The Council, A Witch's Memory (6 page)

I tugged my suit back in place. “It doesn’t hurt much.”

“You could have broken something.” He said. “Let me take you to a doctor.”

“If I’m not better by morning I’ll go.”

He frowned, “Venna.”

“I’ll even let you drive me.”

He gave in and picked me back up. I tried to protest, but I was injured.

We stopped by the restrooms and I rinsed my feet off in one of the outdoor showers. They were already looking better, and the pain was starting to dissipate in my side.

“I still can’t believe what those kids did.”

“We never got into stuff like that.” Henry helped me into the Mustang.

I laughed as he got behind the wheel. “No, but you tried some dumb stunts.”

“Yeah, like what?” he reached into the backseat to search for his shirt and keys.

“Let’s see…one time you tried to fly.”

He stopped, his eyes searching my face way too seriously for my joking. “And?”

“Nothing happened. You took the wheels off a skateboard, convinced you’d make it fly while you stood on it. Airboarding, you called it. You jumped off the roof.” I’d never been so afraid in my life. It was one of the many strange things Henry did that I couldn’t explain. “I was so worried you were hurt.”

He nodded, eyes still burning into mine. I continued. “Anyway, I ran to the back of the house and you were standing in the yard, not a scratch on you. You said you flew off the second story.”

“Did you believe me?” He didn’t tell me it was my imagination or a joke, and he’d never been the type to goof around recklessly.

What other choice did I have than to think he told the truth?

“I’m not sure. What did happen that day?”

“I don’t remember.” He grabbed the blue shirt he wore from earlier and draped it around my shoulders. I rolled the sleeves to my elbows and buttoned the middle buttons to keep it from slipping off. He didn’t bother covering up, and that’s when I noticed the nail marks on his arms. I’d tried to fight him off.

I ran my fingers over the light pink scratches, “I’m sorry.”

“I’m fine.” He went silent after that.

The ride to my house unnerved me, too quiet, with Henry brooding the entire time. I knew I caused the turmoil and wanted to make things better, only I had no idea what the problem was. Was he upset because I’d been hurt? Angry?

“I’m sorry, Henry.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“I’ve upset you.”

“You’ve done nothing wrong, Venna.”

“Something is bugging the crap out of you. What is it? Me? Because I don’t want to go to the doctor?”

He pulled into my driveway and parked the car. He offered to carry me, but I followed him up the front steps, refusing to be babied because of my feet. I wasn’t an invalid. I liked being held by him too much for my own good. I had to keep my distance to keep my sanity.

His posture was tense, footfalls landing heavily on the porch. “I’ll see you in the morning, eleven o'clock.” He turned abruptly to face me.

I jumped back, heart pounding against my ribs.

It was just the light. The light was playing tricks. The sun setting made his eyes illuminate. Because for a second, when he looked at me, I swore his eyes had changed. Glowing.

“You still want me to go?” I suddenly felt like I was standing in front of someone dangerous. I had no reason to be afraid of him, but I knew in my heart there was something different about Henry. He wasn’t normal. I’d always known that to some degree, and there were days I didn’t feel normal either. Maybe that’s why we got along so well.

He cocked his head to one side, confused. “Yes, why wouldn’t I?”

“I just figured, with the way you were acting…” I trailed off, opening the front door, feeling stupid for being afraid of him. It was Henry. Just Henry.

“Venna.” His hands settled on my shoulders and squeezed gently. “Please, I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, and this has nothing to do with you.”

“If you’re sure, I’ll see you in the morning.” Still completely perplexed by his behavior, I watched him walk back to his car, wide shoulders slumping ever so slightly. It was killing me to let him leave like this. He was a little broody sometimes, but never so quiet and drawn into himself. We always talked things over.

“Henry?” I whispered, just a small sound on my indrawn breath. His back went ridged, and he turned, pinning me with tortured eyes. He should not have heard me say his name. But he did.

“It’s all right,” he said.

I didn’t move, not convinced.

“If you keep biting your lips like that you’ll make them bleed.” He came back to me, taking the porch steps two at a time to wrap his arms around me.

“Something doesn’t feel right about this. What happened this afternoon…the way you’re acting…” I let out a breath. “The only logical explanation that I can come up with is that I was temporarily unconscious and dreaming.”

“Shh,” his breath caressed my ear as he bent to hug me closer against his bare chest. I didn’t want him to leave. This was exactly where I belonged, in his arms. “Venna, we’re going to figure out what happened together.”

“I’m scared. Seriously.” What happened at the lake wasn’t normal.

“I’m scared for you.” He pulled me with him along the porch to the swing. We sat together, and he didn’t let me go. His long legs pushed against the planks, rocking us gently. “Do you want me to stay?”

I rubbed my eyes. “No…maybe…I don’t know. I’m just so wrung out.”

We watched the rest of the sunset, but once it was dark, I stood and hugged him tight, as a friend, wanting him to kiss me before he left.

But I was again wishing for something that would never happen, and felt empty as I watched Henry get in his car and drive away.

Chapter 8

My phone chimed as I shut the front door behind me. It was a text from Henry.

Call me if you need me.

I replied with an okay and a smiley face and headed for the kitchen, distracted by the smell of pizza. It filled the air, making my mouth water. I found my brother seated on a barstool at the counter, pizza box open in front of him.

“Too much of a heathen to get a plate?” I asked, sitting on the stool beside him.

“I don’t want to do dishes.” He offered me a slice, which I set on a plate I got from the cabinet next to me. “Mara and Jackson went to the movies, you just missed them. Where were you?”

