The Secret of Strange Waters (The Light Keeper Series Book 2) (14 page)

“Now we have two weddings to plan!” I gave them a wink. “Hey, you ought to come with Mom and me when we go out next week. You can get a few ideas of what you’ll be looking for next year.” We were giggling when Owen interrupted as we walked to the porch of the shack.

“You two can it for a minute! We have more important things to talk about,” he sneered. “We saw Dodie and Meagan sitting right here in this very spot like five minutes ago.”

“What were they doing here?” Hunter asked.

Talon curled his lip. “You don‘t want to know.”

I was still glad I hadn’t peeked, but knowing that wasn’t the only reason the two had gone parking was even more disturbing. “She brought him here to show him where she’d seen the Light.”

“We think they’re making plans to expose Lily on the Halloween trail ride.” Talon pulled me closer. “We have to make sure she’s hidden. If she summons the Light, that could be bad—especially if she’s dosed up.”

“So you won’t dose up.” Holly shook her head at me.

“If I don’t take the Waters then I’ll be defenseless if something happens, and I won‘t be in control. No way. I felt weak today. If I had the Water, I would’ve fought him off myself.”

“And how would that look if anyone had seen you? You’re a little girl,” Talon said. “You shouldn’t be throwing a senior football player around like a like a sack of feathers. I say no dose.”

“I want to take the Waters! I can control my gift better with it, anyway. Like you said before, I won’t summon the Light. It’s the Light and the glowing they want to expose. And let’s not forget the old lady in the dream. She warned me that someone is coming, and told me not to trust anyone. I need to be on my toes,” I argued.

“I agree with Lily. I say she takes the Waters.” Owen said. Owen usually went against what Talon wanted, and Talon’s expression reminded me that he had just about enough of Owen’s opinions.

“I decide what’s right for Lily,” Talon snapped. “I’m the one who’s got to look out for her.”

“No,
I
decide what’s right for me.” I elbowed him in the side and walked away from them. Owen and Talon had no idea how irritating they were when they fought. I hated them being this way; I had to make my own decisions. Taking a deep breath, I held out my hand. The Light appeared in an instant, and I walked into the darkness using it to guide me.

Holly noticed me leaving and ran after me. “Lily, where are you going?” She slowed at my side and caught her breath.

“Away from here. They always try to tell me what to do.” I walked out to the trail behind the shack that led to the well, and was halfway there when the guys came up behind us.

“It doesn’t help when you take off like this, Lily,” Talon snapped. “Remember?” The memory of me passing out from heat exhaustion in the middle of Bragg Road this summer came back to me. I could still taste the dirt if I thought about it too long. I’d run away from Talon then, too.

“Yeah, it doesn’t ever work out too well for you,” Owen said, stifling a chuckle. He found humor when I rebelled, especially against Talon. They made their way to us in the dark.

I reached the well and began pulling off the boards, then lowered the roped bucket and filled it. Holly and Hunter whispered to each other, staring down into the depths where the faint glow still shone, while Owen laughed and Talon stood glaring at me. The Light still hovered over my head. I didn’t have the water bottle, so I lifted the bucket and took a big, gulping swig. I felt the energy wash through me, caressing every nerve and making me feel electrified. The Light grew brighter and my skin lit to its soft glow. No one said a word. It was such an awkward silence that even the crickets seemed to pause for a moment.

Owen stepped up to the well and took the bucket from me to drink. Stepping aside, he offered it to Talon. “Your turn.” He smiled, knowing he won the argument.

Talon stepped up to the well and took his dose. Then he grabbed my arm and pulled me away, leaving them all in the dark. Once we reached the shack, he stopped and spun me towards him. “Why did you do that?” he asked. He spoke before I could answer. “You know I care about you, right? I mean, you know I’ll do what’s best for you, protect you, and fight for you.” I nodded, staring deep into his dark, stormy eyes. “Then why do you insist on ignoring me like that? You don’t even trust me to take care of you?”

My eyes bore through him as I glared at him. I probably should’ve handled it better, but after everything, he was still underestimating me. “You can’t be around twenty-four seven. Like this morning, I could’ve fought back. I could have at least kicked him hard enough to count. You don’t even trust me to know my own strengths and powers.”

