Winter Fire (Witchling Series) (10 page)

Dawn was at the top of Decker’s list. Beck suspected his twin had told her as much with his normal candidness.

“I didn’t see you at Tanya’s funeral,” she said.

Beck blinked, not expecting her to mention the girl she helped kill. Dawn’s mood changed so fast, he wasn’t sure how to react.

“I really am sorry for what happened,” Dawn said, sadness on her pretty face. “I didn’t know Alexa was going to kill her.”

He said nothing, tense. He had seen exactly how Dawn contributed to Tanya’s death through the magick of her memories -- that is, before he was forced to claim the soul of the dead girl. Accessing the memories of a dead Light witchling was another of his gifts as the Light Master, a fact Dawn didn’t know.

“You know I’ve always loved you, Beck,” she continued. “I got jealous. Yes, I wanted Tanya kidnapped, but it was meant just to scare her off. Like a joke. Nothing more.”

“I read what you said in the police reports,” he managed.

“Then you know I’d never hurt anyone.”

“Unless you wanted to hurt me through them. You said as much a few weeks ago.”

“I was upset. I mean, it isn’t fair that you get to go off and sleep around while I’m stuck with a kid.”

“You can’t hurt others, Dawn,” he said, his protective instinct kicking in, despite his own angst at confronting her. “Your issue is with me, not with innocent people like Tanya.”

Surprise crossed her features at his calm, firm tone. He’d had this discussion with his twin at one point, too, when Decker started killing Light witchlings. Beck’s personal life – and his duty to the Light and the witchlings – were two different matters. 

“Oh now you try to do the right thing,” she said, recovering. “Where was that trait when I first told you about the baby? You know it’s your fault you’re dragging her into this court mess. All you had to do was give us a second chance.”

Never. He vowed silently. “You chose to go Dark,” he reminded her. “A Light master can’t be with a Dark girl.”

“Then you’ll be with no one, Beck.” Dawn’s blue eyes flared, and red crept up her face. “If you won’t even put your daughter first, you shouldn’t be with any woman. You’ll never understand how to treat someone right. Maybe I did Tanya a favor by taking her away from you.”

“You will. Not. Hurt. Witchlings.” His normal depths of control were slipping with the idea that Dawn had killed his girlfriend out of spite and thought herself in the right. It went against everything he believed in, as both a human being and the Master of Light.

“I meant the kidnapping part,” Dawn added. “Alexa hurt her.”

“Both are offenses to the Light.”

“Did you ever love me?”

Beck wanted to scream. He turned away from her and leaned against the railing, closing his eyes to gather his patience.

“Even if you didn’t or don’t, can you love your own daughter?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “I will do whatever it takes to protect her and give her a good life.”

“Hmmm. But not the woman who’s carrying her,” Dawn observed. “You’re some piece of work, Beck. Maybe they should call you the Selective Protector of Light.”

God, Light, Great Spirit, whoever is out there, give me strength.
Beck gripped the railing harder.

“Stop. Now.” The third voice made him jerk.

No, Morgan!
He cried silently.

Chapter Seven

Morgan stopped mid-sentence and cocked her head to the side, sensing something she didn’t like. At all.

Pain.
It wasn’t hers, but it was strong. Strangely so. It stirred her fire magick in a way that left her agitated.

“You okay?” Summer asked with a curious look.

“Yeah.” Morgan glanced over her shoulder thoughtfully, towards where they’d left Beck.

“No, Morgan,” Decker spoke just as her eyes settled on the tall blonde standing with Beck near a dock.

Morgan looked at the eighteen-year-old Master of Dark, who was tense, despite having one arm around Summer. He reminded her of Connor, except he was surrounded by shadows that made her want to edge away. The couple looked so comfortable, so natural together. She felt a pang of yearning; would she ever be able to trust someone as much as they seemed to trust one another?

“I have to go,” she said. “It was nice to meet you.” She turned and started back towards Beck.

“Morgan, be careful,” Summer called, worry in her voice.

Morgan was too distracted to respond. She couldn’t remember ever feeling someone else’s pain so strongly. And his? She’d been thinking of ways to tell him she couldn’t go on another date with him, while also keeping an eye on him to help Connor with his trial and fulfill her promise to the bigfoot.

