Blood Rush (The Lost Witch Trilogy #2) (17 page)

Zane scooted closer and turned her face back to his. “Why Sarah? Why couldn’t you handle it?” he asked quietly.

Sarah opened her eyes as his silver eyes seemed to pierce her. “You know why Zane.”

Zane’s eyes darkened and his hands moved to her shoulders, filling her body with warmth and energy. “
Say it.”

Sarah swallowed and shook her head. “You wouldn’t believe me if I did. You’re right about everything. I didn’t fight for you. I don’t have the right to say it.”

Zane’s face softened and he reached up to push her hair away from her face. “Tell me,” he insisted.

Sarah closed her eyes and whispered what she’d been trying so hard to deny. “I love you.”

Zane’s hands glided down her arms to her waist. Before she knew it, she was sitting in Zane’s lap and his arms were tightly around her with hers snaking around his neck. In her mind she heard the word,
Finally
.

Zane kissed her gently, filling her heart with kind, giving love.

She pulled back and stared into his eyes, gleaming brightly at her. “Finally what?”

Zane laughed with a shake of his head. “You finally feel the same way about me that I do about you.
That
finally.”

Sarah’s eyes softened and a slow smile enveloped her face, making her eyes glow. She reached up and touched his face, running her hands over his eyebrows, his cheeks and his mouth, trying to memorize his face. It had seemed like an eternity since she had touched him, since he had been hers. Which reminded her.
Charlie.
Her hands lowered and her smile faded.

“What about Charlie?” she asked, and tried to move off of Zane’s lap.

Zane shook his head and kept his arms around her. “You’re staying right where you are. You know your dad and grandma wanted me to stick close to Charlie to figure her out. That’s all it was, an investigation.”

Sarah’s eyes narrowed at him suspiciously. “It looked like a really close, in depth kind of investigation to me. How close did you get to her?” she asked with a frown.

Zane grinned at her expression and moved a lock of red hair behind her ear. “Not as close as you were led to believe. She had me bewitched that first day, but after that, I was the one in control. Whenever she insisted on going over to the house, she would all of a sudden get really tired and need a nap. She would wake up very refreshed and relaxed. She’s made a lot of assumptions,” he said, clearing his throat.

Sarah looked away, still frowning. “Well, she’s not going to like you being my body guard. And everyone knows I’ve been seeing Lash. This isn’t going to work,” she said worriedly.

Zane let her move off his lap and watched her silently as she moved to lean up against the counter. “We’re all going to be one big happy group of friends. At least that’s what your dad said. That includes Lash. Your grandmother wants us to keep an eye on Charlie too. Everyone’s on their way over to talk to her right now. They’re going to fill her in on her dad and warn her about him.”

Sarah looked down at her feet and felt tired again. “I guess they have to. Francis kind of threw her under the bus yesterday. She told Charles he had a daughter and he was really surprised. He might even forget about me for a while and focus on her.”

Zane leaned back in his chair and leaned his head back in his hands. “Not likely Sarah. Now, he’s just going to want to take you both.”

Sarah sighed and walked around to the fridge, opening it up and grabbing a Coke. “Great,” she said irritably, flipped the tab open and took a sip.

Zane gave her a half smile and stood up and stretched. Sarah noticed how his shirt stretched over his chest and felt a spark of energy slip down her hands. Zane was the most beautiful man in the world to her. The way he moved, the way he looked, his heart. He was everything. Sarah closed her eyes and looked away. Zane lowered his arms and grinned at her.

“You didn’t forget I can sense your thoughts, did you?” he said, walking slowly towards her.

Sarah blushed even brighter and moved so the counter was between them. “I might have.
Why?
What was I thinking?” she asked.

He walked towards her and she moved back. “It’s not something I can put into words because you didn’t. All I could do was sense your feelings. Or, more to the point, what you were wanting.”

Sarah felt her back come in contact with the fridge and she stopped moving as Zane was standing right in front of her and there was no where she could go. “I can’t remember what I was thinking about,” she said, teasing him.

Zane grinned and leaned towards her. “Let me remind you then,” he said and kissed her.

