Believe: The Complete Channie Series (83 page)

LIES

J
OSH
SLIPPED
THE
B
OOK
OF
the Dead back into its velvet case and hid it under his bed. His eyes felt as if they were full of sand. He needed sleep, but his need to protect Channie was stronger. “Dad and Liz should be asleep by now. I’m going to sneak out and cast a few misdirection spells around the perimeter of the neighborhood.”

Channie yawned and blinked then said, “Do you want me to go with you?”

“Why don’t you stay here and take a shower instead?” He wrapped his arms around her then pressed his forehead against hers. “We still haven’t celebrated our wedding. I want to find you naked in bed when I get back.”

She blushed and grinned then nodded her head and said, “All right. But hurry back.”

Josh adjusted the shower for Channie, then crept downstairs and disabled the alarm before slipping outside. He chuckled to himself as he thought of all the delivery truck drivers calling for directions when they couldn’t find any of the addresses. The regular delivery services should be okay. According to Channie’s aunt, as long as you were very familiar with a protected area, a misdirection spell wouldn’t keep you from finding it eventually. Netflix deliveries might be a little slow for a couple of days, but that was a small price to pay if it kept Channie’s mom from finding her.

It took a little over forty-five minutes to cast all the spells. Their house had to be completely out of the line of sight from the entire perimeter of protection, or it wouldn’t work. Josh’s power-well was nearly empty by the time he finished, but the thought of Channie waiting for him in bed, gave him a boost of energy. He checked all the locks and reset the alarm system then took his shoes off so he could run upstairs without making any noise. The last thing he wanted was to wake up Dad and Liz and try to explain what he’d been doing.

Thoughts of Channie’s naked body had his heart racing by the time he stepped onto the third floor landing. A narrow beam of light seeped out from under his bedroom door. The hiss of a running shower surprised him until he opened the door and found Channie passed out on top of the bed, fully clothed. She hadn’t even taken off her shoes. His body ached for her, but he didn’t have the heart to wake her.

Josh turned off the shower then pulled a couple of extra blankets out of the hall closet and covered them both as he laid down beside Channie. She rolled onto her side and scooted her butt up against him. Josh knew she wouldn’t mind if he woke her up, but he decided sex could wait until morning. He kissed the top of her head, murmured, “I love you,” and fell asleep before his head hit the pillow. 

The
next morning, Josh woke up to an empty bed. “Channie?” The bathroom door was closed. He waited for ten minutes but when she didn’t come out, he got up and knocked on the door. No answer. A mist of steam wafted towards him when he opened the door, but she wasn’t in the shower.

He found her downstairs in the kitchen. The aroma of bacon and cornbread made his mouth water. She looked up and grinned at him then poured a mixing bowl full of scrambled eggs into a hot skillet. “Go take a shower, but make it quick. Breakfast will be ready in five minutes and I’m not sure I can keep Ezra and Liz from eating all the cornbread.”

Josh grabbed a slice of bacon off a serving platter and popped it into his mouth then wrapped his arms around Channie from behind. “Come with me. I’d rather have you than cornbread.” He kissed her neck, behind her ear then nibbled his way to her shoulder.

Channie leaned back, and tilted her head to the side, giving him better access, but said, “We can’t. We’ll be late for school. And stop that. You’re gonna make me burn the eggs.”

“We’ve already missed two and a half weeks. One more day’s not going to make any difference.” Josh kissed the top of her head then released her and turned around to lean against the counter. Besides, I wanna take the book to the bank today. The sooner we get it out of here the better.”

Channie scooped the eggs into a serving bowl and said, “I already told your Daddy we were going to school today. We can go to the bank this afternoon.”

Josh frowned then said, “Guess that means I better make it a
cold
shower.”

Channie’s blush indicated she knew exactly what he was talking about. She glanced over her shoulder into the dining room where Ezra and Liz were drinking coffee and reading the Daily Camera then extended her hand towards Josh. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep while you were gone last night. Why didn’t you wake me up?”

Josh pulled her into his arms and said, “If I’d known we were going to have to wait so long, I would have.”

Channie’s blush deepened, but she licked her lips and leaned in close to whisper in his ear. “I’ll make it worth the wait. I promise.”

“Oh, babe.” Josh closed his eyes and groaned. “Not helping.”

