Spellbound (22 page)

“And we don’t have much time,” interjected Prudence. I stared at her and the reservation shone on her face; she had had another vision. She tracked the unspoken question on all of our faces. “Yes,” she admitted, “I have seen something. The time is short. Shorter than we know. I can tell you one thing, however. Eve is right about the Spring Equinox. Something big is going to happen then. I don’t know if it has to do with Jade and her chosen one, but we must be prepared for anything. The Spring Equinox will have great significance to us.

I thought about what Eve had said. The Spring Equinox loomed, and two weeks would go by quickly.
Will we have enough
time to prepare? Will we be strong enough by then to do what we need to
do? Can we harness and control the elements and our powers and take
over the Council successfully in only two weeks?
My head swam with all the possibilities. I swung around and peered at the women in my life now and realized it had to be enough time. Seeing Lily made me think of Logan and then Jade, and then Sully. It would be enough time, because it had to be.

Chapter Twenty-‐-Three

LOGAN

Today I had my planned breakfast date with Serena. I had thought about it all night. I had to have something on my mind to take it off all the weird goings-‐-on across the street. Even though I knew it had to be Serena and Eden and the coven sisters, it still didn’t freak me out any less. So I kept thinking about my morning with Serena. When I woke up, I walked down the stairs with all these great plans to make Serena breakfast. I had never been the greatest cook, but wasn’t it the thought that counted?
How bad can I
screw up toast and eggs?
I stopped short.
Man I can already smell them
cooking
! Then I realized, I
could
smell something cooking and it sure wasn’t my eggs. I took the last few stairs two at a time and bounded into the kitchen and spied her there. Serena stood at the kitchen counter and I noticed she had just put the finishing touches on a breakfast way better than the one I had in mind.

“Good morning, sleepy,” she said, with a big smile on her face. She spread her hands out in front of her and presented her offering.

“Wow.” I replied. “And good morning, too.” I surveyed the plates she had made. Eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns, and toast.

And glasses of orange juice. “Serena, everything looks great. How did you get in, anyway?” As soon as I said it, I knew how stupid it sounded. Check out who I had asked? She gave me that secretive grin and I knew she wouldn’t answer. I leaned over the counter to kiss her and she leaned across to meet me halfway. We kissed over the orange juice. Maybe it wasn’t the romance I envisioned, but with the crammed house across the street, I knew how lucky we were to be alone.

Serena sat next to me on another barstool and we ate the breakfast she had prepared together. I told her what I had overheard coming from their back yard last night and she filled me in with what she and the coven had accomplished. When she told me some parts of it, I swear, I stopped eating. I just sat there and looked at her. She amazed me.

“Logan, what is it?”

She didn’t know.

“I’m so in awe of you, that’s what.”

“Logan, stop it.” She blushed.

“I am.” I insisted. “On one hand, you’re my girlfriend and I’m the guy and I’m supposed to be the protector. But on the other hand, you’re turning into, like, the most powerful witch on the planet. And I know I should be jealous, or burning up with envy or something. But I’m not.” I grabbed both her hands and spun her around so she faced me. “What I am is so proud of you I could burst. What you can do is amazing. And I know, I just know, you are going to bring back our Jade and Sully, and you’re going to do it with no problem. You’re just going to…I don’t know, take care of business.” I leaned forward and kissed her again. “My bad boy, name-‐-taking, butt-‐-kickin’ baby!” And I hugged her, boyfriend-‐-

hard.

She laughed and disentangled herself.

“Okay, crazy boy. Eat your breakfast.”

We laughed and talked the rest of the way through our meal. It felt so good to be with Serena, and for a time we forgot the big issues that we were in the middle of and the ones we would be facing soon. While we were eating breakfast we could pretend we were just high school lovers, waiting for Prom and graduation, looking forward to the life we would likely share after we got out of school. We could pretend we were going to go to Dave and Tamera’s engagement party and then their wedding. We could pretend we were normal. Until, you should forgive the pun, the spell broke.

“I should get back across the street now, Logan. There’s more coven work to do. Prudence had a vision. Something big is going to happen in the next two weeks. We barely have enough time to prepare for it. Every minute counts.”

