Chapter 5
Callie
When Kaleb and I walk out of the classroom, we find Nolan leaning against the opposite wall surrounded by girls. The bell just rang, where the hell did they all come from?
His cocky, playboy smirk is firmly in place, and the girls hang on his every word-- and body. When he says something apparently funny, they squawk high-pitched giggles and playfully swat at his chest and arms, each swat turning into a longer stroke.
“You’re so funny,” they titter, but I’m pretty sure whatever he said wasn’t that funny.
It’s such a bizarre display that I’m somewhat transfixed, like I’m watching the mating rituals of animals in the wild.
I lean into Kaleb and mutter, “Does this happen to him a lot?”
He sighs, rolling his eyes. “Unfortunately, yes. At least until his ex shows up, then they scatter.” Kaleb adjusts the straps of his backpack and rolls his shoulders. “It’s always best if Nolan doesn’t stand by himself in one location for too long.”
I snort. “You mean like a celebrity when they attempt to go out among the little people?”
Kaleb bobs his head side to side, then says way too seriously, “Yeah. Kind of like that.”
I’m too dumbfounded to do more than blink at him for several moments. Who the hell have I made friends with? Felix’s description of his friends as “a little weird” is a gross understatement.
“He really is a high fashion, Scandinavian model?” I murmur under my breath. “Because I thought I made that up.”
“What?” Kaleb asks, rightfully confused. “Nolan isn’t a model, and please, don’t let those girls hear you. They’re bad enough as it is.”
Heat crawls up my cheeks. Yeah, he wasn’t supposed to hear that. Add excellent hearing to the list of nephilim traits.
I can’t help it. I start laughing again. It’s too ridiculous. This is the most I’ve laughed in years, and it feels so good. I feel like I’ve walked into the Twilight Zone, and I’m kind of okay with that. Anything beats the last three and half years of my life.
Nolan looks up at the sound of my laughter and looks strangely relieved. Guess he isn’t fond of his growing fan base. The thought alone has me laughing harder. The girls glance over their shoulders with daggers in their eyes, before they go back to cooing over Nolan.
Kaleb also finds humor in the display and starts chuckling, and it’s a beautiful sound. A deep rumble that I more feel than hear.
Honestly, I’m surprised Kaleb doesn’t have his own gaggle of girls following him around, though he did just get out of class. He has the smooth features of marble that’s been lovingly sculpted, with narrow almond shaped eyes that angle up at the corners, high cheekbones, full lips, and a chiseled jawline. If I’m going to be stuck in the Twilight Zone, I have great company. Not a fan of crowds so that could be a problem.
Nolan attempts to extract himself from the girls with a feigned regretful sigh. “Excuse me, ladies,” he says gallantly. “My friends are out of class. Pleasure talking with you all.”
During his escape, I’m pretty sure a girl pinches his butt. The hell? Nolan doesn’t show any signs that he noticed, so I can’t tell how he feels about being manhandled-- lady-handled?
“Get out of class early?” I ask sweetly, as Nolan once again puts his arm around my shoulders.
First reaction is to stiffen up, but I try to trust the instincts I have about him and relax. Again, this is normal for him, and possibly, not just for my benefit. I can practically feel the death lasers shooting into the back of my head from the girls behind us, and I’m getting the human shield feeling again.
“Yes, actually,” he says, with mock indignation. “By the end of my last class, we were doing homework, and I asked Ms. Baker if it would be alright to leave early, so that I could help a new student find her way around.”
“And those girls decided to keep you company?” I look up at him, as a wry smirk skates across my lips.
His lips pinch together and a hint of color brushes his cheeks. Interesting. His adam’s apple bobs as he swallows. “Past acquaintances from the Associated Student Body who wanted to catch up.”
“You’re in ASB?” I ask, intrigued to see how far his fame goes. Please don’t tell me he’s student body president.
Nolan clears his throat. “Uh, no.”
“Oh.” Add this to the list of things I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know.
He gives me a friendly bump, which knocks me into Kaleb, since I’m sandwiched between the two of them. Scents of cracked pepper and sandalwood tease my nose. My heart sputters with the increased invasion of my personal space, and I release a careful breath. I don’t know how I know it, but I feel like these guys wouldn’t try to hurt me, and I don’t want to be bitchy, loner girl anymore. I want to be more than okay with being touched. I want to enjoy it, and that can’t happen if I don’t let people actually touch me.
“Have fun in class?” Nolan asks brightly, clearly ready to change the subject.
