by J. L. Weil
She was the only house on the street.
Walking up three wooden steps, I turned the handle and pushed. Wind chimes above the threshold jingled, the door squeaked, and floorboards groaned under my feet. At our entrance, the sound of a bird squawked from somewhere at the back of the house. Candles flickered in every free space available, which wasn’t much. The room was cluttered with junk: glass bottles stuffed with dried herbs, crushed flowers, colored liquids, and oils. There were chunks of crystals on a wooden board with symbols charred into it. I ran my finger over the markings. All manner of magical things lived in this house.
And yep, I felt it.
My blood sang with the vibration of energy. It felt as if there were a spell encompassing the house—maybe for protection? I couldn’t exactly ask Sophie.
“Hello?” Sophie called out. Her voice bounced around in the small space.
An old, round mahogany table sat in the middle of the next room, which looked like it would have been the dining room. A deep burgundy runner ran down the center of the table, along with a stack of worn cards and a cloudy crystal ball. My fingers itched to touch the ball, but the moving, milky substance in it made it feel like that was not a smart idea.
The room smelled of candle wax, dust, and perfume. Shimmering purple-gold curtains lined the walls around the room. I ran my finger down the velvety material as I walked.
“Oh,” I gasped.
A woman, with raven hair so long I swore it almost touched the ground, had suddenly appeared in front of me. Her yellow cat-like eyes watched me, intrigued, but she said nothing. It made me uncomfortable.
“Err. We came for a reading,” I said, filling in the silence. “That is if you are open.” I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to avoid her piercing gaze. It was as if she could see right through me.
There was a gypsy quality to her. Silver rings donned on her fingers and dangling charms at her wrists. “I am always open to those who search for answers.” Her voice was rich like satin, lyrically even. She had a trance-like quality to her tone that made your ears perk up and listen.
Under her watchful eyes, I felt squeamish, like she could peal back the layers of my secrets and see my darkest fears. “Ah, good, I guess,” I mumbled. My magical tattoo tingled, and I knew looking at this woman that it meant something. She wasn’t a witch, but something else… Where was Gavin when I needed him? My glaze slid to Sophie, who met my worried expression with a weak smile.
I was going to kill her later.
With a wave of her delicate hand, the woman gestured for us to sit at the round table. I scanned the room trying to figure out where she had come from. I was the last to sit down.
“My name is Janessa. Who would like to go first?” A soft, gentle smile lay on her crimson lips and she looked right at me as if she expected me to raise my hand. Hardly.
Tori’s hand shot up. “Me.”
Janessa paused a moment, before she pulled her gaze from mine to Tori. “What is your choice, lovely Tori? Palm, fortune, or the cards?”
Tori gasped, shocked at Janessa’s calling her by name. It actually took all of us by surprise. “Fortune,” Tori answered, just a little less enthusiastic.
While Janessa rambled on about Tori’s future, I fumbled with the crystals at my neck, and Janessa once again captured me with her yellow eyes. She stared at the necklace around my neck, the moonstone and amethyst. I still wore the stones I had bought from the Halloween shop. Every day. Religiously.
She must have finished with Tori’s fortune, because she held the deck of tarot cards in her hands, shuffling them. “Let me read your cards,” she said. And before I could decline, she was flipping over a card from the tarot deck onto the table. “Hmm.” The card was that of a magician in red robes. “The magician.” Her heavily black-lined eyes narrowed. “You will become a conduit for great power. The forces of creation and destruction have always been at your hand.”
I swallowed hard.
She turned over another and ran her fingers over the weathered card of what looked like a princess in a teal and gold gown. The condition of the cards made it obvious that she had done this frequently. “The high priestess. She acts as a guide to those of us willing to venture deep within ourselves, to discover the true hidden powers inside.”
I shifted restlessly in my chair. Swell.
I wanted to tell her to stop, but at the same time, I was intrigued, pulled by the lure of her voice and my expectancy of the next card.
