“Hi, there,” the woman said with a sugary voice. Her massive, jade eyes flickered beneath the lights dangling from the ceiling.
“What can I get you?” I stomped away from Scott, sending him one last evil glare.
“I don’t know. What’s good?”
I grabbed a mixing tin and put on my best smile for the coined response to that question. “Well, everything, of course,” I said in the girliest voice I could muster, considering I was still reeling from that memory. Damn things came up at the worst times.
At least I hadn’t frozen anything because of it.
Yet.
“I’ll try a mango smoothie with a shot of protein.” She strolled to the end of the counter and looked around the corner to the back of the restaurant. On her return to the register, she glanced at the ceilings and behind her. “This is a sweet little place. It’s new, right?”
This chick must not live in town. The first time we even thought about buying the place, half the town showed up to check out the “Smith” family.
“It’s been a few months since I’ve been through town. This is nice.”
“Thanks. Well, I’ll get this made for you.”
I turned around and squeezed the cup. It instantly froze. So maybe I hadn’t calmed down very well yet.
The chick mumbled on as I fixed her drink, but I couldn’t remember much of what she said. But what I did remember was Scott glancing at her more than once through the prep-room window. Yeah, not cool. The flicker in his eye meant trouble. He was scoping her out.
After I mixed everything I poured the smoothie into a take-out cup, snapped on a lid, and stepped in front of the register. “Four-fifty, please.”
She handed me the money. Her long, neon nails reflected the overhead lights. Not a thing out of place on her perfect, little body.
I wondered if I would ever be able to look anything other than completely plain and boring?
“Thanks. See y’all later.”
I nodded at her, slammed the drawer shut, and threw the receipt in the basket next to the register.
“Whoa, she was so pretty.” Georgia ambled to the counter and leaned over it, resting on her elbows.
I sucked in a deep breath through my nose. She smelled good, too. That subtle hint of rose reminded me of Mom. She’d always worn that scent.
That was why I never wore perfume. Too many memories.
“Sooo, am I going to get a smoothie, or what?”
“Sorry. Got distracted. My bro is ragging on me again.” I turned and started cooling down another glass. “Someone from the school called him and tattled about my detention.”
“Hey, I’m curious.” Georgia picked her dark, chipped nail polish and cleared her throat.
“Spit it out, girl. I’m not going to bite you.”
“Why do you always get into trouble, anyway? I mean, you’re, like, a week from graduating. Why mess it up?”
The muscle in my arm tensed. My teeth gritted until my jaw hurt. I didn’t know why I did that crap. Maybe because it was a distraction from my ugly, confusing, screwed-up life. Plus, most everyone stayed away from me when I wore a scowl, which was safer. For me and for them.
What person could freeze things by touching them? Or bench press a motor home? Totally not normal. Then, having to hide it when I couldn’t even control it all that well. Oh, and not to mention having to worry if the Coats were going to show up and cart me away to some lab.
Again.
“Whoa, what just happened there?” Georgia’s panicked voice yanked me out of my mental bantering.
Shards of thick glass glistened on the tile floor by my shoes.
Scott zoomed around the corner, eyes wide. They darted from me to Georgia.
She pointed to the floor. “Holy crap, Mandy. You totally crushed that glass!”
A nervous laugh slipped through my clenched teeth. “Oh, yeah. Um…”
“Must have been defective.” Scott swooped in and saved the day. “That’s happened before.”
My brother, the hero. Despite the fact that he’d ragged on me about detention and brought up Mom and Dad earlier, I knew he’d always have my back.
It’d been just us for so long. Maybe it was time to consider staying. All I needed was an incident where someone saw something they shouldn’t to ruin that.
Again.
CHAPTER 5
“You never get to pick the walking route home again, Mandy.”
“I must have missed a turn on that last path. Where the hell are we?” I glanced at the trees surrounding us. No more paved trail ahead or behind us. Not even a packed trail that I could tell.
