Witch's Brew - Spellspinners 1 (Spellspinners of Melas County) (27 page)

Then I looked up.

“Ohmygoddesses,” I blurted out way too loud.

“What?” He looked alarmed.

My reflection in the mirror.

The zebra stripes.

I’d forgotten.

“Pretty cute,” he said softly.

I’m so embarrassed.

“Don’t be.” He took a step toward me, and when he spoke I could see him approaching in the mirror. “After all, why would a witch possibly want to fall back on something so simple as her powers, when she could use lipstick to camouflage her skin?”

“Shh,” I whispered, watching my face flush. “They’ll hear us.” I tilted my neck to the side, my hair accidentally brushing his chest. He was directly behind me, his hands cupping my shoulders. “Even cuter.”

We heard a low scream, almost a howling sound. Logan grabbed my hand and tucked me into a small wooden chair in the corner of his room out of both the window and door’s way. He surprised me by dragging his desk across the room and shoving it against the door.

When they don’t find me they’ll come here.

Don’t you have a lock?

Locks aren’t permitted.

My eyes darted toward the window. The third-story window.

He followed my eyes knowing what I was afraid of.

I was alone in a room with a warlock.

I was alone in the BEDROOM of a warlock with a warlock.

Where my only exit was barred.

What do they want? The other warlocks?

His forehead wrinkled, and he squatted in front of my chair
. They’re probably just messing around. We always get like this when Father’s out of town…

Father?

My master. He’s also my father.

Whoa. Really?

The last time I checked, yeah.

Oh. Wow.

Is it that bad?

I’ve just…heard not the best things about Jacob.

You should try living with him.

I smiled.

A crash outside, something hitting the side of the house. A garbage can maybe? More yelling. Obviously they were doing more than simply looking for Logan. Or did they always act this way?

We can’t be too careful. When they are all together like that, even if they don’t mean anything at first, they…well, things can get ugly fast.

Where are they now?

Below us. On the second floor.

We heard doors opening and slamming, calling out his name. They sounded like football players at a rally, only with a wicked edge to their voices. I didn’t doubt they could turn dangerous quickly.

Orchid.

What if they find Orchid?

Looking concerned, he crossed over to the window, and peered out into the darkness.

I got up to join him, my feet padding lightly on the wood floor.

“You might want to take those off,” he said, pointing at my Converse. “They’re kind of loud.”

I untied my shoes and laid them neatly under the foot of his bed, like they belonged there.

Cute socks.

“Stripes.” I shrugged, pointing at the matching ones on my cheeks. Then I crossed behind him, and stood so close to him our shoulders were touching. “Do you see her?”

The moonlight bathed him in its glow, as he pointed into the forest.

I think I see her, there.

Our eyes flew to Orchid—or rather, her bright eyes, which were peeking over the fence—who was on her tiptoes, chin on the top of my sweatshirt, looking rather amazingly annoyed.

She’s safe.

You better turn those blinding floodlights back on or they’ll see her too,

Got it.

He snapped and just like that the lights were back on.

No chanting? No spell? Just a snap.

I have mad skills.
Can you talk to your friend like this?

Telepathically? No. Not yet.

I wonder why the two of us can.

I’m not sure, but I’m guessing it has something to do with our amulets and the way they react when we’re together.

Here. I have something for you.

He gently flipped my hand palm up, reached into his pocket, and placed my amulet into the center.

“What I don’t get,” he whispered, not letting go of the flipside of my hand while he examined the stone, “is why is yours shaped like a teardrop when mine is shaped like a moon? Wouldn’t it make more sense for yours to be shaped like the sun? That is where you draw your energy, no?”

“You think it looks like a teardrop?”

“Yeah, don’t you?”

“I always thought of it as the Celtic symbol for water, or life. Water and I have a special bond.”

“I do too.”

“I guessed that when I saw you after surfing.”

“Did you?”

“I did.”

“Yet another thing we have in common.”

Our eyes held for a second, soaking it all in.

“So, can I have mine back now, Lily?”

