Enchanter: The Flawed Series Book Four

by Becca J. Campbell

  The man’s expression cleared. “Of course. Is there anything else I can do for you?” His eyes besought her as if everything hung on the hope of pleasing her.

  “No, no. I’m great. Thanks.” She took a step back, clutching the bag.

  He gave her a wide, parting smile. “Come back soon. You will, won’t you?” His gaze caught on her, needing the fulfillment of an answer.

  “Of course I will,” she said.

  He regained the smile as she hurried out of the store.

  In the parking lot, Ras’s Honda was gone. Violet considered her options while she walked down the strip of shops, then stopped near a taco place, lowering herself to sit on the curb. Mentally, she retracted the cords from cowlick guy and searched for Ras. She knew she’d found him when she felt his anger. She guessed he was in his car headed home. She wouldn’t be able to touch him, but then she’d already taken over him once. Could she enchant him without touching him again? And if so, could she get him back from this far away?

  She mentally tossed the strands toward him, and they stretched without resisting, clamping on tight despite the miles between them. He was in her clutches again, she could tell from the faint hum of his energy connected to her mind.

  If her suspicions were correct, she just had to ask him to come back. She pulled out her phone.

  He answered on the first ring. “Hi, Vi.” The affection in his tone made her smile. He would always come back to her when she asked.

  “I need you to come pick me up.” She rattled off the intersection where she waited.

  “Be right there.”

  Her smile held. Her ability might have some limitations, but she could work around them. The important thing was her new, two-part discovery: touch initiated the enchantment, and, once lost, it took no more than a thought to regain control.

  That meant that with one touch, Logan would be hers forever.

  ~

  Jade let out a rattling sigh and forced her clenched fingers to relax around the steering wheel. After she’d left Logan, her phone had rung nonstop. By the time she’d reached the interstate, he’d called her half a dozen times. She finally grabbed her phone and switched it off.

  Colorado Springs lay behind her as she approached the small suburb of Castle Rock. She didn’t stop trembling until she pulled off the highway and rounded the familiar bend toward her parents’ home.

  Jade could’ve gone to her apartment, but that was where Logan would look for her first, and she didn’t need any more confrontations with him right now. Or ever. Something raw inside her split open at that thought, but the truth was too strong to ignore. Her ability was dangerous—his strength could be fatal when she was influencing him. It was a lethal combination. So she would remove herself from the equation.

  Logan had met Jade’s parents once when they’d gone to dinner at a restaurant, but he’d never been to their house. It was the one haven she had left.

  The tires crunched on the long, gravel drive. Just being back on the ranch acted as a soothing balm to Jade’s soul. When she stepped out of the car, the scent of pines and junipers met her nostrils, tinged with the faint trace of animal manure. This mixture of scents wrapped her in comfort the way nothing else could. She paused to breathe in the sense of home.

  When Jade walked up to the front door, she noticed her dad’s truck gone. Her mom’s car was there, but a swift pang in the chest reminded Jade that her mom wasn’t home either.

  Today that fact was all for the better. She couldn’t handle any people right now. She meandered up the walk, let herself in with her spare key, and gave Azure, their blue-eyed free-range cat, plenty of attention. Grabbing a soda from the fridge, Jade settled down into her dad’s recliner. Azure settled himself comfortably on her lap, purring up a storm and eating up every stroke on his pale gray fur.

  “Dad’s been gone a lot,” she said. “You’ve been lonely, huh?”

  Her gaze trailed up to the set of abstract paintings on the living room’s far wall. They had been her mom’s latest creative endeavor in one of those classes that helped people unleash their artistic potential—in other words, got people boozed up and provided art supplies. Her mom was often trying out new creative experiments, but this set of paintings had turned out particularly well. Jade thought the abstract combination of aqua and pale blues blending into soft tans was soothing. It reminded her of sand and sea: an oceanside landscape.