“Uh, yeah. It was fine.” With mock outrage, I elbow Nolan in the side and grumble, “You could’ve warned me about Harris, by the way.”
“Oh shit,” Nolan cringes, earning a raised brow from Kaleb. “I haven’t had a class with him, but I hear he’s quite the asshat from Donovan.”
“That explains why you looked so relieved when you talked with Mrs. Mills,” Kaleb muses like he’s just figured out one of many puzzles. He looks down at me, offering gently, “Perhaps, you could transfer into a different class?”
I sigh. “Considering it’s already the middle of the semester, I doubt it-- especially since I’m pretty sure asshatery is not considered a good enough reason to change my schedule around.”
Nolan chuckles and squeezes my shoulder.
Walking between Nolan and Kaleb is very different than when I walked down the halls with Donovan earlier. Instead of students jumping out of the way, girls are ‘casually’ brushing against the guys, and I’m getting leering looks from the boys littering the hall. Christ! Don’t these people have lives?
I glance up at Kaleb. He has his warm smile on, but after spending time with him, I’m noticing the cracks. His eyes crinkle when the smile is real.
Though their performances are dramatically different, Kaleb and Nolan both need to shield themselves with a persona that, at the very least, doesn’t show the whole picture. A sharp ache presses against my chest, pained by the familiarity of that need. I had to be cold and aloof, using a superiority I didn’t feel to keep people at a distance. Keep them hating me enough to never approach me, while night after night, I shattered right along with my crushed bones.
I shake my head, dragging myself away from that rabbit hole. It’s different now, and strangely, with these guys I’ve just met, I’m more comfortable with being myself-- whoever that is. Maybe the last shits I gave fell away with my father’s arrest? And maybe with the help of these new friends, I can figure out who I really am. Maybe I can find something worthy in this broken mess I’ve become.
We approach the cafeteria which opens up onto the outside lawn. The sun has finally made an appearance, and students have congregated to absorb the fleeting UV rays. Nolan and Kaleb weave me through the crowd inside, nodding and waving to the people who call out to them but making sure to keep us moving.
Once we get outside, I see Donovan, Connor and Felix sitting under one of the few trees available. To my relief, no one is seated anywhere near them.
While we walk, I look up at both Nolan and Kaleb and ask, “So, not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but you all are surprisingly eager to help me, considering you met me all of…” I calculate quickly in my head, “less than four hours ago.”
Nolan shrugs, jostling me more into his side. “You’re a friend of Felix, and that’s good enough for me.”
“Who I met last night,” I counter.
Kaleb looks down at me, his eyes now creasing in the corners with his smile. “Felix doesn’t have a whole lot of people that he can interact with so that alone is a strong incentive, but mostly, it seems like you could use the help.”
Well, that seems simple enough.
We make it to the others just in time to catch the tail end of Donovan sharing the story of our morning Pre Cal class. Felix is laughing, and there’s an amused smirk on Connor’s face.
Donovan is sprawled out, leaning back on one arm, while he holds an apple with the other. Connor sits cross-legged with his back against the tree trunk, and Felix is sitting with his arms around his knees between the two of them. To the casual bystander, it looks like Donovan is talking to Connor alone. Clever.
“Ah, it’s the lady of the hour,” Felix beams. “Sounds like you had a hell of a morning, pretty girl.”
I glare playfully back. “You could’ve warned me, by the way.”
With a cheeky grin, he replies, “I did say I had no interest sitting through Harris’ class.”
“Yeah, there are a lot more obvious reasons to not want to sit through a math class than the teacher is king of the asshats,” I grumble. That comment earns a snicker out of Connor that I’m oddly proud of. “You’re lucky I can’t elbow you, like I just did to Nolan.”
“It’s true,” Nolan laments dramatically, releasing me so that he can rub at his side. “Our Callie has quite sharp elbows.”
I roll my eyes and plop down on the grass next to Donovan. Nolan sits next to me, surprisingly unperturbed about potential grass stains on his clearly ridiculously expensive jeans-- the ones that never see a washing machine. Kaleb finishes the circle by sitting on the other side of Connor.
Connor, Donovan, and Kaleb all seem to have the typical brown bag lunch like me, whereas Nolan pulls out some fancy concoction of brightly colored foods stuffed into pita bread. Felix wanders over to take a look.
“Oh man, what did Alicia make today?” Felix rubs his hands together excitedly.
