No Way Back (Mia's Way, #1)

by Chloe Adams

  “I guess.” I know she’s right, but I’m kinda sick of people trying to fix me.

  “Okay, I’m done for today,” Gianna says. “You sleeping any better?”

  “I did almost sleep through the night last night. First time since the incident,” I say. “I was probably just really tired.”

  “Good. Take those little victories.”

  She’s right. I like the idea of little victories. Benji is a little victory for Ari, who has been so sweet to me the past few weeks. If I can deliver him to her with a bow on his head, I will. I fidget again, needing to text someone, anyone.

  “It’s eight. Your car should be here,” Gianna says as we reach my desk. “See you Saturday?”

  I nod and bolt. My car is there, and I go home then head straight to the study to see Chris.

  My new phone is waiting for me on the study table. Chris is working. He doesn’t even look up. I snatch my phone, intending to run. I’ve got messages already.

  “How was school?” Chris asks. “Any issues?”

  “Nope.”

  “Should I be expecting any phone calls? Articles in the press?”

  “I was good. Promise.”

  He says nothing else, and I leave. I see Ari’s messages and voicemails and text her quickly to see if she’s feeling better. I can’t remember ever feeling so relieved at holding my phone.

  I’ve got one from Benji, too, about his party Friday. He sent it yesterday night, before I told him no this morning. He makes a joke about us both being legal soon. For some reason, it pisses me off. My whole life is on hold until I’m legal in two weeks. I stop on the stairs to type him an angry response then think twice. Benji can’t know what I’ve gone through the past few days. He’s just being a typical guy.

  “What’s wrong?” Chris calls, heading towards the door. He glances up at me.

  “Nothing. Going to my room.” I bound up the stairs to my room and close the door.

  I read through my texts, laughing at Ari’s. She was bored most of the day and complaining about how I didn’t answer her. I call her.

  “Oh, finally,” she complains as she answers the phone.

  “You sound awful.”

  “I feel awful. It’s not even flu season.”

  “I’m so sorry about not answering. I lost my phone last night.”

  “It’s okay. I’ve been alone and miserable and sick and lonely!”

  “I know, Ari.” I go to my closet. “I just got home from community service.”

  “Ugh. I’d rather be sick than do that.”

  “It’s not that bad,” I admit, thinking of Gianna. “Oh, Ari, you are totally gonna love this.”

  “What?”

  “I got you a date!”

  “Benji or Dom?”

  “Omigod.” I roll my eyes at her. “Benji. This weekend.”

  “Mia!” she wails. “I’m sick! What if I look like shit still?”

  “You’ll be fine,” I say. “You never look bad.”

  “I do right now,” she retorts. “How did yesterday go? Good?”

  I hesitate. “Yeah, I think so.”

  “Can you set me up with Dom next?”

  “You are twice as pretty as me. You can get your own men,” I tell her.

  She sneezes loudly. “I gotta go. I’ll text, but I can’t talk without sneezing.”

  “Lame.”

  “Sick.”

  “Okay. Text me.”

  “I will,” she says.

  I go through the rest of my texts. Two are from Molly, asking if I’m okay. I respond to her and Benji then pull up Dom’s contact info. Normally, I never know what to say. After what he said last night, I’m really clueless.

  Ari texts me, demanding to know the details of Benji asking her out. For her sake, I don’t tell her that he wanted me to go first. Instead, I tell her he asked me to ask her this morning, after he told me she was sick. Ari normally gets all the guys, and I pause, wondering what changed over the summer. Mom, Ari and Molly are all beautiful. And then there’s me.

  Benji should be interested in her. I leave the closet and go to the bathroom, staring at myself in the mirror. There’s still something different about me, and when I look too fast, I see the bruises again. I had a growth spurt when I turned seventeen, and I went up a pants size, because I got hips.

  I’m still pissed at that.

