Swift (21 page)

I thought about what he had said for a moment. “But I didn’t stop the car. I saw it slow down and stop just inches from me, but I didn’t do it.”

“It took just a second for me to realize that you didn’t have the power to stop it, so I did.”

I swallowed hard, knowing that I could have been roadkill that day, and it would have been at Blake’s hand.

“Have you protected many others like me?” I asked.

“The Council has given me a few other assignments but no one quite like you.” He smiled.

A few moments later, the boat hit the banks of Tinkers Island. He got off first, pulling the boat up onto the beach. Then he grabbed my hand and helped me out when we were clear of the water. He didn’t let go of my hand as he led me down the beach. We walked about a hundred yards until we reached a wall of rocks.

Glancing up at the full moon, I saw there were no clouds in the sky to block its bright and crisp glow. It provided just enough light for us to see by. He climbed onto the rock formation, taking a few steps before turning around and holding out his hand for me. I grabbed hold, and he pulled me up to him. We both stood, balancing on a small rock, our bodies touching casually, making me struggle to keep my breathing under control. He turned to walk farther out onto the rocks and finally came to rest a few feet from where the ocean crashed upon them. I could see where it looked like someone had made a bench out of a few long, flat rocks. There was a long rectangular rock that was meant to be the seat and a matching one to be the backrest.

“I couldn’t believe this was still here. A few nights after we arrived, I came out here looking for it. I was thankful to see that it still existed,” he said as he took a seat on the far end. He glanced up at me and patted the open spot next to him.

“This is amazing,” I said, sitting down beside him.

“I built it for myself shortly after I found out what I was. It was a place I could come to think and get away from it all, first by boat then by flying. I thought you could use it. You have a lot to think about after all that’s happened in the past twenty-four hours.” He shrugged.

“So is it flying … that swooshing, tumbling feeling?” I had assumed it was, but had not been totally sure until then.

“Yes, that’s flying. I remember what it felt like when my parents first took me. Taking deep breaths helps to calm the dizziness, and then you eventually get used to it.”

There was something that got me thinking, and even though I was sure of the answer, I wanted to make sure. “You can fly and you have powers—does that make you a witch, too?”

“Yes, but I’m different from you. See, when we come into our destiny and master our craft, we are then given roles by the Council. Each of us is appointed certain responsibilities as the Council sees fit. There are roles to protect future witches, not just from evil but also from themselves.  Magic can be very dangerous without even adding evil into the mix. Abby was given the role of a teacher and my parents are guardians … which is really just to make sure we don’t mess up.”

I nodded and stared at him in amazement. It was hard to get over that I was sitting next to a protector, my own personal one at that. He was sent to the future to keep me safe, enabled with powers that allowed him to fly through the air, stop speeding cars, fight off evil, and who knows what else. And even though there was a lot that I should have been thinking about, mainly that
I
was a witch too, for a minute, I couldn’t think about anything but him.

Then before I knew it, all of the unanswered questions consumed me. Why didn’t I know anything? How I could have missed it growing up? Why had my parents never told Charlotte and me? The most difficult questions were: Why had my parents changed over the last few weeks of their lives? Were they running from the same thing I was when they had left with me and my sister that night? Did they die trying to protect us and something went wrong? But why would they just leave me to deal with it all on my own, totally unprepared and vulnerable? Blake had been right about the place: in the cool night air, listening to the waves crashing upon the rocks below, I was more able to open my mind and take everything in.

“Blake.” I could see in my peripheral vision that he had turned his head in my direction, but I continued to look forward out into the black ocean as I spoke. “You said it was my mom that came to you and told you about me, right? Why did she come specifically to you and your family? Why not just directly to me?”

“As much as she probably wanted to, it would have been impossible for her to contact you. Witches that have crossed to the other side can only contact other witches that are linked with their powers. It’s a portal, so to speak. We are all linked, connected in some way. Good, evil, dead, or alive. But why the Council chose me and my family specifically, I’m not sure.”  He sighed before continuing his explanation. “It’s also more complicated than just that.  There are rules that the Council has to abide by as well. They can’t just contact anyone they want.  Imagine how you would have reacted if your mother just showed up one night.  As witches, we all have to be careful and not allow the outer world to see us using our magic.”

I nodded in agreement, although I was confused as ever. There were rules?  This was information overload. It was just becoming clear to me that I was a witch, that there were people after me, and that I would soon have powers. But rules?  How was I supposed to absorb all of this? I tried not to dwell too much on all of that.  The most important thing was for me to learn who my enemies were and what I had to do in order to protect myself.

“Isaac said that
they
had special plans for me. What did he mean by that?”

“You don’t have to worry about that, he will never get that close to you again. That was my mistake. One that I don’t plan on making twice.”

“What do you mean
your
mistake? And please don’t take this the wrong way but I think I deserve to know everything, I have a right to know what I’m up against.”

Sighing, Blake leaned back farther into the bench and gazed up towards the star filled sky. “Abby cast a protection spell on you when we realized you had no way to protect yourself. Even though we were still unsure about a lot of things, we knew that Isaac was tracking you, and more than likely Alex was nearby as well. And it was my duty to keep you safe until we could figure it all out. The night you left to see Roger, Isaac was able to break through the spell somehow and find you … or the spell may have had boundaries and you crossed over them. Either way, it was a stupid, careless mistake on my part—one that I may never forgive myself for.” He looked over at me with an agonizing expression. “And you’re right; you do deserve to know what you’re up against. I just don’t know how to explain it all to you.  But I will tell you anything you want to know, no more secrets.”

