Текст книги "Something Witchy This Way Comes "
Автор книги: Veronica Blade
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Текущая страница: 3 (всего у книги 19 страниц)
Chapter Five
Hayden
“Dude, are you tapping that?” Brad shoveled another bite of pasta into his mouth, his gaze fixed on Tessa several tables away.
Brad’s lewd comments used to make me laugh. This time, my fingers tightened around my fork. Tessa didn’t deserve to be talked about that way. She’d tutored me two days already, slogged patiently through my notes and had single handedly saved me from flunking out in calculus. She’d been spot on. I had missed something early on, then crashed and burned. I wasn’t quite out of the woods, but I was getting there.
School had sucked for a long time. Today, I almost enjoyed calculus. I enjoyed her. I looked forward to the end of each day when I shadowed her to the library. Tessa would smile and take a seat inside. I’d sit across from her and watch those silky blond tresses fall over her face while she looked at my notes from our latest lesson.
Tessa was an all-you-can-eat banquet for my imagination. Every day, I fantasized about kissing her and each time, she’d nail me – as if reading my mind – then she’d calmly remind me to focus. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I knew it would never go anywhere and she’d never go for a hit and ditch. But that knowledge didn’t stop me from wanting her.
I had a simple philosophy about relationships – there were no guarantees. Even couples who were in it for the long haul got divorced. And high school romances had less chance of working out. If it was going to end anyway, did it really matter whether or not my motives were honorable? But I couldn’t bring myself to play Tessa that way. A girl like her wouldn’t want to settle for less than some kind of promise of a future. A commitment.
So I kept my distance and gave her a hundred percent of my attention, directing every last bit of my mental energy toward my studies. Most important, I never flirted. And the less interest I showed, the more relaxed she appeared. If I kept it up, she might even grow to like me one day. That wasn’t my goal, but I preferred that to her loathing.
“Well? Are you hitting that?” Brad repeated.
I scowled. “No.”
“You sure? ‘Cause you’ve been different lately, since your private lessons.” He lifted one brow. “You’re not going soft on us, are you?”
“Crossing over to the dark side, Hayden?” Skyler snickered. “Might want to hit that one a little longer before you ditch. She’s so hot.”
My thoughts exactly. I’d definitely want to take my time with Tessa. My eyes found her again. She glanced at me as though I’d just whispered those words into her ear. I wasn’t sure if I liked how she seemed to see into my soul. It made me uneasy.
It also intrigued me and made me want her more.
“There’s something I’ve been thinking about.” A goofy grin covered Skyler’s face. “The new girl from Romania. Very hot. I’ll see you guys later.”
“You going to Christina’s Halloween party this weekend?” Brad asked.
“Don’t know yet.” I’d rather find some excuse to see Tessa. But she wasn’t right for me and I shouldn’t allow myself to indulge. There were other things to concentrate on, namely graduating. But I also needed something to take my mind off Tessa – like other girls. “You know, a party at Christina’s sounds perfect.”
“Excellent.” Brad grinned.
Chapter Six
Tessa
The bell rang and Hayden trailed after me along the outside of the main building.
“You only met with them two days ago. What do they want?” He nodded toward the auditorium.
To practice my supernatural powers. Only three days and my ability to pull pictures had improved dramatically. But now that I could do it, the visuals cluttered my head and ravaged my peace of mind. It should have been fun, plucking images from the minds of everyone I encountered. Instead, ugly truths ambushed me at inconvenient times and made me wish for ignorance.
As near as I could tell, the guys fantasized about me more than any other girl in school. Though the knowledge raised my confidence, did I really want to see myself making out with Tom in Lab or Jose in PE? I constantly changed my mind about whether or not the power was more trouble than it was worth.
Desperation for peace of mind gnawed at me. I needed to practice blocking unwanted pictures. But Hayden had asked me a question. “We brainstorm, go over clues. They ask me questions and we try to figure out what’s going on. If they have any news, they’ll fill me in. Last time, Agent Phillips promised to give me some self-defense tips at this next meeting.”
Hayden stopped just before the doors. “It’s weird. If you’re in so much danger that you need to be watched full time, why do they let you go to school at all? Why not put you in protective custody? I don’t know. An FBI agent and the principal spending a private hour with you, then volunteering self-defense tips – all without involving your parents? Don’t you think it sounds a little fishy?”
