The Complete Spellbound Trilogy Bundle

by Penelope King

  “Hello, Nicholas,” I murmured with a happy smile. I rolled over to see him standing beside my bed.

  “I waited for you…you didn’t come.”

  “I can’t fall asleep,” I confessed, and scooted over to him as he lifted the comforter and crawled into the bed. Instantly his powerful arms wrapped around me, and he tucked the top of my head beneath his chin.

  “You worried about Justin?” His voice showed no hint of jealousy. He kissed my forehead and gently stroked my hair and my face.

  “No. I mean…yeah. But Ana said that they were working on a spell that might work. But…” I hesitated, wondering if I should confide to him the real dilemma plaguing me.

  “Calista, sweetheart…you can talk to me. Let me help you,” he gently urged.

  I sighed. When would I learn that keeping my feelings secret from Nicholas was an impossibility?

  As good as it felt to be wrapped in his snug embrace, I pulled away and sat up. I reached over to the candle beside my bed and ignited its wick with my finger. I rarely had occasion to use this power, but I supposed if I was ever lost in the woods it might come in handy to light a campfire or something…

  I watched Nicholas for a moment, quietly enjoying the way the light and shadows of the room played off his dark features… how his green eyes sparkled.

  “Callie?”

  I sighed. “I want to ask you something, but you have to promise not to ask me any questions, okay?” I hugged my knees to my chest.

  He sat up straighter. “Okay…”

  I took a deep breath, not sure how to word my question. Finally I said, “What do you know about spells?”

  He seemed surprised by the simplicity of my question…as if he’d been bracing for something far worse. He shrugged. “I know some. To be totally honest I’m not really into them all that much. I prefer sticking with the physical stuff myself. But I know a few real talented spellcasters if you need one. Especially this one gal in Australia—”

  “Do you know how long they last? Or why one would go away?”

  He frowned. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  I sighed again. Why was this so hard for me to just come out and say? Was I afraid I would sound crazy? Or worse…learn I wasn’t?

  “Ana told me of the Venuchi spell…how it’s repeated every year during summer solstice to keep magic and witches hidden from humans.”

  “Yeah?”

  “She told me it had to be repeated every year because every witch needed to participate, and that if some had died during the year the magic would fade…that the spell would weaken.”

  “Well, yes, that’s true,” Nicholas affirmed. “But not all participate. Some witches don’t care at all about keeping magic, or their identity, a secret.”

  I grimaced. “Yeah, so I’ve been told. But the rest is true, right? The power of a spell fades when a witch or wizard dies?” I held my breath and pressed my lips together.

  “Well, yeah. In most cases…as far as I know.”

  The air came out of my lungs in a whoosh and I hugged my knees tighter. “So…if a witch had cast some sort of spell, and then she died…that would break the spell.” I hoped he couldn’t hear the tremble in my voice. So far he was keeping his promise not to ask questions, but…

  “In theory, I suppose.”

  “Are there other ways to break a spell? Other than death, I mean.”

  He slowly shook his head. “I-I’m not really sure. Maybe if a stronger magic overrode the spell…Why don’t you just ask Ana this—?”

  “No questions, remember? You promised.”

  He sighed and placed his hands on mine. “Yes, I did. But I want to help you, and I’m not sure I can.”

  “What about keeping a spell alive after the original caster has died? Is there a way to do that?”

  “I’m not sure…maybe, I guess. I don’t know.”

  I flopped back down and pressed a pillow over my face and moaned.

  “Callie, if you have questions about spells and how they work and you don’t want to ask Ana or Lily or Sophie—” Nicholas pulled the pillow away from my face— “I know someone you could talk to. Someone who knows almost everything about everything. And you are assured complete anonymity and privacy. She’s on the other side of the world, and she can tell you all you need to know.”

  “You want me to go talk to someone on the other side of the world?” I chuckled. “You can’t be serious.”

  He shrugged. “Why not? It’s only ten or twenty seconds away. We can be there and back in no time.”

  I was intrigued. “Where exactly is there?”

