Witch Eyes Read online

  “But you have something,” I pushed. I craned my head over the iron racks that held this month’s comics, to look for a door, or an entrance. Nothing I could see.

  The man turned back to his laptop and started typing furiously. “Another scoop for me. Haha, beat that Legendseeker10.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I wasn’t talking to you,” Gregory said loftily. “I’m talking about the S.A.C.”

  He sounded so serious, and so self-important, that it was probably not a good idea to laugh. My lips definitely twitched though, a lot. The sack? I’ll admit, part of me wanted to snicker. “The, uh, what?”

  “Belle Dam’s Supernatural Apparitions Committee,” Gregory said. “Maybe you haven’t figured it out yet, but there’s more to this sleepy little hamlet than what you can see.”

  “Oh.” A website about the weird in Belle Dam? This I’d have to see. “Right. Anyway, I need to get into that back room,” I said, trying to turn the conversation back around. I had a feeling that if I let Gregory go, he’d ramble on for an hour about how awesome he was.

  “Like the fact that I’ve got a witch standing in my shop right at the moment. Most witches know better than to come here.”

  Sonofabitch. I whipped around, to see how many other people had heard the declaration. Seriously, was there something on my shirt? Some giant sign on my back?

  But no one else in the store seemed to be paying any attention. “Don’t go freaking out. I have a friend on the outside, lets me know when anyone interesting comes to town.”

  The only person who knew about me being a witch, besides Lucien and Jason, was Drew. “If you know what I can do, then you know I can handle what’s back there,” I pushed. The urge to do something pretty bad to Gregory was growing every time he opened his mouth.

  “I haven’t even Googled you yet,” Gregory chuckled with surprise. “I don’t know anything about you.”

  “Just what Drew told you about me, right?”

  Gregory’s eyes narrowed before he inclined his head. “What’s your name, anyway?”

  “Braden.” I relented. Only slightly.

  “Sorry, Braden. No adult, no access.” Gregory turned back to his computer and didn’t look up again.

  I sighed in annoyance. Freaking figures. I was walking out of the shop when inspiration struck. I grabbed my phone and scrolled through the tiny handful of numbers.

  “Hey, are you busy? I kinda need your help.”

  ¤ ¤ ¤

  Gregory looked up when I came back twenty minutes later, but didn’t say anything. Just a slight shake of his head.

  “He’s with me, Gregory. It’s okay. I’ll take full responsibility.” I turned to watch Trey follow me inside. He’d said an adult. He didn’t specify how old of one.

  Gregory’s expression didn’t waver, but he jutted his head toward the back. “Your mother know about him yet?”

  Trey winced, but recovered swiftly. “Don’t know what you mean. He’s just a friend.”

  I could see the wheels in Gregory’s head start turning, the way his eyes narrowed at the two of us. He opened his mouth, and I was sure he was going to say something even worse than normal stupidity. The word “witch” was going to hit the air, and Trey would never look at me the same way again.

  “Well, I’m going back then if it’s all settled,” I said quickly, shaking my head enough that my glasses started to slide down my nose. I was rather proud of the movement, as it lacked the dramatic implications but got the job done. Freed my eyes enough that when I glanced at Gregory, I had enough time to slam the spell into place before the words slipped out of his mouth.

  Gray and black and silver, shades all too different from one another for there to be any blurring. A silence spell, one that John had used with glee when I was younger. It barely required any thought at all—I’d seen the spell often enough that even without my vision, I could duplicate it.

  There was nothing but blissful silence as I followed Trey into the back room, hidden in a corner I hadn’t noticed before. I pushed the glasses back up my nose, glancing over at Gregory as I did so. His mouth opened and closed several times, and then he resorted to furious typing at the keyboard as we left the room.

