“I can’t stand her.”
Jana smiled. “I should say that deep down she’s a sweetheart, but I’d be lying. And I don’t want to get struck down from the man upstairs, ya know?”
I nodded. “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“You were friends with my Aunt Vanessa?”
“Eh.”
“Not really?”
“We were friends,” Jana said. “And then we hated each other. Then we were friends again. What’s that term? Frenemies? That was me and V.”
“Oh.”
“We liked that we could be ourselves around each other. We didn’t have to lie about our families. We could cast small spells and stuff, but when it came down to it, we didn’t really like each other.”
I twisted the bag around my finger. “I get that.”
“How is she doing? I haven’t spoken to her in ages. She’s down south right?”
“New Orleans.”
“Big shot doctor, I heard.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know she fudged her SATs to get into LSU? A quick little spell and wala! Acceptance letter. Ha.”
“Really?”
“Sure. Vanessa always had to get ahead. And she did. Either by working hard or if that didn’t pan out, she used magic.”
“That’s kind of what I wanted to talk about.”
“What’s that?”
I looked her straight in the eye. “I know what she did to Ethan.”
The blood drained from Jana’s face.
“And,” I said quietly, “I know you were at my Grandma Claudia’s house the night Vanessa did it.”
Jana bolted to the end of the counter. She fumbled with the swing door.
“Wait! Where are you going?” I ran after her.
Jana covered her face. “I’m sorry! It was so long ago. Please don’t hurt me. I have a daughter.”
“I’m not going to hurt you. Jana? Look at me.” I tugged her elbow. “I just want to know what happened.”
“I heard you were powerful. You know, because you’re pure.”
“You did? From who?”
“Word gets around. I don’t want any trouble, Alex.”
“Jana, I’m not going to hurt you. And I’m not going to cause any trouble for you. Please tell me what happened.”
“I didn’t want to help her, but Vanessa threatened to tell my parents that I’d been sneaking out to see Michael O’Malley.”
I nodded.
Jana swallowed. “So I agreed. That was the only reason. I thought it was a terrible thing to do. If hunters ever found out, they would have killed us.” The long fake lashes brushed against her cheek. “Are you going to confront her?”
“Once I know what I’m dealing with.”
“Vanessa was so freaked out the next day, because we didn’t know where Ethan went. I mean, he could’ve gone anywhere. The news said he was kidnapped, so I thought maybe he was disoriented from the spell. And then the police found his body. Vanessa must’ve done the spell wrong.” Black mascara tears stained Jana’s cheeks. “I never did magic with her again. Our friendship ended that night.”
Jana didn’t know Ethan was alive. I wanted to tell her, to ease her mind, but that was too dangerous. I couldn’t risk it.
“Why did Vanessa do it?”
“She was obsessed with Ethan. That’s all she talked about. All she thought about. It drove her mad that Ethan was with Emma.”
“But why hurt him?”
Jana shrugged.
“When did she do it? How?”
“She made the powder in the cemetery a few nights before she spelled him. I wasn’t there, but she told me about it.”
“Powder?”
“Yeah, the spell created a powder. It was bright gold with flecks of green. On the night Vanessa spelled Ethan, all she had to do was blow the powder on him. She hid behind his car at Claudia’s house. She popped up and blew it in his face. Once he inhaled it, he had less than half an hour until the trance took hold.”
I bit my lip. “What was the name of the spell?”
“I don’t know. We got it in New York City. In Tribeca. The shop’s called, Nora’s Emporium, and the spell was in this giant blue book. The lady wouldn’t let Vanessa purchase the book, but she made a copy of the spell. That’s all I know. I swear.”
I had to visit this shop. There had to be a reversal.
Jana tilted her head. “Alex, I don’t think you know your aunt very well. She has a dark side. I’m sure that’s why she’s down in New Orleans.”
That made my stomach drop. “What’s in New Orleans?”
“It’s the supernatural capital of the world.”
“Oh.”
“Voodoo. Hoodoo. Witches. Ghosts. You name it, it’s there. I’d bet my boutique that’s why she moved there.”
I wasn’t expecting that.
Jana bit the polish on her thumbnail. “Vanessa said if I told anyone what happened, she’d come after me.”
I swallowed. “I appreciate your help. Don’t worry; I won’t mention your name to her.”
“Alex, I know you’re a pure blood, but I’m sure Vanessa’s into some shady things. You have to be careful.”
“I will.”
Jana shook her head. “No, really careful. Vanessa isn’t going to want anyone to know about what she did to Ethan. She’ll do everything in her power to make sure her secret is safe.”
CHAPTER 11
“What time are you leaving?” Peter threw the rubber ball. It rolled under a bush near the back fence.
“We’re catching the twelve-thirty train.”
Peter made a face.
I screwed the cap on the nail polish and wiggled my painted toes. “Are you angry?”
“I don’t like it.”
“James has been helping me with this supernatural stuff.”
“I know.” Scooby dropped the ball at Peter’s feet. “It’s a long train ride to New York City.”
“Four hours.”