  But nothing in the mirror makes me think I’m prettier than Ari. Nothing I see makes me think I deserve what happened to me. I don’t turn heads. I don’t know why Robert Connor and Madison Stewart chose me.

  The sense of despair threatens to overwhelm me. I hate looking in the mirror. I don’t fully recognize who’s looking back at me. She’s changed. I’ve changed.

  Ari, do you think I’m pretty? I type.

  OMG – you’re gorgeous. Her response is fast.

  I feel ugly. I tell her.

  She sends me a link to an online article a few minutes later. I open it. It’s an article from the night of the police ball. I look at the beautiful woman in the picture. I can’t believe it’s me. I don’t see her when I look in the mirror.

  Any questions? I didn’t think so. Ari texts.

  I love you, Ari!!!!!!!

  And I do. I never could’ve made it this summer without her. Or Chris. Or the occasional, selective help of Molly. Or Dom.

  I pull up his contact info again.

  Dom saw the girl at the ball, but he also found me covered in blood and beaten a couple months before. I don’t know why he and Ari believe in me the way they do, but it makes me want to cry for a different reason. A good reason. Because I know they care about me. They didn’t give up on me.

  As crazy as the past week has been, I find myself really looking forward to going out with Dom for ice cream in two weeks. Assuming things don’t go batshit crazy again.

  I guess we’ll see.

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  Mia’s Way Series

  No Way Back (#1)

  Dom’s Way (#2) – late January 2013

  One Way Out (#3)

  Dom’s Choice (#4)

  Away (#5)

  Excerpt from “Dark Summer” by Lizzy Ford

  Continue reading for an exclusive excerpt of “Dark Summer” (#1, Witchling Series) by Lizzy Ford

  Available from Amazon, Amazon UK

  Chapter One

  Summer stepped off the stuffy bus, at once struck by the smog-free air and towering pine trees of the northern Idaho town. The sun shone gentler here than in her native Los Angeles, and the heat of noon was pleasant.

  The bus driver pulled her bags from the storage compartment under the bus and left them beside her. She didn’t meet his eyes, not wanting to tell him she had no tip money. The orphanage had paid for her trip via Greyhound and given her a meager ten dollars a day for food.

  “My sister lives up here. She tells everyone to avoid the forest after dark,” the bus driver said cheerfully.

  Summer sneaked a look at him. He didn’t look upset at her for not tipping, and he said nothing else about his odd warning. He boarded the bus with a smile, and the lumbering vehicle merged back onto the single, two lane road hedged by pine trees running through Priest Lake, Idaho. She looked at the run down school in whose parking lot she stood. It was closed down for the summer, the cement of the parking lot cracked and the field behind overgrown with grass.

  A warm breeze swept by her. It smelled of trees and burning wood. Something else was in the air, something that tickled her body from the inside out. The breeze seemed to return and swirl around her, lifting the hem of her shirt and jeans. She pushed her top down self-consciously.

  “Ignore that.”

  She looked up into the most beautiful eyes she’d ever seen. The teen walking towards her from the street was around seventeen with breeze-ruffled brown hair and eyes as clear and teal as footage of the Caribbean she’d seen on TV. His s
mile was bright and friendly, his skin and facial features indicating he was of Native American heritage. Around six feet tall, he’d begun to fill out, and his arms were muscular in the snug T-shirt he wore.

  “You’ll understand in a few days. This isn’t a normal town.”

  She couldn’t find her voice. Aware of how hard she was staring at him, she looked away as heat spread across her face.

  “I’m Beck, the good half of the Turner twins. You’ll hear about us, I’m sure. You have a name?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “Well, what is it?” he asked with another of his infectious smiles.

  “Summer,” she whispered.

  “Welcome, Summer.” He extended his hand.

  She hesitated then shook her head, withdrawing.

  “No worries,” he said. “But, just so you know, whatever your gift is, it’s okay here. We all have them.”

  Summer looked up at him again, surprised.