The subsequent card to land on the table elicited a unanimous gasp from all of us: the devil. She glanced up. “You are holding yourself back, restricting your abilities. The chains that bind the devil are loose enough that you can break free of this hold, but only if and when you believe in yourself.” The last card was a soft yellow-white globe. “The moon’s appearance means that not all is as it seems. That vigilance and perception will be necessary to show the hidden before it is too late.”
The hidden?
What was that supposed to mean?
Why did everything involving magic and the supernatural have to be so damn mysterious? It was so blasted hair-pulling.
As I was biting my lip, her hand shot across the table, landing on top of mine. The grasp she had was so tight I was unable to pull away. And then if that hadn’t hit high enough on the freaky scale, her eyes rolled back in her head, like glowing balls of white.
For crying out loud. Now what?
I stiffened.
“There is only one thing that can save your soul from the darkness. Moondust. Seek the dust of the moon when you need light. It will bring you back from the dark.”
Say what?
Everyone at the table’s eyeballs popped out of their heads. Well that was awkward. I didn’t know about the rest of my friends, but I had to get out of there. I jerked my hands out from underneath her and stood. “Thanks,” I mumbled and promptly left.
“That was like no tarot reading I’d ever seen,” Sophie mumbled as she slipped into the backseat. She gave me a pointed look that said we had to tell Gavin about what happened.
I sighed.
She was right.
The whispers of the night fell silent the whole way home. Even Tori had nothing to say, and that was a first. I guess our little visit to wacky Janessa had us all on edge. Come tomorrow, I figured Tori and Austin would have a string of questions. They would be raving about the fortuneteller for weeks.
I just wanted to forget it.
When I got home, I was too tired to put any real thought into dinner. Aunt Clara was going to be at the shop late, so I was on my own.
Joy.
Grabbing a package of Ramen, I dumped the noodles and water into a bowl and popped it into the microwave, then set the timer. I stared at my hands, wondering if I could just zap the water to boiling. My stomach growled. I was too hungry to experiment on my dinner. Storms were more my thing anyway. I guess I could strike the soup with a bolt of lightning—messy.
As I waited for my soup, I gazed out the kitchen window, frowning. The moon swarmed white and full tonight. I loved twilight. Nightfall on the beach with the foamy water at my feet was nirvana.
The microwave dinged. Gripping my unhealthy bowl of noodles, I went into the small study and sat at the desk. Powering up the laptop my aunt and I shared, I slurped on the soup as I waited. There had been something nagging at me since my bizzaro reading with Janessa.
It was not as if I could ask Lukas, because then I would have to explain that I had my cards read, which would be followed by uncontrollable laughter. I mean there had to be some things I could figure out on my own.
I pulled up Google and typed in MOONDUST. I’m not sure what I was expecting to get, but it was mostly crap about video games and literally dust from the moon. I don’t think Janessa had been implying either of those things—I hoped not. Otherwise I totally got scammed. But I knew that she wasn’t a fake. There are some things you can’t pretend.
Quickly, I realized that I needed t
o be a little more specific.
Let’s try this again, Google.
This time I typed MOONDUST IN SPELLS and hit enter. Skimming headline after headline, I found nothing of real use that told me what moondust was. But I did get quite acquainted with some wacky spells I contemplating trying, and then I thought better of it. I didn’t want to blow up my house. Ugh. That was the last thing I needed—to be homeless.
By the time I gave up the search, my half-eaten noodles were cold and stuck together. I dropped the bowl into the sink, too drowsy to even clean it off.
Just as I was about to head to the stairs, I heard a rap on the window at the back door. For a startled moment, my heart jumped in my chest. What if it was another witch attempting to chop my head off… or worse? Was there something worse than losing your head?
Peeping around the corner, I saw a shadowy figure through the window. Panic squeezed my ribs. The figure’s head glanced up, and I felt a scream bubble up in the back of my throat. My fingers clenched the wall.
Eyes like dark blue diamonds sparkled through the glass.
“Gavin,” I exhaled.
