Angel Blackwood (42 page)

****

After putting the balm on my
hands and wrapping them, we sit on my bed and I tell her all about
the twins. The before, the after, I leave no detail out. If she’s
going to be around more often, I can’t have her plotting revenge on
my mates whenever I’m not looking. I let out a deep breath when I’m
done. She has watery eyes, but not one tear falls as she fans her
face blinking away the tears.

“Wow! You’ve been through some
heavy stuff, Angel,” she says, looking a little pale.

“Yeah, shit’s been hectic, but
I am where I am and I’ve met some truly awesome people along the
way.” I wink at her as a knock sounds on my door and Alex peeks her
head in.

“Heard you had
a visitor, h
oney. Can I come
in?” Alex and I still have some issues to get through, but right
now I couldn’t be mean to her, not when she’s looking so
anxious.

“Of course, Mom.” I smile,
patting the bed beside me. She gives me a huge grin and shuts the
door behind her. Sitting next to me, she leans against the
headboard and wraps an arm around my shoulders.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs
Blackwood,” Phoenix says in her usual friendly manner.

“It’s very nice to meet
you too, sweetie. Angel tells me that you’re going to teach her how
to control her magic?”

“Sure am. Angel is going to be
a brilliant wolf/witch.” Phoenix’s grin widens and my mother starts
laughing.

Once she’s recovered, her tone
turns serious. “Thank you so much for helping her, Phoenix. If you
ever need anything, you come find me and I promise to help you any
way I can my dear.”

Phoenix nods her head smiling.
“It’s no worry at all, I enjoy having a friend. Aside from spending
time with Noelle… I don’t really have any other girls to talk to.”
She looks sheepishly down at the bedding beneath her hands.

“How is Noelle?” My mom
asks.

“She’s okay. She was very
worried about Angel though. She said she is even willing to help
track down that wolf who hurt you; she knows a couple spells. If
you’re allowed, you should stop by and show her that you’re okay.
She’d love that,” Phoenix says, now looking at me.

I sit quietly, knowing my
parents won’t allow me to visit her.

“You want to go see Noelle,
Angel?” Alex looks down at me and I nod my head.

“I’d like to see her too. Let’s
go then, it’s already dark out.” Alex jumps off the bed and heads
for the door.

“Wait, what about Dad? Is he
okay with this?” I ask as I pull a sweatshirt over my top.

“He won’t be a problem. C’mon
lets go.” She smiles as she leaves the room.

“Wow! You’re mom is gorgeous,”
Phoenix says softly, still looking at the door.

I smile at that; Alex is truly
stunning.

“Come on. Let’s go before we
run into any of the boys.” I pull at her hand dragging her behind
me.

****

Alex decides to take us in her
car. We’re not even on the dust road yet and she is already
battling to go further.

“I completely forgot about the
spell to keep the wolves away. Shit, Mom are you okay?” I pull off
my seat belt and lean over to see if she’s okay just as Alex pulls
onto the dust road that leads towards the witches camp.

Alex covers her ears with her
hands as she scrunches up her face. “I don’t think I can go
further,” she forces out.

“Wait! Here, Alex. I’ve got
something to help… jeepers this bag is fill of rubbish. Here… take
this.” She hands me this little vial with purple liquid in.

I look at it, then back at her.
“What is it?”

“It’s a sort of potion. It will
allow her to enter the camp without the spell affecting her. I’m
not sure how long it will last though. I’ve been experimenting with
the potion and its ingredients for some time, but if all my
calculations are correct, it should at least last for a couple
hours.”

My mother snatches it from my
hand and downs the liquid.

“Mom! What the hell?” I gape.
She leans her head back against the head rest and closes her eyes,
eventually her frown disappearing.

“You said Phoenix was a
brilliant witch. I’m sure she knows what she’s doing. I have no
reason to worry, right Phoenix?” My mother says, keeping her eyes
closed and head rested.

I look back to see why Phoenix
hasn’t said anything. I find her staring at my mother wide
eyed.

“Right, Phoenix?” I repeat.

“Uh… yeah.” She shakes her
head. “I mean, I haven’t had a wolf to test it on yet, but… by the
looks of it, it’s working.” Then a big smile forms on her lips.