Not if you knew what I know. “N-no.”
Hayden stared into my eyes a moment. “I’ll see you after my PE class.” He pushed past me to get the door and his arm brushed my shoulder.
Little electric ripples shot down to my toes. I had to get a grip. The last thing I needed was to get all puppy-eyed over a guy like Hayden. Sure, he’d been a total gentleman during our tutoring sessions. He remained studious and aloof – until his mind went idle and his visions rushed me. So I did my best to keep his brain occupied. I didn’t fool myself into thinking that just because he didn’t act on it when he fantasized about getting me naked that it meant he had any real respect for me. Not that I wanted him to act on it. He wasn’t my type.
“Yeah, see ya,” I said, too disturbed over my body’s reaction to his accidental touch.
As the door to the auditorium closed behind me, I picked up on something. An energy behind me, on the other side of the door. The little hairs on my arms sprung to attention. I opened the door again and poked my head outside. A quick scan revealed nothing except concrete paths, lawns and shrubbery. Strange. But I didn’t worry too much about anything happening in broad daylight… on school grounds. Still, waiting around for someone to pounce set my teeth on edge.
I made a beeline to Fawn and Mr. Linton who stood next to the table and chairs. “Someone’s out there. I feel it.”
“We know. We’re doing everything in our power to keep you safe.” Mr. Linton motioned toward one of the chairs.
I ignored his direction and leaned against the wall, willing my pulse to steady. “It doesn’t bother you? The waiting? Shouldn’t we do something? If they’re dangerous, why do we just sit around so they can get the jump on us?”
“Things will happen soon enough without you rushing it.” Fawn kept her voice low and soothing. “You need to focus on honing your skills and let us do the worrying.”
I usually tried to give people the benefit of the doubt. Since my entire world changed the past week, trusting wasn’t coming easy now. Maybe being around Hayden had tainted me. More likely, my reluctance to trust stemmed from the fact that I had to rely on two people I barely knew to protect me from others I knew not at all.
“How certain are you that they’re not after my family? If anything happens to my little sister—”
“Positive.” This time, Mr. Linton pulled out the chair for me and sat in the one next to it. I didn’t take it. “They have no use for common people, which makes your family of no consequence. By involving non-supernaturals, they risk exposing what they are. Trust me, they won’t take that chance.”
“Tell me again what they want with me.” So far, they hadn’t actually spelled it out.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Fawn sat across from the empty chair. “You’d help in furthering their agenda.”
“Which is what?” I leaned over and rested my hands on the back of the chair.
Fawn studied me. The look on her face told me I should already know the answer. “Imagine what someone like us could do in a position of real power. Unfortunately, the good guys don’t crave power. Since the bad guys are the ones that fight for it, they usually end up in control.”
“Are they in control now?”
“No.” Mr. Linton shook his head. “The non-supernaturals still run everything. Our job is to make sure it stays that way. If you’re on our side, it will be more likely.”
“It’s hard to believe that the less scrupulous sorcerers aren’t already ruling the world.” There had to be some of them in power. I wondered what Fawn and Linton weren’t telling me.
The corners of his mouth curled up. “Neither’s really in control. There’s probably less than a couple thousand of us on the whole planet. And we’re too busy fighting each other and trying to stay alive to give any of us a chance to take over.”
Fawn bent over her briefcase and retrieved some photos. “Look through these and tell me if you recognize anyone.”
* * * *
Hayden seemed distracted. Oddly enough, this time I wasn’t the cause.
“Self-defense, huh? Whatever you learned today, you’ll need to practice.”
“Actually, we didn’t get to that.” I read the paragraph in the text again, deciding the best way to explain it to Hayden without overloading his brain circuits.
“Oh, really? Who better to learn from than me? I’m qualified.”
I yanked my thoughts from his text to stare at him. “You’re offering me self-defense lessons?”
He shrugged. “Well, yeah. You tutor me every day on your own time. I could return the favor.”
“You’re my bodyguard, remember? It’s not like you’re just standing around.”
“I’m being compensated in other ways. You’re not. Besides, what if something happened and no one was around to help you?”
Having him teach me how to defend myself was a fantastic idea but I wondered how smart it would be to spend even more time with him. “You beat up some guys last year and now you’re an expert?”
