by H. A. Wills
Without my permission, the locks that have kept me together today have snapped open too early, and I can’t seem to stop crying. I feel like I’ve been tied to a rock and repeatedly smashed by huge ocean waves, and there’s nothing left to put me back together.
“Gina set her trap better than we realized. Like Dr. Doom level,” Felix explains for me. “All the rumors had already made it to the office, and the bitch already reported yesterday that, get this, Callie was harassing her because she used to date Nolan.”
“Of course she did. Is there nothing she won’t stoop to?” Nolan seethes, and I flinch against the power of his rage. Gently, he begins running his fingers through my hair, as if to reassure that his anger has nothing to do with me. “I’m guessing they didn’t give a shit about what I have to say about it.”
“You’d guess correctly,” Felix agrees sourly. “Callie asked that they call you down to ask you about it-- actually she asked them to call all of you down-- but Mrs. Cartwright didn’t seem too interested in listening to anyone else. Her mind was made up before we got there.”
“We do it anyway,” Kaleb announces, his voice a heavy rumble in my ear. “I don’t care if they don’t believe me. Callie is not going to face this alone. If they’re going to accuse her of lying, they’re going to have to accuse me too.”
Taking in a few halting breaths filled with the scent of sandalwood, I plead, “Please don’t. There’s no reason for you to go down with me. They won’t believe you, not in a way that really proves my innocence, and if Gina started targeting you…”
Kaleb squeezes me tight against him, his hard muscles offering little give to my smaller form. “It doesn’t matter if she comes after me.”
My voice muffled against his chest, I counter, “Your reputation means everything to you.”
I feel him tense beneath my fingers that are digging into his back, and he pulls away enough to look into my eyes. It’s breathtaking to once again meet his gaze and see all of his feelings-- not just his kindness and understanding, but his righteous fury and his passion. He hasn’t given up on me.
“Listen to me very carefully,” he says, his baritone voice thick with emotion, and he reaches up with one large hand to cup the side of my face. “My reputation isn’t more important than you. Nothing is...” He glances up, as if he’s remembering we’re not alone, then clears his throat. “I… I just don’t think I can live with myself if I don’t speak up.”
“That would tarnish the ‘Perfect Kaleb’ lifestyle,” Donovan taunts, then with a sneer, he adds, “What do those posters around school say? ‘See something? Say something!’”
Nolan releases a pithy laugh. “The witch bitch did make sure everyone saw and said something. Too damn much.”
“That’s her proper name now, right?” Felix clarifies. “She’s ‘The Witch Bitch’. Capital letters and everything?”
“Or just Bitch, for short,” Nolan counters, darkness infusing his smooth voice, and goosebumps dance along my skin.
It beats the way he was earlier, I suppose.
Kaleb sighs, and I can’t help but giggle, which earns me a raised brow… and a half smirk. Surrounded by my friends, I feel the rest of the day drain from me, and if feels like warm balm over the many cold shattered pieces that live inside me. If only Connor was here too.
Ignoring the rest of the guys, Kaleb continues in earnest, “Everything I said this morning-- If I could take Gina on myself, I would, but I can’t. I needed you, and seeing you dismiss what she did again, I couldn’t…” His lips press tight together, as he searches for words. “I thought… what you wouldn’t do for yourself, you might be willing to do for another. I’m sorry.”
I place one hand on top of the one cupping my face, my golden skin a heavy contrast against his dark sienna, and I’m filled with his warmth. “Don’t be sorry,” I whisper. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry I didn’t stand up for you this morning. You had every right to be angry, and I just let…”
“It doesn’t matter.” He shakes his head, and wipes at my tears with his calloused thumb.
“It does matter,” I insist with a small stomp of my foot. “You matter, Kaleb.”
His almond shaped eyes go wide at my words, before a soft smile plays at his full lips. “You matter too.”
