The Promise (The Coven Series) (23 page)

“I
will.”

He
turned to face me, his eyes hard.
 
“You’re almost eighteen, CJ.
 
I
swear I am going to do everything I can to protect you.
No
matter what.”

“The curse?”
 
I knew
it had something to do with my eighteenth birthday.
 
I just didn’t know what.
 
It was driving me insane not knowing.

He
sighed.

He
couldn’t say a single word.
 

“So,
don’t you think we should get back to teaching you about the Elements?” He
tried to sound as carefree as before, but didn’t quite manage.
 
“You need to know as much as you can.”

“I
promise to pay attention.”

“Even
if I sound like Mr. Herndon?” he smiled half-heartedly.

“Even if.”

He
went back to tapping the ruler and I tried in vain to concentrate.

It
was a hell of a mess.
 

Chapter Eighteen

Ethan
was waiting on my front porch.
 
His eyes
narrowed when they zeroed in on Jeff and me coming up the lane.
 
He denied being jealous, but he so was.
 
I smiled.
 
Jeff snorted.
 

“See
ya, Neighbor Boy.”
 
I left Jeff at the
gate to his house and continued on until I stood on the bottom step of my
porch.
 
I craned my neck to look up into
his smoky gray eyes.
 
They were flashing
with fire.

“Are
you going to explain to me why I keep finding you with that boy every time I
see you?” Ethan growled.
 

“Not
until you start explaining things to me.”
 
I tried to go up the steps and around him, but he caught my arm.
 
He frowned at the bag I held.
 
“Birthday present,” I shrugged in
answer.
 

“From Neighbor Boy?”

“Yup.”

Before
I realized what he was doing, he took the tiny cloth bag and emptied its
contents into his hand.
 
He nearly
choked.
 
“You can’t keep this!”

“The
hell I can’t.”
 
I snatched my necklace
and its velvety bag from him.
 
“It was a
gift.
 
You seem to forget I really don’t
like it when people try and tell me what to do.
 
You don’t own me, Ethan.”

“Cassie,
you’re my girlfriend,” he hissed.
 
“You’re not supposed to accept gifts from other guys.”

“Jeff
is my friend and I’ve known him since I was born.
 
He isn’t just some other boy.”

“You’re
damn
right,
he’s not just some other boy.
 
He’s in love with you.”

“I
know.”
 
Ethan sounded like an ass, but I
didn’t get mad.
 
He was so jealous he
couldn’t see straight and I loved it.

“You
know?” His eyes widened in shock.
 
Then
they narrowed angrily.

I
nodded.
 
“We sorta talked about it
today.”

Gray
eyes locked onto mine.
 
“And?”

“And
I explained to him that I have a boyfriend that I love with all my heart.”

He
went still.
 
He’d told me he loved me,
but I’d never said the words back to him.

“Oh…huh.”
 
He scuffed
his shoe on the step.
 

That
was his response to my declaration of love?
 
He was a guy, I reminded myself.
 
Did I really expect him to melt at my feet the way I had him?
 
Yeah, but I knew better.
 
Guys just didn’t have the same emotional
level girls did.
 
Lucky
them.

“And
I’m not giving this back.”
 
I shook the
bag at him.
 
“I have wanted a necklace
just like this since I saw it in Titanic years ago.
 
Jeff remembered that and had it made for me.”

Ethan’s
lips pursed, but he nodded.
 
Smart boy.

“What
are you doing here anyway?” I asked.
 
“You said you’d be busy all day.”

“I
came to tell you I have to leave for a bit.
 
I need to go home for a couple days.”

He
was leaving?
 
“You’ll be back for my
birthday, right?”

He
smiled that lazy smile full of devilment that drove me to distraction.
 
“There is nothing in this world or the next,
Cassie Jayne
Bishop, that
could keep me away on your
birthday.”

What
an odd way to phrase it.
 
Ethan said some
of the strangest things to me at times, but I really didn’t care.
 
At least not just then.
 
He’d be back for my birthday.
 
That’s all that mattered.
 
“I’ll miss you.”

He
smiled and pulled me to the porch swing.
 
I snuggled into him.
 
I loved the
feel of his arms wrapped around me.
 
He
made me feel safe when he held me like this.
 
I could forget my doubts, forget he was lying to me,
forget
everything.
 
Mr. Melt
In
Your Mouth Gorgeous pulled me into his lap, turned so that he was stretched out
on the swing, and I settled into him.
 
His chest cushioned my head and he stroked my hair in long, gentle
glides.
 
His legs wrapped around mine and
I was content to just lay and listen to the pounding of his heart in my
ear.
 
I’m not sure how long we stayed
like that, enjoying the peace and contentment that filled us.
 
It could have been minutes or hours.
 
I really did lose all sense of reality around
my M&M.

“Thank
you,” he whispered.

“For what?”

“For
telling me you loved me.”

“You’re
welcome.”

“I
know you probably think it’s too soon to feel like this,” he told me
softly.
 
“There was a time when people
were simpler and didn’t over think things.
 
They took time to appreciate what was in front of them and trusted their
instincts.
 
I knew you were important to
me the moment I saw you dragging Kay from the bonfire.
 
The more time I spent with you, the more I
knew you were the missing piece of my heart.
 
It’s had a hole for a long time and you filled it, soothed the
hurt,
and I don’t know what I’d do without you.
 
