I wipe away a tear. “But that wasn’t the worst part. When she was truly powerless, they started draining away her life force, little by little. It took hours for her bodily functions and organs to stop completely, and Marissa and I had to watch the entire thing. We were too scared to move, terrified we’d be next.”
I glance over when I hear Toni sniffle. Tears are running down her face, too. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”
“It’s just so awful. Where was your father?”
“Right there. He led the siphoning.”
“Oh, my God. How could they all do that? Make you watch?”
I straighten and glance out at the night. “They were making a point, that no one leaves if they want to live.”
“But you did.”
“I knew in the moment that I saw the last light go out of my mother’s eyes that someday I’d get away. I refused to become a beast like the rest of my family. I’d rather die.”
“Why don’t they allow anyone to leave?”
I shrug. “Power. Since the moment our ancestors accepted that dark power, it’s been the driving force of our kind. To give up any power, like the power of making everyone stay with the coven, is unthinkable.”
“What happened to Marissa?”
I sigh. “She, well, she’s more like my father. She eventually came to believe Mom got what she deserved for abandoning who she was, for leaving the coven.”
“There’s no one else like you?”
“If there is, they’re very good at hiding it. And part of me can’t blame them. Once you’ve witnessed a coven execution, you live with the indescribable fear that it’ll happen to you if you don’t do what’s expected.”
“It sounds like the mob.”
I snort. “That’s us, the Sopranos with superpowers.”
“It’s all so different from how we think of witches.”
“We’re definitely not the Hollywood type.”
“What about all the Wiccan people? They seem so harmless.”
“They are. Lots of good Wiccans. They don’t even know we exist. The covens are good at masking themselves, making the families look like successful members of society without drawing too much attention our way.”
We sit in silence for a couple of minutes, both staring out into the inky night.
“I feel guilty for complaining about my mom when your family is . . .”
“So awful?” I let a slow sigh escape from deep within me. “You can be thankful for your mom and sisters and still be annoyed at them sometimes. It’s natural, normal.”
The kind of normal I ache for but can never have.
Chapter Nine
Days have never crawled by so slowly, not even the ones leading up to when I made my frightening escape from Miami. But then I hadn’t been in close proximity to something I wanted so badly but couldn’t have.
I stare at Keller as he maneuvers up and over the rock-climbing wall during P.E. It’s day three of him passing me in the halls and ignoring my very existence—when he’s not looking at me with suspicion. Each time he does either, he shaves a little more off my heart. Why did I allow myself to get so attached to him?
I want to be a strong, independent woman and say, “Screw him. Who needs him anyway?” But I can’t, at least not now when it hurts so much just to look at him and not have him look back. I fluctuate between angry and sad and thinking he might be making the right choice by staying away from me. It doesn’t matter if you live within witch society or outside of it, being a teenager is still damn hard work.
“Looks like flavor of the month didn’t even last a week,” Stacy says close to my ear.
The darkness rumbles deep inside me, wanting to lash out, but I can’t summon the energy to even respond to Stacy. I just look away, away from this mean girl who likes to hurt, and away from the one and only guy I’ve ever thought I might love. But do I really know what love feels like? I’ve had so little practice.
With a laugh, Stacy leaves me alone.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her sashay toward the climbing wall, right up to Keller’s side. She makes a show of rubbing her hand down his arm, pausing to squeeze his bicep. Keller doesn’t encourage her, but he doesn’t push her away either.
My heart is going to crack. Oh, how I want to run and keep running until I can’t even remember Keller Dawes. I glance at him and blink against tears. As if forgetting him is even remotely possible.
“Jax, your turn,” Coach says.
I bat back the tears, determined to get on with the business of living and stop wallowing. This wasn’t what I fled my coven to feel. I want happiness and freedom, and this isn’t it.
Being upset just adds to my sports-related clumsiness, and I slip on the wall three times. By the time I finally scramble over the top, I have a scraped knee and a tweaked ankle. Thank goodness, I heal quickly.
At least from physical injuries.
I ignore the snickers from Stacy and her posse as I retreat to the football field bleachers.
“Hey, you okay?” Eric asks as he sits beside me with worry in his eyes. Gone, however, is the “I’m trying to impress you” look.
“Fine.”
“What’s up with Keller? It looked like you two were having a great time Friday night.”
“Long story.”
“How long can it be? You’ve barely known each other a week.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“Well, I think he’s being an idiot for ignoring you.”
I look over at Eric and give him a weak smile. “Thanks. You’re sweet. Paige is a lucky girl.”
“That she is.”
His teasing pulls an unexpected laugh from me.
He chucks me on the chin with a playful touch. “See? I still got it. Able to draw smiles from even the saddest faces.”
I sober. “I look sad?”
Eric gives me an understanding smile of genuine friendship. “Afraid so, beautiful. And I must say it’s a waste for your face to look sad. I feel like beating the snot out of Keller for causing it.”
“It’s not his fault, not really.” I grab one of Eric’s hands and give him a reassuring squeeze. “It’s okay, I’m okay. It’ll work out however it’s supposed to.”
