The shadows continued to bare down on them until four figures became visible in the moonlight.
The first one to reach them said, “What are you girls up to?”
“Hello, Markus,” Sherry said, treading air as she turned toward the young man. “Where are you guys going?”
“As if we don’t know,” Lea smirked.
“Hey,” the one called Markus said, glaring at Lea, “you don’t know a thing about where we’re going, but you sure like to think you do.”
Although his voice had an edge of intimidation, Lea didn’t back down. “Right, I know enough to know that you and your little group of followers are heading toward Hastings, and we all know what happens there.”
Amber couldn’t stop staring at the man who had spoken. She felt suddenly breathless as her body responded to his beauty. Long, dark hair shimmered around his handsome face, but it was his eyes that captured her attention. They appeared to have a bluish glow about them that she found unsettling and mesmerizing all at the same time.
She couldn’t actually see the rest of him very well since he was wearing dark clothing, but she had the impression that he was tall. His skin was really pale, or possibly it just looked that way because of the moonlight. Regardless of its lack of color, his was still the most beautiful face she had ever seen.
“You’re going in town to that bar where the women dance naked,” Lea said with disgust.
“Maybe,” he said, his voice becoming lighter with a teasing tone, “you hoping we’ll take you there?”
“You must be kidding if you think we’d go anywhere near that place,” Sherry said heatedly, moving closer to her sister.
“Really? I could have sworn I saw the four of you spying on us not too long ago from a hiding place where you didn’t think anyone would see you.”
“You have a lot of nerve,” Mardi spoke up, anger in every syllable.
Ignoring Mardi, Markus floated in even closer to them, slightly above their heads. “So this is the infamous Amber. I thought I’d have to wait until Community Day to meet her.”
She felt the intensity of his perusal from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Her entire body came alive. Lost in his eyes, she continued to stare, not sure she could have torn her gaze from his if she tried.
“Stay away from her!” Mardi said loudly as she tightened her grip on Amber’s hand.
Mardi’s words seemed to have no effect on him as his eyes continued to hold hers with an intensity that seemed to pierce through her very soul. He was drawing her to him and regardless of not being able to fly on her own, if the girls had not been holding her between them, she felt she would have tried to reach out to him.
“Amber,” he said, his voice smooth as silk, “you’re even more beautiful than the reports I’ve received. Makes me wish you’d come back to Justine Falls a lot sooner.”
“I’m warning you,” Mardi threatened between gritted teeth.
“You’re not scared of me, are you, Amber?”
She wanted to say no, but she couldn’t seem to find her voice. As if sensing her answer, he smiled.
“She should meet my brothers,” he said to no one in particular.
“Keep your distance, Markus. She doesn’t need to know you or your brothers,” Mardi said, her voice low.
Markus closed his eyes but not before Amber saw a flash of something that she thought could have been pain. When he opened them, he looked directly at Mardi. “I never meant to hurt you. I’m sorry.”
“We should be going,” one of his friends said, flying closer to him.
Amber turned to Mardi, whose hand had tightened on hers so severely she was cutting off her circulation. When she turned again to Markus he was gone, leaving only the scent of burnt leaves and cinnamon in his wake. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt bereft at his abrupt departure.
The other men followed as they spiraled upward and blended into the night. Amber blinked, wondering what on earth had just happened. She didn’t need to be a Witch to sense her cousin’s distress.
“What was that about?” she choked out.
Mardi cursed under breath before she answered, lightening her grip on Amber’s hand. “Markus Carrington, the one that spoke to you—his fathers are Elders in our Coven of Witches. They kind of run things around here, and Markus likes to think that gives him some special privileges. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from him.”
“Young male Witches don’t think with the head on top of their shoulders if you know what I mean,” Lea said with disgust. “Markus is a prime example of that. He’s led on more than one girl, including—”
“Shut up, Lea.” Mardi’s voice sliced through the night.
