The Promise (The Coven Series) (7 page)

“I’m
not sure what to get her.
 
I thought
about a necklace or something.
 
I saw her
eyeing a piece over at Markham’s Fine Jewelry.
 
It looked old and
antiquish
, but…” He stopped
when I laughed.

“CJ’s
the one that likes old jewelry,” Jeff told him.
 
My eyes snapped to him.
 
How did
he know that?
 
I didn’t think he’d ever
paid any attention to stuff like that.

He
winked.
 
“I asked MJ what to get you for
your birthday.”

I
found myself smiling up into his cornflower blue eyes.
 
They were alight with laughter.
 
Could this day get any weirder?
 
Jeff being considerate and taking the time to
find out what I liked?
 
And just when did
his eyes get to be so beautiful?
 
Welcome
to
Wierdville
.

Ethan
glared at him.
 
I saw it out of the
corner of my eye.
 
Good.
 
It served him right after leaving me a stupid
note and taking Kay home when he was supposed to be meeting me for a date.
 
Not that this was turning out to be a date, I
corrected myself.
 
A date was two people
grabbing a bite to eat together, not a group hanging out and talking.
 

“MJ?”
Ethan asked us.
 
The look he gave Jeff should have made the floor open up and swallow the
boy whole.
 

“Makayla
Joyce and Cassie Jayne,” Billy explained.
 
“MJ and CJ.
 
So, what should I get her?”

I
frowned.
 
Why had Billy just told Ethan
Kay’s full name?
 
That was a major
no-no.
 
It was one thing for me to do it,
but quite another for someone who believed in the craft to do it.
 
They believed there was great power in one’s
name and knowing it could give someone else power over them.
 
It just wasn’t done.
 

Billy
grinned at my frown and winked.
 
I
shrugged.
 
If they were blabbing names,
who was I to care anyway?

“Honestly,
I’d do something special instead of getting her a gift.
 
Set yourself apart from the rest of her
bedpost notches.
 
Maybe take her to
Boone?
 
Some place nice, like Blowing
Rock?
 
They have some killer restaurants
up there.

Billy’s
smile lit up his face.
 
“That’s perfect,
CJ.
 
I’ll have to do it the weekend
before Halloween, though.
 
Kay’s already
planning
y’all’s
birthday party.”

“You
celebrate your birthdays together?” Ethan asked, confused.

“Every
year,” Billy confirmed.
 
“They were born
on the same day.”

“Really?”
Ethan frowned.
 
“When is your birthday?”

“Halloween,”
I told him.

His
eyes widened and his breath came out in a hiss.
 
“
Who’s
older, you or her?”

“Don’t
know,” I shrugged.
 
“We were born in the
same hour, same minute.
 
No one knows who
came first.”
 
Ethan’s face went a little
white.
 

“The chicken or the egg?”
Jeff quirked an
eyebrow.

I
laughed.
 
“Real
mature.”

“I
live but to please.” He smiled at me and I noticed for the first time what a
nice smile he had.
 
He was very cute,
adorable really with those killer blue eyes.
 
Why hadn’t I noticed before?
 
Because he was a jerk before, I snorted to myself.
 
Ethan’s interest seemed to have brought out a
new side to him.
 
Shame I still only
thought of him as a friend.
 
No, my
stomach only knotted up in nervous anticipation when Ethan looked at me.
 

Ethan’s
frown turned into a glare again.
 
“Come
on, Cassie, let’s grab a table.
 
We’re
supposed to be on a date, remember?”

“Are
we now?” I asked.
 
“Could
have fooled me.”

Jeff
chuckled.
 
I kicked him.
 

“People
don’t leave notes on lockers while they take another girl home when they’re on
a date.”

His
eyes widened.
 
Understanding dawned in
his sleepy gray eyes.
 

“You
know, I’m really not in the mood anymore.” I stood up and Ethan mimicked the
movement.
 
“I’m going to the
bathroom.
 
Then I’m going home.”

Ethan
frowned and started to say something, but I turned away.
 
I went through the back and made my way to
the bathrooms, but stopped before rounding the corner.
 
I heard my name.

“Why
hasn’t Rebecca forced CJ to come to the meetings?” Mrs. Anderson whispered.

“Roger
won’t allow it,” Mrs. Johnson replied.
 
“She can’t with Roger being so stubborn about it.”

“But
did you see that, Joanne?
 
Think of what
we could do with her in the Coven?
 
What
we might have already been able to do?
 
I
haven’t seen that much talent since Emily.”

“That
may be the case,” Mrs. Johnson sighed, “but we shouldn’t let ourselves get
attached in case she’s…”

“Yes,
yes, I know,” Mrs. Anderson cut in.
 
“But
just think…”

What
the hell were they talking about?
 
Did it
have something to do with that shadow thing I saw earlier?
 
My stomach cramped.
 
I stepped around the corner and both women
let out a little gasp.
 
“CJ, dear, we
didn’t see you there.”

I
eyed them and waited.
 
Neither seemed
willing to say anything.
 
“Are you going
to explain that to me?” I asked after another long minute of silence passed.

“Explain
what, dear?” Mrs. Johnson smiled at me.
 

“In
case I’m what?” I asked, agitated.

“In
case you never decide to join the Coven,” Mrs. Johnson told me.
 

She
was lying.
 
I could feel it in my
gut.
 

