Hold Tight (The Embrace Series)

by Cherie Colyer

  Isaac tilted his head to the side as he watched Natalie pull a wine bottle filled with clear blue liquid out of the basket. “She looks happy. That’s a good thing.”

  “How is that a good thing?” When his mouth opened and closed without a reply, I said, “She’s obviously been brainwashed. So…we…we’ll get her back and unbrainwash her.”

  “Unbrainwash?”

  “You know what I mean, Isaac!”

  “Madison, Natalie’s lived on a diet of their food and spirits for, what? A week? Her body’s changed.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “It can’t be too late. She just needs to eat something normal.”

  Isaac reached over the bowl and held my hands. “Madison, it doesn’t work that way.”

  “I refuse to believe it’s too late! She has family and friends who care about her. She deserves to be with them, Isaac. They deserve to have her back. Three stupid pieces of chocolate can’t mean a lifetime away from the people I love.” Tears streamed down my face, and my body trembled. “I don’t want to forget what I have here.”

  “I won’t let that happen to you.”

  “I want it. The candy,” I whispered, ashamed to admit it out loud and scared to death because the ache in my stomach was a hunger I’d never felt before. “Even though I now know what it is, I can’t stop thinking about it.”

  Isaac pulled me into his arms. “But you haven’t crossed realms yet, and I won’t let you. We’ll send Reed packing, and then we’ll find a way to counter what he’s done to you.”

  “And if we can’t? If it’s too late for me too?” I sniffed, eyes leaking tears on Isaac’s shirt. “We have to at least try to save her, Isaac.”

  He held me tighter. “I’ll see if I can find a way.”

  Even though he said the words, he didn’t sound optimistic.

  Chapter 15

  The Test

  Discovering Natalie was enjoying herself in Reed’s realm was downright disturbing. Had she willingly left her friends and family behind? Did she miss them? Did she even remember who they were? If faerie food really was like a drug to humans, the answer to these questions was most likely no.

  As if it wasn’t bad enough to know that my actions had torn a family apart, I found out Reed had gone back to work after our encounter at the convenience store. The icing on the cake: Dad loved the guy.

  “The reception desk is going to be cool,” he said on returning home after Isaac’s and my scrying session. “Not one right angle. Reed designed it that way.”

  The worst part was I couldn’t tell Dad the truth of why he should fire the guy, so I said nothing. Caden still worked for my father too—there was another guy I didn’t trust. I even considered the possibility that Caden might also be a member of the Seelie Court. Maybe Isaac was wrong and Reedsnap, Dellis, and Rhoswen were three different faeries and not two. Now that I had my iron bracelets and Caden liked to show up everywhere I went, I was sure it was only a matter of time before I found out.

  With all the excitement of the last couple weeks, I almost missed that December seventh was right around the corner. In the nine years Kaylee and I had been friends, I had never once forgotten her birthday, and I wouldn’t let this be the year I did. Thankfully, I’d bought her a present last month when Isaac and I had been at this little Wiccan shop in Salem.

  “Kaylee will love this,” I’d said to Isaac, picking up a unique bronze necklace.

  Isaac had regarded it a moment. “She’s never going to take off the one Josh gave her.”

  “She will if he puts the same energy into this one as he did the cross,” I’d whispered.

  “That’s a very special talisman,” the eccentric storeowner had commented when I’d gone to purchase it. “It brings luck and protection to the wearer.”

  I had grinned at Isaac, twitching a shoulder smugly. “See. It looks good and offers protection. It’s perfect.”

  The woman at the store had explained that the bronze heart protected the wearer against evil and the different strings of beads dangling from the base of the charm offered their own benefits: blue for inspiration, green for growth, and yellow for courage. She’d spoken about the necklace with such passion that I had bought myself one too. Looking at them now, they were better than perfect. Not only would the metal ward off evil, but the beads would boost Kaylee’s powers.

  I lined a narrow pink box with small packages of Jelly Bellies before placing the necklace inside and wrapping it in bright blue paper. I’d just finished sticking a multicolored bow on top when my cell phone rang.

