Witch's Brew - Spellspinners 1 (Spellspinners of Melas County)

by Heidi R. Kling

Something. Or someone.

  I stopped playing; absently set the guitar on the sand and edged to the outside of the circle. I hopped up on a tree stump and peered over the dune.

  Sure enough, a hooded silhouette walked alone toward the shore.

  Without a second thought I yelled over my shoulder, “Be right back!”

  “Hey.” I put my hand on his shoulder and he turned around, an unfamiliar expression masking his features.

  “Hey.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Nothing.”

  He looked so…dejected. So different from when I saw him last and we planned to meet again.

  “So…did you have a good rest of your evening?”

  He looked down at the sand. “I got myself into some trouble at home.”

  “What happened?”

  “I don’t…”

  “Want to talk about it?”

  “Something like that. ”

  He pushed his hood off and ran his fingers through his hair. I moved closer to him. Not so close that I could touch him, but close enough that I could see his face clearly.

  “Are you okay?” I asked softly.

  “You shouldn’t worry about me.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m not…because I don’t matter.”

  “Logan.” I heard my voice form his name. It was full of everything I felt for him. It was so clear, so obvious. I said his name like I played that song. Like I knew all the notes instinctively. Like I knew his melody by heart.

  He looked at me like he was seeing me for the first time. “I’m not good for you. I’m not good for anybody.”

  I cupped his face in my hands. “I don’t believe that. And neither do you. After all that’s happened between us, you know this is real.”

  He looked at my face. Then he looked out at the sea. “You should because it’s true. I hurt people, Lily.”

  “You’ve helped me.”

  He kept watching the waves crash on the dark beach. So I kept talking. “I think you might be something huge, Logan, something important. A key to helping a lot more people than just me.”

  He glanced back at the fire. “I saw you back there. You looked so happy with that barista guy. I haven’t known you that long, but I’ve never seen you that happy.”

  I shook my head. “We were having fun, that’s all,” I said. That was true. “Sure, I have human friends, and they include me, and I love hanging out and joking around and being part of things. But the truth is, my real life is something they don’t know about.”

  “The fact that you’re a witch.”

  I nodded. “Yes. Like my mother. Like my Mistress. It’s all I’ve ever known and all I’ve ever wanted. And now that we’re in danger of losing it all…”

  “Losing it all?”

  “Logan, there’s a curse. We’re cursed. Our magic is failing us.”

  “Wait, slow down. Who is cursed?”

  “The Spellspinners. The lot of us.”

  “How do you know about this?”

  “I found a book in this, well, secret library. Then when I showed it to my mom, it turned out that she and the elders had been keeping it a secret from us younger witches for years. Have you heard of the term Roghnaithe?”

  Logan shook his head.

  “Well, it means broken magic man. He’s like, the Chosen One. And we have a reason, well many reasons, to believe it might be you.”

  “Broken magic man? That sounds like a fairytale. Besides”—he looked offended—“I’m not broken.”

  I touched his arm. “No, no…it’s a code, it means you may possess both light and dark magic.”

  He frowned, and I squeezed his forearm.

  “I know it sounds pretty wild, but the Seven Sisters prophesized when they split the witches and the warlocks a hundred years ago, that a boy would come along, someone raised as a warlock, who had the light powers of a witch.”

  “I don’t have any light powers.”

  “What about in the cave? You healed me.”

  “That was nothing. You helped me do it.”

  I shook my head. “The only thing I haven’t seen you do…” I glanced out at the ocean, the dark, milky waves.

  “Breathe?”

  “So you can? Breathe in the water?”

  “Maybe.”

  He shifted toward me, moved closer. He held onto both of my elbows and leaned his face in close, locked his eyes on mine. So blue I almost lost my balance.

  “Lily, I need to talk to you about something. I was going to go. Leave you alone forever—when I saw you up there. How happy you were. But…” The sincerity left his voice, the passion left his eyes. He practically growled, “Oh, great, we have company.”

  Jonah’s back was to the bonfire. An orange halo of firelight circled him as he walked toward us.

