Book Read Free

Life's a Witch

Page 27

by Brittany Geragotelis


  But as I watched, Sascha brought Asher back. I couldn’t see anything physically happening, of course, since the magic was all internal, but his cheeks started to gain a little color and finally he opened his eyes and stared straight into mine.

  “Did I ever tell you that you’re drop-dead gorgeous?” were the first words out of his mouth. Then he flashed me that sideways smile of his and I nearly jumped him with joy.

  But I restrained myself and rolled my eyes instead. “Boy, do you know how to sweet-talk a girl,” I said sarcastically, but took his hand in mine. We both knew what the other had done. That we’d chosen to help our families over each other, but we also knew it was the right thing to do. Now the plan was to make him a part of that family by welcoming him and his sister into the Cleri as official members.

  Not that this news went over well with everyone in the coven. True to form, Fallon complained for hours about it, threatening to leave if we invited traitors into the group. But then Asher showed Fallon a few spells in private, ones that they refused divulge to me, and suddenly Fallon was Asher’s biggest fan. He began to follow Asher around like his minions did him, and I realized how much he was probably missing his dad. Not that his dad was unusually powerful, but he and Fallon had had a really great relationship. Now that Asher was the oldest male witch in our coven, Fallon seemed to need someone to look up to. And Asher was happy to oblige now that the immediate threat against his sister was gone.

  Speaking of, we’d found Asher’s sister, Abby, wandering around in the woods behind the cabin after having been abandoned by one of the Parrishables in his haste to flee. She’d barely said ten words to me. In all fairness, she hadn’t said much to Asher either, but according to him, she was always on the quiet side. I could only imagine how being kidnapped and held by a magical lunatic who killed your parents would cause you to retreat even further into yourself. In fact, I admired her for even being able to function after all she’d been through.

  Still, I hoped Abby would eventually let down her guard and take the time to get to know me. From what Asher said about her, I think we’d really get along. Things were likely to get better once there was a little distance between us and what had happened with the Parrishables.

  There was no concrete evidence to show that Samuel and his coven were gone for good, of course, but we all believed that he was gone for now. The threat of war was over and we could go back to our regularly scheduled lives. Whatever that meant.

  Most likely, the bulk of us would be sent to live with relatives—aunts, grandparents, family friends, not all of which were magically inclined—who would all happily take us in. I was nearly eighteen and figured I could probably duck the authorities until I was able to take care of myself. And with Asher and his sister right down the block, it wasn’t like I was going to be alone. I could finish up my last year of high school, maybe apply for colleges, cheer. All my plans from before were sort of up in the air considering what I’d been through. The way I looked at the world was different now. I was going to need to do some serious soul searching now that I didn’t have to look over my shoulder anymore.

  “What’s the first thing you’re going to do when you get home?” Asher asked me on our drive back from the cabin.

  “Take a bath, sleep for about a year, and then go to cheer practice,” I said, not even having to think about my answer before saying it.

  “You’d rather hang out with a bunch of cheerleaders than spend time with me?” he asked, in mock shock. Then he thought about it and shook his head. “Never mind. I’d choose cheerleaders over me too.”

  “Har-har,” I said as we pulled into the driveway. Just being in close proximity to my house made my heart both quicken and ache at the same time. It was so weird to be back after all that had happened and doubly weird to come back to an empty house. The only thing that was different, though, was that I no longer felt alone. I’d talked to my mom in my dreams and then with the spell . . . well, just knowing it was possible to still be able to communicate was enough to make it all more bearable. Now I was just going to have to create a new normal.

  I went to put my key in the door but paused when I noticed that it was already slightly open. Not much, just a crack. I looked back over my shoulder. Asher had already started to follow his sister as she walked over to their aunt’s house, but he slowed down and called out to me.

  “Everything okay?”

  I listened for a noise that would alert me to someone being inside. But there was only silence. I let out the breath I’d been holding and told myself that not every weird thing that happened meant I was still being stalked by Samuel. In fact, the last time I’d been home, I’d left pretty abruptly and hadn’t exactly stopped to lock up. The whole damn place was probably unlocked.

  “Yeah. It’s nothing,” I said, my initial fear subsiding. “I’ll see you in a few hours?”

  “It takes you that long to destinkify yourself?” he asked, walking back toward his aunt’s.

  “Well, isn’t that the pot calling the kettle smelly?” I answered, pushing the door open.

  “Ha!” he said. “I’ll see you soon.”

  “You too,” I said, walking into my house.

  A look around the living room showed that nothing had changed since the attack the night of the football game. The place looked like a tornado had swept through it, upturning furniture, breaking lamps and vases, and collapsing tables and chairs. Black char marks covered the walls, while mud and dirt appeared to be permanently etched into the carpet. I stood just inside the door for a minute and replayed the events of that night in my head, still amazed I’d gotten out of there alive.

  If things had gone just a little bit differently, the house would be completely empty right now. The thought filled me with sadness and I trudged the rest of the way inside, kicking the door closed as I went.

