Chapter 12
Callie
I release a careful breath through pursed lips when I finally make it to the bottom of the endless stair collection otherwise known as Nolan’s backyard. The back property was beautiful to look at from Nolan’s suite, not so great to climb down the million steps to get here.
Connor squeezes my hand then lets go, but stays close to my side. There are no handrails for the numerous steps, and I nearly seized in terror at the top of the hill. Without a word, Connor took my hand and held it the whole way down. As grateful as I am, a mixture of embarrassment and fear swims through me. There’s no denying it now, he knows-- maybe not the specifics, but more than the others. More than I want him to.
Fortunately, no one else noticed my uncomfortable descent, too busy squabbling with each other. Only Nolan seems to have any real concern over the experiments, which might have something to do with the fact it’s his home we’re experimenting at.
“This is a bad idea,” Nolan objects, as we approach the line of Douglas-firs that separate the back of his family’s property and the rest of the forest.
“Your objection is duly noted… again,” Kaleb replies, flipping open his notebook and writing something down.
“Are you actually making a note of it?” Felix snickers, attempting to look over Kaleb’s shoulder.
Kaleb rolls his eyes. “Of course not. I’m making notes for different techniques we can try based on our limited knowledge.”
“My point exactly!” Nolan cries, throwing his hands up in the air. “Magic is not something to mess with.”
“What’s wrong, dude? Worried you’ll get your hair wet?” Donovan teases, reaching over to mess up his hair.
“Fuck off,” he grumbles, swiping Donovan’s hand away.
Nolan looks like a page ripped from a Men’s Fall Fashion catalogue with a long sleeved shirt that wants to be a Henley-- except it unbuttons to nearly his waist with a tank undershirt, another pair of expensive fitted jeans, and a pair of high tops that don’t look like they’ve seen the outdoors. I wonder how long he spends picking out his clothes every morning--- or does he have someone do that for him?
The others are dressed in what I’m starting to notice is their own standard attire. Kaleb is in another button up, untucked, with a pullover sweater, Connor is in lumberjack teen edition, Donovan discovered he owned a Henley not in black-- it’s gunmetal grey-- though I’m unsure he knows his proper size since it’s again painted on, and Felix is in a red t-shirt that says, This shirt is blue if you run fast enough.
“My hope is for a more contained spell than a thunderstorm,” Kaleb comments, looking up from his notebook. “That’s why I chose this location. The stream offers a readily available water source that Callie can focus on.”
Donovan walks over next to Kaleb to also peer over his shoulder at the notebook. “So you’re sure her element is water?”
“I’m not sure about anything,” he admits, tapping his pen against the notebook. “My guess is either water or wind based on what we’ve seen.”
Guilt slithers through my gut. I know by keeping my healing abilities a secret, I’m hindering Kaleb’s ability to find useful information, but if I tell them, they’ll want to know why I didn’t say it sooner. Why I acted like I didn’t know anything about the existence of the supernatural. Which I didn’t-- sort of-- but either way, revealing what I’m capable of leads either to more lies or truths I’m afraid to share. If I’m being honest with myself, the longer they don’t know the truth, the longer I can pretend that it didn’t happen-- that I can at least have the vague trappings of normal.
You know, if you leave out that I’m a witch and we’re experimenting on how to cast spells.
“Did we remember umbrellas in case of a repeat performance?” Felix asks, while looking up at the clear blue sky, then looks at Nolan and grins. “For you corporeal types that can actually get rained on, that is.”
Donovan snorts. “Don’t know why everyone is so worried. It’s just water for fuck’s sake.”
“Or possibly a tornado if her element is wind not water,” Nolan points out warily.
“She’s not going to make a tornado,” Donovan sighs, then looks over at me. “Right?”
“Uh… right,” I chirp, nodding my head like I have any idea how to make or not make a tornado. I chew on my lip. “But if Nolan really doesn’t want us to experiment, we can wait until we know more.”
“It’s fine,” Nolan grumbles, plopping down on one of the larger rocks next to the stream. “Just… try not to destroy anything.”
“Aw, you’re no fun,” Felix pouts, as he float leans against one of the trees. “The best part of experiments is blowing stuff up.”
“She’s more likely to knock something down than blow something up,” Donovan comments while reading over Kaleb’s shoulder, then looks up when everyone is quiet. “What? I’m an asshole. Not an idiot.”
Kaleb sighs. “There’s also the real possibility that nothing will happen. I researched spellbooks, specifically ones that only have verbal components, but I have no idea if any of these are real. Honestly, most things I found were ridiculous. One promised that it would turn the caster into a mermaid, but only after a few months.”
