Covet (35 page)

Then needles of pain jabbed at the back of my neck and arms.

The trickle of blood beneath his nose stopped, reversed direction then disappeared.

The stabbing sensation all over my skin stopped, and Dylan sneered.

“There. It’s good as new already,” he said.

Anne tried to stand up straight, but the pain kept her hunched over. She glowered at him over her shoulder.

He laughed. “Looks like you might have broken your hand there, Albright. Let’s see how you finish the volleyball season like that.”

Still laughing, Dylan gathered up his books and sauntered off down the catwalk toward the main hall.

As soon as he was gone, Anne collapsed onto the cement, rocking and cursing. “Sav, my wrist…I think it really is broken!” She looked up at me, her face stark with fear and pain. “What do I do?”

I looked at it. Unless Anne had developed amazing flexibility in her wrist that allowed her thumb to naturally rest a mere inch away from her forearm, it was definitely broken.

“We have to get you to the nurse,” I said, grabbing her shoulders and trying to help her up to her feet.

“No! I’ll miss the tournament tomorrow.”

She’d be missing way more games than that. She’d be out of commission for the rest of the year.

“Can’t you do something to fix it?” she pleaded, shocking me.

“Like what?”

“You know, something witchy.” She hissed that last part as if afraid others would hear us despite the fact that we were the only people on the catwalk.

I glanced at my watch, my heart racing even faster. We had only minutes till the bell, and the cafeteria would be emptying a flood of people soon. Including a lot of descendants. Already students were trickling in singles and pairs through its various exits, though most were passing below us to the other ground level areas of the campus.

Oh boy. Was I ready for this? Could I even fix it? What if I made it worse?

“Please,” she whimpered.

Anne never whimpered. Or moaned. Or begged.

She’d broken her wrist and jeopardized the rest of her volleyball season for me. The least I could do was try.

“If this doesn’t work, swear to me that you’ll go to the nurse,” I told her.

She nodded. “I swear.”

“Hold out both wrists.”

She did, and I carefully laid a palm on both of them, memorizing the shape and feel of her uninjured wrist so I could have some idea of what I was aiming for. Carrie, with all her medical studies and desire to be a doctor, would have been so much better prepared for this.

If I did this wrong, or somehow set the bones back incorrectly…

No. I would not paralyze my best friend. Anne was counting on me, and I would get this right. I had to. Besides, Nanna said all magic was created from my will and my intentions. And I intended to do this right.

I closed my eyes, focused on her broken wrist and envisioned the snapped bones within it realigning to match the good wrist. She started to cry out, then pressed her lips together so it became a whimper instead.

“Sorry, almost done,” I muttered.

I told the bones, now realigned, to knit together, putting all of my will and determination into it. I imagined my energy flowing out of my left hand into her broken wrist.

“It’s getting warm,” she whispered. “And it’s stopped throbbing. I think it’s working!”

I nodded but kept my eyes closed, continuing to send my will and energy into the broken bones.

Then the bell rang and the cafeteria doors burst open. Time was up.

“How does it feel?” I asked.

“Better. Still hurts, but not as bad.”

“Try not to use it,” I said.

“For how long?”

“I don’t know, I’m not a doctor!” I muttered, grabbing her books from where she’d dropped them on the cement. “Anne, are you
sure
you don’t want to go to the nurse? I really think you should have it looked at. What if I set it wrong, or—”

Slowly she circled her right hand, then looked up at me. “I think it’s okay.”

I blew out a long breath and shook my head. “If it starts to hurt again, or feels weird or—”

“Yes, Dr. Sav, I will get it checked out by a professional,” she said in an ultra deep and somber tone, one corner of her mouth twitching. She reached for her books.

“Use the other hand!” I blurted out.

But if Anne was joking around again, she must be feeling better.

“Yes ma’am!” She used her right hand to salute me. Then she grinned and relaxed. “And thanks, Sav. You just saved my volleyball career.”

“No. Thank you for that awesome right hook.”