She didn’t know how to do both. Right now, she wasn’t able to think more about it, not with her fire’s need to transform pain to something that left her in peace.

Beck’s appearance was calm while the Dark girl’s was angry. The look on his face was hard, his eyes intense, and not in a way Morgan ever wanted him to look at her. Morgan almost stopped, familiar fear fluttering through her.

She didn’t know him. Like, really know him. What if his niceness was a front?

His pain was real.

“Stop it, Morgan. Not everyone is a bad guy,” she lectured herself quietly, her step quickening once again. As she drew near, Beck turned away. His agitation was as clear as his attempt to control it.

Morgan didn’t think twice about interfering in their conversation. The Dark girl was the worst kind of person – a bully. Morgan’s fire magick stirred for a different reason when she was close enough to hear them talking. Fire wanted to take Dawn, to destroy the cold, Dark shadows around her.

Dawn was hurting Beck in a way Morgan recognized intimately. She almost let her magick loose, but stopped herself, aware of the Light Laws Amber had taught them and the warning the bigfoot gave her about obeying them.

“You’re some piece of work, Beck,” Dawn was saying. “Maybe they should call you the Selective Protector of Light.”

More pain. And anger.

“Stop. Now,” Morgan commanded.

Beck went rigid at her voice while Dawn glanced over her shoulder at Morgan. Uninterested, the blonde’s attention returned to Beck.

Morgan wasn’t about to be ignored, not with her fire burning through her blood. She circled the two and planted herself between Dawn, who looked quizzical, and Beck, who went suddenly pale.

“Leave him alone,” Morgan said in the firm tone her self-defense instructor had taught her.

Dawn appeared startled, then laughed. “You have a guard dog now, Beck?”

“He needs one with people like you around.”

That got the arrogant girl’s attention. The blonde glared at her, smile fading.

“Morgan,” Beck said, hushed. “You –“

“Wait a minute,” Dawn interjected. “You’re with this … girl?” Her gaze swept over Morgan.

Morgan crossed her arms. She didn’t care at all what the bitch before her thought of her; she knew how to weather through people like this.

“Oh, no,” Beck said quickly. “She’s just a new girl at school. Besides, you know I only go for blondes.”

His words stung. The blonde girl seemed to be trying to decide if Beck was telling the truth or not. Though it hurt, Morgan didn’t dwell on Beck’s hasty declaration.

“Yeah,” Dawn said. She looked hard at Morgan. “This is between us. Go for a walk or something.”

“Absolutely not,” Morgan replied. “He’s my ride, and we’re leaving now.”

“Stupid little bitch,” Dawn said with a cunning smile. “You have no idea who you’re messing with.”

Morgan recognized the glow in her gaze. She’d spent the past four years in fear of it, hiding from the man who beat her when his mood turned sour.  She hated that look and hated more that someone like Beck was on the receiving end of it.

The bigfoot was right. Beck didn’t just need help. He needed rescuing.

With her fire magick sizzling off the ends of her hair and clothing, Morgan drew closer to Dawn.

“I know what you are,” she said slowly. “You’re a coward with the ability to use magick to hurt those you can’t control.”

Fire flared around Morgan, edging her body in yellow and orange flames. Heat and warmth whipped through her. Dawn took a quick step back.

“You’re a bully who preys on the fear and pain of others,” Morgan continued. Her flames stretched towards Dawn, who inched away. “Stay away from Beck.”

“Beck is mine. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep him.” Dawn was both angry and uncertain, eyeing the flames that licked too closely to her.

“Not anymore,” Morgan said calmly.

There was a fury and crazy gleam in Dawn’s eyes.

Morgan felt Beck grip her shoulder, and the earth’s calming, gentle power swept through her. Her magick yielded to the Master of Light at once, the flames dying instantly. Morgan was expecting the cowardly bully to act and wasn’t surprised that Dawn waited until her magick was subdued to do so.

The blonde stepped forward one more time with a hand raised to slap her, and Morgan braced herself for the blow, unwilling to back down.

Beck snatched Dawn’s hand before it reached her.

“Stop,” Beck ordered in a hard voice. “Both of you.”

Dawn looked up at him in consternation then yanked her hand back.