“I’m not saying anything everyone doesn’t already know—well, except Amber.”
“Enough!” Mardi glared at Lea.
“I guess we should go back,’ Kate said, looking between Mardi and Lea.
They flew the short distance to the pond in silence, their earlier comradery lost. She felt sad that whatever had happened between Mardi and Markus had hurt her cousin. For that reason alone, she should stay as far away from Markus as possible. So why did she have such an overwhelming desire to see him again?
Chapter Two
A few days had passed without any word from Mardi. Amber couldn’t help but wonder if the incident with Markus had made Mardi change her mind about helping her. She hoped that wasn’t the case. She liked Mardi and her friends.
Eager to learn, she had instead bombarded Nana with questions about flying and the inhabitants of Justine Falls. She stored as much information as she could in her already oversaturated brain. When she had mentioned meeting Markus Carrington, her grandmother had looked at her strangely.
“Funny, Mardi never mentioned running into him,” she said, continuing to peel the apples she was going to use for the pie.
Amber had been helping her, but put down her knife, taking a deep breath. “You’ve spoken to Mardi?”
“Only when you two came back after dinner.”
“I don’t know what happened between them, but she was really angry he stopped to talk us.”
“I had hoped that maybe she was past that by now.”
“What did he do to her?”
“They dated briefly when he came home from Vet School. To him it was a flirtation, but for Mardi it went deeper. I tried to warn her that that his brothers had never shown an interest in her.”
“He did mention his brothers.”
“I know he never meant to hurt Mardi, but they weren’t meant to bond. Bonding in our culture isn’t something that can’t be made to happen, it just does.” Her grandmother seemed to leave her for a moment as her eyes looked off in the distance.
As if remembering where she was, her eyes focused back on Amber with a tinge of sadness. “And when a Witch fights nature, it can only mean heartache.”
“What did his brothers have do with it?”
“Markus is destined to bond with a woman that not only bonds with him but also with his brothers. It’s like what happened to me with your grandfathers. The force is so powerful that nothing can keep you apart. Mardi knows this, but she had her sights set on Markus and lost sight of his and her true destiny.”
“How sad for Mardi,” Amber said, understanding now why Mardi had reacted to Markus the way she had, however, if what her grandmother said was true, it wasn’t Markus and his brothers fault that they didn’t bond with Mardi.
“The family felt that Markus should have ended it sooner, but he’s young and he didn’t understand the complexity of Mardi’s infatuation.”
“Mardi must have been embarrassed that I heard what Markus said about hurting her. I guess that’s why I haven’t heard her from her.”
“I knew something was amiss. I’m glad you told me. I’ll talk to Mardi. Don’t you worry.”
* * * *
“Amber. Are you with us?” Sherry asked. “You seem a million miles away.”
�
�Sorry. I’m ready.” Amber was more than grateful that they were her all together again. She had been so happy when Mardi had called and asked if she wanted to meet them at the pond.
Lea smiled. “I know you may not think so, but you’re doing so well.”
“Yes, she is,” Mardi said. “Nana said you were ready for your next lesson with us.”
“Absolutely,” Amber said, straightening her back, knowing without her grandmother’s interference, she might not be sitting here.
“Okay then,” Lea began. “When you are born a Witch, you learn at a very young age how to tune into nature. We have a gift for meshing with the wind, earth, fire, water, and sky. We turn within ourselves to literally hear, see, and feel what Outsiders only glimpse on occasion and have never been able to transform into anything but an idea.”
“What does that mean?” Amber asked.
“Let me show you,” Lea said as she stood up with a rock in her hand.
Amber watched as the rock began to shake. She gasped as it began to glow. With what seemed little effort, Lea began to twirl it as if it were a piece of pottery. Amber continued to watch in awe as the rock transformed itself into a round piece of dark glass that resembled a large marble.
“Lea, you can be such a show-off,” Sherry said before she picked up a rock and handed it to Amber. “Why don’t you try it?