“It’s working! I figured it
out!” She claps her hands and starts giggling.

“Hold up. What are you talking
about?” I reach out and grab her hand to make her stop jumping up
and down.

“The potion. Only the elders
know how to make it. The less people that know about it, the
better. No offense, but witches don’t want it to get into the wrong
hands. The spell to keep wolves away is the strongest and only
affective spell we have against wolves. Knowing the spell works at
keeping wolves out of our camp allows us to sleep at night without
worrying about our safety.” All of a sudden she goes quiet. She
looks out of the windows and then back to me and Alex; all I see is
fear.

Quietly she says, “You can’t
tell anyone about this. If the wrong wolves find out that I’m the
one who knows how to get wolves into the camp, they’ll use it
against me.” She covers her face with her hands and starts shaking
her head as she mutters, “I’m so silly. Why did I have to
know.”

Alex, fully composed now,
reaches into the back seat and places her hands on Phoenix’s
shoulders.

“No one will know and no one
will ever harm you. You have my word, Phoenix.”

Phoenix looks up and nods,
giving my mother a small smile.

Alex climbs back into her seat
and starts the car.

“Phoenix, how long have kept
that vial in your bag? why are you walking around with it?” I
ask.

“Oh… uh well… I’ve been working
on a potion since before I even met you. I just… I didn’t know if
your friend Nixon would need to come with you to the camp again. I
just kept it with me as a precautionary measure. You never know
when someone might need it,” she says. Her voice is weak and I bet
if I looked back I’d find her blushing. My wolf can sense her
nervousness. I look up to see Alex smiling, she can sense it
too.

Phoenix has a crush on Nixon.
Moreover, with the way Nixon always asks questions about her, I
think the feeling may just be mutual.

Chapter 2
3

We enter the camp the way I
usually do, over the wall by the big tree. I keep a close eye on
Alex, worried about the potion wearing off.

“This way.” We follow Phoenix
as she quietly sneaks between two cottages and toward Noelle’s back
door.

Noelle is sitting at the
kitchen counter with a glass of wine and magazine. When she hears
us coming through the door, she quickly stands up. Her confused
eyes find Alex’s, then she finds mine and she rushes over to me,
pulling me in for a hug. I stumble a bit on my feet, not really
anticipating the embrace.

“Thank God you’re okay,
sweetie.” She moves and looks my body over, her hands finding my
bandaged ones.

“Come, sit down here and let me
have a look at what Phoenix did.” She gestures for me to sit on the
stool by the counter and I do. I look behind to see Alex standing
stiffly by the back door, a desolate look on her face as she sees
the way Noelle is mothering me.

Noelle turns to look at
Alex.

“Alex, have a seat. I’ll pour
you a glass of wine. Looks like you need one.” Noelle gives a small
laugh and moves toward the cabinet. Alex’s stance immediately
relaxes and a small smile spreads across her face as she makes her
way towards where I sit. “I think I need more than one,” she
laughs.

“How you feeling, hun?”
Alex says, running her hand through the back of my hair.

“I’m okay. Much better than
yesterday,” I say truthfully. I look to see where Phoenix has
disappeared to and see her heading toward her bedroom.

I turn my head when I hear the
sound of glasses being placed on the counter. I take a sip of the
soda Noelle pours me then start removing the bandages on my
hands.

“Here, let me help you.” Noelle
starts rolling the bandage neatly. Once the bandages are gone and
with only the sticky balm Phoenix rubbed on remaining, both Alex
and I are left staring in disbelief.

“It’s almost healed,” Alex
says.

Noelle smiles as she unwraps
the other hand, “Phoenix is quite magnificent, she’s particularly
magnificent with her healing balms and potions. That is how you
managed to bypass the spell we cast for wolves Alex; Phee had to
have helped you.”

Neither Alex or I say anything.
Noelle continues to wipe away the residue of the sticky balm until
my hands are clean and only little scratches are left.

“Thanks, Noelle,” I say,
rubbing my hands together.

“My pleasure, Angel. I promise
we will find the monster that did this to you. I will help you in
anyway I can.” She smiles as she hugs me once more.

