Paranormal After Dark

by Rebecca Hamilton

  Nah clucked. “Oh, sweetheart. Life is nothing more than a series of trials and tribulations that make you stronger every day. The manner in which you react to those trials is what will determine your character.”

  “I miss Mom.”

  “I do too, my love. But you know Lily — always searching for something more.”

  They sat silently for some time. Nah’s soothing fingers lightly rubbed Ever’s aching head, careful to work around the bandage covering her stitches.

  Ever tried so hard to be a good person. To be a good witch. How could someone want to hurt her? She didn’t even know Donovan. He had transferred from somewhere else in the state at the end of last year.

  Hot tears pricked her eyes. “Why do people hate me?”

  “Nobody hates you, Ever.” Nah cupped her cheek in one hand. “Most just don’t understand you.”

  “I’m not that complicated.”

  “But you are, sweetheart.” Nah held up her hand, fingertips glowing.

  Nah’s magick was orange, heat and fire. By contrast, Ever’s was pale blue like the sky, gentle and cool. She followed her grandmother’s direction, drawing up her own power until her fingertips lit the room.

  “Others always fear the things they don’t understand.” Nah entwined their fingers, the two magicks coexisting for a brief moment before she extinguished her glow and let go of Ever’s hand. “That is why we must live our lives in peace and compassion. To set the example.”

  Ever pulled the covers over her shoulders. “Tell me a story, Nah.”

  “The usual?”

  “Yeah.”

  “There once was a princess born in a far away land,” Nah began.

  * * *

  HER MOTHER AND father, the king and queen, were ecstatic. Her mother had dreamed of a child for many years, and after many heartbreaks, she finally got her wish.

  The princess was a beautiful child. Everyone adored her perfection. Everyone who knew the king and queen brought the new princess toys and offerings as if she were a young goddess.

  But on the eve of her third birthday, the princess began to show signs of true power. Strong, unending magick in a world where the average witch had little to no power, and those who did had limits. The princess was capable of greatness.

  Her father, however, was not.

  He saw the princess’s magick as a tool to be used in his quest for power, and when the queen uncovered his evil plans, she confronted him. How could he possibly do anything to harm their child?

  There was no reaching him. The king had descended down the slippery slope of dark magick.

  In the middle of the night, while the king was sleeping, the queen packed a bag with only the necessities for herself and the princess. She was going to slip away silently and disappear so that the king could not find them and could not hurt her daughter.

  But the king heard her and awoke in a rage. They had a violent battle over the child, during which the princess was injured badly by her angry father.

  The queen finally bested the king, because white magick always defeats dark in the end.

  The queen and her princess fled their kingdom to safety on the other side of the world, where they live in peace to this day.

  Nah went silent. She never said “The End.” When she was little, Ever had asked why. All of her favorite Disney fairytales ended with “The End” or “And they lived happily ever after.”

  But on that day long ago, Nah had shaken her head. “No, baby. There is no such thing as an ending. Only new beginnings.”

  Ever had never asked again, but she never stopped believing the princess needed her happily ever after.

  “Will the princess ever get a knight?” Ever asked sleepily. “You have to give her a happy ending. That’s how fairytales work.”

  “Her happy ending remains to be seen.”

  The last thing Ever remembered was her grandmother’s soft kiss.

  Chapter 6

  CADE

  “THIS IS ALL your fault.”

  Cade jerked up, banging his head on the open hood of his ‘67 Ford GT500 Shelby Mustang. He groaned, moving away from the car’s engine with one hand pressed to his throbbing scalp.

  “Excuse me?” he said, searching for the source of the comment. It wasn’t bad enough that his car wouldn’t start after school, but now he was getting reprimanded for something?

  “Ever has stitches in her head, and it’s your fault,” the voice snarled.

  Cade turned around. It was the Amazon chick. Meagan Stauble. Up close, she was fairly intimidating — taller than Cade, skinnier of course, but with some serious biceps for a girl. She was kinda cute, too. Long face, high cheekbones, eyes that were almost gray. Her ebony skin was so dark it had a bluish tint.

