Spellbound (Spellbringers Book 1) (12 page)

“You know what I heard?” Becky asked
in a conspiratorial tone.

Oh, I wanted so badly to ask. Even if
what Becky was saying wasn’t remotely true, I wanted to sink into
the comfort of a good old-fashioned gossip session. I wanted to
squeal with delight over the outrageousness of whatever Becky had
to say. I wanted to verbally bash the girl who unknowingly kept me
and Jace apart. It was so tempting. So. Very. Tempting.

“I heard…”

I cut her off. “You didn’t hear
anything. You’re making stuff up like you always do.”

“Rachel…”

“Look. I miss you. I’d love to hang
out with you. But I also meant what I said when I told you to leave
Alisa alone. If we’re going to hang out, we need to find something
else to do besides bash on your cousin.”

“You’ve changed,” Becky said. Her
voice was no longer laced with sweet, southern hospitality and the
promise of coffee. She sounded harsh—the same way she always
sounded when she didn’t get her way.

“Yeah, I guess I have.”

“You’re seriously choosing my
charity-case cousin over your best friend? Awesome.”

“I’m not choosing Alisa. It’s not like
I’m hanging out with her. I just think you’ve gone far enough. You
don’t have to be nice to her, but at least leave her in
peace.”

“Oh, I will. You’re blackmailing me,”
she said, referring to the pictures in my cell phone. “Oh, yes. You
come across as a sweet little cheerleading, church-going southern
girl, but deep inside, you’re just like me.”

“I don’t think so.” But I wasn’t so
sure. Was I just like Becky? I had been her enabler for years,
encouraging her, listening to her gossip, shunning anyone she
didn’t like. Maybe she was right. I was a blackmailer and a bully
just like her.

“Guess we won’t be taking our little
shopping trip after all,” Becky said casually. “Too bad. Maybe you
can go to church instead. Or do some volunteer work. Or walk an old
lady across the street. After all, you’re such a good person. On
the surface.”

Becky walked away, leaving me feeling
worse than I ever had. I couldn’t have Jace. I couldn’t be friends
with Becky. And I was a horrible person. Things couldn’t get
worse.

***

After three weeks of denying my
feelings for Jace, avoiding situations where the two of us might be
alone, and pretending I was happy he and Alisa were closer than
ever, I finally convinced myself I’d made the right decision. When
my phone rang early one Saturday morning, I answered it without
looking at the caller ID. Jace’s voice set me back to the
beginning—those sleepless nights after our almost-date where I had
to sit on my hands to keep from texting him and telling him I
changed my mind.

“I can’t do this,” he said.

“Do what?”

“I tried.”

“Jace, what are you talking
about?”

“I see you every day and it’s killing
me that I can’t tell you how I feel. You won’t let me…”

“Jace, let’s not do this…”

“No, let me talk. You’ve been avoiding
me for three weeks. Let me say this without interruption,” he said
when I started to speak. “I think I’m in love with you. I know I
am. If you don’t feel the same way, I understand. But if you’re
holding back because of Alisa, it isn’t fair to either of
us.”

Tears welled up in my eyes and
overflowed. “Jace,” I said, choking on a sob. “We can’t. I
won’t.”

“Why?”

“I’m a horrible person, Jace.
Horrible. I don’t deserve you and Alisa doesn’t deserve to have her
heart broken.”

“Why do you think you’re a horrible
person?”

“Because I was friends with Becky.
I’ve done horrible things. I’ve helped Becky do horrible
things.”

“Rachel, I’ve been inside your head.
You are not a horrible person. You’re a beautiful person inside and
out.”

“Did you know I’m blackmailing
Becky?”

“Really?” he laughed. “Well
done.”

“No, it’s not well done. It’s evil.
And I’m not going to compound my evil by doing more
evil.”

“Rachel, falling in love isn’t evil.
Ignoring our feelings isn’t going to make me love Alisa. I know you
don’t want to hurt her. Neither do I. I care for her. I love her as
a friend. I’d kill anyone who messed with her. But I’ll never love
her the way she deserves. I just don’t love her the way I love
you.”

