Blood Rush (The Lost Witch Trilogy #2) (14 page)

Sarah was relieved when her dad appeared seconds later, looking worried and grim.

“What is it Sarah? What’s happened?” he asked glancing behind her and out the window as if Charles Langford was right behind her.

Sarah shook her head. “Relax Dad. I’m okay, I just need to talk to you. Can we go somewhere private?” she asked, glancing at Gretchen as she said it.

Gretchen’s face closed up and she turned away in silence. Race glanced at Gretchen but nodded his head. “Sure. Let me grab my coat and we can go for a drive.”

Sarah let her breath out in relief as her dad disappeared through the door. Gretchen looked at her then and frowned. “You know, you can talk to me too Sarah. I’m your friend and I care about you,” she said, her voice laced with hurt. “You don’t have to keep secrets from me. We’re all in this together.”

Sarah looked down at her feet and nodded. “I know that Gretchen. But for some reason I don’t feel very comfortable pouring my heart out to you right now.”

Gretchen shook her head and looked away. “I think you only have yourself to blame for that.”

Sarah licked her lips and stared at Zane’s mom, missing the easy relaxed relationship they used to have and knowing that it would probably never be the same again.

“You’re right Gretchen,” she said softly.

Race walked through the door, wearing his coat and carrying his car keys in his hand.

“Let’s go.”

Sarah followed her father without another word to Gretchen and got in his car, feeling immediately better. As soon as Race started the car and pulled out on the street, he turned to her.

“What’s the matter Sarah?”

Sarah breathed in deeply and blurted it out. “I want to live with you in your house and I want Zane and Lash to live at Grandmother’s with Gretchen and Agnes.”

Race looked stunned by her request and was quiet for a minute before answering.

“When we were discussing the living arrangements to begin with I thought about having you live with me, but I didn’t think you were ready. I thought maybe, you needed more time to get used to having a father. I assumed that you would be more comfortable being with Gretchen and Agnes. Has something happened? Has Gretchen said or done anything to upset you? Because I can talk to her if you want me to,” he offered sounding worried.

Sarah shook her head and stared out at the boats in the Harbor as they drove through the town. “Yes and no. Things are just weird. I can’t handle the daily dinners with Lash and Zane anymore. And Gretchen is so angry with me. She blames me for not being with Zane. It’s just so perfectly horrible and I’m tired of it. Gretchen would be so much happier if she had Zane with her. And Lash loves Agnes. I can do lessons with Grandmother on the weekends or something. I just, . . . I’m done Dad. I’m done.”

Race looked at her silently and then pulled into a parking lot by a dock and turned the car off. They watched the boats out in the harbor for a few minutes before he spoke.

“Please tell me what has happened. Something has happened to upset you and I want to know what it is. I want to understand,” he said simply.

Sarah glanced at her father and then looked away blushing. How could she tell her father everything that had happened? But the alternative was unbearable. Sitting next to Zane, night after night and looking across the table at Lash, night after night. Sarah turned and looked her father in the face. If telling the truth would save her from having to be around Zane and Lash, she would do it.

“When Zane dumped me for Charlie I decided to give Lash a one month trial. I told him I’d date him for one month and if at the end of that month I didn’t want to be with him romantically, he would have to accept it and let it go. He was fine at first, but lately he’s been pressuring me to have sex with him and I just don’t feel ready or right about it. I decided to call off the one month trial and he got really angry. He wants to hold me to the rest of the month. Zane overheard our conversation and stepped in and Lash was humiliated and took off. And then Zane just walked back in the school and went back to Charlie. I’m through with dating. I’m through with Lash and Zane and right now I’m this close to just taking off and heading to California because I just can’t do this anymore,” she said, as she clasped her hands in her lap, fighting the tears that were threatening to pour out any second.

Race leaned his head back against his seat and closed his eyes. “Crap.”

Sarah swallowed hard and turned her face to lean against the cold window and struggled to contain her emotions.

Race sighed and undid the clip of her seat belt and scooted over. “Come here,” he said.

Sarah opened her eyes curiously and looked back at her dad. “
What?
”

Race held his arms open wide and looked at her with compassion. “I said, come here,” he repeated himself.