“So you blame me for this morning? If I had been there, it wouldn’t have happened. Is that what you mean?” His voice was rough and accusing.

“That’s not what I meant. Is that what’s bothering you? Is this about your ego?” It was the only thing that made sense. He was upset about my taking the Waters because it meant that I didn’t need him like I did this morning.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he scoffed. “My
ego
?” He couldn’t believe I spoke the word, so I must have been right.

“You think that if I take the Waters, I won’t need you,” I said. I followed closely behind as he walked to his bike.

“Get Owen to take you back.” He climbed on, started his bike, and drove away, leaving me to wait on the others.

Seconds later, Owen, Hunter, and Holly came stumbling out of the trail. I sent the Light to them to lead their way. “Thanks, Lily,” Owen griped. “That would have come in handy minutes ago when I walked into that sticker bush!” Suddenly he realized the sound of the bike had been Talon leaving, and he stared after him into the distance. “Where’s he gone off to?”

“He’s upset.” I hurt his ego. I figured I better not embarrass him further by telling Owen his business. “He wanted you to take me back.”

“Sure, there’s nothing more that I want than a glowing hot chick riding with me,” he teased. But I didn’t react. I kept my head down, knowing I hurt Talon.

“I’m sorry, Lily.” He sounded wounded, too, realizing I wasn’t in a playful mood. He got on his four-wheeler and turned to me to help me up. When his hand took mine, little sparks popped between us, like electricity flowing from me through him. He jerked back instinctively and gave me a look, but never said a word. Then I sent the Light away, and the glow left me.

Talon was in his room when I found him. He lay across his bed in the dim light of his lamp, ignoring me and poking away at his phone. “I thought we were gonna make plans,” I said, hoping to break the awkward silence.

“You go ahead. I’ll do whatever you want.” He dimmed the phone and put it away.

“I need your help—” I started, but he laughed and turned his head to look towards his window.

“You don’t
need
it,” he said.

“I
want
it. I want you.” Didn’t he understand that? I walked to him, but before I could say anything else, he grabbed my hand and pulled me to him.

“I’m sorry Lily. It’s just—
I
want to be the one to protect you. It made me feel good to help you this morning. Me, not the Water-dosed Talon. Just me.”

I tucked my feet under as I sat on the end of his bed. “So why did you dose up tonight if you’d rather just be you?”

“I know if I want to keep up with you, I have to. It’s not easy having a supernatural girlfriend, especially one who has a love-sick cousin always in my way.”

“Owen is not in your way, and I am hardly supernatural.” I laughed at my own denial. He gave me a glare, and I knew he was right. Owen did his best to come between us, and I was hardly natural.

“I know you want to be strong. But if people are coming out to the road, then we need to take every precaution to hide you. The shack is no good, obviously, so you’ll have to stay hidden at home.”

“But what if they come here? I mean, this is big. Maybe they aren’t above coming to our houses. I’m sure Meagan has told them all about us, including where we live. It’s not like there are other houses out here.” I wrapped my arms across my stomach. “It may not be safe here, either.” I couldn’t help but feel scared for my mom and Granny as well. “How far do you think they’ll go?”

“I’m not sure.” He sat up and pulled me close, and I couldn’t help but think of all the awful things that people did to witches. Even though I wasn’t one, I didn’t want to end up on a stake or in a noose. Surely French didn’t have anything like that in mind. But what
did
he have in mind, and how would we prevent it?

THE NEXT
MORNING
, it wasn’t Mom’s voice that rang out to wake me, but Tom’s. I opened my eyes to see that I wasn’t in my bed, but Talon‘s. We must have fallen asleep after our talk.

“Lily, go get in your own bed, I need to talk to my son.” Tom’s face was beet-red, but it was more from embarrassment than anger. Thankfully, I was fully dressed in my comfy faded jeans and yellow tank top. Talon was only in his boxers, though.

As I walked out the door, Tom shut it behind me and I heard his voice steeped with concern. So naturally, I slipped inside the bathroom to listen in.

