Spellbound (Spellbringers Book 1) (5 page)

“It’s just like middle school. She’s
trying to flirt with Jace even though she knows I was talking to
him first. Poor Jace doesn’t know any better.”

“Oh, I think he does. He seems to be a
pretty good judge of character, if you ask me.”

“Um, excuse me. What the hell is that
supposed to mean?” Her voice was filled with outrage and my head
began to throb all over again.

For a second, I almost considered
backing down. But then I remembered all the times I’d encouraged
Becky by laughing at her jokes, or gasping with mock surprise at
each whispered rumor she started. By letting her get away with
abusing others, I was just as bad as she was. Becky was a bully and
I had been her unwilling, but apathetic accomplice. Well, not
anymore. It was time to draw the line. Popularity wasn’t everything
and I was ready to face the consequences if Becky decided to turn
on me.

“Leave Alisa alone. Seriously,” I
said.

“You know what? I don’t know why I
even bother to talk to you about anything. You’re such a judgmental
religious freak. You mind your own business, and I’ll take care of
mine,” she hissed.

“If you do anything to Alisa, I’ll
forward those text messages to your mom, and I’ll copy everyone,” I
said through gritted teeth. I didn’t need to read her mind to know
what she was thinking. The pictures said it all—a drunken fling
with Amber’s boyfriend memorialized on her cell phone and sent to
me as a joke. Becky knew I never deleted anything. Her reign of
terror was about to come to an end, at least where Alisa was
concerned.

“What the hell is wrong
with you? What did
I
do to you?” she snapped.

“What haven’t you done? I’ve stood by
for years and said nothing while you tormented that girl. It’s
over,” I said.

“Like I said, it’s none of your
business.”

“It is now. One more word to or
against your cousin, and the truth will come out. I can’t prove
everything, but a picture paints a thousand words,” I
said.

“You’ll regret this, Rachel.” The call
disconnected.

In the past, I would have been worried
about Becky’s threat. I would have been even more worried about the
idea of my mother finding out I’d used inappropriate pictures to
blackmail someone. But given my current situation, the only thing I
was worried about was the strange hallucinations I’d suffered
earlier in the day. Something was seriously wrong, and I wasn’t
completely convinced I could blame it on my migraines. Maybe my
greatest fear had finally come to pass and I was losing my mind.
Just like my brother, Jeffrey.

Chapter
Five

Alisa

Maybe I should have gone to Jace’s
house right after school. Going home first just gave me a chance to
work up a good case of nerves. My anxiety increased tenfold when I
stepped outside and saw Bryce’s pickup in my driveway. I definitely
wasn’t looking forward to dealing with Bryce again.

Jace tried to talk and joke around
during the ride, but Bryce’s crabby mood put a damper on any
attempt at normal conversation. Jace turned on the radio, but it
seemed Bryce preferred the uncomfortable silence.

“Touch my stereo again, and I’ll set
you on fire,” Bryce hissed, reaching out to turn the radio off.
“You have horrible taste in music.”

I stifled a smile. I wasn’t a huge fan
of pulsating rap music either. Bryce shot me a glance. I pulled my
face back to an expression of solemnity and tried not to
breathe.

When we arrived at the Alexanders’
house, Bryce disappeared into another room and I relaxed
immediately. Without his intensely cold presence, I felt more
comfortable. While his parents finished making dinner, Jace and I
sat together on the sofa. He asked me questions about school and
Oaktree, and I tried to answer as best I could without making a
fool of myself.

I didn’t know what to expect after
everything that had happened the previous day, but the Alexanders
were just like a normal family. When we sat down in the dining
room, his parents insisted I call them by their first names, Abe
and Jerica.

Bryce rolled his eyes. In some
families, siblings hate each other, so maybe Bryce was being
brotherly. Or maybe he was being a jerk.

“Thanks for coming over tonight,
Alisa,” Jerica said. “And thank you for giving us a chance to offer
you some explanations. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, but
before we eat, is there anything you wanted to say?”

