She was talking to Liz and Alise. I could barely make out any full sentences. Something about it happening tonight. What did she mean? Then, she said something clear as day. "She has no idea what she really is."
Shit. Was she talking about me? How could she know? And what was I anyway? All I did was save two people's lives. Since when was that a crime?
I grabbed the bottle of tequila and downed a shot. With my head tipped back, I relished in the burn as it slid down my throat. I poured another. My mind was playing tricks on me. Sure, she was up to no good, but it was silly to think it had anything to do with my situation. Other than Spratlin, no one else knew.
Back in the living room, I let the glass of scotch slide across Spratlin's chest as I leaned against the back of the couch. "A peace offering."
"Thanks, babe."
I didn't even mind the affectionate term. "Sorry I was a bitch earlier."
"No need to apologize. You weren't." He sat the controller down. "Someone can have my spot."
We walked over to the bookshelf where it was a little quieter. "I found Gaylin. She didn't know Alexa was here."
"She okay?"
"Yeah, she and Jason are about to leave."
A chill ran down my spine as an unwelcome voice breathed down my neck. "Thanks for the invite, Spratlin." Alexa pranced around and stood beside us.
Spratlin looked at me and then to her. "I didn't invite you."
"Well, sure you did. When we spoke on the phone the other day."
"No, I didn't. And you called me to try and persuade me to join your tournament team."
"I thought you said you hadn't talked to her."
When he looked at me, I could see he was frustrated. "I said I hadn't seen her since the arcade. She called me whining about the tournament."
"I don't whine." She ran her hand across his chest. "I just convince really well."
She tried to sound sweet and innocent, but I wasn't buying it. Thankfully, neither was Spratlin.
He looked down, disgusted at her touch. He grabbed her hands. "Alexa, if I were you, I'd go somewhere you're liked because that sure as hell isn't here."
"Ohhh, burn. I'm so sad, your girlfriend has turned you against me."
"You do a good enough job of that yourself," I said.
She stepped in front of me and stared into my eyes. "Do your friends know why you and I don't get along, or do they just blindly follow your lead of hating me?"
"I think my friends are perfectly capable of seeing people for who they are."
"Do they know who you really are?"
This again? What was she getting at?
"I think they know by now that I'm someone who'd do anything to protect them."
A slow smile creeped across her lips. It was the devil's lips if I'd ever seen any. "That's all I needed to hear." She snapped her fingers and her two cohorts entered the room carrying a bound Gaylin.
Gaylin struggled against her captors, her mouth taped shut.
"Gaylin!"
Alexa waved her hand to the room. "No one move, or I'll flatten the place."
Flatten the place? What the hell did she intend to do?
Then she turned her lovely attention back to me. "You and I," she stuck her long, bony finger in my chest, "need to have a long overdue come to Jesus. But the devil's the only one around."
My heart pounded in my chest. I don't know if it was obvious, but despite me hiding behind the tough exterior of my leather jacket, I was shaking in my biker boots. It was about to go down, right here in front of all my friends.
"Your friends are about to learn the truth about you and our shared... history."
Shit. There was a reason why Alexa and I hated each other. A big reason. I had never told anyone what I'd done to cause it, and I wasn't about to let her do it now. That was one secret I didn't want to get out. Fortunately, I had one ace on my side. By revealing my part, it would also incriminate Alexa. The real question was, was she crazy enough to do it?
Before she could do anything, though, Jeremy jumped up. "Leave us alone, Alexa." As he got near her, she threw up her hand and suddenly Jeremy went flying backwards through the air. I didn't know what I was seeing. How could she have that much strength?
Then, she grabbed Gaylin and held a knife to her throat.
My fists clinched and my breath caught.
I pranced right up to Alexa and knocked the shit out of her. And boy, did that feel good!
Blood splattered and she came up holding her face, blood dripping through her fingers. "You'll pay for this!"
She dug her clinched hand into Gaylin's arm. Then Alexa held up her bloody hand and closed her eyes. She started chanting something in a language I didn't recognize. Then, I saw the strangest thing, something I didn't believe was real.
Gaylin started spinning and rising into the air!
"The fuck?" I didn't believe what I was seeing.
"Shit." Spratlin grabbed me and yelled, "Everyone, get out! NOW!"
We scrambled over chairs as furniture started swirling around. I didn't have a clue how Alexa was doing what she was doing. All I wanted was to get out of there.
Spratlin helped Jeremy to his feet as our friends rushed passed us out the front door. Fire started spewing from the vortex burning everything it touched.
"Gaylin!" I yelled.
Alexa smiled at us and then darted out through the kitchen on her way to freedom. Jeremy tried to go after her, but Spratlin grabbed him. "Come on, man. There's no time!"
"My house! That witch's gonna destroy my house!"
"She's gonna destroy all of us if we don't go NOW!"
Witch? I just stood there, still watching Gaylin spin around in some sort of otherworldly vortex. Holy shit! That's what Mrs. G was alluding to.
If Alexa was a witch, did that mean I'm one, too?
Spratlin slid his hand around my arm. "We need to go."