  “You really believe in all this stuff?” Trey asked, flipping through a box of quartz crystals set up near the landing. The door had opened onto a stairway. The second floor of Gregory’s ’Mix was devoted entirely to the supernatural. Books lined the walls, and it was pretty much every cliché I could have thought of. There were even authentic voodoo dolls hung up on one portion of the wall, complete with an authentic price tag: $49.95.

  “Sure, I guess. Everything’s got a spirit,” I said lightly. “You don’t have to babysit, you know. I’m fine on my own.”

  Trey glanced up at me from the voodoo dolls. “Sure you are,” he said.

  “I am,” I repeated, trying to sound more stern.

  “I’m not arguing,” he said, holding up his hands in a classic “I surrender” pose. His smile, however, was more mischievous than anything else. It was almost like there were two different Treys—the one I met that first morning, and the one who gave me a ride home yesterday. I didn’t like how quickly he could annoy me, either.

  I busied myself picking up some of the essentials. Clove oil, sage, and some candles. Things that could be used in a wide variety of spells with a minimum of effort. Uncle John was clearly worried about me using too much “big magic” and attracting unwanted attention. A fair assessment, all things considered.

  I added a small vial of sea salt to my collection. “So what did he mean, about your mother?” Did Trey know more than I thought?

  It got so quiet that I thought Trey had left the room. He was standing on the far side of the room, looking out the window. “My mom’s … selective about who I spend my time with. She thinks I’ll jeopardize my future.”

  “Why would hanging out with me jeopardize your future?” That was an easier explanation, at least, but it still didn’t make any sense. Or did it? “Wait. Let me guess, you’ve got a habit of trying to pick up strays, right?”

  “Something like that,” he said, the tension easing between his shoulders, although he was staring hard at me.

  I wish I knew what you were thinking. The staring made me uncomfortable, and I turned away, but it became hard to concentrate on anything. I thought I could still feel his eyes on the back of my neck. I started downstairs, figuring he’d follow when he was ready.

  There was a girl behind the counter now, and no sign of Gregory. Or his laptop. She smiled broadly at the two of us. No, she was smiling broadly at Trey. She hadn’t even noticed me.

  She was the kind of girl that should do skin commercials. Or was voted Prom Queen. Or was doing skin commercials while being voted Prom Queen. Her hair was a deep chestnut, where mine was just brown, and she smiled a lot more than I probably ever did. I wanted to dislike her instantly, but no one in their right minds ever disliked this girl, I figured.

  “Haven’t seen you around here in a while, stranger,” the girl said, tossing her hair to one side, like in a shampoo commercial.

  “Hey, Kayla. You know how school is, keeps us busy.” I looked up to see Trey shifting his weight from one foot to the other, looking at Kayla and then looking away.

  That answers one question, I muttered to myself. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to finish buying my stuff and get out of there.

  As much as she might have rather spent her time mooning over him, Kayla added up my purchases quickly and recited the total. I handed her one of the credit cards Lucien had given me, interested to see if it actually worked.

  She swiped the card in the little credit card machine and handed me one of the slips that printed out. I signed it, slid it across, and grabbed my bag of goodies. Rather than intrude on what was
clearly a private conversation, I headed for the door.

  I was almost a block away by the time Trey caught up with me. “Old friend?” I asked, hating the neutral sound in my voice.

  “I’ve known Kayla all my life. She works for her uncle to help pay for school. It’s just her and her mom now.”

  “She’s pretty.”

  “She’s gorgeous,” Trey corrected.

  Of course she was.

  “So you get mixed up with Lucien Fallon, and then the next day you’re going shopping at the Oogie Boogie store? You sure you know what you’re getting into, Cyke?” There was an irreverent charm to the way he chewed on the piece of gum he’d popped in sometime between the store and catching up with me.

  “Not entirely,” I admitted. “‘Cyke’?”

  “Like Cyclops? From the X-Men?”

  I knew what he was talking about, but only because I’d seen the movies. There hadn’t been a lot of comic books growing up with Uncle John. “What’s wrong with Braden? It’s been working for me all my life.”

