Dark Destiny (35 page)

“Yes,” he asked in a tone of confusion mingling with frustration at the interruption.

Amber couldn’t help it. “Does this look a darker shade to you?” She held her pinky a few inches from his face.

The man blinked. “Excuse me?”

“Never mind. I’m here for Sheryl.”

“Sharon?” the man asked.

Oops! Whatever.
“Yeah, Sharon. That’s it.
Sharon
.”

Sharon’s dad asked, “I’m sorry, but who are you again?”

Amber closed her eyes. This spell, one of her favorites, indeed her specialty, would only take a second to complete. The words reverberated in the back of her mind, and when she opened her eyes, all of his memories were available to her. All she had to do was look. It only took her a second to find what she was searching for.

She flipped her hair. “My apologies. I’m a school friend. She asked me to pick her up this morning for an extra credit assignment.”

He seemed delighted. “Oh! You’re helping Sharon get extra credit?”

Amber nodded once.

He gave a small, fake chuckle. “Well, she does need the extra credit, doesn’t she?”

Offering him her own false smile, Amber nodded. “Indeed.”

Sharon’s dad left the door open and retreated into his house.

The spiritual energy spilling out the doorway was insanely high, so no matter how hard she tried, Amber would never be able to cross the threshold. This house must have been in the family for generations: batches of kids raised, multiple Thanksgiving gatherings and Christmas presents opened . . . The joys of this family’s life pulsed at her from within. The family who lived here was happy, and her kind was not allowed inside such a haven.

She slid back an inch.

She knew that all supernatural creatures were bound by this rule, which also protected mortals from all forms of mind control. If she were a vampire, which of course she wasn’t, she would not be able to compel her way in. This meant, her
charm
spells would not work either.

Well, this is just an unexpected hiccup. The old fashioned way would do nicely.

Innocently she asked, “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

He turned back. “Oh, sure. Please, come on in.”

Her cheeks pulled back into a feral grin. “Thank you.”

Even with the invitation, the spiritual energy pressed upon her as she walked into the house. She needed to move quickly because that same spiritual energy that did not want her here drained her of her Gifts. “Um, excuse me, mister?”

He turned to her. “Yes?”

Their eyes met as she stepped to him, grabbed him by the neck, and snapped his spine. She had grown to love the sound. It reminded her of snapping a twig . . .

Instantly, he collapsed to the floor. Amber bent down and kissed him on the forehead.

She whispered, “Aw, don’t worry. You won’t die.” Drool fell from his mouth, accompanied by a garbled slur. She spoke as if talking to a baby, “At least not yet.”

As soon as the last word left her lips, she playfully poked him on the forehead, picked herself up, stepped over him, and proceeded into the living room. It opened up into a rather large kitchen that looked like it had been professionally styled by an interior decorator.

At the bar sat an older woman with her pink towel wrapped around her head and a matching robe. This had to be Sharon’s mother.

“Who was it dear?” she said, staring at Amber with a furrowed brow.

Amber already had this spell prepared. She brought up her hand, palm face up.

Gravity shifted.

The ground rumbled. Everything close to the bar, including Sharon’s mom, flew to the ceiling. Car keys, some pens and paper, and a family picture flew up. Sharon’s mother’s head collided with and shattered the overhead light, knocking her unconscious.

By closing her palm, Amber released the spell and gravity shifted back.

Everything fell.

Sharon’s mom slammed into the bar on her way down. The sound echoed throughout the house.

Amber calmly walked past the mess she’d created, searching for her target.

“Mom, did something break?” A teenaged girl spoke as she walked into the room.

Amber presumed this was Sharon. She wasn’t bad looking, this girl. Her straight black hair had a nice shine, and she was so petite, the top of her head just reaching Amber’s chin. Her piercings were kind of sweet too, one small ring on her nose and another on her eyebrow. The girl wore a khaki skirt and a white polo.

