The Darkness Within (4 page)

“Joint project?” Ms. Matthews asked, raising a brow. “Trying to see what your chemistry will come up with?”

Ethan smiled. “That’s what the music is telling us to do.” Ms. Matthews ate up anything Ethan said. He had a way of making every teacher in the building fall in love with him, though it was definitely easier for him to work the magic of his baby blues on the female teachers.

“Well then, I can’t wait to see what you come up with.” She smiled and walked over to a group by the kiln.

I bumped Ethan’s shoulder with mine. “You do realize you flirt with every female teacher here.”

“Only when it gets me more time with you.” He wrapped one arm around my waist, hooking his thumb through my belt loop. If we hadn’t been in a classroom, I would’ve lost it right there. The boy could seriously make me melt. “Ladies first.” He motioned for me to sit in front of the wheel. As soon as I did, he slid in behind me, wrapping his arms around me and resting his chin on my shoulder. I breathed him in, filling my senses with his scent. His spearmint gum sent chills down my spine as his lips grazed my ear.

“Are you trying to start something?” I turned and flashed him a smile. “Because two can play this game, and I know your willpower is no match for mine.” Although mine was seriously depleting right now.

“Ooh, challenge accepted.” He leaned down, placing soft kisses on my neck. Oh, crap. I was a goner. “Are those goose bumps on your arms?”

“Funny, but I’m wearing long sleeves.”

“Are you denying the goose bumps?” He reached for my sleeve and tugged it up. I pulled my arm away before he could confirm his suspicion.

I summoned the magic inside and touched my finger to his cheek. Electricity gently sparked between us. “Check
your
arms.”

“Using magic is cheating,” he whispered in my ear.

Maybe, but everything Ethan did was like magic to me. I was only leveling the playing field.

“Um, are we still deciding what to make?” Ms. Matthews’s voice shattered our competition.

“Kind of.” I shrugged a shoulder.

“Well, maybe you should let someone else have a turn on the wheel while you two decide.” She turned to walk away but stopped. “It might also help if you two put this game on hold for a more suitable time and place.”

Ethan’s face turned all different shades of red, and I was sure mine was no better. “Yes, Ms. Matthews.”

“I just thought of what we can make,” I blurted out, not wanting to give up our spot at the wheel or return to the table with Beth and her oversensitive ears.

“Then do get to work,” Ms. Matthews said, eying us one last time before moving on.

“Do you really have an idea?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah. I think we should make a bowl.”

“A bowl?”

I looked around, making sure no one—mainly Beth—was eavesdropping. “For when we need herbs to do spells. Dylan and Shannon were nice enough to take us in after everything…” My voice trailed off as images of Rebecca, Ben, and even Nora floated through my mind. Ethan opened his mouth, but before he could try to console me, I added, “It would be nice to make something the whole coven could use.”

Ethan nodded. He knew me well enough to know I didn’t want to talk about what had happened last month. It wasn’t a topic he particularly liked, either. I mean, he’d died, come back a monster,
and killed a witch, too. He’d been through the same things I had, just on a smaller scale.

I grabbed a lump of clay and turned on the wheel. We weaved our fingers together and manipulated the clay. Sure, we could magically make a bowl in a matter of seconds, but this way was much better, more intimate. Ethan’s fingers lightly tickled mine. It was subtle at first, and for a moment I thought it was the clay making the tingling sensation on my hands. But then I saw the slight smile on Ethan’s face. He was using magic.

The clay formed a perfect bowl, round and large enough to hold several herbs and the occasional fire needed for our joint spells. Even though our fingers were still intertwined and should have made ripples along the outside of the bowl, the clay was as smooth as could be. Being a witch, I could see the faint gold glow of the magic swirling around the clay.

“You’re getting really good.” I leaned back so Ethan’s chest was pressed firmly against my back.

