Witch's Brew - Spellspinners 1 (Spellspinners of Melas County) (32 page)

I traced the swirls of ink on his forearm. “They’re so beautiful. Do you know what they mean?”

“I don’t. Do you?”

“I understand the Celtic symbols—this one means life, this one is like the yin yang, no?” Under dark lashes his glance was disapproving.

“What?” I asked, my chin on his chest.

“Messing with the serpent was too risky. I know you wouldn’t have done it unless you
knew
he wouldn’t hurt you. So how’d you know?”

“I just did.”

His eyes narrowed. “How?”

“You aren’t going to drop this are you?” I sat back up, running my fingers through wet sand.

He sat up too. “No. I want you to be honest with me. What happened down there?” Ignoring his question, I painted the Celtic knot inked to his chest with my eyes, running down his chest, toward his hips that were barely covered by his ocean-wet pants.

Thank the goddesses he was okay. That the serpent hadn’t hurt him worse. If anything happened to him, I’d…I just wouldn’t let it. No matter what.

“I’m fine, Lily. You can stop worrying.”

I punched his good shoulder. “I hate that you can Hear me.”

“Ouch,” he play-whined. “No, you don’t.”

“Okay, most of the time I don’t. But sometimes, I…I don’t always want you to hear
everything
I think…”

“Remember the trick,” he bent forward, moving a strand of wet hair off my cheek. “Don’t think anything sweet about me.”

I kissed him, leaned in for more, but he pulled back. Instead of meeting my lips again, his fingers rested under my chin. He looked deep into my eyes. “What happened back there? The truth, Lil.”

“Okay, fine. I could Read him. The creature. It was the same breed I was telling you about—the same mutated sea creature I saw when I was a kid.”

The look on his face caused a ripple of discomfort to roll down my spine. “Those serpents are
our
totem animals. They are
warlocks’
.”

My heart stopped. “Why didn’t you tell me that before?”

“I figured you knew, how else would you know how to stop them?”

“I just followed my instincts. I don’t understand. Why was it trying to hurt you…” My voice trailed off as if I was waiting for the universe to fill in the blanks. “And didn’t try to hurt me?”

His look was steady. I hoped it meant whatever I said next— whatever he said next didn’t matter. Theories, dark and implausible, rippled in the energy between us as we sat, thinking, saying nothing, but Hearing everything.

Then, “Lily, where’s your amulet?”

I felt my chest where the amulet used to hang. My heart sank. “The ocean! We have to go back.”

“It’s too dangerous. The other serpents will be back, and they’ll bring others.”

“Logan. I
just
got my amulet back, I’m not leaving without it.” I felt my eyes narrow, heat rising in my core. “This is awfully coincidental, you know. You take me down to your childhood lair, we get attacked, and my amulet just happens to turn up missing? Do your totem serpents have my amulet?”

“Lily, I have no idea. I don’t know what they were doing down there, and you know I would never intentionally put you in harm’s way…”

“…except when you cross me in the Gleaning.”

“Lil. Look.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I swear, I will get it back for you.”

“You better.”

His eyes looked past me toward the road. “But you may have to wait.” He shielded his eyes, as bright lights—headlights—bounced down the beach toward us.

I jumped up, grabbing his arm.

“Is it Jacob?”

“Jacob drives a BMW. That’s a…but Chance drives a Jeep.”

The lights drew closer. Logan grabbed my hand and together we sprinted down the cold sand, and ducked under the old pier. Logan hid behind one of the tall wooden beams and wrapping his arms around my waist from behind, pulled me into him.

Are they warlocks?

I’m not sure.

Can you trust Chance?

Yes.

Are you sure?

As sure as I am about you.

Should I take that as a compliment or an insult?

Shh.

We watched as two beefy men got out of the jeep, and shone their flashlights into the ocean. They scanned their beams along the beach, tracing our footprints in the sand. One of them said something into his radio. I cued right in.

“Calling for back-up from the Cove. Two juveniles spotted, male and female, but they ran off when they saw the lights. Confirmed. Male and female. There’s a trace of blood in the sand. I’ll bring the sample into the lab.”