  “Everyone gets to call you Braden,” he said, flashing me a wicked smile that was like a punch in the gut. “I’m the only one calling you Cyke, right?”

  “You realize you’re annoying, right?”

  Trey’s smile was brightly comfortable. “I’ve heard that once or twice.”

  I shook my head and wrapped the bag tighter around my palm. “Do you listen to yourself sometimes? Or ever? And why are you following me? You got me in, and I’m thankful, but that’s it.” Stop trying to decide whether you want to annoy me or dazzle me.

  “I work down the street.” Trey’s humor vanished. “Besides, I like trying to figure you out.”

  “I’m an open book,” I said flatly. “Really.”

  “Maybe in Latin. Or Arabic. But you’re not as easy to read as you seem to think.” His eyes were thoughtful. “And you don’t hate talking to me as much as you pretend.”

  I was sorely tempted to point out that at least I could read Latin. Trey was just one more person who thought they had me figured out. Maybe he didn’t get the same memo from Drew that Gregory did, but that didn’t stop him from making assumptions. “I need to go.”

  I didn’t stop to see if Trey followed. Instead, my cell phone chimed, and I answered Jade’s call.

  Fifteen

  I agreed to hang out with Jade and her friends, but I absolutely had to get home early enough to catch up on my homework. Second day at a real school, and it was already getting all screwed up.

  An hour later, I had showered and changed. Hanging out with people my own age was a lot more intimidating than getting locked up in a binding circle. What if I said the wrong thing? Or made the wrong comment? What if they hated me?

  I didn’t even notice at first that she pulled up in the same car she’d had the day before. “Isn’t your brother going to notice?”

  She shrugged. “He loves me too much to say anything. At least that’s the plan.”

  I chuckled and pulled open the passenger door.

  “Rough day?” Jade asked. “You skipped out kinda early.”

  “Migraine. I went home and slept it off.” For a few minutes we chatted about school. It wasn’t until we skimmed past the quickly changing light that I remembered getting into a car with Jade was yet another bad decision I’d made this week.

  “God, I can’t wait to get out of here,” she muttered at random.

  I looked at her over the rim of my cup. “It’s not really so bad, is it? Don’t the Lansings get to walk around town and do whatever they want?”

  Jade glanced at me, and I could tell she wasn’t amused. “You won’t understand.”

  “What?”

  Another light turned red, but this time Jade didn’t try to squeeze through at the last second. She stopped, and turned toward me. “You don’t know what it’s like. My mother walks around this town like she’s some sort of celebrity, and everyone around her is so fake. I don’t want to grow up like that.”

  You wouldn’t understand. It was like a punch in the gut. A reminder that Jade wasn’t just my friend, but she was also supposed to be my … archnemesis or something.

  Luckily, Jade wasn’t one to bemoan her fate for too long. “So, about homecoming. I know just who you should go with.” Jade darted between lanes to pass a red SUV. As we cut in front of the soccer mom driving, I heard a loud honking behind us.

  I turned to look, grateful for the distraction. “I’m not interested,” I said. The last thing I wanted was to get roped into going to some dance with one of Jade’s girlfriends. School dances were one of the things about high school that didn’t interest me. The fact that I didn’t have a clue how to dance only reinforced that.

  “Well, I’m already planning on taking K.C., so it’s only fair if we focus on your date.”

  I shifted in my seat, pulling myself closer to the door. Anything for a closer exit.

  “If you think it’s going to be a big deal, then don’t worry about it. Every year a couple girls end up going together because they can’t get dates. I really doubt anyone would care who your date is.”

  “Uhm … what?”

  Jade beamed a patient smile in my direction. “Braden? Have you even tried looking down my shirt? Or even realize that it’s cut low?” She was right; the white chemise she was wearing exposed a lot of skin. “So like I said, I know the perfect guy for you. Don’t worry, I’ll set everything up.”

