“Master Wolf calls it the kiss of death,” Evan said after a small eternity had passed.
“I’m not dead,” I said without thinking.
“It’s not literal.”
My already red cheeks grew redder. What had I been thinking to throw myself at Evan like that? Well, I knew what I had been thinking. My parents had hurt me so deeply I couldn’t think straight, and irrationally, I had sought comfort from him. I couldn’t even pretend it had anything to do with Braden, because despite his marriage proposal, he hadn’t been the first person I had thought of.
No, I had almost been glad of the excuse to fling myself at Evan, relying on our history of friendship to soften the blow should he reject my advance. Mindless grief had lowered my inhibitions, giving me leave to do precisely what I had wanted to do since Monday afternoon, when he had strolled back into my life.
On some level, I had known that getting involved with Evan would be playing with fire, even if I didn’t know the specifics. Maybe that’s why I had maintained a careful distance in high school, despite my attraction–or because of it. Maybe that’s why I had ended up dating Braden, a man with a lot of the same attributes–a desire to help people, and a certain lust for power–but who I could ultimately handle.
I could never handle Evan. If I hadn’t understood that before, that kiss had made sure my eyes were wide open now.
“It’s a gift,” Evan said, interrupting my thoughts, “but not one I have much control over.”
“I don’t know anyone else who has two gifts.” I knew it was theoretically possible, but very rare.
“Dual gifts run in my family, actually.” Evan’s face drew blank, telling me that’s all he would say on the matter.
“Does this gift run in your family?” I asked.
“Not that I know of.” Evan ran his fingers through his hair in a characteristically anxious gesture. “I’m sorry.”
My brain couldn’t immediately process his apology, not when I had spent the past few minutes blaming myself, but gradually, I began to see his role in all of this.
“So that happens every time you kiss a girl?” I asked.
“Sort of. You kind of caught me off guard today and got a full dose. I can tone it down. Plus, not everyone reacts exactly the same way...” He seemed at a loss to finish his explanation, and we again lapsed into silence.
“Wait a minute,” I said, thinking back, “I kissed you once before. When we were eight.”
“I remember,” Evan said. “I think it started when I hit puberty.”
“You lied to me.” In fact, he had lied more than once. He had lied when I asked him, point-blank, if he was putting love spells on the girls, and he had lied to me the other day, by telling me the truth in a way he knew I wouldn’t believe.
“I’m sorry, although technically, I did tell you the other day.”
Something inside me snapped. I stood, and whirled to challenge him head on. “That was as much a lie as the time I asked you straight up if you were putting love spells on girls. You knew I wouldn’t believe you. What did you think you were doing? Keeping your secret safe in such a way that you could throw it back in my face later on, if I ever found out for sure?”
He stood, using his height and presence to full advantage, in a pose meant to intimidate. Around us, the wind stirred, and I had the eerie sense that it wasn’t natural. It occurred to me that Evan probably wasn’t used to direct challenges, at least, not anymore. He had done a good job making people fear him, or at least be in awe of him.
“Why should I have answered your questions?” Evan demanded. “You know perfectly well how much of magic is shrouded in secrecy. I never told any of the other girls who’ve kissed me, either before or after. I just let them think what they would, and spread enough wild rumors that the whole thing would get hopelessly confused.”
The wind stirred more restlessly around us. Oh yes, I had played with fire, and if I got burned, I no longer had access to the wonders of magical healing. But despite his attempts to intimidate me through words and actions, I knew I had to stand my ground.
“So what, am I supposed to feel grateful?” I asked.
“You did kiss me.”
“I kissed you?” It was true, but still all wrong. “You’re half a foot taller than me. I couldn’t even reach you if you didn’t meet me halfway, and don’t tell me you couldn’t have held me off, because you did it pretty easily when I spilled the lust potion.”
“You’re making an awfully big deal out of this. A lot of girls actually like it.”
“You really are full of yourself. You dated half the girls in our class, and you probably kissed them all. Even Madison, and she’s scared to death of you.”
He flinched when I said that, and I could see I had finally put a chink in his armor. “I admit, that was a bad idea.”
“Just that one? Come on, Evan, what were you thinking? Did it make you feel powerful or something?”
Around us, the wind began to die, and Evan stared over my shoulder at something in the distance that only he could see. “Yes.”
The blunt honesty sideswiped me, making me take a step back. “I see.”
He ran his fingers through his hair again. “Sorry to ruin your perfect image of me.”
“Trust me, I didn’t have one.” But his brutal honesty dulled my anger, and reminded me that I hadn’t been innocent in this encounter, either. Besides, I wasn’t there to judge him for all his past sins.
“I am sorry you found out that way. It’s not what I wanted. I’ve made mistakes in the past, but I would have told you first, if things had gone differently.”
A shiver ran down my spine as I recognized the significance of what he had said. It sounded as if he had made plans for me, and I had walked right into them. Only now, I didn’t want any part of him or his plans.
“Why did you do it, anyway?” Evan asked, gentling his voice. “I know it wasn’t that girl Braden was with. I heard you say something about your parents.”