She stood to leave, and then sat back down abruptly.

“Oh.” She jerked her head up. “It seems we both need to get across the street. My sister is calling me.” She peeked at me with a smile. “In my mind. Do you hear it? You should be getting better at it by now, Logan. She’s trying to call you as well.”

“No, I don’t hear anyth—” And then, all of a sudden I did. It was faint at first, like someone was whispering in my ear. I strained to get it. Serena gave me an expectant look and I closed my eyes, so her beautiful face wouldn’t distract me. I concentrated and I could make something out. I listened intently and suddenly, I did get it.

Or, rather, I got Elizabeth. She had called out to me and Serena, asking us to come over as soon as we were done with breakfast.

Right, Serena? She asked us to come to the house as soon as we were done.

Did I pick her right?

Yes, you heard her right, Logan. Logan? Do you know what you
are doing right now?

Yeah. Confirming it. I got it right. I can talk to her in my head.

Serena looked like she was waiting for something. She didn’t speak. Wait a minute. She didn’t speak. We weren’t speaking.
But
we were talking with each other, weren’t we?
I jolted up from my chair.

We have been talking with each other, Logan. Just not the way
you’ve been used to. It seems you’ve picked up another talent
.

Holy smokes! You mean I’m reading minds now, too?

Well, mine at least.

When did this happen?

I don’t know. You may have had the ability all along and it just,
well, it woke up.

Like in sleeper-‐-mode?

Possibly. But that sounds a lot like a Russian B-‐-movie sub-‐-plot.

Sorry. It’s my only point of reference.

Are the two of you coming over here, or what? Eden would like to
speak to you.
Definitely Elizabeth I heard. And not too happy to be asking a second time.

Be right there, Elizabeth
, I told her.

Well, Logan. Nice you’re using your skills. About time.
Elizabeth didn’t even seem surprised to hear me in her head. It seemed like everyone knew I had it in me, except for me. I had to start believing more in myself. Serena clearly did. Elizabeth did. Even in the depths of my mother’s sorrow over Jade’s disappearance, my mother did. And I knew that as the only male invited into the coven of thirteen wildly powerful and yet mothering witches, they also not only believed in me, they were counting on me. I had begun to show my skill as a budding warlock. Time to step up my training. I put my arms around Serena.

“It’s time for me to train too, Serena.” I apologized for speaking. Hey, I’d been doing that a lot longer than the mindspeak thing. It came easier. “I need to get as strong as you are.” She nodded.

“I agree. Let’s talk to Eden about it. It’s time to go.” She waved her hands and the breakfast dishes were not only cleared, they were cleaned, stacked, and put away in the cupboards. The stove got wiped down and the food and condiments were put back away in the refrigerator. I blinked. I still wasn’t used to
that
. She giggled and grabbed my hand, dragging me toward the front door.

“Come on, silly. Let’s go.” Charlie, Sage and Zena followed us out and the door closed behind us as we headed across the street.

****

“You want us to do what?” I wasn’t sure I had paid attention to Eden correctly. We were in the den and Eden had just informed Serena and me that she and Elizabeth had discussed it with the coven and they thought it best if Serena and me returned to school.

Serena took my side.

“Eden, are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Yes, I am. We’ve discussed it and we do feel it’s best. In spite of everything, Logan and you cannot miss too much school and we can monitor you constantly while you are there.”

Elizabeth broke in.

“On top of that, Serena, this is a special year for you. I take responsibility for this idea as much as anyone. Prom is coming up, and parties and with everything going on, I didn’t want you to lose sight of that.”

I started to interject my fears about our safety, but Elizabeth jumped one step ahead of me on that one.

“I know you have concerns about Serena and yourself being safe away from the houses, Logan,” she eyed me, “but I have been assured that you will absolutely never be alone. I’ll resume my student teaching, so I’ll be there, and you’ll never be far from the dogs.” Charlie and Zena barked their assent. “You can be assured; I’ll keep my eyes on my little sisters.” She sounded fierce and defiant.

