Spellbound (Spellbringers Book 1) (22 page)

“My mom isn’t that scary,” Jace said,
exasperated.

“Really, Jace? Because you’ve been
holding out too. I wonder what she’ll say about that.” A look of
panic flickered across his face as he realized for the first time
that he would be in deeper trouble than I would.

***

During those long days of mentally
stalking Becky, not only had I neglected to begin training with the
Alexanders, but I’d also failed to keep myself in shape. I’d gained
ten pounds over the holidays and hadn’t exercised since
cheerleading ended in the fall. I enjoyed hanging out with Jace,
watching movies, and holding hands, and it was beginning to show on
my backside. I wasn’t a vain person, honestly. But softball season
was coming up in a few weeks, and I didn’t think I’d be able to run
the bases without getting out of breath. And besides, training with
Abe would require a certain level of physical fitness. It was time
to get in shape.

I called Alisa on Friday evening and
told her about my plan to wake up at the crack of dawn to go
running. I asked her if she would be interested in joining me. To
my surprise, she agreed, asking if I thought it would be a good
idea for her to try out for softball as well. I wholeheartedly
encouraged her to do so. It was high time she put herself out there
and started displaying some confidence.

Jace’s response wasn’t quite so
positive. He said he wasn’t doing anything that interrupted his
sleep. He also reminded me he hadn’t gained any weight over the
holidays. In contrast, he’d actually hit a growth spurt and seemed
to build muscle effortlessly. This was not what I’d wanted to hear.
I put up a block, abruptly ending our mental conversation, set my
alarm, and went to sleep.

***

Re’Vel called to me in my
dreams, begging me to come to him. Following his voice into the
forest clearing, I ran to his side the moment I saw him. My heart
leapt with joy to be near him once again.

“If you stay with me, you
can live forever. I’ll make you my Queen.”

My laughter floated along
the breeze, teasing him as I spun away just beyond his reach.
“We’ll always be together in my dreams. Every time I fall asleep,
I’ll be waiting for you to find me.”

“It isn’t enough. I want
you all the time,” he insisted.

“Then come and get me,” I
taunted, flittering so close to him, the silken hem of my nightgown
grazed his long legs.

“I’ll be there before you
know it. Tell the Alexanders to teach you Transport so we can
travel together,” he said.

“I don’t know what that
is.” I frowned and stopped my joyful spinning.

“The ability to move
distances great or small in the fraction of a second. You have the
power, but not the training. The Alexanders hold you back,” he
claimed. “Only I can help you. It is I who protects your home. My
spells keep you safe.”

“But Jerica’s been trying
to help…”

“You see how they lie to
you to keep you in line? They aren’t doing all they can to protect
you. And the older boy is dangerous. I don’t trust him near you.
He’s brought a known Shifter into his home. Bryce isn’t far from
following the dark path,” Re’Vel said, placing his arm around my
waist.

“But the Alexanders are my
friends…”

“I’m your only friend,” he
said, holding me tenderly.

A burst of discordant
music ripped me from his arms.

I sat up in bed and turned off my
alarm clock, feeling disoriented at finding myself in my bedroom
instead of in the forest. Although I’d considered going back to
sleep and searching for Re’Vel in my dreams, I reluctantly stumbled
out of bed. Alisa and I had plans and I didn’t want to disappoint
her.

Alisa’s eyes were puffy when I picked
her up. She was clearly not a morning person and looked like a bag
lady in her saggy sweats and grass stained tennis shoes. She seemed
way less excited that morning than she did when we’d made our plans
the night before. We planned to drive over to the school and run
the track—that way we could record exactly how many miles we ran
and could build from there.

The mid-February morning was cold and
damp from a light drizzle the night before. Our tennis shoes were
already soaked from our short cut through the grass. We stretched
for several minutes before walking once around the track. As we
started around the second time, we jogged lightly, then finally
began running on the third pass. Alisa was slightly ahead of me as
we passed the section of track that bordered the thick, dark
woods.

