Ancient Forces Collection (18 page)

“You handled her perfectly.”

Sarina continued as if she hadn’t heard the affirmation. “But no . . . the twerp had to challenge me. And, in case you forgot, that cameraman even got the whole thing on tape. Urrggg!” Sarina jabbed a finger in the air. “I could just
kill
her for that . . .”

Demi cleared her throat. “You might just have your chance tonight.”

Sarina froze. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re scheduled to have dessert with her and some of her friends in — ” she consulted her watch — “fifteen minutes.”

Sarina’s eyes blazed. “No way. I’m not doing it.”

“Yes you are, Sarina,” Demi said. “We’re doing this as a favor, remember?”

“Enlighten me,” Sarina said.

“For the lawyer . . . for the guy who handled my divorce.”

A puzzled look crossed Sarina’s face.

“Let me refresh your memory,” Demi said. She turned slightly in her seat toward Sarina. “Les Henderson was my divorce attorney. He saved me a ton of money too. As a favor, I promised we’d do dessert with his daughter, Laura, and a couple of her buddies when we came through town.”

Sarina released a slow breath like a leaking tire.

“We’ve already been over this,” Demi added, “and you agreed to do it, remember?”

Sarina rolled her eyes. “Tell ’em I’m sick. I’m losing my voice. I can’t make it. Regrets. Done.”

Demi removed her glasses. “Sarina, I gave him my word. All I’m asking is for you to hold yourself together long enough to eat a scoop of spumoni with a group of teenagers. Come now, babe, do it for Demi.”

Sarina crossed her legs and then folded her arms together. “I don’t even like hanging out with the fans,” she said, looking out the window at the passing streetlights.

“I know,” Demi said. “But you’re a great actress. You can pull it off. You always do.”

“And I only agreed to these in-store signings because you guys said it would boost sales.”

“And it has.”

“But now,” Sarina said, looking directly at Demi, “you want me to sit across the table from some kid who gets her kicks out of trying to make a fool out of me? Where does it end?”

“Sarina, snap out of it,” Demi said. “I’m telling you, you handled the situation perfectly. And the crowd loved you. Didn’t you hear them? They were on your side the whole time. Just stick to the script. Go in there, smile, talk about the TV show. Kids love all of that behind-the-scenes stuff. Tonight will be over sooner than you think.”

“I don’t know. There’s something about that girl . . . Becka,” Sarina said, staring into the night.

“I need you to do this for me.”

They rode in silence for a minute. The only sound came from the muted rotation of the tires against the pavement.

“Demi . . . I’ll do this on two conditions.”

“Name it.”

“I want to sit as far away from her as possible,” Sarina said. “And I want you to bail me out after fifteen or twenty minutes tops.”

“Done.”

“What came over you, Becka?” Laura asked once they were seated in the Suburban. “Of all the dumb things to do. I wanted to crawl under my chair.”

Becka winced. “Sorry.”

“Here I got my dad to set stuff up and you — ”

“Laura, I said I’m sorry,” Becka said, this time turning halfway around in her seat. It was going to be a long night, of that she was sure. Laura had avoided her during the book signing as if she had a contagious disease.

“I don’t want to be mean,” Krissi said, “but Sarina’s only the hottest star on TV and you basically put her on the spot.” Her eyelashes fluttered as she said, “It might be a good idea for you to go easy on the spiritual stuff, you know, at dessert.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Julie said, turning her head to the side for a split second to face Becka.

“Really?” Becka said, a bit surprised.

“Yeah, I thought you were brave in there,” Julie said.

“Really?” Becka’s eyes widened.

“Yup, brave . . . or do you mean
stupid?”
said Laura, cutting in with a laugh.

Becka’s face flushed. Her heart sank to her feet.

“Like I said, to cross Sarina like that in public probably wasn’t the best idea,” Krissi said.

Rachael, who had been silent most of the night, spoke up. “Wow, I sure hope she doesn’t plan to cast a spell on you for that.”

“Naw. My guess is that Sarina has more class than that,” Krissi said, her forehead wrinkled into a maze.

Laura softened her tone. “Hey, what do I know, Becka? You felt you did what you needed to do. Fine. But, honestly? I think I’ll just die if you debate her at dinner.”

“Okay, guys, how about we let it go,” Julie said. “Becka just made a mistake, right, Becka?”

Becka looked out the window at the full moon. She bit her lip, trying to decide whether or not to defend herself. She
hadn’t
made a mistake. She knew exactly what she had been doing. She wanted to make it clear that all paths don’t lead to God. Some pathways are nothing more than counterfeits.

Becka brushed away a hot tear forming at the edge of her eye. “Julie,” she said after a quick moment, “don’t you remember how that demon posed as an angel and ended up possessing you?”

“Yeah, but Wicca is different,” Julie said.

Becka studied her profile. “How can you be so sure?”

“Didn’t you hear Sarina? She said so herself,” Laura said. “Wicca is all about goodness and healing and wellness and personal prosperity — ”

“I disagree,” Becka said, cutting her off. “I believe that if we open ourselves to the spirit world through any kind of witchcraft, we’re asking for trouble. Big time.”

Laura laughed. “Open your eyes, Becka. If you haven’t noticed, Sarina really has it together. I admire someone who’s so in touch with herself. I’d say that means Wicca must be working for her.”

Julie gave Becka a look. “Makes sense to me.”

The Suburban rolled to a stop outside Caesar’s restaurant, but Becka had lost her appetite a long time ago. It was bad enough that the others were on her case. But the thought of facing Sarina again, well, it felt as if a thousand panicked butterflies were flapping their wings inside her stomach.