He didn’t answer, so I assumed he was busy concentrating on the spell. He was taking longer to adjust to the magic than I had. But then again, I’d had to get a crash course in magic while we were battling Nora at the diner. Learn quickly or die. That had been enough motivation for me.

The tingling in my hands increased, and Ethan’s fingers gripped mine. Was he losing control of the spell? Struggling to keep it up?

“That’s enough, Ethan. Let it go. You did great.”

His grip tightened, and his arms shook.

“Ethan.” My voice was a loud whisper. I didn’t want to draw attention to us. Who knew what this would look like to other people—non-witches.

The gold swirl of magic changed to a greenish color, a lot like the magic that had attacked us last night. It rippled around the clay, and bits of the bowl flew off in all directions. Several splattered my face and clothes.

“Ethan,” I tried once more. Still nothing. I summoned my magic, planning to use it to put an end to his spell. Before I could do a spell of my own, the spinning wheel rattled. The clay shook like something
was trying to burst out of it. The next thing I knew, the bowl exploded, sending clay flying everywhere.

4

“W
HAT
happened?” Ms. Matthews rushed over to us, her eyes and mouth wide with confusion.

Clay stuck to my hair, clothes, and skin. I must have looked like a monster from some old science-fiction movie. Jacob would’ve been so proud of me for even thinking that—if I was still living back home, that is.

“I don’t know what happened.” Ethan stood up, staring at his hands like they were deadly weapons. Maybe they were.

“The clay exploded.” I whipped my head around at the sound of Beth’s voice. She was only about three feet away, and judging by the clay on her shirt, she had been pretty close when Ethan’s spell went volcanic. Had Beth seen anything strange? Anything that might’ve made her suspicious?

“Beth, you may be excused to go get cleaned up.” Ms. Matthews pointed toward the door, a no-nonsense look on her face.

“But—” Beth’s gaze shifted to Ethan and then me. Yeah, she was definitely suspicious. Crap.

Ms. Matthews jabbed her finger toward the door, and Beth walked out, sighing loudly enough for the whole class to hear. Everyone was staring at us now. “Back to work, all of you! If I see a single person not engrossed in their project, I’m docking ten points from your grade.” Even though Ms. Matthews was usually laid-back, everyone listened to her. And now that she was being assertive,
everyone jumped to obey her. She might be able to teach Principal Snyder a few things about commanding attention.

The second her eyes fell on me, I jumped to Ethan’s defense. “Ms. Matthews, we’re really sorry. The clay just sort of got out of control. I think maybe I had my hands—”

Ms. Matthews held her hand up. “That’s enough, Sam.” She looked back and forth between Ethan and me. “Both of you, get this cleaned up. Then head to the locker rooms and shower. I trust you have gym clothes to change into.”

We nodded.

“Good. Then I’ll tell your next period teachers about this accident.”

“We have lunch next.” My voice was small, guilty. Maybe it hadn’t been
my
spell that made the clay explode, but I
was
responsible for Ethan becoming a witch. It all traced back to me in the end.

“Even better. I’ll let the teachers on lunch duty know you’ll be late.” She motioned to the splattered clay and turned to help a group at a nearby table.

Ethan reached for my clay-covered hand. “Sam, I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s no big deal. An accident.” I shrugged a shoulder, trying to pretend I was fine with it, but inside all I could think was that Ethan was losing control. Or maybe he had never really had control. Either way, someone was going to get seriously hurt if we didn’t figure this out.

We cleaned up the clay and headed to the locker rooms. Ethan hadn’t said a word, so maybe he’d bought my lie. Maybe he thought I wasn’t worried.

“Meet you back here in ten minutes?” He squeezed my hand once before letting go.

“Yeah.” I turned toward the girls’ locker room, but Ethan grabbed my arm.

“Are you mad at me?”

“No. Not at all.” I stared into his beautiful blue eyes. How could I be mad at him? None of this was his fault. I ran my hand along the side of his face. We were both a mess, but I didn’t care. I reached up and kissed his lips.

