Claimed by the Beast Bundle (28 page)

Chapter 10

“Oh God! Something just touched me! Crystal!” Stephanie shrieked after she jumped and splashed water all around.

“Be careful or you’re going to fall!” Crystal snapped.

Stephanie turned to face her and froze. She held her bundle of clothes overhead and left herself completely exposed above where the murky brown water covered just below the tanzanite charm dangling from her pierced belly button.

“There are fish and frogs in the water,” Crystal explained. She kept her eyes above the twin cherries capping her stretched breasts. She did it out of respect for Stephanie that the blond was not returning. Her mom called it leading by example, but she doubted her mom had ever been anywhere near a situation like this one!

“You think that’s what it is?” Stephanie asked.

Excited bits of flesh aside, Crystal knew there were turtles, snakes, and maybe a few stray gators from farther south living in the swamp. She also knew better than to remind Stephanie about the more dangerous critters. “The water’s muddy and we’re making it worse. They can’t see us and run into us. It’s not a big deal.”

“What if they bite me?”

Crystal laughed. “Would you eat a steak?”

“That’s not funny! Of course I would. And I don’t want these fish thinking of me as a buffet!”

“Would you walk up to a cow standing in a field and take a bite out of it?” Crystal asked. She almost didn’t hear Stephanie’s response over the sudden grumble in her belly.

“Of course not!”

Crystal nodded. For Stephanie, that made sense. For Hank and her friends, the answer was a lot more complicated. “Well, there you go. There’s nothing big enough down there to try to bite you. They’re scared of us.”
Unless there’s a hungry gator
, she added silently.

Stephanie turned slowly and studied the surface of the water as the tiny rings from her movement rippled outwards from her. She turned back and shuddered. “This is so gross.”

“So is smearing mud on your face and wearing slices of vegetables on your eyes, but people do it. Think of this is a whole-body facial.”

Stephanie’s eyes narrowed. “You’re kidding, right? You can’t be serious.”

Crystal shrugged and started wading again. “Clover looks pretty good.”

“Clover?” Stephanie asked while glancing around again. “I didn’t know clover grew in a swamp.”

“Clover is who were going to see.”

“What? Oh, you mean the witch?”

Crystal stopped and pointed with the arm not clutching her clothes against her side. Stephanie stepped beside her and followed her finger. “What is that? Holy shit, is that a house? It’s covered in weeds!”

Crystal rolled her eyes. “That’s Clover’s house. Be careful what you say. She’s watching us.”

Stephanie’s breath hissed through her teeth. She jerked her head around, looking all around them. “Where is she?”

Clover stepped into the doorway of her hut, lending weight to Crystal’s warning. She stood wearing the same outfit she’d worn the other day, which meant virtually nothing but some jewelry, her hair, and a primitive loincloth.

“Hi, Clover.” Crystal waved. “I, um, I brought a friend. The one you said I put a spell on.”

Stephanie gasped as Clover stepped out onto her deck and looked at the skinny cheerleader. She nodded. “Welcome, Stephanie, to my home.”

“She knows my name!” Stephanie hissed.

Crystal grinned. Clover knew her name because Crystal had talked about her. If Stephanie didn’t know that, then that was her fault. Crystal decided to have a little fun with her. “Of course she does, she’s a witch!”

“This is a really freaky dream, right? I’m going to wake up and—”

“You shouldn’t tarry,” Clover interrupted. “Dusk nears and there are things that hunt in the waters that might find the flesh of young women very tasty.”

“Fuck this!” Stephanie grunted and started wading forward.

Crystal laughed until she saw Clover wasn’t laughing with her. She glanced around while remembering a similar warning from her friends about the swamp at night. She turned and followed behind her friend, only to reach the dock as Stephanie was pulling herself up and out of the water. Crystal jerked her eyes away from the obscenely exposed cheerleader in front of her and hoped Stephanie didn’t look back to see her cheeks blushing.

“Get out of the water!” Stephanie hissed a few seconds later. “You heard her.”