Nolan grins up at him and pulls one of the pita breads out. He investigates it intently, taking in all the details, before smelling it.
“Hmmm. Looks like lemon seasoned chicken with spiced avocados, cucumber, tomatoes, and radishes.” He tilts the sandwich to show Felix. “It smells like it’s got some kick to it.”
“Like pepper or something else?” Felix asks, tipping his head to ponder.
At first, I’m completely lost on what they’re doing, until I remember what Felix said jokingly to me last night. Remember, you’re eating for two now. Taking in Nolan describing the sensations of his lunch to Felix, a deep tenderness blooms inside of me. This easy friendship and consideration for Felix is such a foreign display to me that I have to look away. Munching slowly on my PB&J, I attempt to push these powerful and competing feelings away-- sweet joy over their goodness and an echoing longing for someone to care for me similarly. A small spark of hope fights through the ice inside me to whisper that maybe I can.
Nolan takes another sniff. “Nope, definitely more than pepper.”
Connor tilts his head, smells the air, then smiles-- no more than a slight tug at the corner of his full lips. “Tabasco sauce.”
“You can smell that all the way from over there?” I gasp, looking up at him with shock.
He shrugs, a subtle shift of his expansive shoulders. “Wolf shifter.”
I frown at him with a raised brow when he doesn’t further elaborate. With a turn of my empty hand, I ask, “And that means what?”
“I turn into a wolf,” he replies with a duh expression.
I roll my eyes. Of course. That clears it right up. I don’t know what I expected.
Kaleb leans his head up toward the sky like he’s looking for patience before meeting my gaze. “Connor is a wolf shifter, also known as a werewolf.” Connor snorts with derision. Kaleb gives him a look, then continues pointedly, “Though most prefer to be referred to as a shifter. Connor can turn into a wolf, though the size alone of that form identifies him as other, since he is more than double the size of the average Gray Wolf. More importantly, he also has a lot of the advantages of a wolf in his human form like increased eyesight, hearing and smell, among other things, and this allows him to pick up scents from a greater distance.”
“Thank you, Kaleb.” I peer suspiciously at Connor. “What else do you smell out of Nolan’s lunch?”
His amber eyes show a hint of light, amusement playing against the dark shadows. He sniffs the air again. “Orange juice, salt, and coriander.” The amusement gives way to a hint of smugness.
Yeah, you just wait, wolf boy. I look soundly impressed, then ask, “Wow. You got all of that from sniffing the air from four feet away, but you had to bury your nose in my hair to figure out what I was?”
Connor blinks at me, startled and clearly at a loss for how to respond.
Kaleb puts a fist to his mouth and silently shakes with hilarity.
Donovan cries, “Damn,” at the same time Felix shouts, “Shots fired!” before they both dissolve into a fit of laughter.
Nolan grins at his friend, his face alight with mischief, and innocently comments, “That is strange.”
Color creeps into Connor’s cheeks, and he begins to fidget, tugging at loose threads in the hem of his jeans.
I turn and point at Nolan, and full of snark, reply, “Oh, we haven’t even gotten to you and the creepy office cougar.”
Nolan coughs and blanches, and Connor looks back at him with an obvious Ha ha, she got you, too expression. I have to give it to him. Connor can say a whole lot without saying anything at all.
“You first, hair sniffer,” I demand.
Donovan wheezes, “Hair sniffer,” while he gasps for air.
Connor scratches his nose and looks just past my head. He clears his throat. “You smelled different.”
“I. Smelled. Different?” I repeat slowly. What does that even mean?
Connor huffs, clearly not enjoying the spotlight. “You smell like a witch, but… different.”
Clear as coal. I groan. “Using the same word again doesn’t help.”
Connor shrugs like that’s all he’s got. I swear if we’re still friends by Christmas, I’m buying this man a thesaurus.
I turn back to Nolan right before he takes a bite of his sandwich. “Okay, Casanova, what’s with the office cougar?”
Nolan finishes taking his bite and chews slowly with a challenging quirk to his brow that makes me feel uneasy.
“Wait,” I add quickly, my stomach turning. “Don’t tell me if it’s gross. If you guys are, you know-- then I don’t want to know.”
He swallows, then licks his lips. He looks at me, his pale brows raised, and a smirk slowly rolls across his face. The sun glints off of his blonde hair to the point it almost glows.
I squint back at him, trying to figure out if he’s messing with me. I’m pretty sure he is, but since interacting with others isn’t really my strong suit, I can’t be positive.