“Now,
Alice and I have to get going, honey.
 
If
you change your mind, you’re always welcome at the meetings.”

They
stepped around me and went through the double doors leading back out to the
main floor.
 
I stared after them,
frustrated to no end.
 
What was going
on?
 
Had this entire town gone crazy?

They’ll
be pestering you soon to start coming to the meetings, my dad’s words whispered
through my mind.
 
I frowned.
 
People were pestering me more than usual.
 
Why were they suddenly so interested?
 
The looks on their faces earlier came to
mind.
 
They eyed me like I was some kind
of revelation or something.
 
All I’d done
was come up with a stupid poem.
  

And
what had Mrs. Anderson meant about Emily?
 
Did she think I had some kind of talent, too?
 
I just said some words.
 
It wasn’t like I’d done anything.
 
Or had I?
 
Had my words made that shadow appear?
 
I was so confused.
 
I sighed,
frustrated.
 
This was getting me nowhere
and my arm was killing me.

I
took a deep breath and went back out.
 
I
didn’t really need to go to the bathroom.
 
I’d just wanted a minute or two by myself.
 
Ethan was waiting right outside the double
doors, my bookbag in one hand.
 
He took
my good hand and pulled me outside.
 
He
did not look at all happy.

Well
damn.
 
Could this day get much worse?

Chapter Six

Ethan
dragged me out of Lucy’s and across the street to the park where he settled me
under the first set of trees he came to with a stern, “Don’t move.”
 
Then he turned around and went back into the
café.
 

My
chin hit my chest.
 
I felt my face heat
with rage and wouldn’t have been surprised to see smoke coming out of my
ears.
 
Oh, he so did not!
 
The wind picked up and blew through the trees
with a force that matched my anger.
 
I
grabbed my bookbag and started walking deeper into the park.
 
Angry and embarrassed, I trudged along for
another ten minutes or so before collapsing under a tree.
 
Mr. Melt
In
Your
Mouth Gorgeous was turning out to be a royal pain in the ass.
 
Stay put?
 
As if!

I
sighed.
 
This had to be the worst first
date of my life.
 
I’d gotten a crappy
note taped to my locker while he was with Kay and then, when he’d finally shown
up, his high-handed tactics only managed to piss me off.
 
This was worse than when Craig had taken me
to the Nascar Hall of Fame and proceeded to drone on and on about cars.
 
Sure, my dad was a mechanic, but why would he
just assume I’d know all about cars?
 
I’d
been bored within minutes and he’d gotten irritated when he figured out I
wasn’t paying attention to his babble.
 
Needless to say, that had been our first and last date.
 
I couldn’t help but to wonder if Ethan and I
would end up on that same course.

The
rustle of leaves caught my attention and I looked up to see Sara Jordan and
Megan Parker, Jeff’s little sister, heading down one of the trails.
 
Megan jumped up and down, barely able to
contain her excitement.
 

“I
can hardly wait,” she said.
 
“Can you
believe it’s on Saturday, Sara?”

“How
could I not?” Sara asked dryly.
 
“You
won’t let me forget.”

“Well,
it’s not every day a girl gets inducted into the Junior Coven,” she said
defensively as they continued on down the path and out of hearing distance.

I
smiled at the excitement in her step as she bounced from one foot to the
other.
 
Megan always did get a little
over excited about things, but I suppose she had a right.
 
Her induction into the Junior Coven was a big
deal.
 
Entrance signaled the beginning of
the training that would end when she turned eighteen.
 
Junior members were inducted at age fifteen
and spent the next three years learning their craft from respected teachers of
the Senior Coven.
 

Megan’s
excitement made me remember the night of Emily’s induction.
 
I wasn’t allowed to go, but I’d stayed with
her right up until she’d gone to the Hall.
 
I let myself drift back to that moment.

Emily
twisted her hair up and then let it fall back down.
 
She turned in front of the full length mirror
in her room and frowned.
 
Her hair went
back up and she flipped back and forth, trying to see it from all sides in the
mirror.
 
It blazed with life, all the
colors shimmering as she moved.
 
Her hair
fascinated me.
 
I’d never seen anyone’s
with so many different colors.
 
It was
beautiful.

“What
do you think, CJ?” she fretted.
 
“Up or down?”

“Up,”
I said promptly.
 
“It makes you look older.”
 
I was obsessed with being older, especially
tonight.
 
I wanted to go and see Emily
inducted into the Junior Coven more than anything, but my parents said no, I
was too young.
 
You had to be fifteen to
go to the meetings and I was only twelve.
 

She
saw my disgruntled face and smiled.
 
“It’ll be your turn before you know it.”

“I
don’t want a turn,” I rolled my eyes at her.
 
“I just want to go and see you.”

“You’ll
change your mind when you’re older,” she promised.
 
“The Coven is everything you could ever want,
CJ.”

“Would
it give me the new Nintendo Game Boy?”

She
laughed.
 
“I don’t think even the Coven
has that much pull.
 
You’ll have to work
on Mom and Dad for that.”

“So
what use is the Coven then?” I grouched and crossed my arms over my chest.

“CJ,
the Coven is a part of us even if we don’t want it to be.
 
Our family has been members since the town
was founded and I can’t wait to become a part of that history.”

“Are
you sure I can’t sneak in?
 
Kay would do
it.
 
She’s dying to go too.”