Donovan snorts.
“So, no mermaid shifters?” I ask, looking up at Connor with what I hope is a natural smile.
He gives me a I can’t believe you asked me that expression and mutters, “No.”
“Point is,” Kaleb says with a shake of his head, “that everything is guess work until I can at the very least track down a real grimoire, which is more challenging to come by than I thought.”
“We’re not going to the coven,” Donovan stresses. “We keep those bitches far away from Callie for as long as possible.”
“I second that,” Nolan chimes in, raising one finger into the air, and Connor grows still beside me.
“I didn’t suggest…” Kaleb huffs. “I agree with you all that it’s best to keep Callie away from the coven, at least until we know more about why Callie was raised human.”
“Anyway,” Felix jumps in rubbing his hands together, and thankfully interrupting a potentially heated discussion, “let’s get this started. Won’t know anything until we actually give it a try.” Then he gives me a toothy grin. “And by we, I mean you, pretty girl.”
“Yeah, I caught that,” I laugh, then chew on my lip again. “So, what do I do?”
Kaleb looks down at his notes, then back up at me. Offering up one of his gentle smiles, he motions for me to stand near the water, while he says, “I thought we’d start by testing if you have an affinity with water magic. I wasn’t able to find much outside several spells to make it rain, which I thought unnecessary.”
I give him a weak smile, while the others chuckle. I walk over near where Nolan sits by the lazy stream journeying into the forest, and nervous energy bounces around in my stomach. Crossing my arms over my chest, I wish I hadn’t left my red sweater upstairs. It’s so abnormally warm today that it seemed weird to wear it.
“First one is a one word spell,” Kaleb announces, moving so that he should be able to see what I’m doing-- or will do-- maybe. “Point your finger at the water and say ‘Aguamenti’. It should produce a jet of water.”
“Sounds like something out of Harry Potter,” I mutter, before huffing out a sigh. I feel ridiculous with everyone watching, but I gamely point my finger at the water and yell, “Aguamenti.”
Nothing happens.
Felix and Donovan both crowd around Kaleb as he makes his notes. They look surprisingly serious and don’t show any signs of disappointment. Nolan and Connor give me encouraging smiles-- Nolan’s marked with subtle signs of relief.
“Did you feel anything similar to when you created the storm?” Kaleb asks with scholarly intrigue.
“Nope,” I answer with a shrug. “Mostly, I feel stupid.”
With understanding in his warm brown eyes, he hands his notebook to Donovan and walks over to me. Meeting my gaze, he places one hand on my shoulder and assures, “I promise you, this is real. You’re a witch. You can cast spells. We just have to figure out how. It’s lack of information that’s making this challenging, not lack of ability.”
I nod that I understand.
He gives my shoulder a departing squeeze, before heading back over and retrieving his notebook. “Okay, this next one is a chant. It only described it as control over water, which feels redundant, but I thought it might be something that’s combined with intent. So try to think of something you want the water to do when you say it.”
Trying to shake off how dumb I feel, I pull up the sleeves of my faded blue, V-neck shirt to my elbows and attempt to take all of this more seriously. Kaleb’s right. I know magic is real. I’m living proof of it.
“What should I try to make it do?” I ask, pulling out my hair tie so that I can redo my ponytail.
“Something simple but obvious,” Kaleb instructs, not really helping.
“Huge wave that soaks Nolan,” Felix suggests, mischief dancing in his hazel eyes.
Nolan gives him back a look, then gets up from the rock to stand behind me. With hands braced on my shoulders, he murmurs in my ear, “You wouldn’t do that to me, Callie love, would you? That water is freezing.”
My heart flutters and a tingling sensation dances down my spine with the feel of his warm breath against my ear and the spicy, cracked pepper smell of his cologne. I swallow heavily and pretend that my hormones haven’t suddenly gone into overdrive.
“Dude, don’t distract Callie,” Donovan warns, still looking over Kaleb’s shoulder at the notebook, and a blush burns its way across my cheeks. “You know, unless you want that surprise tornado.”
“I’m not distracting her,” Nolan argues, but there’s a hint of a smile in his voice. “Merely reminding her that I’m her friend, and soaking her good friend in ice cold water is not a friendly thing to do.”
“Uh huh,” Donovan mutters.
Deciding to own the situation, I tilt my head back against his chest so I can see his face. “You’re distracting me, and I make no guarantees about the splashing of ice cold water. Perhaps you might be safer behind Connor over there.”