Felix groans. “Dude, just tell her.” He looks over at me. “It’s nothing like what you’re thinking.”
“Fine,” Nolan sighs. “Spoil sport.”
Instead of answering me like he’s supposed to, he looks up at Felix and says, “Connor’s right, it’s definitely tabasco, and the orange juice and coriander is surprisingly subtle.”
“‘Course I’m right,” Connor grumbles indignantly, annoyed that they would dare doubt his nose.
“Hmmm,” Felix taps his pointer finger against his lips. “I’m not a huge fan of radishes, but the rest sounds pretty good. Though, if anyone was going to make me like radishes, it’s definitely Alicia.”
“Remember when you told her you hated mushrooms,” Nolan replies conversationally.
I think my blood might be actually boiling. He’s doing this on purpose! I sigh loudly, but I might as well be invisible.
Felix moans, an over the top dreamy smile crossing his lips. “Then she made those portabellas with cheese and that fancy tomato sauce.”
“It was a sun roasted tomato sauce with mozzarella cheese and parmigiano reggiano grated on top,” Nolan supplies helpfully. Argh!
Felix snaps his fingers. “That’s right.” He sighs wistfully. “Man, I miss food.”
You are about to enter another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind-- The Twilight Zone opening begins to play in my head. I put the rest of my sandwich down so I don’t smoosh it and pinch the bridge of my nose. I’m going crazy. This is what crazy looks like.
Kaleb gazes at me with amused pity and starts, “Nolan is a vamp…”
“I’ll tell her. I’ll tell her,” Nolan interrupts, cutting a glare at Kaleb who looks unimpressed. “Okay, Ms. Martinez was an accident, sort of. You see-- I’m a vampire.”
I pointedly look up at the very sunny sky, then back at him. “Aren’t you supposed to either be on fire or sparkling about now?”
“Ah, hilarious,” Nolan replies dryly.
Felix chuckles, folding his arms. “He’s just mad because I said the same thing to him when I found out-- I may also call him Edward or Sparkleson from time to time. He isn’t cool enough to be Stefan or Damon.” He shrugs, looking a little too pleased with himself. “I’m a ghost. Have to make my own entertainment somehow.”
“Not cool enough? They were whining assholes fighting over the same girl because she looked like another girl.” Nolan looks up at him with a faux glare. “I’ll remember that, Casper.”
“Oh no,” Felix shakes his head. “Only Callie gets to call me that. When you turn into a beautiful girl, then we’ll talk about nicknames.”
Connor flummoxed me so much that I was too distracted to consider the dangers of a dude that can turn into a wolf-- and I’m pretty positive now that my survival instincts are in fact broken. I do, however, have a few coherent brain cells enough to at least consider befriending a vampire is probably bad, but nothing about Nolan is raising any Holy crap, save yourself! flags. Don’t know if that’s a plus for Nolan or a minus against me.
“I’m a living vampire,” Nolan explains watching my face carefully. “I’m like humans in the way that I eat normal food, can go outside in any weather, and you know, I’m not dead-- so heartbeat, need air to breathe, all that good stuff.”
I clear my throat. “Blood?”
He looks down at his lunch, “Yeah. Need that too.”
“So you and Ms. Martinez…” I lead, pretty sure this is falling under the gross and don’t want to know category.
Nolan looks up startled. “No! God, no.” He shudders. “I may be a bit of a man whore, but women almost three times my age are out of my desired prospects-- for everything.” He looks contemplative and mutters under his breath. “I may have to adjust that thinking when I’m over a hundred. Kind of hypocritical.”
I rub at the spot between my brows. They’re doing this on purpose. Dropping weird little facts that make no sense. I swear, I’m going to corner Kaleb somewhere alone and ask him everything. He at least gives full, thought out, straight answers!
“So why does Ms. Martinez look like she wants to wrestle you to the ground, rip all your clothes off, and play naughty office assistant?” I growl.
“Well…” Nolan starts, the playboy smirk back.
“Nolan!” I interrupt with a don’t test me face. It’s his turn to squirm under the apparently uncomfortable spotlight that is my gaze.
He scrunches his nose and grumbles, “I charmed her freshman year into giving me a pass that lets me off campus whenever I want. It was slightly too strong, and she’s been obsessed with me ever since.”
“Charmed?” I ask, clearly wanting more of an explanation.
“Yup,” he replies, then takes another bite of his sandwich.