  Her mind wandered to her mother. Her heart panged with the regret of being so distant for the past week. Jade sighed and shook her head, wondering if it was safe for her to try and see her mom again. After today she didn’t think so.

  She closed her eyes and lay her head against the chair, using the image of those beach scenes to lull her back to a peaceful place. The soft, steady rumble of the cat on her lap and the faint traces of her mom’s juniper potpourri helped to draw her away and help her find sanctuary.

  Jade wasn’t sure how long she stayed that way, but it might have been an hour. Maybe two.

  The sound of the front door opening pulled her from her relaxed state.

  “Jade? I didn’t expect to see you he—”

  She hopped up off the couch and tackled her dad with a tight hug. The moment made her feelings begin to swirl again. She pulled away quickly and curled back up on the sofa, tucking her legs under her.

  He wore an expression of exhaustion. The lines on his face were deep and his coloring was stark. Dealing with her mom was wearing him thin.

  “You just get back from the hospital?” she asked.

  He nodded and scrubbed a palm over his face.

  “You spend a lot of time there.”

  “I just come home to sleep and to feed the animals.”

  “What about work?”

  “The first two weeks I used vacation and sick leave. This week I’ve been taking my laptop and working at the hospital. The office has been pretty understanding.”

  “Oh, good,” she said.

  Her father sank into his recliner and gave her one of his penetrating father stares. It was times like this she wished she had one of those easily distractible dads who were more into talking sports than digging into their daughter’s head.

  His brow creased. “What happened at the hospital Monday? Was it your empathic sense or something else?”

  She shouldn’t be surprised that he’d bring it up. It was the one subject they hadn’t discussed on their brief phone updates. She sighed and tugged on her earlobe. “Yeah. I don’t know what’s happening to me, Dad.”

  “What do you mean? Something’s different, isn’t it? What’s changed?”

  “I’ve started…influencing other people somehow. I don’t know what makes it happen, but I…you saw what happened to mom when I came to visit?”

  Jade’s father nodded slowly, his lips tight. “You think you were doing that?”

  “I know I was. I’ve finally learned to tell when it’s my own emotions or someone else I’m feeling—and that was all me. I just—I wish I could control my feelings so they weren't so toxic. I feel like a horrible daughter.”

  He shook his head. “You’re worried about your mom. Nothing’s wrong with that. You aren’t alone. What you felt is what I’ve been dealing with for the past month.” He scratched his scalp with clawed hands. “I’d be torn up right now if I wasn’t so damned tired. My mind’s too exhausted to think about anything.”

  “I want to go see Mom, but I don’t know if I can.”

  “She wouldn’t want you staying away on her behalf,” he said.

  “I just keep thinking…what if she’s running out of time, and I don’t get to spend it with her because of this?” Jade swallowed.

  Her dad’s jaw clenched. “But how…I mean, can you control it?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe I just need more practice.”

  “If you want to see her, you should,” he said.

  Jade thought for a moment. Logan wouldn’t be there, and the only danger was emotional. Maybe now that th
e shock had passed she would be able to rein her feelings in. “I want to try again, but I need a few days to detox first.”

  “We can go up there together Monday morning if you want. That’ll give us both a chance to rest. I could use a bit of a detox too, and I don’t think she’ll mind if we wait a few days to visit.”

  She nodded. “Okay.” She bit at her nails, thinking, then met her dad’s eyes. “But how am I supposed to live like this? If only I could turn it off, life would be so much easier!”

  “I think we all feel that way sometimes,” he said. “None of us has to deal with what you do, but things can feel nearly impossible sometimes. This situation with your mom…I feel so helpless. I keep thinking…if there were just some way to fix her. Something I could do. But there isn’t.”

  Jade sighed, the futility in his words falling heavy over her.

  His eyes had strayed from her, settling into something of a trance, staring at something unseen, maybe at a future he could dictate, now unattainable. She realized she wasn’t alone. They were both powerless.