  “Hey, Sarah.”

  “Hi. You all set for tomorrow?”

  “Present’s wrapped, and Isaac is picking me up early so we can stop at the coffee shop to get her mocha coffee. You?”

  “Everything’s in my backpack, and Mark’s coming over to help me blow up the balloons for her locker.”

  “What did you get her?” I asked as I dropped Kaylee’s present into my purse.

  “You, Big Mouth, are going to have to wait and see.”

  “Hey! I was thirteen when I blabbed to Kaylee what you’d gotten her, and that was only because she almost bought the same thing.”

  “You could have found another way to keep her from buying it.”

  “She had it in her hand and was walking to the checkout.”

  “You’re not good in a tight situation, so you’ll see the totally awesome gift I found when Kaylee opens it.”

  I shook my head even though Sarah couldn’t see me. “Whatever. Josh is going to give her his present before they leave her house to give us a little extra time to get things set up.”

  “Perfect. See you tomorrow.”

  I told Isaac my suspicions about Caden on the way to school the next morning.

  “He’s not a faerie,” he said flatly.

  His lack of faith in my sixth sense was starting to wear on me. “Really? The guy shows up after I cast the spell—”

  “He’s friends with Ben.”

  I waved off the comment and went on. “He was everywhere Natalie was, and he just so happened to apply for the same job as Reed. I’m telling you, he’s hiding something.”

  “You have serious trust issues. You know that?” Isaac parked and turned off the engine. “Look, because he gives you the creeps, I asked Ben about him. Caden used to work with his brother. Ben said he stops by every few weeks, hangs out awhile, and leaves. He’s been doing it since Dan left for college. The guy’s as normal as Sarah.”

  I got out, slung my backpack over my shoulder, and grabbed the tray with our coffees. “You’re going to be eating those words, wait and see.”

  As I expected, Caden was leaning against the red brick pillar near the student entrance. He nodded hello when he saw Isaac.

  “Hi,” I said, stopping when I was a foot away from him.

  “Madison.” For once, Caden wasn’t smoking a cigarette.

  “Man, when I graduate I hope I have better things to do than hang out at a high school,” Isaac said.

  Caden laughed. “It is sort of pathetic, but I was up and still haven’t run into my friend. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was avoiding me.”

  “Who’s your friend?” Isaac asked.

  Caden kicked the toe of his boot against the sidewalk. With a slight shrug, he said, “Emma Scott. She’s a junior.”

  Isaac and I exchanged a glance.

  “You know her?” Caden asked.

  “We had history together,” I said. “But she’s been out.”

  Caden’s shoulders stiffened. “Why?”

  “Not sure,” I lied.

  The reason behind Emma’s sudden absence from class wasn’t common knowledge. Most people didn’t know she had been admitted to the psych ward because the dark spells she’d cast on others had come back to haunt her.

  “How do you know Emma?” Isaac asked Caden, his face looking guarded.

  “I met her at Dan’s house. She was hanging out with Ben and his friends. I promised her I�
�d stop by before Christmas, and I always keep my promises.”

  A soft hmm escaped Isaac’s lips. I shifted my weight, purposely making my backpack slip off my shoulder and smack Caden’s hip.

  “Sorry,” I said, but I wasn’t really. It gave me an excuse to brush my chain-link bracelet against his hand when we both went to grab the backpack. Not sure what should happen when iron touches the skin of a faerie, I waited for him to wince or his flesh to blister, but all he did was loop his fingers around the strap of the backpack and hold it out for me to take.

  “Are you sure you don’t know where I can find her?” he asked.

  “We weren’t exactly friends,” Isaac replied, taking the backpack and placing a hand on the small of my back. “We’d better get to class.”

  I let him steer us away from Caden.

  “He’s not a faerie,” I whispered after we were out of earshot.

  Isaac glanced over his shoulder as he held the door open. “And he doesn’t possess the powers.”

  “Do you think he actually likes Emma?” I asked. It was possible. If you looked past the psychotic bitch, she was pretty.

  “Either that or he wants to join her coven.”