  Logan

  Resting a hand on the small of her back the lame barista asked, “Everything okay?”

  “Oh, yeah, it’s fine. This is…Logan.”

  Jonah nodded at him. Logan nodded back.

  That was about as friendly as it was going to get.

  “Do you need help here, Lil?” The barista stood between them like some kind of hero. “Here. I thought you might be cold.” He handed her a knitted blanket, clearly wanting to wrap it around her himself. Logan read Lily’s mind. She didn’t want Jonah to make a scene.

  “Thanks,” Lily said appreciatively. She accepted the gesture and hugged the quilt around her shoulders.

  She wasn’t cold down by the water. Logan was keeping her warm.

  Wasn’t he?

  In the moonlight, Lily looked utterly luminous. If only this jackass barista would get out of their way and let them finish their conversation.

  “So,” Jonah said, his mouth pursed.

  Lily’s eyes fluttered from one boy to the other.

  Fire throbbed through Logan’s body. He had to squeeze his hand shut not to pounce this tool. Count backwards from ten. Nine, eight, seven…

  “It’s okay, Jonah. I’m fine,” Lily said finally. “We just need a few more minutes.”

  When he thought Lily wasn’t looking, Jonah glared at Logan. Obviously he had no idea what kind of danger he was putting himself in messing with a warlock. “If you’re sure…”

  Lily touched the human’s wrist. “I’m sure. I’ll be right back.”

  “You know where I am if you need me,” Jonah said, but he kept his eyes on Logan’s the whole time.

  Logan resisted the urge to bring him to his knees with a sudden stomach cramp.

  Don’t be like him.

  Don’t be like Jacob.

  Just because you can hurt him doesn’t mean you should.

  A voice. His conscience. Where was that coming from?

  As if Lily could sense his inner conflict, she grabbed his wrist again. “Come on, let’s walk,” she said. With a sharp tug on Logan’s forearm, she headed out toward the inky shore. He ran his fingers down her wrist and tangled his fingers through hers. Immediately he felt the same surge of the energy he had at Black Mountain, at the Boardwalk, in the cave. Giggling, she untangled her fingers, like he’d shocked her. Which he probably had.

  When they reached the spot where the water wet the sand, Lily sank down onto her knees, pulling him down too.

  He could get used to all this pulling. She took off her purple Converse and her striped socks and dug her toes into the sand. “There, that’s better,” she said. “So what were you saying?”

  “Before we were so rudely interrupted by that walking cone of cotton candy?”

  Lily narrowed her eyes. “Jonah is a nice guy. Don’t make fun of him.”

  “Sorry.”

  “You should be.” She wasn’t kidding when she said that. She leaned back from him, letting go of his hand.

  “I really am sorry. Something happened to me yesterday. I’m not quite myself tonight.”

  Resting his palm on her shoulder, he cut right to the ch
ase. He needed her to understand the importance of what he was about to ask. “Tell me about your amulet.”

  “Tell me about yours first.”

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out Lily’s stone. The jewel flashed through the white handkerchief, which was starting to smoke. Before the orange embers ignited the cloth, Lily blew them out with her cool breath.

  “Tell me its power,” Logan demanded.

  Turning slightly, she lifted a blanket of wave-white hair. Inching closer to the soft spot on the back of her neck, Logan ran a finger across her silky flesh. “Give it back first,” she said, an alluring whisper in the night.

  “Better?” he asked, as he clasped the chain, his mouth so close to her face, he could taste the lilies on her breath.

  “Yes. Thank you.”

  He crouched in front of her in the wet sand. “I need to know more about it, Lily. I’ve given you no reason to trust me, but your necklace has inexplicable power over me. It…takes care of me. And I need its protection.” Logan paused, trying to figure out how to word something so important.

  Lily’s sea eyes glowed in the moonlight as he told her about how Jacob poisoned him, and in turn made him hurt Chance. Her look made him brave enough to take both of her hands in his own.

  “Do you trust me?”

  Lily

  “I don’t know. Do you trust me?”

