Spellbound (Spellbringers Book 1) (29 page)

“What do you mean?”

“Nagging your parents isn’t going to
make them buy you a car, Jace. Let it go.”

“You know, that’s easy for
you to say. You
have
a car.”

Hmm. Good point. “Yeah, I know, but
your parents obviously have different rules. And it’s not like you
can’t use one of their cars whenever you want to…”

“Why do you care so much about me
asking my parents for a car?” He leaned back and crossed his arms
in front of him.

“Because it’s irritating
having to listen to you argue with your parents. You shouldn’t do
it at all, but especially not in front of guests. It makes me
really uncomfortable, and I can tell by the expressions on your
parents’ faces that it makes them uncomfortable too.” And besides,
it was totally
un
-hot to have to listen to my boyfriend whine.

“
Well, if it bothers you
so much, you can leave. I don’t expect you to understand. You roll
over and do whatever your mother tells you to do.” Jace’s voice
increased in volume, and his tone dripped with venom.

Part of me wanted to back down, to go
back to the way things were earlier in the evening when we were
getting along. But Jace had no right to get mad at me for speaking
my mind. And I was right. He shouldn’t treat his parents like
that.

“It’s called respect, Jace. Do I like
everything my mother tells me? No. But I listen to her whether I
like it or not. Her house—her rules. Same thing applies to you. As
long as you’re living with your parents, you need to obey them.” I
matched Jace volume for volume, tone for tone.

“I can’t believe how self-righteous
and preachy you sound. You remind me of an old woman, or Bryce.
Maybe you and Bryce should have hooked up, and I should have hooked
up with…” Jace stopped himself abruptly, but I knew what he’d been
about to say.

This was not how the conversation was
supposed to go. We were supposed to have a rational discussion
until he came around to my point of view. Then he was supposed to
apologize so we could kiss and make up. I thought I’d been doing
Jace a favor, helping him to see the error of his ways. I had his
best interests, and concern for his relationship with his parents,
at heart.

I easily filled in the
blanks of what he’d been about to say. Alisa.
He should have hooked up with Alisa.
My head hurt and a stabbing pain shot through my chest. Did
he harbor feelings for Alisa, or was he just trying to hurt me any
way he could? It didn’t matter. All I wanted to do was leave. I
stood up and walked toward the stairs, my limbs heavy and my head
spinning.

“Rachel,” Jace called out, both
verbally and across our link. I slammed the lid shut on the
nonverbal messages he tried to send, leaving him no other choice
but to shout up the stairs. “Rachel, I’m sorry. Come on. You know I
didn’t mean it. Please.”

I continued toward the front door,
away from his ragged pleas for forgiveness, grabbing my purse and
keys on the way out the door without even stopping. For once, my
manners failed me and I didn’t say goodbye to Jerica and Abe.
Fighting back tears, I backed my car out of the driveway without
even checking my mirrors.

I couldn’t imagine how our
relationship could recover from such a blow. We could both
apologize, certainly, but I would always wonder if somewhere in the
back of his mind he’d meant what he said. I thought back to the day
he found out about Bryce and Alisa, and how strongly he’d reacted.
He was vehemently opposed to any relationship between the two of
them and he didn’t even know the whole story. How would he have
reacted if he’d known Bryce kissed her?

Every look, every conversation Jace
had ever shared with Alisa was now suspect. No matter what happened
beyond this point, I would always wonder, and things between Jace
and I would never be the same. Even if Jace gave me access to his
mind, he could still block certain memories. He had become very
skilled all of a sudden at putting up security blocks. Maybe it was
because he had something to hide.

I was about halfway home when my front
tire blew out, causing me to swerve and slide into a ditch. This
was bad. I didn’t know how to change a tire, but even if I did, it
was too dark to see. Why did I take the stupid dirt road through
the woods? It was so isolated out here, with the nearest house
almost a mile away.