  “Australia. The Outback. I told you. I know this gal…she’s freaky brilliant. You have questions and problems, she has answers and solutions.”

  I mulled this over. It might actually be a good idea. She was a stranger. I could ask questions freely and not worry about saying or asking the wrong thing. And if it turned out I was totally nuts, then I wouldn’t have to worry about people around here finding that out, either.

  I glanced at the clock. “I know we can get there fast if you shimmer us, but I might need to talk to her for a while. It’s almost 2 am now. We have to be up in a few hours for school.”

  Nicholas rolled on his back and placed one arm behind his head. His other hand lightly traced up and down my rib cage, giving me goose bumps.

  “Ah, yes. School. I’d almost forgotten.”

  “It’s your first day at St. Morgan’s. Are you nervous?”

  He smirked and rolled over, positioning himself above me, his face millimeters from mine. “I’m terrified,” he whispered. “Hold me.”

  I smiled as he lowered his mouth, and returned his passionate kiss with one of my own.

  As always when I was with Nicholas, he sent tingles over every inch of my body. I could kiss him for hours if that was possible. His kisses were so gentle, so soft…

  He leaned over me, and I ran my fingers through his silky hair and down his back. I slid my hands beneath his sweatshirt. This time, he didn’t stop me as I pulled his sweatshirt over his head. He sat lightly on my hips, his chest bare, and his loose jeans accentuating his rock-hard abs. His skin was tan and supple, perfect, like a newborn baby. He was beyond amazing.

  He gazed down at me as I lay there wearing nothing but a baby tee and boy shorts. He reached out and lightly traced a circle around my belly button with his finger, sending shivers throughout my body.

  “Do you know how beautiful you are? I am the luckiest guy alive,” he murmured, and leaned down to kiss me again.

  “You’re not too bad yourself,” I whispered when we came up for air. Truth was, I wouldn’t have cared what Nicholas looked like. It was his eyes that seduced me…that called to me. The rest was just a beautiful bonus. An extremely sexy and terrifically tempting bonus.

  In the dark he touched me. The connection was electric.

  “Mmmmm, you make me craaazy,” he moaned, and rolled off me.

  “What’s so crazy about feeling good?” I whispered. I entwined my fingers with his and kissed his neck, relishing his intoxicating scent.

  “Well,” he smirked, “it’s crazy in the sense that your dad could walk in here and that would be the end of this.”

  I flipped my wrist at the door and heard a quiet click. “Next problem?”

  “Calista,” he breathed. “You feel so good. You make me feel so amazing…so alive. I love being with you, and I don’t want anything to ruin it.”

  “Nothing will,” I assured him.

  “I wanna take things slow with you. I don’t wanna mess up anything between us. God knows we have a lot of complications already.” He raised a dark eyebrow, and I bit down on my lip to stop myself from kissing him again.

  I sighed. “I love how things are between us, too. There’s not a second I’m with you that my soul isn’t on fire. I think of you all the time, and I feel like I can never get enough of you. I know things are crazy right now…but you’re the one thing that’s helped me
keep it all together. I don’t want to ever lose you,” I whispered, suddenly terrified at the thought. It was hard enough when he was off helping Justin, but now…if he disappeared now, I really couldn’t take it. Now that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was falling totally and completely head over heels in love with him.

  “You’ll never lose me,” he replied quietly, and gently stroked my hair.

  I settled into the crook of his neck again and ran my fingers over his glistening chest. “Promise?” I whispered. “I need you here…with me.” Forever…

  “I’m not going anywhere.” He brushed some hair from my eyes. “My place is where you are, now and forever. I’ll always be here for you, and I’ll never leave you…I promise.”

  I eventually drifted off to sleep listening to the sound of his heartbeat, and feeling the gentle rise and fall of his chest. But despite his earlier declarations, when I opened my eyes a few hours later to the sound of my alarm, the space beside me was empty. In his place was a single long-stemmed red rose, and a note. He’d gone home to get ready for school and hadn’t wanted to wake me.