He stares into my eyes for a moment. “You’re like one of those people who is way wiser than her age, aren’t you?”
I try to smile again but can’t quite force it. “Far from it.”
With another squeeze of his hand, I stand and limp toward the locker room. At least in the shower, I can be alone with my tears and mournful expressions. Maybe somewhere beneath the water and steam, I’ll figure out a way to pull myself together and get on with my new life. To purge Keller Dawes and crazy attractions from my thoughts.
When the last bell sounds on Friday afternoon, I snatch up my books and nearly sprint for the door. I want nothing more than to go home and wallow in self-pity all weekend. Because come Monday morning, I’m going to do my best to set the self-pity aside and get on with living. But this weekend is going to be dedicated to buckets of chocolate Haagen-Dazs and reading romance novels where everyone gets their happy ending.
I’m barely outside the classroom door when Toni catches me and slips her arm around mine. “You and I are about to embark on an evening of shopping the likes of which Asheville has never seen.”
“I don’t think so. I have a date with some ice cream and moping.”
“No, I must insist. Shopping for cute clothes, ones that will make certain boys question their sanity, is a proven method of lifting one’s spirits.”
I open my mouth to protest.
Toni wags her finger. “No, no, no. You should have realized by now that resistance is futile when I set my mind to something.”
“What, you’re a Star Trek fan now?”
“Nah, not really. Just like that whole ‘resistance is futile’ phrase,” she says, sounding very much like a member of the Borg.
She steers me toward Mrs. Dawes’s English classroom
. “Hey, Mom. Jax here is having boy trouble, so I’m stealing her away for a night of drunken debauchery.”
Mrs. Dawes looks up from where she’s grading papers at her desk. “Very funny.”
“Seriously, we’re headed to Asheville for some much-needed retail therapy.”
“Honey, I really don’t like you going that far at night, especially after what happened last week.”
“What are the odds I’ll be held up two weeks in a row?”
“Toni.” Her mother sounds one part frustrated, one part fearful.
“Okay, sorry. Seriously, we’ll be careful. I’ll have my phone on the entire time, except if we go see a movie. If we do, I’ll text you right before we go in and again as soon as we get out. Deal?”
Mrs. Dawes hesitates before exhaling her defeat. “Fine. Just be careful.”
Toni kisses her mom on the cheek. “We will. And I might even do something crazy like buy a dress.” Toni laughs at her mom’s stunned expression as she guides me out of the room.
With Toni driving, we make it to Asheville in under an hour. Then the shopping commences, and Toni takes her “retail therapy” seriously, which is kind of funny considering most of her wardrobe is made up of T-shirts and jeans.
When she leads me into a store filled with frilly and sparkly dresses, I stop dead in the doorway. “You were serious. You’re going to buy a dress.”
“Yes, and so are you, one that will make Keller drown in his own drool.”
“Where are we going to wear these dresses?”
“To homecoming. You know, the big dance all the posters around school are advertising. The one Stacy asked Keller to go to and he turned her down.”
“He did?”
Toni knocks on the side of my skull. “Hello? Anybody in there? Keller doesn’t like Stacy, didn’t like her even before you strolled into our fair school.”
“Call me crazy, but I don’t think Keller likes me anymore either.”
“Crazy.”
I look at Toni, wondering if maybe she’s blind to what I’ve been seeing all week.
Toni crosses her arms and shifts her weight to her right leg. “I admit he’s being a bit frosty right now.”
“Try polar ice cap.”
“Trust me. He’s going to come around.”
“I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.”
Toni sighs. “If he doesn’t, then he’s an idiot, and we’ll find you someone who isn’t.”
I don’t want someone else. Maybe I’m destined to be alone. It makes a cosmic kind of sense. Everyone would be safer that way. To get my mind off Keller, I steer the conversation a different direction. “So, what is homecoming like?”
Toni wraps her arm around mine and leads me into the store. “We go to the football game, hope the team doesn’t get their collective butts kicked up and down the field, and then have a dance in the gym at which I stand on the sidelines and watch all my classmates suck face and make googly-eyes at each other.”
“And you do this why?”
“Because it’s better than listening to my mom bemoaning my lack of a social life.”
“You should go online and see if you can get a date, some hot guy from a different school.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t have desperation written all over it.”
“I just don’t get it,” I say as I follow Toni into the sea of dresses. “You’re very pretty. You should have lots of dates.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t really give off the ‘I’m looking for love’ vibe. I’ve known all the guys in Baker Gap forever. They all think of me as crazy, fun-loving drummer chick. And I don’t do anything to make them think otherwise.”
“Is there someone you like?”
“There are a few guys who are okay, but no one really . . . well, no one who makes me feel how Keller makes you feel.”
“Well, if by that you mean crappy, then that’s a good thing.”
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
“Toni, you have to let go of the idea of Keller and me.” My heart feels like it’s going to break into two brittle halves just saying the words.
“Have you?”
I stare at a red dress without really seeing it. “I’m trying.”
“Okay, whether or not you and Keller work things out, you’re still going to that dance with me. And we’re going to be the most gorgeous wallflowers a high school dance has ever seen.”