“I can’t believe he actually tried to choke you,” she muttered as we walked along the catwalk. “Maybe I should make an anonymous tip to the principal or something. Then again, his dad’s on the school board, so unless Sav agrees to press charges…”

Staring straight ahead of us, I clenched my back teeth. “At this very second, I would love nothing more than to press charges against Dylan. But then Tristan would hear about it and do something stupid, and that’s what Dylan’s dad wants. We can’t give them what they want. So no anonymous tips, okay?”

I wasn’t letting the fact that his father was abusing him with magic sway my emotions. Really I wasn’t. Just because Dylan’s dad was a magical bully didn’t mean Dylan had the right to ever touch a female, much less choke one.

But I also refused to let my anger sway me into making the exact tactical error they wanted me to.

She stopped beside me. “Excuse me? I didn’t say anything.”

I stopped, too. “Yes, you did. You were going on and on about making anonymous tips and—”

“No, I didn’t. I thought it, but I didn’t say it.” Her eyes narrowed. “You can read minds now, can’t you! That’s why he was so freaked out.”

I gave her a sheepish smile. “Um, surprise?”

Growling, she started walking again. “If you hadn’t just fixed my wrist, I swear… How long have you been able to read minds?”

I shrugged one shoulder. “A few months, I think?”

She growled. “And all you can say is ‘surprise.’ You know, I’m going to remember tonight that you said that. Oh, by the way, Ron said he’ll be giving you a ride home after practice. He said he already worked it out with your parents last night at the party. He has something to tell you in private.”

“Ron does?” I pretended confusion as I opened the heavy metal and glass main building’s rear exit doors for her then followed her inside to the main hall. “About what?”

“You’ll find out.” With a dark, smug grin, she gave me a wave over her shoulder with her right hand. “See you later.”

About time. This should be interesting.

CHAPTER 24

The fall sun was already slipping below the pines that wove throughout Jacksonville when Charmer practice ended that afternoon. As I walked through the fast-growing gloom down the hill toward the practice field’s chain-link gated exit, I saw a familiar black muscle car purring at the curb.

I tilted my head and looked through the open passenger’s side window.

“Hey!” Ron said, his smile tight at the corners and not quite reaching his eyes for once. “Anne said she talked to you at lunch. Ready to go?”

Okay.

A few minutes later, I was settled in the passenger seat and we were on our way up the hill and off campus.

“So Anne said you needed to tell me something?” I said.

“Yeah. Well, that and show you something.”

We drove past the turn that would have led toward my house, instead heading out of town. “Where are we going?”

“Somewhere a little more private.”

My imagination tried to cue the creepy horror movie picture at this point. But this was Ron, and both Anne and my parents and his supposedly knew about this roadtrip. So I forced myself to relax back in the seat.

“Are we going to Palestine?” He had just turned onto Highway 79, which led to the next town over. Palestine was also where Ron’s family had moved from when we were in the ninth grade.

Behind us, the town’s lights faded from view as the sun finished setting and left us to zoom through the cold in the dark.

“No, not that far. Just another mile or so.” The dashboard lights turned Ron’s face green as he glanced at me with a smile. “I’m taking you to this spot I like to go to where I can be alone and…think.”

His expression looked the same as always, with that lopsided boy-next-door smile, and the emotions he was projecting were a little on edge but mostly…hopeful. Nothing about him said he intended to kill me in a ditch somewhere.

Besides, I was half vamp and half witch. I could take care of myself now.

I searched for something to talk about so I wouldn’t feel so weird. “What’s this band?” I gestured at the radio, which was turned down low.

“You like it? They’re called Flogging Molly.”

“Sounds Irish.”

He nodded. “Yeah. They’re awesome. Oh here, listen to this one. It’s my favorite.” He cranked up the volume and hit the forward button to play the next track.

I picked up the plastic case wedged into the space between our seats and read the back listing of songs. We were listening to “If I Ever Leave This World Alive.”

Because we’re about to die?
my stupid imagination wondered before I told it to shut up. Other than creeping me out with the lyrics, I liked the music and let my head bob in time with the beat.

After ten minutes, Ron slowed the car then turned onto a black top road that quickly changed to dirt.