Love. That was the magic word that
broke through my self-imposed restraints. The word that forced me
to give up my martyrdom and take up the banner of the wanton
man-stealer. The word that changed everything.

“
I won’t go out with you
until you talk to her,” I said. “If we’re going to do this, we have
to be honest and upfront. You owe her that. We both owe her
that.”

“I’ll talk to her later. Right now, I
have to see you. When can I see you?” He sounded as desperate as I
felt.

“Let me finish my chores and ask my
mother if I can leave. Can you wait a couple of hours?”

“Do I have a choice?” he asked. I was
relieved he didn’t complain about the fact that I had to ask
permission before leaving my house.

“I’ll hurry.”

My hands shook while I finished my
chores. By the time Jace picked me up, I was a bundle of nerves. My
mother had stepped out to run an errand, so we didn’t have to
endure the ritual of small-talk with her. The moment Jace took my
hand in his, my anxiety faded away. Words of love drifted over our
connection and I knew we’d made the right decision. We couldn’t be
apart. Our love was inevitable. Destiny.

Chapter
Eleven

Alisa

Jace and I needed to have
a serious talk. I’d put it off long enough. It was time to talk
about Rachel. I knew something was going on between them. It wasn’t
that he spent a lot less time with me, but when we did spend time
together, I felt like he wanted to be somewhere else. Or
with
someone
else.

Maybe I didn’t possess a shred of
magic, but I wasn’t a complete moron. I saw the way they looked at
each other in class and the way Jace’s gaze followed Rachel every
time they passed in the hallway. Their connection was so solid, so
strong, even I could sense it. How could Jace think I wouldn’t
notice?

Maybe he was a coward. Many teenage
boys are. They don’t know how to gently break a girl’s heart.
Perhaps Jace suspected I had feelings for him that were beyond
friendship and he didn’t know how to tell me he could never return
those feelings.

Every thought, every dream, every
fantasy revolved around Jace. Each night, I drifted off to sleep
with a picture of his face in my mind. In my favorite fantasy, he
would finally discover he had loved me all along. In my vague and
disconnected dreams, Jace and I walked together, but I was always a
step behind. I could never quite catch up, never quite touch him.
It was always another who would reach for me, but his face was
hidden in the fog.

With the holidays fast approaching,
all I wanted for Christmas was to know Jace would always be there
for me. Our friendship was important to me, and if that was all he
could offer, I would accept it as long as he would still be a part
of my life. It wasn’t just Jace I was worried about losing, it was
his family. Abe and Jerica meant more to me than I could have ever
anticipated. I couldn’t imagine not being part of their
lives.

Whatever the case, it was time to
clear the air before our friendship was destroyed. My anger toward
Jace was beginning to manifest in my increased competitiveness in
tennis and my waspish comments every time we spoke. Our sparring
sessions with Abe gave me a much needed outlet for my anger. I
almost looked forward to these training sessions, but not
quite.

The training sessions had been going
on for a few weeks, and started shortly after the Homecoming
Dance.

“You’re part of our family now,”
Jerica said. “You’re like a daughter to me. I just want to know
you’re safe. I think you should begin training.”

“Why?” I asked, my heart pounding in
my chest. For a brief moment, I felt a spark of hope that she might
have sensed some latent magic inside me waiting to be revealed. I
wanted to be special, to have a link to this family that was
indisputable. “What type of training?”

“Abe teaches Jace a type
of mixed martial arts. It’s more intense and athletic than anything
you would find in a Tae Kwon Do studio. For example, the emphasis
is on disabling and killing your opponent using anything you can
find, including weapons, magic, or your bare hands.” Jerica must
have seen a shadow pass over my expression when she mentioned the
words
intense
and
athletic
. She smiled. “Come on, Alisa. I’ve seen you play tennis.
You’re fast and you’re strong. I think you’d be good at
this.”

