, get off me. Did one of the monsters get me again? How had I missed getting injured? Unless it was the water? Maybe the ocean was toxic from the monsters? In my bikini, basically my entire body was exposed and visible. All of it glistening. My skin burned and tingled. The mark on my chest shined through my bikini top, blinding me if I looked too long.
A noise I’d never made before slipped out of my mouth. “What’s happening to me?”
“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Large, tan hands grabbed mine and squeezed. Tennessee’s voice and warm skin broke through my panic. When I looked up at him, he ducked down and met my eyes. His face was calm, his breathing steady. “Nothing is on you.”
“Yes, there is! Look at me, I’m glowing—”
“So am I,” he said. He slid his hands up to my elbows and back to my hands. “Look at me, Tegan. I’m glowing just like you.”
He was glowing. I knew he did too. I’d seen it at Hidden Kingdom and when he saved us in the water. In fact, his body shined brighter than mine.
I looked down at his hands still gripping mine. I didn’t want him to let go. I didn’t know what to think. “Tennessee?”
“It’s okay, Tegan. I promise.”
I looked up and found him smiling down at me. His fingers rubbed mine gently. I was confused and scared. For days, my life had been one nightmare after another. Except for him. I just wanted him to hold me, if only for a minute. I closed my eyes and leaned into his chest. He caught me without hesitation. His arms wrapped around me tight like a boa constrictor, and I took my first deep breath in days. The warmth radiating off him should’ve burned my face, but I wanted to burrow into it deeper. The feel of his hands gripping my bare skin sent a wave of heat through me. I shivered, and not from fear or a chill.
“Just relax and breathe. Your body will calm down, and the glowing will stop,” Tennessee said without letting go of me. His fingers dug into my skin, like he, too, needed to hold me.
The Lost Witch Page 8