I can feel unremitting tension
in the kitchen, so I decide to go in search of Phoenix; clearly
Noelle and Alex have a lot to discuss.

I head towards her bedroom,
passing Fabian’s on the way, it’s empty… Obviously. He would have
definitely made his presence known if he was around.

“Phee, what are you doing?” I
walk into her room and can’t help but smile. It’s colourful with
little fairy lights taking up her entire ceiling and the wall
behind her bed covered with little colourful butterflies. It’s
totally surreal with a real comforting feel.

“Just writing a note in my
diary,” she says quietly. I take a seat on her bed and look up at
the lights that cover her ceiling.

“I love your room,” I mutter,
looking over the butterflies.

I hear her shuffling and then
the sound of her chair scraping against the floor. “Thanks, Noelle
helped me with everything when I moved in here,” she says happily,
seemingly back to her normal self.

“Where’s Fabian?” I ask.

She shrugs, not looking so
cheerful anymore. “He’s probably out with his friends,” she
sighs.

I can’t help but notice the
stiffness in her shoulders as she forces the shrug.

We sit quietly for a moment and
the silence it pretty awkward; especially because Phoenix is always
rambling on about something or other. “So… are you gonna tell me
what’s bothering you?”

She immediately drops down on
the bed next to me and covers her face. “When Nixon called and told
me about what happened to you, I was so scared and worried about
you. Fabian was there when I got the call and he went all cave man
like he usually does when another man is involved; it’s even worse
that the man is a wolf. Anyways, I told Nixon I was coming to him,
but Fabian ripped my phone out of my hand and told Nixon that I
wasn’t. I was so mad at Fabian, he thinks he owns me like I’m some
little girl that needs protecting…” She runs her hands through her
hair as she lays on the bed staring at the ceiling. She lets out a
deep breath then continues, “I was shouting at him. I’ve never been
so harsh to anybody in my life. I said such horrible things, Angel…
I was so mean to him.”

“I’m sure he knew that your
anger was because you were worried about me. He’s probably already
over it, Phee,” I say softly.

She sits up abruptly. “No,
that’s not what I’m concerned about. He… he kissed me, Angel. I was
yelling at him and he just grabbed me and kissed me.” The girl
stares at me wide eyed.

I can’t help the laugh that
leaves my lips. Phoenix flops back down on the bed groaning as she
covers her face.

I laugh harder, “Maybe it was
just to shut you up… coz’ when you get going girl… you don’t
realize how hard it is to get you to stop.”

She stands up, starts pacing
and then looks toward her door before stepping closer and
whispering, “But he used his tongue.”

I laugh so hard, I feel the
tears running down my face. I hold my ribs and make sure not to pee
myself as I try to find my breath again. I haven’t laughed like
that for such a long time. I think the last time I laughed this
hard was when I was with Ronny and I had just pushed Chelsea’s face
into one of the lockers in the girls gym room at School. I’m just
about to thank Phee for making me laugh again when I hear Fabian’s
loud voice.

“What’s with all the cackling.
I could hear you from over the fuckin’ wall,” he says, leaning
against the door frame. I look at Phee, she’s trying desperately to
avoid his eyes as she starts looking through a book that’s sat on
her table; I can sense her uncomfortable she feels in his
presence.

I look to Fabian who’s now
watching Phee’s every movement.

“Didn’t even hear you come in?”
As I say the words I remember that my mother is sitting with Noelle
in the kitchen. If Fabian came through the front door, he would
have had to have seen my mother; his hatred for wolves is so
strong, he would have definitely caused a commotion.

He drops his head and runs his
hands over the back of his neck. As if ignoring the question won’t
make me ask it again.

Whatever,
d
ouchebag!

“Oh okay. Sneaking in I see.
What? Is it past your bedtime?” I smirk as he whips his head
up.

“Shut it, wolf!” He makes
a move to leave, but I reach out and grab his arm. His body
immediately turns rigid; I need to keep him from finding my
mother.

He snatches his hand from mine
and then lifts it as if he’s about to hit me, but I stand my ground
staring him dead in the eye.

“Fabian! Don’t you dare hurt
her!” Phoenix scolds. Fabian immediately drops his hands and looks
at her remorsefully.