“I’m coming,” Crystal mumbled and laid her clothes on the deck. She climbed up beside them and stood there wiping off the stray algae that clung to her waist and legs.

Stephanie stared at her pile of clothes and frowned. She looked at Crystal and then glanced down at herself. She gasped and bent down and then let out a squeal when she saw a leech just beneath her ankle.

“Get it off!” she shrieked and turned, hopping on the other foot.

“Stand still!” Crystal shouted at her. Stephanie was panting by the time Crystal knelt down and grabbed her foot. Stephanie yelped again and had to grab onto Crystal’s shoulder to keep from falling back into the water.

Crystal squeezed and pulled at the bloodsucker but her fingers kept sliding. She forced her fingernails into it and finally managed to rip it off. It squirmed between her fingers, trying to latch onto her. She flicked it away and let Stephanie’s leg go.

“You can let go of me now,” Crystal suggested.

“What? Oh! Sorry, I kind of liked having you on your knees.”

Crystal gasped and jumped to her feet. “Really?”

Stephanie’s cheeks were burning and her hand covered her lips. “Oh shit, I don’t believe I said that. That was such a guy thing to say!”

Clover cleared her throat, sparing them from the awkward moment. They both turned to face her but the witch’s attention was focused on Stephanie. She looked her up and down and held her hand up to indicate the blond should circle.

Stephanie spun around slowly and then stopped. “What the—who are you? Why am I—”

“I’m Clover,” she said. “You’re here because you need my help.”

“I—what?”

“She cast a spell on you,” Clover said and pointed at Crystal. “It had no direction but it was raw and very powerful. The delivery method made it part of you.”

“Delivery method?” Stephanie breathed. She turned to look at Crystal. “What is she—”

“I kissed you.”

Stephanie’s eyes widened and she raised her fingertips to her lips. She rubbed them across her lips and glanced down at the faint pink residue of lipstick left behind. Her tongue followed, moistening her lips. She turned her attention back to Clover.

“It can’t be undone,” Clover stated.

Stephanie’s head twitched and then she turned to look at Clover. “But—wait. I, um, I don’t understand. I don’t love her. I like her, but—”

“Your feelings will grow over time. The more you are away from her, the worse it will be,” Clover said.

Crystal bit her lip and watched Stephanie as she reacted to the news. She felt bad for doing it to her, especially since she didn’t know how she’d managed to cast a spell in the first place. She didn’t even think that magic was real, except for what she’d seen with her own eyes. And if her hands and feet growing hair and claws wasn’t proof of that, she didn’t know what was!

Stephanie shook her head. “This doesn’t make sense. I mean—I don’t feel different! I like Crystal, but I’ve always liked her. I—”

“You said you hated me!” Crystal interrupted.

“No.” She shook her head. “I hated that you didn’t realize how much everyone liked you. Even me. That’s why I wanted people to stop liking you so much.”

Crystal blinked a few times as she tried to understand Stephanie’s twisted logic. “That’s messed up.”

Stephanie nodded. “It is. I’m sorry.”

Clover smirked. “This change of heart is proof.”

Stephanie spun back around on her. “But I’d feel different! Wouldn’t I? I mean, I’d know something.”

“How would you know? The spell is a part of you. It’s tied into your heart. Whether the intent came from your head or from the spell doesn’t matter; it’s all a part of you now.”

“That’s messed up,” Crystal muttered. “It’s like, I don’t know, a loss of free will or something.”

“You wouldn’t do that to me,” Stephanie sputtered. “You’re too nice!”

“She would, and she did,” Clover stated.

“I—I didn’t mean to,” Crystal said. “I was frustrated and angry and dealing with a lot of things. I, um, I just wanted you to know what it felt like to want somebody to need you.”

Stephanie sucked in a deep breath and let it out. “I still can’t believe this. If that’s true, then I’m not really into girls. It’s all just something that happened to me because of you.”

“Does that upset you?” Clover asked with a tilt of her head.