I stared out into the ocean, not knowing what to say. Just the thought of Isaac gave me flashbacks of my dream, the first one I had had about me running into the forest. There were two men that day standing near the tree line, staring at me. Now I was positive that one had been Isaac, and I could only assume that the other was Alex. There was a large part of me that wanted to know about them … everything I possibly could. But another part of me didn’t know if I had the capacity to take all of that in right now. There was already so much information that I felt I hadn’t fully processed yet.

“Oh, and don’t worry about your friend,” Blake said, totally redirecting my thoughts.

“Friend?”

“You know, the guy you met in Rockport.”

My heart sank … Roger. For all Roger knew, I had gone to the bathroom and disappeared.

“What do you mean don’t worry about him?” I gulped, hoping nothing bad had happened to him.

“After you and I left last night, Abby put a spell on him and his friend. He won’t even remember that you went out there. It was the easiest way. Your aunt’s car is also safe. My dad got it back safely,” he said reassuringly.

I had remembered seeing the Cherokee in the driveway earlier that evening but didn’t think anything of it. It looked so normal to be sitting in its rightful place.

“Do you have any more questions for me? I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” he said, shifting his body so that he was fully facing me.

I turned to look at him. The moon cast a shadow on half of his face, but it was still easy to find his eyes. I stared into them, immediately forgetting the thousand questions I wanted to ask.

“Lots, but I don’t think I can handle any more information tonight. I better let some sink in a bit.”

Scooting closer to him, I rested my head on his shoulder, and he wrapped both arms around me, holding me in a sweet embrace. An hour or so passed in silence, and I caught myself nodding off. I jerked my head back to an upright position, not wanting to sleep. Not wanting to miss any moment when he was near me.

“I should probably get you to bed. Abby will kill me if you’re not ready to go first thing in the morning. Ready to go back?” he asked.

“Not really. I used to love being at home; it was the one place I felt safe. But it doesn’t feel that way now.” I sighed, realizing that nothing was sacred anymore.

“I told you that I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. That one slip-up with Isaac won’t happen again. Don’t you trust me?” he questioned. I couldn’t help but hear a slight sadness in his voice.

It had nothing to do with trusting him. Of course I trusted him. He had saved me from what could have been one of my worst nightmares come to life. Literally. But I knew I couldn’t run from it. I would have to go home one day.

Chapter Seventeen

By the time we got back to my house, I was exhausted. Blake offered to sleep on the couch and promised he would stay until Abby arrived in the morning. After changing into an oversized T-shirt, I washed my face and brushed my teeth then crawled into bed. With Blake downstairs, I felt safe. But even though I was completely exhausted, I couldn’t sleep. Lying in bed, I stared at the ceiling, trying to envision what the next day would be like. Abby would perform a summoning spell on me to link me with my powers. Even though I knew all of the typical clichés that went along with witchcraft, I would probably feel like a fool when it was nothing as I had expected.

After tossing and turning for what was probably an hour, I got up and headed downstairs, hoping a glass of milk would help calm me. As I got to the bottom of the stairs, I couldn’t help but look around the corner to sneak a peek at Blake. I found him lying on the couch, eyes wide-open, and deep in thought.

“Blake,” I whispered.

“Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”

“Can’t sleep.” I sighed.

“You have a big day tomorrow, and I will have to answer to my sister if you are not fully rested. She may not look like it, but she can be pretty nasty when she gets angry.” He grinned as he adjusted the pillow behind his head in order to get a better look at me.

“I was thinking … about the other night with Isaac.” Just the thought of him having me in his grasp sent a shiver down my spine.

Blake’s face had turned serious at the mention of Isaac.

“What did he mean when he called you a friend?” I asked.

He let out a loud sigh, and I walked over toward him, taking a seat at the end of the couch, never taking my eyes off his face.

“We used to be friends. It seems like a hundred years ago, but it was just a few years back … in my time, that is.”

I gulped too loudly, and he began to explain. I assumed he felt that he owed me an explanation as to how he had been friends with a guy that wanted to hurt or maybe even kill me—the jury was still out on that one.

“Years ago, Isaac and I were like brothers. We trained together when we first found out about our powers so it formed a strong bond between us. My family and his family were all very close. Abby and Isaac were engaged to be married.”

“Abby and Isaac?” I gasped. Then I remembered the awkward glance that Annette and Blake had shared at dinner and the distant look Abby had had on her face. When I brought up the wedding between Aunt Rose and Jack, it must have triggered something for her.

“Yes, he was very different back then, before his entire life changed, transforming him into the monster he is today.” Blake looked back toward the ceiling, diving deep into his thoughts, back into the past.

“One night, Isaac and I were up late studying some spells. It was around two in the morning when we finally called it quits for the night and he headed home. By all accounts, he saw the fire consuming his house from a few blocks away, but he was too late. When he got to his house, it was engulfed in flames. He tried his hardest to go in and save his family, but the flames had already taken over. Word spread quickly through town, and I found him the next morning, sitting near the embers where his house had once stood. When I approached him, he didn’t flinch or speak. For days, he wouldn’t respond to me or even Abby. It was so difficult for us not to be able to help him. He stayed at our house for a few weeks without speaking to any of us. He was in a constant daze. It took all of us to just get him to eat and drink something every day. Then one night he disappeared. We didn’t see or hear from him for a year. Then one night he returned and he was very upset. He started mentioning Alex, saying Alex told him that if he helped him get what he wanted, then Alex would bring his family back. He said that he and Alex had a plan but it had gone wrong. That everything was all ruined. I tried to calm him down. Abby tried to comfort him, but he stormed off in a rage. He seemed upset that we didn’t take him seriously. A few more months passed before we saw him again. He was a totally different person then. There was no soul left in his eyes. He said that he and Alex had another plan, one more chance, and they were confident that it would work this time. We didn’t understand anything of what he was saying. And we couldn’t understand why he had trusted Alex. He had been our biggest enemy for years. He practiced dark magic and would do anything for more power.”