The Darkness Within (10 page)

“I’m not mad at you about Ben.” He lowered his eyes. “Do you want to know the truth about Ben and me?”

I thought I’d just found out the truth. About how Ben took Dylan away and helped him find his way back from the dark magic.

“I hated Ben.” Dylan met my eyes again. “He took away the one thing I ever loved.”

“Mindy.” Her name came off my lips as a whisper.

“He didn’t love her. She was a plaything to him. Someone to have a little fun with and buy him stuff.
I
loved her, but she was blindly in love with Ben. She could’ve had me. Just me. But she wouldn’t give him up.” Dylan’s fists clenched. “I tried to tell Ben I’d fallen for Mindy. He told me it was only a crush, that I only wanted her because I envied what he had with her. He wouldn’t listen. So I went to Mindy. She didn’t listen, either.”

“Dylan, I’m so sorry.” I reached for him, but he pulled back.

“I did the only thing I could think of. I tapped into the dark magic I’d stopped using at Ben’s insistence. I tried to change her heart. Make her love me and forget about Ben.”

“But her heart stopped,” I finished for him.

Dylan nodded. “I hated Ben from that moment on. I wished I’d killed
him
instead.”

10

H
E
couldn’t mean that. He couldn’t be happy his brother was dead. Even if he did blame Ben for losing Mindy, it didn’t add up.

“So,” he smiled at me, “you did me a favor, really.”

“Don’t say that.” I barely recognized this person. He wasn’t the same Dylan I’d come to know. “You’re not happy about Ben. I remember how you reacted when I told you what I’d done to him. You were beside yourself, Dylan. I don’t know why you think you need to put on this act right now, but it’s just Shannon and me. You don’t have to pretend.”

“I’m not pretending.” His voice was loud. He ran his hands through his platinum-blond hair and turned around, avoiding my eyes. “Yes, I was upset. He was my brother. But he and I didn’t exactly have the best relationship. We were dating the same girl.”

“No, Ben was dating Mindy. You were just screwing around with her on the side.” Typical Shannon, calling it as she saw it. I glared at her. She was so not helping. “What?” She shrugged like she couldn’t figure out why I was upset with her.

“She’s not wrong.” Dylan turned toward us again. “I’d been using dark magic, and it changed me. I wasn’t the same person I am now or was before it. Dark magic is dangerous, Sam. That’s why I want to bind Ethan’s powers. I don’t want him to end up the way I did. I really did wish Ben dead after I killed Mindy. I almost killed him myself.” He looked to Shannon.

Understanding hit me like a sucker punch. “No way. Shannon helped you?”

“Why is that so unbelievable?” She crossed her arms, looking offended.

“It’s just that you two have been at each other’s throats lately. I can’t picture you getting through something that huge together.”

“Well, we did,” Dylan said. “Rebecca helped a lot, too.” Why was I not surprised Nora wasn’t among the helpful ones?

“Sam, I hate to say this, but maybe Dylan’s right about Ethan. Binding his magic would buy us time to figure out what’s wrong with him. Why he’s tapping into dark magic all of a sudden.”

No. There was another way. They’d just admitted it to me. “You didn’t bind Dylan’s powers. You helped him through it. We can do the same for Ethan.”

Dylan glanced back at Nurse Wentworth. She was on her computer, which meant our spells were still holding up. “It’s not that simple.”

“Why?” I hated feeling like they didn’t want to help Ethan. Like he was the newbie gone bad in their minds.

Dylan and Shannon shared a look. “We didn’t do it alone,” Dylan said.

“Who helped you?” A thought struck me. “You can’t be talking about Nora. Please, tell me you’re not.” If Nora had been the only one strong enough to help Dylan stop using dark magic, Ethan was doomed.

“Yes and no,” Dylan said, resting his hands on his hips.

Great. More riddles. “What does that mean?”

Shannon sat down next to me. “Nora told us about a witch she’d met once. She was wicked old and knew just about every spell there was.”

“So this witch is the one who helped you.”

