The Witch Is Back (40 page)

By the time I'd answered all of the elders' questions, eaten dinner, and returned to the cabin, it was well after midnight. I was exhausted and felt like I could collapse at any minute. All I wanted to do was sleep off this whole day.

But when I stepped inside my room, Abby was there. Sitting on the back of the couch, staring in the direction of the door like she'd been waiting for me. She didn't even wait for the door to close before she started to talk.

“Hadley?” she asked, her voice soft.

“Hey, Ab,” I said, walking over to my bed and sitting down gracelessly.

“Can I talk to you?” she asked, joining me on my side of the room, but sitting down more carefully.

I raised an eyebrow at her curiously before saying, “Sure. What's up?”

I bent down and untied my shoes, using one foot to kick off the other, until both were free to move around. I let out a contented sigh and sat back up to look at my boyfriend's sister. I didn't know what this was about, but I hoped it was quick. I was going to pass out any minute now.

“Um, well, I just wanted to say, you know . . . I'm sorry. For everything before with the . . . hating you and all,” she said.

I could tell this was hard for her. Not only because she wasn't a big talker, but because she'd once again been used as a pawn in someone else's game. It had to be frustrating.

“It's okay, Abby,” I said, before she could continue. “I get it. You were under Eve's spell. There's nothing you could've done to fight it.”

Abby looked down at her lap. “Well, thanks for that,” she said, “but I also haven't been exactly welcoming to you. The last time a girl dated my brother, she broke his heart. And in a way, mine, too. I didn't want that to happen again, so I guess I didn't allow myself to get close.”

I nodded because I totally understood. She was just looking out for the people she loved. I would've done the same thing. And I respected her for that.

“But I'm going to start trying,” she said, raising her eyes to mine. “I won't be braiding your hair anytime soon, but I'm gonna try.”

“That means a lot, Abby,” I said. “Because the truth is: I really love your brother. And I think we could be friends if you just let us.”

“I think so, too,” she said. Then, taking a big breath, she got up from my bed and started to walk back over to hers.

“Abby?” I asked, causing her to look back at me. “In the interest of our new budding friendship, I think there's something I have to tell you.”

“What's wrong?”

I hated telling her this, but she deserved to know what was happening.

“Well, when I was down there with Eve, she said something that could be really bad if she was telling the truth,” I said, slowly. “She said we didn't actually kill Samuel that night.”

It was almost as if Abby had been waiting for this news for months and she just stood there waiting for the rest.

“And she said that he was coming back,” I finished.

Abby grew pale and stiffened as I said this last part. She never had told any of us what had happened when the reverend took her, but it would be naive to think it wasn't horrible. This was probably the worst news I could have given her.

Way to ruin a beautiful moment, Hadley.

“What are we going to do?” Abby asked, almost in a whisper.

“Same thing we always do,” I answered. “If he comes back, we plan, we train, we fight.”

Colette bounced into the room then, walking past both of us and collapsing onto her bed. “Why's the vibe so wonky in here? I thought Eve's spell had worn off by now.”

“It's nothing. Just a long day, that's all,” I answered, giving Abby a look that said not to repeat the news about Samuel. Then, I turned to our other roommate. “Why are you so happy?”

“Hudson just asked me out,” she said, squealing happily.

“Wait. Asher's roommate, Hudson?” I asked, in disbelief. “Isn't he a jock or something?”

“Yep. A jock who digs smart girls,” Colette said, pushing her glasses up on her nose with a flourish. “We're going to hang out tomorrow night. Now what should I wear . . . Oooh, there was this supercute jumper thing that Aunt Betsey had in one of her shows once that could be superiffic!”

My head was spinning with how quickly she was moving around the room. “One of her shows?” I asked. “Colette, who is this aunt of yours, anyway?”

Colette stopped moving and found her phone. Flipping through a few pictures, she finally came to the one she was looking for and passed it to me.

“Your aunt is
Betsey Johnson
?!” I exclaimed, flipping through dozens of pictures of Colette with the famous fashion icon. It all made sense now. The incredible outfits. Colette's wacky personality. Her insistence on being an individual.

“Yeah,” Colette said, plainly. “Who did you think she was?”

“Betsey-freaking-Johnson,” I muttered to myself as I shook my head in disbelief. “Incredible.”

Colette continued to flutter around the room, picking out tops and pairing them with skirts and then throwing them in a pile and moving on to the next outfit. I turned back to Abby who just shrugged in response.

“I think we need to tell the others,” Abby said, going back to the conversation we'd been having when Colette had walked in.

I nodded. “But not tonight,” I said, yawning and falling back on my mattress. Immediately, I felt it lifting into the air. “Let's give everyone one last night of uninterrupted, nightmareless sleep. It may be the last one we have for a while.”

And then I was out before the bed had even stopped moving.

Also by Brittany Geragotelis

What the Spell

Life's a Witch

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 by Brittany Lyn Geragotelis

Jacket photograph copyright © 2014 by Michael Frost

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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Book design by Krista Vossen

Jacket design by Lucy Ruth Cummins

Jacket Photograph by Michael Frost

Supplemental Jacket Photography by
Thinkstock.com

The text for this book is set in Granjon.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Geragotelis, Brittany.

The witch is back / Brittany Geragotelis.—First edition.

pages cm.—(Life's a witch)

Summary: After leading her coven into battle against the Parrishables, teenaged witch Hadley Bishop is looking forward to a relaxing, love-filled summer with boyfriend Asher, until his ex-girlfriend, Brooklyn, shows up and a power struggle ensues.

ISBN 978-1-4424-6688-3 (hardback)

ISBN 978-1-4424-6692-0 (eBook)

[1. Witches—Fiction. 2. Magic—Fiction. 3. Dating (Social customs)—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.G29348Wi 2014

[Fic]—dc23

2013028192