Henry wasn’t the only one who enjoyed keeping tabs on me. Zane grilled me regularly on who I hung out with. Sometimes I wondered if he and Henry took turns sharing the responsibility of watching me. Not that I required babysitters.

“I spent the afternoon at the lake with Henry.”

His face brightened. “I thought that style of shirt you’re wearing looked familiar. What’s he up to these days?”

“Same old stuff.”

“Sure, keep telling yourself that.”

I scowled. “Stop.”

“You’re in denial. I mean, most guys are not territorial over their friends.”

“Henry is naturally attentive. He’s been like that since the first day we met.”

“Uh-huh, and Santa plays poker with the Tooth Fairy.” He laughed. “Come on, I’m not being mean. Don’t you see how he looks at you, as if you’re the only other person on earth?”

“I don’t know, maybe.” Most of the time I wrote it off as an overactive imagination. He’d been looking at me the same way for years.

Zane shrugged and slid another slice onto my plate as I finished my first one. “Just pay closer attention and trust me on this. I’m a guy. I know these things. Henry’s got the hots for you big time.”

“Fine,” I winced. “He’s taking me to Mick’s tomorrow.”

“I am king of all manly knowledge, I knew it!”

“Shut up.” I covered my smile with a paper napkin.

“Venna, just give in to it. You guys are like peanut butter and jelly, senators and sex scandals. Where would Kirk be without Spock?”

“I get your point. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a question of my own.”

“Shoot, I’m all ears.”

“What do you want to go to the library for?” this morning before I went to work Zane asked me to take him to the library. He was perfectly capable of going alone.

He coughed, looking guilty. “Uh, well, I’m looking for a book.”

“Zane.”

“Summer reading?”

I crossed my arms. “You’re up to something. You’ve got that look about you, like you’ve pulled a prank, or maybe you’re planning one. I’m not helping.”

“I am seriously offended.” His face soured comically. “When have I ever done anything remotely wrong?”

I grabbed a Coke from the fridge. “You’ve pulled more pranks to terrorize this town than anyone in the history of Capeside.”

Henry and I had bailed Zane out of quite a few sticky situations over the years.

“Name one.” He challenged.

“Andrew Cole’s farm. You toilet papered the barn and stables. Dumped his tractor two counties away. It took him a month to find it.”

“You can’t prove that.” For a second he looked worried I might.

“You’re the only one smart enough to pull it off without getting caught, or shot.”

“Thanks.”

“It wasn’t a complement.” I leaned against the counter, waiting. He looked reluctant to talk, so I added, “must have been difficult getting all those geese in the gym.”

“Oh, that’s low.”

“I never said I fight fair.”

“I need a diversion.” He groaned, hating his confession. “I want you to distract the librarian.”

My jaw dropped. Zane, the town’s resident prankster and self-proclaimed crazy man, was now involving me in his antics. “No.”

“It’s not what you think, let me explain.” He looked at me seriously, which was hard for him on most occasions, “I left an important object of mine there and I need help getting it back. It’s in the lost and found.”

“Let’s start at the beginning. Why were you at the library yesterday?”

“I was helping a friend look for a book.” He raised his chin, “more than one, actually.”

Oh, boy. “You were trying to pick up girls at the library!” he had no shame. “Did you ever think the girls went there to get away from you?”

“Hey, brainy chicks are hot. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.”

I made a face. “No thanks, I’ll take your word on that. What did you leave?”

He hesitated, taking a swig of his coke before trusting his voice. “A journal.”

“You keep a diary? Is there anything else you’d like to confess before I call a doctor?” I felt his forehead, he didn’t look sick.

“No, it’s not a diary. I don’t write feelings in it.”

Cleaning up the pizza, I humored him. “Fine, I’ll distract the librarian, and you better be telling the truth.”

“Thank you.”

“Out of curiosity…how did you get all those geese into the gym?”

He winked. “A good prankster never shares his secrets.”

I decided it was best I didn’t know. I grabbed the empty pizza box to throw away and closed the lid and stared down at the logo.

Normally we ordered pizza from Toni’s. The box said, Angelo’s. The words, New York’s Finest, were printed along the side with an address.

Angelo’s was in New York?

That was some pretty good pizza too, nothing like Toni’s soggy mess of cheese and grease. “Uh, Zane, where did this pizza come from?”

He faltered, only a little, but I noticed it. “Toni got his boxes switched with someone else’s.”

“He still used them?”

“Yep.” He grabbed the box from me and emptied the trash, “I’ll clean up.”

He shuffled past, not meeting my eyes.

Zane had to be telling me the truth. How could he get to New York and back in an afternoon? It simply wasn’t done. He didn’t have a car or a huge amount of money from working at the grocery store part-time.

I went to the bathroom to take care of my feet, cleaning them up and sticking Band-Aids over the bad cuts. After that I downed two aspirin and headed for my room trying not to think of all the ways my fourteen-year-old brother could get from Virginia to New York. Bus, plane, boat, hitchhiking or riding his dirt bike, nothing was inexpensive and fast enough.

I was in bed trying to read when Zane knocked on the door and poked his head in. “Hey, feel like going out?”

“Where?”

“Camp out at the lake.”

“Nah, I think I’m in for the night. Have fun.” I listened as he headed down the hall for the living room. The front door opened and closed, and I suddenly was too wound up to read.

It was silly of me to be so freaked out, but I’d nearly drowned and ended up somewhere else in a dream or something.

So I wasn’t on the verge of panicking, but I didn’t want to be alone. Mara and Jackson weren’t home yet…and even if they were I wouldn’t tell them what happened this afternoon. Talking to Pepper on the phone wouldn’t help, because when I hung up I’d still be alone.