Altered Souls (11 page)

He
jumped off the rock and grabbed
my hand
helping me down.
Here I was in a strange place, wearing a mask of happiness, pretending that I could escape the inexcusable acts my father had
committed
.

“I’m so pissed. I want this all to be over with
so that —
” I huffed and scowled at Logan before turning away.

“
I love y
ou so much, Logan,
”
I tried again, avoiding
his stare. “But no matter how much I want you — us
—
to be alright, I feel like to move forward we
should
concentrate on getting our mothers back
, nothing else
.”

The
street
was bustling
now
, but everything
devolved
into slow motion. The only thing I could hear was the beat of my own heart pounding. Logan pulled his hand away. He was staring directly at me, maybe through me.

“Don’t play these games, Triss.” He couldn’t hide his anger or his surprise.

“I’m not trying to play games,” I started,
but the fear
almost choked out my words. “I am so lost and everything seems insurmountable and —”

Logan narrowed his eyes at me
and was quiet for several minutes and then took off. I shifted uncomfortably wishing I could take my words back.

Should I follow him?

“You coming?” he asked
turning toward me
, his eyes completely darkened by whatever thought occurred to him.

I
skipped a step
and
ran
over to
him.

He slid his arm around my waist as we hurriedly left the
hillside
. I stole a glance at him, and his face was completely
de
void of expression.

“Logan, I never meant
…
” I began.

“Come with me,” he interrupted, his voice kinder.

We were walking quickly down the sidewalk and before I realized it, he pulled me to a secluded area up a grassy hill
on the other side of the street.

“What is this place?” I asked. We were standing in front of a small wooden building with stonework covering the front. It looked beyond old and superbly spooky.

“I don’t know some church or something,” he said, glancing at the church sign. “I just needed you to myself.”

I looked at him puzzled, searching his eyes for any clue he might give. His hands gently cupped my face, bringing it up to his. The softness of his touch did wonders for my spirit.

Why
had I acted
like I could turn off these feelings?

“Listen,” he said softly, stepping closer to me. “This isn’t your fault.
I know you didn’t mean what you said. Maybe it’s the spell. Maybe Trevor has gotten in
to
you more than we realize
d
.
”

I shook my head violently
,
unwilling to accept that possibility. I would
never
love Trevor.

The intensity of his stare melted me in place. I wanted to prove to him how much I loved him. I would do anything for this type of love.

“I don’t understand how that slipped out. I’m not feeling like that at all. I mean I’m confused, but I don’t want to put anything on hold between us. I love you. I love you more each day.”

“I know, baby. I feel the same way,”
he said,
his voice gruffer and lips hovering so close to mine I didn’t think I could take it much more.

His fingertips lightly ran over my collarbone, tracing his way down my arm, igniting a flurry of emotions deep inside. His eyes were burning into my soul, bringing intensity to the night that I desperately needed. I wanted to forget what
had
spilled out of my mouth. I wanted him to forget it.

“Things might be a little difficult for awhile,” he whispered, “and I need to get used to it.”

He wrapped his arms around me, bringing his mouth down to mine. The heat of our skin together built a fiery anticipation of the unknown. This kiss was deeper, hotter than any we’d shared before. My body began trembling against his as I felt his embrace tighten. Running his finger up my spine, a wave of chills ran through me as I felt his lips break free.

“I’ve promised you before, and I’ll promise it again,” he whispered, “I’ll never give up on us.”

Chapter 12

The panic
my earlier words carried
finally subsided, but I didn’t feel any more settled.

“This might be a stretch, but what if we did the spider spell again? I know the feelings I have for you are far stronger than anything that stupid spell
might have
captured between Trevor and
me
. Maybe
a new spell
would overpower
the old one
or something,” I offered.

We were sprawled out on the floor in front of the fire on a pile of cushions and blankets
. This
seemed to be the perfect spot to discuss possibilities privately.

“Mmm,” he replied, twisting his lips as he thought about my idea.

Logan was stretched out next to me, and even with the seriousness of everything, he was difficult not to admire. His hands were behind his head, which only did worse things for my imagination due to the fact that his shirt was raised far too high for my own good.

I reached over and tugged on his shirt, but he wrestled me into his arms instead.

“You’re too distracting,” I complained, burying my head into his shoulder.

“Am I?” he quipped. “I’ll have to keep it up and layer it on even more.”