“Tennis is different,” I said. “It’s
fun. I don’t see the point in exercising just for the sake of
exercise. My mom’s always trying to get me to jog or run, but I
told her I’m not running unless a rabid dog is chasing
me.”

She let out a brief chuckle before her
expression turned serious. “There are worse things than rabid dogs.
Remember that Hunter?”

I nodded my head and
shuddered.

“Abe and I both agree you need to do
this. It’s for your own protection. Besides, there may be a time
when you’re called upon to save someone else. You’ve already saved
Jace’s life once. Don’t you want to know you have all the skills
necessary to jump to someone’s defense in the future?”

That was the clincher. If there was a
chance, however slim, that I could help anyone in the Alexander
family now or in the future, then I would do whatever I had to do.
Even if it involved movement or exercise. “Okay, Jerica,” I agreed.
“Just tell me when to start.”

Jerica’s hug made it worth it. At
least that’s what I believed at the time. When it came to the
actual training, nothing could have prepared me. It was absolutely
brutal. Abe came across as an easy going, joke cracking, black
socks with sandals wearing, middle-aged dad, but when I followed
him into his basement training studio, he was no-nonsense,
kick-butt serious. I was ready to collapse and die after an hour.
No wonder Jace put off training as long as he could. I almost felt
bad for thinking he was a lazy procrastinator.

***

Jace and I were supposed to hang out
together while his parents braved the mall on Black Friday—the day
after Thanksgiving when all the shoppers would be out in full
force. Jace was a closet nerd, unlike me, who wore my geekdom with
pride. We were going to veg out in his family room in front of the
big screen TV and watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

I figured I would find a way to bring
up the subject of Rachel at some point during the day, but I didn’t
know how. I didn’t want to ruin the day by bringing it up at the
very beginning, but I couldn’t enjoy the movies with the subject
hanging over my head. As it turned out, Jace must have been
thinking along the same lines as me, because he saved me the agony
of bringing up the topic.

“Alisa, we need to talk.” He motioned
for me to have a seat in my favorite recliner, and settled down in
the chair next to mine. “I don’t want to ruin our day, but if we
don’t talk about this, it’s going to drive me crazy.” Jace took a
deep breath. “Rachel and I have been seeing each other for a few
weeks.”

“I already know that,” I said in a
clipped voice.

“You do?” Jace asked, looking
confused. “How?”

“I may be stupid, Jace, but I’m not
dumb,” I said, my anger flowing freely now.

“That doesn’t make any sense.” He
flashed his crooked, charming smile, the smile I used to drool
over. But this time, I was too angry to be charmed.

“Well, what
does
make sense, Jace?”
I choked back tears. “Does it make sense to try to hide your
girlfriend from your best friend? You know, in a town this small,
there’s not a lot that goes unnoticed. Maybe you thought you were
being smooth and subtle, but you’re pretty obvious.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve seen you with her. The whole
school has seen you with her. Everybody is whispering about it. Are
you that oblivious?” I yelled. Jace seemed shocked by my outburst,
but looked a little angry too. A good old-fashioned screaming match
was imminent.

“You’re my best friend, Alisa, not my mother.”
Jace matched my angry, self-righteous tone. “I have a right to see
anyone I want without asking you or the rest of the town for
permission. Did it ever occur to you that maybe Rachel and I wanted
to sort out our feelings in private? That we might not want to make
a public announcement to the world?”

I was fuming now, and embarrassed for feeling
that way. “You can do whatever you want, Jace. It’s not like I
would have stopped you, but I thought I was your best friend. I’ve
told you everything about myself. Why couldn’t you have told me
this?”

“I’m sorry. I just needed some time.” He
lowered his voice and took a deep breath. “I didn’t tell you about
Rachel because I wasn’t sure how you’d react. I didn’t really get
the impression that you liked her and I wasn’t ready to ruin our
friendship over something that might not last.”