Sarah sighed happily as she was pulled into his arms. She felt her power immediately jump at the contact and flow around Zane pulling him in and enveloping him. She loved kissing him. It was exciting, powerful and soothing at the same time.

Zane pulled back and looked down into her face with a small smile. “I love kissing you too,” he said.

Sarah blinked in surprise. “Wow. You’re getting really good at reading minds.”

Zane nodded and reached up to trace her cheekbone with his finger. “When I’m with you or around you my power multiplies. Your grandmother has a few theories about it, but she hasn’t shared any with me. She has been training me, helping me to hone my skills, just like she does with you.”

Sarah nodded and sighed as she leaned her head against Zane’s chest and snuggled in closer. She knew she’d never take this closeness for granted again. She felt Zane run a hand over her hair and felt a little fissure of anger run through him.

“What is it?” she asked, not lifting her head.

Zane sighed and let his hand fall away from her hair. “Every time I see these light streaks in your hair it makes me crazy. I can’t help wondering what Lash did to put these here. And then I want to punch something.
Hard
.”

Sarah pulled back in surprise and stared up at Zane’s face. He looked cold, mean and incredibly jealous.

“Lash had nothing to do with my hair Zane. My hair changed the day you dumped me for Charlie. I was out by the ocean and felt like dying. I was furious and in pain so I started running so fast that I flew. I mean, I was
really
flying. But even that wasn’t enough. I had too much pain and anger in my system so I threw the water up like my Grandmother did and I think that’s what changed my hair. It had nothing to do with Lash and everything to do with you.”

Zane’s face relaxed slowly and his eyes softened as his arms tightened around her again. “I’m so sorry I hurt you Sarah. But I have to admit, I’m glad Lash doesn’t get credit for this.”

Sarah pushed out of his arms and shook her head at him. “Let’s drop it.”

Zane studied her and shook his head. “Not yet. Lash has all that black hair and none of it has changed. Why does your power go crazy when you kiss me? It flows into me and bleaches my hair. It gives me a power surge and I can do anything after kissing you. If I wanted to fly, I could. I’m like you’re very own rechargeable battery. So what’s the deal with Lash? Why is his hair the same?”

Sarah leaned up against the counter and grabbed her pop can again, taking a sip. “I never really analyzed it or anything, but it’s just different when he kisses me. When I kiss you, like what just happened, my power is triggered and wraps around you. My power doesn’t do that with Lash. It’s just, you know, a regular kiss. No energy. No power wrap. No bleaching,” she said, her mouth quirking on the side a she studied all the blond highlights running through Zane’s light golden brown hair.

Zane grinned at her, his eyes glowing a bright, hot silver. “So this whole Lash situation . . . is your trial period really over? Are you done trying to kiss all of his hurts away and trying to make it all better?” he asked, his grin fading and his eyes watching her closely.

Sarah’s smile faded too as she thought about what Zane had just said. Had she been trying to kiss it and make it all better? She sighed and looked down at her feet, feeling rotten all over again.

“Everything’s all over with Lash. I don’t even know if I want to be his friend anymore to be honest.”

Zane looked away and shoved his hands in his front pockets. “So does that mean I get all of your heart now? I’m kind of tired of sharing.”

Sarah winced and walked up to Zane, leaning up against his chest and wrapping her arms around his back, while his hands stayed in his pockets.

“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry I didn’t fight for you. I’m sorry I let myself be pressured into being with Lash. I’m sorry for not giving you my whole heart from the very beginning. I’m sorry for every kiss he had that should have been yours. You have all of my heart. Every last piece. Please forgive me?”

Zane sighed and looked away. “You really hurt me Sarah. I’m not going to lie. I’ve never experienced pain like that before. Seeing you day after day with Lash, holding hands in the hallway or kissing in the parking lot. You don’t know how tempted I was to beat the living crap out of him. But I was just as furious with you too.”

Sarah closed her eyes in pain and rubbed Zane’s back. “I know what you mean. Every time I saw you with Charlie especially if she was touching you, I could have fried half the state of Maine.”

Zane sighed and took his hands out of his pockets, giving in to Sarah’s hug. “For the sake of Maine, we should probably agree to exclusively date each other.”