  His gaze eventually returned to her. “I think we just have to focus on how to cope right now—and the best thing for you is to keep seeing Dr. Dehaven. She’ll help you release some of the tension. She’s an objective source, and she’s there to help.”

  Jade’s back stiffened. She debated how much to tell her dad. “It’s just…I don’t like her that much. I mean, nothing personal. She’s nice and all, but….”

  “Then we can get you someone else. I’m sure your doctor has other referral options.”

  “I don’t want anyone else, either. I just….” she sighed. “They’re all strangers. Some stuff is too personal to share.”

  “I know it’s personal,” he said. “But professionals like Dr. Dehaven listen to people talk about personal issues all day long—that’s why they can stay neutral.” His eyes grew stern. “Honey, after what you went through this spring, you need to talk to someone. It’s not healthy to keep that bottled up inside.”

  “But what if I start projecting my feelings onto her?”

  “She’s trained to deal with strong emotions. I’m sure she can handle it.”

  “Even if she could,” which Jade wasn’t sure of, “she’d figure out that I was causing it, eventually.”

  Jade’s dad stared at her. “Honey. That’s the point. I’ve said that since the beginning. I thought you knew how I felt. You need to be entirely open with her.”

  “But I don’t trust her, Dad!”

  “Why not? What’s wrong with her?”

  “Nothing. It’s just…I can’t spill my guts to a stranger. Not about this.” Jade thought of how hard it had been for her to tell Logan about her empathic ability. It would never have happened if she hadn’t been able to trust him first.

  “I know it’s hard. But sometimes hard things are worth doing.”

  Jade’s jaw squeezed tight. She knew that statement was true, but she was also positive that Dr. Dehaven wasn’t one she could open up to.

  Her dad sighed. “I don’t know how else to convince you. Will you just promise me you’ll try?”

  Jade nodded, a gesture that feigned acceptance enough for her dad to end the parental speech. Was it a lie? Maybe, but right now she just wanted him off her back.

  He didn’t know the extent of what had happened last spring with the men who had kidnapped that woman, Kelsey. She’d never told him that she had manipulated the emotions of the abductor or that he’d murdered his partner because of it. Sure, it was self-defense, and yes, it had saved Jade and her friends. But indirect or not, it didn’t change the fact that she’d been responsible for a man’s death.

  If she couldn’t even tell her therapist about her emotional glitch, there was no way she would tell Dr. Dehaven about that. If the doctors knew what Jade was capable of, they might lock her up for good.

  Maybe that was what she needed—to be segregated from the population so she couldn’t hurt anyone else. She thought of the two recent outbursts with Logan and of the way her mom’s heart monitor had reacted to her presence. Maybe she should be locked up.

  ~

  Saturday, Graham worked a long shift at the bookstore and came home exhausted. “Mom?” he called as he entered their tiny apartment. When he heard the water running in the bathroom, he realized she was probably taking a shower.

  He opened the refrigerator and scrounged for food, eating several sticks of string cheese. He frowned at the empty fridge and realized he was supposed to stop by the grocery store on the way home. Oh, well. There was always tomorrow. His eye landed on the jar of pickles, and he decided they sounded good even though he usually didn’t eat them. After devouring the entire jar, Graham tossed it in the recycling and ducked past the hanging sheet that closed in his sleeping area. He fell back on his bed and thought about the girl he’d met. Maybe tonight he would dream about Chloe instead of Violet. Heck, he’d even prefer to dream about Jade…or his mom…or his boss. Anyone but Violet.

  Graham’s heavy lids closed, and he was asleep within minutes.

  This vision is different than the others. It comes in flashes, probably because the watcher resists it. He doesn’t know what’s coming, but he knows she’ll be there. He tries to close his eyes against seeing it, but you can’t close your eyes when you’re asleep. And he can’t wake himself up, either.

  His subconscious wins.

  The auburn-haired enchanter yells something unheard through a vehicle’s open window. She’s frustrated, annoyed, angry. All these emotions swim together. These feelings create the cocktail that the dragon inside her so thoroughly enjoys.