“That’s great. We all matter. Thanks for clearing that up,” Donovan groans, clearly pained by all of the expression of feelings going on. “But what the hell are we going to do about The Witch Bitch? No offence, K, but I don’t think complaining to the principal is going to exactly cut it.”
I release a watery laugh and turn in Kaleb’s arms, grateful that he pulls me back against his chest. His arms wrap loosely around my stomach, holding me close, but not as fiercely as before. Nolan reaches for my left hand and laces our fingers together.
“There’s more,” Felix adds, while rubbing at the back of his neck. “Do you guys still have the pamphlet from this morning?”
“It’s in my backpack, why?” Kaleb asks, while Donovan opens the passenger side door of their black truck to get it.
After only a few moments of digging through Kaleb’s bag, Donovan roars, “You have to be fucking kidding me!”
“Looks like he found it,” I murmur, cringing since my own anger has already been spent.
Nolan squeezes my hand, while Kaleb rubs soothing arches against my stomach with his thumbs. A not wholly unpleasant shiver runs down my spine.
Not now, hormones. Yes, they’re very attractive, but we have bigger issues at the moment!
“What is it?” Nolan asks, as Donovan glares at the pamphlet in his hand.
He jumps down from the truck, and shoves the paper into Nolan’s empty hand.
“Please kill me?” Nolan reads, his smooth voice sitting somewhere between shock and outrage. “The fuck is this?”
I squeeze Nolan’s hand, while I trade looks with Felix. How do we explain this?
Felix takes a deep breath, and begins to take the plunge. “Now, I know I’m new to all this, but it looks like she set some type of timed spell that would change the words after a certain amount of hours. Between this and the fact no one saw Gina put the pamphlets in Callie’s locker, only that they fell out of her locker-- a locker that only Callie knows the combination to-- it got a lot harder to try and explain that Callie was the victim.”
He looks at me with questions filling his eyes, asking for permission to share the part that truly sealed my fate.
“I don’t know if it’s coincidence, or if Gina managed to get a look at my file, but…” I release a shuddered breath and press myself deeper into Kaleb’s arms. The familiar sick feeling of sharing something from my past twists in my belly, but I do my best to push forward. “When my father first started… hurting me, he made it look like accidents.”
Now I don’t know who’s gripping who’s hand-- only that Nolan and I are squeezing so tight there are white dots along our palms. Donovan crosses his arms and leans back against his truck, all of his frustration shown in the way he taps his foot against the cracked asphalt. But no one says anything, waiting for me to explain.
“They um… they got so frequent that…” I clench my teeth, determined to get this all out without sobbing again. “The school grew… concerned, but instead of thinking there might be something wrong at home… they called in my father to discuss how I’d been putting myself in harm’s way to get attention.”
Felix looks sad, but relieved that I didn’t ask him to also keep this to himself. Soon, I promise. I’ll tell them the rest soon. Just hold on.
“How the fuck?” Donovan explodes, standing up again and looking like he’s desperate to hit something. “Of all the fucking bullshit things… that’s what they think first? The fuck is wrong with these people?”
I feel strangely validated in the wake of Donovan’s rage. As if I can finally show 14-year-old me that I wasn’t wrong, they were. It was hard to truly believe, when I was the only one holding the truth. Even though I knew I wasn
’t doing it, part of me wondered if I deserved it somehow.
“Anyway, that meeting is in my transcripts…” I let the implications hang in the air.
“Fuck!” Nolan grunts, stuffing the villainous pamphlet into his back pocket. “They think…”
“That I’m falling back into, and I quote, ‘old destructive patterns’,” I finish for him.
“She’s a criminal mastermind, or like some type of crazy Russian spy masquerading as a teenage student,” Felix muses. “Her plan was so simple, and yet…” He makes a gesture like his mind is blown.
Nolan groans. “Could you stop sounding so impressed with my evil ex-girlfriend?”
“Don’t get me wrong, she is evil,” he reassures, rocking back onto his heels, “but if we don’t first appreciate how we got here, how do we expect to get ahead of her and win the war?”
