3 Conjuring

The voice wafted into my mind, but the words didn’t register – at least not right
away. “Hmmm,” I murmured, screwing my eyes shut behind my sunglasses and trying to recapture that dreamy feeling – you know, the one right before you drift off to sleep where you’re not quite awake but you’re not quite completely out yet either – that I had been pleasantly floating in only moments before.

“Every woman on the beach wants him,” the voice yammered on.

“Hmm,” I agreed.

“Look at the way that one is draping herself all over him
. Those can’t be real. If they are, I’m killing myself now.”

“Hmm … wait, what?” I bolted upright, whipping my sunglasses off and following my friend Jen’s gaze as she avidly watched the beach volleyball game going on in front
of us. “Who is that?”

“Her name is Shana Harris,” Jen whispered, tugging a lock of her auburn hair behind
her ear. “She thinks she’s God’s gift around here. And if the rumors are true, the entire football team might be able to verify that.”

“You know her?”

“We went to school together,” Jen said. “She was with the cool gang. I bet you were with the cool gang, too, now that I think about it.”

“Bellaire has a gang?” Somehow, I had my doubts.

“Well, not that kind of gang. They were just mean,” Jen said. Even though I had only met her a few months ago, at the beginning of summer, I had developed a fast friendship with Jen and the thought of someone being mean to her was giving me mean thoughts of my own.

I turned my attention back to the volleyball game, where a tall, bronzed god was
holding court with both his athletic prowess and his rippling muscles. The guys were high-fiving him and the girls were mentally undressing him – not that he was wearing very much to undress. His swim shorts were slung low over his hips – so low they were giving every girl on the beach, including me, ideas.

It was the last week of summer vacation – and my sophomore year of college was
looming. The fact that I was returning to a college that was teeming with supernatural beings was the anchor that was dragging my fun factor down – and one of those supernatural beings was currently the center of attention on the public access beach at Torch Lake in northern Lower Michigan.

“He’s got a certain something,” Jen mused from beside me. “And he’s your
boyfriend.”

“I don’t know if I would call him my boyfriend,” I countered, trying to pretend that I
didn’t feel the heat rushing to my face. Maybe she would chalk it up to sunburn? “We haven’t defined anything like that yet.”

“Don’t you guys spend, like, every night together?” Jen asked pointedly.

“I think my mom would frown on that,” I replied.

“I didn’t mean that,” Jen smacked my arm playfully. “Although...
.”

“I told you, I’m not talking about that,” I said hurriedly. All summer, Jen had been pushing me on the lurid details of my sex life with Aric, the bronzed god who also happened to be a werewolf. I had been dying to tell someone – yes, they were that fantastic – but I was holding off until I could return to school. Jen wasn’t aware of the big supernatural secret – at least I didn’t think she was – and while that didn’t –
thankfully – play into our sex life, it was still a big part of dating Aric Winters.

The truth was, since Aric had shown up at the golf course resort where I was working for the summer, we had pretty much been inseparable. Yes, it had been a really great three months – although our time was quickly winding down. The good news is that Aric goes to school with me – so it’s not like we were going to be separated in a few days. The bad news is that things promised to be drastically different when we returned to Covenant College. I was trying not to dwell on that, though.

“I never thought of you as such a prude,” Jen smirked.

“I’m not a prude,” I replied evasively. “I’m just … shy.”

“Yeah, that’s the word I think of when I’m trying to describe you to people. ‘Zoe Lake is this really cool and shy diminutive flower that shrinks in the face of sex talk.’”

I decided to change the subject. “You want to get something to eat? I’m starving.
Sitting here and doing nothing has made me famished.”

Jen glanced down at her radiated skin – we’d both been competing for the title of
World’s Best Tan all summer – and nodded. “I guess I’m done for the day.”

I climbed to my feet, brushing the sand off my thighs as I pulled my cutoffs on
over my bikini bottoms and shrugged into a tank top. I glanced over at Aric, who was listening to Shana as she described some story to him – making sure that Aric had a clear view of her ample cleavage as she did so. I gritted my teeth to keep from stalking across the beach and ripping Shana’s bottle blonde hair out of her head – hey, I’m trying to grow here, people – and fixed Aric with a bemused expression.