“Much better.” He smiled at me, and I realized that was why he thought I was angry with him. I was going to leave without kissing him good-bye. We always kissed each other good-bye.

“Sorry, I guess the clay is clouding my brain.”

“All it takes is a little clay to make you forget about me?” He was teasing, but I sensed some hurt buried in his comment.

“Not even all the clay in the world could make me forget about you.”

“What about all the bad magic in the world?” He lowered his head and sighed. After staring at his feet like they were the most exciting things ever, he ran a hand through his hair and looked at me again. “Why can’t I control it? You’re doing fine with your power—better than fine, really. So, why am I having such a hard time?”

I stepped into him, wrapping my arms around his waist and leaning my head against his chest. “We’ll figure it out together. Maybe you’re trying too much. You need to ease into it.”

“It’s not like I haven’t done spells. They were going right at first, but then…I don’t know. Something changed.”

I pulled my head back so I could see his face. “Changed how?”

“I’m not really sure. I feel different when I tap into the magic. It feels like it’s not really mine—if that makes any sense.”

“It
is
yours. You just need to focus and believe in your abilities.”

“You’re starting to sound like a teacher. Should I be worried you’re spending too much time with Mr. Ryan?”

“Very funny, but Shannon’s the one who has a thing for Mr. Ryan. I’ve got my eyes on someone else.”

“Anyone I know?” Ethan flashed me his sexy smile.

“I don’t think so, but he’s gorgeous and has the most incredible blue eyes. Oh, and his body—”

He pressed his lips against mine softly at first, but within seconds they were crushing my mouth. He was scared. I felt his fear. I felt his uncertainty. Everything had changed. Because of me. I had to help him through this.

I finally managed to pull away from him before the bell rang and the hallway flooded with students. I gave him a quick good-bye kiss and headed for the showers. Luckily, the previous class was just finishing in the locker room. Everyone was dressed and waiting for
the bell. I opened my locker and took out my gym clothes. Even though it was October, I’d be spending the rest of the day in shorts and a T-shirt.

I didn’t have a towel, so I turned my clay-covered shirt inside out and used that to dry off after my steaming-hot shower. I was happy the steam shielded me from view of the changing area. No one really used the showers, except for in dire emergencies. They were wide open, and everyone in the locker room could see everything. I felt a little protected by the layer of steam blurring my body. Still, I rushed through the shower, quickly ran the dry shirt over myself, and pulled on my gym clothes.

I thought about using a spell to dry my hair and look somewhat presentable, but I wouldn’t have any non-magical way to explain how my long hair had dried so quickly. So I squeezed as much water out of it as I could. I didn’t have a comb, only a brush, and no way was I about to run a brush through my wet hair. I looked around the locker room, making sure no one was nearby. Then I summoned my magic and focused on my hair. I felt it ripple, like wind was blowing through it. It fell perfectly straight and knot-free down my back. No one would know I didn’t have a comb. I grabbed my dirty clothes and practically ran from the shower area.

“Whoa!” Beth held her hands out and grabbed me before I ran into her.

“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in lunch.” God, was she following me around? She kept turning up everywhere.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay. I have extra clothes, so I thought I’d see if you needed anything.”

I relaxed a little. Maybe Beth was just being nice. It was possible I was being overly jumpy around her because she was always so good at reading people. She’d never actually done anything even remotely mean to me. But the way she knew everything that went on in this school—well,
almost
everything—really put me on edge.

“I’m fine, Beth. Thanks. I just really want to get to lunch now.”

“I’ll walk with you.”

“Oh, um, okay. I’m meeting Ethan first, though.”

“Yeah, I saw him outside the locker room. I told him to go on ahead.”

Of course she did. I plastered a fake smile on my face. “Great. Then, let’s go.” It’s not like I didn’t like Beth. She was nice enough. But I really wished she didn’t take such an interest in me and Ethan. It wasn’t easy having a secret with Beth lurking around.