An extended moment of silence passed between us. Peter stared off into the backyard, ignoring the rubber ball and Scooby.
I scooted my feet into my sandals. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
Peter puffed his cheeks and blew out a breath of air.
“James kissed me. It was right before you came over that night in the driveway. When we broke up.”
“What am I supposed to say to that?”
“I didn’t kiss him back.”
“Do you have feelings for him?”
“I like James -”
Peter’s back stiffened.
I leaned closer to him. “But I don’t feel for him, the way I feel for you. I love you. I can’t imagine life without you.”
“I love you, too. I’m sorry for everything. For being angry about Anne Marie.”
I intertwined our fingers. “I’m sorry, too. But I meant what I said the other night. It’s too dangerous to be around me.”
“I know, I know.”
“But you’re here today,” I said softly. I smiled. “Not that I don’t love being with you.”
“I don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t lose me.”
“It feels like I am. I don’t want it to be this way,” Peter said. “I don’t like us being apart. It’s stupid.”
“It’s not safe.”
Peter ran his hand through his hair. “It’s not safe or you don’t really want to be with me? Because I don’t see you having a problem getting on a train with James to search for some spell in New York City.”
“That’s different.”
“How so? You don’t think I can take care of myself? Better than James can?”
“Of course not, but James doesn’t have to worry about a family,” I said. “You do.”
Peter shook his head. “Don’t give me that crap, Lex. Either you love me or you don’t.”
“I love you more than anything.”
??
?I feel the same way about you. And I don’t see any reason why we can’t be together. Unless you don’t want to be with me anymore. ”
“I never said that.”
“Then what’s the problem?” Peter said.
“I don’t want you to get hurt because of all this witch stuff.”
“I already won that argument, Lex. What’s the real reason?”
I sucked in a mouthful of air and let it out slowly. “Peter, I’m going to die in seven months. And -”
Peter jumped to his feet. He was furious. “And what? You’re trying to spare my feelings? You’ve got to be kidding! Jeez, Lex!”
“What?”
“You’re being ridiculous!”
“No, I’m not. It’s the truth. Liam -”
Peter kneeled in front of me. He placed his hands on my knees. “You’re not dying in seven months. You’re not dying anytime soon. We’ll find a way to defeat Liam, do you hear me?”
I nodded.
Peter didn’t break eye contact. “When fall rolls around, we’re going to enjoy our senior year of high school and go to the stupid prom and have a graduation party where we drink way too much beer and get sick in the morning. We’ll have an amazing summer and then we’ll be off to college in Boston. I’ll play hockey and you’ll take classes to be an elementary school teacher, like you always wanted. Then right after we graduate, you’re going to marry me. Okay?”
I nodded again, unable to stop the tears from flowing.
“We’re going to buy a house in the suburbs and have cute little kids with blonde hair and crazy green eyes,” Peter said. “My mom and Emma and Ethan will spoil them rotten. We won’t have to worry about Liam or dying or magic or spells or any of that shit. We’re going to have a happy life and we’ll die when we’re old. On our own terms. Do you hear me?”
I reached forward and kissed him. I mean, really kissed him. Our mouths moved together in perfect rhythm. His arms went around my back and we fell onto the grass. His hand stroked my cheeks, but then he pulled me away.
I pushed forward to kiss him again, but Peter held my face a few inches from his. “No more nonsense. You’re mine. You’ve always been mine.”
I was unable to speak, so I nodded confirmation of his statement. I was his. He was mine. His hand slipped down my neck and he kissed me again.
* * *
The Sunday afternoon train from Boston to Manhattan wasn’t crowded. James and I found seats in the back away from the other passengers.
“What do you know about this place?” James sat in front of me.
“It’s called Nora’s Emporium. That’s about all I know.”
“Is Nora a witch?”
I grabbed a pack of licorice out of my bag. “I hadn’t thought of that. Maybe. She at least has to be in the know.”
“Right, but what type of person would sell harmful spells? And how is this store still open? Wouldn’t Gamma or some other hunter shut down a shop like that?”
“I have no idea.”
James bit a piece of licorice. “I’ve been reading through my grandpa’s stuff. Gamma has files on witches all over the world. For the most part, they only interfere when a witch gets involved in activity that they consider harmful to humans.”
“Except for me,” I said with a smile.
James grinned. “And they don’t allow pure bloods.”
“Right.”
“I found out why they went after Megan Lackey.”
“Really?”
James lowered his voice. “After you told me about Olivia, I was curious about the Hazel Cove witch families. I dug around and came across the Lackey file.”
Poor Megan Lackey.
Last October, the town went into a tailspin when she went missing. Eventually, her body was found in the woods. The police pinned it on a guy name Simon, who was conveniently already dead. The media wrote her murder off as a random sadistic killing. In reality, Megan was a witch and Gamma killed her. The craziest part was that I had a vision of Megan’s death on the night before her body was found.
Yup, being a witch definitely had its drawbacks.
“Megan attacked people at school,” James said.
“That’s insane.”
“She was bullied and witchcraft was her defense,” James said. “Megan dabbled in some dark stuff - nothing too serious - but she flaunted the fact that she was a witch.”