“I wasn’t lying down there. I don’t have it with me.”

He cocked an eyebrow.

“I don’t! Really. I swear.”

“It’s…it’s the only thing I have left of my real parents. It’s pretty important to me.”

“Your parents? I thought Jacob was your father.”

“He’s my legal guardian. He’s not my father.”

“Why do you call him that, then?”

“He’s raised me since I was a little boy. It’s…he’s all I know.”

“That’s weird,” I blurted out, wishing immediately I could take it back after I saw the hurt look in his eyes.

“Not any weirder than you guys being named after your flower scents.”

“I guess. Yeah, totally. We’re a pretty weird bunch too.”

Clearly I’d hit a sore spot, and I felt terrible about taking his necklace now. I had no idea it was an heirloom left by his real parents.

“Who are they? Do you know?”

“My parents? No. Jacob says I was left on his doorstep when I was three or four. I don’t remember much before that, so I suppose it could be true. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, why my natural parents would leave me here with no explanation.”

“Maybe they noticed how gifted you were and didn’t know what to do about it. How to train you on their own. That happens in our coven from time to time. Powers are difficult to control, especially in young kids. Orchid got herself into a whole lot of trouble with her adopted mom before she came to live with our Mistress, and…”

He was listening so intently I got flustered and let my words trail off.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing. I …this.” I looked around the room. “I’m in your room on warlock territory, and we’re talking like we’re in a diner or something. Logan, this isn’t safe for me to be in here. What if your warlock friends catch up with us?”

“I’ll protect you.”

“That…Logan you can’t defend me against them, they are your allies, I’m the one who’s your enemy remember?”

“A rose by any other name.”

“Rose is my middle name,” I said.

“It suits you.”

Our faces were so close, we were practically breathing the words.

“Lily, I…I don’t understand what’s happening here.”

“Neither do I.”

The moon beamed in slivers through the glass panes. He brushed a dark lock of hair out of his eyes, which shone through the night like sapphires. Suddenly, it was quiet outside. Too quiet. He turned inward again in case the boys were near his room.

What would you be doing if you weren’t here?

What do you mean?

What do you do for fun, in the evenings?

Oh. Um. Go to the beach maybe?

At night?

We have bonfires sometimes.

Remembering what I normally did felt strange. Reality didn’t seem real anymore.

“So if I went down to the beach, say tomorrow night, I would find you?”

“Possibly.”

“Possibly or definitely?”

“Definitely.”

Loud footsteps rang outside his door. Then a pounding of knuckles on wood. “Logan! Dude, you in there?”

Don’t make a sound.
“Just a sec!” Logan called out.

“Finally. We’ve been looking for you everywhere. Dude, I hate to break it to you but something’s wrong with your dog.”

His mouth curled down at me.

“One minute,” he said.

The doorknob rattled. “What do you have against your door?”

I closed my eyes and spun a spell that made a flow of water sound like the shower.

Logan caught on immediately. “Can’t hear you, Chance! In the shower.”

“Alright, I’ll wait. But hurry your ass up. Somebody found a long blonde hair, too. We’re thinking it might be those witches you were talking to at the Brew, raiding the place.”

I turned the shower noise up louder, and Logan mumbled something inaudible.

Chance didn’t move from his guard spot outside the door. Did he suspect I was in here?

I winced and Logan shook his head quietly.
Don’t make a peep. Have you ever levitated before?

I’ve been practicing, but I’m not very good at it.

This is just like levitating only backwards. Here’s the spell.

He crossed over to his desk, and flipped open a book. Then he ran his fingers over the words, and together we read through the chant in our binding minds.

The energy in the room was palpable. The pillowcases rippled on his bed, the hangers in his closet rattled. He took my hand in his.

How is this working? I mean, Orchid and I spin spells together, but she’s a witch and you’re a…

“What?”

“Shh!”

He looked so earnest, I thought about bringing it up again. The idea that he might be the Chosen One. The link to a peace treaty. But the timing wasn’t right. Not yet.