The guys laugh while Connor issues me a You better not splash me face. I grin innocently and shrug.
Nolan gives me a playful squint, pokes me in the side so that I squeak, then does as requested and stands next to Connor.
I shake my hands out like warming them up was the problem. “Okay, I’ll try to do the same thing and make a jet of water shoot straight up. What’s the chant?”
Kaleb reads from his notes, “Water and I are one indeed; the power increases as I need. Water flowing I ask of thee; lend your power to me.”
With hands held out in front of me, I picture the water shooting up like a geyser from the stream and repeat the chant.
Nothing happens.
Come on!
I grit my teeth, glare at the stream, and shout the chant again.
Nothing happens. Not even a little splash.
Releasing a frustrated sigh, my arms flop down by my sides. Some witch I am.
After jotting down a few notes, Kaleb looks over at me with a tender expression. “Try not to be frustrated. This is all trial and error-- and nothing happening is as informative as something happening.”
He purses his lips and taps his pen against his notebook. “It’s not directly related to water, but witches that are strong in water can heal minor to major injuries depending on the strength of their power.”
“Damn, my pocket knife is back in the house,” Donovan grumbles, patting at his jean pockets, then sighs, “I’ll go get--”
“No!” I yell, my heart hammering in my chest, and they all freeze with shocked expressions. “No one is hurting themselves for a stupid spell.”
“Use me,” Connor offers, his face completely calm, because apparently offering to be cut with a pocket knife is no big deal.
“Absolutely not,” I growl, remembering the deliberate slices in my skin when my father decided to do his own version of a thousand cuts. The thought of cutting into Connor’s flesh makes me ill. “I’m not hurting my friends for--”
“Callie, it’s fine,” Donovan interrupts, walking towards the stairs. “If you can’t heal it, it’s no big deal. He can--”
“I said no!” I shout, and a cold shiver runs down my skin followed by a harsh wind that whips through the trees.
Connor, Nolan, and Felix look around at the effects of the raging wind, Felix the only one unaffected by it, while Donovan and Kaleb trade communicative looks.
Kaleb strides over to me, his clothes pressed flush against his body, and places a gentle hand on my shoulder. Gazing into my wide eyes, he speaks calmly over the wind, “Callie, it’s okay. We won’t do it, I promise. Try to relax.”
I nod back, tension easing out of me with the depth of sincerity laced in his deep baritone voice, then the wind settles as quickly as it came.
“I’m going to take a stab in the dark,” Felix interjects into the shocked silence, “that Callie may be strong in air magic.”
There are bursts of tension induced laughter, and I wilt with a mixture of relief and embarrassment.
“What was that about tornadoes?” Nolan teases Donovan.
“Don’t piss off Callie, or she’ll level your house,” Donovan shoots back.
I groan and wish the ground would swallow me whole. This is what I was afraid of.
Kaleb drops his notebook and pen, so he can use his other hand to draw my face back towards him when I attempt to look away.
“You’re okay. We’re okay,” he promises, his thumb making a soft arc near my ear.
My insides tighten as I wait for him to ask the obvious questions. I lost it and he’s going to want to know why. I brace for it, quickly searching for the words that will be enough without me falling apart.
Instead, he searches my eyes for a moment, then says with a smirk, “Now, let’s see if we can figure out how to do that on purpose.”
My laugh sounds slightly wet around the edges, but has the desired effect and I relax. I’m not dumb enough to think they didn’t notice, but it’s starting to sink in that they’re waiting for me to bring it up. Waiting for when I’m ready to tell them.
Soon. I’ll tell them soon---ish. Soon-ish. I sigh over my own internal battle. I’ve known them four days! Can’t I have a week before I hand them over the blueprints to my crazy?
“So, um… did you find anything for air spells?” I ask, doing my best to sound normal.
Kaleb smiles and carefully pulls a twig from my hair. “I found a chant that uses air to levitate something.”
I shrug, and start digging through my hair for more leaves and twigs. “Okay. What should I attempt to levitate? Please make it something I can’t break.”
Reaching down for his notebook, Kaleb chuckles. “How about one of the medium sized rocks near the stream?”
“And if you have to accidentally hit someone with the rock, aim for Donovan,” Nolan snickers. “His head’s so hard, trust me, you won’t break anything.”
Donovan flashes him the bird while making his way back over to what I’m now thinking of as the safe observation distance.