  “Come on. I was supposed to get my driver’s license last spring, but, well, stuff happens. If I had known I’d be stuck walking to and from here picking up new people all summer long, I would’ve gotten it,” he said with a sigh. He reached forward to take her suitcase and began walking towards the road.

  She followed, curious about his statement about a town of gifted people.

  “We all live at the boarding school,” Beck continued. He grunted as he lifted her suitcase from the parking lot onto the road. “Do you play any sports?”

  “No.”

  “Cheerleader?”

  “No.”

  “Band?”

  “No.”

  “What do you do?”

  “Nothing really.” Except get ridiculed and kicked out of school after school for being different. She hadn’t had time to learn a sport, not when she switched schools every other month. The orphanage had run out of schools to send her to in Los Angeles and Orange County and banished her here. Beck wouldn’t call her magick a gift when he saw what it did and how little she could control it. It acted out everywhere she went, sometimes knocking over full rooms of people as if they were shoved by an invisible hand and sometimes doing much more damage, like the fire two schools ago.

  Summer looked straight up at the sky, marveling at the tall trees lining the road. The road itself looked worn and run down like the school, with faded lane lines and potholes filled with grass. The forest seemed to be trying to reclaim the human invasion. It had swallowed what might’ve one time been a sidewalk alongside the road and replaced it with orange, waist high tiger lilies and white daisies. Birds were loud without the constant drone of the Los Angeles traffic.

  She liked the feel of nature. Its subtle magick hummed in the air around her. Her eyes went to the forest again. She caught the movement of grasses and branches as someone with bright auburn hair darted from the gutter into the forest. Summer squinted, trying to see into the woods. She sensed someone there, but saw no one.

  Beck’s soft laughter drew her attention. He was a good twenty feet ahead of her. She’d stopped in place and gotten lost in her head.

  “Come on!” he said and began walking again.

  Summer hurried to catch up, embarrassed at what the handsome boy might think of her after just five minutes with her. She always made the worst impressions. Staring at the ground, she focused on ignoring the woody magick and just walking. Like a normal person. Like someone who wasn’t cursed with magick in her blood.

  They walked farther than she expected, past a small string of ranch style houses, driveways to hidden homes, and a tiny strip mall with a convenience market, gas station and realtor’s office. They kept walking until the road forked and the forest closed in on either side once again.

  At last, they reached a dirt road leading off the paved street into the forest. Beck said a few curse words that made her blush as he struggled to roll her suitcase on the dirt road. Summer watched, amused, before her eyes went to the trees. They were so tall, their tops almost met in the middle of the sky above her.

  Beck’s loudest curse yet drew her eyes to him again. He shoved the suitcase onto its side, his earlier good humor turned into frustration.

  “I’ll bring one of the guys back to help me,” he said. “I’ll take you there first.”

  Summer drew near her suitcase, not wanting to leave the few things she did have. Mementos from her mother and father were in there, along with the pictures of the very few friends she’d made over the past sixteen years. Clothing, trinkets, an amulet from the only teacher who didn’t turn on her …

  “I’ll help you,” she said and bent to grab the bar at the bottom of the suitcase.

  “This isn’t L.A. No one will take your stuff,” he said.

  “I don’t want to leave it.”

  “Are you sure?” He looked her over. “You’re kinda small.”

  She flushed as his eyes lingered on her breasts. She was small – in every way except that one.

  “I can do it,” she said.

  “Well, it’s my fault anyway for not getting a driver’s license,” he said with a frown. “Fine. I’ll use my ESP to call my brother.”

  She waited to see him reach for a cell phone. He closed his eyes, held out his arms and went perfectly still for a few seconds.

  “Just kidding. I don’t have ESP,” he said with another grin. “He was supposed to meet me at the school. He should be here soon. Don’t be surprised. Decker’s a little – “

  “A little what, Beck?”