We spend the next half-hour trying on dresses and modeling for each other. When we leave, Toni has an aqua dress sprinkled with clear beading, and I’m the owner of a slim, simple red sheath that Toni promises will make the entire male population of Baker Gap High School drop their mouths when I enter the room. And my bruised feelings kind of like the sound of that.
By the time we’ve hit all the stores Toni deems worthy, we’re both starving.
“Let’s get something to go. I don’t want to be late for the movie.”
“What are we going to see?”
“The Blueridge Cineplex shows older movies for a dollar. They’re showing the second Underworld, and there’s nothing like a little Scott Speedman skin to get your mind off my moron of a cousin.”
I laugh, and it feels good. On impulse, I hug Toni. “You’re a good friend. I don’t deserve you.”
Toni returns the hug then steps back. “I am quite a catch, aren’t I?”
I laugh again. “You are indeed. And someday a hunkalicious guy will notice that, too.”
“Hey, if I’m lucky, something otherworldly will happen in the theater and Scott Speedman will look off the screen and pledge his undying love for me.”
Ol’ Scott stays very much in the movie, but he looks quite yummy doing it. For a couple of hours, I can let some of my anxiety float away. As we leave the theater in the midst of a sea of other teenagers, it’s blissfully normal, what I’ve always wanted.
“I think I’m in love,” Toni says dramatically. “That man is hotness personified.”
I know she’s still fantasizing about Scott Speedman. “I think you mean lust.”
“Okay, that’ll work, too.”
We make our way to the car, but as Toni unlocks her door, icy fingers of awareness skitter down my spine. I spin, searching the parking lot for any sign of my family. But . . . they aren’t there. I don’t sense any witch power at all. Still, there’s . . . something.”
“Jax, what is it?” Toni’s voice sounds abnormally serious.
“Uh, nothing. Guess I spooked myself.”
“You’re sure?”
I scan the entire area surrounding us again. Nothing. “Yeah. Let’s just go, okay?”
Even though I don’t sense any of my family, I can’t get rid of the feeling that someone had been watching us in that parking lot. During the entire drive back to Baker Gap, two questions circle through my head.
Who?
Why?
“You want to spend the night at my house?” Toni asks as she pulls into the school parking lot where my Beetle still sits.
“I think I’ll go home. But thanks for the trip. I do feel better.”
“It really will work out, if I have to beat the idiocy out of Keller.”
I smile. “Thanks for the sentiment, but if Keller and I get together—and I’m not sure that’s even the best thing—I want it to be because it’s his decision, not because he was threatened.”
“Oh, okay, but I would have had fun telling him how dumb he is. And for the record, I think you and Keller look perfect together.”
I wrap Toni in a hug then hurry to my car. The night has never scared me before, but something is making me edgy. And if it’s something dangerous, I want to be as far away from Toni as possible.
When I pull in beside my little RV at the Rocky Creek Campground, I scan the area, still feel none of the familiar magical signatures belonging to my family members. Maybe I’m going nuts. Too much stress or something.
I shake my head. The inside of the RV isn’t anywhere
near the size of my posh room in my family’s Miami mansion, but it feels more like home than that monument to wealth and darkness ever did. It feels like a cocoon, a nice, warm, safe cocoon.
With Haagen-Dazs in hand, I curl up in the bean bag chair and flip on the TV.
I snort at an old episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, roll my eyes at some idiot reality show that I can’t believe ever got green-lighted, and finally settle on a rerun of Stargate: Atlantis, a world even more filled with weirdness than my own.
Shepherd is having the life sucked out of him by a Wraith when knocking on the RV’s door startles a yelp out of me. My heart beats so loudly I can barely hear. What will happen if I don’t open the door?
Again, the knocking, more insistent this time. “Jax, I know you’re in there.”
I swallow hard, trying to make out the voice through the metal separating me from it. Despite my dry mouth, racing heartbeat and totally fried nerves, I edge toward the door, place my hand on the lock. I tap into my power in case I need it.
I wrap my hand around the door handle and turn.
No one from my coven stands on my front stoop, but it’s a witch nonetheless.
Chapter Ten
My power surges throughout my body, sizzles at my fingertips like sparking electricity. “Egan. What are you doing here?”
He holds up his hands. “Not looking to get my ass toasted, that’s for sure.”
If I had thought my mouth was dry before, I was wrong. Now it feels like the middle of the Gobi Desert, totally devoid of moisture. Egan Byrne, favorite son of the Byrne Coven of Dallas, is standing on my doorstep in jeans, a black leather jacket and that air of barely contained naughtiness that makes witch girls swoon. I’ve heard the murmurs that my father and Egan’s have discussed a possible match between us, connecting the two powerful families. But Egan does nothing for me despite his obvious appeal to every other female on the planet, and evidently I do nothing for him.
The air starts to stir inside the RV, waves of my energy wafting off me. “Then you better talk fast.”
“First, if you don’t want to be found, I’d bank that inner fire of yours pretty quick.”
White Witch Page 9