“Talon, this isn’t cool, son. She shouldn’t sleep in your bed. It upsets Cate and it only encourages bad decisions,” he said. I waited for Talon to respond.
Please don’t start a fight over thi
s.

“I know. We must have fallen asleep last night. She came in to talk. Trust me, Dad, we’re not doing anything.” He didn’t sound like he was overly defensive. That was good; maybe it would be no big deal.

“Well, I wanted to tell you that some guy called here last night looking for Lily. Said he was her boyfriend. Do you know a guy named French?” Tom sounded very suspicious. My eyes widened in shock.

“What did you tell him?” Talon’s tone deepened as the anger was revealed in his voice. I almost ran into the room, but decided to wait till Tom was gone. I didn‘t want to reveal my bad habit.

“Well, I told him that she was out with you, and that she wouldn’t be home anytime soon.” He paused. “I didn’t know what to say. Is she seeing someone else? Is this guy bothering her at school?” I could hear the disbelief in his voice.

“No, definitely not. I know the guy—he pranks a whole lot—must be goofing on Lily. Besides, she‘d never go behind my back.” I wondered how Tom could think such a thing, when all of a sudden he responded.

“I didn’t think she would, either, but I wanted to check. The guy sounded like a real smartass.” Tom had French pegged from one short call. “I couldn’t imagine Lily with someone who sounded like that.”

Talon laughed, but it was forced—intending to make Tom think it was no big deal. “Yeah, he’s an ass.” I heard the door opening and decided to turn on the sink to seem busy, so I missed the last few words of their conversation. As soon as he was gone, Talon knocked on the bathroom door. “Lily, come back to my room.” I opened the door and he smiled, catching me at my bad habit. “We have to tell the others.”

Owen was furious—more so than Talon, of course, or at least he showed it more. Holly and Hunter were not thrilled, either. We agreed that there wasn’t any way to make plans without knowing what they were going to do. They’d have to make the first move, and we’d have to be ready for it. Talon figured the phone call, which Tom said came around midnight, was to see if we were home and if Tom was still out of town, which Meagan would have told them about. So at least they thought that Tom was back. Maybe they’ll steer clear of our homes.

* * *

The next week started out sad with Tom leaving again, and school was tense but uneventful. Other than Hunter’s birthday, which we celebrated at home with chocolate cake, not much happened. Bobbie Watson was still calling Owen, and the plans for the trail ride were in full motion. Owen was hesitant to leave us, but being in a hay-filled wagon with Bobbie was appealing to him.

* * *

The Tuesday before Halloween, Mom got a call from Tom that he could come home and have the wedding on November sixth. This meant there was only a little over a week until the wedding. Mom was not happy about having the wedding come so soon; she hadn’t made many plans except for getting her dress, which was adaptable to her growing belly. “I can’t rush this, I’m so exhausted,” she cried.

“We’ll help you, Miss Cate,” Holly assured. “My cousin’s a florist. I bet she’d be happy to help any way she can.”

“I’ll call the house we talked about. Maybe they aren’t already booked for the sixth. Granny is ready to make the cakes. What more do we need? We can call everyone on the list and send out the invites today or tomorrow, since we already have them. We can do this.” I tried to act nonchalant. I never let Mom know how worried I was. The wedding would be a great distraction for me and Holly as we awaited Halloween and French’s plans. Suddenly a thought came to me: what if something awful happens on Halloween night; something that could destroy the wedding? Even though my vision showed a perfect event, what if something happened that threw things off?
It would be all my fault.
I got a sick feeling that we may have been too eager to help, and maybe we should’ve agreed with Mom. This was no time for a wedding. But it was too late now—she was convinced. She grabbed the phone and dialed: “I’ll tell Tom the good news,” she said, scuttling away to her room.

I raked my hands through my hair, letting them rest atop my head, my lids pinched shut in frustration. “I think we screwed up.”

“Why?” Holly couldn’t believe my change of expression. “You are happy about this, huh?”

“Yes, of course. I only realized that this may not be the best time. What if something happens this weekend?”