“How are we going to handle the whole Jade and Sully thing?” I asked Eden.

“We have been planting suggestions in Sully’s parent’s minds as well as the school officials. They in turn have been sharing the information with the school.” Elizabeth took up the explanation.

“The story is this: Jade and Sully were in a car accident with you and Serena. You were cut off by an unknown driver and went into a ditch. You two weren’t injured as bad, but that’s been the reason for your recent absence. Jade and Sully were more severely injured and remain hospitalized up north, in a rehabilitation center you can’t remember the name of because they just moved them there. You have no idea when they might be home. You only know they are improving daily.”

Serena and I exchanged looks. Wow. We were going back to school. “You know Tamera is going to start asking me to do things with her after school. She’s already started planning her wedding and before, well, all this,” Serena waved her arms around the room,

“with the Council started, she kind of asked me to be in her wedding.”

I bent toward her, surprised.

“She did?”

Serena got shy.

“Yes. Is that alright?”

“I think that’s great! You know, Dave never got around to it, the whole kidnapping thing went down so soon after we learned about the wedding, but I’m pretty sure he’ll want me to be his best man. We’ve known each other our whole lives. He’s my best friend, Serena.” I thought of something. “He might want me to plan his bachelor party.” Suddenly, I got a little excited about going back to school too.

Elizabeth put a hand on both of our shoulders. I thought she would say we couldn’t go anywhere or do anything. It took me by surprise when she didn’t.

“Eden and I thought that if you and Serena went about your business as if nothing happened, it might throw Christophe and the Council off. We’ll continue to train at night and on weekends, but most of the coven agrees, with you Serena,” she indicated her sister, “we just need to fine tune you. But, you Logan.” Now she and Eden both trained their eyes on me. “We’ve been thinking it may be time to bring you into the fold and begin some serious instruction.”

“Yes,” agreed Eden. “Especially since it appears you have begun to demonstrate some new talent.” It became apparent to me Elizabeth had shared my mindspeaking and jumping abilities, at least to a point.

“Well, I just started. It happened without me even realizing it,” I explained to Eden. Serena seemed proud of me.

“That’s usually how it works the first time,” sang out Tabitha, as she skipped into the room.

“Hey, Tabby,” I said. “Excited about going back to school?”

“No. I hate the idea of going without Jade. She made it bearable. Those other girls are so mean. If you wear the wrong thing, you are dead for the whole school year!” And with that she flounced out of the room. I watched her go and wished with all my heart that Jade would flounce out after her. As usual, Serena felt where my heart went and slipped her hand into mine. Just that small amount of contact from her spoke the words she didn’t say.

Eden and Elizabeth seemed to feel the change in the atmosphere as well.

“Logan, Prudence is sure something is coming for the Spring Equinox and that’s more than two weeks away. We’re not letting our guard down and we’re not forgetting about Jade or Sully. If anything, consider us sending you and Serena back to school a smokescreen. You two could use a little normalcy in your lives. It has been a challenging few weeks. Wouldn’t you agree?” All we could do was nod yes.

Chapter Twenty-‐-Four

LOGAN

Serena shivered, visibly nervous even before we got to the school. We hardly spoke on the drive there. She held my hand in a bruising grip.

I pulled into the parking lot and immediately spotted the old gang congregating in our spot by the wall. The group appeared strangely small without Sully’s hulking figure.

I parked farther away than usual, then leaned over and kissed Serena on the cheek. I squeezed her knee. “Showtime, baby.

Let’s go.”

We got out of my car and walked over to where our friends were standing around. Dave spotted us first. I watched him catch sight of Serena’s beautiful long hair first, then me, then both of us, walking toward them, holding hands and smiling, like we had just walked out of a storm. His mouth stopped moving mid-‐-sentence.

He pointed, and then yelled.

“Hey! Hey! Logan! Serena! Hey!” When he waved, the whole crowd responded. Dave stood there with Tamera. Patty hung nearby, with a couple of other girls I knew, but not well, and close behind them were a bunch of my baseball buddies. He suddenly thought about playing baseball. It seemed like so long ago to me. Curiously, I even missed Nicole.