The Witch Is Back (5 page)

When the counselor didn't offer to try to make alternate arrangements for the snafu, I took a deep breath and leaned down until we were almost eye level. With a smile on my face, I said, “Are you sure there aren't any double rooms left?”

I knew it was probably wrong to use my powers of persuasion on a counselor, but I couldn't help it. I'd really been hoping that just Abby and I would be rooming together, so that we'd be able to get to know each other better. Having a stranger in with us would just make it that much more difficult.

The counselor stared blankly into my eyes and then cleared his throat loudly, making me jump back to avoid flying spittle. “Asking me to check again isn't going to make it magically appear,” he said, annoyed. “Here's your key. Your
triple
is on the third floor. Elevators are behind me and to your right. Be sure to send the carts back down when you're done with them.”

My smile turned into a frown as I took the keys he was holding out to me. My powers hadn't worked. I'd done the same thing I usually did when trying to influence someone, so it didn't make any sense. Maybe our powers didn't work within the walls of the cabin or something? Like when you don't have cell service in a certain area. But that didn't make sense either, because people were casting all over the place. Had Fallon been right? Was I totally losing it?

I began to walk away, but Counselor Angry called me back.

“And Hadley?” he asked.

“Yes?” I turned around to look at him, noting that the girls were still fully engrossed in their own conversations behind me and hadn't witnessed anything that had just happened.

“Don't try to use your powers on me again. It won't work and I don't appreciate it.”

A rush of coldness filled my body even as my cheeks began to heat up. How had he known that I'd been trying to influence him? People had never been able to sense it happening before.

“Sure. Yeah. Sorry,” I mumbled, before shuffling away from the table in a slightly shocked daze.

Cursing under my breath, I moved into the main part of the cabin and busied myself with looking around while I waited for the others to finish checking in. I had no idea where Asher, Abby, and Fallon had run off to, but in a place as big as this, it was easy to see how a person could get lost.

I took a moment to take in my surroundings, and finally saw just how stunning the place was.

The focal point of the living area was a huge round fireplace mounted right in the middle of the room. Openings to the roaring fire were placed around its circumference and a bench littered with cushy pillows invited people to sit and enjoy the warmth. Although it was the middle of summer outside, the air conditioning was on so high that the fire was a welcome attraction. I wondered if they kept things this way to lend to the wintry cabin atmosphere.

I walked around the stone fireplace until I got to the area hidden by the sign-in table. This part of the room was even grander than the entryway. A fifteen-foot cherry-wood coffee table sat between two wide couches that looked more like beds than living room furniture. The burgundy color of the fabric complemented the wooden beams and panels that were exposed around us. Four oversize lounge chairs with large armrests flanked each end of the coffee table, creating a comfy place for friends to gather.

Looking up, there was a huge chandelier, hovering in the air. There were no chains to hold the structure of twisted gold-and-black metal in place. That would be the work of magic. Dozens of large white candles flickered in their holders, giving off an almost ethereal glow to everything below.

“There you are,” Asher said, sneaking up behind me and kissing me gently on the cheek. “Lost you for a minute. What are you doing all the way over here?”

“Just checking things out,” I said, unwilling to admit that I was avoiding the counselor who'd scolded me for using my powers on him. Turning to face my gorgeous boyfriend, I placed my arms around his neck and tried my best to distract myself from how off I felt. “So, who are
you
bunking with?”

“Hudson Contois and Dane Giles,” Asher said, reading the names off a piece of paper.

“I thought just Abby and I would be rooming together, but we've got a newbie in with us, too,” I said, unable to hide my disappointment.

“Come on, Had. It'll be good for us to meet some new people,” he said. “Expand our magical horizons. Make new friends and all that. I bet everyone's really cool. You'll see.”

“You're probably right,” I said, hoping it was true. Just because I'd had a tough time getting close to those in my own coven at first didn't mean that camp would be a repeat experience. In fact, maybe we'd have so much fun this summer that we'd decide to come back as counselors next year and then, after we'd both graduated from college, Asher would propose to me in front of all our new friends and our assigned campers and we'd get married here in Colorado and live happily ever after. All because we'd come to Brighton.