“Um, no. I can’t think of anything
right now.”

“Really? You had an encounter with a
Hunter yesterday, and you can’t think of anything to say?” Bryce
chuckled. “Wow.”

“That’s enough, Bryce.” Abe threw a
thunderous look at his older son. “Tone it down, or leave the
table.” He turned his attention to me. “Jace told me what happened
yesterday and I think you might have misinterpreted the
situation.”

“Abe,” Jerica cautioned. He lifted one
hand and she went silent.

“If you can tell me what you saw, I’m
sure I can offer you a rational explanation for what
happened.”

“I…I can’t really explain it,” I
stammered. There was no way I was going to sit there and talk about
magic and Hunters. If Jace already told his dad what had happened,
why was Mr. Alexander asking me to go over it again?

“Well, if she can’t explain it, then I
guess this conversation is over,” Bryce said. “It was all a bad
dream. You can go home now.”

A frown furrowed my brow. It wasn’t a
bad dream. As much as I wanted to believe nothing happened, I knew
it did. Bryce knew it too. I’d come over to Jace’s house with the
expectation that someone was going to tell me what was going on,
but instead, they just wanted to know what I remembered so they
could lie to me and explain it away. It sucked.

Jace must have been thinking along the
same lines because he came to my rescue. “Come on. She knows what
she saw. She remembers everything that happened. Are we going to
tell her the truth, or not?”

Jerica nodded to her son before
turning her gaze on her husband. They looked at each other for
several long seconds, and at last, Abe sighed.

“Alisa, I’m going to say some things
tonight which may sound unbelievable, but I assure you I will be as
straightforward as possible. There is magic in our world. Not
everyone believes in it, but it’s there nevertheless. Our family’s
heritage is based in magic. Our bloodline is a mixture of human and
an ancient people known as the Fae.” Abe paused, waiting for my
reaction.

Whatever it was I’d expected them to
tell me, this wasn’t it. I glanced around the room, looking for the
hidden cameras. I wondered if I’d stumbled onto the set of a
strange, new reality show. I hated to think I was the butt of an
elaborate joke. My gaze settled on Bryce who wore his usual
expression of borderline rage. Jace couldn’t quite meet my eye. He
fidgeted with the silverware in front of him. Jerica and Abe met my
searching gaze and I couldn’t help but believe Abe’s explanation.
Nothing else made sense, so I decided to cast aside my skepticism
long enough to hear what Abe had to say. He must have seen a look
of acceptance, or something like it, pass over my face, because he
nodded to Jerica and continued speaking.

“
The creature you
encountered in the field yesterday was a Hunter, a half-Demon. He
was drawn to Jace’s magic,” Abe explained.

Bryce interrupted with a sneer.
“Because Jace is too much of an idiot to mask his powers. If he’d
kept using the suppression spells…”

“Last chance, Bryce,” Abe
snapped.

“I can’t freaking believe we’re doing
this. If Central found out…” Bryce threw a nasty glance my way, and
I looked down at the empty plate in front of me.

Abe stood up and motioned for his
older son to do the same. Bryce followed his father into the
kitchen. Jerica began to speak, but when the oven alarm buzzed, she
excused herself and disappeared.

“Sorry about my brother,” Jace said.
“He’s only nineteen, but he thinks he runs the whole house. I don’t
know how Mom and Dad can stand him…”

“Don’t worry about it,” I interrupted.
I didn’t want his parents to overhear us talking about his family.
I didn’t want them to think I was sneaky or disloyal.

“Hey, I’ll be right back. I have this
amazing CD you totally need to listen to. It’s this band from
Denver and I know the drummer,” he said, bolting from his seat and
shooting down the hallway.

“No…” But it was too late. Alone in a
strange dining room in a strange house, I had no choice but to
listen to the raised voices on the other side of the
door.

“…
tell her who we are. But
you’re seriously going to tell her why we’re here? That’s going too
far, don’t you think?” Bryce’s angry words assaulted me through the
closed door.

