Crescent Bound (58 page)

I raise my brow as she throws the shirt back at me.  Booming from Lisa
’
s Toyota Celica
’
s
’
small
factory stereo, is
“
Dirty Dancer
.”
 

I mentally shake my head and roll my eyes, but figure I
’
m going to make the best of it.  I
start mov
ing my body to the drumming cadence,
as much as I can
,
sitting
in Lisa
’
s small front seat with a seatbelt strapped over me.  Megan scoots between ou
r bucket seats as
I unbuckle myself for a second, taking my shirt off then pull the other one on
.
I hear Megan begin singing.

Megan
’
s mesmerizing voice
flows through
the car as she moves to the slow and seducing song.  She continues, rocking her shoulders with the rhythm
of the beat
as
s
he moves closer to the front
.  She begins
run
ning
her fingers temptingly down Lisa
’
s arm
as she gets completely caught up in the song.  T
he next thi
ng I know we are all singing to the damn tune
.  You just can
’
t help yourself, it
’
s catchy and alluring.

When it ends Lisa asks over her shoulder
,
“
So, that
’
s how you get all the hunks?
”
  Megan gives
her gorgeous
smile and a wink to
confirm
Lisa
’
s comment.

“
It helps being a witch too, what can I say, we
’
re much more…um
.
”
S
he places a finger on her delicate chin as if she
’
s in deep thought.
“
Eccentric
, compared to the mundane women, wouldn
’
t you agree, Alyssa?
”
 

I clear my throat and answer,
“
Yes, but we are also more dangerous.  That
’
s why I think the next party I
’
m going to throw will only have Zaylen as our guest.
”
  Lisa glances over at me and smiles in approval.  I can only hope that sooner or later Megan will meet up with her Lifemate, and I really like them being together.  I mean the whole cat and mouse game Megan so thoroughly enjoys can
’
t last forever, can it?  Lisa looks over at me as if she caught my internal thought and actually shrugs at me.

As we drive into the main entrance of the raceway, I begin pulling my hair up in a high ponytail and scanning the parking area for our truck.  One semi holds
Dad
’
s C
orvette and my
Shelby
.

“
This place is huge,
”
Lisa says with surprise. 

“
This track is considered an international raceway, we still have to keep it on a low profile so that we don
’
t have any mundanes wandering about,
and it
’
s pretty obscure, b
ut very well known throughout the witch world.
”

Megan points to our right,
“
There I see your dad
’
s car.
”
  We park over by him.  I get out and stretch my legs,
Dad
shifts next to us. 

“
I was beginning to wonder if I was going
to
have Marc drive the
Shelby
.
”
  He gives me a half smile.  I know he
’
s teasing a bit for not being here sooner.

My dad explains the rules and regulations to
me which
are pretty close to the rules we use at our tracks.  Basically
,
we all follow the NHRA
national hot rod association
guide
lines.  He hands me a tech card to fill out and points to the office I need to take it to. 
“
Marc, David, and Dawson are inspecting your car by the pits.
”
  He
then hands
me a pen, kisses me on my forehead,
“
I
’
ll catch up with you in a few.
”
 

Lisa throws me a power bar and a bottle
of
water as I walk toward
the office.  Megan whistles to get my attention. 
“
Hey, w
e are going to check out guys.
”
  Lisa elbows her. 
“
I mean, we are going to check on
our guys
.
”
 

I nod and walk along trying to write my information down on the yellow tech card.  I soon come up to a wrought iron bench in front of a three story building.  I absently sit down to complete the form so I can turn it in. The guy in the office looks it over and peers over at me.  I guess once I meet his approval he decides I can have my car inspected.  He is about five years older than me, not bad looking,
and professionally
dressed, white button up shirt and black slacks.  No matter how intelligent you might think someone is you can still run into an ass that doesn
’
t think girls should race. 