Getting ticked off was not such a good thing for me. The whole controlling my fun little powers didn’t go so well when I was mad or scared. Plus, tonight was date night with Zach, so I was already on edge.
Majorly on edge.
“You’ve lived here forever, don’t you know where we are?” I punched my fist into a tree trunk. It splintered, speckling the ground with shards of bark. “The town’s so small you’d think we could walk through any patch of trees and end up on Main Street.” All I’d wanted to do was check out a wicked-cool field I thought I’d seen driving around a few weeks ago.
“Calm down. You’re gonna break your hand, and what if Zach wants to hold it later tonight?”
Hell, I’d offer him more than my hand if we ever got out of this forest. He’d asked me out three days ago, but I’d not seen him much since, let alone talked to him.
I should cancel anyway. Wasn’t smart getting involved. Not that we were getting involved. I shook my head. He was consuming way too much of my brain power lately.
Including dreamtime. And they were sinfully delicious, too.
“I thought this was a desert. Why are there trees around? Shouldn’t it just be shrubs and cactus?”
“Hey. This was your idea.”
“I know. I saw this cool field once while I was out driving around, and I thought it was this way.”
A branch cracked behind us.
“What was that?” Georgia dug her nails into my forearm.
“How would I know?” Every strand of hair on my arm stood straight up. Fear cinched my insides until I could hardly breathe. What if it was the Coats?
I didn’t hear anything else, but my nerves ignited as if someone stood nearby. Or who knows, maybe I’d inherited some super-senses and didn’t know it yet.
Oh, great. Did I?
Another branch snapped.
“That’s freakin’ me out a little.” Fear rattled Georgia’s voice.
I stepped closer to her and cooled down the hand she wasn’t squeezing like a vise. I had Georgia with me, and that changed everything. No matter what, I’d keep her safe. I wouldn’t let them hurt her like they hurt Scott before, even if it exposed my powers.
I faced Georgia. “Let’s go.”
Sweat trickled down my back, igniting my skin with goose bumps. When we’d left the campus, it was nearly three-thirty, so, to follow the sun would mean we were heading west, right? Yeah, that sounded good.
“What is this place, anyway?” I scanned the trees towering us. The subtle scent of pine didn’t soothe me at that moment. Neither did the warm, Arizona sun I’d come to love.
“I think it’s someone’s land. You know—someone who owns a bunch but never uses it. I heard kids come out this direction to party. I’ve never been, though.”
“Of course not, Miss I-Don’t-Drink-Or-Do-Anything-Crazy.” I scanned the area again. A shadow darted behind a pine tree about fifty feet back.
Shit.
“This land-owner-person doesn’t happen to have dogs?” Or big, human shaped shadows…
“I don’t know. I never cut through.”
Didn’t matter. I’d handle whatever or whoever showed up. Having to explain it to Georgia if she saw would be the tough part. Maybe she’d understand? Think my powers were cool? I shook my head. Nope. Tried that. My old friend, Toni, in Minnesota, didn’t think i
t was so cool I could lift a car.
She’d posted all about what she’d seen, and it nearly went viral. That led to another mass exodus in the middle of the night. Another name change. And…another school.
“Wait, I see a break in the trees. We’re close.” Georgia’s shrill voice bounced off our surroundings.
A series of crunching branches crackled through the air. “Oh my gosh.” Georgia pointed behind me. “Something’s coming. What—”
“Run, G.” I pushed her forward as I dove to the side.
She took off. But about twenty feet ahead of me, the front of her foot caught a root, and she stumbled. A dart splintered the bark of the tree beside her, sending shards of wood into the air. Georgia yelped and crashed against the ground. The crack of her head hitting the ground sickened my gut.
Two tall figures, dressed in camouflaged fatigues crept forward, dart guns raised. Shit. My heart hammered my ribs to the point of pain, sending a raging rush of blood through my body, pounding in my ears.
One glance at Georgia showed me she’d not moved. I crawled to the nearest tree, jumped up, then flattened my back against the tree. Pricks from the bark stabbed through my thin shirt. My chest heaved as I fought for air through the fear threatening to shut down my lungs.
