Luminescence Trilogy: Complete Collection

by J. L. Weil

  His head rested against the seat, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to myself how much I wanted more than a kiss. His eyes were still closed as I forced myself to get out of the car.

  What a freaky night.

  Walking into my room, I half-expected some monumental change, proof that life as I knew it wasn’t the same. Instead, everything was just how I’d left it. My shoe rack still hung over the door, the bed was messy but made, and clothes were scattered haphazardly all over the floor. I peeled off the muddy and torn gypsy costume, tossing it on the floor with the others.

  Moonlight streamed through my curtains, and I went to the window, cracking it to let in the night air. I grabbed a tank and cotton shorts from a pile on the floor and slipped them on before throwing myself on top my cluttered bed. Buried under the covers, the evening’s events played through my brain like a film. The weight of everything came crashing down like a meteor. Before I could stop, unexplainable tears were streaming down my cheeks. A patter of raindrops pelted the windowpanes in a sad harmony.

  Gavin had saved my life, and the price for it was I knew he was a witch. The innocence of the unknown was long gone. I would have to deal with wonders of the world that I was far from ready to handle. Then there was the fact Sophie was a witch. We had gotten so close. She was like the sister I didn’t have and a good friend. I didn’t have many of those, and now two of them were witches. Way to balance the scales.

  And where in all of this did I fit?

  The gentle rainfall mixed with my salty tears and uncontrollable emotions, eventually lulling me to sleep.

  Lukas’s distant voice penetrated my slumber. He was calling my name, calling me to him. Sometimes it would fade out, nothing but a hush. Then it would grow, beckoning me. It was as if his voice was playing tug of war, pulling me from one side to the other.

  He caught me in his arms as I tumbled into the dream. I didn’t have to look up to know it was Lukas. He was as familiar to me here as Gavin was in the real world. Or what I thought was the real world. I wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

  Lukas held me at arm’s length, studying my face. After everything, it was good to be held. Being in his arms, even briefly, was like being encompassed in the sun’s solar rays. I had to fight back the tears that threatened to consume me again. The emotional outlet left me drained and exhausted. Even here.

  “Okay, what’s going on?” he asked at the sight of my puffy eyes.

  I don’t know why it never occurred to me to make myself look hot in these dreams and not like I cried myself to bed with ugly tears. It was absurd that Lukas looked like a golden angel, and I looked like a train wreck.

  “You have no idea,” I muttered.

  “I would if you tell me what has you so upset,” he encouraged.

  “Where do I start? How about this? I was almost killed tonight by a tree that came out of nowhere, only to be saved by that new guy you are so fond of,” I began to ramble out of control, pacing in circles. “And then of course he can’t be like any other guy. No. He’s a witch—”

  “The new guy is a witch?” he interrupted, scowling.

  “Yeah, that’s what I just said.” I was waving an agitated arm in the air.

  He ran a hand through his sandy hair. “Unbelievable,” he muttered.

  “I know, right.” Yes, someone to share my disbelief.

  “Brianna, listen to me. You must be careful. Witches are unpredictable and treacherous,” he warned.

  He was telling me to be careful? Lukas was a figment of my imagination. And here I thought I had an ally in my astonishment of witches roaming the world. Guess not.

  “He could be dangerous,” he insisted, when I didn’t respond and just stood there, glaring at him.

  What did he know of danger?

  I couldn’t help it. I snorted, which was definitely a mistake. Gavin had done nothing but protect me from trouble. I doubted it would have made a difference to Lukas. Narrowing his eyes at me, he knew I wasn’t taking him seriously. The annoyance rippled through him and sent a wave of caution down my spine. He had decided to hate Gavin from the get-go. Nothing I could say would change that. His opinion was set in stone. It was written in his stance. However, the need to defend Gavin was quick and on the tip of my tongue.

  I stopped myself, before I said something I would regret. I shouldn’t have brought it up. What had I been thinking? That Lukas was a friend, and I could confide in him. I couldn’t trust anything anymore.