The headlights flashed on a familiar green Ford F150 parked at the side of the road ahead.

“That looks like—” I began.

“Yeah, Anne’s truck. But what the heck is she doing here?” He didn’t sound thrilled.

“You two didn’t plan this?”

He shook his head as he parked a few yards behind her. He didn’t shut off the headlights, though.

Anne slid out of the driver’s side of the truck, her face set in a scowl. She moved to the back end and dropped the tailgate with a loud clang that made me jump.

Ron and I got out of the car. He was projecting every bit as much confusion as I was feeling.

“Anne, what are you—” he muttered.

“Hog hunting, of course,” she said. “Brought my bow and everything. Uncle Danny couldn’t come with me this time, though, so I thought I’d just go out on my own for a few hours.”

Ron glared at her. “Alone? You were going to hunt
alone
? Are you
crazy
? You could get killed!”

Eyebrows raised, she gave her best innocent face. “Well, sure. Why not? You do it all the time. And besides, everyone knows the wild hog population’s getting out of control around here. Halloween’s tomorrow. All those trick-or-treaters are going to be in danger if we don’t cull the hog population as much as possible before then.”

“No.” He took a step toward her. “Absolutely not. There’s no way I’m gonna let you go out there alone—”

Her mouth twisted into a dark smirk. “Oh please. Give it a rest, Neanderthal. I was just joking. I’d never actually be that stupid. I only came because you said you’d be bringing Savannah here for the talk.”

He rocked back on his heels, and she barked out a short, humorless laugh. “You really thought I’d let you just drop a bomb on my best friend without me here for emotional support? I don’t think so.” She hopped up to sit on the tailgate then patted the metal beside her. “Come on, Sav. Better get comfy for storytelling time. Ron tends to ramble.”

I had no idea what was going on and wasn’t sure I wanted to dip into their thoughts for clarity. Even though we were outside, the air between them was way too heavy.

Still, for the sake of keeping what little peace remained, I sat beside her then waited for Ron.

He sighed, rubbed the back of his neck, and stared at the dirt lit up by his car’s headlights. After a hesitation, he began. “Okay, Savannah, do you remember the day we talked about that library book I was reading? The one about the East Texas myths and legends?”

I nodded.

“And do you remember what I told you about the black panthers that the Irish settlers brought over with them?”

“Sure,” I said. “They helped protect their owners’ castles in the old country and their homesteads here in America until their owners set them loose in the wild.”

He winced. “Well, first off, the settlers weren’t their owners. Secondly, those big ‘cats’ are actually the Keepers, and they were once allies with the Irish settlers until their help was no longer needed. And third, those settlers weren’t just any Irish immigrants. They were the Clann.”

Why did it always have to come back to the Clann? “So that’s why you thought I’d already know about the Keepers. Because my family used to be in the Clann.”

He nodded. “But there’s another crucial detail to this story that I had to leave out before since you didn’t already know about the Keepers and I wasn’t sure my parents would let me tell you. The Clann actually
created
the Keepers.”

“You mean they bred the cats?”

Anne snickered. Ron frowned at her, and she raised her hands in surrender. He looked at me again. “No, they didn’t breed them. They created them using one of the biggest group spells the Clann has probably ever done. They cast that spell, though some prefer to call it a curse, on a select few human families. In return, those families promised their aid anytime the Clann needed it.”

Whoa. No wonder some people called it a curse. I couldn’t even imagine how miserable I’d be if a bunch of witches turned me into a cat.

“Okay, so there are a bunch of humans running around out here ticked off at the Clann because they were turned into giant cats then abandoned,” I said. “And…what, you want me to change them back? Because regardless of what Anne might have told you, I’m really and truly not that good yet. I’ve only been practicing how to use power for a few months now. She’s just lucky I could fix her wrist.”

Ron froze, then took a huge step forward and grabbed both of Anne’s hands.

“Hey!” she said. “What do you think you’re doing? Hands off!”

He turned her hands over, running his fingers over her wrists despite her struggling. “What happened?” He searched her face, both of them eye level due to her sitting on the tailgate. “Why didn’t you tell me you got hurt?”