Without warning, a man shot out from
the thick trees, knocking Alisa sideways. She stumbled and fell
hard on one knee. The attacker started toward me and I swerved to
avoid his grasp.

“Don’t let him touch you,” Alisa
screamed.

The Hunter and I faced each other.
Alisa came up from behind him and launched her body full force into
the back of his knees, startling him and knocking him to the
ground. “Run, Rachel,” Alisa screamed again. “Listen to my
thoughts.”

I immediately focused in
on her pleading message. “The Hunter won’t hurt me, but he
will
hurt you. He can
kill you just by touching you. Let me try to distract him long
enough for you to make it to your car. As soon as he realizes
you’re running, he’ll come after you, so don’t look back to see if
I’m okay. Now, go.”

I hesitated long enough for the Hunter
to get back on his feet. Alisa was right. She was like an annoying
fly buzzing around his head for all the attention he paid her. His
red eyes focused on me, and only me.

“Jace,” I screamed through our link.
“We’re being attacked. Help us.”

“Where?” Jace demanded.

“The school,” I shouted back, once
again focused on Alisa. She leapt onto the Hunter’s back, her
fingernails clawing at his eyes. He howled. I started to run toward
the parking lot. If I could just get to the car, I could run him
over. I sprinted toward the pavement, Jace screaming in my head the
whole time. He and Abe were on their way.

“Try to keep running. Don’t let him
touch you no matter what,” Jace warned.

I refocused on Alisa’s thoughts.
“Rachel, keep going. Don’t stop. I’m fine.”

As I reached the car, I turned to face
the track. I threw myself into the car and pushed the button to
lock all the doors. The Hunter wasn’t on the track anymore. He was
just a few feet away from the car as I turned the key. Alisa was
running after him, still trying to keep him from me. As the Hunter
reached the driver’s side door, I threw the car into reverse. I
couldn’t risk hitting Alisa by putting the car in drive, so I
decided to lure him away from her. I reversed slowly, speeding up
as he reached the car, then slowing down just long enough to keep
him in pursuit.

The Hunter’s angry howls rattled the
car windows. No horror movie character ever conceived made such a
monstrous and blood-curdling sound.

“We’re almost there,” Jace shouted in
my head.

“Hurry.” The Hunter turned away from
me and started walking back toward Alisa. Too late, I realized this
seemingly mindless creature was smarter than I’d thought. Ruled by
hunger perhaps, but not too stupid to try to get me to follow him
in order to save my friend. Smart enough to know that’s exactly
what I would do to help the person who had tried so hard to protect
me. I stopped the car and opened the door.

“Rachel? What the hell are you doing?”
Alisa yelled.

“Hey, over here,” I shouted at the
Hunter. He looked at me and continued toward Alisa. Clearly, he
meant to lure me away from my car. Alisa crouched down low and
waited for the attack. The Hunter ran toward her. There was no way
she could survive a collision with the huge monster. He was at
least a foot taller than her and had to outweigh her by two-hundred
pounds.

I staggered in shock when Abe
instantly appeared between Alisa and the Hunter. He clutched
something in his hand, and when the Hunter crumpled to the ground
with a river of red pouring from a wound in his chest, I realized
Abe had stabbed the creature.

The sound of a car engine and
squealing tires screeched across the parking lot only a moment
later. Jace drove across the pavement and through the grass,
stopping a few feet away from me. He leapt from the car and ran to
me, scooping me up in his arms as I cried against his
chest.

Abe asked, “Alisa, are you
okay?”

“I’m fine. He barely touched
me.”

“Take the girls to the car,” Abe
shouted to Jace. “Your mom will be here in a minute.”

“Is he dead?” I whispered.

“Probably. Dad will make sure he is,”
Jace replied. He stroked my hair and I clung to him, enjoying the
feel of his strong arms around me. “I’m so sorry, baby. I should
have come with you this morning. I’ll never let something like this
happen again.” He gently placed me in the passenger side of my
car.

When Alisa reached us, Jace grabbed
her in a hug that seemed to go on forever. “Are you okay? Did he
hurt you?”