Sarah laughed and leaned up on her tip toes to kiss him quickly on the lips. “I think we better. Will you Zane, take me Sarah, to be your one and only girlfriend no matter how many hot blonds try to bewitch you?” she asked with her right eyebrow raised.

Zane laughed and shook his head. “I do. And will you Sarah, take me Zane as your one and only boyfriend, no matter who hurts Lash’s feelings or how hard he begs?”

Sarah laughed and held out her hand. Zane took her hand in his and they shook on it. And then without planning it, they both said at the same time, “Till death do us part.”

Sarah’s and Zane’s smiles immediately disappeared and all the joking and laughing faded. Sarah flung herself into Zane’s arms and Zane held on tightly, staring out the window at the ocean.

“I won’t let him get you Sarah. I promise you that,” Zane swore.

Sarah held on tighter. “It’s not me I’m worried about. You’re the one who’s always getting drugged or bewitched. He’ll kill you if you get in his way,” she said, her voice trembling and her heart racing at the thought of losing him forever.

Zane pushed her back and shook her lightly, staring down into her eyes. “Trust me Sarah. I swear you and I will be together. I won’t let him hurt us.”

Sarah felt a tear streak down her cheek but nodded. “I believe you,” she whispered, allowing her faith in Zane to join together with her power and wrap around them both.

Zane stared over her head at the ocean, his eyes glowing with determination. He felt Sarah’s faith and power merge with his and knew he was her only hope.

Chapter 14 - Tracking

Sarah and Zane hung around the kitchen for a while but got bored and checked out her grandmother’s DVD collection. Most of the movies were black and white and none were made after the year 1970. So they decided to bundle up and take some hot chocolate up on the widow’s walk so they could watch the boats.

Sarah grinned at how cute Zane was in his hat and scarf. Even though life had twisted out of control again, the fact that she and Zane were together, centered her so much that even the threat of Charles wanting to do anything to get to her couldn’t depress her too much.

Zane stood behind Sarah, hugging her from behind as they watched the shrimp boats. Sarah leaned back and was surprised at how good it felt to be wrapped not just in Zane’s arms, but the power hug he automatically gave her. She knew now that his power wrapping around her, gave her strength, peace and calm along with an extra boost to whatever she naturally had.

“There has to be a motive Zane. Why does Charles want me so much? There are many witches throughout the world and I’m positive there are tons of witches out there more powerful than me. So why all this effort and drama?”

Zane leaned down and nuzzled her ear before answering. “I overheard a conversation between my mom and your dad one time. Your dad thinks it has something to do with an old rivalry between him and Charles. They walked away and I couldn’t hear the rest. But last night after I came downstairs after getting you to sleep, everyone was talking and they didn’t care who heard. Your grandmother was practically vibrating she was so upset. She thinks now that Charles has seen you, that whatever motive he had is gone. She thinks he wants you now in a um,
different
way. Your dad is furious. I would not want to be Charles right now.”

Sarah slowly turned around in his arms and stared up at him, feeling newly horrified. “You’re not saying what I think you’re saying, are you?”

Zane looked uncomfortable and disgusted. “I wish I wasn’t, but I am. Francis says she saw Charles’s face change as he watched you yesterday. She thinks he’s too intrigued to break you. She also says that he’s twice as dangerous now because of it. He’s gone from determined to obsessed. That’s why she threw out the fact that he has a daughter to him. She thinks now that he knows, it might divide his attention. She was trying to save your life but she might have thrown Charlie to the wolves,” he said, his eyes looking worried at the thought.

Sarah stepped back and looked away as a cold breeze caught her hair and sent it spinning out. “You’ve come to care about Charlie, haven’t you?” she asked quietly, leaning up against the wooden railing and looking down at the beach. Anywhere but at Zane.

Zane joined her at the railing, his hip touching hers. “Yeah, it’s hard not to. It’s given me a little insight into your relationship with Lash to be honest. She’s had a really tough life Sarah. No parents. Six different foster homes. No real friends or family. She kind of breaks my heart.”

Sarah sighed and closed her eyes as she breathed in deep, letting some of her worries go.