Taken (21 page)

“The trips picked it up almost immediately, especially Savvy. It wasn’t nearly as easy for me. But after a couple of weeks in Mexico, I just started understanding what folks was saying. By the end of two months, I could speak it well enough to be understood — for the most part.”

“Why were you in Mexico for two months?”

“After I told Diego I was a mage with a price on my head, he decided the best way to avoid any trackers was to take a detour south of the border on our way to Colorado. But we still had a hard time shaking ‘em off our trail. I finally got fed up with it and killed the son-of-a-bitch.”

“You killed him?”
 

“I ain’t one to judge a whole group of people on the bad behavior of a few, but I swear trackers are the scum of the earth. Somebody was molesting and murdering little kids in every town me and Diego stayed in for more than a day or two. I suspected it was the tracker. Sure enough, after I sent him to hell, the attacks stopped.”

“Does it bother you? Knowing you killed a man?”

“Does it bother you to kill a rattlesnake?”

Channie still had nightmares about killing Harvey and Jimmy, but she didn’t know if it was because she’d killed them or because they’d both wanted to rape her.
 

“Anyway, we high-tailed it outta there and got here on Thanksgiving Day.”

“That was just two days after I left.”

“I know! I was so upset. It seemed like no matter where I went I was gonna be missing somebody. And the trips wouldn’t even look at me.”

“How’d they take the news that Diego was their Daddy?”

“They loved him as soon as they laid eyes on him. I didn’t even get a chance to introduce him before Savvy tugged on his hand and said, ‘Are you my daddy?’ It was the sweetest thing.” Abby blinked and wiped her eyes on her sleeve then pressed her hand over her heart and shuddered. “Until Daddy tore into Diego.”

“What happened?” Channie’s heart leapt into her throat even though Diego had obviously survived the encounter without any visible scars.

“Daddy grabbed the front of Diego’s shirt, drug him through the house and out into the back yard. It was horrible.” Abby’s voice trembled. “Diego didn’t fight back or even try to defend hisself. Daddy beat the living daylights out of him.”

“Why didn’t Diego fight back?” Diego wasn’t nearly as big or strong as Daddy but he was no wimp either. Maybe he was a coward.

“I asked him that myself, once it was over with. He said he felt like he deserved it for not marrying me as soon as he learned I was pregnant.”

“How bad was it?”
 

“Bad enough. But when Daddy hollered something about me being a whore, it was like somebody flipped a crazy switch inside Diego.”

“What do you mean?”

“He twisted outta Daddy’s grip and landed at least half a dozen punches in less time that it takes to blink. I ain’t never seen nobody move that fast.”

“He hit Daddy?”

“Broke his nose, split his lip and bruised his ribs.”

“I’m surprised Daddy didn’t kill him after that. All he would’a had to do was curse him.”

“He knocked him out with a be-calm spell, but not before Diego beat him up.”

“So how come Daddy and Diego are all buddy-buddy now?”

“Nobody but Momma’s ever stood up to Daddy before and even she backs off when he gets riled up. Daddy respects Diego. He even said as much. He told Diego he had more spunk than any man he’d ever met.”

“Daddy was so mad at you for leaving, he swore he’d never let you set foot under his roof again.”

Abby rolled her eyes. “That was before he and Momma had to take care of the trips on their own. If you’d still been there to babysit, I doubt they’d a been so accommodating. As soon as Momma healed Daddy, they packed their bags and took off for the casinos — leaving us to babysit. We didn’t even get so much as a nap before they left.”

“Ya know, Abby … taking care of your own kids isn’t babysitting, it’s parenting.”

Josh’s stomach churned as he drove to school the next morning. After that huge emo scene with Dad last night he hadn’t been able to fall asleep so he’d downed two cups of coffee as soon as he stumbled into the kitchen. He probably shouldn’t have refused the waffles Dad made as a peace offering, but since he still refused to let Josh see Channie, there was no truce. He had no appetite. He could barely breathe, much less eat. It was like the bottom two-thirds of his lungs couldn’t function without Channie.