  Isn’t it weird you’ve gone to school with this chick for almost four years and you’ve never even looked at her? Cade ignored the inner commentary; his subconscious had a way of making him feel like a self-entitled ass.

  “I wasn’t the one who shoved your friend,” Cade said, wiping his hands on an oilcloth.

  “Not physically,” Meagan said darkly. “But you breed hate among us. My coven is beautiful and kind, and your coven spews venom as if it were your goal in life.” She took a step forward, putting a finger in Cade’s face. “The BlackMags better stay away from my best friend, or you’ll regret it.”

  Cade felt a chill as she flounced away. Fluffy Bunny or not, he was pretty sure Meagan’s threat wasn’t idle.

  * * *

  COALHAVEN, TENNESSEE WASN’T a big town. Population of a few thousand, maybe. So everyone pretty much knew everybody else — and everybody else’s business — even if they’d never been on personal terms.

  Which meant Cade knew exactly where Ever O’Connell lived. And it wasn’t because he’d made it a point to know everything about her or watched her from afar since they were thirteen years old.

  That had nothing to do with it.

  The O’Connells’ gravel driveway was long. He’d never been down it, or even seen the house as tucked into the forest as it was. When the trees opened up, a three-story farmhouse loomed over a meadow full of fall wildflowers. Cade thought it looked like just the place he imagined Ever would live: white siding, one turret that rose half a story higher than the rest of the house, and a wraparound porch full of rocking chairs and tables sporting vases of dried flowers.

  He parked in the loop of the driveway, right in front of the door. There were no other cars, but he knew Ever’s shiny silver Fusion was still in the parking lot at school. He had just assumed she would be home, which, in retrospect, was dumb.

  Cade stepped onto the gravel, shivering in his plaid lumberjack jacket. Fall was alright, mainly because the leaves were so vivid; the chill he could live without, especially when seven o’clock this morning had been hotter than shit. The autumn weather in Tennessee was so unpredictable he carried layers in his car. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his blue jeans and took the porch steps two at a time.

  The screen door creaked on its hinges as he swung it open and knocked on the front door. His first knock shoved the door in, revealing a cool, dim hallway.

  Startled, he propped the screen open with his shoulder and grabbed the handle, holding the door still as he knocked again. “Hello?”

  No response.

  “Anyone home?” Cade pushed the door open a little more, listening intently.

  Still nothing.

  Should I go in? he wondered, teetering on the threshold. On the one hand, barging into someone’s home — especially someone who wasn’t necessarily a friend — wasn’t cool. On the other, what if Ever was home alone and something had happened to her?

  That thought alone made his decision. “I’m coming in!”

  He shoved the door open all the way, the edge dragging across the floor as if it weren’t fitted properly into its frame. The screen door slammed shut behind him, the sound an obtrusive crack in the hushed silence.

  “Ever?” Cade wal
ked forward, his eyes darting around the foyer. An opening to his right revealed a battered dining table and chairs, guarded by an impressive sideboard and a painting of a meadow. To his left, a living room with stuffed couches and no television, but a nice marble fireplace that took up nearly an entire wall.

  “Hello?” Cade passed through the doorway beside the stairs and found himself in the kitchen. The oven was on, ticking into the silence. Something smelled gingery and delicious. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until assaulted by the scent. He stepped closer to the oven, curiosity drawing him to peek into it.

  “I should really leave the dogs inside when I’m home alone.”

  The voice, coming from behind him, startled Cade so badly he jumped, knocking over a pitcher resting on the counter. Tea gushed across the Formica and waterfalled to the floor

  Ever stood in the kitchen doorway, looking pale and wan with a square of gauze taped to her hairline, but sporting an amused smile. “Yep. Should definitely leave the dogs inside. Maybe they’ll keep out snooping intruders set on spilling my sweet tea.”