From where I was standing, I could see that everyone had made it safely outside. They were all scattered around the front lawn watching and waiting for whatever was about to transpire. We were the last ones left. I got the feeling my friends knew a helluva lot more about what was going on than I did.
I wanted to go after Alexa, make her stop this. But it was too late. Jeremy's house was being destroyed before our eyes and there wasn't anything we could do to stop it.
Suddenly, Jason appeared in the door. "Gaylin! We have to save her! She'll kill her!"
Spratlin touched my arm. His eyes bore deep into my soul. "Mackenzie," he hesitated like he wanted to stop me but we both knew Gaylin's life was on the line. He struggled with letting me go. "Be careful."
I got the feeling that he, too, knew what was about to happen. I probably shouldn't have done what I was thinking, but if there's one thing I don't tolerate, it's fucking with my friends.
I took off into a full-on sprint, leaping over flying furniture, dodging balls of fire, and dove head first into the fiery vortex. With my arms spread wide, I latched onto Gaylin and flew through the other side smacking my head into the bookshelf. I was expecting to wake up in my bed hearing Spratlin filling me in on the details of what I missed after I saved Gaylin. Instead, I woke almost instantly.
I was outside on the front lawn, surrounded by my friends. Spratlin cradled my head. "Easy now," he said as he helped me sit up.
"Did I die?"
He nodded.
"Do they know?"
Again, he nodded. "It's okay. You're among friends."
"Where's Alexa?"
"She got away."
The next question was the hardest. I hoped I got a good answer. "Did I save her?"
As I asked, Jeremy, Creep, Ivy, and everyone gathered over me.
Then, one more pushed through the circle. It was Gaylin. She was alive! Then, she spoke. "Yes."
A breath of relief escaped me.
11
Jeremy came downstairs and sat next to me on the couch. I flinched at the pain and I wondered if it would ever get easi
er, assuming I continued to use my ability.
"Zee, I can't thank you enough. Now, it may be a few months before they can rebuild. Are you sure it's cool?"
I looked over at him with a cocked eyebrow. "Dude, you're like my brother. Of course it's okay."
"I just don't want to interfere with," he paused as Spratlin entered the den and stood in front of the couch.
Spratlin instantly caught on that we were talking about him. "What? My fly open or something?"
I winked at him as he handed me a glass. When I saw that it was only tea, I pouted. "I take my wink back." He was always looking out for me.
"It'll be fun. Just think, all-night gaming marathons. We'll play all the best from A to Z."
"Hey, that's it!" Spratlin blurted out. "You should call your store A to Zee's."
It did have a nice ring to it. "I like it."
Jeremy asked. "Have you accepted the offer yet?"
I reached up slowly toward the coffee table and slid around a few papers until I found the one I was looking for. Sliding it toward them to see, I said, "Signed it this morning. Just need a ride to the bank."
Spratlin smiled at me. "I think I can handle that."
I could tell he was happy and proud of my decision. It felt damn good to have such awesome friends.
"Oh! I almost forgot." I went upstairs and returned with my mother's wooden box. "I accidentally closed it and, well, as you know I don't have a key. Can you do that thing with your 'magic touch' and open it again? Pretty please?"
"Well, since you said pretty please." Spratlin flashed me that smile that I like so much and took the box from me.
He moved his fingers close to the lock and then paused. "You do realize I was telling the truth." I gave him a quizzical look. "It really was my," he rubbed his fingers together and then touched the lock, "magic touch."
"Holy shit. You, too?" I couldn't fucking believe it. I had been surrounded by magical beings this whole time and didn't have the faintest clue.
He nodded. "I'm one of the lucky ones. I've had it since birth."
Jeremy said, "Me, too. Our other friends have it also."
Then a voice I didn't recognize said, "You've had it since birth, too, m'lady. It's been dormant all these years. You've finally been reborn."
I glanced around the room to find the source of the mysterious words. My eyes darted from Spratlin to Jeremy; they must've thought I had lost my mind. Or, hearing voices, which would have been more accurate. "Did one of you just say something?"
They both shook their heads as the voice spoke again, "It wasn't them."
"Seriously, you guys, did you hear that?"
"They can't hear me, only you."
"Who the fu-." Then I noticed Thunder staring at me with his head cocked. My eyes narrowed as my own head mimicked his as my neck tilted to the right. My eyebrow raised, I continued, "You?"
"Nice to officially make your acquaintance, m'lady," my dog said as he bowed into the aptly named yoga position. "My real name is Zelig. It was no coincidence that our paths crossed."
"Holy shit! I can hear you!" Suddenly, I felt very aware that Spratlin was watching me. But if he was a magic user, too, me talking to my dog shouldn't have been that odd.
Spratlin smiled at me as he took a sip of his drink. "Seems you've discovered your familiar. Don't worry, I can't hear what he says." He reached over and scratched Thunder's, excuse me, Zelig's ears. He liked dogs. Another reason I found him so hot.
I looked at Thunder, "We'll finish this later." I winced as I leaned back against the couch. I took a big gulp of tea. It was ice cold and felt soothing going down. "Ya know, there's just one thing I don't get." I looked at the two of them. "How did all you fuckers keep such a big secret from me all this time?"