  A flicker in his vision, and the watcher sees what she sees—her tall, dark boy toy standing on a ledge with soundless wind whipping his clothes.

  Another flash. Now the enchanter is outside, looking over the same precipice. Her man-slave is gone. Her gaze travels over the edge, looking down over a road far below. The watcher follows it, and together they see him.

  The boyfriend lies lifeless, his body now an empty casing that leaks dark, red blood onto the pavement.

  Ripples of satisfaction tickle the enchanter’s body, and a faint tremor shakes her shoulders. She can’t look away, and it’s not from shock or horror, but another feeling—one that nauseates the watcher. Similar to enjoyment, this sensation isn’t one he can quite name because it’s so unlike anything he’s experienced.

  He finally realizes it: she’s thrilled with her own power.

  The dragon within her flexes its wings.

  Monday morning when Jade went to the hospital with her dad, the anticipation of what could go wrong wouldn’t leave her.

  When she stood beside her mother’s bed, looking into her sunken brown eyes, Jade clamped her mom’s hand tightly in her own. She felt like a frightened child searching for reassurance. When her mom’s pulse went ballistic, Jade’s eyes widened, but she couldn’t let go. She stubbornly continued to hold tight, hoping she might use her to anchor her emotions.

  It didn’t work, and the beeping on the monitor got more erratic.

  Jade felt herself slipping away, spiraling out of control. She was near hysterics when her father placed his firm hands over hers and pried her hand away. She didn’t want to let go, but his strong arms encircled her and held her back from her mother. Then he escorted her out of the hospital. His expression was grim when he walked her to her car. “Maybe you ought to give her some time,” he said. “Maybe when she’s better….”

  But there was no way to finish that thought. Despite how much it hurt to hear him talk that way, Jade couldn’t be mad at him. She was too brokenhearted to be mad.

  She cried all the way to work, fighting the tears that blurred her vision. As if everything else wasn’t enough, Logan’s number kept buzzing on her phone. She’d spent the weekend at her parents’ place, which had kept him from tracking her down. She’d turned on her phone to fourteen missed calls, and he’d been calling almost nonstop since she woke up that morning.
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  When she pulled into the parking lot of the bookstore, it took her several minutes to compose herself. She tried not to think of March and Graham and any of the customers inside getting tainted by her feelings. Instead, she raised a blockade to protect them—and herself.

  It was rough work at her ocean refuge, like patting mounds of sand together to form a protective barrier. Particles threatened to erode at each new lap of the sea. Others were carved away by the winds. Eventually, the structure felt stable enough to hold—at least for the time being. Jade took a deep breath and entered the shop.

  March was busy at her desk bent over her computer, so Jade didn’t have to worry about a confrontation about how she’d been distracted at work lately, and Graham was in one of the bookshelf aisles, discussing literature with a customer. Jade took her spot at the desk and sank onto the bar stool. There was a pile of returns to reshelve. Good. She had something to busy herself with for a while. She grabbed an armful and took her time sending them back to their homes before returning to the desk. Shortly after, Graham returned to his post next to her.

  “Busy morning?” she asked.

  “Yeah.”

  Jade nodded. “When March took over she had all these strategies about how to boost sales and get more traffic in the store. The free coffee was one of them.”

  “Guess it worked,” he said.

  She nodded and grabbed a stack of books sitting on a cart nearby. “These need to be priced?”

  Graham nodded.

  Jade began printing stickers and applying them, keeping her eyes on her task, not letting her mind stray. Her phone buzzed and she muted it, shoving it back into her pocket.

  “How’s everything with you?” Graham asked. “How’s your mom doing?”

  Jade swallowed and didn’t look at him. “Not so good.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

  She nodded and turned her back to him, using the stack of books as an excuse as she pulled some off the lower shelf of the cart. She was sure he was going to ask more, but then the woman he’d been chatting with earlier stepped up to the desk.