  I rolled over and smiled as I flicked my fingers to let in the early morning sun. I hadn’t dreamt of Nicholas; we didn’t meet in our dreams.

  Instead, we’d been in each other’s arms for real. I felt safe. Loved. Whole.

  Everything was perfect.

  Chapter 17. Questions

  “Hey, Callie, where’s Nicholas? We thought he’d be with you.” Lily greeted me as I approached the school’s front entrance. Sophie had been chatting with some sophomores a few yards away but bounced over as soon as she spotted me.

  I glanced around to make sure no one was within earshot before answering. “He stopped by this morning right before I left. The Council isn’t ready to take Justin until tomorrow, so they wanted Nicholas to stay with him until then…just to make sure he’s okay.” I decided to leave out the part about Nicholas spending the night last night. Some things were private, even between best friends.

  Lily frowned. “Does he really have to go stay with a Council Watcher? Why can’t he just stay with Nicholas?”

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Ana just told me they wanted to keep him under observation until it was time to do the memory spell, and then for a while after to see how he responds.”

  The warning bell rang, and the three of us headed across the lawn. We were met at the fountains by Brady and Roman, and I was eager for the day when I’d have someone waiting for me, too. But then I remembered last night, and smiled. Their boyfriends couldn’t do that…

  I tried to go about my day as usual, but I hadn’t realized how strange and empty school would feel without Justin there. He had been a fixture in my day, and it was a sad jolt to walk into photography class and not see his sun-bleached head and happy smile sitting across from me. I missed feeling his kind and light-hearted energy. And I couldn’t help but wonder if it might be gone forever.

  When the final bell of the day rang I hurried to the front gates, hoping Henri would be there waiting. I had to see Justin again before he went off with the Council.

  “Calista—” a nasally voice called out. I spun around and found myself eye to eye with Savannah Banyan, resident bitch.

  I tensed and took a small step back. Savannah had never kept her dislike for me a secret, but at least she had backed off somewhat after the incident at the beach, when Justin and I had saved her as she was being attacked by that drunken guy. And she had hugged me the night of Lily’s performance. But judging from the hard glare in her eyes right now, she was no longer in a loving and forgiving mood.

  My voice was cool. “What’s up, Savannah?”

  She glanced around. I could feel her discomfort…like she was somehow embarrassed. “Look, I know we’re not exactly besties,” she began, as she smoothed her sleek blonde hair over her shoulder. “But I need to ask you about something.” She pointed her nose in the air and eyed me with disdain—as if she resented having to talk to someone who was so beneath her, but had no choice.

  “Sav, I gotta go. My ride is waiting,” I snapped. My patience was running thin. The last thing I needed at that moment was the high and mighty Savannah Banyan stalling me so she could pull some sort of superiority act.

  Her pale eyes flashed with irritation. “I was just wondering if you knew what was up with Justin. No one has seen or heard from him in weeks, and his dad keeps telling different stories…”

  I tried to keep my composure. “What do you mean, ‘his dad tells different stories’?” Great! I hadn’t even thought about that particular wrinkle.

  She scrunched her nose, as if talking to me tasted bad…and smelled worse. “Well, Tommy Hennessy couldn’t get a hold of Justin on his cell, so he called his house phone. Mr. Martin told him that Justin was really sick. So a few days later Carmen and Bill stopped by on their way to the beach, but then Mr. Martin said that Justin was out of town visiting relatives. And then yesterday, I ran into him at the Oakville Galleria, and he told me Justin was on some surfing safari in Bali...”

  I took a deep breath and scanned the grounds for Lily or Sophie, but they weren’t around…probably off with Roman and Brady somewhere.

  “So what is it you’re asking me exactly?” I asked slowly.

  Savannah rolled her eyes. “Do I have to spell it out for you? Have you seen him or talked to him? I know how close you two are these days…”

  I shuffled my feet and gave her a phony smile. “Um, nope. Haven’t seen him. I was really busy over winter break, and I’m not sure what Justin was doing.” “Lily! Sophie! Where are you guys? I need some backup here!”