Sarah hesitated for a moment but then scooted closer to Race and leaned in to his arms. Race wrapped his arms around his daughter and rocked her back and forth, not saying anything. For some reason, that made her control slip and all the tears and pain and sorrow she’d been holding back were released and she sobbed on her dad’s shoulder.

Race rubbed his daughter’s back soothingly as he muttered over and over, that everything would be okay. Sarah knew there was no way it could be, but the words still soothed her and she was able to stop crying. Five minutes later, she sniffed and pulled back. Race handed her a tissue and looked searchingly down into her face. Sarah took the tissue gratefully and dried her eyes and blew her nose.

“Thanks Dad,” she muttered tiredly.

Race studied her with a half-smile as he leaned back against his seat. “I never get tired of hearing you say that. How about you and I go back to my place and pack up all the boys gear and take it to your grandmother’s? I hear there’s a great Thai restaurant that just opened up. We could go there for dinner tonight?”

Sarah stared hopefully up at her father, a smile breaking out on her face. “Do you mean it? Really?”

Race sighed, his eyes looking tense, but he nodded his head firmly. “You’re my daughter Sarah. I would do anything for you.”

Sarah felt a great burden fall off her shoulders and she grinned at her dad gratefully. “You’re turning out to be a pretty great dad. Thanks. And by the way, we don’t always have to go out to dinner. I can cook for you sometimes.”

Race smiled at her and started the car. “Really? Because I can’t cook a thing. This will be fun,” he said, his smile growing bigger and brighter.

Sarah laughed in relief as they drove the two blocks to his house. They worked quickly to pack up Lash and Zane’s clothes and books and headed to the beach house. Race made a couple phone calls to his grandmother and Gretchen so they were aware of the change in living arrangements.

Sarah tried not to listen in, but it was impossible. Francis was furious and insisted that things remain the same. Race firmly stood his ground though and asked to talk to Beatrice. Francis finally put her on the phone and Race instructed her to have Sarah’s things ready to go back to his house. When he called Gretchen, she took the news better but wasn’t as happy as Sarah had imagined she’d be.

Sarah looked at her dad’s tense face and felt bad. “Why is Gretchen upset about this? I thought she’d be ecstatic about having Zane back under the same roof as her.”

Race looked uncomfortable but obviously felt that if she was willing to be honest with him, then he owed her the same.

“We’ve been spending a lot of time together Sarah. She thinks that will change now. Plus, she’s worried about Zane. In her opinion she thinks Zane still has strong feelings for you and she feels that you’re punishing him for circumstances he can’t control.”

Sarah sighed and closed her eyes in pain. “It was too late by the time I found out about Charlie. I had already agreed to give Lash a chance. I couldn’t break my word to him,” she said softly.

Race nodded his head and pulled up to the house. “For what it’s worth, I know you’re doing the best you can. I know you’re not the type of girl to want to hurt anyone. Sometimes, that’s when people get hurt the most though.”

Sarah winced and opened her door, breathing in the strong ocean breeze she was coming to love. “I’m coming to realize that,” she said with a sad smile as they walked up the front porch.

They quickly made the exchange of belongings. Sarah wanted to be long gone before she had to come face to face with Lash or Zane. She couldn’t believe her life had come to this. Just a month ago, she would have never believed that just the sight of Zane could hurt her heart so much or that seeing a boy she’d spent so many years caring about could make her want to run in the opposite direction.

Agnes carried out an armful of her clothes, laying them on a quilt in her father’s trunk. Sarah reached up and shut the trunk door and turned to say goodbye. Agnes studied her face closely and sighed loudly with a shake of her head.

“I can’t blame ya, but I will miss you,” she said and pulled her into a long, hard hug.

Sarah hugged her back tightly, knowing she’d miss Agnes most of all.

“It’s for the best. For everyone.”

“I don’t know if that’s true or not, but you need a break. Besides, this will be a good chance to get to know your dad better. And those two boys need their heads knocked together. I aim to start tonight,” she said looking over Sarah’s shoulder as both Zane’s jeep and Lash pulled up beside her dad’s car.