Still in this day and time, girls don
’
t get the respect that
guys do in racing.  Well, I guess a lot of other sports are like this too.  He nods, never taking his eyes off me as
he says in a monotone voice,
 

“
Worthington
, park officials will come around and inspect your car within the next ten minutes
.  P
lease hold out
y
our wrist.
”
  I hold my wrist out to him, with one hand he grabs it and with the other he levitates a small solid bronze band around my wrist, I watch the two ends intertwine, like the ends weave themselves together completely into a
solid
wristband.  He speaks again in a
casual
tone,
“
The wristband will show the track director what your category and ranks are.
”
 

He shoves a piece
of paper at me and orders,
“
Sign here and here.
”
I watch where he marks an X indicating where to sign.  As soon as my pen leaves the sheet of paper, he snatches it away. 
“
Thank you
.
”
He
shifts out of his office chair leaving a dark grey smoke behind.
             

I turn and s
hift to the door and walk out.
Talk about making you feel all warm and fuzzy inside
, after I finish my power bar, and
take a drin
k of my water,
I feel Marc
’
s arm rest around my shoulders.  I smile.
“
Hey.
”

“
Hey yourself
.
”
He
kisses me, reminding me how much I love
being
so
close to him, it just fee
ls right
. 

He gives me his famous wicked grin
briefly
.

“
D
o you want to just f
orget the race and come with me?
I promise I can show you some things that are just better slow and more enticing, than fast and hard.
”
 

He playfully pulls my hand to walk in the other direction.  I
smile turning my head up to him.
“
As bad as I would love to
…
”
I
sigh
deeply
.
“
I know your words are so true, but…I can
’
t disa
ppoint my fans.
”
I w
ink at him
.
“
All two of them.
”
 

I move
my hips in a flirtatious manner,
“
Race you to the pits
.
”
A
nd
I
shift
away
.

Before I can fully form, Marc
’
s body is standing in front, ready to grab me. 
Oh, well. 
I
think it
never hurts a girl to
try;
Marc is getting better about shifting quicker, and moving faster, as hard as it is to imagine he is faster than me.

I peer around the corner and see the park officials making their way towards us. 

“
Whatever we need to do, make adjustments or other alterations we need to do it now.  I don
’
t want to be disqualified or knocked out of my rank.
”
 

The lead inspector is an older guy, shaved head, tattoos covering each arm.  He wears an
Abscond
Official
T-shirt and dark jeans.  He really doesn
’
t look like the kind of guy you would want to mess with.  His eyes catch my attention.  They are solid black, no whites in his eyes what-so-ever.  He shifts in front of me and extends his hand out.

“
Alyssa Worthington?
”
  I shake his hand in the
Worthington
coven way, and wait for him to either return the shake, or demonstrate a different coven, and the latter is what he does.  He shows me he is from a different coven.  He moves my hand in a manner like you would a human handshake, but then he moves forward grabbing my wrist and I his.  A white ball of bright light encircles our hands and locks us together. Temporarily
debilitating any movement
, until he breaks contact.  This coven has never explained why the ball of light happens
, but
there is a meaning for it.

The whole handshake is really cool, but I don
’
t want to focus on it too much, I just want my car to pass inspection.

He pulls
out a long check
list and a pen, and does a walk around the
Shelby
.  Marc peers over
t
o
me and winks.  We
stand
together in silence as the inspector raises a hand
,
and
glide
it over the
car meticulously
, scrutinizing every detail possible. 

He makes a few marks, grumbles a few words that not even I can understand.  Then he pulls out a white marker and writes on the window 9.03. 

A smile spreads across my face.  I almost cry right there, but keep it together for Marc
’
s sake.

  He shifts beside me again and in a deep
gruff voice,
“
Within the next hour you will be directed to the staging lanes, in the rank and time you have qualified for.
”

I wasn
’
t quite sure
, but
it
almost seems like he grins
, but then con
tinues on with the same tone,
“
When your lane is pulled you must be ready to race, seatbelts on, windows up, and lights off.  There are three categories for top speed, 7
’
s, 8
’
s, and the 9
’
s.  Since your track record shows you run 9.03 your category will be in the 9
’
s.  There are twenty cars per rank. You, Miss Worthington will be number thirty three to race.
”
  I graciously nod my head letting him know I understand and then he simply shifts away.

Chapter 37

Megan shifts next to me and hands me my bag with a disturbed look,
“
You know Alyssa, if you need to know how to properly pack, I
’
m on your speed dial, babe.
”
  She strolls away shaking her
silk
long brown hair.