He had no remorse about lying and sneaking out, but Dad was going to be extra vigilant for the next few weeks so there was no way Josh could sneak out again so soon. He couldn’t stand the thought of Channie sitting in the park waiting for him and wondering why he didn’t show up. He had to find a way to get a message to her. If all the witchy people in her house couldn’t “feel” his magical energy, he’d just sneak into her room before school and tell her, or leave her a note if she weren’t there. What would that crazy bitch she called “Momma” do to Channie if she suspected she’d had an unauthorized visitor?

Maybe he could talk Kassie into knocking on her front door and … and what? Announce that she had a secret message for Channie? Maybe she could claim to be a friend and say she’d heard Channie was back and she just wanted to deliver her homework assignments. That might actually work.

By the time Josh got to school, there was only one parking spot left in the senior lot, and a vintage yellow Mustang was honing in on it. “Oh no you don’t.” He hit the gas and peppered the cars behind him with gravel. Josh didn’t know her name, but he knew the redhead behind the wheel was just a sophomore. She grinned as she cut him off and whipped into the spot.
 

Josh laid on the horn then rolled down his window. “Hey! You can’t park here. Seniors only.” The little snot flipped him off but at least she moved her car.
 

He grabbed his backpack and ran across the quad. If he didn’t find Kassie before she went to class, he’d have to wait until lunch.

Josh missed Channie so much it hurt. He put a hand over his glowing chest. No one here could see their bond but the way it pulsed when he stepped through the door startled him. He assumed it was activated by his desire to see Channie, so when he walked around the corner and found her leaning against his locker, it took him completely by surprise. “Channie! What are you doing here?”

She grinned up at him and said, “Waiting for you.”

He stroked her cheeks with the back of his fingers then kissed the top of her head and whispered in her ear, “Who healed you?”

“Momma.”

Josh slid his hands around her waist then leaned back and examined every inch of Channie’s perfect face. “I thought she wanted you to suffer.”

Channie looked both ways then lowered her voice and said, “She does. But Daddy took the Book of the Dead away from her and told her she couldn’t have it back unless she apologized and healed me.”

“Is she going to try to retaliate?”

“I don’t think so.” Channie dropped her chin and stared at her hands.
 

She was lying.

“Do you think I could make a shield for you, the way you did for me?”

Channie shook her head. “No.”

“Why not?”

“If I come home with a shield, it’ll raise too many questions.”

“Can’t you just say that some of your power came back?”

Channie rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t work like that.”

“Well, tell everyone that Hunter did it. I know he’d cover for you.”

“I don’t have the power to maintain a shield. All it would do is make Momma mad. She’ll curse me as soon as it fails.”

Josh pulled Channie against his chest and inhaled the scent of her hair, calming himself. “I hate that you’re so vulnerable in your own home.”

“Me too.” She lifted her chin, a clear signal. Josh kissed her, but kept it PG. He’d been jealous of the guys with girlfriends since middle school, but Channie wasn’t just his girlfriend, she was his wife. And their physical relationship was too special to put it on display for the whole school.

The first bell rang, interrupting the kiss. Josh took Channie’s hand and said, “Come on, we need to go to the office and find out what classes we got stuck with.” He also wanted to find out if he had any chance of graduating on time. He’d never carried a full load, because of racing, but he might still be able to pull it off if he could drop all electives and just take core classes. Dad would have to hire a tutor, though. And all the extra homework was going to suck big time.

~***~

Mr. Torres closed the door to his office then unlocked the top drawer of his file cabinet and pulled out the first folder. “I see you’re still first in your class.”

Josh resisted the urge to roll his eyes and smiled instead. “Only according to the alphabet.”

Mr. Torres nodded and said, “All joking aside, I hate to see you fail so close to graduation. Let me talk to your instructors and see if I can convince them to let you take their final exams.”

“Seriously?” He didn’t even question Josh about where he’d been or lecture him about cutting classes. It must be the magic. He’d spent plenty of time in this office last semester and Mr. Torres had been a lot less sympathetic.