I sighed as I let the daydream play itself out and then let my body melt into Asher's.

“We're not fighting a supernatural war. Everyone we love is currently safe. We're here together. I'm not going to let anything ruin this summer,” I said, leaning in to give Asher another kiss.

Just before our lips could touch, a voice I didn't recognize called out from behind me.

“Asher?”

Asher stiffened and pulled away, looking over my shoulder at the girl who'd just called his name. His eyes widened as recognition set in.

“Brooklyn?”

Brooklyn
?
Who the heck is
Brooklyn?

I stared at Asher, but he was no longer focused on me. His mouth was actually hanging open; he looked slightly in shock. I'd never seen him lose his cool before. And here it was, over another girl.

Please don't let her be pretty . . . give her a hideous growth on her chin or an awkward limp or even blah brown hair. Anything that would make me feel better about the look that is currently on Asher's face.

But when I turned around, I found that my pleas had fallen on deaf ears. In fact, what I saw was worse than I ever could've imagined.

The girl staring back at my boyfriend was stunning. Like total glamazon, Victoria's Secret model
stunning
. She had this whole hot runway thing going on. We were in the same league, only on total opposite sides of the spectrum.

Where my long hair was the color of dark chocolate, this girl's was a vibrant blonde. It hung in soft, loose waves around her face, which was equally stunning. Her skin was dewy and sun-kissed, and a perfect shade of pink streaked across her cheeks. With lips like two plump pillows completing her look, her face could've been plastered across billboards in Times Square.

And with my luck, it already was.

Before I could ask him about her, Asher stepped around me and crossed the room to where the girl was standing, frozen in place. They hesitated once they were within touching distance, but after a brief pause, they hugged.

It was like I was witnessing a private moment between a couple, and out of habit, I let my eyes drift quickly to the ground.

Wait a minute
.

This was
my
boyfriend I was watching hug another girl. I didn't have to give them privacy.

My eyes shot back up and I forced myself to take in every gut-wrenching detail of their embrace. Because that's what it was like for me to see Asher touching someone else. It was painful. It didn't matter that I had no idea who the girl was or that I knew in my heart that Asher loved me. The fact was, this horrible, soul-sucking sickness had begun in my stomach, and I had no idea how to deal with it.

But, just like that, the hug was over, and they were once again standing a safe distance from each other. Of course, it still seemed too close for comfort for me.

“What are you doing here?” Asher asked incredulously.

“This is my second summer at Brighton,” Brooklyn said, showing her perfect pearly whites as she smiled. “What are
you
doing here?”

“My aunt and uncle thought Abby and I should come,” he said.

I noticed that he didn't mention me or the rest of the Cleri.

“So you
did
go to stay with your aunt,” she said, slowly. “I'd heard that, but . . . well, I wasn't sure.”

“Oh, yeah,” Asher said, looking down at the ground and running his fingers through his hair. He did that when he was nervous . . . and when he was flirting. I couldn't tell which it was in this particular moment, but I didn't like it.

“Who
is
this girl?” I asked myself quietly.

“Brooklyn,” a voice answered from beside me. I started slightly before turning to see Abby standing there, a book in hand, but closed down by her side. “She's Asher's ex-girlfriend.”

My heart dropped and hit the bottom of my stomach with an awful thud. Nausea crept up my throat before I could realize it was happening and I scanned the room for a bathroom to no avail. So I just stood there instead, frozen in disbelief.

“His . . . ex-girlfriend?” I asked, eyes wide. Then, almost to myself, I said, “I didn't even know there was an
ex
. And she's what . . . a
supermodel
?”

“Not a model. Just a witch,” Abby said as we watched Asher and Brooklyn's reunion from afar.