Hayden scoffed. “I had real lessons. I can show you what they taught me.”
I gazed unseeing at the textbook. “I don’t know.”
“Oh, I get it. You’re not jumping at the chance, because you secretly like me.” Hayden grinned. “You’re afraid that after a while, you’d eventually break down and give into temptation.”
I tried to work up a good sneer, putting everything I had into it to make it convincing. “My, we think a lot of ourselves, don’t we?”
“That’s the only reason I can think of that would make you turn down a perfectly good opportunity to be in control.”
If I refused, I’d have to come up with an excuse that didn’t involve admitting how hot he was. How tempted I’d be… Or I could take advantage of his offer and trust myself. It’s not as if I’d ever be in danger of truly liking him. “Fine. Teach me.”
“Good. I will.” He gave me a smug look and wiggled his eyebrows.
I ignored that, but something else bothered me about his offer. “I’m curious about something. If your dad used to beat you—”
“Step-dad.”
“Right. Step-dad,” I said, our studies completely forgotten. “If he used to hit you, why would he spring for lessons that would teach you to defend yourself against him?”
“He didn’t. I used to walk home from school and pass this martial arts studio. One day I went inside and asked for lessons. The guy said no, of course. I needed my parents’ permission and I had to pay for the lessons. I was naïve, but pretty determined.
“Every day after that, I stopped and watched through the window. One night, my step-dad came home drunk when I was supposed to be in bed.” Hayden touched the bridge of his nose. “Broke my nose. When I stopped at the martial arts studio the next day, I worked up the nerve to ask the guy for a job and he said yes. Probably felt sorry for the poor kid getting his ass beat.
“Legally, I was too young to work, but he let me do little things, like get clean towels and set up the rooms.” He smiled, but there was a far-away look in his eyes. “After a while, he gave me some lessons. Later I got good enough to teach the beginner classes. I taught them and he continued to teach me. The rest is history.”
Hayden had had a rough time, but had persisted until he found his way out. I was mightily impressed with what he’d accomplished. Too bad he took a wrong turn somewhere. He had a ways to go before rejoining the human race, and I had little faith he could do it.
“We’ll start Saturday,” he said. “Why don’t you pick me up in the morning around nine?”
“You’re okay with my Scion when we could be driving your Viper?”
“I don’t care what we use. I just want to avoid steering anything after a night of debauchery. Friday night is Christina’s Halloween party, remember?”
My engine totally cooled the rest of the way at the thought of Hayden boozing and ending up with some girl in a Naughty Nurse costume – possibly even drunker than him. I’d have to keep thoughts like that handy to periodically jog my good sense and keep things in perspective. I couldn’t allow myself to forget what a creep Hayden was.
“Debauchery, huh?” I smirked. “That’s a big word. And why would I know about any parties your friends throw?” Hayden had to be losing it if he thought I’d know when went on with his crowd or that I’d want anything to do with them.
“I figured someone must have told you. But now that you know, do you want to go?”
“I have no desire to crash her party.” I flipped the page in the textbook, wondering how I’d allowed him to take us so far off our studies.
“It’s not crashing if you’ve been invited.” He grinned.
Maybe Hayden only had so much room in his pretty little head and smartening him up had caused an overload, making other vital data go poof. “Where am I going to get an invite? Do they sell them at the local Quick Mart?” I smirked.
He laughed, his eyes fixed on mine. “I’m inviting you. I’m your in.”
My mouth dropped open. “Who said I wanted an in?”
“Don’t you want to see how the other half lives?”
“Not interested.” I returned my focus to the textbook.
“A little curious?” He leaned forward but I didn’t look at him. “You can bring a friend.”
“You’re not thinking this through, Hayden. In what alternate universe would Christina want me at her party?” Being with a bunch of superficial social climbers didn’t sound like my idea of fun anyway. I wondered what was in it for Hayden to have me there. But his mental images eluded me for the moment. What was he thinking?
“I’ll pick you up and we can drive over together. You’d be safer,” he said as though my objections meant little.
I didn’t have to wait long to see his thoughts. A flash of us making out assaulted me. Not just kissing – he was lifting me up on a table, my legs wrapped around his hips. My stomach came alive with giant agitated butterflies.
