A moment later, Mitch’s heavy steps moved through the room and beefy hands gripped his arms.
“Cade? Cade!”
Then he remembered nothing else.
Chapter 21
EVER
EVER SAT OVER breakfast Sunday morning, reliving every moment of her night with Cade.
She’d imagined kissing Cade a thousand times and a thousand different ways, but none of them had involved an unconscious body nearby. Despite the circumstances, goddess, how that kiss had affected her: she’d been utterly weak-kneed, turned into a puddle of goo beneath his touch. She’d never felt so sexy, so wanted.
Just recalling it tugged at things low in her body.
She unlocked her phone and pulled up her text messages. She sent just a simple one: Thinking of you.
“Ever, honey? You’re in outer space.”
Ever shook herself. Heat rose in her face as she realized she’d been fantasizing about Cade’s hot body at the breakfast table with her nah. That was classy. Also awkward.
“Sorry,” Ever said, locking her phone and setting it face down on the table.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Nah asked softly.
She had a feeling her grandmother wasn’t talking about Cade. Ever had been so quiet and pensive, she hadn’t realized how it would look to Nah — like she was obsessing over nearly being kidnapped.
She moved her fork around her plate, separating piles of egg from pieces of gravy-soaked biscuit. She’d been so focused on Cade this morning, she’d nearly forgotten about Gilles Robidoux. “Is he really my dad?”
Nah swiveled her coffee mug on the table, seeming to search for words. “I believe so, honey. The name is right. I never met the man. I just picked up the pieces when you and Lily showed up on my doorstep.”
“Why has Mom never told me about him?”
Nah raised an eyebrow. “After last night, you still need to ask that question?”
Good point, Ever thought wryly. She hadn’t wasted a lot of her childhood wondering about her biological father. Nah had done a great job being both Mom and Dad for her. But now she definitely understood her mother’s adamant silence.
“What’s going to happen now?” Ever asked.
“The lawyer is handling it. I am going to press charges.” Nah chuckled. “It happened in the last thirty minutes of your seventeenth year, so I can still do that.”
Oh yeah, Ever thought, startled. It was her birthday. She’d gotten so caught up in Cade and the party that it had slipped her mind. “Did you tell Mom what happened?”
Nah sighed, staring at her coffee. “She isn’t answering my calls today. You know how your mother can be.”
Ever nodded sadly. She knew exactly how her mother could be.
She flipped open her phone to see if Cade had responded, but he hadn’t. She made a face. It had only been a couple minutes. Maybe he was still asleep.
“I take it the party went well before a lunatic tried to kidnap you?” Nah’s gaze was knowing. Too knowing. Ever had no idea how the woman always seemed to figure out everything.
Ever wasn’t sure she could flush hotter. “Yeah.”
“Cade seems like a nice boy,” Nah went on, then took a sip of her coffee before speaking again. “Although I do wish you had just told me you were going to the Bourdains’.”
“I thought you would be mad.”
“Sweetheart, the only thing that makes me mad is when you’re dishonest with me.” Nah turned a page in the newspaper and picked up her scissors. “Fifty cents off Fruit Loops. You like those, right?”
Ever nodded. “What was it like when you and Dah did magick together?”
Nah chuckled, the scissors clicking beneath her precise ministrations. “It was something else, honey. We were beyond powerful when we were together. And Lord and Lady, when we…” She trailed off, her brown gaze snapping up to Ever’s waiting look. “That’s not quite something I should share with a teenager. Much less my granddaughter.”
Ever rolled her eyes. “Nah, I just turned eighteen.”
Nah’s face went gooey. “Oh, honey. You’re growing up so fast.”
Sometimes that felt true to Ever. Other days, she felt so young and naïve she feared she’d never be a “grown up.”
“I kissed Cade last night.”
Nah nodded. “I could tell.”
Ever gave her a questioning look.