What if I was wrong?

You up for it?
he asked, his eyes flashing.

What do we have to lose?

He wasn’t going anywhere, and I had to get home somehow. I gestured toward the barricaded door, while Logan climbed up to his windowsill, and braced himself against the interior frame with one arm. The moonlight captured the ink now swirling down his forearm, the curious Celtic ropes, the fascinating, bold swirls and designs.

I like that one
. I dared to touch the ink as he pulled me up.

The dragon
.

It’s awesome.

Thanks.

I was still clutching his forearm. Under my skin, the dragon’s fire began to glow. The wind blew through our clothes, our hair, chilling me to the bone. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into him.

“You scared?” he mumbled.

“A little.”

“When our hands touch repeat this mantra:

bones light as summer’s feathers

floating weightless winter’s snow

Repeat it until we’re on the ground.”

“That will work?”

His eyes bore into mine. “Two is always stronger than one.”

“But what if it doesn’t work?”

I flashed on the signs to look for in the chosen one: youth, breathing…and flight.

Flight.

“Don’t worry,” he said confidently. “We got this.”

Maybe we did.

Clutching each other’s hands, we stepped out the window and into the night.

Suddenly we were floating down, down toward the grass, light as a feather, cool as the first snow of winter.

“Wow,” I said, as my socked feet mashed into the damp grass, “that was amazing.”

“Told you,” he said. “You did good, you know, for a witch.”

“Funny,” I said, playfully elbowing him.

He glanced around, making sure none of the warlocks were close by, before he approached the sleeping dogs that had just began to stir. He spoke to it in a low, sweet voice. “Hey there, big guy. Good boy, Kujo. ”

“He’s waking up.”

“I’m glad.”

“Fitting name by the way.”

“I know, right? I’ve had him since I was eight. I sort of love the guy.”

“That explains it. I’ve had my cat Tabitha since I was eight. Something about the bonds you make as a kid.”

“Yep. So you can see why I was pissed? What if I snuck onto your property and poisoned her catnip or some such?”

I gasped, and slugged him hard in the shoulder. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Ouch!”

“Don’t even joke about hurting Tabitha.”

“Let me guess, Tabitha is a black cat?”

“Black as night, Mr. Warlock Sir.”

“OOOOOOOOOHMMMMYYYYYGODDESSES. Can you two shut up already? A crazy gang of warlocks is combing the grounds looking for you two. And, Lil! Two minutes until mossy-camo is GONE. If the Orange Beast gets towed, or those crazy lox get a hold of it, it’s your ass.”

“I gotta go.”

“I guess so.”

I sighed, and he tentatively touched my elbow, then backed off again, like he wanted to say something else.

“Are you kidding me?” Orchid called from over the fence, “Parting is such sweet sorrow, blah-freaking-blah! We all know how your doomed love story ends, so Lily, can we please GO?”

“Orchid, shhh!”

I turned to Logan. “Sorry about not bringing your amulet. Here, keep mine for collateral until I can return yours.”

I opened up his hand and placed the stone into it, then closed his fingers around its glow.

“You don’t have to.”

“I insist.” He leaned over so I could whisper in his ear, “Find out more about it if you can. And I’ll get yours to you soon. I swear. Sorry about him, too.” I pointed down at the dog that was now licking my ankle. “I’m sorry, Logan, but your dog is disgusting.”

“I’m a warlock,” he said, with a half-grin, his eyes flashing through the night “And you’re the one who came looking for me, remember?”

A sound rang out across the lawn, the shrill sound of metal clashing against metal. A blast, hollers, and then smoke streaking across the night sky.

“They’re coming,” Logan said, “You guys better get out of here.”

His eyes ran over my eyes, down my nose and paused on my lips.

He wanted to kiss me.

I wanted him to. Man, did I want him to.

Another flash and boom. More yelling.

They were close.

Standing on my tiptoes I kissed him quickly on the cheek; then before I could note his reaction, I scurried over the fence and booked ass back to Orchid’s truck on feet so light I felt I was flying.