  I hadn’t thought about that. “Do you think she gave him powers, but he used them up? You know, like a battery?”

  Isaac rubbed the back of his neck as he considered this a moment. “I suppose so if he used every chance he got, but I think there’d be a lingering residue that you and I would be able to feel.”

  “So he’s either into evil bitches or hoping Emma will share her powers with him.”

  “That’d be my guess.”

  “Well, he’ll have to find someone else to stalk now that she’s gone.”

  “You’re not volunteering, are you?” Isaac asked, one eyebrow raised.

  “Definitely not.” We stopped a few feet from Kaylee’s locker. Sarah and Mark had their backs to us as they finished putting up the decorations. I held the tray with our coffees out to the side and, with my free hand, entwined my finger through Isaac’s. “But I’m starting to realize you have a bit of a jealous side to you.”

  He leaned in to kiss me, his tongue brushing mine ever so briefly. He left just enough of his powers alive to wrap me in a satiny cocoon. A few seconds later, we joined Sarah and Mark.

  Blue and purple streamers along with matching balloons had been taped to Kaylee’s locker. In the middle was an equally bright sign that read, “Happy Birthday, Kaylee!” Sarah held a small gift bag in her hand.

  “It looks amazing,” I told her.

  “Thanks,” Sarah said, beaming.

  Isaac bent close to me and whispered, “I’m going to try to catch Caden before he leaves.”

  My fingers tightened around his. “What are you going to say?”

  “Don’t know yet, but it’s going to bug me if I don’t find out why he’s looking for Emma.”

  He handed me my backpack and hurried away before I could protest. I got the distinct impression he had purposely waited until I was with Sarah to say he was going to question Caden more, knowing I wouldn’t be able to go with him.

  “I have to grab my books from my locker,” Mark said and gave Sarah a quick kiss. “You girls have fun.”

  Sarah and I didn’t have to wait long for Kaylee to arrive. As soon as she saw us, her eyes lit up.

  “Happy birthday!” Sarah and I sang out.

  “You remembered!”

  I gave her a hug. “Of course we remembered.”

  “Have we ever forgotten?” Sarah made it a group hug.

  “Look what Josh got me.” Kaylee held out her arm to reveal a shiny silver bracelet. I had a sneaking suspicion it was iron coated with sterling, but since this was her birthday, there was no way I was going to ask and have her suspect Josh’s gift had a hidden faerie-repelling agenda.

  “It’s beautiful,” I said instead, and it was. “Where is he?”

  “Oh, we ran into Isaac on the way in. Josh said he’d catch up with me later.”

  After admiring the gift from him, I took the small wrapped box out of my backpack. “Open mine.”

  Kaylee reached for her present, but instead of taking it, she ran a finger over the chain around my wrist. “Looks like I’m not the only one with a new bracelet. What’s with this?”

  I hadn’t talked to Kaylee since finding out about Reed, and standing in a busy hallway at school with Sarah listening was not the time to catch her up. I also couldn’t say that Isaac insisted I wear it without provoking a double-teamed inquisition from my friends.

  “Chase gave it to me,” I finally replied, hoping they’d think I was being nice to my little brother and wearing the chain to make him feel good. It wasn’t too farfetched. I had worn the macaroni necklace he’d given me for my birthday last year tucked under my sweaters for a few weeks.

  “Chase is lucky to have you,” Kaylee commented as she took her gift. “And you didn’t have to get me anything.” She ripped off the blue paper, lifted the top, and paused. “I love it.” But her reply fell short of enthusiastic, and her hand went to Josh’s dark metal cross.

  “I got it at a little shop in Salem. It brings the wearer luck, and I showed it to Josh to make sure it was okay to switch.” I hoped she’d get the hidden meaning behind my words that Josh had already cast the same curse-repelling spell on this necklace as he had to his.

  “Really?” Kaylee asked.

  “Yeah.”

  She smiled and handed me the box to hold while she switched jewelry. She’d just dropped the cross on top of the Jelly Bellies when Sarah held out her bright purple gift bag.

  “Open mine now,” she said.