“Yes! No! I don’t know.” Stephanie groaned. “I mean it should. I would have made fun of, um, me for feeling this way. The old me would have. But now I feel like it’s okay. I want to be mad, but I’m not. It just feels right. Natural. Like it’s okay. Oh God, my parents are going to be so pissed if I’m gay!”

Clover shrugged. “The heart wants what it wants. Labels are for close-minded fools.”

“Tell that to my dad,” Stephanie muttered.

“Steph, I’m really sorry,” Crystal said. “I didn’t know what I was doing. Or that I could do that kind of thing. I was—um, I was just trying to deal with some different stuff.”

Stephanie looked at Crystal and nodded. Her eyes dropped and then she looked down at herself. “Holy shit, we’re all standing here naked like it’s no big thing!”

Crystal blushed and fought the urge to cover herself with her arms like Stephanie suddenly did. She took a breath and pushed her shoulders back. This was who she was now. She was strong and powerful and feminine. If even Stephanie thought she looked good then maybe she really did. Maybe the fat girl in the mirror could stop taunting her.

Stephanie dropped her hands after a moment and let out a sad laugh. “Funny thing is, this doesn’t bother me like it should. I mean, if you’re okay with it, I guess I am too.”

“Do you require more proof?” Clover asked.

“What? Yes! I mean, I hear what you’re saying, but there’s nothing that proves it, you know? I can explain it all. I don’t see how this can be something I didn’t want or always have in me—it just feels right.”

Clover raised an eyebrow and turned her eyes to Crystal. “Crystal, kiss her again.”

Crystal took a step forward and then stopped herself. She gasped. “What? No! That’s what got this whole thing started!”

Clover smiled and nodded at Stephanie. Crystal looked at her and saw Stephanie had turned to face her and had her lips ready and her eyes closed. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times, and then let out a small mew of frustration and bit her lip. Crystal caught a fresh surge of musk in the air. Stephanie’s arousal had spiked at the promised kiss.

“Need more proof?”

“She didn’t kiss me!”

“But you want her to.”

Stephanie’s words caught in her throat. She looked back and forth between the two and her cheeks flared redder than ever. “I—I don’t know.”

“Yes you do. You want her.”

“Fuck,” Stephanie spat out. “Yes! Damn it, I do. Are you happy?”

Crystal took a step back, stunned by the power and emotion in the blond’s voice. She shook her head, not believing what was happening. What would happen to Stephanie? Crystal wasn’t going to be her girlfriend. She couldn’t be! But if Clover was right and Stephanie was going to be like this for the rest of her life, how would she live? Crystal knew there was no way she could live her entire life desperate for someone who didn’t love her back.

“I can help you,” Clover said to the cheerleader. “Teach you how to deal with the spell and make it so it won’t control or compel you.”

Crystal jerked her eyes to Clover and nodded her head. “Yes, help her!” she hissed.

Clover’s eyes never left Stephanie’s. “But there is a price.”

Crystal choked on her breath. The price again. The witch always had a price.

“Magic requires it. There are checks and balances.”

“The rule of three?” Stephanie mumbled.

“What?” Crystal asked. She was ignored.

“You know something of magic?” Clover asked with a sudden smile.

Stephanie shook her head. “Not really. Just some stuff I read when I was a kid.”

“If you would have something, you must give something. This is not the rule of three, but one of balance in the world.”

“What?” Stephanie asked. “What do I need to give you?”

Clover smiled. “You must give yourself to me.”

“Give…myself?” she wondered aloud. “Is this about sex? Because I—”

“No, this is about you. Give yourself to me, and I will teach you to be a witch.”

Stephanie stared at her for a long moment and then let out her breath. “You want me to be your apprentice?”

Clover nodded.

Crystal let out the breath she was holding and almost laughed. She’d been worried sick that Clover was going to do something terrible to Stephanie. A life for a life, Clover had told her. Except Clover only helped her live; Crystal had ultimately saved herself.