Dylan nodded.

“Great. Then, let’s get her. She can help Ethan.” I jumped up, ready to rush out the door and hunt this witch down right now.

This time, when Dylan reached for my hand, he didn’t pull away before making contact. His fingers felt strange in mine. We’d held hands before during spells, but this was different. Our eyes met. Oh
crap. He’d lied. Or maybe he’d never denied his feelings. I couldn’t remember. But they were there. I felt them in his touch.

“After she helped me, she told us never to contact her again.” His voice was soft, sympathetic.

“Why?” I could barely speak. All I could think about was his hand on mine. Why was he still holding my hand, anyway? I wasn’t running away anymore.

Shannon gave Dylan a suspicious look, and her eyes dropped to our joined hands. Finally, he let go. She knew it, too. It was out there.

“Dylan, why doesn’t this witch want you to contact her?” I tried to bring the conversation back to helping Ethan and off Dylan’s inappropriate feelings for me.

“When she drained the dark magic from me, it had to go somewhere. She tried to put it inside some crystals, but they shattered and…” He took a deep breath, like it was too difficult to continue. Instinctively, I reached for him, but I stopped. I couldn’t do anything that would lead him on. I wouldn’t be like Mindy. “The magic went into her.”

I wasn’t expecting that. “So, now she has dark magic in her.
Your
problem became
her
problem.”

He nodded. “I felt terrible, but she left. She wouldn’t let us try to help her. She said she never wanted to see us again.”

My heart sank. Where did that leave Ethan? “There has to be someone else. Another witch who knows how to do this the right way. Who won’t end up like…what was her name?” I didn’t know why I wanted to know. I just did.

“Mirabella,” Shannon said.

“Pretty name.” Of course that might have been the only pretty thing left about her if Dylan’s dark magic had consumed her. “Can we try to find another witch to help Ethan? Please?” My eyes stung at the thought of losing him, at him turning into what Dylan had once been.

“You aren’t safe around him right now, Sam.” Dylan stared at me with such intensity, like he was looking inside me. I felt naked. “You should start wearing the necklace I gave you. It will protect you from any spells Ethan might cast on you.”

“He’s not going to cast any spells on me!” That was absurd. “He loves me. He’d never hurt me.”

Dylan sighed. “I loved Mindy, and look what happened.”

“But you—”

“Were going through the same thing Ethan is.”

My heart clenched in my chest. How could I be afraid of Ethan? How could I wear a necklace given to me by another guy to protect myself from the one I loved? “Ethan knows that necklace came from you. If I start wearing it again, he’ll get suspicious.”

“Tell him it matches the ring he gave you. You always wear that.”

My ring! “Didn’t you put a protection spell on the ring?”

“No.” Dylan fidgeted. “I needed a personal belonging for the spell box. The ring was only in there because it belonged to you. It’s not going to protect you from anything.”

“And you can’t put it back in the box because Ethan would notice that for sure,” Shannon said.

Yes, he would. “And the box would only protect me at home anyway.”

Dylan and Shannon stared at me, waiting for me to admit the inevitable. I had to wear the necklace. As much as I hated it, it was true. “Fine. I’ll put it on as soon as I get home.”

“Not good enough.” Dylan stepped outside the curtain. “I’ll go get it for you now. You should put it on as soon as possible.”

I reached in my pocket for my house key, but Dylan put up his hand to stop me. “I’ve got it.”

Right. There weren’t many locks a witch couldn’t get past. Dylan gave Shannon and me one last look before walking out of the nurse’s office.

“You okay?” Shannon asked.

“Not really, but I’ll deal. We should get this spell down. I want to get to sculpture. I should keep an eye on Ethan.”

Shannon started removing the spell. The second it was lifted, Nurse Wentworth remembered we were there. She rushed over with the thermometer. “I’m so sorry. I guess I’m a little distracted this morning.”

“No problem,” I said. “I’m feeling a lot better. I think it was just my breakfast. It didn’t agree with me.”