“Nothing is gonna happen.” She didn’t look convincing. “The guys will handle everything. Hunter wants us to stay at home.” Of course he did. He wouldn’t put Holly in danger, she hadn‘t taken the Waters, and Talon would need her to keep an eye on me. I had a tendency to make snap decisions against his wishes,
and
my better judgment. He was right to be worried. If I could, I’d get away from Holly and go find them. At least that was my plan. I’d be fine if I didn’t summon the Light. But in case it happened by accident, I had a plan for that, too.

Mom came out all smiles. “Tom’s excited. The sixth of November it is!” With a sudden burst of energy, she went into overdrive. “We need to find our place now. You wanna ride into town?” She pushed her swollen feet into her shoes and grabbed her purse.

“Sure,” Holly and I said in unison. Any opportunity to go anywhere, we weren’t missing it.

We piled into Mom’s SUV and drove out to town. Mom talked the whole way there. Holly said we could go by her cousin’s flower shop on the way home; she’d still be open after five.

We pulled up to a beautiful grey Victorian-style house nestled in the heart of town. It was charming, with a grand entrance and beautiful wooden floors on the inside, and shades of blue-grey throughout. The staircase curved up to the second floor, and I recognized it as the place in my vision. I wasn’t surprised when Mom paid the deposit to secure it for the date.

“Thank you so much,” Mom spoke to the dainty little lady who ran the house. “We are a little rushed being last minute and all. I’m surprised you weren’t booked.”

“We are every week around it, even Halloween night. We’re hosting a spook house here.” I could picture the house being decorated for Halloween and how creepy it would be. The reality of my Halloween surfaced, and I took a deep breath, trying to stay focused.

Mom motioned for me and Holly. “Well, we’d best be off. We have to figure out how we are going to decorate.” Mom turned to walk away when the lady intercepted us at the door.

“Wait ma’am, we have greenery and candles in storage if you are interested. We even have some candelabras and centerpieces you could use.” Mom’s eyes widened. “Would you like to see them?” Mom almost squealed and followed her upstairs.

Holly and I walked around the place, and I tried to map out the details from my vision. I remembered where everything should go. Minutes later, Mom and the lady returned. “Thanks so much,” Mom said. “Now all I have to do is buy my flowers.” She said her goodbyes, and we made our way to Holly’s cousin Naomi’s shop. It was a nice little place that was attached to her home. Holly said she’d been in business for years.

“I was hoping to go with large, wine-colored roses,” Mom told Naomi.

Naomi shook her head and went into this long explanation of how it may take some time to get that particular color. That’s when I saw the exact peach roses from in my dream. They were very pretty and dainty, all fixed up in an arrangement on the counter. “I like this, Mom. Look how beautiful the color is.”

Mom made her way around a display to get a better look. “Oh, those
are
pretty.” She took one and smelled it. “Wow! They smell wonderful—so sweet.”

“Yes, ma’am. I can get those for you, no problem. As many as you want,” Naomi assured.

“Oh Mom, I love them! They would be so pretty in the house with its grey-blue tones—so soft and delicate, classic.” I didn’t have to be too convincing; these were the ones. I smiled as Mom made her order.

It was fun taking a minute from my grim reality to plan a wedding. And in a whirlwind, we did. It was easy enough, since I’d already seen it done up. We still had to go to the craft store for ribbons and bows, but for the most part, the hard stuff was done.

Mom and Tom were keeping the food simple and doing it themselves. We started on the invites as soon as we got home, and would have them sent out early the next morning. There were only seventy-five invitations, so it was not such a big deal. We called most of the people anyway, so the invitations were strictly a formality. Holly and I helped Mom get them made out in no time.

“This is going to be perfect!” Mom’s excitement glowed. I hoped all would still be fine after Halloween. I hoped my Mom and Tom and the rest of the town wouldn’t know anything more about me than they already did; that French and his stupid buddies would give up and let us be. But I had a feeling that wasn’t gonna happen.

* * *

The rest of the week went fast, and I found myself facing Halloween night. Hunter was on edge about our safety at home, and Talon and Owen were wound up, ready for a fight. They’d dosed all week to get used to it, and I could feel Talon’s strength when he held me. I dosed too, and I had a bottle ready with me, in case Holly needed it.