“It’s highly unusual, but you’ve been a good student until this last year. We’ve got to get your senioritis under control or you aren’t going to graduate on time. I’m afraid you’ll have a hard time getting into a university, but there’s nothing wrong with starting out at Front Range.”

Mr. Torres wants me to graduate, so he’s susceptible to my magic. Cool!
Josh said, “Do you mind if I go with you when you meet with my teachers? I want to explain in person how sorry I am for missing finals.” It would take more than magic to convince Old Lady Windsor to bend the rules.
 

Mr. Torres stood up and shook Josh’s hand. “I appreciate your desire to step up and take responsibility for your actions. What do you say we go right now and get this taken care of?”
 

Josh wanted to wait for Channie, but he didn’t know how long the magic would last and he really wanted to graduate on time. He’d just have to catch up with her at lunch.

~***~

Mrs. Windsor was the last hold out. Josh was ready to give up when he thought of another tactic. “I really wanted to get into your AP creative writing class this semester but English Lit is a prerequisite. I can’t fail that class. Please let me take the final.”

Josh poured every bit of magical energy he could summon into the old witch and focused on how much he wanted to graduate. Mrs. Windsor narrowed her eyes and peered at him over the top of her half-moon glasses. “You have a C minus without the final. That will get you into my writing class.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Why the hell didn’t she say so in the first place? She must get off on torturing people.

When Josh found Channie at lunch she was not happy. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “What’s wrong, babe?”

“I have to take all of my first semester classes over again. I failed every one of them.”

“Did you talk to any of your teachers and ask if you could take finals?”

“Apparently, that’s against the rules.”

“Hmmm… maybe there’s something I can do about that.”

Channie peeked at Josh out of the corner of her eyes. “Did you … beguile your teachers?”

Josh grinned and nodded. “I sure did. Even Old Lady Windsor.”

“No way!”
 

“Yep. So, let’s go talk to yours.”

“Why bother? We’re leaving once Abby and Diego move out, right?”

Josh’s heart sank. “If your mom’s better, maybe we could wait until after I graduate?”

Channie bit her lip and nodded then turned her head to the side, shielding her face with her hair.

Josh grabbed her shoulders and bent over so he could look into her tear-filled eyes. “Forget I even mentioned it. Whenever you want to leave just say the word.
 
We can get in the car right now and take off if that’s what you want to do.”

She blinked the tears out of her eyes. One fell off the tip of her nose onto her blouse. “No, you’re right. We should wait for you to graduate. What difference will a few more months make anyway? It’s not like we can’t see each other at school.” She blushed and ducked her head, peeking at him from under her lashes — then hit him with a wave of pure lust. “I can’t wait until midnight.”

Damn!

Josh shifted his books a little lower and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. “Yeah. About that…”
 

~***~

Josh could have handled it if Channie had yelled at him when he told her Dad had forbidden him from seeing her, but when the tears streamed down her face he wanted to die. “Oh babe, I’m so sorry.”

“Ezra begged me not to hurt you and I let him believe that I was breaking up with you. He hates me. ”

“My dad adores you. Almost as much as I do.” Josh brushed the tears off her cheek with his thumbs then kissed the tip of her nose. “He even said we could get married as soon as you turn eighteen.”

“We’re already married!”
 

“What was that?” Kassie appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Josh’s arm. “Did she just say you’re
married
?” Her gaze flicked to Channie’s stomach as she rested a hand on her own well camouflaged baby bump.”

Channie said, “Yes. We’re married. But it’s a secret so don’t tell anyone.”

“Are you pregnant?”

“Why is that first thing every one assumes? No, I am
not
pregnant.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to insult you.” Kassie dropped her gaze to the floor.
 

Josh knew Channie didn’t mean to be cruel, but she had a habit of just blurting out whatever thought happened to cross her mind. Especially when someone annoyed her — whether it was intentional or not. He tugged on Kassie’s sleeve and said, “Hey, how’s it going with Eric?”

Kassie’s face scrunched into a mask of pain. Her eyes overflowed and her whole body shook with visible tremors like a volcano on the verge of erupting. Josh recognized the signs of an impending emotional breakdown. Apparently, so did Channie.