Save Georgia. Save Georgia.
“Hands up, Hillman.”
Coats for sure since they knew my real last name.
Images of the men attacking my mom flashed through my mind. She’d constantly been hounded by these assholes. Never free to just live. Be normal. Raise Scott and me like a regular, over protective, dominating parent.
But Mom defended herself and her family. I’d do the same. Had to.
I held out my hands, palms up and said, “Come on, power, help me out a little here, would ya?”
A cool glaze of ice slid over my digits. Sweet.
“Amanda—”
I picked up a rock by my foot and tossed it thirty feet back where we’d come from, deeper into the woods. I couldn’t have them close to Georgia or the main roads. Not if I had to do what I knew I’d have to do.
My gut dropped at the thought. I’d done it several times over the years. Had to.
I rolled the opposite direction and hopped to my feet. Leaning toward them, I pointed my fingers at the two army dudes.
No streams of ice or snow shot out, but like heat radiating off the hood of a sun-baked car, the air shifted. It wafted and swayed, specifically around my extended fingers, and shot in the direction of my targets.
“Die!” I yelled.
They stopped, dart guns aimed at me, and I half expected the pricks I’d endured before to penetrate my skin.
But it didn’t happen.
Sooner than it’d ever happened before, white frost encased the guys’ hands, starting from the weapon. One grunted and shifted, as if fighting the frost.
No one could fight the ice.
Colder. Colder. Ice formed at my fingertips, slowly creeping up my wrists. Die.
They’d just ruined my chances of staying here. Staying with Georgia. My date with Zach. Scott’s store. Damn those Coats.
Plumes of white billowed from their mouths. At least until the ice covered their faces.
Tears burned my eyes as they breached my lids and slid down. A metallic taste coated my tongue, and it was then that I realized I’d bitten my cheek I was concentrating so hard.
I let a breath stream out as I stood straight, eyeing my surroundings. No sign of any more Coats. Usually they came in packs of four or five, and they shot their wicked darts first. Was this just a little scouting thing? To report back?
“Mandy?” Georgia’s weak voice permeated through my muddled brain, and I turned around.
She reached for her head and rolled to her back.
Back off, just back off, I silently told the ice encasing my fingers. “Georgia. I’m coming.”
I glanced behind me, and the frozen statues glistened in the sun filtering through the leaves. I’d killed them. My stomach cramped. I didn’t have a choice. Had to protect Georgia. Protect myself.
Shit.
By the time I reached Georgia, the ice had faded from my skin. I never really understood what happened to it, but for now, I was grateful it was gone.
“You all right, girl?” I asked.
“What happened?” She sat up. “Wait, a—”
“Big damn dog, that’s what it was. You ran, tripped.” I reached for her head. “You were out for a few seconds, there.”
She shifted to the side and looked over my shoulder.
I moved in front of her. I was pretty sure the sculptures were out of sight, but it didn’t hurt to block her view. Just in case. “Can you walk?”
Her eyes bobbed in my direction, and she nodded. “Ohh. No nodding. No nodding.”
“Let me help you.” I glanced behind me as I guided her up to confirm no one pursued us, then urged Georgia forward.
We made it out of the thicket and into unobstructed sun. I drank in a deep breath of fresh air, hoping to calm my nerves. It did nothing to ease my guilt. Despite those jerks ruining my life, I didn’t enjoy killing them. In fact, I hated it.
To my right lay a patch of open land, dusted with yellow wild flowers. And with the sun shining down on them, it looked like a soft, swaying blanket of gold.
Yes. This was what I’d seen from the road. Beautiful.
“Main Street is that way. See the packed trail there?” Georgia pointed ahead of us.
“Got it.” I put my arm around her. “Go slow, hold on to me.”
“Girl, you are sooo not picking any short-cuts ever again. As in ever. You don’t even like to hike, do you?” She touched her head. “I got a goose egg there.”