Sarah closed her eyes and clenched her hands. Why couldn’t they have just left five minutes faster? She looked longingly back at the house and willed her father to walk through the door.

Agnes leaned over and whispered in her ear. “You’re a beautiful young woman. You hold your chin up. You have no reason to hide from those two. You’ve done nothing wrong,” Agnes said fiercely.

Sarah looked into Agnes’s faded blue eyes and grabbed on to the strength the older woman was giving her. “Then why does it feel like everything is ruined?” she whispered as Zane hopped out of his jeep and walked towards them, unsmiling.

“What’s this crap I hear about us switching houses?” he asked, staring at Sarah.

Sarah bit her lip and looked over her shoulder again, wondering what in the heck her father was doing. Agnes answered for her.

“Sarah needs a break from you and Lash of course. What do you think? She’s about to go crazy. Now come in the house and get unpacked. You can have Sarah’s old room and Lash will have the one you two shared the first few days you were here.”

Zane nodded his head at his grandmother and looked back at Sarah. Lash got out of his car and walked silently by the trio, not looking at anyone as he climbed the stairs to the house. Agnes looked at Lash worriedly and turned to follow him.

“I’ve got some work to do with that boy. Zane, now you leave her alone,” Agnes ordered and then hurried up the steps after Lash.

Zane waited for the door to shut before he looked Sarah in the eyes. Sarah broke the silence first.

“So where’s your girlfriend? I thought you guys liked to spend as much time together after school as possible,” she said in a conversational tone.

Zane raised his eyebrows at her and stepped closer. “I’ll miss sitting by you at dinner,” he said ignoring her question.

Sarah rolled her eyes and moved to walk around him to her father’s car. Zane stepped in her way, blocking her.

“Back off,” she warned, feeling energy spark in her fingers.

Zane reached down and grabbed her hands, staring at her fingers. “What’s the energy for? What reason, could
you
possibly have to be mad at
me
?” he asked in a furious voice that made it quite clear, that he was plenty angry at her.

Sarah pulled her hand away. “Zane, just give it a break. I don’t feel like getting into this right now.”

Zane shook his head slowly back and forth. “Answer the question Sarah,” he demanded.

Sarah lost it. She put her hands on Zane’s chest and pushed as hard as she could. “Because this is all your fault!” she screamed at him. “You think you’re so freaking strong and no one can ever hurt you. You wouldn’t listen to me about protecting yourself. You cocky, egotistical jerk! And now everything is ruined. Everything! Seeing you every day with that witch is killing me.”

Zane’s eyes blazed at her as he smoothly twisted her around and pushed her up against her father’s car. “
My
fault? This is fully on your shoulders Sarah. I told you to fight for me the night before all this hell started. You didn’t even try. You ran right into Lash’s arms and didn’t even take five minutes to listen to me. How could you do this to us? How could you do this to me!” he yelled in her face.

Sarah pushed up against his chest, knowing she was crying but not caring anymore. “Because you broke my heart!”

Race appeared next to them all of a sudden and pulled Zane away from her. He took Zane by his arm almost roughly and walked him a good distance away and talked quietly face to face with him, while Sarah watched curiously.

Zane’s face turned quickly from furious to calm and stoic. When her dad let go of his arm he turned and walked towards the house, only looking back at her once. Their eyes caught and she felt the words enter her mind,
This isn’t over
.

Race motioned for her to get in the car and they drove away. Sarah had never been so glad to leave a place before in her life.

Chapter 11 - Crossing Lines

Sarah stared at her father beseechingly. “Please let me do homeschool. I’m begging you. I’ll do anything,” she begged.

Race surprised her and laughed. “Come on Sarah, I know you’re tougher than that. Now get to school before you’re late.”

Sarah threw her back pack over her shoulder and huffed out the door, still hearing her father chuckling. She got to school within ten minutes and went straight to her locker. Kids were hanging posters up all over the hallways advertising the big Halloween dance the school put on every year. It was a costume dance and Carter assured her it was the best dance of the year. She was already planning on coming down with an unexpected sore throat the day of the dance.