I fumbled around in my purse for my
cell phone, but didn’t feel it. I quickly searched my pockets
before remembering that I’d left my phone on the end table in
Jace’s basement. I could easily reach Jace through our link, but I
wasn’t ready to talk to him yet.

The car would be fine for a while, I
decided. It would take me about twenty minutes to walk home—thirty
tops. Pulling the keys out of the ignition, I turned on the hazard
lights, grabbed my purse, and closed the car door. Walking quickly
and purposefully along the dirt road toward my neighborhood, I
could see lights in the distance, and with every step I took, they
looked a little brighter.

My thoughts began to drift toward Jace
once again and my steps slowed. I was so absorbed in my inner
turmoil, I almost crashed into the dark form that stepped in front
of me. As I turned to run, another figure blocked my escape.
Stumbling over a tree-root, I dropped my purse. The moonlight cast
an eerie glow along the road, illuminating the Hunter who stood
closest to me. He growled and I scrambled to my feet.

“Jace!” I removed the block on our
link, hoping his side would still be open. I prayed my stupidity
wouldn’t get me killed. Why hadn’t I tried to contact Jace across
our link the moment my tire blew out?

“Rachel, what’s wrong?” he replied,
sounding worried.

“My car broke down on the dirt road. I
started walking…There are Hunters. Two of them.” My growing panic
was causing spurts of magic to spark from my fingertips. Jolts of
lavender electricity erupted from my palms, causing the Hunters to
back away warily.

“I’m on my way. Talk to me.” Jace’s
command swelled in my mind, pushing away some of my fear. I held on
tightly to the sound of his voice, his presence in my
mind.

“Hurry,” I begged.
“Please.”

One of the Hunters began to approach.
I backed away and moved off the road into the woods. The last thing
I wanted to do was get lost in the woods, but with a Hunter
blocking each side of the road, I had no choice. I moved slowly,
afraid to make a sudden move. Suddenly, one shot toward me and held
me in his grasp. Dark energy tugged at my magic. I tried everything
I could think of to block him, but I wasn’t strong enough. In blind
panic, I thrashed around, trying to free myself.

The second Hunter approached swiftly
and I knew at that moment I was going to die. But instead of
siphoning my magic, he bared his teeth and snarled at the Hunter
who was holding me. As air began to fill my lungs again and energy
returned to my weakened limbs, I realized I was no longer being
restrained.

The two Hunters squared off, ready to
fight over me. Too stunned to move, I stood in one spot, swaying on
my feet, trying to summon the strength to run.

“Rachel,” Jace screamed in my
head.

“Jace…”

A light appeared in the distance,
slowly coming closer. An engine roared. Headlights bounced along
the dirt road and through the trees, moving slowly and then
stopping a few feet away.

“Rachel, where are you? Talk to me. I
don’t see you,” Jace screamed in my head.

“In the woods. I…I see your car.” A
car door slammed. “Here. I’m in here,” I called.

Jace and Abe thrashed through the
woods, distracting the Hunters. The creatures turned in unison,
eager to do battle with the newcomers. Headlights illuminated Abe’s
face as he lurched toward the Hunters. Twin daggers flew from each
hand, impaling both creatures within seconds.

While Abe crouched down to make sure
both Hunters were dead, Jace scooped me into his strong, comforting
arms. After everything that had happened between us, he was the
only one I wanted. I cried in a mixture of pain and
relief.

“Are you okay, Rachel?” Jace asked,
scrutinizing me closely. “Oh, shit. You’re bleeding.” He pulled off
his shirt and used it to dab the side of my face. I cried out
involuntarily.

“What happened?” Abe asked.

“She’s got a gash on her cheek,” Jace
replied. “Rachel, how did that happen?”

“I…I don’t know. I didn’t even realize
I was hurt. I must have cut it when I fell, or maybe the
Hunter…”

“It’s okay. We’ll take you back to our
house and clean you up,” Abe said. “Jace, a little
help?”