  The warmth of his hands was melting me from the inside. I had to force myself to keep up a defense. To remember what Iris warned: “No matter what happens, remember he’s a warlock.” True, Logan had some of the signs of the Roghnaithe, but I still hadn’t seen the telltale mark.

  But even for a warlock, this would be too cruel. I’d rather have him triumph over me in the Stones than manipulate me…emotionally like this.

  “Lily, please.” His stare was so deep that I felt him, felt his truth. My whole body sprang to life under his gaze, telling me something my mind couldn’t wrap itself around. “You know I’m not evil.”

  “I guess I do.”

  “How do you know?” He bit his bottom lip and held my eyes with such intensity I thought I might burst into smoldering flames. “I’m completely untrustworthy. I’m a thief and a liar. I’m your enemy, yet you believe me.”

  “Yes.”

  His gaze dropped to his knees when he mumbled, “I’m trying to be better.”

  I knew next to nothing about Logan. About his past, how he ended up at the Academy. I wanted to know everything. Why his eyes were so full of pain.

  Most importantly, I needed to know whether or not he bore the art of a broken rose moon. Because if he did, maybe we could figure out a way to be together, like the ancients. Maybe we could fight for that. Fight for us as well as fight for our magic.

  Reaching out, I gently moved a lock of hair away from those tortured eyes. “I know you are.” My words came out even more tenderly than I planned. My fingertips, with a mind of their own, brushed over his warm skin. “It’s not like I’m perfect either. I was the one trying to cheat with the euca leaves. I was the one trespassing on your property. If Iris hadn’t kept that a secret…”

  “I’ve never met anyone like you before,” he interrupted.

  My eyes opened wide, surprised once again I was the subject of his intensity. So I joked. “I’m a witch. There aren’t many girls like me.”

  “That’s not what I meant and you know it. I mean someone so forthcoming. So honest about how they feel. I envy that.”

  Pause. An exchange of shy smiles. Confessions like this, well, they sort of take your breath away.

  “So I gave you your necklace back,” Logan said after a beat.

  “Yeah?”

  “So tell me something about it.”

  Surveying his shadowed face I told him. “Your amulet had all kinds of powers—stuff my mother had never seen.”

  “Really? My charm has never done anything. The whole time I’ve had it.”

  “Maybe it was dormant with you for some reason,” I said. “It was the same with me. Before I met you, it was just a necklace. It never acted magical at all.”

  “Perhaps our amulets were switched at birth.” Logan half-grinned, but his brow was still furrowed in thought. “If we’re related, I’m going to kill someone.” He laughed then. An honest, real, laugh. Then felt his fingers on my cheek, tipping my face to look into his eyes. “If we’re related, the universe has a seriously twisted sense of humor.”

  I froze under his mesmerizing look. Were his lips always that full? His eyelashes that dark and long? His chin was peppered with new growth. I longed to trace the outline of his black sand jaw.

  He was about an inch away from my face. “Maybe you should give mine back so we can find out?”

  I sucked in a breath. “I don’t have yours.”

  Logan’s shoulders visually tightened, his fingers fell from my face.

  “Where is it?”

  “Iris…my mom still has it. I’m not sure where she’s keeping it.”

  Sitting straight up now, he stared at the stone hanging from my neck. I had both amulets now.

  How would this work? A differential power shift. Could he truly be cool with it?

  Raking his hand through his hair, he nodded. Once. “Okay. But please ask for it back…and by ask I mean take it back somehow by any means necessary? I need it. Or else you can always give me yours back?”

  “Fat chance.”

  He blew air out of puffed up cheeks. “Yet again, sweet Lily, we’re at an impasse.”

  “Seems to often be the case with us, yes.”

  Logan sighed. For a second, I was afraid he was going to get up and leave. Instead, he cupped my face in his hot hands, and pulled my face toward his kissing a line from my forehead down to the tip of my nose, while I quivered all over. Whether he was or wasn’t our chosen Spellpsinner, the way he kissed me and I kissed him back told me he was certainly something.

  We were certainly something together.

