Witch Way to Turn (9 page)

No. Yes. She needed to. But where to start?

Everything sort of tumbled out at once. “Jenny’s foster-mother is an asshole. She hit Jenny. I tried to protect her but she kicked me out. She threatened to hurt Jenny more if I didn’t leave.” Breena let out a sigh, her shoulders tensing up.

“Here.” He moved behind her, putting one leg on either side of her so he could work out the tension. She yielded to his touch. Tried to relax.

“Why didn’t you go to the police? Isn’t that what humans normally do?”

Humans? Um, yeah, okay.

“Tried.”

“Didn’t help?” Orin gently brushed her hair to the side. He moved his thumbs in a circular pattern at the base of her neck.

She let her head fall forward. “No. Every time I went to the police they dismissed me, like I was some ungrateful brat trying to get a stand-up woman like Norma in trouble.” The words tasted bitter in her mouth. “I even took pictures of the bruises as proof, because Jenny’s such a fast healer, but it made no difference.”

“What about social services?”

“Her case worker told me to stop making a mountain out of a molehill. Little kids are always covered in bruises and Norma wouldn’t hurt a flea.” Breena clenched her fists. Icy rage chilled her veins and made her palms numb.

Orin let his hands linger on her shoulders before trailing them down her arms.

Guess the neck rub was over. She sucked in a deep breath and scooted around to face him.

“Why didn’t you use magic?” His words were laced with confusion.

She snorted. “Magic. Uh huh.”

His expression didn’t change, and her irritation spiked.

“Listen, I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but I’m not a pre-whatever thingy, and I definitely don’t use magic.”

“You are and you will.”

“Okay, Yoda,” she mocked, trying to lighten the mood.

Whatever.

Even if he was a little… different, he was
really
cute, and listening to him sell his brand of crazy didn’t mean she had to buy.

“I think Jenny is lucky to have you.”

If anyone else had uttered those same words–and they had, even Myles–Breena wouldn’t have believed them. But the sincerity behind his pale-green eyes and movie-star grin made her
want
to believe. Maybe she
was
doing right by her sister. Maybe she could tell fate where to stick it.

The swooshing sound of water gushing in the distance stole her attention. “It’s starting.”

“Come here.” Orin motioned for her to scoot back into him.

After the way he’d tried to put the moves on her in the parking lot of Mama Rosa’s, she shot him a snowball’s-chance-in-hell look, even though she wanted to.

“I promise to be on my best behavior. Scout’s honor.” He even did the salute.

What the heck
.

She moved in front of him, her back pressed up against his solid chest. Strong arms wrapped around her, tightening with just the right amount of pressure to make her feel safe but not smothered. He didn’t look like the steroid-type, but those muscles did flex like they’d been put to use on many occasions. Since he didn’t go to school, she still wondered what he did for a living. How did he fill his days?

Breena closed her eyes and let the energy of the rushing water mix with the electricity of Orin’s embrace. They watched the water burst over the dam and listened to its hypnotic roar until the sun began to dip below the treetops. An owl hooted in the distance, and the mosquitoes swarmed closer. She noticed with envy that the little blood-suckers didn’t go after Orin. They were eating her alive. She swatted at a couple and finally smashed one on her arm.

He stood and offered his hand. “Time to go?”

She shooed away the pesky insects. “Uh, yeah.” Hand in hand, they headed back to Orin’s car.

At the sedan, he opened the passenger door for Breena to get in and closed it behind her.

Now you see him, now you don’t. Orin disappeared from outside her door and reappeared in the driver’s seat.

Holy hell
.

Breena gripped the door handle. This was really real. This guy wasn’t just some obscenely-cute-but-a-touch eccentric hottie. He was actually, in fact, a super-fucking-natural creature. And that meant, in all likelihood…

So am I.

Her breath came quick and heavy, on the verge of hyperventilation.

Orin reached into his pocket and pulled out the key. “What?” He stuck it in the ignition and waited, staring at her.

She gestured at the door. “You just…you just… You know. Poof.”

He looked at the door then back at Breena. “I don’t get it. I told you what I was–”

“Did you think I
believed
you?”

Silence hung between them, deflating what little air Breena had left in her mental balloon. “Well, I did think you were awfully calm about it,” he said.

“I thought you were just one of those crazy-in-a-totally-harmless-and-sort-of-adorable-way guys. You know, like those dungeons and dragons people and shit.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Okay.” She took a deep breath. Another. “Okay. It’s okay. It is okay.”

“Is it?”

“Shush. Just…give me a minute here.”

She’d seen him–with her own two eyes–appear next to her in the car. She could explain away the weird feeling of
sameness
he gave her, his brute strength, and even the near-attack on campus. But this…this… “How’d you do that?”

“Vamps have their speed and preternaturals their apparition. I don’t know about witches. I suppose they use brooms.” He smirked.

“Vampires?”

“You know, fangs and blood-lust. Creatures of the night. I vant to suck your–”

“Har har, you’re hilarious.” She gave him the stink eye. “I know what a vampire
is.
I hadn’t thought about them being
fast.
”

Or real
, she added mentally.

Until her rescue on campus, she hadn’t had a reason to think about the supernatural community at all. Hadn’t even known there was such a thing. Why the hell would she? She’d been blissfully unaware. Now she not only had to deal with having a serious itch for a member of said community, it seemed she was part of this whole mess too.

She suddenly remembered Orin telling her about her half-preternatural, half-witch status. “So can I do the apparition thing?”

