I squeeze her
hand
affectionately
. “
Mom, thanks so much, you and D
ad
are so good to me.
I think I will be perfectly
fine tomorrow.
”
Between my mother and father our coven is pretty well taken care of.
So with that in mind I ask
,
“
What happened to the Dela Dante coven? Didn
’
t they have a high priest or priestess over them that made sure nothing that horrific hap
pened to them, like you and D
ad do for our coven?
”
She put her head down and sa
ys
,
“
No one really knows for sure. I don
’
t have the answer Alyssa
, perhaps
one day we will learn what became of them.
”
Standing she says,
“
So
m
ote it be.
”
She k
iss
es
me lightly on the
cheek
. “
Get some rest now.
”
H
er voice trails off as she closes the door behind her.
I whisper back,
“
S
o mote it be.
”
***
I
’
m up early and so ready for tonight. I sit down in the kitchen at the breakfast table and bite into an apple. I am scouring the flyer for the grand opening of the race track in front of me and finally see what I
’
m looking for.
My father stroll
s in
humming to himself
, but
abruptly stops
, surprise written on h
is face to see me up and about.
I glance
up
from the flyer
. “
I
can
’
t believe
the
track sheet says I
’
m racing too!
”
He nods proudly and grins
. “
It
appears
so.
I
’
ll be down at the track by the time you get home from school. After the opening protection ceremony I plan on starting the first race around seven.
”
I jump up and hug him tightly
. “
I
’
ll definitely
be there.
”
He laughs
. “
You better
.
”
I am
beam
ing as I leave the house and drive to school thinking non
-
stop about tonight
’
s
upcoming
race.
I walk into my first class and sit down in my not so comfy chair to find a frosted, Swarovski crystal Bling H2
O
bottle of water. Immediately
,
I search the room trying to find him. Marc
,
is sitting about three rows directly in front of me. As everyone else settles into their not so comfy seats, Marc turns around and looks at me.
I hold the bottle up and show him I
received his
gift. He returns that gesture
with a magnetizing smile.
Good
, I think,
that wasn
’
t too distracting for me
. His smile is disarming and I am
very
concerned
about
what I would do if he keeps that up. After class I cloak and then
shift right
outside the door and wait for Marc to come out.
“
Hey
,
”
I say as he stops to lean against the wall next to me.
“
Hey
…
”
he replies back grinning
.
I move back a bit and switch my bag to my other shoulder nervously.
“
I
’
m glad
to see you made it to school with
out any car trouble,
”
I tell him as he puts his back to the wall and slides both hands into the pockets of his faded jeans.
He looks at me intently
. “
Yea
h
, no problems, so did you change your mind about going out this weekend?
”
I try to
relax, not sure why I
’
m so fidgety
. I
decide to
mimic his stance
. “
No, but I was wondering if you had plans for next Friday night?
”
Inside I
’
m telling
myself,
what
am I doing, standing here talking openly with this human guy? I know father suggested this
,
so I am going on his instincts
. I have this pestering notion too, that talking to him feels right, that he isn
’
t just another typical human. He looks at me for a second trying to read my
mixed
expressions.
“
I don
’
t think so, but if I do, I
’
ll make sure to change it.
”
He puts on this risqué smile
. “
Why, what do you have in mind?
”
I clear my throat and ask,
“
We have fourth hour together, right?
”
He nods
as confusion spreads
across his face
. “
Yea
h
, we do.
”
I start walking away and reply over my shoulder
,
“
I
’
ll give more details after fourth hour, see
you then.
”
I can actually feel him watching me as I walk away. Which for some strange, insane reason makes me feel kind of
good;
I like him looking at me. Smiling inside, I wonder if he thinks I
’
m the most secretive person he has ever
met.
I hope so
,
and I intend to keep it that way because the human and
witch worlds just don
’
t mix.
Once outside the main building I glance around, nope,
it
’
s
just me out here so I shift into my shimmering mist and in a fraction of a second I cross the path reappearing beside an old oak tree. I
casually
walk up the steps to my next class. In third hour
,
Megan
,
and I are together. We sit next to each other of course.
She leans over and whispers
,
“
So how is your hot human hunk of handsome doing today?
”
“
Marcus is just fine,
okay
Megan.
”
I comment while
putting
my middle finger to my lips as a reminder to hush it among other things. She smiles, biting her lip as if I just showed her a shirtless guy.
My father tells me he has well over a thousand families in our coven that he attends to as needed. I can
’
t imagine how that would work for me since I can
’
t even keep Megan in line for one day. Of course witches are known for our independent ways. Keeping witches
in line
is like herding cats.
As class ends Megan pulls a burst of air into the room, which has been empty for only a few seconds. Papers scatter all over the classroom along with her hair blowing out and her skirt flying up.
What is this a rock video
?
I give her an audacious look
. “
Don
’
t think I
’
m going to clean it up for you.
”
“
I
’
m just blowing off some sexual tension with a pinch of boredom.
”
She raises her hand up to her ruby red lips and blowing kisses in th
e wind, the scattered papers soar
across the floor
and
into a whirlwind
. T
hen
one by one the papers stack themselves into a neat pile on the front desk.
I glance
over at her
as I pick up my books
.
“
I
can
comp
letely understand your feelings,
”
I say a
nd stroll out of the
class
room.
“
Wait, Alyssa, did I hear you right, hey wait! What did you say again?
”
Finally
,
it
i
s
fourth hour and class is creeping along. Marc and I are sitting in the back row, he
’
s
sitting exactly three seats over from me.
It
’
s f
unny how I never noticed his presence before
,
even though he was so close to me.
I glance over while we are working and I really study him. His features are absolutely flawless and his body makes my fingers spark with tiny embers.
It
i
s quite obvious he has spent some quality time in the sun.
He
’
s tan, muscular and has sandy blond hair spiked recklessly. I am not so sure I
’
m
studying
him as much as stamping him into my memory for later enjoyment.
H
e looks up directly at me and smiles, his dark brown eyes are not so dark that they look black, but more like
an
heirloom bronze color. His smile, I notice is the hottest, most provocative,
I can take you to bed a thousand different ways,
smile which makes more than my finger tips spark with heat. I want to instantly melt. For me, though, that would be impossible, since I
’
m fire, I can
’
t melt. I just continue getting hotter and hotter.
I think his smile can make anyone stop and take notice. Yea
h
, my favorite feature on him, so far, is his smile. I snap quickly out of my daydream to realize he has caught me staring at him.
Great, now I
’
m sure he is going to add me to his stalker list
,
I think sarcastically.
Class finally ends and I stay in my seat. Marc does the same
, everyone
else files out and Marc gets up, moving to the chair next to mine and spins it slightly in my direction.
“
So, you want to tell me about next Friday?
”
He asks
, but
sounds more like a statement than question. I reach into the pocket of my red leather jacket and pull out a business card. Handing it to him he flips the card around.
“
I didn
’
t know we had a drag racing track around here?
”
He studies the card some more.
“
Worthington
Raceway
, huh.
”
H
is enriching eyes peer back at me. I stand up grabbing my bag and give him my best smile.
“
Everything you need is on that card.
”
Pausing for a moment, I turn to him.
“
I hope you can make it, oh, and we can go
D
utch
if it makes you feel better.
”
He thinks for a second then with final resignation says.
“
I
’
m sure you get this a lot, but I
’
m going to say it anyway, you have the most electrifying blue eyes I have ever seen.
”
I stop dead in my
tracks;
I find I
’
m literally tongue tied.
“
Oh well...ah…thanks… ahem and thanks for the water too, you really didn
’
t have to go through the trouble....I
’
ll uh, talk to you later.
”