“Are you gonna be okay for a second? I
can take you to the car…”

“No,” I interrupted. “I mean, yes. I’m
okay, but I’ll wait here.” I didn’t want to sit in the car by
myself, afraid more Hunters might track me down.

Jace helped his dad drag the Hunters
so their corpses were piled on top of each other. “We need to take
care of this before we leave,” Abe said. “Your mom called a couple
of Warriors, but it’ll be several minutes before they
arrive.”

“Are they taking these with them?”
Jace asked, gesturing toward the dead bodies. “Or are we disposing
of them here?”

“I think here is fine. If you help, we
should be able to do it quickly.”

“Okay.” Jace and Abe reached their
hands out before them and flames shot from their fingertips. The
Hunters’ clothing erupted into flames. They burned quickly and
within minutes, were nothing but a pile of steaming ash.

I was so absorbed by the funeral pyre
in front of me, I didn’t notice the sound of men approaching until
they were practically on top of me.

“Crap,” I yelped when a dark figure
walked past me. I stumbled back a step before I realized Abe had
been expecting them, and they weren’t Hunters after all.

“Craig, Quinn, thanks for coming out,”
Abe said.

“You got started without us,” one man
said.

“I figured time was of the essence,”
Abe replied. “Can you take over from here?”

Jace led me through the woods and back
to his dad’s car while Abe exchanged a few words with Craig and
Quinn.

“Who were those guys?”

“Warriors,” Jace said, helping me into
the backseat of the car.

“Wait. How did they get here?” I
asked, looking around. “I don’t see a car.”

“They probably used Transport.” At my
obvious confusion, Jace explained, “Spellbringers can disappear and
reappear somewhere else. I can move about a foot or two. Some
Warriors can travel several miles. Remember that day at the
track?”

I shuddered. How could I forget? It
would be burned into my memory, just like tonight would forever be
seared into my mind—for more than one reason.

“My dad and I arrived at about the
same time, but we didn’t come together. I drove, but my dad was out
with my mom shopping. Mom drove him to a secluded spot and then he
Transported the rest of the way.”

“Oh. Why didn’t he do that
tonight?”

“He wasn’t sure exactly where you
were. Without me using our link, he wouldn’t have found
you.”

“Jace, thank you so much for coming. I
wasn’t sure if you’d…”

“Of course. I’d never ignore you when
you need me. Besides, tonight was my fault. I’m sorry. I can’t tell
you how sorry I am.”

Abe opened the driver’s side door and
climbed inside, ceasing all conversation between me and Jace. In my
heart, I accepted Jace’s apology, but I was still hurt. We had a
lot to talk about before things were going to be the same between
us, but first, I had to sort out my own chaotic thoughts. Lingering
terror prevented me from finding clarity, but there was something
about what Jace said about Transport. Where had I heard that word
before?

The ignition started and gravel
crunched, jerking my thoughts back to the immediate present. I
wondered what would happen with my car. What time was it? Was it
close to curfew? If so, was my mother worried?

Jace must have picked up on some of my
distress, because he sent soothing thoughts across our link. “Calm
down, Rachel. My dad will take care of your car and bring it back
to the house. I’ll never let anything happen to you again, I
promise.” For the moment, I believed him. I always felt safe in his
arms.

The second Abe pulled into the
driveway and stopped the car, Jerica ran out the front door to
greet us. Jace put his arm around me, steering me inside to the
sofa as gently as he could. I squinted a little as my eyes slowly
adjusted to the bright light of the living room.

“Jace, go get the first-aid kit,” Abe
instructed calmly. He spent the next several minutes examining my
wound and asking me questions while Jace hovered around looking
helpless and concerned.

After assuring him that the cut on my
cheek was the only wound I’d suffered, he cleaned it with
antiseptic wash. I flinched, sucking in a deep breath when he
poured the cold liquid over my wound. Abe held his hand over the
cut. I felt a brief stinging sensation followed by ice-cool
relief.