Kaleb points to a rock about the size of a basketball that’s roughly four feet away. “Focus on that one, and say ‘By the Spirits of air. I wish to bear a gale of wind. One strong enough to make ships sail. One strong enough to make brick walls fail. So by my will that I may make things float aloft the air as ships atop the sea.’”
“Wow, say that again?” I sputter.
“It’s a little wordy,” he apologizes, then holds his notebook out so that I can see the words.
In his neat script are a variety of different potential spells, each with scribbled thoughts about what elements they could be used for. His notes on the results of my attempts at spell casting appear to be on a different page.
I read over the spell a few times, repeating them mentally, before I decide I’m ready. Taking a deep breath, I motion for everyone to stand back, then raise my hands toward the rock. In my mind’s eye, I see it gently rise until it’s floating about three feet off the ground while I repeat the spell in my most authoritative voice.
Nothing happens.
I groan and rub at my eyes. “I have no idea what the hell I’m doing.”
“None of us do,” Kaleb sighs and makes another note.
All the boys have various expressions of sympathy. Nolan looks at me for a long moment, unknowable thoughts flashing in his artic blue eyes, before he seems to come to a decision and walks over. He once again stands behind me and places his hands on my shoulders. Answering shivers dance down my spine.
“We promised we’d figure this out together and we will,” he says resolutely to the top of my head. “What’s the next spell?”
Kaleb looks mildly surprised with Nolan’s statement then says while looking down at his notebook, “Erecto. It said it should allow you to erect something.”
Nolan snorts. “Yeah. I don't think we have a problem in that department.”
Heat flushes my cheeks, and I shake my head.
“I thought it might use air magic to lift something up,” Kaleb mutters, his expression twisting to one praying for patience.
Looking over my shoulder, I watch a smirk slowly crawl across Nolan’s face. “Oh I’m sure it does. With a little blowing, it’ll lift right up.”
“More like explode,” Donovan jeers.
I can’t help it and start giggling. “Felix did mention that was the best part of experimenting.”
There’s a shocked silence, Nolan looking both amused and impressed, before everyone busts up laughing.
Felix flashes a huge grin. “I love the scientific method.”
I let the warm humor roll over me and try to relax into Nolan’s hands. It’s frustrating how little I understand, but my heart feels full with how dedicated the others are to helping me. Enjoying the idle massage of Nolan’s thumbs distractedly kneading into the knotted muscles at the base of my neck, I feel like I’ve heard the spell Kaleb just named before.
“Did you say the spell was Erecto?” I ask, earning another round of snickering.
Kaleb groans. “I didn’t make the spell.”
Then it hits me where I’ve heard it-- or more accurately, read it before. For the past few years, I’ve been cut off from movies, television and most of the internet, a different type of torture from the bastard, but I’ve always had books.
“Oh my god…” I gasp before dissolving into a cackling mess. “You got… you think…”
“I think we broke her,” Felix chuckles.
Tears begin to collect in my eyes, and in a broken wheeze, all I can manage to blurt out is, “Harry Potter.”
“You speak geek. What’s she talking about?” Donovan grunts, flashing a look at Felix.
Felix’s elfish features frown in confusion, before it finally clicks, then his eyes widen and he gasps, “No… no.” Then he doubles over in laughter.
The others trade baffled expressions, which makes me laugh all the harder.
“I think I know why some of the spells aren’t working,” Felix wheezes.
“I’m missing a wand!” I hoot.
“Witches don’t use wands,” Kaleb replies, trading looks back and forth between me and Felix.
After a few hitching breaths and wiping at my face, I choke out, “They do in Harry Potter… which is where that spell came from.”
“No way,” Nolan breathes before he’s leaning over and laughing into my hair.
Connor silently shakes, his big shoulders shifting heavily with his contained mirth.
Donovan stares at Kaleb with disbelief. “You tried to get Callie to cast spells from Harry Potter?”
Kaleb cringes and covers his face with one hand. If his skin wasn’t already naturally dark sepia, I’m pretty sure he’d be tomato red by now.
“I’ve never read the books,” he mutters in his defense.
“You should,” I chuckle. “They’re pretty good.”
It takes several minutes before we stop laughing, all the while, Kaleb is looking like he’s considering whipping out his wings if only to fly away from the embarrassment. Sorry, Kaleb. That stuff follows you.
“Well, we tried it Kaleb’s way,” Donovan opens, glaring at him. “Now, let’s try it my way.”
My heart does a sharp skip in my chest. “And what’s that?”
Kaleb moves in front of me and holds out a hand. “We want her to be able to cast spells with intended purpose.”
