White Witch (10 page)

I slide into the front seat, cursing the console that sits between Keller and me. But he holds my hand with one of his as he drives with the other.

“Man, I’m drowning in hormones,” Toni laments with much drama from the back seat. “I’ve got Mr. and Mrs. Smoochy Lips back here, and the Googly Eyes in the front. I’m so writing away for a mail-order date next time.”

“Hey, Keller, pull over at the Kwik Stop. I’m thirsty,” Eric says.

“Ya think that might be because all your saliva is gone?” Toni asks.

Paige giggles, and I love hearing how happy my friend sounds. But my heart hurts a little for Toni. She always puts on a brave face, but I wonder if deep down Toni really does wish she could write away for a gorgeous date so she didn’t have to endure fifth wheeldom.

Keller pulls into the side parking lot of the Kwik Stop, a brightly-lit convenience store plopped down in the middle of nowhere. During the day, the road is fairly busy, but now the attendant looks bored out of his mind.

We all pile out of the truck and wander inside to feed our late-night munchies and make use of the facilities. Once inside, we spread out like spilled marbles—Toni to the restroom, Eric and Paige to the drink coolers at the back of the store, Keller to the candy bar aisle. I’m not hungry or thirsty, so I peruse the magazines at the front of the store.

“Y’all been to The Barn?” asks the attendant, a red-headed guy who appears to be in his mid-twenties.

“Yeah.”

“I sure miss going up there, but I get stuck here every Friday night.”

“That sucks.”

“Tell me about it. So—” He’s cut off by someone’s loud entry into the store.

I turn just as a man in a baseball cap and dark glasses levels a gun at the store clerk and says, “Give me everything in the register.” As he says it, he notices me and Keller, who is standing two rows over from me. The robber mutters an expletive, like he didn’t expect to have an audience.

My heart goes nuts in my chest, hammering against my ribs like it wants to break free and make a getaway. I don’t blame it. If the guy decides to wipe out witnesses, I’m likely the first to go after the clerk. My mind races for some way out of this, some way that doesn’t expose my abilities.

My brain continues to burn rubber as the clerk nervously pulls money from the cash register drawer.

“Now place the money on the counter and get in the floor. If you try to pull anything, I’ll blow your head clear off.”

The clerk complies, whimpering as he does so.

“Dude, someone needs to clean the bathroom.”

My heart freezes when I hear Toni’s voice. Everything screeches into slow motion as Toni rounds the corner, her eyes going wide as she sees the gunman swing the barrel of the gun toward her and reflexively pull the trigger.

I have no choice. I tackle the gunman, my movement from the spot by the magazines no more than a blur. The gun explodes close to my ear, the sound assaulting my eardrum. The gunman and I crash into a display of thermal mugs sporting racecar drivers and their cars.

I slam the robber’s hand against the concrete floor so hard that I’m fairly sure I’ve broken some of his bones, but it has the intended effect. He drops the gun and howls in so much pain that he forgets about the weapon.

I whip my head around, praying the shot went wide. Keller crouches with his arms encircling Toni. “Are you okay?” I ask.

He nods, barely. Toni looks up at me. Both of their faces reflect shock, and it isn’t only because of being the near victims of an armed robber. But I can’t worry about that now. I turn and slug the guy, knocking him out cold. Then I focus on the security camera. There can be no video proof of what happened. I concentrate my power and toast the camera’s insides.

“Hey, clerk guy, call the police,” I say. I stand, my body humming with power. It takes a lot of concentration to force it down, but I have to. And hope that my burst of witchery doesn’t bring trouble to town.

I hear the clerk dialing the cordless phone, but he’s still hiding behind the counter, probably afraid to put his head in the possible line of fire. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Keller and Toni stand.

Toni’s eyes meet mine, still wide and full of questions. “What just happened?”

I close the distance between us. “You’re really okay?”

Toni nods, but she looks like she’s bordering on shock.

I lower my voice so only Toni and Keller can hear. “I’ve got to go. The police can’t find me here.”

“Why?” Toni’s forehead scrunches.

“I’ll explain everything after the police are gone, I swear. But trust me, I can’t be here when they arrive. They can’t know I was here. It’s safer if I’m nowhere near here.”

“I don’t understand,” Toni says, shaking her head.

I grab Toni’s hands between mine. “You will. When you all are through here, I’ll meet you at your house. Tell your mom I’m spending the night.”

“What about the clerk, and Eric and Paige?” Keller asks, his voice flat and distant.

