"Alright," I finally said as she gazed up at me, her expression imploring. "You know, you're right. It would never work between us."
I expected to see relief in her expression, which would have maybe made me feel better…like I was making a great noble sacrifice for the sake of her happiness. But that's not what I saw. Instead, the light in her hazel eyes slowly dimmed and it seemed like the spark that made her Sam had suddenly gone out.
"So you won't try to arrange any more of these little get togethers with my sister and her boyfriend?" she questioned me tentatively. "And you won't call me? Or try to accidentally run into me at the mall?"
I just clenched my teeth and gazed down at her.
"You promise?"
"I promise to try," I gritted while a vein pulsed in my jaw.
"Good," she said but without a whole lot of conviction.
Then I watched her turn and walk away. And with every step she took, it seemed like she was taking a part of me with her and I felt it like a deep, physical ache in my chest. "It couldn't possibly work," I reminded myself, and rubbed a hand over the heavy beat of my heart. "And besides, I hardly even know her."
And that was true. But it troubled me to think that now I probably never would.
Chapter Four
Silently brooding, I walked around Boulder for the next several hours then picked up some Chinese food to take back to Elaina's for dinner. And when it was dark enough, I took off from the small deck outside her apartment door and headed for Pine Grove. Of course, Elaina and Reason had offered me a ride but they hadn't finished their art projects and I was in the mood for some flying anyway.
The long flight home helped clear my head and settle my thoughts. I was alone in the sky with a wild scattering of stars above me and miles of wooded slopes below. I love Colorado's wide-open spaces. Most people don't realize it but England has been a crowded place for a long time. Even back in the thirteenth century, there were almost as many people living on the island as there are now.
The next day I kept myself busy, trying not to think about Samantha and how empty my future suddenly seemed. I checked our business email on the tablet we'd recently bought but there were no new orders. So I took a bow we'd built for stock and went outside for some target practice. Defiance had brought a bale of straw home from the stables and we'd placed it against the side of the house where we had a clear shot at it from almost anywhere on our open lot.
I'm probably the best bowman in the family, having spent quite a bit of time practicing; it was a good way to unwind when there were too many humans around to risk flying. But amazingly, even archery was simpler and easier in the twenty-first century because arrows were so cheap and plentiful. Back in my time, a single arrow was a huge investment of time and effort. So you didn't want to lose one or break one or let one fly unless you were sure you were going to bring home dinner or at least find the arrow afterward, which wasn't always easy. In the past, I've spent hours looking for an arrow lost in the tall grass where a deer had been grazing…shortly before it escaped with its life.
Havoc and the others joined me and suggested a competition that kept us busy most of the afternoon, Hooligan showing up as soon as he heard Havoc's voice. And as the arrows flew and thwacked into the bale of straw, my cousins talked about the big news they'd heard the day before on MacKenzie's television. Evidently Premier League was coming to America in the summer. British football was going to be on TV! The guys were really amped, especially Havoc who's a huge Arsenal fan.
But as soon as we heard the girls' cars in the driveway next door, both football and archery were forgotten. And ten seconds later, I was standing alone on the lot, Hooligan having been the first to desert. So I returned the bow inside the house and followed the rest of the pack over to MacKenzie's place. They'd brought Defiance home with them, picking him up at the stables when he'd finished work. I passed Defiance and Whitney locked together next to the front door; they hadn't even made it inside.
In the kitchen, I caught up with the others.
"What's wrong?" Valor asked as soon as soon as he got the kissing out of the way and got a good look at MacKenzie's face.
Her mouth formed a flat line as she leaned back in his arms. "I dropped my car keys in the school lobby today."
"And?" he prompted her.
"Except, it wasn't like I really dropped them. It was almost like they were…pulled from my hand."
"Oh," he muttered and shot a worried look at me.
I think we all knew what was coming next.
"And when I leaned over to pick them up," she said, "they slid away from me."
"How far?" Valor asked while holding my gaze.
"Only a few inches," she answered. "But when I reached for them again, they slid away another few inches. And they kept doing that until they'd moved right over to where Alexa was standing."
Valor nodded slowly. We'd been expecting something like this. Ever since MacKenzie had accidentally ripped Alexa's keys from her hand that time Valor was in danger, Alexa had been trying to figure out how Mac had done it. And since the Pine Grove senior had some red in her hair, she had some potential as a witch…although she'd never be as strong as MacKenzie who's very red.
But Alexa had come into her powers one day down at the Pegasus Stables. To be fair, she probably wasn't trying to hurt Whitney. She'd probably just been jealously hoping for something bad to happen to her. Which is exactly what happened when Whit's horse started acting up. Unfortunately, Alexa's magic would have killed Defiance's girlfriend if he hadn't been there to pull Romeo off of her.
It didn't take Alexa too long after that to realize she had to be in contact with wood to make the magic happen, a revelation that she'd recently shared with Havoc. So we'd been expecting trouble.
"What happened next?" Valor asked as Defiance and Whitney finally joined us in the kitchen.
"Alexa slammed her foot down on my lanyard."