“We certainly lost the battle,” I grumble.
Donovan gives Kaleb a scathing look. “Can I beat the shit out of her now?”
“No,” Kaleb and I say in unison, which makes me smile.
Donovan kicks the large, passenger side, back tire, and snarls several colorful curse words.
“Today, we’re going over to Nolan’s, doing our homework, and not thinking about Gina anymore. She isn’t stealing any more of our day,” I insist, squaring my shoulders and lifting my chin. “Now, where is Connor? Has anyone checked in with him to make sure he’s okay?”
Nolan runs his free hand through his hair, the blonde strands turning the color of white gold in the gloomy, overcast light. “I texted him when I hit the garage for fourth period, but I haven’t heard back. It’s not surprising if he hasn’t shifted back yet.”
“Felix, could you…” Kaleb is interrupted before he can finish his request.
“One wolf tracker, at your service.” Felix bends low at the waist, before Nightcrawler-ing away.
Within moments, he’s back with a subdued expression. “He’s at a clearing someplace deep in the forest; I don’t know exactly where. Only that he’s still wolfie, and the clearing has a nice ravine going through it.” He rubs at the back of his neck. “I asked him if he was okay, and he just looked at me, before turning back to look at the ravine.”
“Would you…” Nolan starts, but Felix interrupts with a wave of his hand.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll go sit with the furry statue,” he offers before anyone can fully ask him. “He’s up for a good haunting anyway. I’ll let you guys know if there’s anything to be worried about.”
He poofs back out again, and I’m left with an unspoken thank you on my lips.
Chapter 7
Donovan
I’m going to kill him, is my first thought when Callie walks into the gym with her arms crossed over her exposed midriff.
With the mountains of bullshit that was today, I offered to train with Callie so she could get some of her frustration out by punching things. Always works for me. Nolan volunteered to find her something to work out in, since her long sleeved t-shirt, jeans, and heavy black boots weren’t the best. The asshole found her something, alright. A dark grey sports bra with matching skin tight leggings that have teal stripes down the sides-- and a whole lot of golden skin on display.
I swallow heavily and attempt to keep my face completely blank.
“Not a word,” she grumbles, striding over to me on bare feet. Her toenails are painted a silvery-blue color.
It’s amazing what you notice when you’re trying not to stare at a girl’s tits.
“If you want to wear something else, I’m sure we can find it,” I offer, both wanting and not wanting her to change. “Nolan is…”
“No, it’s fine,” she huffs, shifting her arms so now they’re right under her breasts. “I guess this is made out of some fancy fabric that’s supposed to absorb my sweat or something. Besides, I figured this was the dress code since you all seem to be allergic to clothes in the gym.”
She motions with a single hand at what I’m wearing-- black workout shorts and martial arts shoes. I shrug in response, because I look good without a shirt. Why would I wear one if I don’t have to?
“Your choice,” I respond nonchalantly, mentally running different demons and their stats through my head to distract myself from the view. “Warm up and then we’ll hit the bag.”
Callie gives a mock salute, tightens her ponytail, then starts shifting between different dynamic stretches.
Concentrating on my own warm-up, I’m doing fine until she bends down to touch her toes, and I get an eyeful of cleavage as a multi-colored stone attached to a platinum chain pops out from between her breasts. This is going to be a long afternoon.
“What’s that?” I ask, nodding at the half-dollar sized stone hanging loose around her neck.
“Shit!” She groans, then stands up straight. “This wasn’t on purpose. With everything happening, I honestly forgot to tell you guys.”
“Okay. What is it?” I question again.
She looks past me to where the mini fridge, towels, and music dock are at. “Can I use your phone? I left mine upstairs.”
“Depends. Are you going to tell me what’s up with the necklace?” I reply, already moving to get my phone from the dock.
“Yes,” she answers impatiently, following right behind me. “I just want to do it all at once. I’m starting to think I need to keep a list of crap that happens to me and make a daily newsletter.”