Jeremy said, "Well, I guess we thought one day you'd either figure it out on your own, or we'd learn that you were one of us, too. Either way, we knew you'd still accept us for who we are."
He was dead on about that last part.
It had been a few days since my Great Magical Coming Out Party. I call it that because now all my friends knew about my newfound ability of cheating death. Unfortunately, my enemies did, too.
Find out what happens in the next book when Zee is accused of murder and must face off against a new nemesis!
Wanted Witch: Daughter of Darkness Book One coming October 25th!
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Turn the page to read the first chapter of Wanted Witch, the first book in the Daughter of Darkness series.
Wanted Witch: Daughter of Darkness Book One
Chapter 1
"It smells like ass in here."
Spratlin gave me this look that said such things shouldn't come out of a pretty girl's mouth. Well, I ain't your average pretty girl. My name is Mackenzie Adams and I'm a witch. More specifically, I have the unique ability to cheat death, which makes me a Healer. It also makes me unpopular and puts a target on my back.
"Well, it does," I spat as we crept along the wall of the sewer. Seriously, what in the hell were we doing down here? Oh, right. Looking for low-level demons to use for magic-practicing fodder and looking for something. As fun as blasting an ugly monstrosity with a well placed bolt of electricity sounded, it honestly sounded more fun to do that from the comfort of my couch with controller in hand and a bottle of tequila at my side--not wading through ankle deep sewage water.
It hasn't always been like this. I didn't always know that I was a witch. A few months ago, I died. Actually, I've died a few times now. The trick, apparently, is that I can sacrifice myself to save someone who's in immediate mortal danger. Basically, swapping my own life for theirs in a split second. I drown instead of the man I saved. I get hit by the speeding car rather than the little girl. I die in a swirling ball of inferno produced by my now arch nemesis while saving my best friend and at the same time outing myself. So on and so forth. You know, the usual stuff.
Honestly, it wouldn't be so bad if when I woke up, I wasn't searing in pain from temple to toes. I guess dying could be just as painful as living.
It was kinda like entering the Konami code and gaining ninety-nine lives. Only... I don't know exactly how many I have. So, you can understand my caution. I don't know when my next sacrifice will be my last.
Splashing water around the corner made us stop. Spratlin nodded as I took my stance--feet spread apart, right hand up and fingers at the ready, almost like I was about to catch a ball. I felt the electric current course through me like ice in my blood. I just thought the pain from After-Death, as I called it, was rough. This felt like sandpaper coursing through my blood, and then dousing it with alcohol.
The splashing grew closer. The demon was only a few steps away. The current swelled in my wrist and a blue light peeked from my palm. A well-placed Electric Bolt would take out a Level 1 demon with hardly any effort.
An ugly, spiky-eared slimy demon appeared in front of us. I let go of the Bolt. It shot wide right, only grazing the demon's long ear. Ricocheting back and forth on the sewer walls, the Bolt finally pierced through the demon as it turned to run. Lucky break.
"Concentrate, Mackenzie. I'd like to not get killed by a stray Bolt."
I gave him an eat-shit-and-die look.
"I had to pull a lot of strings to get the Council to agree to let me oversee your training."
"I don't need any favors." Boy, I was in a pissy mood. I didn't mean to make it tough on Spratlin; he was only trying to help. But I wasn't fond of all the new rules and regulations being thrown at me.
Exposing myself as a witch thrust me into the limelight of the ruling Council. Put me o
n its radar. Spratlin tried to explain to me that my actions were now governed by a different set of rules put forth by the great--and I say this with total eye roll--Council of Mage and Magical Affairs. They think I'm special because I have the ability to not only heal myself but outright cheat death. Apparently, that is a rare gift in the wild witchery and wizardry world.
Ugh. There. Had to get my eyes unstuck from the massive eye roll.
Healers only came around once every few hundred generations. It was entirely possible for a witch to go their whole lives without knowing one.
It was a double edged sword. On one hand, it made me very popular. And on the other? Very un-popular.
Yay for me.
"I should be stocking new games." My store, A to Zee's Games, had only been opened for a month. I had to sign in blood and offer up my first born to get it going, but everyone kept telling me how great it will be in the end. Anything to stay out of zombie corporate America. Okay, that definitely deserved an eye roll.
My jackass ex-boss fired me for basically doing my job. As I walked out, I told him to go fuck himself. And now he gets to do my job. Sometimes life is sweet.
"I promise I'll help you when we're done," Spratlin said as we continued to make our way down a tunnel. At least we were out of the shit water.
"I'm not putting you on the payroll," I teased.
"I'll think of some way you can repay me." He was beginning to catch on that I liked it when he flashed his pearly whites.
I had only recently met Spratlin James. Oddly enough, we met at Level Up--my biggest competition in town. Even though I wasn't interested in dating at that time, he was too cute for even me to turn down. Our first date was to the Inferno, the local arcade, and when we left, he witnessed my death while saving a little girl from a speeding car.
Reborn: Daughter of Darkness Prequel Page 6