  “Damn, Ever. I’m sorry.” Cade grabbed the pitcher and placed it in the sink, then glanced around for a towel. “The front door was open, and you didn’t answer. I thought something might have happened to you. I didn’t know how badly…” His voice trailed off as he eyed the bandage on her head. “Did he really hurt you?”

  Ever shrugged, gliding into the kitchen on bare feet. “I had to get stitches. But I’ll survive.”

  Cade stood by helplessly as Ever opened a drawer and extracted dish towels for clean up. As she bent to wipe up the floor, Cade jumped forward. “No, let me. I made the mess.”

  That damn amused grin again. “Alright. I’ll get the counter.”

  A minute passed in awkward silence as they dried. Cade was crouched so close to Ever’s bare legs he could feel her heat. She smelled good, like something earthy, and the curve of her anklebone was fascinating. He stole glances at her smooth, golden calves, muscles clenching as she swiped at the spilled tea. He couldn’t help but imagine what it would feel like to reach out and touch her, to slide his fingertips up her skin, over her knee; to press his lips to the softly rounded curve of her thigh beneath the hem of her shorts.

  “Why are you here, Cade?”

  The question caught him off guard. He lurched forward, dish towel sliding through the puddle of amber liquid. “Um, what?”

  Ever looked down, raising an eyebrow.

  Horrified, Cade realized his fumble had pushed a tidal wave of tea over her foot. Another part of him noticed her tiny toes, painted a vivid shade of blue, and the silver circlet on her left second toe. Even her feet were cute.

  “Sorry,” he said, avoiding her gaze and her smirk.

  “It’s okay.” She lifted her foot behind her, seamlessly leaning backwards to wipe it off with her own towel.

  Cade found himself mesmerized by the way her back arched. She had a neck like a swan, all grace and ease. He’d never been this close to her, close enough to notice all the little things most people ignored, like the beauty mark just beneath her jawbone or the perfect hourglass her curves made in that outfit.

  He finished cleaning his mess, following suit when Ever wrung her towel out in the sink and then tossed the wet cloth through a door that led downstairs. When they were finished, they stood face to face, neither speaking. Cade wasn’t sure what to say, and Ever probably thought he was an idiot.

  “If I ask you why you’ve shown up in my house, are you going to spill something on me again?” She delivered the line flawlessly in her southern accent, one corner of her lips quirking to show she was kidding. It was easy to ignore accents in Tennessee where nearly everyone had one. Cade’s mother was from New York and his father from France, so he’d never picked up a Southern drawl himself. On Ever, it was gorgeous.

  “I really am sorry about that,” he said.

  “It’s fine. I can make more. We have enough loose tea to withstand the apocalypse.”

  Cade shoved his hands in his pockets. “I… came to check up on you. You didn’t come back to school, and your friend accosted me in the lot after school.”

  “My friend?”

  “The basketball player.”

  Ever groaned. “Meagan. She’s too much. She didn’t hurt you, did she? She has this burning desire to blame the whole thing on your entire group, not just Donovan.”

  “Well, it kinda does fall on us all.”

  “How so?”

  “Donovan’s mine,” Cade said matter-of-factly, not proud to be doing so. “My coven brother. What he does reflects badly on me as a leader and on him as a member. He’s been expelled from school, and I let him go from the coven.”

  “What about your blood bond?” Ever wrinkled her nose.

  So it was true, Cade thought. The Fluffs didn’t believe in blood magick. “He hadn’t been initiated yet. There’s less paperwork involved,” he said with a wink.

  Ever giggled.

  “But anyway, I’m sorry for what that dick did, and I hope you heal soon.” Cade stared into her bi-colored eyes, the purple one almost shining. How did someone end up with two different colored eyes? Specifically one that wasn’t a normal color. His next words left him before he realized he’d thought them. “I could do something for you. A healing. I’m pretty good with that kind of spell.”