  Part of me knew that it was just a matter of time before I broke down, but in the meantime I was too exhausted to care. Dropping my bags in the entryway, I headed upstairs to take a bath and then lie down for a much-needed nap. At this point, though, I couldn’t be positive I wouldn’t just crash right away. Sleep sounded very good at the moment.

  Arriving at the door to my bedroom, I pushed it open, longing to crawl under my covers and disappear for a while. But when I looked inside, I froze.

  There, standing across the room and staring out the window, was a man. His back was to me, but I could tell he was strong and tall—both traits I wasn’t so psyched to see in an intruder. He didn’t turn around right away, even though I was sure he’d heard me. I resisted the urge to scream or run; I was too tired to fight anymore. Giving up, I surrendered to the fates and waited for him to make a move.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said.

  Confusion washed over me as I recognized the man’s voice.

  It couldn’t be . . . could it?

  Suddenly I was running toward him and before I could think about what I was doing, I flung my arms around his body and hugged him as tightly as I could. I squeezed so hard I thought my arms might break and let loose the tears that had been building up for weeks now. As he turned around to face me, I collapsed, allowing him to catch me as I fell. Slipping to the floor, he held me in his arms and stroked my hair while shushing me quietly.

  When I’d stopped sobbing, I dared to look up at him, fearing that I would find he’d disappeared. But he was still there, and that got me crying all over again. Finally I dried my eyes with the back of my hand, sniffled, and managed a wobbly smile.

  “They ambushed me on my way to the hotel and took everything I had. I was told you and Mom were dead. They said there was nothing to come back to. Then they tried to get me to join the Parrishables. When I refused, they tried to kill me, too. Eventually I got away and headed straight here. I had to see if they’d been telling the truth. And then I saw the house,” he said, his head dropping to touch the top of mine. Then, more quietly, he added, “I got your note. I’m so sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner, Ha
d.”

  “It’s okay, Dad. You’re here now,” I said, cradling my head against his neck, enjoying the realness of the touch.

  “Tell me what happened.”

  “Where do I start?” I asked absently, truly unsure how to describe all that had happened since he’d left.

  “Why don’t you start at the beginning.”

  Epilogue

  I ran through the night as quickly as I could, branches hitting my face and arms as I raced against the clock. The crackle of something being broken put me on edge. I couldn’t tell whether the noise was coming from me or something else lurking in the darkness. Either way, I wasn’t scared. I’d learned by now that things that go bump in the night are nothing compared to real evil. And real evil? Well, I’d vanquished it.

  For now.

  I squinted and fought to see as I dodged trees while making my way to my destination. I knew that if I slowed down, even just a little bit, I wasn’t going to make it there in time. And that wouldn’t be good.

  “Come on, come on,” I whispered, propelling myself forward, trying to see what lay ahead.

  When I caught sight of a glow of light in the near distance, I slowed my pace and chose my steps carefully, so they wouldn’t hear me coming. Sneaking closer, I peered through a few branches into the clearing.

  There they were. Six bodies, gathered around a roaring fire, with their heads covered by hoods. The light cast shadows around the clearing, making it look like the whole place was teeming with spirits. They were talking in low voices now, and I strained to hear what they were saying, almost expecting the worst.

  As time passed I knew I had to act, so without hesitation I burst through the bushes, landing in a fighting stance just a few feet away from the group. Several of the figures jumped, turning around quickly to stare at me in surprise, while the others just looked on with murderous expressions as they tried to decide out what to do next.

  “Okay, Had. The whole jumping-out-and-scaring-us thing was fun the first hundred times, but now it’s just getting old,” Jasmine said, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re lucky I haven’t hit you with a stunning spell yet. And trust me, it wouldn’t be pretty.”

  “Oh, come on, guys!” I said, standing up straight and placing my hands on my hips. “I’m only doing this for your own good. You need to be ready at all times. I’m just preparing you. . . .”

  “Preparing us for what?” Fallon asked, pulling off his hood and leaning back until he was resting on his elbows. He seemed annoyed—which was no different from any other day really, except that ever since we’d fought the Parrishables, I’d felt as if we’d gotten past our differences, or at least taken a break from torturing each other. “Samuel’s gone. You blasted him like a bug zapper, remember? He’s toast. Extra crispy.”

  “We think he’s gone,” I said. “We don’t know for sure. That’s why we have to continue to meet. To keep watch in case he comes back.”

  I looked around the circle until I spotted Asher and flashed him a smile. He smiled back, patting the ground next to him. As I began closing the distance between us, my stomach filled with butterflies just like it always did when his eyes met mine. I loved that even though we’d been dating for about six months now, I still got excited every time I saw him.

  Once I reached him, I sat down and his hand found its way into mine. I looked down at our intertwined fingers and felt my skin grow warm. It might have been the heat coming from the fire, but I doubted it.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey,” I responded, a shy smile on my face.

  “Do you really think he’s going to come back?” Jinx asked nervously, breaking up our little moment. I forced my head to turn and focus on her.