“Hey, we’re going to get some lunch,” I called out.

Aric glanced up and smiled at the two of us. He waved goodbye to Shana and jogged over without a backward glance. “I’m hungry. I’ll go, too.”

I couldn’t help the feeling of smug satisfaction that
rolled over me when I saw Shana pouting in the spot where Aric had summarily dismissed her. Aric pulled a white T- shirt over his head, running a hand through his shaggy black hair to comb out the kinks, and then helped Jen toss our towels into a bag before turning to me. “What are you looking at?”

“Huh?” I turned to him, momentarily mesmerized by his dark eyes and flirty grin.

“You know I wasn’t interested in her, right?” Aric teased. “Even though you could use her chest as a flotation device in a water landing. She’s not my type, though.”

“Of course I do,” I smiled sweetly. “If you were interested in her, I’d have to castrate
you.”

Aric grimaced at the mental image. “Thanks for that.”

“You’re welcome,” I grinned at him. He really was cute.

I followed Aric as he led Jen and me toward the docks and the popular restaurant
there. I couldn’t resist. I turned back around to face Shana, who had been glaring at our retreating backs with nothing short of hatred. I shot my tongue out at her tauntingly as we moved away. Hey, I wasn’t that grown up yet.

One

“We should have picked a room that was closer to the elevators,” I grumbled, dropping my heavy suitcase at the foot of my bed. I took a step back and ran a hand through my sweaty hair, regarding my new dorm bedroom ruefully.

“You said you wanted to be closer to the stairs,” my roommate, Laura, countered,
although she looked equally as disheveled as she threw herself on her bed on the other side of the room and wiped her sweating brow. “Is there no air conditioning here?”

“That’s a really good question.” I glanced around the room dubiously. “It doesn’t feel
like it, does it? That’s going to suck for the next month.”

“That’s why you need one of these,” Aric said, swaggering into the room and hoisting
a box fan up and sliding it onto the desk next to my bed. He found an electrical outlet and the minute the fan came to life I couldn’t help but groan in appreciation as the stifling air in the room started to circulate.

“You think of everything,” I said appreciatively, patting his muscled arm in thanks.

Aric lounged on the bed next to me and gave me a predatory look. “You have no idea.”

“I’m still in the room,” Laura reminded us, struggling to a sitting position and fixing
us with a warning look.

“You could leave,” Aric suggested, although he didn’t sound serious.

Laura wisely ignored him. “I think we need to decorate.”

I glanced up at the bare cinderblock walls and couldn’t help but agree. “What do you
want to decorate with?”

“I don’t now,” Laura shrugged. “We could get some cute posters. What kind of music
do you like?”

The truth was, while I enjoyed music, I wasn’t exactly obsessed with any particular
artists or bands. If it made Laura happy, though, I didn’t really care. “Whatever you like is fine. I’m not picky.”

Aric arched an eyebrow in my direction but remained silent.

“What? I’m not picky.”

“Whatever,” Aric replied airily, and then turned to Laura. “I bet the bookstore has
some cool prints for the walls.”

“I am not picky,” I repeated.

“Of course not, sweetie,” Aric replied brightly. “You’re the most easygoing person I know.”

I can’t be sure, but I think I’ve been insulted. No, wait, I am sure.

“I’m turning over a new leaf this year,” I reminded him. “It’s not going to be all depressing monsters and killers and monster hunts. I’m going to be a happy person.”

“And you think just saying it makes it true?” Aric didn’t look convinced.

“It’s called positive reinforcement,” I shot back. “I visualize what I want and make it happen. Zoe Lake is a happy person.”

“So now you’re a hippie?” Aric was teasing me, but his words were grating.

“Zoe Lake is not a hippie,” I countered. “Zoe Lake is a happy person. Zoe Lake is a person focused on her schoolwork. Zoe Lake is not going to get caught up in unnecessary drama.”

“Why are you talking about yourself in the third person?” Laura asked curiously.

“Zoe Lake is losing her mind,” Aric suggested.

“Zoe Lake is becoming pretentious,” Laura agreed,
smiling sweetly to make sure I knew she was only teasing.