If there was a wall nearby, I’d bang my head against it. Alright, moving on. “So what the hell are nephilim?” I blurt looking between Donovan and Kaleb.
Kaleb perks up, scholastic fire in his eyes, but Donovan cuts him off before he can speak, “We’re the descendants of the humans that angels banged like half a million years ago.”
Kaleb purses his lips then grumbles, “There’s a little more to it.”
“Not really.” Donovan smirks, clearly enjoying riling up Kaleb.
I don’t know if it’s my growing frustration or the sun baking on the top of my head, but despite the air still being crisp, I’m roasting. I struggle out of my sweater and stuff it into my backpack.
Felix looks down at my Black Widow shirt-- a black t-shirt with a distressed red hourglass inside of a red circle with the silhouette of Black Widow on top.
He playfully groans. “A beautiful girl that wears geek gear? It’s finally happened, boys. The perfect girl has stumbled into our midst, and she’s living in my old house-- that I haunt! Ah, what a time to be a ghost.”
“Hardly,” I snort and pull at the sleeves of my Henley. Realizing what I’m doing, I shove my sleeves up to my elbows. “And careful how you haunt, Casper. No random cold spots, crap flying around the room, or flickering lights at 2am.”
Felix gasps in mock insult and places a hand to his chest. Dramatically, he insists, “I would never do such a thing.” Then he grins. “Mostly because I don’t know how. No, I’m concentrating my efforts on making pottery and cuddling. Swayze knew how to ghost.”
Donovan chuckles, then takes another bite of his apple. “A fan of superheroes, huh?” he inquires, changing the subject. “Well, congrats. You are one. Sort of.”
“Speaking of, what the hell do you mean witch? Like with warts, cauldrons, and broomsticks?” I jump on the segue, eager to find out what they know.
Can all witches heal like I can? My father obviously knows what I am, but the way he acted, it was like I’m defective. Is that what Connor smells? I take a moment to appreciate the weird twist my life has taken where that is a serious thought to have.
Nolan chuckles. “Not quite. At least with the warts and broomsticks. I have no idea about the cauldrons.”
Kaleb sighs. He pulls a water bottle from his lunch and takes a swig. “Unfortunately, we don’t know a lot about witches and how their magic works. It’s something to do with the earth and the elements. Witches are the guardians of the realm and aren’t too interested in letting others have knowledge of witch business.”
Donovan sneers. “What a nice way of saying they’re self-absorbed jackasses who have their heads so shoved up their own asses that they can’t see daylight, and at a time so long ago no one can fucking remember, they appointed themselves the supernatural police,” he finishes with nasty relish.
“Okay,” I say slowly, chewing on my lip. I pick up my sandwich and take another bite, not knowing what to think or feel.
“Podex perfectus es,” Kaleb says to Donovan, voice strained. He then looks at me with sympathy, “Not all witches are like that.”
“How would you know?” Donovan counters heatedly. “The only witches you’ve met are the outcast bitches that live here, and they had to learn it from somewhere. And don’t curse at me in Latin. Just because no one besides me can understand you doesn’t make it more gentlemanly.”
Kaleb’s gaze drops, and he takes a shallow breath. His smile is brittle, but still there. An ache settles in my chest watching Kaleb hold onto his mask. A normal person would probably get up and hug him, but I’m having a hard enough time dealing with people touching me, let alone initiating something like that.
“Dude!” Felix chastises, then gestures to me.
Donovan rolls his head to look at me with a put upon expression. “Obviously, I’m not talking about you, Callie. You’re just learning about this crap. I will strongly recommend you stay away from the local coven. We’ll help you figure everything out.”
Kaleb appears more collected and nods. “He’s right. There has to be books on what you need to know. I’ll do some research.”
I blink, unsure of where to begin. I feel like they told me a lot and nothing all at the same time. “Why are the witches here outcasts?” I start, trying to find out why I can’t go to the obvious source.
“The local coven is made up of witch families who have chosen to live outside of their community,” Kaleb explains carefully, both hands clasped around his water bottle. “They’ve agreed to keep their eye on this area, and in exchange, the council leaves them alone.”
“There’s a council?” I ask, my face contorting in confusion, then under my breath I mutter, “Of course there’s a council. They’re guardians of the mortal realm.” I rub at my forehead, trying to relieve the feeling of my brain exploding. “And how do you know this? I thought witches didn’t like sharing their business.”
