Weak light is streaming through the blinds in my window. I breathe a sigh of relief, and move closer to Nat. Kiss the back of her neck. Smell the lingering but faint scent of her perfume.
She’s breathing evenly and softly into the pillow. Looks peaceful.
After all the drama and the madness since she started at Santa Anna, it finally feels like things have come full circle. We’re together and I’ve got her in my arms.
I hold her like that for a while, remembering the way we kissed before falling asleep last night.
The things we said, things I’d wanted to tell her but hadn’t been able to. But now we can be together. What Raine thinks, or Becca, or Teri, or Brody. None of it matters anymore.
I slowly move away from Nat and over to my night stand to grab my cell.
She stirs a bit, then seems to settle again.
I call Aid. He answers on the third ring. “Just calling to give me a big I told you so?” he says. “If so, don’t bother.”
“You know that’s not it,” I reply, glancing over at Nat and creeping out of the bedroom so I don’t disturb her. The rest of the house is empty since my mom’s at a work conference this weekend in Florida.
“So then I suppose you want to know if I’m okay.”
I close the door gently behind me. “Yeah.”
“Well, I’m okay, aside from the cut on my cheek, the bruises on my wrists, and the general humiliation of being trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey by the girl I thought was going to take my virginity.”
“Sorry about that.”
“You have nothing to apologize for, Cam. I was the idiot.”
“At least you’re alive Aiden.”
“True.” There’s silence for a bit.
“You think they’ll be back at school on Monday like nothing ever happened?”
“Probably.”
“Even Raine?” he asks.
I think of Raine, running off into the woods like a cat scared of its own shadow. I grimace as I remember her kiss. The way it made me feel. Probably the way heroin makes a junkie feel.
“Hopefully Raine takes a long hiatus,” I tell him. “The way she left, I doubt she’ll be back anytime soon.” But saying the words doesn’t make me any more convinced that they’re true.
“And Brody?”
His question lingers as I think about Brody and how he tried to stop what was happening. I still can’t tell whose side the guy is on. Whichever side, it certainly wasn’t mine and Nat’s. “I don’t know what happened to him. He took off.”
“Are you going to talk to him?”
I sigh loudly. “Let’s not get into it right now. I just want to enjoy the fact that we’re alive and sane and not cooking over some fire pit.”
Aiden laughs, but it sounds kind of hollow. Can’t blame him, really.
“Yeah. Well, I should go. Mom’s cooking breakfast, told her I’d be down.”
“Glad you’re okay, Aid.”
“Thanks, Cam. Seriously. Thanks for caring.”
And then the line clicks. I close my phone, feeling somehow sad. Aiden’s not the same goofy, naïve kid he was just a few days ago. He’s changed. He’ll be fine, though.
He’s going to have breakfast with his family and hopefully, eventually, forget all about last night.
Breakfast. That sounds good right about now. Maybe Nat will like waking up to breakfast in bed.
I pad out to the kitchen and grab the frying pan, set it on the stove and start the heat. Then I get out some fixings; eggs, bacon, milk, toast. I grab a bowl and begin mixing the eggs with a dash of milk, using a fork to stir.
It makes me happy to think of Natalia realizing that I made it for her. This feels right, I decide. This is how it was all supposed to go.
“Hey, sexy,” she says.
I turn, startled, and Natalia’s standing there, running a hand through her hair and yawning. She’s in a long t-shirt and nothing else, which is a fairly awesome sight.
“Hey.” I hold up the bowl. “You like your eggs scrambled? Cuz that’s the only way I know how to make ‘em.”
She grins. “That’s the only way I want to eat them.”
“Perfect.”
She comes over and leans against the island, her chin resting on her fist, smiling as I continue to cook. “You’re cute when you act domestic.”
“Thanks. It’s all for you, Nat.” I look up at her when I say it. “Seriously.”
She blushes and turns to the coffee maker. “Any chance you’re brewing something in there?”
“Nah, we’re out of coffee. Sorry.”
“Maybe I’ll run to the store and get us some?”
I can’t say exactly why, but this innocuous idea makes me strangely nervous. I don’t want her out of my sight. Now that we’re finally together I want to stay together for as long as humanly possible. But I realize how silly it would sound to tell her not to go. So I nod. “Sure. You can even take my car.”
“Oooooh.” She feigns surprise. “Now I know this is serious.”