“I’m so sorry, G. I—”
“Not your fault I’m a klutz. Damn dog chasing us. How’d you scare it off?”
“Just growled louder than he did.” If only it had been a dog. I chanced another glance behind us. Still all clear. “It’s pretty here. This is what I saw from the road.”
“This part, I know. You can see some of it from Adams Street. It’s old man Conroy’s land.”
“That’s cool.”
The golden flowers swayed as a gentle breeze breathed over their delicate petals. “It’s just that—well—Mom and Dad took me to a place like this once when I was a kid. I liked it.”
“Oh. Sorry. I know you don’t like talking about them.”
I coughed over the lump in my throat. “Yeah, well…they’re dead. Not much to talk about.”
No matter what town Scott dragged us to I’d always managed to find a spot to claim as mine. One I knew Mom and Dad would like, too. Just my way of staying connected to them. It helped me get through all this Coats crap better for some reason.
Looked like I’d finally found it. Too bad it was right when we’d have to up and leave—again.
* * *
“Are you okay, Mandy?” Scott yanked me into a massive hug. “Georgia?”
“She’s fine. Her dad checked her out. Minor concussion. Her mom’s going to watch over her a little bit tonight.” I hopped onto the counter top, thankful the shop was empty. “So, should I start packing?”
So much for my date with Zach tonight.
“I’ll close up shop and get out to the field.” He engaged the blending shield and pressed chop.
The machine whirled to life, pulverizing the strawberries and bananas to mush. Once again he had to go clean up what I’d done. “I’ll go with you.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Scott. What do you do when I…freeze people like that?” I wasn’t sure why I asked, because I didn’t think I wanted to know.
He poured the smoothie mixture into a glass and turned, holding it out to me. “Doesn’t matter. I’ll take care of it. I’m just glad you’re okay.” He bumped his finger beneath my chin. “Go get ready for your date with Zip.”
“Zach. And no. I’m cancelling.” Crap. I did
n’t have his phone number to call or text him.
“Don’t. I want you in public tonight. I’ll go take care of things in the field, then start gathering up our stuff.” Scott rounded the corner of the counter and strode to the door but not before I saw a dark sadness claim his eyes. “It’ll be fine.”
“No it won’t,” I whispered. It never would. We’d always have to keep running. “What if we stayed?”
I wasn’t even sure where the idea came from. It wasn’t an option. The Coats had found us. Leaving was our only option.
No. I knew where the idea came from. Scott and I had started a little life here. Sure, it was a dorky town. Small. But I was graduating in a few days—finally. Georgia was here, too.
Scott turned around, arms crossed over his chest. “We can’t stay, Mandy. As much as I hate it, we have to leave.”
“We’ve never tried. They’ll expect us to run. To bolt. Like we always have.” God I wanted something normal. A best friend. A boyfriend. Something other than this running.
“Mandy.”
“Reverse psychology, right?” I sipped the frozen drink and hoisted my feet over the counter to the other side, then jumped down. “I killed the ones after us like I’ve done before.” I made it sound so normal…”We’ve always left. But what if we just stay and keep our eyes wide open. If anyone else comes snooping, I’ll ice them.”
But that would totally suck. I was only eighteen and already a murderer. Multiple times. And Scott was my accomplice. I couldn’t ask him to keep doing that either. Hell, I didn’t want to keep killing. But I wanted to stay here more.
Totally selfish thing, I knew that. But—
Scott dug his keys out from his front pocket. “I’ll think about it.”
My phone vibrated in my hand. A text from Georgia. Facetime me so I can help you pick out your clothes for tonight. Mom the Nazi-nurse won’t let me come over.
“You’ll think about it? Really?” I said to Scott.
He took three long steps to me and yanked me into a hug. “I don’t want to keep running either, Mandy. You’re so close to graduating. I like this town and like the smoothie business. And…I’ve got reasons to stay, too.”
Curses, Fates & Soul Mates Page 39