Logan, we've got to get out of here. They found your blood.

If we move, they’ll spot us.

Logan, if they test your blood they’ll see how different your DNA is. Logan, they’ll know you weren’t human.

Can you get rid of it?

I think so. If you help me.

We clutched hands and focused on the dried blood on the sand. Drop by drop we crystallized it into grains of sand.

After, my hands tingled, coursed with our conjoined power.

Thank you,
Logan said.

“What the...?” said the Coast Guard. “It was just here.” He shone his flashlight toward the pier. “Got an identification. They’re under the pier.”

He started toward us.

How well can you climb?
Logan touched the beam. Barnacles stuck to the wood.

I can climb, but I loathe barnacles.

He grinned.
You’ll stab a serpent, but you won’t touch a barnacle.

I didn’t say I wouldn’t touch one. I said I loathed them.

Before he could utter a witty comeback, I was halfway up the beam and swinging my leg over the pier’s rail.

A cluster of seals barked on the far end, but other than that, we were alone.

“I guess it was a couple of seals,” the Coast Guard said. “There’s no one here. Ten-four.”

He’s leaving.
Logan’s voice behind me.

Good.

We were quiet for a while, waiting till the coast was clear, till we were fully alone, before joining hands and walking to the edge of the pier to look out at the horizon.

“It’s almost dawn,” he said.

“I’ve never spent the whole night with someone before.”

“I hope I wasn’t too bad of company.” He turned to look at me.

“Logan, I…”

“I know. Me too.”

“But I've got to get home.”

“I know.”

“I hate to ask you this, but…”

He touched my elbow. “Of course I’ll find it for you.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s the least I can do. It’s my fault it’s lost. Where can I give it back to you?”

“Does this mean you want to see me again?” I teased.

“Maybe.”

“Meet me in the forest. In the euca grove where you saw me sleeping.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Isn’t everything, Logan?”

Above us the stars shifted then, aligned, twinkled like a code. Under the milky way’s magic he erased the distance between us, firmly tracing the bottom of my collarbone to the soft spot in my neck with his thumb, then, when I let out a small gasp, he grazed my jawline, his mouth replacing his thumb, and when his mouth met mine, he kissed me like he knew our stolen moments were running out. Like this was the last kiss we’d ever share. And I kissed him back, as if, when the danger finally caught up to us, this moment, this twinkle in time, was the shared breath we’d cling to forever.

Logan

Logan found Chance on the edge of the grounds. “I need to talk to you,” he said. The urgency in his voice lilted into amusement when he glanced down at his friend’s hands. “That is, if you can part with your toy.”

“You know, if this whole dark magic thing doesn’t work out, you should take your routine on the road,” Chance said, but the strain in his voice flattened the joke.

On closer examination of the “toy” Logan frowned. “Is that a doll?”

Chance quickly shoved the lumpy thing into his pocket. “Why are you wet?”

“Why are you changing the subject?” Logan grabbed a knotty arm, staring at the yellow yarn hanging off the hand-sewn head like limp spaghetti. Black-eyed peas where eyes should be. Glue still wet. He waved the doll in Chance’s face. “What is this?”

“Nothing.”

“This is a voodoo doll.”

“Don’t shake it!”

“Why not?”

“You could hurt her.”

Logan sneered. “This is Lily.”

Holding up his palms, Chance insisted, “It’s not mine, Cheese—I found it here.”

“Why were you hunched over it then like you were performing some ritual?”

“I wasn’t trying to hurt her. I swear!”

Pacing in front of the boulder, Logan scratched the back of his neck. “Help me understand. Quickly.”

He didn’t want to hurt his best friend but the fury boiling in his gut was practically impossible to contain. The eerie doll stared at him: beady eyes, pink button nose, X-crossed mouth, replacing everything beautiful and alive about Lily.

“When I found it, this was sticking out of its arm.” A long, sharp needle—evidence—lay flat in Chance’s palm.

Logan’s eyes narrowed. “Which arm?”