Amber sat motionless. She didn’t know what to say. What Lea had just done was incredible and so beyond anything she could imagine doing.
“All you have to do is concentrate on the rock and see it as what you want it to be and not what you think you see,” Mardi said softly. “Just try.”
Amber stared harder at the rock. What did she want it to become? She thought of a smooth piece of shining crystal with a blood-red stone within it. It was beautiful in her mind but could she really create it from the rock she held? Minutes passed silently as she felt sweat break out on her forehead.
She trembled slightly as the rock began to melt in her hand. She thought it would be hot, but it was cool against her skin. She took a breath to try and quell her nerves, but she was losing sight of the crystal. She tried to regain focus, but in an instant, the rock was nothing more than a rock. She felt like crying.
“That was incredible,” Lea said in awe. “It took me years to do that.”
“But it’s still a rock,” Amber said, her eyes filling with tears.
“I know, but for a moment it wasn’t and that was the first time you ever tried.
I’m impressed,” Kate said, coming over to her and giving her a hug.
“Nana was right,” Mardi said, looking at Amber strangely. “You’re special.”
“Your turn to teach,” Sherry said, her eyes locking on Amber’s.
Amber looked at each of the girls. “What could I possibly teach you?”
“You know we have to appear normal to the outside world,” Mardi began. “And the only way to do that is to practice being normal so that when we are among the Outsiders. I mean, if I wanted to go to Portland, I wouldn’t just fly low-level into the town in broad daylight. That kind of behavior could make for some hysterics and would land anyone who tried in trouble with the Elders. Not something you want to happen. We’ve had a lot of classes in how to mainstream, but you’re the first Witch to have mainstreamed before being a Witch.”
“So, you practice not being a Witch at the same time you’re learning to be a Witch.”
“Yes, that’s it exactly,” Mardi said and smiled. “We were hoping you might give us some insights into the Outsiders.”
“I’m not sure I can be of much help since I didn’t fit in very well with them. My mother and father homeschooled me and made sure I had no friends.”
“I’m sorry,” Sherry said, coming to sit beside her. “But I guess they thought she had her reasons even if they weren’t good ones.”
There was still so much she didn’t know about why her mother had turned her back on her family and became the wife of a minister who preached love and forgiveness to his congregation but couldn’t find any love in his heart for her. When she had asked Nana about her mother, she had told her she wasn’t sure it was her story to tell, and for that reason she asked Amber to have faith that when the time was right, she would be given the answers she sought.
She didn’t always understand her grandmother’s ways, but she knew she couldn’t press her, at least not now. Maybe in time she would see things differently and give her granddaughter the answers she needed even if they were painful to hear.
Amber knew by the looks on the girls’ faces they could feel her sadness. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be a downer.”
“You’re not,” Mardi said emphatically. “It’s okay to feel sad.”
“I just don’t want to make you all sad, too,” Amber said softly. “I haven’t learned to put up my guard yet.”
“That’s for another lesson,” Lea said, standing up.
Amber nodded. She suddenly felt very tired. She walked back to her grandmother’s and went right to bed. She knew it wasn’t possible, but she felt Markus as if he were with her. His pull to her tonight was stronger than ever. She knew she would dream of him like she did every night. What was even more disturbing was that she dreamed of his brothers, too, and she hadn’t even met them. Somehow she had to fight her own urges. If Mardi knew she was lusting after them, she would never forgive her.
* * * *
Markus flew through the cool night air without even knowing where he was going. He was lost in green eyes that made him ache for more. He knew it was crazy, but then again, maybe it wasn’t. Ever since they had run into the girls a few days ago, he had been able to focus on little else but Amber. She was breathtakingly beautiful, but it was more than just her looks that attracted him to her. He had felt a connection with her like he had never felt with a woman before. It had happened quickly and his reaction had been explosive.
