Believe: The Complete Channie Series (54 page)

Channie
set the twenty-gallon washtub in the fire pit, across from the cooking grate, then pushed a bank of coals around the bottom perimeter with a stick. She sat next to Josh and braided her hair while they waited for Hunter. If she’d still had the ability to use magic she would have just cast a disinfecting spell on herself. It was a skill she’d mastered the first month of her apprenticeship to become a master-healer. Life without magic was down right inconvenient.

Hunter emptied the two buckets into the tub. The water hissed and steamed as soon as it hit the galvanized tin, but the thin, hot metal was no match for the frigid water from the quarry. Channie could have waited for the water to warm up, but she knew the boys were even hungrier than she was. She plunged her hands into the tub for a split second then jerked them back out with a gasp. Damn that water was cold.

She grabbed the bar of lye soap sitting on the stone shelf bordering the fire pit and rubbed her chaffed skin for as long as she could bear it, which wasn’t quite long enough to get her hands completely clean, then dipped them back into the icy water for an even quicker and less effective rinse.

Josh stood up and walked around the pit to stand beside her. He took her hands in his and frowned as he examined them. “Babe, we need to tell your aunt to get some lotion for your hands. This looks painful.”

“And ugly.” She tried to pull her hands back, but Josh refused to let go.

He lifted them to his lips and kissed the cracked and bleeding skin over her knuckles. “There’s not a single ugly spot on your entire body. I should know. I’ve checked.”

“Josh!” Channie’s gaze darted towards Hunter, but he just rolled his eyes, picked up the buckets and headed back down the trail towards the quarry.

Channie said, “I need to get started on that cornbread.”

Josh kissed her hands again and said, “Do you need any help?”

“No thanks.” He’d just get in the way.

It was getting dark, but there was enough light to make out the general shape of things so Channie didn’t bother to light the kerosene lantern. She’d been making cornbread since she could peek over the top of Momma’s kitchen table and didn’t need a recipe. She grabbed the mixing bowl with one hand and the bag of cornmeal with the other and turned towards the table.

The bottom of the bag split open and emptied the cornmeal onto the floor with a sudden
whish
.

“Shit!” Channie rarely used such foul language, but that was their last bag of meal.

Josh flung open the door and rushed inside. “What’s wrong?” Hunter was right behind him.

“It’s these damned mice! They nibbled a hole in the bottom of the bag, right across the seam. The whole thing split open when I picked it up.” Channie gave the empty bag a shake then threw it on the floor, on top of the cornmeal. “Damn it to hell and back!”

Josh stepped over the mess, wrapped his arms around Channie and pulled her against his chest. “It’s okay, babe. It’s just cornmeal.”

“I hadn’t even opened it yet.” Channie knew it was ridiculous to be so distressed over such a minor mishap, but her homemade cornbread was the only thing in their simple diet that Josh enjoyed. Everything else he merely tolerated and ate to fill his belly.

Hunter said, “You have a mouse problem.”

Channie sighed and nodded. “Apparently.”

“Do you want me to take care of it?”

Channie brushed the tears out of her eyes and smiled as she thought of a way to boost Josh’s confidence.

“No. I want Josh to do it.”

Josh bit his lip and furrowed his brow. “With magic?”

Channie nodded. “A pest-be-gone spell will chase the mice away without actually hurting them. But it uses negative energy.” Other than his initial, and involuntary, release of pent-up magic the night Josh became a mage, he had no experience with negative energy. All the spells he’d cast had been beneficial.

Hunter said, “They’ll just come back when the spell wears off. You need to—”

“That isn’t the point.” Channie interrupted him before he could describe the grisly delayed-death spell that drove the little rodents away before killing them so they wouldn’t stink up the house. It worked just like rat poison, effective but cruel. Momma was the only one in Channie’s family that ever used it.

She stepped out of Josh’s embrace but held onto his hands. “Close your eyes and picture the mice nibbling through our last sack of cornmeal.”

Josh closed his eyes and nodded. “Okay.”

A tingle of negative energy flowed from Josh’s hands to Channie’s. “Good! Now, direct that anger into your power-well.” She let go of his left hand and placed her fingertips on his belly, over his navel in an effort to help him guide the energy into his power-well.

Josh gasped and bit his lip.

But it was Hunter’s energy that caught Channie off guard. He gazed at her with such yearning it shocked her.

Josh obviously had no problem reading Hunter’s energy either. His hand tightened around hers, sending prickles of pain across her chapped skin. He was still radiating love and lust, but his jealous energy overshadowed everything else. He spoke quietly. But like a dog growling over a bone, there was no mistaking the threat. “Hunter. Get out.”

Hunter took a step back and raised his shield, but he didn’t leave. “I cain’t help how I feel.”

“She’s my
wife
.”

“I know that. And I’m probably gonna git myself killed, but maybe you can use what you’re feeling right now to curse me.”

Josh’s energy field glowed red. He put his hands on Channie’s shoulders and moved her to the side.