“Then we first need to figure out how she’s doing it by accident,” he challenges, striding towards us.
Nolan’s hands tighten on my shoulders, and Connor’s face hardens, his weight shifting to the balls of his feet.
“Jesus Christ, I’m not going to hurt her,” Donovan growls, looking at everyone like they’ve lost their minds.
“No one gets hurt,” I demand. “Not for this.”
He sighs, eyeballs Kaleb for a moment, then asks, “Before the rainstorm on Monday, what were you thinking?”
“I… I wasn’t,” I stutter out.
“You were,” Donovan insists. “Gina was there. Her hands were on Nolan. You pushed her away. Why?”
A deep stillness sweeps through Nolan-- and today and that day begin to merge together. My skin begins to crawl remembering the ugliness that lies inside that girl.
“I don’t… she felt wrong. I didn’t want her around,” I admit, swallowing heavily.
“No one does,” Nolan mutters under his breath.
Donovan stares right into my eyes, the vibrant aqua color making them all the more piercing, and shakes his head. “Not good enough, Callie. There’s more. Why did you push her away?”
“You don’t have to answer that,” Kaleb counters, his focus still on Donovan. “That’s not what today is supposed to be about.”
“Bullshit, it’s not,” Donovan shoots back. “She wants answers; this is how we get them.”
Connor stalks closer, and there’s a low growl emanating from his chest.
My heart pounds in my ears, sweat collects on the back of my neck, and my whole body trembles. The sounds, the intensity, everything echoes that day and then I see it again. The fracture of Nolan’s mask. The real fear that lights his eyes.
No!
With a cold shiver, I feel this violent swirl of energy snap around me-- followed by one of the Douglas-firs exploding.
All of us are thrown to the ground by the force of the blast with heavy thuds. Bits of tree dust float in the air, and the accompanying silence has a high pitched ring to it.
I’m trapped under a mass of bodies, Kaleb falling on top of me and Nolan half under me. There’s a sharp pain in my wrist which I know means it’s broken. Shit.
Connor is the first to recover. Scrambling over, his low voice is laced with fear, as he growls, “¡Mierda! Bajarse de ella.”
Kaleb immediately rolls off of me, groaning and coughing, while favoring his right shoulder.
“I’m fine. I’m fine,” I wheeze, attempting to both breathe normally and hide the pain of feeling the bones of my wrist knit back together.
Connor doesn’t believe me, for good reason, and visually searches for hidden wounds-- but if there were any more, they were minor and healed quickly. Oh thank god, I wasn’t bleeding.
“You also against cursing in English?” I joke, shifting so I’m no longer on top of Nolan.
There’s a muttered, “Fucking shit,” from a couple of feet away, announcing that Donovan isn’t too hurt.
Satisfied that I’m okay Connor’s shoulders slump with relief, and he sits back on his heels. A small smirk pulls at his lips, as he simply utters, “Fuck.”
“Well, okay then,” I chuckle.
“Oh look, Connor gave a single fuck,” Nolan grunts, sitting up and dusting bits of tree from his hair. “Where’s mine? Because you know, I’m okay too, thanks for asking.”
Connor’s small smirk turns into a wider smile, when he replies, “Only one per day.”
Nolan shakes his head, with an accompaniment of coughing laughter from the rest of us.
“You know, it’s a good thing I’m already dead,” Felix laments from several feet away. “Otherwise, Callie would’ve just killed me.”
Looking over at ground zero, I see Felix with a huge spike of splintered tree through his stomach.
I cringe. “Sorry, Felix.”
He shrugs and walks through the debris, the bits of trees and leaves still making its way to the ground falling through him.
Wiping at his mouth to clean off bark dust, Nolan requests in a casual tone, “Callie love, I hear the key to a good relationship is communication. How about we go that route next time, before say, you destroy my childhood home, which I’ve grown pretty fond of.”
I groan and run my hands down my face, not caring that I’m covered in dirt and tree bark.
Donovan gets to his feet looking none worse the wear. “Your house? Or are you really just worried about the Shelby?” he jokes, using the bottom of his shirt to wipe at his face and flashing an eyeful of abs.
Nolan gives him a theatrical wide eyed look. “Shhhh. Don’t give her ideas.”
“Was that the reaction you were looking for?” Kaleb grumbles, brushing the bark dust from his hair.
“We learned something, didn’t we?” Donovan coughs and holds out a hand to help Kaleb to his feet.
While rolling his shoulder, Kaleb mutters, “Yeah, podex perfectus es.”
Donovan snorts. “Everyone already knew that.”