  Jinx had been released from the hospital a few weeks after we’d gotten rid of the Parrishables, but I quickly learned it was going to take her a lot longer to fully heal. When she mentioned Samuel and the Parrishables, she unconsciously touched her hand to the spot on her abdomen where she’d been stitched up. I was sure this wasn’t a coincidence. Jinx may have physically healed already, but we all knew she was having a hard time dealing with the aftermath of our war. I felt badly for her, but that was sort of why I’d been insisting on us all meeting on a regular basis anyhow.

  “I don’t know, Jinx,” I said softly. “I hope not. But that’s why we’re doing all of this. To make sure he never comes back. And that if he does, we’ll be ready for him.”

  Everyone grew silent, my words hanging in the air as we thought about all the things we didn’t want to actually say out loud. Finally, Sascha cleared her throat.

  “Hey, at least this time you get to do magic with us,” she said, shrugging. “You sort of missed it all the first time around, you know?”

  “Tell me about it,” Jinx said slowly. “I can’t believe I didn’t get to see everyone. That must have been crazy cool.”

  I smiled as I thought back to the moment when I laid eyes on all our relatives standing behind us as we vanquished Samuel. The scene was pretty epic and I didn’t want to admit it to Jinx, but I hadn’t been able to get it out of my mind since.

  “You’re not the only one who missed it,” Asher reminded her, a hint of jealousy in his voice. Asher still didn’t remember much of anything that happened after the shed blew to bits that night. I think it had something to do with him taking the hit from Samuel—the blast must have scrambled his brain or something. Good thing, too, because almost dying could be a pretty traumatic experience.

  “That’s just because someone was busy being a hero and all,” I said, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek in front of everyone. His scowl turned into a goofy grin and he leaned into me so our shoulders were touching. I caught Fallon rolling his eyes but ignored him.

  The truth was, things between Asher and me had been amazing since everything had been brought out into the open. We’d fallen into the habit of spending most of our free time together, which was nice since we were still getting to know each other in a way. I’d begun to forgive him for lying to me, and he chose to ignore the fact that I’d left him locked up when Samuel attacked. Now that we were finally being honest with each other, our relationship was really starting to get good.

  “That’s sweet—and I’m bored,” Jasmine said abruptly. “Can we talk about the fact that our families are trying to send us away for the summer? Has anyone else figured out where they’re carting us off to?”

  “No clue,” Sascha answered as she inspected her nails. “But I highly doubt it’s model boot camp like I requested. I’ve wanted to go there for years, you know? I was born to be on the catwalk.”

  “Catwalk, streetwalk, all the same if you ask me,” Jasmine muttered, before flashing Sascha a grin to show she was just joking.

  “You’re hil-a-rious. Glad to see your humor wasn’t beaten out of you during the fight.”

  “Nope. Still intact,” Jasmine said, grinning deviously.

  “My dad still won’t talk,” I interrupted, in an attempt to stop the bickering. “But since school just ended, I figure they’ve gotta tell us soon. And as long as we’re all headed to the same place, we’ll be fine.”

  When we’d arrived back home after the fight with Samuel, our group had been broken up for the first time in weeks. Some of us had family members or friends of our parents come to stay with us while we looked for more permanent places to stay, while others, like Peter, had been sent to live with nearby relatives. Not everyone went to live with a magicking family—but the civilians were close enough relatives that they could be trusted with our secret. Regardless, we were all still adjusting to our new living situations, but we always felt safer when we were together. Defeating an evil coven will do that to you.

  But then about two weeks ago, the adults started hinting that they were sending us away for the summer, information most of us weren’t too excited about. Besides the fact that it had taken so long for life to get back to normal, we’d grown rather resistant to surprises. I wonder why. At l
east it appeared like we’d be going away together. We just had no idea where or what we’d be doing. I, for one, hoped that wherever it was, there was electricity. I was not the kind of girl who liked to rough it.

  “I can’t believe you’re all leaving and I have to stay here and go to summer school,” Peter said, whining.

  “It’s not our fault you’re not as quick as the rest of us,” Fallon said snarkily. I frowned. It was true: Pete had been the only one of us who hadn’t been able to get back on track once we’d eventually gone back to school. As time had wound down, his teachers decided he would be better off taking his classes over again than receiving such low grades for the year. His aunt and uncle had agreed and signed him up for the summer. Still, that was no reason to make fun of him.

  “Can it, Fallon,” I warned. Turning back to Peter, I gave him a sympathetic look. “Pete, I’m sure you’ll have more fun here than wherever we’re going.”

  “Yeah, right,” he muttered miserably.

  “Everything’s going to be fine,” I said, trying to convince both of us of this fact. I looked down at my cell phone to check the time. “It’s getting late, why don’t we start this thing?”

  Everyone slowly got up from their places on the ground and stood together in a circle. I could tell a few of them were tired or possibly even bored. Then again, we’d been doing the same thing every week since we’d gotten back to town. We’d meet up late at night when the adults thought we were tucked away in bed, and that’s when we’d do it.

  From location spells to binding spells to ill-intention-detecting spells, we’d cast just about anything that might tell us that Samuel was alive. But so far, we’d come up empty. That didn’t mean we were going to stop, though. No way was I letting anything sneak up on us again. Nope, next time we’d be ready—no matter what the evil was.

 

‹ Prev