Kiss Me Deadly

by Trisha Telep

  One thing I did learn when it came to using my so-called natural witchcraft was how to eavesdrop at a distance. And, yes, I had paid attention to that lesson since it helped me to listen in to my parent’s hushed arguments just before they separated. It eased my mind a little that they weren’t divorcing because of me. Although, it didn’t ease my mind that much. Divorce sucked, but at least my parents seemed much happier now. Good friends, but lousy spouses. That was how they put it.

  I walked without looking backward, but I focused on tapping into that eavesdropping ability.

  “I hear you’ve acquired a little something shiny,” Jeremy said. I was at least fifty feet away by now, but I could hear him as clearly as if I was still standing beside Owen.

  “Who told you that?”

  “A little bird.” There was a smile in Jeremy’s voice. “You think that will appeal to Stan’s sensibilities, do you?”

  “Come on.” There was a catch of emotion in Owen’s words now. “You know how badly I want back in the pack. I don’t understand why you’re not helping me.”

  “Because I don’t want you there. Mom was the only one who thought you had a home there. And now that she’s gone—”

  “Yeah, I know. You never wanted me around in the first place. Do you honestly think I’d be competition to you? I’m not interested in being alpha—”

  “When Stan dies, I’m alpha,” Jeremy said, and there was a growl to his voice. “And after me, you’re next in line and that would cause problems.”

  “I wouldn’t fight you for it.”

  “That’s just a chance I don’t want to take. Because you know what? You’d lose. And I’d rather not have to kill my own brother if I can help it.” He was quiet for a moment. “But I will if I have to.”

  Owen exhaled shakily. “I don’t have anyone I can depend on out here. Without the pack, I have no family. I have nothing.”

  “Yeah, well, I guess that’s fitting.” Jeremy’s voice was cold. “You are nothing. Mom told me you were a mistake she wished she hadn’t made when she cheated on Stan. It’s time you accepted that and stopped trying to buy your way back in with stolen jewelry. You’re almost eighteen. Time to find your own life and get the hell away from mine.”

  I wondered if it had something to do with the bonding spell, but I could actually feel Owen’s emotions then. His brother’s words were like a physical blow to him.

  I couldn’t help but hurt for him. I didn’t know much about him at all, but I didn’t need to. He was in trouble. He’d been kicked out of his shifter pack—his “family”—after his mother’s death. Maybe she was the only one who protected him from the brother who just flat-out didn’t want him around. Some brother. My own brother was a thousand miles away at college right now, but I knew—despite our many differences and disagreements—that he’d do anything for me.

  “I’m still going to Stan, and you can’t stop me,” Owen said after a moment. His voice had grown stronger. He wasn’t backing down. “He’ll listen to me. The bracelet is only to buy enough time to explain things to him. He won’t refuse. The thing’s worth a lot of money, and I know he likes money. He’ll see that it’s what Mom would have wanted.”

  “Stan’s my dad, not yours. All you are is an unwanted little bastard. Now why don’t you go back to your pretty little witch girlfriend, consider yourself lucky that somebody wants to be around you, and stay the hell out of my life and out of my pack.”

  Again, there was that sharp twist of pain I felt coming from Owen. His brother’s words hurt him deeply and made him feel completely and utterly alone. I kept walking, but I realized I was now crying. I wiped the tears off my cheeks.

  I stopped eavesdropping, cutting it off as if mentally hanging up a phone. I walked and walked before I looked over my shoulder. Owen wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

  I didn’t stop till I got to school. I didn’t see Owen again, although for the rest of the day it was as if I could still feel his grief—the grief of a boy I barely knew but felt a deep magical bond with whether I liked it or not.

  My heart ached for him.

  ***

  “Morning.”

  I pried my eyes open the next day to be greeted with a total déjà vu. There was a tawny-striped cat looking at me. A larger, older version of the kitten from yesterday.

  “You,” I said.

  “In the fur.”

  “Where did you go yesterday? I thought you were going to catch up to me but you never did.”

  “Sorry. Had a couple things I needed to take care of after talking to my brother.”

  “That’s vague.”

  “It is, isn’t it?”

  “I got more clothes for you.” I nodded over at a stack of folded clothes on a chair I’d grabbed from my brother’s closet.