Chapter 6
“Hey,” he greeted me nonchalantly like I hadn’t just almost peed myself.
I pulled him inside by the front of his hoodie. “Damn it. You scared the crap out of me, by the way.”
Gavin smirked. “Sorry,” he said, though he didn’t look it.
I shut the door and ran my hands up and down my arms. Brr. It was cold outside. “What are you doing here?”
“I needed to see you. I hope that is okay…?”
Umm, yeah. “Do you even have to ask?” I slipped into his arms and tipped back my head. “You are not going to believe the kind of day I had.”
He pressed his lips to my right temple and then to my left. “Sophie sort of filled me in. Sounded…like a typical day with my sister.”
Good, because I wasn’t sure I had the energy for a play by play of the freakish events. “Remind me to say no next time she wants to hang out.”
He laughed. The sound was a dark zap to the gut—the good, tingling kind.
I yawned. A big, unholy yawn.
“You’re tired. I won’t stay long.” He kissed the tip of my nose.
The problem was that I didn’t want him to leave, but he was right about one thing: I was practically asleep on my feet—and it was entirely Lukas’s fault. If Lukas needed to talk to me, he was going to have to find other means besides hijacking my dreams. It was wreaking havoc on my life. My grades were slipping and my aunt was counting on me to help out at the shop. In short, I needed my beauty rest, and Lukas was just going to have to accept that or I would push him out if I had to.
I pulled out of Gavin’s arms, stopping at the bottom of the stairs. Resting a hand on the banister, I turned around. “I was just going to bed. You coming?”
He angled his head, and then his lips stretched into a grin. “Thought you’d never ask.”
I paused, waiting for him, and then I slipped my fingers through his as we climbed the stairs, hand in hand. Even as exhausted as I was, I felt giddy. Gavin, in my bedroom, alone—dream come true. And way overdue. We really hadn’t had any “quality time” together, if you get my drift. I was in need of some serious lip-locking.
Pushing him inside my room, I shut the door behind us, softly clicking the lock in place. Insurance, just in case Aunt Clara decided to check on me. I kicked off my shoes. “God, it feels like forever since I’ve seen a bed.”
Gavin backed into the room grinning with a wicked gleam in his eyes. “I really hope that is code for something naughty.”
Gathering the ends of my sweater, I raised a brow. His blue eyes deepened, and I lifted my shirt over my head. “Not tonight, Slick,” I said, the corners of my lips curving. I had a tank top on underneath. The teasing had been fun; however, there was a good chance it would backfire on me.
Forcing myself not to laugh at his down-turned lips, I climbed into bed. Gavin slipped under the covers, turning on his side to face me. I closed my eyes, breathing in his warmth. He ran a hand through my tangled hair. I normally brushed it before going to bed, but tonight I was even too drained to do my nighttime routine.
When I opened my eyes, I saw that the twinkle in his eyes had faded. “You need to be more careful.”
Not this speech again.
I had a pretty decent size bed. When it was just me, I felt like I was swimming in space and blankets, but the moment Gavin got in, it suddenly seemed small. His feet touched the edge of the bed and Lunar was having none of this sharing. He meowed at us, raised his tail, and left for a more spacious place to doze.
I shifted, resting my head on my hands to meet his stare. “Nothing happened.” Unless you counted Janessa’s creepy freak-out.
His arms slid behind his head. “True, but it got me thinking. I should have gone with you. Nowhere is safe anymore, not with your description on every witch’s Most Wanted.”
“There is no way for you to be by my side 24-7.”
“Wanna bet,” he challenged, going He-Man on me.
I found it kind of hot, but still, his idea of being my shadow was out of the question. “I don’t need a bodyguard.”
A muscle in his jaw jumped. “That is exactly what you need.”
I huffed. “I take it you’ve been giving this a lot of thought?”
“It’s been on my mind a time or two, between trying to weasel information.”