“If you don’t want another Tanya on your hands, you’ll dump the guard dog,” Dawn hissed at him. She whirled and strode away into the crowd.

Morgan waited until she was gone then shifted away from Beck. He took her arm and pulled her to face him, gripping both of her arms. The tension of his body scared her. He wasn’t hurting her, but she didn’t want him touching her, not when he was so upset.

“Morgan-“ he started.

“Let me go!”

His hands dropped, and he paced away from her, rubbing the back of his head with one hand then gripping his head with both.

“You have no idea what you just did,” he managed at last.

“Incurred the wrath of a bully.”

“She’s not just a bully, Morgan.” Beck was beyond distressed. He stopped pacing at once, back to her.

She wanted to storm away and walk home, but his pain … it was driving her crazy. Her fire magick was stretching for him even while she silently ordered it to stop. As hurt as her own feelings were, she understood what it was to feel as he did now, without anyone there to help.

She wasn’t going to let him experience what she had every day for four years.

Morgan walked to the teen struggling to control his own emotions. She rested a hand on his arm and pushed more of her candy flames into him. His magick accepted hers readily, and the strange ache she felt to do something faded. His warmth settled her agitated fire, while her fire eased his pain with its comforting heat.

Beck was still, accepting her help. When he was calm enough, she lowered her hand. She was trying hard to focus on him and not her own emotions, but the fire burned wildly within her, outside her control. Its influence on her feelings was hard to counteract.

Right now, she wanted to cry.

“Can we go back now?” she asked.

“Yeah. Good idea.” Beck gave her a weak smile. He was normal again, not the angry, tense stranger. “Thank you, Morgan.”

She shrugged and turned away. Beck caught her arm again.

“No, really. Thank you,” he said, moving to face her.

She didn’t look at him. “Let’s go.” She pulled away and jammed her hands into her pockets, walking quickly towards the car.

Beck drew abreast of her, but said nothing. They reached the car a few minutes later, and he opened the door for her.

She sank into it, resting her head back for a moment.

She’s just a new girl at school. Besides, you know I only go for blondes.

She didn’t want to like him, so why did his declaration hurt badly enough that she fought back tears?

Beck got into the car and started it, weaving carefully through the crowded streets, until they reached the empty, two-lane road leading north, towards the Light campus.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Fine.”

“Oh, god. That means the opposite in chic-speak,” he half-joked.

Morgan said nothing. She stared out the window at the dark forest whipping by. In the close confines of the car, earth magick was moving through her, calming her. It was all that kept her from crying.

“I’m sorry about all that,” he tried again. “But really, Morgan, you don’t want someone like Dawn in your life, hounding your every move, sending you angry text messages. She’s a nightmare.”

Morgan glanced at him, hearing the pain again.

“I’m obligated to deal with her,” he added. “I’m afraid you might be a target for her, after tonight.”

“I can take care of myself,” she assured him. “I’m not afraid of people like her.”

“If she confronts you, will you tell me?”

Her anger stirred again, though she didn’t know why. Earth magick pushed the fire back into submission, and she sighed.

“No,” she replied. “Because I don’t want anything to do with you after tonight.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” His jaw tightened visibly. “It’s probably for the best, though.”

Morgan’s heart fell further. He wasn’t even willing to fight for her. All his talk earlier about not needing her brother’s permission, about how pretty she was …

She couldn’t think about it now. It hurt too much to think that Beck had asked her out for some reason other than he might’ve liked her.

“Personal issues aside, I do need you to tell me if she threatens you or tries to kidnap you or anything,” Beck said firmly. “It’s my duty as Master of Light to protect witchlings.”

“Fine.”

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“No.”

“Morgan,” he sighed. “Please. For me. Even if you hate me after tonight. Dawn can’t be allowed to hurt people.”

“I know that,” she snapped. “Why else do you think I stood up for you? I know what she was doing to you.”

“No one can know that.”

“I can. I felt your pain. I want to destroy it  … she was hurting you, and I can’t … I can’t stand …” Her voice broke. She looked out the window again, hands clenched in her lap.

“You’re like an angry guardian angel,” he said, amused. “A beautiful, sweet, angry little angel.” The skin around his eyes softened with his long look.