“Just a bruise on my knee, maybe.
Jace, I’m fine. Go help your dad.” Alisa seemed embarrassed by
Jace’s tearful display.

I watched through the passenger side
window as Abe inspected the body of the Hunter. Abe lifted him by
his feet and dragged him into the woods with one hand. The
expression on his face was grim. Jerica’s car pulled up as Abe
returned to the parking lot. She was near hysteria.

“We need to leave, Jerica,” Abe
announced. “We’ll talk at the house.”

Jerica cooked breakfast while the rest
of us cleaned ourselves up. Alisa was covered in mud and had to
borrow a jogging suit from Jerica. We gathered at the kitchen table
for breakfast, all of us speaking as little as possible. Abe seemed
angry, cold. He was the first to break the silence.

“What the hell happened?” he asked,
turning to me. “Why weren’t you wearing your necklace?” Abe’s voice
was loud and intimidating.

“I am wearing it,” I stammered,
reaching under the neckline of my shirt to show Abe the
pendant.

“Abe,” Jerica cautioned.

“Dad, don’t yell at them,” Jace broke
in protectively. “They were just jogging. People should be able to
go for a run without being attacked. It isn’t Rachel’s
fault.”

“Rachel isn’t like
everyone else. She needs protection, and the necklace she wears is
only
part
of that
protection.” Abe’s voice was softer, but still firm. “I’m not mad
at you, dear. And I’m sorry I accused you of leaving your necklace
behind. You’re not used to living the way we are. You’re not used
to having to worry about Hunters. But I’m going to be honest—you
two girls could have been killed. It’s as simple as that. The
protection your necklace provides is limited. If you’re not going
to agree to let us provide a Protector—or at the very least, train
with Jerica so you can learn to mask your magic—there’s not much we
can do to protect you.”

“Fortunately, you were able to get in
touch with Jace and he was able to call me for help. If Jace hadn’t
been able to contact me, if he’d been forced to come alone, he
could have been killed too. With his lack of training combined with
yours, you and Jace are a tragedy waiting to happen.” Abe wasn’t
mincing words and Jerica was letting him have his say.

“Sorry, Dad,” Jace mumbled. “I’m going
to train hardcore. I swear.”

“Yes, you will,” Abe snapped. “You
know me. I’m all for having fun and enjoying life. But now it’s
time to get serious. How long has this communication between the
two of you been going on?”

May as well put it all out there. No
more secrets. “Since November. We were able to communicate even
while I was in Atlanta. Jace’s ability is limited to reading my
thoughts. I can get into nearly anyone’s. We are both able to use
Persuasion.”

“In what way?” Abe asked, sounding
concerned.

“We can persuade people to do what we
want them to do. It isn’t something we’ve tried very often and I’m
not sure how effective it is. I got out of a speeding ticket a
couple of times, and Jace got out of taking a quiz.” I felt so
petty and shameful admitting that I’d used God-given talents in
such a way. I was scared to look at Jerica, afraid I’d see
disappointment in her eyes.

“That’s a very dangerous thing to do,”
Abe said. “Not only for the people you’re trying to influence, but
dangerous for yourselves as well. Anytime you mess around inside
someone else’s head, you are taking a serious risk.”

Jerica broke in with a question of her
own, and I was once again impressed by her perception. “You said
you could get into nearly anyone’s head? Who is the
exception?”

“My brother, Jeffrey. In fact, the
block on his thoughts was so powerful, it almost knocked me out.
Literally. It took every ounce of will I possessed just to keep
myself from passing out,” I said.

“That’s because of the tattoo. His
magic is blocked, so it’s inaccessible to all but the one whose
Mark he bears,” Jerica explained.

I thought about mentioning Bryce. I’d
tried to get into his head back in December, but most of his
thoughts were clouded by anger and unhappiness. I was pretty sure
he wasn’t Demon Marked, but I couldn’t penetrate his mind. Of
course, I couldn’t very well ask his parents to explain
this.