Not to mention that Z wanted Becka to reach out to Sarina.

But how?

6

C
aesar’s wasn’t Becka’s kind of restaurant. Not that she was opposed to going there once in a while. It’s just that she and Ryan typically didn’t hang out at places where tablecloths, fresh flowers, and real fireplaces were part of the ambience. It was, after all, the kind of place to go if you had lots of money and wanted to impress your date.

“Reservation for eight?” the head waiter asked in their direction.

The woman with red hair by Sarina’s side nodded.

“Right this way,” he said, holding a stack of menus.

Becka, avoiding eye contact with Sarina, trailed behind the others to a rectangular table positioned by the front window. As the last one in the group to arrive, Becka took the only seat available at the end of the table. That was fine with her. The farther from Sarina the better. Frankly, if she sat in the next room, that would be okay too.

The waiter took their drink orders. He bowed slightly, turned, and left.

The redhead, who sat on Sarina’s right, was the first to get everyone’s
attention. “It’s a pleasure to be with you tonight,” she announced. “My name is Demi. I’m Sarina’s personal assistant. It’s been a long day, what with traveling, interviews, and the signing. I know Sarina is anxious to visit with you. Just so you’ll know, we need to duck out a little sooner than originally planned. She has an early morning photo shoot. I’m sure you understand.”

Somehow the speech felt a little rehearsed. Becka stole a look at Sarina. When Sarina glanced in her direction, Becka forced a grin. Sarina didn’t smile in return. Instead, it felt as if Sarina was looking right through her. The dark, hollow feeling in Becka’s stomach returned. The darkness she experienced had little to do with the dim lighting. It was as if she knew something dreadful was just around the corner.

Demi continued. “Feel free to ask anything you’d like about Sarina’s book or the TV show.”

Laura, who sat on the other side of Sarina, said, “I want you to know it was your show that really opened me up to become a practicing Wiccan.”

Sarina seemed to relax a little at that. She smiled. “Is that so?”

Laura nodded. “I’ve always been interested in the occult. A group of us have really been into the supernatural. But I don’t know . . . when I started to watch
The Hex
, I saw there was a more positive way to connect with the spirit. That’s when I sort of got into Wicca on my own.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Sarina said. “We Wiccans have discovered that self-confidence, respect for the environment, and a deeper interconnection with the divine occurs when we align ourselves with the realms of the mighty Earth Spirit.”

An awkward silence followed.

Rachael raised a hand just above the table.

Demi said, “Hey, feel free to jump in. This isn’t a press conference.”

That brought a laugh.

“Hi, Sarina,” Rachael said with a hint of awe in her voice. “I can’t wait to read your book. But I was wondering if you ever thought of doing a movie?”

Sarina turned to Demi. Demi nodded. Sarina folded her hands together on the table. “I’ll let you guys in on a little secret. We just landed a film deal, and we start production next month.”

“No way!” Krissi said. “I can’t wait to tell everyone at school.”

“Uh, Krissi,” Julie said, leaning toward her ear, “she just said it was a secret.”

“Yeah, and if you let it out I’ll have to put a spell on you,” Sarina said. Her eyes narrowed.

Krissi froze. Becka watched as Krissi’s face went as pale as a china doll’s.

Sarina smiled. “I’m only playing with you.”

Everyone but Becka laughed. Just sitting in the same space as Sarina was oppressive to her.

“Remember, Wiccans are into positive energy,” Sarina said. “We only fight back if somebody or something strikes us first.” She fixed her eyes on Becka as she spoke.

Becka almost jumped out of her skin when her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She snatched up the phone, pushed Talk, and then pressed the phone to her ear. She turned away from the others toward the wall. “Hello?”

“Becka! It’s me.”

“Hey, Scott.” Although she had hoped it was her mother, Becka’s heart brightened at the sound of his voice.

“How’s the witch?”

“Um . . .” Becka looked around, but the others were busy talking to the guest of honor. “I really can’t talk. We’re about ready to order dessert.”

“Where?”

“Caesar’s.”

“Ooh. Fancy schmancy.”

“Anyway, let’s just say things are super intense. I feel so outnumbered.” She looked around again. Laura and Krissi were getting up to leave. She watched as they headed toward the restroom.

“I figured that,” Scott said. “Darryl and I saw you on TV.”

Becka swallowed.
Great
.
Now the whole world probably thinks
I’m a jerk,
she thought.

“Hey, I talked to Z online,” Scott said. “He filled me in on all that Wicca stuff. Pretty heavy-duty. He suggested that we pray together.”

Becka sighed. “Boy, could I use your prayers, little bro.”

“Put your hand on the phone and pray along with me,” Scott said, imitating a radio preacher he once heard.

“Very funny, Scott,” Becka said. She cupped her hand over the mouthpiece. “I can’t quite tell you how I know this, but I think something pretty serious is about to happen.”

“Really?” Scott said. “Like what?”

“I can’t say for sure.”

“Just remember that verse in Matthew: ‘For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.’ So, let’s pray already.”

“Um, Scott, maybe you should do the honors,” Becka said, changing the phone to her other ear. “I don’t think it’s such a good idea for Sarina to hear me, you know, praying.”

“Okay. Well, Lord,” Scott began, “be with Becka tonight as she’s with Sarina. We don’t know exactly why things happen the way they do, but . . . we know you have Becka there for a reason. Give her the strength and . . . the wisdom to take a stand for you against the tricks of the devil. Help her to feel your presence by her side. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Becka hung up and put the phone in her pocket in time to take a glass of iced tea from the waiter. As she set it down, she noticed her hand was trembling.