“Josh. Be careful.” She thought of how quickly Chastity’s magic had spiraled out of control when she got angry. Josh’s energy level was every bit as high as hers had been when she’d killed Harvey.

Harvey … No, not now!

Channie closed her eyes against the flashback, but it roared through her defenses like a runaway truck down Feenie’s Pass.

“It’s time to show your appreciation.”

“Please…”

“Please what, sugar?”

“Please ... Don’t touch me.”

“Oh, I intend to do a lot more than just touch you.
”

Channie gritted her teeth to silence Harvey’s voice in her mind. “Hunter. You need to leave. Now!”

He shook his head slowly, but continued to back away from Josh, towards the open door. “This is too important.”

Josh glared at Hunter but did not curse him. Seconds ticked away as Josh’s power continued to build.

A potted fern exploded behind Channie. Hunter flinched but didn’t run. Another plant burst into flames.

“Hunter, please leave.” Aside from the fact that Channie didn’t want Hunter to die, Josh would never forgive himself if he actually killed him.

Hunter shook his head again. “Curse me.”

Josh’s voice was so low and gravelly it didn’t even sound like his. “I’m trying.”

Hunter stopped trembling and straightened his spine, but he kept his shield up.

“Imagine Channie in my arms instead of yours. My mouth on hers. Curse me!”

Sweat poured off Josh’s body, drenching his sweater. Veins appeared over his temples and pulsed with the rhythm of his heart.

Channie’s concern shifted from Hunter to Josh. If he didn’t release the pressure from so much pent up magic, he was going to explode like an overheated still full of moonshine.

“Josh. Forget about Hunter. Curse the mice!”

Josh grabbed Channie and threw his shield over both of them. There was a blinding flash of light followed by a rush of heat then a horrendous crash as the rest of the plants exploded.

Channie
, Josh and Hunter were covered with dirt, bits of pottery and shredded leaves. Their shields protected them from Josh’s violent magic, but not from physical debris.

“Josh, are you okay?”

He nodded but didn’t say anything. He should have been reeling after discharging that much power. He looked exhausted, but not completely drained. Channie wished she could scan Josh and check his internal power levels but all she could do was read his energy field. He was radiating a fair amount of guilt so he must still have a little energy in reserve.

“Hunter?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He sounded disappointed.

The smell of singed hair and burnt meat made Channie’s eyes water. At least they didn’t have a mouse problem anymore.

Josh let go of Channie and stepped back. His eyes moved back and forth as he studied her face, a look of utter betrayal on his own. “You said that spell wasn’t going to hurt them.”

“That was no pest-be-gone spell.” Channie pointed at a dead mouse by Josh’s left foot. “That’s what you’ve been trying to do to Hunter.”

“Oh, man.” He knelt and scooped it up off the floor. “This one’s just a baby.”

Hunter smacked his forehead with an open palm. “You’re upset over killing a stupid
mouse
?”

Channie put a hand on Josh’s shoulder and glared at Hunter. “Leave him alone.”

Hunter rolled his eyes. “Are you kidding me? The fate of all our clans rests in the hands of a freakin’ tree hugger.”

Hunter
was damn lucky that Channie no longer had the ability to curse him. But if she were honest, she’d have to admit that she was more than a little disturbed by Josh’s reaction. She didn’t respect him any less—his compassionate nature was one of the things that had first attracted her to him—but if he got this upset over killing a baby mouse, would he be able to kill a tracker?

Josh stood up, still cupping the dead mouse in his hands and walked towards the door.

“Josh? Where are you going?”

“I need to bury it.”

Hunter pointed his index finger at Josh and said, “I ain’t goin’ to no mouse funeral.”

Josh whirled around, eyes blazing. “I’m not conducting one, but we need to bury all these mice or they’re going to stink up the place and spread disease.”

“Oh good lord, just sweep ‘em outside and let the scavengers take care of it.”

Channie agreed with Hunter, but she wasn’t about to say so. Josh might not be able curse Hunter, but he could still hit him. She had no idea which one of them would win a fist fight and no desire to find out.

“Hunter, why don’t you go fetch some more water. We’re going to need more than two bucketfuls.” Channie picked a clump of potting soil out of her hair. “In fact, we’re all gonna need baths before bed. Might as well fill the tub.”

“Fine. But if I have to haul all the water, I get the first bath.”

Josh shuddered. “I’m not using your dirty bath water.”

“I ain’t the one playing with dead mice. Dirtiest man goes last.”

Josh curled his upper lip into a sneer. “Disgusting hillbillies.”

They’d been sharing wash water since they got here and Josh hadn’t complained once. Not even after they started bathing separately. And he always insisted that she go first. Channie swallowed hard and turned her back so Josh wouldn’t see the tears filling her eyes.

“Channie. I didn’t mean you.”

She twisted sideways and shrugged his hand off her shoulder.

“Babe … I’m sorry.”