The kiss and the argument had been therapeutic, because I had managed to shove my more serious issues to the back of my mind, but now they came flooding back. I didn’t know if I could talk to Evan about it anymore, not if I wanted to assure some distance between us, but I already felt the sting of tears threatening to fall once again.
“I gotta go.” I spun on my heels before he could see my eyes glistening.
“Wait,” Evan said when I was halfway to my car.
I picked up the pace. The sting had dulled, and I thought if I could get in my car and away, I could find someplace to cry in peace. Maybe my office. Which my parents had paid for.
“Stop,” Evan said as I reached the car door. He started after me, but he didn’t leave overtaking me to chance. My body froze in place, my hand just touching the handle. Seconds later, he was there, releasing the magical hold on my body at the same time he put his arms around me from behind, drawing me against his chest.
The human contact felt so good. I wanted to be angry with him for his show of force, or wary at the reminder that I had played with fire, but I couldn’t. I needed someone strong to hold me while I broke down, and the moment he made contact, the tears began to spill forth, washing away the desire to leave.
“Sh, Cassie, it’s okay.” He stroked my hair. “Come back to the porch and tell me about it.”
I let him lead me back to the porch, where we sat together on the swing, his arm around me, and his body pressed right up against mine. I turned my face into his chest and cried out all the pain, telling him, in broken syllables, what my parents had done.
“They disowned you?” Evan’s voice was full of disbelief. “I know you said you felt like they were pushing you out, but I never imagined anything like this.”
“Me neither.”
“I’ve never even heard of a disownment spell.” This he said almost to himself.
“I always knew they were disappointed in me.” I sniffed and tried to wipe some of the tears from my face.
“But I thought they loved me anyway.”
“Who’s protecting you?” Evan asked.
“Um-” I wasn’t sure I understood the question. “I am an adult.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I’m talking about magical protection.”
“I don’t know. They kept talking about always being there to protect me. Or my Uncle John. I don’t want their protection, though, not if they don’t want me as a daughter anymore.”
Beside me, Evan tensed, but he didn’t say anything. Part of me wondered what had him so on edge, but most of me just wanted to shut my brain off for a while.
“I just want to go to sleep and wake up in a year,” I said.
I suddenly felt feather light. Evan had me in his arms, and he walked into the old cabin. Taking a right past some rustic hunting lodge décor, he opened a door to a bedroom, and laid me down on a soft, full sized bed.
“It’s the middle of the afternoon,” I mumbled, as he slipped off my shoes and pulled the covers over me. “I’m not tired.”
“You need rest.” Evan began lighting candles and muttering an incantation. “In the morning, we’ll figure something out.”
“What are you going to do?” I asked. “Knock me out with magic?”
“I prefer to call it an enchanted sleep,” he said. “It’s very relaxing. Close your eyes.”
I wanted to argue with him, but no words occurred to me. When he finished muttering his incantation, he sat on the bed beside me and ran a hand through my hair again. He seemed to like doing that, but my sleep-fogged brain welcomed the touch, oblivious to all the reasons I needed to keep my distance. Just for one night, I could lean on him. Like a friend. We had been friends once. Surely, we could be again.
26
I WOKE THE NEXT MORNING TO the sound of birds singing, the sight of sunlight streaming in through an open window, and the feel of a heavy body spooned around mine, an arm draped possessively over my waist. I stiffened, wondering exactly what Evan thought was happening between us.
Pushing the arm aside, I scrambled out of bed, turning to see Evan, still asleep, fling his arm to the side and roll over onto his stomach. He had slept in his clothes, blue jeans and a now wrinkled blue t-shirt, but that didn’t settle the unease I felt at waking with his body wrapped around mine.
He looked peaceful in sleep, even harmless, but I couldn’t let illusion cloud my image of him again. He belonged to the same world as my parents, the one they had kicked me out of the day before.
My heart gave a pitiful little twang when I realized they must have cast the spell by now. Yes, they had well and truly cast me out, and I needed to take the hint by separating myself from magic. My mom had been right about one thing–I didn’t belong in their world.
When I had opened my normal detective agency, I had made the distinction for the benefit of those who would want me to cast spells or investigate haunted houses. Under my parents’ roof and their protection, I never intended to live a life completely separate from magic. I was Marilyn Munster, different but accepted, normal among the abnormal.
Maybe they had recognized something that I hadn’t wanted to accept–that I just plain didn’t belong. There were things I would never understand, and living in their world put me at risk, either by accident or design. My family had enemies, the Blackwoods chief among them.
I considered Braden’s proposal again, more seriously this time, though I wondered how he would feel about it after I had flung myself at Evan the day before. Leaving town had been the last thing I’d wanted to do when he had asked. Leave behind my family? My friends? Now I wondered if I should find someplace to carve out a chunk of normal for myself.
Evan stirred, bringing me back to the present. I scanned the wooden floor of his bedroom, searching for my sandals, but I couldn’t find them. Aside from the bed, he had an old-fashioned roll-top desk, the kind they used to make before the advent of computers, and a large cedar wardrobe. Not sure where else to look, I opened the door of the wardrobe. To my relief, I spotted my sandals on the floor, alongside several pairs of his shoes.