“What do you mean?”
“She told everyone the truth. She descended from a line of Hazel Cove witches. Of course, no one believed her. They all thought she was off her rocker.”
“But she attacked people?” I folded my legs underneath me.
“Apparently, she cast spells on her enemies.” James leaned forward. “Megan had an argument with this preppy girl named Melanie Ascot. It was a pretty public fight and Melanie called Megan every name in the book. The next day, Melanie had an odd rash on her arm that spread all over her body. From what I read, the rash was extremely painful. Melanie had to be transported to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The doctors diagnosed it as some form of rare skin disease that was only found in the Amazon.”
“Wow.”
“There were other incidents like that. Megan hated her Home Economics teacher. The next thing you know, the teacher had a mishap with a sewing machine and had to be rushed to the emergency room. A boy on the baseball team called her ‘Tacky Lackey’ at lunch. That afternoon, he suffered a freak accident and tore his ACL. It was getting so out of hand that students were whispering that something was unusual about Megan Lackey.”
Southern Massachusetts sped by. I turned away from the window. The motion made me dizzy because I was facing the wrong direction of the moving train. “Gamma murdered Megan because of the spells she cast?”
“That was their official reasoning, but there’s more.”
There was always more. I swallowed my last mouthful of licorice.
“Gamma issues a warning before they take out a witch,” James said. “They warned Megan, but she wouldn’t stop. They warned her a second time and that’s when she threatened Victor.”
That was interesting. “With what? Casting a spell on him?”
James shook his head. “Most hunters wear charms so they can’t be spelled. She did something that scared Victor even more.”
“What?”
“Megan threatened to tell the supernatural community that you were a pure blood.”
I bit my lip. “Me? Why would that frighten Victor? Surely, he wasn’t protecting me from Liam. Victor was ready to hang me in the cemetery that night.”
“It had everything to do with himself.”
“I don’t follow.”
James moved to the seat next to me. “Grandpa Jonah broke all hunter code when he made that deal with your father. Pure bloods aren’t allowed to live. No exceptions. But Jonah not only allowed you to live, he had his own son protect and raise you. If other hunters or members of Gamma outside of Hazel Cove found out that Victor Van Curen was harboring a pure blood….”
“Then other hunters would go after him?”
“Right. Victor broke the most important hunter rule. You never put a witch over the needs of humans. Especially a pure blood.”
“They killed Megan Lackey to shut her up.”
“Victor always looked out for number one. You know that better than anyone,” James said. “I haven’t seen him in a few weeks. You?”
“No, but I’m not complaining.” I slid back in my chair. I didn’t want to talk about my stepfather. “Does Megan’s family know how she really died? Do they know it wasn’t just Simon, but other members of Gamma, too?”
“I’m assuming. Megan’s father is a witch. I’m sure he knew what was happening.”
“It seems like a lot of witches dabble in dark magic. I wonder why.”
James stretched his legs. “Maybe they get power thirsty. They’re half blooded, right?”
“Yeah.”
“The way I understand it, their magic
is limited compared to yours. I think that’s why some half bloods use dark magic. It makes them stronger.”
I frowned. “That’s why Liam wants me to use dark magic.”
“From what I’ve read, a pure blood involved in dark magic is scary. The amount of power is limitless.”
“Which explains why hunters don’t want pure bloods to live in the first place. And why Liam wants to sacrifice me.”
“We’re going to find a way to kill Liam.”
“How? We’ve been searching for weeks and we still can’t find anything that’ll help us.”
“Liam’s not immortal,” James said. “If he was, then he wouldn’t need to sacrifice pure bloods.”
“But he’s so powerful that witch hunters don’t even hunt him anymore. They couldn’t kill him. They tried for hundreds of years.”
James scratched his head and threw me a smile. “We’ll figure it out. Don’t worry. Enough witch talk. Do you want to get lunch?”
We went on an expedition to find the dining car. James ate a turkey wrap. I had sour cream and onion chips. After we ate, I napped and James read a magazine. We arrived at New York’s Penn Station a little after four o’clock. We walked through the underground tunnel that connected the Amtrak Station to the Seventh Avenue exit. We passed the New Jersey Transit and the Subway, along with tons of fast food restaurants and tiny shops.
Penn Station was one of the busiest train terminals in the world. Even on a Sunday afternoon. But that didn’t stop me from seeing a red-eye. The spirit inhabited the body of a homeless man near the escalators that descended into the Long Island Rail Road. The older man, covered in filth from the streets, sat beside his worn duffle bag. His eyeballs were a vibrant shade of red and they followed my every step.
I quickened my pace.
James gave me a funny look. “Just because we’re in Manhattan doesn’t mean we have to walk forty miles per hour.”
“Red-eyes.”
James stopped. “Where?”
“The homeless man over my shoulder. By the escalators.”
“His eyes are red?”
I sneaked another peek. “Yup.”
“I can’t believe you can see that. They look brown to me. That’s so weird. Does that mean Liam’s watching us?”
“He was probably notified the minute I left Hazel Cove.”