Casted (Casted series) (16 page)

I woke up curled around Edge’s body. His hand was holding my head in place over his heart and I listened to the soft cadence of its beat. Sometime in the middle of the night, I’d gone from my bed to his. Pages fluttered in my head as if in approval. I shifted slightly and Edge pulled me closer.

“I won’t say I mind, but when did you get here?” he asked.

I pulled myself away from his heat slowly to look at him. His hair was rumpled and his face had a sexy five o’clock shadow that my fingers just itched to touch.

Cool air danced along my skin and I looked down. Where were my clothes? I gasped and pulled the sheet around me.

“Did we?” I asked, squeezing my eyes closed, trying to recall anything from last night.

“No,” he answered. Laughter rumbled in his chest as the bed dipped. I cautiously opened one eye to see what he was doing.

He smirked. “By the looks of it, you walked in here leaving a trail of clothes behind.”

I could feel the blush creeping up my cheeks. Anyone could have seen me! I groaned into the sheet I held tightly to me. How much had Edge seen before I realized my state of undress? I groaned again. And to make it all worse, the door was wide open.

“Can you get my clothes please,” I mumbled into the sheet.

Edge stood up and the sheet fell off of him. He was wearing a low-slung pair of cotton pants. I sighed in relief. At least one of us was still dressed.

Edge bent over every couple of feet, picking up my trail of clothing. With each piece, I wanted to sink further and further into the mattress. What the hell had I been thinking last night?

The door closed softly and Edge dropped my clothes on the foot of the bed before gathering me up in his arms and sitting me across his lap. I couldn’t even look at him. I was that embarrassed.

“Good morning,” he said, tucking my head into his shoulder. “How did you sleep last night?” he softly chuckled.

I shoved his shoulder. “Not funny,” I mumbled into his neck. He shivered as my words slid across his skin.

“I could get used to waking up with you in my arms, draped over me like a blanket,” he murmured.

“I’m sorry. I really don’t know how I ended up here…like this.” I gestured to my sheet covered body.

“Don’t be sorry…never be sorry for wanting to be close to me.” He ran his fingers along the words covering my arms.

“What do you think this means?” I asked, holding my arms out for inspection.

Edge gathered me close again. “I don’t know. We can only hope that the book Matheson has will help us translate it.”

I grabbed my clothes and tucked the sheet closer to my body before escaping to the bathroom. I could hear Edge’s smug laughter from the other side of the door. He was enjoying this way too much. I cursed myself under my breath as I let the sheet fall to the ground and jerked my clothes back on. I kept reminding myself that it was only a fluke thing and that luckily no one else saw my late night escapade.

When I opened the bathroom door, Edge was pulling a fresh t-shirt down over his sculpted stomach. Butterflies assaulted me. I hadn’t paid much attention to his naked chest while I was worrying about my own.

“I don’t have to go,” he said as he slid towards me. He pulled me tight against him and trailed his lips down my neck. My body heated to his touch and the book fluttered again. “We could stay right here and do a reenactment on how you came into my bed. We can practice it over and over again until we think we have it right,” he said, sliding his hands down into my back pockets.

I swatted his shoulder. “One time was enough for me, thanks.”

“I’ll take what I can get…for now,” he said before brushing his lips against my forehead.

What was this attraction between us?

My eyes snapped open and I shoved him back a step.

“What if we’re under some sort of spell?” I blurted out my thoughts.

Edge tilted his head in thought. “I doubt it,” he finally answered.

“Why? Don’t you think this is all a bit sudden?”

“No, not really. Look…this,” he said, gesturing between the two of us, “started before you even laid eyes on the book.”

My heart sped up with the truth. This was no spell, this was all us. But how come the book reacted to him as well?

“Whatever this is, I want it. I want every bit of you that you’ll give me and more,” he growled as he grabbed me and walked me backwards to the bed. His lips pushed hard against mine as we fell to the bed, showing me, without words, what he meant.