“Whatever works,” I whispered, snuggling into him. “Try to wear those jeans as often as possible as well.” If teasing about the Trevor thing will help him get through it so be it. “Seriously though, do you think that might work with the spell?”

“It’s an interesting idea. But my major concern is that it would somehow connect me to Trevor.”

“But he can’t see my images, right? I was just allowed to see his.”

He nodded, “But who knows once it’s done twice with the same person.”

“I say we try it.”

“I don’t know about that. You seeing my deepest, darkest secrets and all?” His lip curled up slightly and the overwhelming desire to kiss him came over me.

“It’s getting hot in front of the fire,” I teased, scooting away slowly.

“Right here is perfection,” he said, letting out a sigh bringing me back to him.

“It is,” I agreed, closing my eyes.

The crackle of the fire kept me hypnotized as my mind wandered back to the possibilities of avoiding Trevor or thwarting the spell entirely.

“One thing we’re going to learn through all of this is to never give up,” I mused. Logan’s embrace tightened.

“That’s for sure,” he whispered.

“Now for my father and motive,” I started again.

“
D
on’t
you ever
stop
?
” His laughter lingered.

“I thought that’s one of the things you loved about me? My stubbornness.” I opened my eyes and rolled on top of him, staring straight into his gaze.

“One of many things.”

“If my father’s got a network in some states, or worse yet, all states
,
he’s planning
something big
.”

“Right.”

I rolled off Logan. It was far too difficult to be that close to him without my heart’s desires taking over.

“I saw something about my father’s
side of the
family being around during the Salem witch trials,” I paused,” But they weren’t listed as suspected of practicing or any such thing. Kind of odd.”

“Where’d you find that?” he asked, propping his head on his elbow.

“In one of the books from the Witch Avenue Coven’s library. It’s on the table over there. I’m surprised I caught it all. It was
only touched on
lightly in one of the passages, but it got me wondering.”

“Yeah, that is strange.”

My phone buzzed, and I grabbed it off the table. It was close to one o’clock in the morning in Lake Placid, but a couple hours earlier in Colorado.

“It’s got to be Jenny.” I touched the screen and sure enough, Jenny’s smiling face appeared next to her name.

“What’s she got?” Logan asked, sitting up now.

“It looks like there are several people in the coven who are considering creating an offshoot for something called The P
raedivinus
Order. Praedivinus? What does that even mean?”

I began typing it in my phone’s dictionary, but Logan already knew the answer.

“It’s like prophetic, an oracular being or idea.” His eyes darkened as he stared at the flames.

“My father thinks he’s a prophet?”

“
S
omeone connected to the Gods,” his voice trailed off.

“Or?”

“The underworld,” he shook his head.

“This might be a stretch, but what—” I stopped.

There’s no way. Now I was just being paranoid. I sat up and leaned against the stone of the fireplace, allowing the heat to penetrate the back of my head. Maybe I’d fry the crazy out. Trying to find excuses for my father’s abhorrent actions was not going to help anything. I can’t just say it’s in his genes and be okay with it. Besides that would imply it was in my genes too.

“What? Might as well throw it out there,” he suggested.

I texted to Jenny again, hoping I’d divert Logan’s attention.

How did she find out about this? I
couldn’t
afford to lose any more people I cared about. I hoped she followed my request to stay away from those members and leave well enough alone.

“So what’s your thought?” he tried again.

“What if this wasn’t my father’s initial
plan
, but something passed down through the generations. Maybe going back to —”

“1692?”

I bit my lip and nodded at him.

“Crazy?” I asked.

He shook his head, “Not at all.”

“I mean I’m not trying to make excuses for him, but if we could trace something back through the years there might be a method to stop it.”

“I don’t know how we’re going to figure this out, but we’ve definitely gotta give it a shot.” He looked concerned, like he was contemplating something.

“
Y
ou always make me feel less crazy
.
”

His eyebrows furrowed, and he shook his head. “How so?”

“Ever since you came back into my life, you’ve been this grounding force. Always willing to believe or try out my harebrained ideas, hear me out, whatever it is… You’re there, and I thank you for it.”

He was in the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water, when my phone buzzed again.

“So far your ideas have been pretty close to reality. I don’t think they’re as crazy as you think. Intuition is an important part of our world and very few people listen to it. I’d say I’m
simply
the lucky one who’s
in love
with someone who’s dialed in pretty good to the universe.” He was coming back with his water and a bowl of chips. “Your mom’s side of the family has
always
been tapped in to the energies of the world, and it’s even stronger in you.
H
opefully it will work in our favor at some point.” He smiled.