I took them out and closed the door, but there would be no quiet escape. Evan sat upright in bed, sleep-ruffled in a way that still left him looking good.
“Good morning,” he said. “How do you feel?”
“Better, thanks. I guess that sleep spell was just what I needed.” I paused, wondering if I had incurred a debt by allowing him to cast it. I probably had, although not a big one.
“Were you planning to sneak out?” Evan asked, nodding at the shoes clutched in my hand.
“Oh, um, no, I just didn’t want to wake you. And, well, I have things to do. I’ve got to find a place to stay, and there’s still a vampire out there, somewhere, and did I mention he might be able to go out in the sunlight?” I knew I was rambling, but I couldn’t help it.
“Slow down. Why are you so jumpy?”
I looked at the bed, but couldn’t bring myself to mention the intimate position I had found us in when I woke.
Evan seemed to take my meaning, anyway. “Was I supposed to sleep on the floor? We were both fully clothed and I stayed on my side.”
“Hmm.”
He frowned. “Didn’t I?”
I shrugged. “It’s okay.” At least he hadn’t meant to do it. That was something.
“And what’s this about a vampire walking around in sunlight?” Evan asked.
“Oh, that’s something I learned from my cousin, Jason. He apparently had our back the other night, when I shot Luke through the heart.” Briefly, I summarized what Jason had told me about the vampire, and what we had conjectured, including the possibility that the vampire was on a love potion.
“A vampire that can walk in the daylight,” Evan said, shaking his head. “This is too dangerous.”
“Don’t,” I said.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t tell me you want me off the case. It’s all I have right now.”
“I didn’t hire you to put yourself in danger. You’ve already been attacked once.”
“Do you really think I’ll be safe as long as this thing is alive?” I asked. “Luke came after me, and I think whoever turned him sent him to kill me.”
“Maybe he’ll leave you alone if I fire you.”
“Maybe, but it won’t stop me from trying to find him. It’s personal.”
He didn’t say anything for a long time, and then, finally, he stood and walked to his desk. In a top drawer, he withdrew a small, pink crystal, which he placed in my hand.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“If you need me, hold this in the palm of your hand and think of me. It’s not quite as useful as a cell phone, but it’s all I have. I worked on it yesterday afternoon while you were sleeping.”
I stared at it, knowing I couldn’t use it, and wondering if he realized it as well. If I did call him for help, I might incur a debt, and I had nothing in the world to trade against a magical debt at the moment. “Jason’s in town, you know. I didn’t exactly plan to fight a vampire myself, just help Jason identify him.”
“Good. Then use that when you figure it out, to let me know.”
That, I could do. I shoved the crystal into my pocket. “One more thing. The sheriff came by to arrest me yesterday morning, and he still seemed to be under the influence of the love potion. Then, suddenly, he wasn’t.”
“I was hoping it would have faded on its own,” Evan said. “I worked a spell to regrow his hair, so he wouldn’t have to use whatever potion she gave him anymore. I thought it would be easier than breaking into his house and finding it.”
“Then why did it suddenly stop?”
“What happened right before it did?”
I thought back. “He tripped a ward, and his car exploded.”
Evan nodded, as if that explained everything. “A good, sharp shock can sometimes work wonders.”
“Look, I should go. I’ve intruded long enough, and I need to figure out what to do.” I set my sandals on th
e floor and slid my feet into them.
“Please, don’t go yet.”
The please got to me, and I paused long enough to search his face for some hint of his intentions, my cheeks heating up slightly when I focused on his lips. I wanted to put some distance between us, but the day before he had been a friend when I desperately needed one, and I couldn’t turn my back on that.
“Why?” I asked.
“There are some things I’d like to tell you before you go. Yesterday, you were upset and angry, and I probably made things worse.”
“No.” Well, sort of. There had been anger and misunderstandings, but none of it seemed important now. “I needed a friend, and you stepped up.”
“I could use one today.”
He had the look of someone who wanted to unburden himself, and unfortunately, that kind of look never fails to get a response out of me. He knew it, too. Ignoring the warning bells ringing through my head, I sat down on the only horizontal surface that wasn’t a floor–the bed. I perched on the edge, putting distance between Evan and myself, but he moved to sit beside me, feet planted on the ground, bare inches between us. I could feel the heat of his body, and I glanced nervously at his lips.
I wanted to kiss him again, I realized with a jolt. What was wrong with me? Even knowing what would happen, knowing I would completely lose control, I wanted another taste. It must be like a drug, creating some kind of dependency. Either that, or the effects hadn’t quite worn off.
“We used to talk all the time,” Evan said. “Back when I let people push me around. Then, one day, you asked me if I was casting love spells and I couldn’t stand to tell you the truth because I hadn’t admitted it to myself. I’d kissed two girls by then–well, post-adolescence–and I couldn’t figure out why they acted so strangely.”
I bit my lip, remembering how I had accused him of lying, and regretting it now. I guess he had lied to some degree, but it hadn’t occurred to me that he might also have been scared and confused.
“It took me another half a year to work up the nerve to ask my father about it,” Evan said.
Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective Page 20