  Kaylee dug through the lilac tissue paper and pulled out a bottle of her favorite perfume. “I was almost out. Thank you!” She spritzed her neck and wrists, then carefully tucked Sarah’s gift on the top shelf of her locker and grabbed a package of Jelly Bellies.

  “How about we drink these first,” I said, holding up the tray of coffees.

  Kaylee tucked the candy in her purse, claiming she’d need them by history. Sarah gave Kaylee one last birthday hug, took her drink, and hurried to her first period class. Kaylee and I headed to English.

  I contemplated filling Kaylee in on what Isaac and I had discovered last night, but I couldn’t bring myself to ruin her day by telling her there were new supernatural threats. In Mr. Chapin’s classroom, we settled into our chairs. She took the worksheet we’d been assigned out of her bag. I groaned.

  “Don’t tell me you didn’t read the chapter we were assigned,” Kaylee said. I wasn’t sure why this surprised her. I never got through Mr. Chapin’s homework. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Hurry and copy mine before he asks for us to hand them in.”

  Doing so broke my new rule not to cheat, but my grade was in jeopardy. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw her answers were all short and not mini essays.

  Kaylee took a sip of mocha. “Josh has the whole afternoon planned. The celebration starts at the final bell. I wonder where he’s taking me.” She said the last part in a dreamy voice like she was thinking of the possibilities. “All he said was I’m going to love it.”

  I knew. Josh planned to drive up the coast to her favorite sushi restaurant, and he had a bouquet of deep purple calla lilies—also Kaylee’s favorite—waiting to be picked up at one of the little florists along the way. The evening would end at his place, with her blowing out the candles on a double-chocolate cupcake that his mom baked.

  I had two answers to scribble in when Mr. Chapin told us to listen up. When he turned his back to the class, I gave Kaylee her worksheet back and mouthed, Thanks.

  While Mr. Chapin discussed the significance of Hester having to wear a large letter A stamped across her chest in The Scarlet Letter, I enjoyed my pumpkin spice latte.

  The first few periods went by quickly, but halfway through fourth hour, Kaylee figured out that I knew what Josh had planned for her birthday celebration. Her constant begging for me to te
ll her made lunch the longest fifty minutes in the history of time.

  “Josh will kill me if I ruin his surprise,” I said, thankful we didn’t have the next period together. I was sure if she gave me the puppy-dog eyes one more time I’d cave and at least tell her it included sushi.

  “Just give me a hint,” she pleaded.

  “Can’t. I promised.” I got up, tray in hand, and headed toward the exit.

  She followed. “Why’d you do that?”

  I hadn’t actually promised Josh I wouldn’t tell Kaylee about his surprises, but I wished I’d thought to use that magical loophole an hour ago, because she finally stopped badgering me.

  I tossed the rest of my fries into the trash, turned, and bumped into Caden.

  “Shouldn’t you be at work?” I asked. I had enough problems without adding a Witch Wannabe to them.

  He took my and Kaylee’s trays and deposited both on the tray return. “I’m on lunch break. Do you have a minute?”

  “I have to get to class.”

  Caden grabbed my wrist, his hand wrapping around one of my fancy iron bracelets. Still no sizzle of flesh. “One minute,” he insisted.

  I huffed. “I can’t help you find Emma. Sorry. We done?”

  He ignored me and instead addressed Kaylee. “May I borrow Madison, please?”

  Kaylee looked at me.

  My gaze fell to Caden’s hand. He let go of me. To Kaylee, I said, “It’s fine. I’ll catch up with you later.”

  Caden held his arm out to his side. “I’ll walk you to class.”

  “Fine.” I led the way, although Caden set the pace to a slow stroll. “Seriously, Caden, Emma’s not worth all this trouble.”

  “I’m not here about her.” He stepped in front of me. “Look, normally I stay out of other people’s business, but even I have a code of honor I live by, and trickery is not part of it.”

  “What are you talking about?” As I said the words, my powers made the trek down to my fingertips, ready to strike should I need to.

  “Reed,” Caden spat. “You know, it never turns out well for a person who’s been marked by the Fae.”