Sharon stared at her fallen mother. “Mom!”

Bringing her index finger to her lips, Amber whispered, “Shhh . . .”

Lights flickered as the sound left her mouth, and Sharon instantly crumpled onto the floor.

With a pep in her step, Amber sauntered to the fallen, limp body of the teenager.

“Sharon is it? Let me ask you a question. You look like a young lady of fashion,” Amber said thrusting her pinky finger a few inches from Sharon’s face. “Does this look a darker shade to you?”

A tear fell from Sharon’s dark eye, leaving a black, mascara filled tear track.

Withdrawing her hand, Amber said, “Ah, no matter.”

She delicately brushed the side of Sharon’s cheek. “You have such a pretty face.”

Two hours later

Though snow coated the top of the massive, white brick, three storey building, a new growth of green grass covered the lawn. Freshly planted mountain laurel flowers were arranged around the entrance for display to announce the beginning of spring. The ornately decorated black stone of the window ledges contrasted with the white bricks. Tall bay windows, high pointed arches and four cupolas topped each corner of the building, made of the same black stone, giving the building a Victorian gothic feel that Amber enjoyed. In her opinion, the only thing missing was a pair of stone gargoyles at the spire pinnacles.

As she walked down the path, she bent down and plucked a laurel, bringing it to her nose to inhale the scent. “Mmmm, this place is too perfect.”

The flower withered in her hand. She smiled even more.

Tossing the dead laurel on the ground, she continued to the large black stone archway curving over the heavy wooden doors. Makayla’s bus would be arriving soon. After all the preparation the Seals had done, the plan had to succeed. If not, things would turn out badly . . . for everybody.

Deep inside the pockets of her leather jacket, she pulled out a small, round compact mirror. She opened it to see how well the spell worked. Sharon’s image reflected back at her. Flawless. Even her clothing gave off the illusion of the school uniform. With a wink, she closed the compact and tucked it back into her pocket. The squeal of the bus brakes came from behind her.

Makayla’s bus had arrived.

Perfect.

Amber smiled as she stepped into the crowded school hallway. Students had loud conversations around her. Locker doors opened and slammed shut. Shoes squeaked off the freshly mopped, tiled floor.

As she made her way deeper into the school, she found Ethan working his way down the hall, his backpack hanging heavily off one shoulder.

She blew out a sigh of relief.

Getting him here had been a nightmare. His father had been a successful trader in New York. She had a dummy corporation created to recruit him and offer him a job as Director of Marketing here in Pennsylvania.

He refused.

She offered him almost double his salary.

Still he refused.

The stupid mortal was loyal to a fault and it had been a pain in her behind. Amber had to go to New York and
charm
his boss into getting into a fist fight with him. It would have been so much easier if she could have simply
charmed
Ethan’s father to move here, but her spells just didn’t have that much staying power. On average, the most she could get out of her
charms
was about five minutes and she’d needed Ethan’s family’s move to be permanent. After a solid fist to the family jewels, Ethan’s father was more than willing to take the job. Two months later and voila, they were settled in.

Now that Ethan had been successfully transferred, all that needed to happen was for him to meet Makayla and somehow fall in love with her.

Simple, right?

She hoped the last part wouldn’t prove too difficult. It shouldn’t be. She’d done her research. She knew the two were soul mates. The only thing they needed was that special push.

Only how to do that? Hmm . . .

Behind her, two teenage boys sounded off as they approached.

“Walking into this school?”

“Uh huh.”

“The only person I’m scared of?”

“Uh huh.”

“. . . is
myself
.”

“
Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamnn
. . . Dude!
Dude
. Duuuuuuude! That line? The mustard is off the hot dog with that one!”

“Melted cheese runs all over the nachos . . .”

“Doh, Chicopopo
! Whaaaaaat
?”

Amber blinked in surprise.
What
?

To her immediate left stood two mentally defective douchebags.

Perfect.