I love you, Cassie Jayne Bishop.
 
Never doubt that…no matter what might
happen.”

A
part of me cringed at his words.
 
He knew
what was going to happen, but wouldn’t tell me.
 
I hated that.
 
The other part of
me didn’t
care,
it only heard the love in his voice
and felt it as it wrapped me in a blanket of warmth.
 
He loved me and that’s all that mattered.

“I
love you too, Ethan Matthew Warren.”

“So
I don’t have to worry about strangling Jeff and dumping his body in the woods
when I get back?” he teased.

I
laughed.
 
“No, but you might have to
worry about me strangling you if you don’t get back in time for my birthday.”

He
chuckled and I felt his body relax even more.
 
“The old ding bat is staring at us from her window.”

I
turned my head to stare across the lane.
 
Ethan was right.
 
She was watching
us from her living room window.
 
Nosy old biddy.
 
“Hmm….should we give her something to gossip about then?”

“My,
my, Miss Bishop, you have turned into a wanton little thing haven’t you?”
 
He grasped my arms and pulled me up until I
could stare down into his face.
 
“Are we
having indecent thoughts again?”

“
Mmmhmm
.”
 
I leaned down and barely pressed my lips to
his.
 
“You do always accuse me of trying
to start something in public places, Mr. Warren.”

“That’s
because you do, Cassie Jayne,” he whispered as his hand cupped the back of my
neck and pulled me to him.
 
His lips
crushed mine.
 
An inferno started in the
pit of my stomach and the blaze spread outward.
 
The fire licked my limbs as it raced to consume my very being.
 
I whimpered when he tore his lips away, but
gasped as they wove a fiery trail down my neck and burrowed under my coat to my
shoulder.
 

“Cassie
Jayne Bishop.”

I
shot up so fast, I nearly fell.
 
Ethan’s
strong hands caught me before I could.
 
My father stood glaring down at us.
 

Oh,
Damn.
 
Oh, Damn.
 
Oh, Damn.
 
My eyes widened in shock and horror.
 
I was mortified.
 
My father had
caught me making out with my boyfriend.
 
He looked ready to tear Ethan apart on the spot.
 

“In the house.
 
Now.”

“Dad…”

“I
don’t want to hear it, CJ.”
 
Golden eyes
blazed with fury at both of us.
 

“That’s
okay, Cassie.”
 
Ethan stood up.
 
“I need to get on the road anyway.”
 
He tempted fate and gave me a quick kiss
before tweaking my nose.
 
“Behave.”

Dad growled, hands fisted.
 
He really didn’t like Ethan.

“Mr.
Bishop,” Ethan nodded and very carefully stepped around him before continuing
on down the lane.

“Did
you have to do that, Dad?” I demanded.
 
I
resented him for making Ethan leave.
 
He’d be gone for days as it was, and this was the last time I’d get to
see him for who knows how long.
 

“Stay
away from him, CJ,” Dad bit out.
 
“He’s
not who you think he is.”

“Then
who is he, Dad?” I demanded.
 

He
snarled and stomped into the house.
 
Oh,
no he did not.

“Daddy!”
 
I yelled and
followed him.
 
I caught him in the
kitchen.
 

“Leave
it be, CJ.”

“No,
I won’t leave it be.
 
Who is he,
Dad?
 
What do you know that I don’t?
 
Is it about the curse?”

The
glass he held fell to the floor and shattered.
 
“How the hell do you know about that?”

“Does
it matter?
 
The point is I do, but only
enough to drive me crazy.
 
Will you tell
me the truth?
 
Will you tell me about the
curse and what it has to do with me?”
 

His
hands shook.
 
The broom he used to sweep
up the glass fragments vibrated with his tremors.
 
“I can’t, CJ.”

“Is
it a binding spell?
 
You were the Coven
Master, Daddy.
 
You have to know how to
break a binding spell.”

“It
was a blood oath I took, CJ.
 
You can’t
unbind that.”

I
didn’t know what that was.
 
I hadn’t come
across it in any of the books Jeff gave me.
 
Instead I focused on the one question that had been haunting me since my
eavesdropping escapade.

“Did
you steal the Book then, Dad?”

“No,”
he shook his head.
 
“I should have,
though.
 
I should have destroyed that
book long ago.”

A
wave of black rage swept through me.
 
Destroy the Book?
 
Destroy my
Book?
 

“No
one will ever destroy my Book.”

He
looked at me sharply.
 
“Your
book?”

“It’s
mine,” I snarled.
 
“Whoever shall try and
take it from me will suffer my wrath.”

His
eyes went round.
 
“CJ,
honey, why don’t you sit down?”

“Where
is it?” I demanded.
 
“Where did you put
it?”

“I
don’t have it, honey.
 
I swear it upon my
oath as Coven Master.
 
I didn’t touch
it.”

The
rage drained out of me as suddenly as it came.
 
I fell into the chair.
 
What was
going on?
 
“Daddy, what’s happening to
me?
 
I don’t understand.
 
I’ve never even seen that Book, but
I…it…what’s wrong with me?”

“Shh,
honey,
it’s
okay,” he soothed.
 
“Why don’t you try and get some sleep?
 
You look tired.”
 
He muttered something and my eyes became
heavy.
 
I needed sleep.
 
It overrode everything else.
 
I was so tired.
 
I blinked.
 
What had we been talking about?
 
My eyes fluttered.
 
Sleep.