This was unbelievable. Sure, I guess in the back of my mind I'd known that Asher had to have had a past. I mean—look at him. He's hot. But the subject of exes had never come up, so I thought he was like me, and hadn't really had any relationships before ours that were significant enough to merit the term “ex.” And even if he had, who wanted to think of her boyfriend as having a love life before theirs? Not me. I wanted to be the only one special enough to have been with Asher like that.

Unfortunately, I could no longer convince myself that I was his one and only, because the proof was currently standing in front of me, all leggy and blond. And she was impossible to ignore.

“You just
disappeared
, Asher,” Brooklyn said. It was almost a whisper and I found myself straining to hear their conversation.

“Look, Brooklyn, I can explain . . .”

But before he could finish, Brooklyn's gaze swept our way and her face changed instantly.

“Abby!” she shouted and ran in our direction.

“Oh, here we go,” Abby muttered under her breath, but then abruptly shut her mouth, as if she hadn't meant to say it out loud.

I barely had time to raise an eyebrow at her comment before the eight-foot-tall stunner pranced her way over to us as easily as a ballerina crossing a stage. If I hadn't already disliked her, I might've been impressed that she'd managed to do this in five-inch heels. Christian Siriano to be specific. And with a curved heel and additional panel under the toe, this was an incredible feat.

Of course, this only succeeded in annoying me further.

Despite her lack of enthusiasm, I noticed with jealousy that Abby wasn't recoiling from their embrace out of solidarity with me. In fact, she even dropped her book during the exchange, which fell with a clunk on top of the wooden coffee table. As the pages fluttered closed, I read the title:
The Inferno
, by Dante.

Talk about light summer reading.

“I've missed you so much, Ab!” Brooklyn said, squeezing the smaller girl in her slender arms. When she pulled away, she gave Abby the once-over while still holding her hands. “What have you been up to?”

“Oh, you know . . . reading,” Abby answered in her signature monotone voice. She gestured to the novel that was now lying on the table below them.

“Sounds about right,” Brooklyn said, laughing easily. “Anything else? It's been a while you know . . .”

“It has,” Abby mumbled.

“Whatever you've been up to, I'd love to hear it!” Brooklyn said quickly. “We have so much to catch up on.” Then she looked over at Asher who had wandered back over to us while the two were talking. He seemed to have recovered from his initial shock and was back to his usual self. Only, despite his laid-back demeanor, I could tell something was up. “All of us should catch up,” she concluded.

That's it. Time to step in
.

I cleared my throat and sidled up to Asher, placing my hand in his territorially and kissing him lightly on the cheek. “Hey, babe! Making friends already?”

Brooklyn seemed to notice me for the first time, and then I watched as she went through the same flood of emotions that I had a few minutes before. The smile remained on her lips but her eyes gave her away. They went from friendly to murderous in point two seconds, and I knew instantly that there was going to be trouble.

“Um, right. Hadley, this is Brooklyn. Brooklyn, this is my girlfriend, Hadley.” At least when he said it, he didn't sound uncomfortable. And he'd remembered to actually identify me as his girlfriend and not just, “This is Hadley.” In fact, he was making the introduction the same way he would to anyone else we might be meeting at camp. It made me wonder if I was making too big a deal over this whole ex thing. Maybe they were totally over each other.

Then I thought back to the moment they'd hugged and all my defenses shot back up.

“Hi!” I said, more brightly than I'd intended, but wanting to convey that I didn't think she was a threat. I still wasn't sure if this was true, but no need for her to know that I was rattled by her appearance.

I didn't put my hand out to shake hers and neither did she. We were in a mental standoff and, considering the way she was staring at Asher and my entwined hands, I decided I was in the better position.

“Brooke!” a brunette shouted from across the room.

I took my eyes off of Brooklyn to see this other girl who was flanked by three others, all of whom were standing with their hands on their hips. The girl who'd called out to Brooklyn had short hair that was cut in a sharp, artsy bob, with bangs that just grazed the tops of her eyebrows. “You coming? There won't be any good tanning light left if we don't get out there soon.”