A flash of silver caught my eye out the window.

“Logan,” I hissed. “Did you see that?”

He turned toward the window I was facing and looked out. It was gone.

“I don’t see anything.”

“I don’t
k
now
. It must’ve been a reflection. It’s fun to be this jumpy.” I laughed
nervously while he continued to look out the window
.

“I saw it,” he announced. “A flash or something.”

“Yeah. That’s what I saw,” I said, looking at him.

He was already at the window, staring out when I reached his side.

“I don’t see anything out there,” he said, shaking his head. “But I saw what you were talking about.”

We continued staring out the window for several minutes when I finally decided I had enough.

“Let’s just close the curtains,” I said, sliding the fabric shut. He closed the wooden blinds I couldn’t reach, and I felt immensely better.

“You know if that stuff from my mom can come down the family line, why wouldn’t the other be able to?”

Even though I was next to the fire, I began to get chilled as I let my worries vocalize again.

“The black magic?” he asked.

“What if the darkness is inside of me waiting to be roused, and there’s nothing I can do about it? All of this time, I’ve been worried about you leaving me for the dark side and what if it’s me who’s called to it?”

“Is that what you want?” he asked, setting the bowl on the table.

“Of course not.”

“Well, then get it out of your head. We need to recognize that these forces exist out there, but we can’t let the idea rule our lives. Life is about choices. I would’ve thought the one I made would’ve had more of an impact.” His brow
rose
.

A smile spread across my face, knowing that he was right on so many levels. He did choose me over black magic. So why was I teetering on the edge of madness worrying about things that I couldn’t control when there were ones that I could solve?

“Kind of like that spell with Trevor,” I said, staring at Logan. “I don’t care what the spell’s trying to create for my future. It’s not going to happen. I won’t let it.”

“That’s a little different,” Logan said softly.

“It’s not,” I insisted. “I’m not going to play the victim on this one. I’m going to find a way to make it stop.”

“Triss,” he began again, but I interrupted him.

“I’ve got some ideas, and we’re going to try them all until one of them works.” I folded my arms in front of me. “Like it or not.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“It’s not that complicated. I remember you telling me how much you
admired
that I wasn’t like the other girls who always agreed with you. Told you what you wanted to hear and all that
.
” I got up from the floor and sat on Logan’s lap, and he couldn’t hide his happiness.

Logan took a deep breath in and slowly let it out as he let my words settle over him.

“So I take it we’ll be starting with the spider bite?”

I nodded and grabbed my phone, glancing at a new message from Jenny.

“She asked if I’d heard from Trevor lately?” I waited for Logan’s reaction.

“Huh, that’s a tricky one.” His smile did a pretty good job of hiding the pain.

“I guess we’d need to get our story straight. You still think we can trust her, right?” I asked.

“For the most part. Don’t you? I think more than anything she might not believe us before she actually turned on us.”

“I haven’t told her anything about my mom, us being back here…nothing.”

“Maybe now’s the time,” he suggested. “Just not in text.”

My stomach began feeling sick at the thought. Where would I even begin? What good would it do? Would she think I’m crazy? She told me not to hide anything from her or Angela.

Logan sat on the couch and nodded at me for encouragement.

“I can leave if you want, if it would make it easier.”

“No way,” I said, dialing Jenny’s number. “Maybe I could build a network like my father, only for the good of Witches everywhere instead of the destruction,” I told Logan as the phone rang and rang.

“Think we should scout out the town of Saranac Lake?” I asked, thankful for a good night’s sleep.

He nodded, finishing his cereal quickly.

“Let’s get a Starbucks on the way out of town.
Try
another attempt at normalcy maybe?” I joked.

I don’t know what it
was
about the evening, but come daylight I
felt
tremendously better from whatever might have plagued me the night before.

“I’m tellin’ ya, the whole normal thing isn’t for everyone.” He winked at me and placed his cereal bowl in the sink. “Now let’s get a move on it.”

“Still get to go to Starbucks, right?”

He smiled and out the door we went. I hadn’t seen the property in the daylight, but it was absolutely delightful. The landscape was mostly natural, but there were benches and garden paths in
many
directions.

“This place is pretty lovely,” I said, plopping into the passenger seat.

“I’m glad you like it.”

Logan turned onto the road leading into town. The main drag was already pretty busy with cars and people, but we managed to find a spot to park right beside Starbucks.