"Did she say anything?" Valor asked tentatively.
"Yeah. She said 'you're not the only game in town, anymore'. Then she turned and walked away."
"Oh," he murmured.
"You should have seen her. You know the way she swings her hips?"
"Aye," he answered.
"Well, it's a miracle she didn't take out the entire cheering squad practicing in the lobby."
A small smile tugged at Valor's mouth, momentarily replacing his look of concern.
"How could she do that?" Mac exploded suddenly. "Her hair isn't as red as mine. How could she access her powers so quickly when it took me forever and only kicked in when the situation was desperate?"
"Because she believes she can," I told her quietly. "She's seen magic before—your magic—and she knows it's possible."
Valor nodded. "You fought it, Kenz. You didn't believe in your magic because you hadn't seen any evidence of it. And even now that you've seen solid proof, you still don't have much confidence in your abilities."
"So, if I had more confidence, I'd be able to drag my keys back across the high school lobby?" she demanded.
"If you had more confidence, you'd be able to drag Alexa across the lobby," Valor snorted.
Out of habit, I reached up and scraped my hands back through my hair. But there wasn't much there to work with. "Maybe I should talk to her," I suggested.
"What? Nay!" Havoc barked, surprising me.
I sent him a questioning look. "Why not?"
"I don't trust her," he answered sharply. "She's always had a thing for you. She even warned me that she had plans for you."
"Whatever plans she has aren't going to work," I scoffed, immediately dismissing my cousin's concerns. "And if I have a talk with her, maybe I can convince her to turn things around now, before she becomes a bad witch."
Because Alexa didn't realize it, but witches came in two distinct categories—good and bad. A good witch could cast no evil spells. Likewise, a bad witch couldn't perform any acts of kindness. I thought maybe I could convince Alexa that the i
nability to cast a helpful spell was a definite drawback.
"We already tried that," Defiance pointed out in a growl. "We talked to her down at the stables, after we realized how she'd made Romeo act up."
"Aye, but you were with me," I pointed out. "So the conversation wasn't exactly friendly. Perhaps with a more gentle approach—"
But before I could finish, Havoc threw up his arms and stalked from the room.
I watched the empty archway, again surprised at his reaction. But I thought I was onto something and fairly determined to give Alexa a chance, so I continued. "Perhaps with a more gentle approach, I could make her come around." I turned my gaze on MacKenzie and Mim, hoping for their support.
MacKenzie looked doubtful but Mim spoke up for me. "It's like Havoc says, Alexa has always had a thing for you. So she might listen to you."
"But Mim, you don't know what she's like," Dare argued right away, his voice soft but tight with emotion. "You don't know what she's like…inside," he continued. "She wasn't a nice person to begin with. And since discovering her powers, she's gotten worse. Now she's not-a-nice-witch."
Mim turned her troubled gaze on Dare's eyes. "You're probably right," she agreed falteringly.
I knew Dare wouldn't argue with Mim unless he felt pretty strongly about what was going down. But I hated to see the two lovers disagreeing with each other. Besides, I'd already made up my mind.
"We should give Alexa a chance," I stated, having made my decision. And I borrowed Valor's phone to make the call. It took a while to find someone who knew her number. But Whitney had a large network of friends and one of them was able to help out.
Alexa answered the phone on the first ring and didn't seem too surprised to hear from me so I don't know what that was about. But when I told her I'd like to get together with her, she suggested we meet after school the next day.
So it was a date.
And on Wednesday afternoon, I walked through the door of the Pine Grove café and spotted Alexa at a table against the window. She was probably a little overdressed for the small town coffee shop. Most of our girls would have thrown on a pair of jeans for a visit to the café. Alexa was wearing a short black skirt and a pink blouse that barely stretched across her chest. As usual, the top three buttons were missing, but then Alexa never missed a chance to show off her cleavage.
I took the padded chair across from her and smiled as I said, "Thanks for agreeing to see me."
She grabbed my hand on the polished wooden tabletop, her long fingernails digging into my skin. "Don't thank me. This is something I've wanted for a long time. If I could have made it happen sooner, I would have."
I looked down at her hand on mine and resisted the urge to jerk away from her. If I was going to help Alexa turn her life around, she needed to think I was her friend. Nay, that wasn't right, I told myself. I needed to be her friend. A better friend than Ryan Myerson whose influence was pulling her in the wrong direction. So I turned my wrist and caught her hand inside of mine, turning up the wattage as I smiled back at her. "How was school today?"
"It sucked, as usual. Thank God it's almost over."
Alexa was a senior so she'd be graduating at the end of May. "Where are you going to University?" I asked.
She shrugged. "Probably one of the community colleges in Denver."
"Tea?" I suggested when the waitress stopped by to take our order.
"I love tea," she immediately gushed.
So I ordered tea for both of us, and for a while I let Alexa rattle on about upcoming events like graduation and parties and concerts and how much fun they were going to be. It was fairly obvious she was hoping I'd volunteer to take her to some of the events. But I managed to avoid getting sucked into that and cut in when I got an opening. "I wanted to talk to you about what happened at school the other day, with MacKenzie's keys."