He found himself at the Linden Farm and knew it was no accident. He needed to see her again. Like a thief in the night, he entered Amber’s bedroom through her open window. Her scent had led him right to her room. He looked around at her things, finding nothing out of the ordinary. When he heard footsteps, he flew back outside and perched in a nearby tree that would allow him to see her through the window.
He knew it wasn’t right to watch her as she prepared for bed, but it couldn’t stop him from continuing to stare. Her blonde hair was longer than he remembered. Oblivious to his presence outside her window, she took off her clothes and slipped a T-shirt over her head, but not before he was given a glimpse of her perfectly shaped breasts with rose-tipped nipples that made his mouth water. She wore a pair of bikini briefs that he wanted to rip from her body. He kept telling himself that he was no better than a Peeping Tom, but he still couldn’t stop watching her.
Without warning he felt the wind being knocked out of him as he fell and then hung onto the tree limb while he tried to regain his equilibrium. From out of the corner of his eye, he saw the culprit hovering, her face an angry blur.
“Mardi,” he choked out, finally able to right himself on the branch.
“Come with me,” she ordered in a hushed voice before she flew into the woods.
Reluctantly, he followed her. When he found her sitting on a log by the pond, he sat down beside her.
“Mardi, I…”
“I knew you were after her,” Mardi accused, her eyes wild, her breathing erratic.
“I don’t have an excuse for what you saw back there,” Markus answered, embarrassed that she had caught him doing something he would have never contemplated before he met Amber. His need for her was making him act crazy. “Are you going to tell your grandmother?”
“I should,” she all but spat. “That was sick, and it ain’t going to happen. I swear if you continue with this, I’ll not only tell Nana, but I’ll report you to the Elders and have you barred from flying or worse as a punishment for invading my cousin’s privacy.”
“It was w
rong, I know that. It’s just…I can’t explain it. I think she might be the one.”
Mardi’s head snapped upward. She just looked at him and shook her head. “I can’t believe you just said that. Get out of here, Markus. And leave her alone. She deserves better.”
“I’m really sorry, Mardi. You can’t still want me. You know I’m not your destiny.”
“I know,” she sobbed. “But not Amber. You can’t bond with her. Anyone but her.”
He felt Mardi’s pain and wished with every part of his being that he had not allowed himself to weaken when she had pursued him. She was fun and it had been easy to be with her, but thankfully they had done nothing more than kiss. If only he had known then that she had wanted so much more.
But as a Witch, she had to know that if Amber was the one for him and his brothers, there was nothing anyone would be able to do to stop them from being together regardless of who got hurt.
Chapter Three
Amber had just finished a delicious dinner of chicken and dumplings with Nana when the need to fly took hold of her so strongly she could barely contain her desire to levitate off the chair. She had graduated to flying solo with the girls a few times now but for very short periods and always with someone within grabbing distance who could catch her. She had faltered once or twice but had remained airborne. She was feeling more and more confident that she didn’t need to be babysat when her feet left the ground
Mardi was busy tonight, and the other girls had not mentioned stopping by, so she imagined they were busy, too. Nana went to bed early most nights, and if her yawns were any indication, it wouldn’t be too long before she headed up the stairs to bed. This could be the perfect opportunity for her to try her wings, so to speak, without anyone hovering over her waiting for her to fall. She had a feeling that tonight was her night to prove she was one step closer in her journey to be one of them.
When her grandmother had been in bed for about an hour, Amber tiptoed up the stairs and stood outside her bedroom door, hoping to hear her snoring. She wasn’t disappointed. Smiling, she went into her own room and stripped down to her bikini underwear before she slipped a white T-shirt over her head. She loved the way it felt to be half-naked, possibly because before she arrived on her grandmother’s doorstep, she had been made to feel her body was her weakness. According to her grandmother, it was her strength. The more comfortable she was with her inner self, the more in tune she felt with her body and the less critical she was of her appearance. It also made flying that much easier.
Bewitched by Three (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 2