It wasn’t as if I was all revved up to get married or anything. But the idea of finding a nice guy now who would want that someday didn’t sound horrible. Hayden was not that guy, nor did he want to be that guy. No matter how well he behaved or how hot he was, I could never ever let myself give into the temptation. No matter how powerful his pull on me.
He’d drawn me in when he kept his promise and watched over me. He wasn’t all bad – but bad enough that maintaining my distance was crucial. “Safer with you?” I asked. “Are you kidding?”
Hayden lifted one shoulder. “I thought since we’re studying together, things might be easier on you if everyone thinks I’m interested in more than a hit and ditch.”
“You mean easier for you.” Because he’d get to act out his fantasies. If I hadn’t seen the inner workings of his mind, I might’ve bought that he was only thinking of me. Of course, just because he wanted to do things didn’t mean he’d do them. Maybe he’d behave like a saint at the party and my hesitation would’ve been for nothing. But satisfying that question would probably land me in trouble.
“I don’t think hanging out is a good idea. I have plans anyway.” Plans to stay the hell away from him.
He shrugged. “Think about it. I’ll let her know you might be coming.”
Chapter Seven
Hayden
From my car, I watched Tessa drive safely through the school gate and onto the street. A moment later, a silver sedan left the curb and followed. Some days a red Porsche tailed her, other days a black Hummer. I always wondered who sat behind the tinted glass. Good guys or bad?
Something wasn’t right about that whole thing but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Mr. Linton came on the scene and suddenly Tessa was mysteriously in danger. Coincidence? And I doubted Agent Phillips was really FBI. I had a feeling that when Tessa left the school grounds, she was as safe as a turkey before Thanksgiving.
I didn’t know where the attack would come from – possibly the agent… or our principal? Or was there someone else I needed to watch for? At least between tutoring, the Halloween party and teaching her how to fight on weekends, I’d have plenty of opportunity to observe anyone suspicious.
My car would easily keep up with a sedan. I jumped in and took off after it. My yellow Viper wasn’t exactly low profile, so I kept a safe distance without losing them.
With little else to occupy it, my mind wandered to Tessa.
Christina would be pissed that I invited an outsider to her party. But if I hung out with Tessa, at least a little bit, she’d gain social acceptance which translated into the guys not harassing me as much over talking to her now and then. Their joking and ribbing had grown old.
Mostly, it annoyed me that they had so little respect for her… or girls in general. Not that I’d been a saint, but at least with me, the girls always knew where they stood. I didn’t talk about them to the guys and they wouldn’t wait by the phone for me to call. I always made it my policy to lay that out for them ahead of time.
That kind of honesty would get me nowhere with Tessa – and I wanted to get everywhere with her. Even so, I refused to resort to deception to get what I wanted from a girl.
Just because I wanted her didn’t mean that acting on it was a good idea. My spontaneous invitation to the party had been a stupid thing to do and I hoped she’d think better of taking me up on it.
On the other hand, if she made the wrong choice, I’d have an opportunity to get her out of my system. I didn’t think it would take much – a taste would be enough.
* * * *
Thursday morning, I arrived at school earlier than usual, hoping to get a glimpse of the drivers that shadowed Tessa. But I had as much luck as the night before. None at all.
I leaned my foot against the bumper of my car and waited for Tessa. She parked close by and exited the Scion. Her golden hair was pinned up. Thin wisps escaped whatever she used to secure it and fell around her face. She wore a white sundress that revealed more skin than I was used to seeing on her and the skirt swished around her thighs as she walked.
“Hey.” She smiled in a way that told me she suspected I might have scales under my clothes instead of skin. Good. I had nothing to offer a girl like her who would want the old-fashioned everything.
“Hi.” I stared into her green eyes, searching for something more to say.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing.” I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Just thought I should be here when you arrive.”
“Oh.” She averted her gaze. “You usually avoid talking to me in public.”
I scanned the parking lot. “There’s hardly anyone here yet.”
She narrowed her eyes. “But if you don’t have anything to say, why bother?”
“Just making sure you’re safe and that we’re still meeting in the library after school.” I knew we were since we hadn’t agreed otherwise, but I wanted to keep talking to her.
“Yeah, sure. Why would that change?”
Right… time to switch the subject. “Meeting with Agent Phillips later?”
“No. Not today.” Her gaze wandered past me. “I need to go to my locker.”