It was time for part two of her plan. All of the pieces needed to be put into place.

Her eyes closed for a second, the required time for casting a
memory
spell. She released it on both douchebags. In an instant, images flooded her mind’s eye. She paused the images and sorted them quickly, ditching all the worthless information . . . like their lives.

Their names were
. . . Liam
and
Justin
.

Liam had a decent tan, short buzz cut, and appeared to be in great shape. Tall and athletic. Lanky and fit. Most likely a basketball player.

Wonderful. Idiots with spray tans in the winter were easily manipulated. Charms always worked best on the weak minded.

Justin wasn’t as good looking as Liam, but he smelled like cocoa butter. Amber hated that smell. He’d do nicely.

From all of the research she had done, she knew that Makayla was highly opinionated, strong and independent. If push came to shove, she’d be more than willing to come to Ethan’s rescue. All Amber had to do was force her hand with some sort of altercation.

Stupid girl, so easily manipulated.

But not as easily manipulated as the jocks. Amber loved jocks. To kill them, that is. Only today, they would be her tools.

She walked up to them and interrupted their drivel. “Hey guys,” she said, her voice dripping with phoniness that she knew these idiots were too stupid to pick up.

Liam greeted her with a wide smile. “Sharon. What up, girl.”

Amber closed her eyes. It only took a second to ready her
charm
spell. Once it was completed, she opened her eyes and made eye contact with Liam. “Go bully that kid and kick his ass.”

Liam asked casually, “Which one?”

Amber pointed to Ethan.

“Done,” said Liam, detached from the world. With his chin high, he strutted toward Ethan. Justin intervened. “What? No, dude. We’re not gonna start messing with some kid. Are you douched? Coach will have our hide if we
—
”

Almost in a daze, Liam cut off his sidekick by side-stepping him and walking past. Justin stood staring, his mouth agape. Amber, with the faintest trace of her
charm
spell, quickly made eye contact with Justin.

“Get his back.”

“Of course!” Justin said with glee. “I’ll beat that ass till it’s blue!”

There wasn’t much left in that
charm.
It would probably fade soon. Oh, well. As long as it would bring her target into the mix, all was good. Speaking of her target, Amber glanced around, searching for her. Makayla entered the school and headed toward her. She knew she had a part to play in the endlessly mundane repetition of Makayla’s life. Amber couldn’t miss Sharon’s line or Makayla might suspect something.

“Makayla!” she shouted, frantically waving her hand.

“Hey,” Makayla replied with a small wave as she walked past her.

Amber saw Makayla continue to her locker. Just to the right of her locker, Amber’s
charmed
playthings bullied Ethan.

A warm smile lit her face.

“Hey. New kid. You got something on your face,” Liam said, though it was more of a snarky comment.

“Yeah?” Ethan asked, wiping his side of his face. “What is it?”

“Ugly.” Liam shoved him. Hard.

Ethan stumbled backwards and slammed into some lockers. The collision with the metal tore through the hallway with a loud echo. He drew a breath, “What the hell? What’s your problem, man?”

Liam stalked forward. “You. Think you’re somebody special? Like you’re some sort of Beyonce in a school filled with nothing but Michelles?”

“
What
? What are you
talking
about!” Ethan said.

“You deaf? I said ‘you smell like hot dog water’.”

Ethan put up a good fight in spite of his smaller stature and a crowd gathered. Justin still stood silently, showing no incentive to step in and try to control his friend. Not that he’d be able to. Amber’s spells might not last long, but they were powerful.

After another moment of scuffling, Liam and Ethan made their way toward Makayla. Amber looked on as Liam continued to give Ethan hell.

Oh, look at the cute little thing trying.

It was about thirty seconds later that Amber, delighted, witnessed Makayla level Liam. Slapped him hard across the face no less. Not once, but twice. Her plan had worked. Even Amber was impressed. This girl was a real firecracker.

Too bad she was going to have to kill her.