  “I don’t want to talk about this,” I said quickly, before she went any further. I could feel my face getting redder and redder. Nothing had been said about having the gay talk tonight, and I was completely unprepared.

  “Braden, it’s not that big a deal. I mean, the fact that my new best friend keeps secrets from me is a little hurtful, but I’ll get past it in time.” She glanced over at me, but I was too busy having hot flashes and rising levels of panic to catch her teasing tone.

  “I already said I don’t want to talk about this. Okay? So just drop it.”

  The minute she pulled into parking lot, I threw the car door open and walked off. For a second I wished I smoked, so I could have an excuse to just stand out here and watch traffic pass.

  ¤ ¤ ¤

  By the time I finally walked inside the clothing boutique Jade had gone into, I was stuck between wanting to keep freaking out and hoping Jade would forgive a little temporary insanity. No one had ever just come out and outed me like that.

  “Took you long enough.” Jade was standing near the door, holding a dress up against her frame. She pivoted to one side, and then the other, her eyes never leaving their spot on the mirror. “You should know I don’t like to shop by myself. I buy all sorts of things I shouldn’t.”

  “Invite someone else next time, then.” Angst Boy wins again. Ashamed Boy knocked out in the first round. I winced the moment the words were out of my mouth.

  Her expression was cool when she turned, her face a chiseled mask of ice. “Did I ask to be the target of your identity crisis?”

  She wasn’t wrong. “Sorry.” Trying to cope with everything that was going on was getting to me.

  “Look. Obviously I’m the last person to judge anyone. If you’re not ready to talk about it, then don’t. Just don’t turn into that overcompensating repressed guy, okay?” There wasn’t putting much past Jade. She saw things in her own way, but she definitely saw through me, too. She vanished into a dressing room and came out a few minutes later clad in her latest conceit.

  “Can’t we just chalk it up to a bad day, and leave it at that?” I’d much rather focus on doing things that a seventeen-year-old should be doing.

  Jade’s expression was pensive, her lips pressed together, her smoky eyes narrowed. “I think that depends.”

  “On?”

  Her face relaxed,
eyes now burning with humor. “Does this dress make me look fat?”

  ¤ ¤ ¤

  An hour and far too many purchases later, Jade and I abandoned our things in her car and headed for one of the local coffee shops. “The only place that’s worth it around here, unless you want to drive an hour for Starbucks,” she admitted.

  I already knew the coffee shop she had mentioned by reputation. Their Styrofoam cups were a mainstay all around school, as students hustled to get their morning fix before the first bell struck. Only seniors were allowed to leave campus during lunch, but that didn’t stop the enterprising lower classes from trying to sneak off for some caffeine.

  Jade walked around the school like she owned it. Life in the coffee shop was much the same. It was weird to walk in beside her, and see people come up to us or shout out a hello. It wasn’t even like she fought her way to the top; it was just that everyone else took a step back for her. Must come with being a Lansing. Instant love and adoration.

  She led me toward the back, where a group of her friends were already slouched along a number of couches. One of the girls I hadn’t seen before looked up.

  “The blind kid?” she said skeptically to Jade.

  “You think every guy not into you is blind anyway, Laney. What’s one more?” Jade said lightly.

  I slowed. Hanging out with Jade was one thing, but socializing with her sycophants and hangers-on was a bit much. She lowered herself down onto the couch like a debutante.

  “Scoot over, Carter, give him space,” Jade said to the boy next to her. The guy, proudly clad in his letterman’s jacket, shot me a dirty look but did as she asked.

  “You’re the guy Riley was trying to get into journalism,” another girl mentioned. Her smile was uncertain, but friendly—the “I don’t know if he can really see me or not” discomfort. It was familiar. I quickly learned her name was Brooke, and she was the resident brain of Jade’s little coterie.

  “I guess,” I muttered, taking a seat next to Jade. She grinned my way and slapped her hand down on my knee.