  “Lily?”

  “Hmm.”

  The muscle in Logan’s cheek contracted. He inched back. “I didn’t say anything.”

  We weren’t alone. I sat up straight, shielding my eyes from a bright light.

  “You didn’t come back and I thought you might be in trouble.”

  “Jonah—oh I’m sorry! I’m fine.” Guiltily, I jumped up, wiping sand off my pants. “We were just…”

  Making out?

  Totally embarrassing. Not to mention hurtful. I came to the bonfire with Jonah—I shouldn’t be down here in the sand with Logan.

  I glanced down at him. Logan. Propped up on his elbows in the sand, a slow stretch of a smirk playing on his lips. You aren’t helping.

  Sorry.

  I could so tell he wasn’t sorry, and I flipped him a look to let him know.

  “But obviously you’re perfectly fine.” Jonah looked like his cat had just been run over by a semi-truck.

  “Jonah, hey. I’m Sorry. Really.”

  “It would have been nice if you had told me you were going to be gone all night. Or your sister. She was freezing so I dropped her off at home promising I’d come right back to look for you. But clearly you were fine so I didn’t really need to be scrambling all over the beach with a flashlight like an idiot.”

  “You’re not an idiot, Jonah. You’re a good friend.”

  He made a noise like pft. I thought he was acting sort of petulant. I mean, I was only gone a half hour at most. “I’m surprised Daisy wanted to go home. It’s still so early…”

  “Lil, it’s one a.m.”

  “What? Really?”

  I didn’t wear a watch. I told the time by watching the sun and moon’s positions in the sky. I glanced up and discovered he was right.

  We heard a splash. The spot where Logan had been was now an indentation in the wet sand.

  “Guy really knows how to make a splash at the end of a romantic evening,” Jonah said. “Nothing says, ‘Hey let’s do this again’ like an unannounced retreat int
o the ocean.”

  He had a point. But still the pinch in my heart made me defend Logan. “He doesn’t like goodbyes.”

  When Jonah snorted I felt like he’d tossed my humanity right into my face. A witch shouldn’t be upset if a boy ditches her on the beach. I should be above all that. I could hear Camellia on the subject: “Rejection, inferiority—those are dark feelings created to weaken us. Don’t let them crawl under your skin. Reflect them back into the universe.”

  I tried, imagining invisible flecks of Logan’s rejection lifting off my skin, letting each bad feeling float into the darkness like a thin, smoldering ash.

  I waited to feel better. When that didn’t work, I kicked at the indentation where his elbows had pressed me into the sand.

  Why would he just take off into the sea? Was he trying to tell me something?

  As I was asking myself the question, the answer swam into my head. He dove into the water and disappeared to tell me he could Breathe.

  Logan

  He had to get wet. He didn’t want to attack the barista, and he knew if he hung around watching him pine over Lily, he wouldn’t be able to resist.

  Besides, he wanted Lily to know that she was right about him. That he could do things other warlocks couldn’t.

  Leaving Lily on the sand, he sprinted down the shore and into the sea.

  Diving under a mammoth wave, he swam, with swift strides; so far out he could barely see the shore. He watched her the whole time, of course, never taking his eyes off her. She stared out at him too, her eyes shining like stars before she turned back to the barista and talked to him.

  Logan swam out farther and farther until he couldn’t see her anymore, then flipped under the water. In a jealous fit, he swam fervently to the bottom, kicked off the cold sea floor, and jetted back to the surface.

  He was never going to get this right.

  But he had to.

  Had to figure out a way for them to be together without risk.

  Impossible.

  He had to figure out the impossible.

  Dark, churning water tugged on his body, daring him to go out farther. The feeling of her consumed him. The fragrance of lilies perfumed the sea. Logan’s eyes darted to the left and the right. Nothing. Only ripples.

  Then suddenly, he felt a tug on his ankle, and was yanked under the sea like a victim of a shark attack. He flailed, fighting the grip, expecting some malicious sea serpent and seeing a girl, a siren with hair floating around her face like strands of gold.