  “When’s the last time you did see him or talk to him?”

  “Um, well, we went to the dance together.”

  She let out an exasperated sigh. “Yes, I know that! I mean since then. Don’t you think it’s strange that he’s not in school?” Her eyes narrowed and she studied me intently. I felt like I was under a microscope.

  “LILY! SOPHIE!”

  “We’re coming…where are you?” Sophie thought back to me.

  “Out front by the planters. Savannah has me cornered…hurry!”

  “On our way!” Lily’s voice assured me.

  “Hello?!” Savannah snapped impatiently.

  I gave her a weak smile. “Okay, um, just so I’m clear…are you asking me if I think it’s weird he’s not in school today?”

  She stared at me like I was a three-headed alien. “I am asking you if you have seen him or spoken to him or have any idea where he is!” She enunciated each word as if I were hard of hearing and mentally challenged.

  I nodded, slowly. Where were they? “Right…yeah, that’s weird to miss the first day back. Maybe he’s not feeling good or something—”

  “Calista! Hey Calista, come here!” Lily called. She waved her arms as she and Sophie came around a corner half a dozen yards away.

  Finally.

  “Oh, that sounds important…I better go,” I said. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything.” I hurried away, ignoring the disgusted look Savannah gave me. But I couldn’t ignore how genuinely worried she felt.

  Sophie and Lily stood by the gates. “Thanks, that was beyond awkward,” I said as I joined them. We headed away from the crowd of students and toward the planters.

  “What was she saying?” Sophie sat down at one of the small, round tables.

  “A bunch of questions about Justin…where he was…if I’d seen him…that his dad was acting funny.” I shook my head. “I didn’t even think about that with all that’s going on.”

  Lily swished her hand dismissively. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much. Justin being out of the loop for a while will be easy enough to explain.”

  “No, not that,” I said as I spotted Henri pulling the town car into the lot. “I meant Justin’s dad. How can Justin ever go back home to him? He has to be wondering what’s going on.”

  “The last person I’m worried about is Mr. ‘I’m Proud to be a W
itch-Hunter’ Martin,” Sophie muttered.

  “But still…what’s Justin going to do?” We headed out together toward the parking lot. “He’ll have to live somewhere, and I doubt he and Nicholas want to be roomies forever.”

  “I’d say that’s the least of his worries right now,” Sophie mumbled.

  “Are you going to see him?” Lily asked as I opened the car door.

  I nodded. “Nicholas is bringing him to the beach after school.”

  “Tell him we say hi.”

  “I will. I’ll fill you in later tonight when I know more,” I promised.

  I gave them a final wave, and caught a quick glimpse of Savannah Banyan’s suspicious glare as I closed the door.

  *****

  I grabbed a snack of apple slices and cream cheese, then changed out of my requisite St. Morgan’s uniform and into a V-neck t-shirt, some running pants, and tennis shoes. After I talked to Justin, I was going to take my daily jog down to the pier.

  I smoothed my hair back into a low ponytail and dashed out the back door. Halfway down the slope to the beach, I spotted three familiar figures.

  “Hi, Max!” The bouncy black lab rushed me the second my feet hit the sand. I knelt down to pet him, glancing up to smile at the others as they approached.

  “Hey, Callie.” Justin smiled shyly.

  I stood up and appraised him, liking what I saw. Even in the sunlight his bruises had faded to a pale yellow, and the swelling around his eyes was almost gone. The scratches and tears in his face were now only faint pink threads, and his cheeks seemed a bit fuller…like he’d gained back some of the weight he’d lost.

  “Justin…you look great.”

  Nicholas came over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Hi, beautiful,” he whispered, and squeezed my hand as he stood next to me. I felt Justin tense.

  “I wouldn’t go so far as to say ‘great’,” Justin said, and glanced away toward the shore. “But I do feel a lot better.” He reached down, picked up a piece of driftwood and threw it into the water. We watched as Max eagerly chased after it.