“Best to take your temperature to make sure.” She swiped the digital thermometer across my forehead and waited for the beep. “Well, you’re perfectly normal.”

“Great! I’ll head back to class now. Thank you.”

“Take it easy and eat a light lunch. I have crackers if you’d like some.” I took them to appease her.

“Thanks again.” I waved good-bye, and Shannon and I headed to second period. The bell was going to ring any minute, so there wasn’t time to go back to Mr. Ryan’s class.

“See you at lunch,” she said. “Dylan should be back by then.”

“Yeah, great, and Ethan will see him give me the necklace. How am I going to explain that?”

Shannon wrinkled her forehead as she thought. “Tell him Dylan took the necklace back because you broke the clasp. That way it will look like he fixed it and is returning it.”

“And what’s my reason for wanting it back? Ethan’s not going to buy the ‘it matches my ring’ excuse.”

She threw her head back. “Ugh! You’re making this difficult.”

“I’m trying to cover all the bases to avoid a blowup in lunch.” She didn’t quite get the history Ethan and Dylan had. I didn’t want any of that to resurface.

“Fine.” She huffed and shook her head, but then her eyes lit up. “All right, I’ve got it. Say the necklace is a reminder of your new life with Ethan. It signifies new beginnings and the magic you both share. Some mushy crap like that.”

Yeah, except why would a necklace given to me by another guy remind me of Ethan? I was going to have to come up with something on my own. “Thanks. See you in lunch.” I waved to her and walked to sculpture.

Ms. Matthews must not have had a first period class because she was sitting at her desk, finishing up an egg sandwich. I knocked on the open door. “Is it okay if I come in or do you want me to wait in the hall?”

She waved me in since her mouth was full.

“Thanks. I was in the nurse’s office and didn’t think there was time to go back to first period. I didn’t want to be late for your class.”

She threw the foil wrapper into the garbage and brushed off her hands. “No problem. I wanted to talk to you anyway.”

Great. This had to be about Ethan’s explosion in class yesterday. “About yesterday, I’m really sorry. I don’t know—”

“Relax. It’s fine. Over and done with. I don’t blame you at all.” The way she said it, emphasizing the word
you
, made me clutch the strap of my shoulder bag tighter.

“Oh. Is it my project, then? Because I know I’m a little behind. I’ve been having trouble focusing lately.”

“It’s not that, either. Although I do need your project by next Monday. I can’t play favorites or the other students will get bent out of shape.”

“Yeah, like Beth.” It slipped out, and I stiffened immediately. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that out loud.” Why had I said that? I was usually so careful not to draw attention to the witch thing or my paranoia about Beth. I saved that stuff strictly for the coven.

Ms. Matthews leaned forward and folded her hands on the desk. “Has Beth been bothering you?”

“No, not really. She just keeps an annoyingly close eye on me. It’s like she’s waiting for me to do something. I’m not sure what—slip up somehow, I guess. And she’s a total blabbermouth. She makes it her business to know everything about everyone, and then she tells the whole school. It’s hard to have a secret around her.” I clamped my mouth shut, willing myself to stop talking. I’d already admitted so much, and to a teacher of all people. The only thing worse would’ve been running up to Beth and yelling, “Guess what? I’m a witch!”

“Secrets can be difficult to keep, but over time, you get better at finding ways to cover them up. Even fool people.” She picked up a saltshaker from her desk. I hadn’t noticed it before. I backed up, trying not to look suspicious. I used to love salt, especially on egg sandwiches like the one Ms. Matthews had just eaten. But now that I was a witch, pure salt was strictly off-limits. I’d seen how it could burn a witch’s skin on contact. I could only imagine what would happen if I ingested it.

Ms. Matthews held the saltshaker out to me. “Here.”

I held one hand up, making sure not to touch the salt. “No thank you. I try to avoid salt. It makes me bloat.” Quick thinking. Good.

“I don’t think this will bother you.” She pushed the saltshaker closer to me. “Go on. Try it.”

11