“I have a good feeling, Bryce. I see a
good outcome.” Jerica spoke so softly, I had to strain to hear
her.

“Perception,” Bryce spat. “Little good
that did you when…”

“Don’t say it,” Abe
shouted.

Jerica interrupted. “Help me with
this, Abe. Bryce, go back to the dining room.” The door opened.
Bryce stared at me with undisguised disdain. He slammed the
sliding, wooden door shut, causing me to flinch.

“Did you hear all that?” he asked,
striding toward me. “You don’t belong here. You aren’t one of us.”
He stood over me, so close I could feel his breath on my face, and
I tried to blink back tears of confusion and fear.

“I couldn’t find it…” At the sound of
Jace’s voice, Bryce disappeared and was in his seat with an
innocent expression plastered on his face.

Jace’s parents entered the room,
casserole dishes in hand, and began to pass the steaming food
around. When everyone was served, Jerica smiled and began speaking
as if the angry exchange in the kitchen had never
occurred.

“The magical community is secretive,”
Jerica said, “but we believe we can trust you, Alisa. Our family
came to Oaktree for a reason. I’m a First Watcher. It’s my job to
supervise Warriors, Protectors, and other magical people in my
territory and to report Demon and Hunter activity to our Central
Headquarters. Abe’s job is to serve as my Protector.”

She continued, “One of my most sacred
duties as a First Watcher is to identify and train
Innocents—descendents of the Fae who are unaware of their
heritage.”

“It isn’t you, so don’t get any stupid
ideas,” Bryce mumbled in my direction. He stuck his finger in his
full glass of water, and the liquid began to bubble.

“You’re too old to play at the table,”
Jerica said. Then turning to me, she continued speaking. “I believe
the Hunter who attacked Jace was drawn to Oaktree by the presence
of an Innocent. Obviously, until we can identify and offer
protection, this person is in danger. Jace…”

“…
is an idiot,” Bryce
said.

“…
is lucky he wasn’t
killed. An untrained Spellbringer is no match for a Hunter. It
takes a skilled Spellbringer to…and then sometimes…” Jerica trailed
off, her voice trembling.

Abe gave Jerica a reassuring smile and
began speaking. “Our son, Royce, was killed by Hunters five months
ago. He was only twenty-two, and had almost completed Warrior
training.”

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered. Abe
flashed me a grateful, but watery smile.

“Magic is both a gift and a curse,
especially for one who is untrained,” Abe said.

“Like Jace,” Bryce interrupted. Jace
glared at him, looking as if he was about to jump over the table
and beat his older brother to death.

Abe broke in before a fight could
ensue. “Training takes time. Magic is a tool very few have at their
disposal. It can be a remarkable gift, but until it’s controlled,
it can be a danger as well.”

“Dad, can I say something?” Jace
asked.

“I don’t see why not.”

“Oh, great,” Bryce said. “We get to
hear a lecture from the idiot who spends all his time worrying
about getting a date to the school dance.”

“Like you were dedicated to training
when you were in high school. How many times were you suspended
senior year? Weren’t so worried about training then, were you?”
Jace was livid.

“I did my work. I knew enough to get
accepted by the Warrior Training Bureau at eighteen. If you weren’t
so …” Bryce stopped when he saw the expression on his dad’s face.
“Sorry Dad… Mom,” he mumbled.

“Jace, please continue,” Abe
said.

“Alisa, I don’t want you to be freaked
out by everything you heard. For the most part, we’re just like
everyone else.” Jace flashed me a crooked smile.

Bryce set out on a mission to
undermine his brother’s declaration. He stared directly at me as he
picked up a fork and dropped it. Before it clattered to the table,
he lifted his hand a few inches above it. The charmed utensil spun
in the air. Bryce flashed me a wicked smile as I gaped in shock.
Jerica slapped his hand, causing the fork to fall to the table.
Jace shot his older brother a menacing look and gave up on his
explanation.