  Ever stared, seemingly at a loss for words. “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah,” Cade said, just as surprised as she was that he meant it. “I am.”

  She was silent for so long he thought he might have offended her. Finally, she blew out a breath and smiled. “Thanks for the offer. I know what it takes for you to even say that. But my coven is coming over tonight for our weekly meeting. We’ve got it.”

  Cade nodded once. Of course her coven would help her. That’s what covens did. Most covens. Maybe not his, sometimes.

  “I appreciate you coming all the way over, though,” she went on with a sweet smile. “I doubt this is on your way home.”

  “No. But I needed to say it.” And I needed to know you were okay.

  “I’ll walk you out.”

  He wanted to argue, to tell her she’d just been knocked in the head hard enough to be hospitalized and should go back to bed. But Cade had the distinct sensation Ever wouldn’t take kindly to being babied. For all her cute-little-girlishness, she was solid and strong. He could see it in the set of her shoulders and the hard glint in her eyes. He realized then how little he really knew about Ever O’Connell.

  In the hallway, she grabbed a black coat from the closet and shrugged into it before leading him outside. He watched as she inhaled deeply, her eyes drifting shut.

  “Someone’s got a fire going,” she murmured, her breath wispy on the brisk air.

  “Do you use your fireplace?”

  Ever shook her head. “No. My mom’s afraid of fire. When we moved in, my grandmother had the flue bricked up. Nah mainly just decorates it for the holidays.”

  “How old were you when you came to Coalhaven? We didn’t go to school together until ninth grade.”

  “I’m astounded you’ve even noticed me,” Ever said, her eyebrows near her hairline. “We don’t hang out with the same kids, and we definitely don’t have the same belief system. How have you given me any thought at all?”

  Not for the first time, Cade observed how she favored her left hand. Her right was planted firmly on her hip as she gave him the third degree, but her left hung at her side, held slightly out and fingers curled. He knew she had a bum hand — that was the second thing everyone at school liked to gossip about, the first being her bi-colored eyes. He had no clue how it had happened.

  “It’s a small town,” Cade finally answered, his gaze shifting to the gunpowder sky. “Looks like rain. We get storms later in the season every year now.” Inane, sure, but it was better than being forced to reveal a crush that had lasted in secret for several years. He and Ever were oil and water, or some other two chemica
ls in a chemistry class, equally unmixable and likely to explode on contact.

  Ever looked like she wanted to press, but thankfully, she didn’t. “Well, be careful going home. Storms get bad quick around here.”

  “Guess I’ll see you at school, then.” Cade nodded, at a loss for anything else to say. I think you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. Can I stay longer? This one glimpse of who you are isn’t enough. I need more.

  But instead, he got into his car and turned the key.

  Silence.

  “You have to be kidding me.” Cade banged his head against the steering wheel. He’d hung on to this car for so long because it was a damn classic. He was starting to think he should have taken his dad up on an offer of a brand new Lexus.

  Ever walked closer, her arms crossed over her stomach to keep her jacket closed. She’d put on a coat, sure, but she was still in shorts and bare feet. Cade thought it was adorable.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  Cade popped the hood and stepped out of the car. “Not a clue.”

  He ducked under the hood, irritated that he hadn’t been able to make a clean break, to get away from Ever’s gravitational pull before he said something stupid. His car was cursed. He would definitely replace it with a Lexus as soon as possible.

  “This car probably leaves a carbon footprint similar to that of a Boeing 727,” Ever remarked dryly.

  Cade glanced over his shoulder. “Haven’t really thought of that.”

  “And you call yourself Wiccan.” Ever rolled her eyes. “You BlackMags only care about looks and money and popularity. None of those things matter in Wicca. The things that do matter are so far beyond you.” She paused, glancing past him into the engine. “It’s your spark plugs,” she said simply.

  Cade raised an eyebrow, wanting to be angry because she’d just insulted him, but intrigued by how sure she was about his spark plugs. “It’s not. They’re brand new.”