“I don’t know. There are so few halflings left.”

“Left?”

“Yes.”

“Where’d they go?”

“They’re dead.”

“Dead?” She gulped. “Why?”

“Various reasons. If you think about it, the supernatural population isn’t much different from humanity when it comes to prejudice and social status.”

“So halflings are like supernatural freaks?”

Boy, I can’t win.

Orin traced the steering wheel. “Not exactly. Some of us consider them a thing of rare beauty.” He reached for her hand and fanned out her fingers before bringing her open palm to his lips. The kisses trailed the length of each finger to the tip, sending a rush of warmth through her body.

Of course, Breena’s stomach growled like a ravenous grizzly about to attack and ruined the moment. That’s all she needed. More food. God, hadn’t she eaten enough lately?

Orin laughed, and the smooth, dark sound of it made her want to lock lips with him right then and there.

He curled her fingers into a fist and brushed his lips over her knuckles before carefully placing her hand in her lap.

“Um.” For a moment she forgot what she was going to say. “I live, like, half a mile down the road. Wanna go back to my place and order a pizza?”

Chapter 7

As they walked into Breena’s living-dining room combo, she couldn’t help feeling a pang of sadness. Her card table with fold-out chairs looked pitiful. The wooden barstools swayed something awful when she sat on one. The couch was so small it looked more like a love seat. Her outdated TV rested on top of a plastic crate she’d gotten from work because they were about to throw it out.

“The place is kind of a mess,” she said, even though it wasn’t, and closed the door behind them.

Orin caught her hand in his and twirled her around to face him as if they were going to tango. “Doesn’t matter to me.”

“What does matter to you?” She bit her lip. It was a bold question, but he made her want to leap outside her comfort zone.

“Until the other night, not much.”

“What changed?”

Wrapping Breena’s arms around his neck, Orin drew her into him until their legs twined together. “I’ve found something worth dying for.”

“Don’t most people want to find something worth
living
for?”

“How hard is it to live for something? To die for something is beyond most people.”

“You know, that was kinda poetic.” She tilted her head up toward him.

He tightened his arms around her. “Not meant to be poetic.”

“How’d ya mean it?”

“Death is risking it all.” He leaned down, his breath warm on her lips. “And I would, Breena. I would risk everything for you.”

He pressed against her, close enough that she could feel his heart beating fast against her skin. A soft heat warmed the gold in his mesmerizing eyes, and his mouth was
right there
, full and oh so inviting… She brushed her lips against his.

Suddenly Orin leaned back, leaving Breena exposed and vulnerable.

Omigod. What did I just do?

She shouldn’t have done that. It was too forward. She could feel her face going all kinds of scarlet and looked down at the floor.

“Orin, I–”

He took her chin in his hand and tilted her face up. She had a moment to see his eyes, bright with desire, then his mouth was on hers. Frantic. Hungry. As if he would devour her with his lips. As if he wanted to consume her. Keep her with him in some dark pocket of his heart.

She would’ve gone willingly. Twining her arms around his neck, she held tight. She needed this. Him. Had to get closer to him. Her heart raced. She couldn’t catch her breath. Didn’t want to.

His lips stilled on hers, and she looked up. His eyes had gone completely black. And
poof
. He was no longer holding her, or even standing in front of her. She dropped her arms and spun on her heel to see where he’d gone. Why had he stopped kissing her? Had she done something?

The couch. He’d poofed right over to it. He patted the place next to him.

She didn’t move. If she walked over there and sat down, would he disappear again? But the more she stared back at him, the more she had to know what that hunger in his eyes had meant.

“Was I no good?”

“Seriously?”

Her heart fell to her stomach. Oh God, he was going to tell her just how bad a kisser she really was. She didn’t answer.

“You were amazing.”

She released a breath she didn’t remember holding. “Well, what happened then?” She walked over to sit beside him.

“When you get to be my age, being surprised really surprises you.” His lips rose at the corners and Breena noticed his eyes had lost the black tar look.

“Your age? How old are you?”

“Three hundred nineteen.”

She began to snort and choked it back. She hoped he didn’t notice that she’d made the weird piggy sound. “Yeah, right. No freakin’ way.” With his smooth golden skin and tight body, he couldn’t possibly be a day over nineteen. Okay, maybe twenty-one tops.

He shrugged. “Looks can be deceiving.”

“So, preternaturals are immortal?” Well, consider her caught. She’d just swallowed hook, line and supernatural sinker.

He nodded, watching her. Waiting.

Breena couldn’t help thinking about her preternatural side. “Am I immortal?” She wasn’t exactly sure how she felt about eternity. Forever was a long time.

“Good question. But I’m afraid I don’t know how it works. Your half-witch side complicates things.”

“Who would know?”

“The queen might.”

Breena raised a brow and began to twist a strand of hair. “The queen of the preternaturals?”

“Yes. Except I don’t think we’re on speaking terms at the moment.”

“Why not?”

He didn’t answer.

She stopped fidgeting with the end of her hair. “Because of me?”

“Not entirely because of you.” Orin inched closer to Breena and draped his arm around her shoulder. “Mainly because of a choice I made.”

“Was it a mistake?”

“I don’t think so.” Orin leaned toward her, his lips once again mere inches from hers.

She waited, eyes closed, ready to feel the heat of his kiss and let passion warm her.

A couple long heartbeats passed…still nothing. She peeked through her lashes.