It’s all I can do to look up at him. I don’t want to see hate or disgust there, and I don’t. But I do see betrayal and wariness, and it scorches my heart. “The clerk was traumatized, was mistaken about another person being here. Tell Eric and Paige that my mom is really strict, that if she finds out I was here I’ll never be able to go anywhere again. Tell them I caught a ride home with someone else.”

I can’t wait for an answer. The clerk is stirring, preparing to stand. I hurry through the front door and into the night at normal speed. I stop at the edge of the light shed by the high-powered bulbs above the gas pumps and look back at the store. I really should go back to the RV, gather my belongings and hit the road. I really should, but I can’t. I have friends here, some semblance of a real life. I care about someone, and—common sense be damned—I can’t stand the thought of letting him go when I’ve just found him.

So I’m going to be selfish. It ought to come easy to me, considering my heritage, but it doesn’t. With a final look at Keller through the window of the store, I turn around and walk into the night.

“And Jax is spending the night,” Toni says without looking at me.

“That’s probably a good idea. You shouldn’t be driving this late by yourself.”

After she flits about a few more moments, Mrs. Dawes reluctantly goes inside. We wait until all but one lamp switches off in the living room and the light in what must be Toni’s mom’s bedroom comes on.

“Come on.” Keller leads the way around to the back of the house, to the far end of the lot where a gazebo sits among his aunt’s flower garden. When he steps inside, he stalks to the opposite side, takes a deep breath then spins toward me. “What the hell happened back there? What are you?”

I jerk at the verbal attack, confirmation of what I’d feared the most—he’s a hunter. I place a hand on my stomach to quell the sick feeling and slowly sink onto the cushioned bench opposite the one where Toni is sitting.

“I’m a witch.”

“A witch with super speed?” Keller crosses his arms. “I’ve not come across that.”

“Yeah, well, just because you’re a supernatural hunter doesn’t mean you know everything.”

“How—?”

“Just because I’m blond doesn’t mean I’m dumb. Not too many teenage guys running around with bloodstones.”

“You
were
there on the edge of the road the other night.”

I glance at Toni, whose eyes are wide, then back at Keller.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I live at the Rocky Creek Campground. I was out for a walk, thinking.”

“About?” Toni asks.

“How I needed someone to pose as my mom so I could enroll in school.”

“Pose? That wasn’t your mom in the office that morning?” Keller asks.

“No. We all have something in common, losing a parent. My mom died when I was young.”

“Not your dad like you told me?” Keller sounds as hurt by that lie as any of the others.

“No.”

“Then who are you living with?” Toni shifts forward, looking for the same answers as Keller.

“No one. I live alone.”

“How’d you convince someone to pose as your mother?” Keller asks, suspicion in his voice.

“I didn’t.” I get to my feet and pace. “Listen, this will be easier if you don’t interrupt. If I start at the beginning and barrel through it, okay?”

“You don’t have the right to dictate here,” he says.

My heart breaks a little more at Keller’s harshness. But what did I expect? He’s probably been told his entire life that anything supernatural is evil incarnate.

“Keller,” Toni scolds. “Give her a chance to explain.”

When my gaze connects with Keller’s, my body rebels against me, wanting so desperately to move into the circle of his arms. But the likelihood of that ever happening again is probably nonexistent. I pace a couple more times before I sit back down and inhale a deep breath.

“Like I said, I’m a witch, but not the kind you’re familiar with. I don’t make potions or have a black cat or ride on a broom.”

“I’m aware those aren’t the real kind of witches,” Keller says.

I give him a hard look. “Do you want to know this or not?” Anger edges into my voice to match his.

He leans against one of the gazebo supports in answer.

“My real last name is Pherson, and I’m part of a powerful witch family in Miami. There’s a family of power in most major cities. They have their hands in a lot of pies, some legal, some not, all of which make very good money. And they don’t care who gets hurt in the process. You see, revenge and retribution are the core of our existence. We’re taught that non-witches should pay for all the things their forebears did to our ancestors.”

I sigh and shake my head. “I need to back up or this isn’t going to make any sense. You both know that there have been witch trials throughout history. Some didn’t even get the sham of a trial. They were burned, hung, drowned, pressed to death by rocks. Those people were harmless. They knew how to use herbs for medicine, had only hints of magical powers. They didn’t want to conform to society’s strict rules. And they were killed for it. It went on for centuries, and the Salem Witch Hunt was the last straw.”