“Zoe Lake is going to find new friends,” I grumbled.

“Well, Aric Winters happens to like the doom-and-gloom Zoe,” Aric interjected. “I can’t wait to see how long this new mantra lasts, though. Maybe we should start a pool?”

“Whatever.”

Aric brushed his lips against my temple and then got up. “Well, all your stuff is up here. I’ll leave it to you to unpack.”

“Where are you going?”

“I have my own stuff to move.”

“Oh, where are you living this year?” Laura asked. “The frat house?”

I clenched my jaw at the mention of Aric’s fraternity, Alpha Chi. It was one of the reasons I had been drawn into this monster mess to begin with. Of course, that was when I had been dating Will – another werewolf – not that I realized what I was getting myself into at that time.

Aric shook his head. “I have no interest in living at the
fraternity house,” he said. “I got an apartment off campus.”

“By yourself?” Laura looked surprised. Housing in
a college town is notoriously expensive.

“My dad is paying,” Aric said. “He thinks it will hel
p me focus on my studies more.” Aric’s father was a state senator in Michigan. He had his hand in every pot in the state – including the supernatural one. Last spring he had made a sphinx – a particularly nasty killer – disappear after it tried to kill me. I still had a lot of questions about that whole situation – but I had opted to refrain from asking them, for the time being anyway.

“Well, thanks for helping us move in,” Laura said sincerely.

“It was my pleasure,” Aric smiled at Laura.

I followed him out into the living area to say goodbye
, Laura close on my heels. She was nice but a little needy sometimes. I was going to have to break her of that particular personality flaw sooner, rather than later.

Aric glanced at the other bedroom, which was filled w
ith items but no people. “What do you know about your roommates?”

“I had class with Matilda last year,” I replied. “She seems a little boy crazy but fine.”

“Boy crazy?” Aric cocked an eyebrow.

“She was obsessed with Rick No. 1. He was just
so dreamy, she couldn’t resist essentially stalking him.”

“And where is Rick No. 1 these days?”

“I think they moved off campus, him and his roommates,” I replied. “Although, I think he was considering rushing a fraternity, too. I can’t exactly remember. I’m sure we’ll run into him eventually.”

“Which one?”

“Which what?”

“Fraternity,” Aric asked pointedly.

“Yours. Don’t worry. I tried to talk him out of it. Hopefully he listened.”

Aric grimaced. “I’ll find out.”

“I’m not his mother,” I said. “He’s got to take responsibility for himself.”

“I guess,” Aric shrugged. “I’ll still find out. What about the other girl?”

“Kelsey? All I know is that she’s a friend of Matilda’s,” I replied vacantly. “I don’t know much about her other than that.”

“She looks mean,” Laura supplied helpfully.

Aric smiled at Laura, thinking she was joking. When Laura didn’t return the smile, he turned to me. “She looks mean?”

“Laura thinks so.”

“What do you think?”

“She seems a little ... cold.”

“Mean?”

“I’m mean,” I said. “She’s something else.”

“Well, I can’t wait to find out.” Aric gave me a quick kiss and moved through the open common room door. “I’ll call you in a few hours. I figured we could all go to a party tonight ... not one at the fraternity, I promise.”

“Okay.” I waved goodbye.

Once he was gone, I turned to Laura. “I guess we should unpack.”

Laura glanced over at our open bedroom doo
r and all the stuffed bags and overflowing boxes sitting on the floor. “Or, we could go and see if Paris and Brittany have moved in?”

“That sounds like a great idea,” I agreed. Why do now
what you can put off? What? I think that’s a great mantra for college.

We left the room open as we moved down the hallway.
I figured no one would be gutsy enough to steal when there were so many people milling about. I could tell Laura was a little nervous when we approached Paris and Brittany’s room a few doors down – and I really couldn’t blame her. Paris and Laura were from the same hometown – and they were both from witch families. Unfortunately, Paris’ mother had insisted that Laura’s mother wasn’t a good influence – so she had ordered Paris to stop being friends with Laura. Paris had done what her mother asked – kind of – but things got really ugly when a drunken Laura made out with Paris’ ex-boyfriend at a party last year and Paris had practically exploded with rage.