“Left. Why? Was Lily hurt there?”

The wound on Logan’s left arm burned, as if the bite happened mere seconds ago. His mind felt like it would implode. Who was behind this? Had to be one of the lox. But who? Father? Jude? But what would they want with a voodoo doll of Lily? And why was he so quick to humor Chance’s lame excuse? He was the one caught red-handed with the doll. Not Jude. Not Father.

“The serpents were sent.”

“Slow down. Serpents?”

Chance’s eyes were honest. Of all the warlocks, Logan trusted him the most. Always had. Plus, he’d kept his secrets about Lily this far. What choice did he have but to trust him?

Cradling the doll in his hand like an injured bird, Logan said, “If you aren’t lying, prove it. Tell me everything you know about voodoo dolls. And don’t leave anything out, Chance. I swear. You better be telling the truth.”

Lily

“Mom! Mom!” I threw open my mom’s door, bursting into her dark room. She sat straight up in bed as if she’d never been asleep at all.

“Lily, what is it? What’s wrong?”

Feeling like I’d explode if I didn’t, I confessed everything. About meeting Logan, then meeting him again. And again. Not to mention losing my amulet. Again.

“I had to, Mom, I couldn’t sit by and let our magic disappear without at least trying to find a warlock, trying to make peace. And then, well, it wasn’t even about that anymore. I have real feelings for him, scary feelings. He’s not…There’s good in him. We have… Well, we had…” I let my voice trail off.

She stared at me like she was in shock. Then she folded me into her arms. “You are your mother’s daughter,” she said.

“What does that mean?”

Instead of elaborating, she flipped on the lamp on her nightstand, a dim light fighting the room’s shadows. “Did you…see anything on this boy? A mark on his crest?”

“No. Not yet anyway.”

“I need to consult Camellia. Excuse me.”

Iris went inward, pacing as she spoke to Camellia. It was weird watching her nod like she was on a phone no one but she could see. My initial sobs had subsided. Her presence was soothing, especially compared to how I’d felt down at the beach. I couldn’t believe she wasn’t more upset with me, it was almost as if…she’d known all along. Or maybe she knew I’d try?

When she finished her conversation, she looked at me.

“We need to enchant you,” she said. “We need to find out if this boy is the chosen. If he wears the mark. You are the only one who can find out.”

“I’m not going to trick him. I’ll talk to him again. Just ask him...”

Her eyes fell upon me hard, deep. She looked at me like I’d never seen her look at me before. Not like I was her child, but like I was her only hope and I was screwing up.

“Your mistake was not going in search of this warlock, but allowing yourself to feel something for him.”

“I…” When I started to protest, her look stopped my words.

“I don’t think you understand. If you can’t push your feelings aside, channel them for good. Bring out the mark in him. Trust that he wears it and that you will find it.”

“Bring out the mark in him? What do you…”

Her hand was heavy on my shoulder. “When you were a little girl, you’d rather hold your ground in the rising tide than listen to my calls to come to the shore. You’d rather tumble to the sand than yield to the fact that I may be right. That the wave might be too big for you to handle.” She smiled sadly in that nostalgic way only moms can. Her voice softened. “You were the most beautiful and brightest thing I’d ever seen, but you had the stubborn heart of a bull. And still do.”

“It’s not my fault I’m a Taurus,” I said weakly, knowing part of her was right.

“Honey, you’re so busy questioning the truth that you sometimes miss what’s right in front of you. And I’m afraid if you continue on like that, you’ll miss the most important moments. Sometimes you must recede to the rising tide even if it’s not always comfortable. Or what you planned.”

I nodded, a lump in my throat.

“You
know
what must be done here, honey. This is your chance to prove to everyone once and for all we were right to choose you to lead the Daughters of Light. And even if you want to ignore my meant-to-be inspirational diatribe at least hear this. For once in my life I’m not exaggerating a mono-syllable when I say that you, Lily—you’re our coven’s final hope.”

Logan sprung to his feet, glaring at Jonah.

“Look, dude. Is Lily your sister?”