“Your dah and I were invincible when we made love. We could move mountains. We once did move this poor house off its foundations.” Nah chuckled, selecting another coupon to cut out. “Two natural witches together is as wonderful as it is dangerous, Ever. Cade’s magick swirled around you last night as if it wanted to make you his. He’s powerful in his own right. Just promise me you’ll be careful.”
Ever remembered the naked emotion on Cade’s face as they’d broken from their kiss. “I’ll be careful.”
* * *
OLLIE CORNERED EVER in the back room the moment she arrived. Her red apron was covered in chocolate sauce, and she even had a splash of it on her cheek. She swiped her wild blonde curls from her face and planted her hands on her hips. “First — happy birthday. Second — so?”
Ever smiled, shoving her purse in her locker. “So?”
“Oh, for goddess’ sake, woman. Tell me what happened!” Ollie threw her arms in the air. “Tell me you kissed him and the world moved.”
“The world is always moving. It orbits the sun.”
Ollie glared. “You know what I mean. I need to live vicariously through you, Ever.”
“I have those shoes,” Ever remarked.
“I have that necklace,” Ollie shot back, pointing to the turquoise arrowhead around Ever’s neck. “Now give me something to talk about.”
Ever laughed. “Yes, I kissed him. It was earth-shattering. If there weren’t other — ” Ever paused, “ — things happening, I don’t know that I would have ever stopped kissing him.”
Ollie sighed. “I’m jealous.”
“Don’t be jealous.” Ever draped her apron around her neck and wrapped the strings around her waist, reaching behind her back to tie it. “Out of all two hundred guys in the senior class, I’m sure someone has a crush on you. They’re just not brave enough to show it.”
“I think you’re brave for letting it happen with Cade.”
Ever shook her head. “It wasn’t me. It was him. I tried my hardest to keep him away. He’s stubborn.”
“There’s something to be said for determination. So what other things happened last night that kept you from kissing him forever?” Ollie asked, following Ever onto the floor.
Ever caught her interested gaze, and for a moment, considered spilling everything. But this was too… close. She loved Ollie; she’d loved her from the moment she met her. But she’d just met the girl two months before when Ollie moved to Coalhaven. And really, what did she know about her? If Ever spilled the story to her — minus the magick — would Ollie judge her because of who her father was?
“Just family stuff,” Ever finally said.
Ollie rolled her eyes. “Don’t I know it. I haven’t seen Dad in days. He’s constantly doing work stuff. Sometimes I wonder if I even have a father.”
“What does he do again?” Ever pulled the bucket of espresso beans from beneath the counter to fill the bean hopper on the machine. She was pretty sure Ollie had told her once, but it hadn’t seemed like a big deal to her, so Ever hadn’t remembered.
“He’s an ‘entrepreneur.’” Ollie snorted, shaking her head. She took the bucket, now empty of beans, and headed for the kitchen. “I tell you what he’s not — he’s not a good dad.”
Ollie played it off like she was joking, but the undercurrent in her tone made it clear she was harboring some pretty harsh feelings towards her dad at the moment.
Ever could sympathize.
* * *
AROUND FOUR, MEAGAN burst into the café with her usual panache and sidled up to the counter. She wore an ungodly short mi
niskirt that showed off her unending ebony legs and a demure cardigan that gave her overall look an effect bordering on bipolar.
“How does she take sex and make it so sweet?” Ollie asked Ever, tossing her used rag into the sanitizer bucket as Meagan draped her torso over the counter.
Meagan grinned. “It takes talent.” She whipped an envelope from her purse and slapped it down in front of her. “Look what I found on my doorstep this morning.”
Ever picked up the card. It had a cartoon basketball on the front. She opened it and held it up so both she and Ollie could see. “I think your hot and cool,” Ever read out loud. She made a face. “What?”
Ollie took the card from her hands. “Is this, like, a secret admirer card or something?”
Meagan threw her hands into the air. “I guess. But what a lame secret admirer! ‘I think your hot and cool.’ He didn’t even spell ‘you’re’ correctly!”