Holly was scared, too, and mostly for Hunter. He made her promise to stay with me no matter what, not for my safety, but for hers. She hadn‘t taken the Waters, and didn‘t think she could stomach it. It was pretty nasty.

The trail ride started at nine, but the crowd gathered at the Saratoga entrance around seven-thirty. Owen was supposed to meet Bobbie at the entrance at eight, so he left to meet up with her. I begged him to let Talon and Hunter follow, but he insisted he didn’t need any help.

Talon and Hunter were off scoping out the road, and they warned us to stay put. So Holly and I waited patiently with Granny, who was busy watching the original
Psycho
on the classic movie channel. She gave us a full lecture on how the movie was so scary back in the day, and that no horror today could ever compare.

All of a sudden, we heard a car pull up and a knock at the door. Bobbie Watson peered at me from the porch when I answered. “Is Owen here?” Concern steeped her tone.

“He’s supposed to be with you, right?” I asked. Of course he was. Panic hit me like a wave.

She was more than a little put out, but with my concern, she started to look worried. “Well, he never showed, so I was wondering if he changed his mind. I keep calling his cell and get no answer.”

“He might be with Talon and Hunter. They were out riding. Maybe he had some problem with his four-wheeler.” I was worried, but I couldn’t do anything with Bobbie standing there gawking at me. “You go on back to the ride and we’ll find him. I’m sure it’s nothing. You know guys, always getting side-tracked.” I shrugged nonchalantly as my insides smothered my heart. The boys weren’t together. Hunter and Talon had gone to check the pipeline long after Owen left to meet Bobbie.

“Well, tell him I hope he can make it sometime, anyway. We won’t be done till after midnight. We’re gonna make stops along the way for some ghost stories and refreshments. You should all come out! It’s a lot of fun.” She smiled and turned to leave.

“We might do that. Sorry about Owen.” I shut the door and stood there for what seemed like forever as the worry started to consume me, and my mind played out horrible scenarios of Owen’s fate.

Granny didn’t hear what was going on, and continued watching the movie. “Holly, I left something at home. Will you go with me to get it?” I walked out the back door to the patio, and Holly followed.

“What do you think happened to Owen?” she asked as soon as we were outside. “Do you think he ditched her because of what’s going on?”

“No, I doubt it. Not Bobbie Watson. What man in his right mind would do that?” Owen once described Bobbie as “smoking hot,” so I doubt he would miss any sort of roll in the hay with her. My stomach turned thinking of it earlier, but now I’d give anything to have him there with her. “I’m going to find him.” As I made a move toward my house, Holly grabbed my arm.

“What about staying here, Lily? Can’t you call them?” She had a point, but it wouldn’t help me get out of the house.

“They are riding, so they won’t be able to hear their phones,” I said, knowing full well that Talon kept his on vibrate.

Holly shifted on her feet, unsure about what to do. “Talon’s going to be super-pissed.”

“I know, but I have to make sure Owen is all right. I’ve taken the Waters, so I have total control. Are you coming with me or not?” She hesitated, then nodded. “Hunter’s gonna be mad, too,” I reminded.

Determination set in her eyes. “He’ll get over it. Are you sure about your glowing? Can you really keep the Light from popping up?”

“Yeah, I’m almost positive. I have an idea just in case. Follow me.” We went to my room, and I put on my black jeans and tennis shoes. I ran to Talon’s closet and borrowed his long-sleeve black shirt. It swallowed me, but it would do. Then I grabbed his black hoodie and pulled it over my head. With the black clothes, hopefully I’d be hidden if I did need the Light. Holly pulled on a darker shirt, black jeans, and pair of tennis shoes too, and I grabbed my water bottle and tied it to hang around my neck. We shoved a tiny flashlight and our phones in our pockets and headed out.

“You look pretty badass, Lily,” she said as we hit the door. I laughed, but thought of the guys talking about superheroes and hoped they wouldn’t be too angry with me for what I was doing. Then again, part of me was hoping that Owen would be
able
to be mad at me. The worst thoughts about Owen’s safety came back to me. As we left the driveway, Holly sighed. “Hunter’s gonna kill me.” I turned to meet her eyes and nodded. I was in big trouble, too.