  “Brianna, I am serious,” he said, his jaw clenched. The veins in his neck had started to pulse in annoyance. I’ve never seen Lukas get upset. Prior to today, I wasn’t even sure he had a temper. I guess he did, which made him seem more real than he was. The darkening of his green eyes happened so fast I was taken aback.

  “I know you are. I’m sorry. It’s just that I can’t see Gavin hurting anyone,” I said defensively.

  “Look, there is a lot you don’t know.” His voice was stern with an underlying of impatience.

  And apparently he did. Now that I thought about it, he wasn’t the least bit surprised when I told him Gavin was a witch. “What do you know about witches…other than they are dangerous?”

  He sighed and sat down on the floor of sand. , I looked around. We were on a small island surrounded by nothing but the midnight waters, exotic flowers, and palms. The moon’s reflection glowed over the rippling waves. His voice interrupted my inspection of the island.

  “More than you know. They aren’t all dangerous. There are good and evil, just like in the human race. Not all witches use their gift with respect and understanding. Many abuse the privileges they were blessed with, or get caught up in the power.”

  Okay, that all made sense. Good and evil always existed. I kind of expected that. What I didn’t expect was for Lukas to know so much about the inner workings of witchcraft.

  He must have seen the emotions flickering in my eyes. “Brianna, I’m not trying to hurt you, just the opposite. I’m trying to look out for you,” he argued.

  I sunk into the sand next to him. “I don’t know about anything anymore. I feel as if I’ve lost my grip on reality,” I admitted, sifting grains of sand through my fingers.

  “You haven’t.” He bumped his shoulder lightly with mine. “This is just beginning.”

  That’s what I was afraid of.

  Chapter 18

  I sat behind the counter at Mystic’s. My aunt was changing the window display for the next season, while I organized a list of stock that threatened to make me cross-eyed. I took a break, sipping on some sweet tea. My aunt had her sleeves rolled up as she worked, draping bronze fabric over the sill. Kicking back in my stool, she caught me watching her and grinned.

  “How was Morris Landing last night? Did you guys have a good time?” she asked, popping a pin into her mouth.

  “It was definitely terrifying,” I mumbled, thinking about my near death experience and eliminating that little tidbit. The last thing I needed was her worrying about me every time I left the house.

  “I don’t know how you guys find that trail fun. It still gives me the heebie-jeebies, and I haven’t been there in years.”

  She had me there. That was going to be the last time I went to Morris Landing voluntarily.

  “Though with Gavin there, I doubt you had much to be frightened of,” she commented, smiling at me mischievously.

  “You have no idea,” I muttered under my breath, her insinuation hitting so close to home.

  “Now that I’m thinking about it, I haven’t seen Tori or Austin in here for a while. How are they?” she asked.

  Tori and Austin often popped into the store when I worked to keep me company…and bug the hell out of me. What were friends for? The guilt that we were drifting apart somehow made me sick and for my aunt to notice, made it worse. “Umm, they’re good. You are never going to guess what the two of them dressed up as last night.” My aunt was very fond of them both and found them humorously entertaining.

  “I c
an only imagine,” she said over her shoulder as she started to stack some items on the display.

  My aunt wasn’t the biggest fan of musicals, but I was, so she suffered through them more times than I could count. “Brad and Janet,” I told her and aimlessly played with the straw in my sweet tea.

  She was shaking her head, smirking. “I should have known it was going to be from Rocky Horror Picture Show. The three of you watched it every Halloween.”

  True, we had, except this one. Again with the guilt.

  I picked back up my inventory list and started reconciling the items, trying to not think about what a horrible friend I was.

  The bell never rang above the door, but it didn’t matter. Where he was concerned, I had an internal alarm. It alerted the moment he opened the door, his reckless scent fanning my senses and making me slightly dizzy. He wore jeans and a white tee that hugged his chest.

  “Did you use magic?” I whispered when he reached me.

  He smirked. All the answer I needed.