Paris had finally cooled down – with me at least – b
ut I wasn’t sure exactly where Laura stood. I guess we were about to find out.

The door to Paris and Brittany’s room was wide open,
and I could hear raised voices from inside.

“I am not putting up a poster of One Direction in the bedroom!”

“They’re great musicians,” a whiny voice countered. “They’re going to be bigger than the Beatles.”

“Bigger douches,” the first voice agreed.

I couldn’t help but smile when I stepped into the common room and glanced to my right. Paris was standing, hands on hips, in the middle of one of the bedrooms. Her shoulder-length brown hair was swept up in a ponytail and she was regarding the shorter, slightly chubbier Brittany with a general look of disdain.

Brittany, all sunny blonde hair and big dopey ey
es, was equally put out as she regarded Paris. “I thought you would be easier to get along with when I got you away from the toxic environment that Zoe sowed last year.”

Laura elbowed me as she tried to stifle a laugh.

“That doesn’t change the fact that One Direction sucks,” Paris argued.

“They do not suck,” Brittany replied. “They’re awesome.”

“Oh, they suck,” I chimed in.

Brittany’s head snapped up when she realized ot
her people were witnessing her band shame. I could see her internally questioning how much I had heard. I decided to let her off the hook. “Sorry, did my toxic fumes suddenly work their magic again?”

Okay, not exactly off the hook.

“How long have you been standing there?”

“Forever,” I replied.

Paris moved past Brittany and embraced me in welcome. “I’m glad you’re here. Trying to explain to her why One Direction sucks is getting exhausting.” Paris turned to Laura carefully. “Laura,” she said by way of greeting. “I hope you had a good summer.”

“I did, thanks,” Laura said nervously. “I hope yours was good, too.”

“It was fine. You know, small town, not much to do.”

Well, that was a little stiff, but it was definitely better
than the two of them trying to claw each other’s eyes out. Baby steps was the name of the game, I guess.

I glanced at the empty room across the hall from where Brittany and Paris were
setting up shop. “Michelle isn’t here yet?”

“No,” Paris shook her head. “I don’t know when she’s coming.”

“It’s completely irresponsible,” Brittany lamented. “How does she expect to get a good education when she waits until the last minute?”

“Classes don’t even start until Monday,” I reminded her. “That’s days away.”

“She has to get her books,” Brittany shot back.

“Most people get their books on a Kindle or tablet these days,” I replied blithely.

“Only geeks buy textbooks to underline them. You know, save a tree and all that.”

It was a pointed jab. Brittany had a rainbow of highligh
ters she liked to utilize when studying. I was so glad I wasn’t sharing a room with her this year. I would miss Paris, though. Thankfully, she wasn’t that far away.

“What about your roommates?” Paris asked. “How are things going there?”

“Their stuff is in their room, but I haven’t seen them yet,” I shrugged. “Maybe they’re just wandering around.”

“I saw Kelsey about two hours ago,” Paris said pointedly.

“Yeah? Was she doing something funny?”

“Her parents were moving her in,” Paris started. “
And she was complaining in the hallway, really loudly by the way, how it wasn’t fair that you and Laura got the big room.”

I smirked. I wondered if that would become an issue.

“She was here when the dorm opened at 8 a.m. and she thought she would be able to claim the big room. Imagine her surprise when she walked in there and found that you’d already moved some stuff in and claimed it. How did you manage that, by the way?”

“Aric told me that they would let you claim a room ear
ly if you paid fifty bucks,” I replied. “It seemed like a good investment to me. So we drove down here two weeks ago with a small load of stuff and I claimed the room.”

“Aric, huh?” Paris raised an eyebrow. “You two are together now, I’m assuming?”

“We haven’t really defined it,” I hedged.

“They’re a couple,” Laura said knowingly. “They’re
annoyingly cute. I’m a little jealous. He’s so big and handsome and he dotes on Zoe.”

“I can’t figure out what he sees in Zoe,” Brittany mused.

I glared at her.

“Oh,” Brittany said hurriedly. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

“How did you mean it?”

“I ... so, what’s everyone doing tonight?” Brittany nervously changed the subject.

“Well, Aric knows of a party for us to go to,” I suggested.