I grabbed his shirt, tugging it up over his head in one swift motion. His hand slid up my ribs as he continued his assault on my lips. I was losing myself in his arms and I liked it.

The door rattled in its frame as Dagger shouted from the other side. “We’re leaving,” he bellowed.

Edge broke our searing kiss with a growl that rumbled from his chest and vibrated into mine.

“Who invited all of these people here?” he grumbled, as he sat up and slipped his shirt back on.

If Dagger hadn’t interrupted us, we would have torn each other apart just to crawl inside each other. Things were moving so fast with Edge that I could hardly keep up. It was probably a good thing that things were halted. I didn’t want to have any regrets.

Edge extended his hands out to me, pulling me from the bed to his arms. He held me tight, resting his forehead against mine. “I’ll be back soon,” he promised.

Edge hadn’t been gone long before the book started acting up again. It fluttered and sifted the pages in my mind. I didn’t know what to do to make it stop. They were almost swatting the insides of my brain in punishment. It went from being a mere annoyance, to being a bit uncomfortable. It progressed as the hours ticked by. When it felt like the book itself was beating the inside of my head to get my attention, I’d had enough. I’d spent the morning trying so hard to keep up with the conversations around me. Now I just wanted to curl up in a ball and wait for the endless bashing in my head to go away.

My skin felt clammy and my body jerked, making me spill a hot cup of tea down the front of my shirt.

“That’s it, off to bed with ya,” Rainy said as she grabbed my arm and guided me to my room. “Jade, are you okay? And don’t lie to me,” she said, pulling the sheet up around me.

“I don’t know,” I whispered as I curled into a tight ball. “Do me a favor, Rainy, don’t tell anyone about this,” I pleaded.

“You can’t be serious! Something is wrong and we need to figure it out,” she snapped at me.

“I think it’s because of Edge.” I was trying so hard to force my thoughts to words, but the damn book was beating my mind to a pulp.

“Did he hurt you?” she hissed.

“No, I think he is what’s keeping the book from hurting me,” I whimpered.

“Why would you think the book is trying to hurt you?”

“I wish I knew.” Tears streamed down my face as the book continued its tirade. I wasn’t sure if it was Edge that kept it from attacking me, but I wished he would hurry up and get back soon. If the pain went away, I’d have my answer. But then again, it would only lead to more questions as to why the book was so taken with him.

Rainy sat with me as I cried into my pillow. She rubbed soothing circles on my back trying to ease the pain the only way she knew how.

It felt like endless hours before the book began to slow down and gently flutter. I sighed in relief when I could open my eyes and sit up again. My head still echoed the remnants of the attack by throbbing every so often, but that was the least of my concerns, if it meant that I’d survived the thrashing it had given me.

My door flew open and Edge rushed to the side of the bed. He stroked my face and the book fluttered, giving me the answer I was looking for. Rainy quietly backed out of the room and shut the door.

“What happened? Jessa said you almost collapsed because of the book.” He tilted my face to get a better look at me.

“I don’t think it likes you being away,” I replied.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“It’s really weird, I mean, the book, it’s reacting to you.” I twisted my hands in my lap trying to think of the words to explain the things happening inside me.

“It reacts how?”

“Well, it doesn’t like you being away from me, that’s for sure. But, it does other things too. When you touch me, the pages…they flutter. When you um…kiss me, they sift like they’re sighing.” I tossed my hands in the air realizing that what I was saying made no sense.

“I guess I’ll just have to stay close and keep kissing you.” His lips captured mine. The book fluttered as my arms automatically moved to pull him close.

“I’ve missed you,” he sighed as he broke the kiss.

The pages fluttered making it sound as if the book was purring. It made me wonder if the book was the reason I found myself so out of character. I needed to step back and rethink my growing feelings for Edge before I did something I didn’t want to do. The book slammed shut. Inside my head, it rattled around like it didn’t like the way my thoughts were going.

I grabbed my head. “Ouch!”

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Edge slipped his hands under mine and rubbed my temples. The book fluttered again. Damn it, what the hell was happening to me?