  “Are you trying to sneak up on me? Aren’t you afraid someone will see you?”

  “Most people are too preoccupied to notice something so small,” he replied, excitement brewing in his face. He was up to something.

  I guess that meant I didn’t count as most people. “Oh, I forgot. I have your hoodie. If I’d known you were coming, I would have brought it in.”

  “Keep it,” he replied, flash me a brilliant smile. “I brought you something.”

  I narrowed my gaze.

  “Hold out your hand,” he prompted.

  I laid my hand palm open on the glass counter and looked into his smiling eyes.

  “Now close your eyes.”

  I glared.

  “Close them,” he laughed.

  I let my lashes flutter down over my eyes and waited for whatever surprise he had in store. A cool, small object touched my skin, followed by the weight of something more. I didn’t need to open my eyes to see what it was. Just like I knew he had stepped into the shop, I knew he had found my necklace.

  My fingers closed around the stones, the gentle hum reassuring. “You found it,” I said, grinning, and opened my eyes only to be swallowed by pools of shimmering sapphire.

  “I told you I would.”

  “And I told you not to…” I scolded. “Thank you. I’m really glad you did.”

  He took the necklace from my grasp. “Turn around.”

  This was one time I wouldn’t argue. Spinning around, I lifted the hair off the back of my neck. He unclasped the necklace and settled it around my throat. His fingers grazed the sides, spearing alertness in every tingling nerve. I shuddered involuntarily and silently mourned the loss of contact. Turning back around, I touched the stones.

  “They’ll help you sleep,” he said, reminding me of the peculiar lady from the shop.

  It just occurred to me that she could have very well been a witch. I made a mental note to ask Sophie next time I saw her. “Do they really have properties like that?” I asked curious. “The lady who sold this to me said the same thing,” I admitted.

  He came around the counter, pulled up a stool close to me, and sat down. The fireflies started buzzing. “They do. Crystals and stones each have their own function. Some work stronger than others, depending on how well they are received. These two together, the moonstone and amethyst…” he paused and fingered the stones at my neck, causing an all-new set of thrills to swirl in my belly, “…work harmoniously together, especially for you. If I had to pick, these are the ones I would have chosen for you.” He let the cool silver chain fall back on my throat.

  My knee bumped his casually. “What about you? What are your stones?” I was utterly caught in the tone of his voice and his words. He might as well have spellbound me; I was so enamored by him.

  Gavin reached behind him and pulled two crystals from his pocket. “Mine are onyx and obsidian. Protection against black magic,” he stated, losing a little of the glint in his eyes.

  “Is there a lot of that? Black magic?” My thoughts turned to my dream last night. The warning.

  “More than I want to admit. I don’t want to scare you, Bri. Magic can be wonderful and exhilarating, but with everything there is a price. It isn’t meant to be misused. And there are plenty of people out there willing to do that. Just as there is light in this world, there is dark.”

  This conversation was beginning to eerily mirror my dream.

  “Have you ever done dark magic?” I hesitantly asked, afraid what the answer might be. Lukas had to be wrong. Gavin wouldn’t hurt me.

  His eyes roamed to the tile floor in the shop, and for a second, I held my breath with the possibility I might be wrong. “No, I’ve never given myself over to darkness…but I know some who have.” His expression was filled with pain and hurt as he spoke. “And lost them because of it.”

  “I’m so sorry Gavin.” I enclosed his hand with mine, offering him comfort.

  He stared down at our joined hands, toying with a ring I wore on my right finger, twirling the knotted silver band. “I like hearing you say my name,” he softly spoke.

  Gravitating toward him, I wanted to close the distance between us. It didn’t matter that I was working or that anyone could come strolling through the door. The only thing that mattered was him. I was absurdly disappointed when he pulled back, and it showed all over my face. I had to suppress the groan that formed at my lips. I should have been thankful that one of us was thinking clearly. Instead, I pouted. Why couldn’t he lose his control, his focus, like me? Why was I the only one suffering?