I felt myself being pulled to her like gravity. This had to stop. “Go ahead. I’ll catch up.”
She smiled, relief evident by the renewed spark in her eyes. I squashed the welling disappointment and determined, yet again, to keep my distance. Damn. I needed a good hard make-out session with her, so I could get on with my regularly scheduled life.
Chapter Eight
Tessa
“Hayden asked me if I was going with you to Christina’s party tomorrow.” Nadia’s tray banged as she laid it on the lunch table. “What the hell’s that all about?”
“He asked me too.” Corinne used her index finger to push her eyeglasses further up the bridge of her nose. “Why didn’t you tell us he invited you?”
I groaned and popped a French fry in my mouth, hoping neither of them would be interested in going to the party.
“Why do you think he’s telling us about this party? Is it mentor-a-riff-raff week?” Nadia wore her eye makeup so dark today, the rest of her face all but disappeared. Combined with her black hair, she looked every inch the goth she’d aimed for. “Or are they playing some cruel joke on us?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Hayden’s trying to be nice. You know, pay me back for tutoring him.” I froze, wishing those words hadn’t slipped out. If I made the party seem safe and enticing, they’d try to drag me there. I didn’t want anything to do with that kind of party.
“We should all go.” Nadia grinned, a mischievous glint in her eye. “That’ll teach him to invite you anywhere – unless he means it.”
When one of those two got a plan in their head for something new to do, it was hard to dissuade them. Since the three of us were a team and went everywhere together, they’d nag me until I gave in. Nadia would have better sense. I hoped.
“Oh, I think he means it. And by the way he watches you, Tessa, I suspect his reasons are less than noble.” Corinne giggled.
“All the more reason to avoid him.” I snuck a peek at Hayden and found him watching me.
“You should seize the moment. He’s so yummy.” Nadia fanned herself with her hand. “If I went as Goth Girl, I wouldn’t need a costume.”
“It’s a costume party?” Corinne practically bounced in her seat as she swiveled to face Nadia. “I think I’ll go as a slutty angel. With your black hair, you’d make a great devil’s helper.”
Nadia pointed a black painted fingernail at me. “I’ve got the perfect thing for you.”
If they were thinking about costumes, they wanted to go. I slumped on the lunch bench and covered my face with my hands. “You guys, no.” Why hadn’t my boss at Delia’s Deli put me on the schedule for Friday instead of Saturday? It would’ve been the perfect excuse to get out of the party.
“We’ll be at your house at eight sharp.” Nadia looked pleased with herself. “We’ll arrive dressed then get you ready, since you’re practically a hostile witness.”
“You sure nothing’s going on with you and Hayden?” Corinne’s eyes narrowed.
“Nothing. I swear. He’s too full of himself.” I raised my right hand as if a bible were present then remembered the first day Hayden and I worked together. “Oh, wait. Once, he suggested we make out instead of study.”
“And you said no?” Corinne dropped her jaw.
Clearly, my friends would be no help. I said a quick goodbye when the warning bell rang then bolted for my locker.
As I reached for my combination lock two students flew past me. One slammed against the locker next to mine. My body jolted into the flight side of fight-or-flight mode but my breathing steadied when I saw it was Hayden and not a stranger.
“What do you want with her?” Hayden growled, readjusting Bryce by the collar so his feet dangled higher off the ground.
“Wh-what?” the captive replied.
“You were tearing down the hallway straight for her. What were you going to do?” Hayden pressed Bryce firmly into the hard metal wall.
I pushed at Hayden’s arm, trying to unlock his steely grasp. “Hayden. He wasn’t going to hurt me. It’s Bryce. You had to have seen him sitting at our table. C’mon.”
Hayden glanced at me, then slowly eased his grip on Bryce. “Sorry. He was moving toward you pretty fast. I went on automatic and didn’t take the time to identify him. I didn’t realize…”
The guy could move when he needed to, that was for sure. At that moment, I had one word to describe Hayden – intense.
He lowered Bryce to the floor, then turned him in a new direction. Away.
Bryce scurried off. He looked a little shaken but I was pretty sure he’d be fine. I stared at Hayden in disbelief. And awe. Though I felt badly for Bryce, Hayden’s display of testosterone – on my behalf – made him sexier than ever.