“Sorry.”

He pressed her back against the refrigerator, pinning her body against his, then kissed her. Hard. She moaned into his mouth and fisted her hands in his hair, pulling him even closer.
Definitely not helping
.

Josh kissed her forehead and whispered, “I’m holding you to your promise,” then trudged back upstairs to take a cold shower.

Josh
parked in the senior lot and glared at the car next to his. The idiot had written
“Go Class of 2013!
”
on the rear window with a yellow window marker.
Stupid freshman.
Josh closed his eyes and let the magic do its thing.

Channie gasped and grabbed his arm. “Josh!”

He opened his eyes and grinned at the new message.
“I suck.”

“You can’t go around using magic in public. What if someone saw you do that?”

“No one’s here.”

“Josh! Channie! You’re back!” Kassie held her baby-bump as she ran towards them. She nearly knocked Josh off his feet when she shoved his shoulder. “Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been?”

“We just got back last night. It was too late to call anyone.”

“Bull shit!” She shoved him again. “I can’t believe Aunt Marge didn’t call us.”

“Uh … we’re staying at my dad’s. Mom doesn’t know we’re back.” Josh’s stomach twisted into a knot of guilt as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Channie said, “I think I’ll just go on to the office and see if I can meet with my counselor and get squared away for all the school I missed. See you at lunch.”

Josh grabbed her wrist and shook his head. He didn’t blame Channie for wanting to escape before he called Mom, but he wasn’t about to let her walk unprotected across the parking lot. He didn’t think her crazy mother would show up at school, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He dropped his shield over Channie as he hit the number 6 to speed dial Mom.

Channie arched her eyebrows, but she didn’t argue.

Josh took a deep breath to prepare himself. He hated it when Mom cried, but since he was home safe and sound, maybe the waterworks wouldn’t last too long.

“How dare you get married without so much as mentioning it to me!”

“Uh … how did you—”

“I just got off the phone with your father and if you think for one second that I’m not going to fight this you’re crazy. I’m on hold with my lawyer right now, so I can’t talk, but you better believe you haven’t heard the end of this.
”

Josh stared at the blank screen then blinked and shoved his phone in his pocket.

Channie said, “What’d she say?”

“You didn’t hear that?” His ears were still ringing from Mom yelling into the phone.

“I hummed a ballad to block it out.”

“Dad told her we got married in Vegas. She’s going to try to get it annulled.”

“Can she do that?”

“No. I’m a legal adult and your dad signed for you.”

Kassie said, “Hold on a minute. I thought you got married in Arkansas.”

Channie said, “We did. But it wasn’t legally binding.”

“So … you ran off to Vegas? To get married?”

Josh nodded.

Kassie grabbed his left hand and examined his wedding band, then squealed and said, “I can’t wait to tell Rebecca!”

Josh put a restraining hand on her shoulder and said, “Kassie, wait. Don’t start spreading this all over school.”

Kassie shrugged his hand off and said, “I’m not going to tell the whole school — just Rebecca,” then jogged towards the main building.

Channie waited until Kassie was out of hearing distance then said, “If you don’t want folks to know, we better take off our wedding bands.”

Josh didn’t need magic to feel the pain rolling off her as she twisted her rings.

“Hey.” He cupped her cheeks in his palms and tilted her head, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I’m not ashamed of marrying you. I’d love to shout it from the rooftop, make a video and post it on YouTube, but I don’t want everyone to think I knocked you up.”

“I don’t care what they think!”

“You say that now, but you don’t know how cruel some of these kids can be.”

“I got a pretty good idea. Kassie’s the one that called me an in-bred hillbilly—”

Josh froze then let his hands slide off Channie’s face and drop to his sides. “Kassie said that?”

“It was months ago — on the first day of school. She didn’t even know me then.”

“That’s no excuse.” Josh loved Kassie like a sister, but he wasn’t blind to her faults. She had a good heart, but she could be a bitch, too.

Channie put a hand on his arm, wrapping her fingers across his bicep. “Please don’t say anything to her. She’s my only friend.”

Josh pressed his hand over hers and said, “All right, babe. I’ll let it go.”
This time.
He kissed her rings and said, “And promise me you won’t ever take these off.”

Channie’s smile was all the answer he needed.