Ever laughed, noting the very distinct ‘your’ written in chicken scratch. “Not to mention the different meaning of ‘cool.’ He thinks you’re hot as in sexy, but you’re cool as in awesome.”
Meagan took the card from Ollie’s fingers with a groan. “Thanks for making sure I understood, you dork. What am I supposed to do?” She shook the card so furiously Ever worried it would fly from her hands.
“Be grateful?” Ollie offered. “I wish I had a secret admirer.”
Megan groaned. “But he can’t even get his grammar right.”
“Glass houses,” Ever told her, giving her a look. “You almost failed English last year. Or have you conveniently forgotten my tutoring sessions?”
“Oh. Yeah.”
Ever laughed. “Meg, it’s neat. Whoever he is, he’s reaching out to let you know he’s into you. Maybe if you make yourself more available, he’ll feel comfortable enough to let you know who he is.”
“What if he’s ugly?”
Ollie slapped Meagan’s arm. “Don’t be a jerk. What if he’s not?”
Ever nodded in agreement. “Be open to the possibilities.”
“I’m open to a cider spice latte,” Meagan said with a sweet smile.
“You’re incorrigible,” Ever told her, and then moved to the bar to make her drink.
As Ever waiting for the cider to steam, she checked her phone for the fifth time since texting Cade that morning. Her messages were sadly empty. Where was her not-so-secret admirer?
* * *
OLLIE AND MEAGAN had been planning her birthday evening for weeks, but by the time she got off work at six, Ever’s heart wasn’t in it. She sat through the movie, checking her phone more times than she wanted to admit. All through dinner at her favorite pizza joint, she managed to laugh and pretend her mind wasn’t on Cade. It was easier when she opened their thoughtful gifts: a hand-knitted scarf decorated in stars from Ollie and a thick piece of purple quartz fashioned into a lamp from Meagan.
By the time she got home, Ever was exhausted. She’d been up all night and then worked all day, and she still had homework to do before bed. She only half paid attention to her studies, her mind stuck on Cade’s silence and everything that had happened the night before.
It was late when she crawled beneath the covers, but she tried her mother’s number anyway.
After several rings, Lily answered the phone, her large, vivid blue gaze taking control of the computer screen. “Hey, baby.”
“What are you doing?” Ever asked, tears pooling in her eyes.
“Nothing much.” Lily paused, staring intently at Ever. “What’s wrong?”
“Something happened.” Ever’s voice cracked on the words. She sniffled, trying to compose herself.
Lily waited. She wasn’t a pushy mom; she never had been. The problem with that was Ever sometimes wanted Lily to be pushy. Why couldn’t she be nosey and overbearing? Dig into Ever’s life like a bloodhound?
“Who is Gilles Robidoux?” Ever asked.
Her mother’s gasp echoed across the ocean. Lily covered her mouth, something akin to terror on her face. Her voice was muffled as she asked, “How do you know that name?”
“Because he’s here. In Coalhaven.”
Lily moved her hand down resting her palm beneath her collarbone as if holding her heart in her chest. “No. How did he find us?”
Anger hit Ever with the ferocity of an August thunderstorm. “What us?” she snarled. “You’re all the way across the world. He found me. And you didn’t even bother to give me any warning. You gave me nothing to prepare myself for how dark he was.”
“What did he do, Ever?”
Lily didn’t seem perturbed by her daughter’s anger at all. Ever was fiercely pissed off by her mother’s nonchalance, by the almost ambivalent way she asked for details. As if she were categorically recording events outside herself; as if being halfway across the world made last night’s situation less dire somehow.
Ever shook her head, biting back her fury. “You know what? You can ask Nah about it. I’m going to bed.”
She disconnected the call and shut down her laptop, a sob escaping her. The sound was loud in her silent room. It startled the dogs from their slumber at the end of her bed.