Chuckling, I unlock my phone and hand it to her.
She snickers when she sees my phone’s background. “A sword, really?”
“That’s not just any sword,” I explain, moving so I can look over her shoulder. “It’s a katana made by Gorō Nyūdō Masamune. He’s considered Japan’s greatest swordsmith of all time. There’s literally a swordsmith competition that has the Masamune Prize, but it’s not awarded every year. The quality has to be good enough to earn it.”
Callie smiles up at me, and strands of her thick blonde hair brush against my chest. “It’s cute to see you geeking out over something.”
“Puppies are cute. I’m not cute,” I counter with a hard squint, “and I have an appreciation for quality work, even if it’s made by a human.”
“I stand corrected,” she chuckles, then brings up the camera app.
Holding out the necklace so the stone is clearly visible, she snaps a picture of herself-- that doesn’t have all of her face but does have all of her chest. Fuck me.
Quickly, she pulls up our group texts and types:
This is Callie. I forgot my phone upstairs. My aunt gave me a family heirloom that’s supposed to help keep me from blowing up the town. Filters excess magic. Now you all know.
Then she attaches the picture she took.
Thankfully, I deleted all the pictures girls have texted me. Originally, it was so Kaleb’s mom, Keziah, didn’t find them, but it’s paying off twice over now. I don’t want to think about why I care if she finds pictures of other girls on my phone, because it’ll lead to nothing good.
It’s not long before there are responses from Nolan and Kaleb.
Nolan: What a lovely looking heirloom. Practical and fashionable.
My ass. I bet if I ask him, he won’t be able to come up with a single description of that necklace past it’s blocking the view of her chest.
Kaleb: Fascinating. Sometime in the future, could we have a moment to discuss the properties of the necklace? I’m interested to know more about it and how it works.
And he probably didn’t notice there were breasts in the picture. He needs to get laid.
Callie turns so she’s facing me again and hands me back my phone. “Thanks. I didn’t want this morning to happen again. I meant what I said on Saturday that I want you guys to know everything. If I don’t tell you something about all of this witchy stuff, it’s because I forgot, not that I’m keeping it from you, okay?”
“Sure,” I answer, stepping away to put more distance between us under the guise of placing my phone back into the dock. Th
e room fills with the music of our workout playlist. “Anything else you forgot to share?”
“Crap,” she mutters, wincing.
Leaning my hip against the fridge, I cross my arms over my chest and stare at her, letting the silence between us say all that I need to.
She sighs, pulling out her ponytail to fix it. “It’s more of an elaboration than actually anything new.”
“This should be good,” I reply, a smirk pulling at my lips, and not paying attention to her tucking the necklace back into her top.
I expect something about the binding spell or the Council, not…
“I’m kind of like a goddess,” Callie states, then cringes. “That sounds so dumb. Me a goddess?” she snorts with derision. “When I got the necklace, my aunt tried to better explain my power. It’s not just that I can access all elements or whatever. I’m supposed to be crazy powerful…” She bites down on her full bottom lip, because what I need right now is more reasons to look at her mouth. “Like Acts of God powerful.”
“What now?” I blink several times. My gaze shifts from her mouth to her clear water, grey eyes, while I attempt to pull my head out of my ass.
She fists her hands on her hips and starts pacing. “Yeah, so I guess blowing up trees or destroying half the town is child’s play for what I’m supposed to be capable of.”
“Don’t tell Nolan,” is out of my mouth before I can fully process what she said, and my heart starts to pound in my ears.
She stops, shock blanking her features. “You want me to keep this from him?”
I run both hands through my hair, tugging on the strands. “You can tell the rest of the guys, but Nolan is… when it comes to magic, he doesn’t think clearly.” There’s a sharp wrenching in my gut. We don’t keep shit from each other, but I know if he finds out too soon, he’ll do something he may regret. “You’re not lying to him. He knows what you are. Spelling out that it means you can create hurricanes that can take out several states won’t help.”