  “Cool. Thanks. Your mom already left. It’s Saturday so she said she was letting you sleep in. She talks to herself a lot?”

  “All the time. It’s bizarre.” Although, not as bizarre as having a conversation with a cat. Luckily Mom had barely been around yesterday after school so I didn’t have to explain what had happened to my familiar that seemingly had vanished into thin air.

  He was back. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

  “I’m going to change and, uh, get changed,” Owen said. “Consider yourself warned.”

  I quickly turned over and sat up so my back was to him. Through our connection, I could actually sense when he shifted form back to human. Then I heard the soft sound of rustling material as he grabbed something to wear off the pile and got dressed.

  “So we’re all alone,” he said after a moment. “No mommy to barge in on us and find out the little secret you’ve been hiding from her.”

  I stood up and finally turned around. He stood on the other side of my small peach-colored bedroom wearing a new pair of jeans. He hadn’t put on a shirt yet. His skin was tanned as if he’d just come back from vacation in the sunny south. He pulled a white T-shirt on over his head, covering up everything I was gawking at.

  “Your brother is a jerk,” I said.

  He looked at me with confusion before his dark blue eyes narrowed. “You were listening? What is that, some kind of a witch trick?”

  “A simple one, actually, which is the only reason why I could do it since I suck at magic. If it’s your pack you should be allowed to go back without having to jump through hoops.”

  “I don’t do hoops.”

  “It’s just an expression.”

  “Like ‘none of my beeswax’ was just an expression?”

  “Sort of.” I looked at him sharply and realized he was smiling. “What’s so funny?”

  “You are. Why the hell do you care about me?”

  I frowned. “It’s probably because of the bonding spell.”

  “So you’re admitting that you care about me.”

  I just looked at him, afraid to answer that. What was I admitting? I didn’t want to admit anything, but the truth was kind of obvious. I did care about Owen. I cared about what happened to him, and I felt the pain he felt when he was rejected by his brother.

  And it wasn’t just because he was inarguably gorgeous. I just ... liked him.

  I blamed the bonding spell entirely. I never fell for a guy after only knowing him only a day.

  Well, hardly ever.

  “I guess I just don’t want you to get hurt,” I said honestly.

  He drew closer and brushed my long dark hair back over my shoulder. I suddenly felt very aware that I was wearing a pair of pajamas that had tiny smiley faces all over them. I felt like a little girl even though I was only a month away from my seventeenth birthday.

  But I wasn’t a little girl. Despite the PJs.

  “Thank you,” he said simply. “And I’m sorry I had to kiss you like that yesterday. I needed Jeremy to believe you were my girlfriend. I don’t think he’d understand if I told him I was actually your familiar. I don’t even understand that.”

  “It’s okay, I didn’t mind.”<
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  He raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t?”

  My cheeks warmed. “Let’s just forget it happened, okay?”

  “Not so sure I can.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I want to kiss you again.”

  He drew me closer to him. His hands were on my shoulders, and my hands were pressed against his firm chest so that I could feel his rapid heartbeat. His warm breath glanced against my cheek as he lowered his mouth to mine.

  The phone rang. I jerked away from Owen, pulled out of whatever spell I’d just sank into and grabbed for the phone on my nightstand.

  “What? I mean, hello?”

  “You. Me. Shopping. Noon. Yes or no?”

  My best friend Sandy often spoke in bullet points.

  I glanced at the clock. It was a little after nine. I flicked a glance at Owen and realized I wished Sandy hadn’t called to interrupt our potential second kiss.

  Dangerous kitty-cat.

  I quickly calculated what had to be done. Owen wanted his bracelet. Then he wanted to deliver it to Stan, his stepfather, as payment for letting him back into the pack, even though his brother was still a major obstacle there. I assumed that whatever Stan said was gospel for the pack. If he agreed that Owen was back in, then all was well with the world.

  Then we needed to have our bonding spell removed. I had no idea what I was going to say to Mrs. Timmons, but I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.

  “Noon sounds doable.”

  “I need new socks,” Sandy said. “Are you up for the challenge?”

  I turned away from Owen. The sight of him was very distracting. “Socks. Exciting stuff.”