“It’s nothing.” I shook my head slightly as I grabbed his hands and pulled them down. “Just had a thought the book didn’t like.”

“I don’t like this, not at all.” He scowled.

I was just going to have to ride this out until we knew what the words on my arm meant. Maybe it would give us some direction. Maybe there was a way we could pull it out of me and put it back in different book. The book slammed again and I winced.

“Did Matheson find anything today?” I asked.

Edge’s lips went from a frown to a secretive smile. “He did. Come, he has something for you.” Edge linked his fingers with mine.

CHAPTER NINE

Everyone was in the main room, picking through the charred remains of Matheson’s possessions. I slid into one of the overstuffed chairs as Edge grabbed a small leather book and brought it over to me, “I think you’ll enjoy this one.” He winked.

I cracked it open. Charred bits of paper flaked off the pages, but most of the book remained intact. Scripted writing covered the pages from beginning to end. I tossed a questioning look over my shoulder at Edge. “Whose journal was this?”

“Your mother kept a record of the process used to bind your magic,” Matheson said as he handed me a curled photo. It was a young couple wrapped in each other’s arms, their faces turned toward each other. The young woman looked filled with joy as the young man stared at her with this raw look of passion.

“Your parents were quite the thing, huh?” Matheson patted my shoulder and turned back to the boxes and began pulling more blackened items out.

How many times had I wished to have a photo to remember them? I could never recall anything about them after they’d died. Something had shut off inside me, blocking me from remembering anything about them. I wonder if it had something to do with the spells my mother had blocked me with. Maybe she did it to keep me safe if something were to happen to them. It was possible that I did it to myself to keep the pain of losing them from consuming me. Either way, I now had what I’d always craved, a reminder of who they were.

I opened the journal again and flipped to the beginning of an entry dated back before I was born.

December 15
^th,
1993

Our stockings are officially hung, yet I can’t help but feel a touch of sadness at the prospect of another holiday season without my family. Jonathan thinks he can find a way to see them, but I know–we both know, it’s just too risky. The Triad has been sniffing around making everyone scatter in hiding. No one is safe right now, especially since the book is missing. I’ve accepted my duty to my Coven and found love along the way. I couldn’t be more cursed and blessed at the same time. I continue to search the archives and will come up with something to protect the life we’ve created. I couldn’t live with myself if this curse were to be passed onto her. For now, I’ve outsmarted it, or maybe it has outsmarted me. I will take what I can get either way since the reprieve has allowed me to think again. I fear there won’t be enough time to finish what I’ve started and it scares me. No matter what, I will continue my search and perfect my craft before she is born.

~Myra

I slid the picture inside the book to mark the page I’d just read. Could it be that my mother was once the Keeper of the book now resting inside me? The sound of a book cover slamming echoed in my head. I couldn’t help feeling like I’d taken in an intruder when it did things like that.

“After you parents died, I went back and packed everything up that wasn’t burnt beyond recognition. I’m sorry I couldn’t get more.” Matheson sat across from me, holding yet another book. “I believe this might help us discover what the words mean,” he said, pointing to my arms.

“How long do you think it will take to translate it?” Edge asked.

“I’ll start by taking pictures of Jade’s arms, that way she won’t have to stand in front of me while I pour over this,” Matheson said. “I’ll get it figured out, Jade,” Matheson promised, as Dagger adjusted the camera and started taking pictures of my arms from different angles.

“Matheson, do you think it possible that the book can communicate with me?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. Why do you ask?”

I didn’t want to get into the fact that the book had been in almost constant motion since I’d absorbed it. How do you explain to someone that mere pages were influenced by touch and thought as if it were a living thing inside you?

“I was just curious.” I pulled my mother’s journal tight against my chest and stood up. “I think I’ll go find a quiet spot to read,” I told Edge as I slipped out of the room.

Matheson would be working on translating the words while I would work on finding out more about the curse my mother spoke of. There had to be more about her findings and what she did to keep it from me. One question nagged at me. When I broke the binding spell on the book, did I break the other binding spells too?