Kaleb and Donovan look at Nolan, who has been extremely quiet through all of this, and not like Connor quiet. Connor’s been calmly eating his lunch, but still looks like he’s listening and following the conversation. Nolan has been actively looking down, eating his lunch, and appearing to try to almost hide from what we’re talking about.
He sighs, clearly feeling everyone’s gaze, and looks up at me. His expression is strangely unreadable, but it’s obvious that how they all came about this information is something Nolan doesn’t want to talk about. Felix’s hand hovers over Nolan’s shoulder for a moment before he drops it back down at his side.
“Freshman year, I dated a witch,” he says plainly, packing the remainder of his lunch away.
“Didn’t end well, I take it?” I murmur, my whole face softening.
He straightens. Through clenched teeth and pressed lips, he merely responds, “No.”
“Speaking of Princess Bitch,” Donovan snarls, sitting up to properly scowl at the approaching girl. “I’d call her Queen Bitch, but her mother holds that title as the leader of the coven.”
“Immanissimum ac foedissimum monstrum!” Kaleb spits with a scowl that is downright shocking in its menace.
“Fucking understatement,” Donovan grunts.
Connor’s expression needs no words. Everything about his posture is clear disdain-- and I think he might literally be growling.
Holy crap! What did this girl do? This kind of venom doesn’t come from just breaking a friend’s heart.
Felix crosses his arms and looks sorrowful, his feelings more focused on how this affects Nolan.
Nolan, however, looks the picture of calm leaning back on his hands. His playboy smirk is in place with matching bedroom eyes, though something that makes my heart skip, and not in a good way, swims within their depths.
“Nolan,” the girl purrs when she reaches us, seemingly uncaring of the amount of animosity being thrown her way.
She steps right into Felix, which makes me irrationally dislike her immediately since, according to Kaleb, she can’t see him.
Felix leaps out of the way and walks back between Donovan and Connor. He looks dejected, arms crossed tighter, holding his sides, and huddled into himself. The hard reminder of what he is hangs heavy over his shoulders.
“Gina,” Nolan purrs back, looking up at her lazily. The sensuous feline grace that I noticed earlier is back but more so. Despite barely moving, there’s an energy in every part of him that promises untold pleasures if only he deigned to offer them to you. “What brings you over here?”
Is this what he meant by charming? I wonder, possibly understanding what happened to Ms. Martinez. Then I remember Nolan was fourteen freshman year, and it goes back to being really gross.
She runs her manicured nails along his shoulder, and the energy in his body coils, promising pain with that pleasure. “Why, you of course,” she coos, “and to meet your new play thing… I mean, friend.”
Looking at just her shell, I can see what drew Nolan to her. She’s gorgeous in a way that is different enough to never be lost in a crowd of beautiful people. Tall, long limbed and waifish, she has an oval face that sits on a swan like neck, large doe brown eyes that still manage to have a cat eyed slant, full lips with a pronounced cupid’s bow, and long black hair that hangs to her waist. Her clothes scream of wealth and privilege. In other words, she’s a female Nolan.
Unlike Nolan, where I see lightness and humor inside him, there’s nothing but a rotted dark core inside of her. For the first time today, I feel truly on edge. Not annoyed. Not anxious. Not the fear of fighting my past. I feel affronted by her very presence.
“Whom I choose to spend my time with is none of your concern,” Nolan replies, sounding bored. “We broke up, remember.”
She purses her lips, and the passive glide of her fingers turns into a possessive grip on his shoulder. She looks at me like I’m something disgusting stuck to the bottom of her shoe. Right back at you.
“Which was a terrible decision on your part,” Gina says flippantly, and all the guys tense.
Murder is being promised in Connor and Donovan’s eyes, while something more creative is cooking in Kaleb’s. Holy crap!
Nolan’s cool cracks with a flash of fear that is quickly buried under the playboy smirk. It’s the fear that makes me snap. I stand up and rip her hand from Nolan, surprising the boys.
“It’s time for you to leave,” I snarl, throwing her arm back at her. Dark clouds all of sudden come rolling in, along with a booming sound of thunder.
Gina looks up, startled, then gives me a calculating sneer. “You’re going to regret that,” she promises, before turning and storming off.
I watch her go, vibrating with an energy I don’t understand. “What did she do to you?” I ask just above a whisper.
Nolan looks at me with dead eyes. “What all witches do; she cast a spell.”
This time I’m not upset that he doesn’t explain more, and within moments the heavens open, and rain pours in unforgiving sheets.