I really need to learn Latin.
Connor and Nolan both reach for one of my hands, my wrist thankfully fully healed, and help me to my feet. Other than possibly a few bruises, no one looks to be hurt.
“So what element does exploding tree fall under?” I ask with heavy sarcasm.
“And what was that about how Callie wasn’t going to blow something up?” Felix chimes in, pointing a cheeky smirk at Donovan.
He glares back, before answering my question, “Earth. My best guess, it’d fall under earth.”
Felix tilts his head to the side, his brow furrowing in thought. “If we ignore Kaleb’s attempts to get Callie to cast spells from Harry Potter…”
“Again, I haven’t read the books,” Kaleb interjects, pulling his sweater off and using it to wipe at his face.
“She has accidently made a thunderstorm, so water magic, created fresh gale force winds, so air magic, and just made a tree explode, which apparently is earth magic.” Felix’s face lights up with excitement. “You’re like the witch equivalent of The Avatar.”
“The what?” I yelp.
Donovan groans. “This isn’t TV, Felix.”
“That’s literally impossible,” Kaleb adds at the same time. “We’re simply interpreting the spells wrong.”
“You guys have no imagination,” he chides, rubbing his hands together and bouncing on his toes. “Okay, pretty girl, we just need to figure out how to make you throw a fireball.”
“Fire,” I squeak, my heart hammering and my stomach twisting. Oh god. Not fire. Anything but fire.
“She’s not the damn Avatar,” Donovan grunts.
Connor’s amber eyes narrow as he watches me, and I do everything in my power to press down the horror filled memories of my scorched flesh. Shit. Shit. Shit.
“What’s the Avatar?” I ask again, my voice thin.
Nolan searches my face for a moment, before reaching up to pull the tie from my hair. While he carefully pulls bits of tree from my tresses, he explains, “It’s a character from an animated TV show who had the power to control all four elements, whereas everyone else only controlled one.”
“Characters. There was more than one show, and they have direct connections with Spirits!” Felix proclaims. “Their duty is to master the elements and keep balance among the elemental nations, while also keeping the balance between mankind and the spirit world.”
“Considering I just blew up a tree by accident, I wouldn’t really call myself a master of anything,” I interject with a cough.
Most of the tree debris has made it to the ground, covering the grass, rocks and stream, along with us, in a fine pale beige dust.
“Don’t worry about it,” Felix reassures, his medium brown hair falling into his eyes with his bouncing enthusiasm. “It took Aang a year to master all four elements, and fire was his most difficult one too.”
“And is complete human fiction,” Kaleb sighs, uncovering his notebook from beneath a large shard of bark. “Witches are strong in one element, possibly two, if they’re really powerful.”
“And yet, Callie has accidently cast in three different elements,” Felix challenges, crossing his arms and raising a brow.
“Or she’s inadvertently found three creative ways to cast with air,” Kaleb counters, looking somewhat worse for wear.
“Regardless, let’s not have Callie try to light something on fire,” Nolan comments, finger combing my hair. The gentle pull of his fingers is soothing. “I’m hoping my parents won’t notice the exploded tree. I really don’t want to figure out how to explain to them how half the back property burnt to the ground.”
“I’m really sorry,” I apologize, twisting to look up at him. “I really didn’t mean to do it. That day… I remembered the way you looked…”
“It’s fine,” he assures, his lips pressing into a line. “How about we go get cleaned up? I’m sure I can track down something you can change into.”
“I’d like that,” I murmur, worry and guilt weighing heavily in my gut.
The others make grunts of agreement and head back toward the house.
Nolan throws one arm over my shoulder, and begins to steer me toward the stairs, my hair tie still wrapped around his wrist.
I grit my teeth, and out of desperation to hold onto something, wrap an arm around his waist.
Connor noticeably waits until we pass, choosing to walk up silently behind us.
“You alright?” Nolan asks, concern lacing his sultry voice, when he notices the trembling I can’t seem to stop.
“Fine,” I breathe, offering up a brittle smile. “Just, you know, last week I was a normal girl. Today, I’m blowing up trees. A lot to take in.”
He squeezes me tighter to his side, his lean body hard against mine. “How about until we know more about your magic, we stick to normal stuff? School. Junk food. Watching crap on TV.”
A breath of a laugh escapes my lips despite my anxiety, and I answer, “That sounds like a good idea. Should we watch one of the Avatar series? Felix seems to like it a lot. ”
Nolan chuckles. “You have no idea. If he was able to operate the remote, it’d already be on.”