That first sob set off the rest. Ever cuddled beneath her blankets, hiding her face as the tears came. She couldn’t remember a time her mother hadn’t been absent. Nah had done well as a stand in, but she shouldn’t have had to do that. Lily should have been there every day, teaching Ever magick, protecting her from the darkness in the world.
She checked her phone one more time. Still no word from Cade.
Chapter 22
CADE
CADE SURFACED FROM sleep, woozy and muddled.
The first thing he saw was his mother’s face. Her eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot. Traces of mascara were inked onto her pale cheeks. She swiped at her face and stood, coming to his bedside to take his hand. Her fingers trembled around his, frail and cold.
“Sweetheart.” She touched his face, then moved her hand to his forehead, testing his temperature. Her palm was cool. Cade closed his eyes, letting her magick wash over him.
“Where am I?” he asked, his voice little more than a croak. He cleared his throat and moved to brush the sleep from his eyes. His hand was connected to clear plastic tubing that led to a machine by his bedside.
“You’re in the hospital,” Grace told him. “Mitch says you had a seizure in the middle of the night. You fell off the couch and woke him up. He called an ambulance.”
“Is he okay?”
Grace nodded. “Yes. I sent him home to get some rest. He’s been with you all day.”
“I hurt,” Cade murmured, closing his eyes. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“You had internal bleeding when you got here, but no outward signs of injury,” Grace said softly. “Baby, what happened?”
Cade stared at his mom. He could see heartbreak on her face, all because he was in a hospital bed with strange injuries. If he told her what had happened, exactly why he’d been hospitalized for internal injuries, her heart would shatter. He wasn’t sure he had the strength to witness that. Not right now, floating on a cloud of pain meds.
“They gave you this.” Grace picked up a button connected to the IV by a long, gray cord. “It’s to self-administer your pain meds. It will let you do it every half hour.”
Cade pushed the button and let it fall to the sheets. “I’m tired.”
“Then sleep, my love.”
* * *
WHEN HE AWOKE again, his mother was gone, and Mitch sat by his bedside.
“Hey, man.” Cade gently shoved himself upwards, searching for a comfortable way to lay that didn’t make him feel as if Mitch were staring down at him.
“How’s it going?” Mitch asked.
The football player wasn’t one for emotions, so the worry in his gaze threw Cade.
“Am I dying?” Cade joked.
Mitch laughed, the sound a little uncomfortable. “Nah, man. But you scared the shit out of me.”
“Sorry.” He paused, considering his friend. “You didn’t tell my mom what happened?”
Mitch shook his head. “Not my story to tell.”
“Good.” Cade rubbed his face, trying to wipe away the memory of his dad’s punishment. “What the fuck kind of witch am I if I can’t even heal myself?”
Mitch shifted in his chair. “Don’t blame yourself. This is all your dad’s fault.”
“I zapped myself last night trying to heal my injuries. I thought I’d managed to…” Cade trailed off. He didn’t need to say what he was thinking — that his dad had hurt him worse than he had thought.
Mitch was uncharacteristically quiet. It wasn’t that he was a talker; it was just that his one and two word sentences usually occurred more regularly than this.
“Dude…” he finally said.
Cade lifted an eyebrow.
“Your dad… I don’t know, man. I think maybe you need to talk to your mom, and you guys need to get out.”
“You disagree with the way he handled things?”
Mitch nodded once.
Cade sighed. “Me, too. Maybe I’m done making excuses for him. Maybe I’m done making excuses for everybody.” He closed his eyes and nestled into the pillows. “It’s hot in here.”
“I got you.”
Cade listened to the sound of Mitch walking to thermostat and adjusting it. A moment later, the unit kicked on, and cool air began to blow into the room.
When Mitch sat back down, his presence close and comforting, Cade said, “Hey, Mitch. Thanks.”
He didn’t mean just for the thermostat, and Mitch got that without prompting.
“Anytime.”
* * *
CADE SLEPT AWAY the evening on a cloud of painkillers. Grace returned at some point and helped him eat, and Mitch’s mom stopped by to see him just before visiting hours ended.
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