  Just as I was about to voice something stupid, my aunt came through the back door. “Hi Gavin, I didn’t hear you come in.” She smiled at him.

  “Funny neither did I,” I muttered.

  “I should probably let you get back to work,” he said as he got up from his seat. “It was nice seeing you again, Clara.” My aunt had insisted that he call her by her first name. He paused as he got around the glass counter and looked back at me. “You want to hang out after work tonight?”

  He caught me off guard, but I jumped at the chance to be with him. “Sure, pick me at my house?” I wanted to go home and freshen up.

  Watching him walk out the door, I sighed.

  Chapter 19

  I raced home after work to quickly jump in the shower. With less than an hour before he showed up at my door, I had driven like a madwoman, beating my aunt home.

  Scrubbing my favorite shampoo into my hair, I rinsed, conditioned, and then made a last-minute decision to shave my legs. The nights were still warm, and since I didn’t know what we were doing, I was going to be prepared for any scenario.

  I slathered on some lotion and padded to my closet to find something to wear. His hoodie lay on the back of the chair, bringing a smile to my lips. The scent of him lingered on the material.

  On a sigh of excitement, I turned to my closet. Five minutes went by and I was still staring. There was only one way to solve this wardrobe dilemma. I closed my eyes and grabbed. It was a thigh-length simple white dress, somewhere between dressy and casual. Perfect.

  I plopped in front of my vanity to fuss with my hair. Adding a quick layer of mascara, eyeliner, and lip gloss, I finished just as the roar of his engine sounded outside my opened window. The fireflies began to dance in my belly. A quick mist my favorite perfume and I was running down the stairs. It was a wonder I didn’t break my neck.

  The doorbell rang when I was halfway down the stairs. My aunt’s voice slowed my haste as I rounded the corner. He was standing in the entryway with her, looking dark and dashing. I found it hard to believe that out of all the girls at school, he wanted to go out with me.

  “You ready?” he asked me, his eyes finding mine.

  I nodded, sweaty palms gripping the banister. “Where are we going?” I asked as we walked to his car.

  Gavin slipped behind the steering wheel and started the car. He put the car in reverse and punched the gas, the engine thundering i
nto the dark. “You’ll see,” he responded with a smirk.

  I sat back in my seat, wondering what Gavin had up his sleeve.

  The lights of Wilmington lit the night as we approached the Riverwalk. A tint of blood orange hit the coastline, spreading shadows over the quaint shops. Trees twinkled with decorated strands of lights along the plaza. This little coastal place was a slice of history, with its canopied vendors, planked walkways, and charming historical buildings.

  “I love the Riverwalk. How did you hear about this place?” I asked.

  “Your aunt told me how much you like coming here.”

  “It’s so pretty at night.” I couldn’t help but be flattered by his thoughtfulness.

  “Are you hungry?”

  “Sure. There is a really great place right on the water,” I volunteered. “They have the best chicken scampi.”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  The restaurant faced the ocean, back-dropped by the lights of downtown Wilmington. At this time of night, the restaurant was filled with plenty of night-goers. We only had to wait a few minutes to be seated at a table, and the view from our booth overlooked oceanic boardwalk. The restaurant was a cozy, with a warm atmosphere filled with laughter and decadent scents.

  The waiter took our drink orders, and Gavin played with his fork. ”So I’ve been meaning to ask you…we haven’t had a chance to talk. Are you okay with me being a witch? I haven’t scared you off, have I?”

  I smiled. It wasn’t possible for him to scare off the insane feelings I had toward him. “No. If anything, I think I’m more intrigued by you.”

  “Good.” He returned my smile.

  The waiter came back with our drinks, and we gave him our dinner orders, two plates of chicken scampi. My mouth watered in anticipation. The food here was famous.

  I took a sip through the straw of my coke. “Since you brought up the topic, I have a few questions.”

  “Of course, you do. Shoot.”

  “Are there any other witches in Holly Ridge?”