I laugh, grab the keys off the ring on the wall and toss them. She catches them one-handed.
“Shit, a woman who can do magic and make a catch like Derek Jeter? That’s something special.” But I realize that I brought up magic and it’s the last thing Natalia probably wants to think about right now.
Her smile fades a little. “You know me,” she says, “I’m multi-talented.”
“Breakfast will be ready when you get back,” I say. “Just…”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t stay away too long.”
“I won’t.” She smiles and I kiss her goodbye.
When the door shuts, I feel like I want to run after her and tell her to stay. But I don’t.
Chapter Seven
Natalia
There’s a Starbucks not that far from Cam’s house, and I decide to ditch the grocery store idea and head there instead. Starbucks coffee, readymade, with a flavor syrup, sounds better than actually having to make it. Plus who knows if Cam even has cream and sugar in the house.
The Starbucks plaza is busy, and I have to circle the parking lot twice before finding an empty spot. I reach over and grab my purse from the passenger seat, and as I do, catch sight of myself in the rearview mirror. There are dark circles under my eyes, a bruise on the side of my neck.
But I’m alive. And I’m with Cam.
I get out and head into the Starbucks, wondering how life can still just be going on like nothing happened. People are milling around, ordering their morning coffee, reading the newspaper, chatting at the tables like everything’s normal.
I join the line, suddenly ravenous. I order two warm croissants to go with our bacon and eggs, and two tall, steaming paper cups of coffee with shots of vanilla. I stand at the end of the counter, waiting for the croissants to be ready, when someone taps me on the shoulder.
I turn around. Brody. He looks a mess. He’s wearing the same clothes he had on last night, his shirt untucked and his tie loosened. His face is drawn, and there are dark circles under his eyes.
“Brody,” I say, keeping my tone measured. “It’s enough. It’s over.”
“I need to talk to you,” he says.
“I’m done talking.”
The Starbucks clerk slides the brown paper bag containing my pastries across the counter.
“Are those for you and Cam?” Brody asks.
“That’s none of your business.”
I walk out the door and into the parking lot. Brody follows me. I think about calling Cam, but then I realize there’s nothing he can do. I have his car.
“If you don’t stop following me,” I tell Brody, “I’m going to call the police.”
“And tell them what? That you ran into me in Starbucks?”
“No, that you followed me to Starbucks and that you wouldn’t leave me alone even when I asked you to.” I’m trying to balance the coffees and the bag as I walk, and it’s slowing down my pace, because I don’t want the ho
t coffee to splatter out and burn me.
“Natalia,” Brody says, “It’s not over.”
I don’t answer him. We’re at Cam’s car now, and I open the door and set the coffees and the croissants down on the backseat.
“Jesus Christ, Natalia,” Brody says, “You couldn’t just fucking listen to me, could you?”
“Why would I listen to you?” I ask. “You told me to stay away from Cam, that I could trust you, and then you betrayed me. I’m not sure exactly who you are Brody, or what you’re after, but I know it’s bad.”
“What I’m after,” he says, “Is peace.”
“Really?” I laugh, then open the drivers side door. “You could have fooled me.”
“You don’t know what you started,” Brody says, and there’s something gritty and desperate in his voice that makes me stop and turn around. “You and Cam together, it’s… that’s not how it’s supposed to be.”
“Who are you to tell me how my life is supposed to be?”
“Look, it’s not about that. I came here to tell you that if you stay with Cam, horrible things are going to happen. This is much bigger than you realize.”
“Brody,” I say, “I’m with Cam. Accept it.”
“There’s going to be a war, Natalia. A bad one.”
“That’s not true,” I say, but as the words come out of my mouth, a little part of me is already starting to doubt them.
.
“There are people out there who don’t want you to be with Cam, Natalia. And they make Raine look like a kindergartner.”
“You’re a liar.”
“No,” he says, sadly, shaking his head. “I wish I were lying. But I’m not.”
He turns and walks away, back toward his car. I watch him go, watch him getting smaller and smaller until he reaches his truck. I stay there, standing by Cam’s car, watching Brody as he pulls out of the parking lot and onto the street.
A cold sliver of fear snakes its way up my spine. I’m starting to think I was wrong. This isn’t over. Not by a long shot….
END SEASON ONE…
Look for Season Two of The Witches of Santa
Anna, coming soon!
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
The Witches of Santa Anna ( BKs 1-7 Complete Set) Page 22