  Summer turned to see the second Turner twin stepping out of the forest. Decker looked identical to Beck, except his eyes were as black as his clothing. Forest shadows seemed to cling to him, and she stepped back as he approached. Decker didn’t smile like Beck did.

  “I knew you’d be prowling the forests. A little help,” Beck said, indicating the suitcase.

  “This wouldn’t keep happening if you’d gotten your driver’s license.”

  “You don’t have yours either.”

  The twins glared at each other before Decker strode forward. He and Beck reached for the suitcase and lifted it.

  “Her name is Summer, by the way,” Beck said.

  “Has she...,” Decker started to ask.

  “No, Decker. Obviously, she just got here. She’s from an orphanage in L.A., and I think this is the first time she’s ever been anywhere with trees. She’s sixteen.”

  “Let the girl tell her own story, Beck,” Decker snapped.

  Uncertain what to do with the tension between them, Summer said nothing.

  “Do you talk?” Decker asked, turning his attention to her for the first time. Though he was as handsome as his brother, his abrasive manner reminded her too much of the bullies she’d dealt with her whole life.

  “Leave her alone,” Beck replied.

  Thank you! she cried silently to the nicer of the twins. Beck was hot and sweet. She’d never met someone quite like him.

  They walked in silence down the winding road. The rocks made her twist her ankle more than once. She’d worn sandals, not expecting to hike to get where they were going, and blisters were forming on her heels. She tried not to limp, not wanting to cause even more trouble to them.

  A sprawling log building came into view finally and she sighed. It grew larger the closer they got, until they stood on the front porch. Feet aching, Summer sat on the stairs of the porch and pulled off the sandals. The back of her heels were bloodied. She grimaced at the stinging pain.

  “Why didn’t you tell her to change shoes before dragging her three miles?” Decker demanded of his brother as they placed her suitcase down.

  “I didn’t know what she was wearing.”

  The two stood over her. Summer shifted away and stood.

  “I’m okay,” she said, holding her sandals in her hand.

  “I’ll show you where the bathroom is,” Decker said and swung open the screen door.

  “I’m sorry, Summer,” Beck said as she passed. “I’ll get you checked in. The girls
stay in the main house, so you don’t have to walk anymore.”

  She smiled up at him, caught by his teal gaze. He held the screen door open for her, and she paused in the doorway, letting her eyes adjust. The door opened into a tall foyer flanked by an open living area on one side and a formal dining room with a table that stretched thirty feet on the other side. The house was log on the inside, too, making it feel warm and welcoming.

  It was nothing like the orphanage, with its cement floors and walls and yard sale furniture. She took in the comfortable, worn leather furniture in the living area featuring a stone hearth and a huge flat screen television mounted on a wall. There were chairs everywhere, as if a group of people had been gathered around to watch a show.

  Decker was standing in front of a door down a hall ahead of her, waiting impatiently. She moved into the house. The floors were wooden, covered in thick rugs that quieted her steps.

  “Thank you,” she murmured to the darker twin. The bathroom was huge with a small sofa on one wall, several stalls and a row of polished bronzed sinks on top of dark cabinets.

  “Sit down,” Decker said with abruptness. He followed her in and opened one cabinet after the other until he found what he sought.

  Summer sat down on the couch. He filled a plastic bowl with warm water and a wash cloth and brought it to her.

  “Oh, seriously?” Beck demanded, standing in the doorway. “Starting a little early, aren’t you?”

  “You want me to let her bleed to death?” Decker shot back.

  “This won’t change anything.”

  “Then why are you complaining?”

  The Turner twins glared at each other, bristling. Summer stared at them, not understanding what the issue was. They looked ready to fight.

  “I can do it,” she said and took the bowl. “Thank you both.”

  “You heard her,” Beck said and stepped aside, motioning to the door.

  “After you, brother.”

  They left. Summer waited for the door to close then shook her head. Whatever sibling rivalry was between the two, they had it bad. She dipped a foot in the warm water and tried to work the blood off without touching her raw heel with the washcloth.