“And what about you? It’s okay for you to go gallivanting in what is dubbed as the witches’ bad part of town? Isn’t your life in danger while you are digging around asking questions about me?” I thought those were all extremely valid questions. I was a concerned girlfriend.
“I can take care of myself.”
He could be so stubborn. Irritation spiked. I sat up. “And I am just a weak, uneducated witch who can barely cast a proper spell.” Dry lightning cracked.
His eyes flashed like the light I created. “Now you are putting words in my mouth. You know that is not how I think of you.”
How had things gotten so heated so fast? Fighting was taking more energy than I had to give. He was right. That had been a low blow. We both knew that I could do some pretty wicked magic, including the little light show that was going on outside. My eyes traveled to the window, watching the sky light up. “I’m sorry,” I apologized.
Gavin ran his fingers through his dark hair, stretching the material of his cotton shirt taut over the muscles in his chest. “I don’t want to argue; that wasn’t my intent when I came here. I just… missed you.”
What girl on any planet could possibly stay mad after that? Not me. My heart softened and went all mushy. “Me too.” I reposition myself into his arms, sighing. “Can you get the lights?”
His lips quirked up. “With my hands tied behind my back.”
The room was suddenly engulfed in blackness, except for the occasional flicker of lightning. It was slowly dying, along with my temper. Lying in the dark, I asked. “What do you know about moondust?”
Twisting his head, he looked down at me. “I’ve never heard of it. Why do you ask?”
I shrugged. “It was just something the fortuneteller mentioned.”
He exhaled, running his hand along my spine. “And you think it is important?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s probably nothing. I was mostly curious.”
For a few minutes, a comfortable silence unfolded between us. There was a security and ease I hadn’t felt in a long time that came with being wrapped in Gavin’s arms. Somehow my mind and body knew that, with him sleeping beside me, my dreams would be undisturbed. And I didn’t want him to leave.
Just as I was about to succumb to sleep, I felt Gavin press his lips to my forehead. “Sweet dreams, Bri.”
My eyes fluttered open. I couldn’t believe what I was about to say. “Stay. Don’t leave.” I stretched my arm over his chest, keeping him close.
“What about your aunt?” he ask
ed, running the back of his knuckles down my cheek.
Winding my arms around his neck, I replied, “Can’t you just make yourself invisible?”
He arched a brow.
“Don’t worry.” I tugged him closer, suddenly not feeling so sleepy. “She goes straight to bed. After the hours she works at the shop, she always falls asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow. Where is your car?”
Even in the dark, I saw his eyes glimmer with desire, doing crazy things to my belly. “On the side of the road.”
I grinned. “Perfect. What about your parents?”
He nibbled on my earlobe. “Jared will cover for me,” he murmured, his breath tickling my ear.
The moment our lips met, static tingled, and I jolted in shock. Our kisses were literally becoming electric. He ran the pad of his thumb over my lips. “That is wildly crazy. You pack quite a punch.”
A short laugh escaped me. “Tell me about it.”
His lips drifted over my cheek. “It’s sexy.”
My eyes wavered shut as he kissed me again, but this time it was soft, heartbreakingly so. But it didn’t take long for the sweet, tender kiss to deepen. We were kissing, really kissing. The I-don’t-need-oxygen kind of kissing. One of his fingers hooked into one of my belt loops, yanking me to him.
My lips parted. With the sweep of my tongue, I took it to a whole new level, evolving the kiss into an explosive hotness. Gavin’s hands moved down to my hips, pulling me underneath him, leaving not even a millimeter of space between us.
His fingers slipped under my tank top, then splayed across my bare stomach. My pulse hammered, and my veins filled with magic. Gavin growled as I scraped his bottom lip with my teeth, sliding my tongue over the silver hoop on his lip.
I was going to lose a lot more than sleep, my shirt, and my sanity if we kept attacking each other, yet I couldn’t seem to make myself stop. It was a good thing Gavin had control over his hormones, because I was pretty much useless against mine.
“I have to stop kissing you now, or I won’t be able to later,” he murmured.