  “They disappear. And I can’t even blame magic for it.”

  “Socks are obviously the source of all evil.”

  “We’ll have lunch in the food court first. Then sock hunting. Mike’s joining us. Is that okay?”

  “Totally fine with me.”

  Mike was Sandy’s new boyfriend. A senior. She’d introduced us the other day. Nice guy. Now he was automatically part of our little group of misfits through his association with my best friend.

  Sandy was also a witch-in-training with two overbearing magic-using parents. It was nice to have something in common that we could complain to each other about. Didn’t mean we couldn’t have fun, too.

  I wondered what she’s think of my current situation with Owen. She probably wouldn’t believe that he was technically my witch’s familiar at the moment. Nothing interesting usually happened to me. And Owen—well, he was very interesting.

  After ending the call, I looked at Owen. He waited patiently over by the door.

  “I need a minute to get ready,” I said. “ Alone.”

  “No problem.”

  “Um, Owen? Do you want some breakfast or something?”

  A smile stretched his face, making him better looking if that was even possible. “Breakfast sounds really good. Almost as good as ‘or something.’”

  He slipped out of the room and closed the door before he could see just how red I was able to turn.

  ***

  Two bowls of cornflakes later—I never claimed to be a great chef—we were out of the house and on the same route we were taking yesterday morning.

  “Look, Brenda,” Owen said after a couple of minutes. He stopped walking and turned to me. “I know this has been a real nightmare. I appreciate your help.”

  “My help? I stole your bracelet.”

  A smile played at his lips. “I didn’t exactly come by it honestly myself, although if it helps, I stole it from a horrible rich woman who killed a litter of kittens by drowning them when her Persian got knocked up.”

  I shuddered at the horrible thought. “It represents a lot more than a few expensive diamonds to you, doesn’t it?”

  “It does.”

  “I know I shouldn’t have listened in yesterday, but I did. And I’m worried that what you’re doing is going to end up getting you in trouble.”

  There. I said it. It was none of my business, but I said it anyway.

  “Because of my brother?” he asked stiffly.

  “Yes.”

  His jaw set. “Let me worry about Jeremy, okay?”

  I racked my brain for a good answer to his difficult situation. “What if you don’t go back to your pack? What if you find a new home and a new, uh, pack? Just start fresh somewhere else?”

  His expression shadowed. “Because it’s not that easy. You don’t understand. That bracelet that you’ve got stashed somewhere is my only answer.”

  “I totally disagree.”

  “You don’t know my situation. Overhearing one conversation isn’t enough to make you an expert on me.”

  I faltered. “Maybe not.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Just like my knowing that you’re afraid to embrace your magical potential is only part of who you are.”

  I felt a sharp and sudden stab of anger at the accusation. “I’m not afraid.”

  “Could have fooled me.”

  “Just because I’m not interested in doing something doesn’t mean that I’m afraid.”

  Owen shrugged. “If you say so.”

  I crossed my arms and studied him for a moment. “You’re trying to change the subject.”

  “From what you were talking about, you mean.” He blew out a breath. “All I want is the bracelet. There’s nothing else in this town I’m interested in. And the kiss? Don’t read too much into it. It was more to fool my brother than anything else.”

  I’d be hurt more by his words if I didn’t remember what he’d said to me only forty minutes ago.

  “I want to kiss you again.”

  Maybe he was lying. Maybe he thought I was easy and just wanted a distraction to get his mind off his troubles.

  The smiley-faced PJs were rather fetching, now that I thought about it.

  I mean, what did I think this was between us? Something real? Something that had the potential to be something more?

  I was such an idiot. All I was to Owen was a flashing arrow pointing him to where his shiny diamond bracelet was—his one-way ticket back into a shifter pack that he was too stupid to see didn’t even want him around.

  And I wasn’t scared about learning magic. I wasn’t afraid that I’d be a big fat failure and disappoint my mom when she realized I was nowhere close to being as talented as she was.

  Of course not.

  I bit my bottom lip.

  Well, maybe I was a bit scared. But that wasn’t a very helpful realization at the moment.

  “Let’s go,” Owen said angrily as he started to walk again. “All I want is the bracelet, and then I promise I’ll be out of your life once and for all.”