"Oh that," she tittered, and flicked a hand back through her shoulder-length curls. "I hope MacKenzie wasn't upset. I was just messing with her."
"I don't think she was upset," I answered easily, releasing her hand when the waitress delivered the tea in two mugs. "But I think it's a good time to talk about your recently acquired…talent."
"The magic!" she squealed, bouncing in her seat. "It's so killer. I've been pulling all these tricks on my friends and they have no idea what's going on."
That wasn't exactly a reassuring idea. "If you haven't told anyone about your powers, maybe you should keep the secret to yourself," I suggested delicately.
"Why?" she asked with a wide-eyed innocence that seemed very practiced.
I shrugged. "You never know who might get interested in you if they find out about your abilities."
"Ohhh," she answered breathily. "You mean like bad guys?"
"That's exactly what I mean," I answered, and stirred some cream into my tea.
"That is such good advice," she said, her expression turning suddenly solemn. When she leaned forward, a large oval locket slipped from beneath her shirt and swung away from her chest. The sun slanting through the window glinted on the gold piece of jewelry. "Thanks, Victor. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"You're welcome," I murmured. "But there's something else you should know."
"What's that?"
I lifted the mug to my mouth for a quick swallow then set it back on the table. The heavy stoneware hit the wooden surface with a heavy clunk. "Obviously, you've been gifted with an amazing ability. But this gift can only be used in one of two ways. It can be used for good or it can be used for evil. But never both."
"How do you know all this stuff?" she asked while slowly batting her eyelashes.
"I've…been around for a while."
She leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Can you do magic too?"
"Nay," I answered. "But I've met other people who accessed their powers, like you, so I have a basic understanding of what's going on."
"Other people besides MacKenzie?"
"That's right," I answered.
"I'm so glad you're here to help," she purred back at me, flicking her fingers through her hair again.
As I studied her face, I couldn't detect a trace of sincerity in her voice or expression. But I had a point to make so I took a deep breath and kept going. "Since you've only just discovered your powers, there's still time for you to direct your destiny, so to speak."
"Wow," she gushed, and blinked at me with wide eyes. "Direct my destiny. That sounds so…philosophical."
"If you choose to do bad things with your magic, you won't be able to do any good things."
She tilted her head and adopted an interested expression. "What do you mean?"
"Well, suppose you use your magic to get revenge against someone you don't like…"
"Okay."
"Then that would mean that you couldn't use your magic to help someone or even save someone's life if you had to."
"Like…who?" she asked.
I found it a little unsettling that she couldn't think of anyone she might want to help. "Do you have any sisters or brothers?"
"Two younger sisters," she answered. "Becca and Molly."
"Well, imagine a situation where one of your sisters was in danger and you couldn't help her because you'd already used your magic to do something bad."
Her forehead furrowed in puzzled concentration. "You mean like one of my sisters might be drowning in a swimming pool?"
"Exactly."
"But I could still dive in the pool and help, right?"
"Aye, but…"
"Then I don't see why there's a problem," she tossed back at me with a careless laugh.
This was going to be harder than I thought, I realized. "That's not really the point," I told her gently, and twisted the silver band around my left wrist. "Everyone is given the power of one life to live, Alexa. You can use that power for good or you can use it for evil—"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," she said, cutting me off. "You want me to make the right choice. But I'm not a bad person, Victor. Can't y
ou see that? Can't you understand that? I helped you at that party. I told those guys not to hurt you. Who knows what would have happened if I hadn't stepped in?"
I scrubbed my hands back through my hair and sighed. Ryan and his trolls would have had a hard time bringing me down, and that must have been fairly obvious to Alexa after I'd started fighting back.
"You were awesome that night, by the way," she continued. "The way you beat the crap out of the entire offensive line. You fought like you were special ops or something."
I grimaced at the suggestion. I'd done the minimum necessary that night to make the kids back off. But I hadn't reveled in my success or in their defeat. And I didn't enjoy a brawl like my cousin, Force, or even Havoc.
I stared back at Alexa, almost ready to give up as I watched her hand travel to the locket hanging around her neck, her elbows braced on the tabletop. And all of a sudden, I decided she was right. She had tried to help me. She was worth saving and I needed to try harder to help her.
"Won't you go with me tomorrow night?" she asked, batting her lashes so deliberately it made me wonder if she had something in her eye.
Almost like it had a mind of its own, my hand slid across the table to hers. "Where?" I asked.
She must have mentioned the event earlier in our conversation because now she rolled her eyes at my lack of attention. "The concert at Red Rocks."
I hesitated. Going to a concert with Alexa was like the last thing on earth I wanted to do. But I'd already committed myself to helping her. So I gave her fingers a squeeze and answered, "Alright."
Chapter Five
"You what?" Havoc shouted when I got back home. "You agreed to go out with her?"
"That's right," I answered evenly.
We were sitting in the living room, getting caught up on the day's events while polishing a matching set of bows for a father and son in Arkansas.
"Have you lost your mind?" Defiance barked.
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