The Witch Is Back (16 page)

And I wanted to believe him so completely. Yet there was part of me that was still holding back, that wouldn’t surrender to his words.

He glanced down at his hands and immediately released me, as if realizing how tightly he was holding me. “I apologize,” he said quickly as he studied my arms, presumably to inspect them for bruises. “Sometimes I hardly realize my own strength. I hope I have not harmed you?”

I looked down at myself and saw the imprints of his fingers on my skin. I rubbed my arms up and down but
didn’t notice any pain. All I noticed was a hollow sensation inside me at the prospect of the distance Sinjin was now putting between us. Although I hated to admit it, I wanted nothing more than to feel his arms around me again.

“I’m fine,” I said dismissively and then eyed the door again. I just felt overwhelmed, not sure what to think or what to feel anymore. I needed to retreat to the solitude of my little house and be alone.

“You are still leaving me then?”

I sighed. “I want some alone time,” I said, feeling exhausted. “I just need to think about all this, to make sense of it all. I’m … I’m overwhelmed.”

Sinjin nodded. “Very well. I will call on you tomorrow.”

I took a few steps forward then, and with my hand on the doorknob, glanced back at him. “Thanks,” I said and walked out.

The next day was pretty busy at the store. By the time I returned home, I found myself counting the minutes until the sun set. I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that I’d really screwed up with Sinjin the night before. It wasn’t right that I’d let my own feelings of insecurity cause me to lambaste him. It would be shocking if he wanted anything more to do with me after I’d acted like such a terrified and insecure idiot.

I just didn’t know what to make of Sinjin. Truth be told, I was still having trouble believing that he and I were in an actual relationship, that we were some sort of couple.

But you have to get over that, Jolie!
I chided myself.
And you need to apologize to Sinjin for being such a Froot Loop!

Yes, I’d made up my mind to try to fix whatever damage I’d done. As the sun started its final descent, I got dressed for the evening, deciding to put some extra attention into my hair by curling it. After spending the next ten minutes on my makeup, I emerged from my bedroom and caught my reflection in the mirror that hung over my couch. I looked halfway decent.

I was surprised by a knock at the door, but it was only the UPS man dropping off a box. I opened the door and waved hello to him as he climbed back into his truck and disappeared down the street. Glancing down, I eyed
the small rectangular box before picking it up. There was no return address.

I closed the door behind me and placed the box on my kitchen table, reaching for the scissors to open it. Inside there was another box—a white gift box. I opened it and found a small green box with fake peonies affixed to the top, a little hummingbird on top of the flowers. It was charming to say the least. Untying the purple ribbon that held the box together, I pulled off the top and glitter exploded all over my living room floor as if the contents had been under pressure.

“Dammit!” I said as I thought about the fact that I’d now have to vacuum. Needless to say, cleaning wasn’t one of my favorite occupations.

But before I had a chance to whip out the old Hoover, the glitter on the floor started moving like a mini twister on my living room carpet, hoisting the glassy specks into a whirlwind.

And then before I could take another breath, the glitter formed into the outline of a person, which gradually evolved into a hologram of Rand standing before me.

My first thought was to put the top back on the box, in the hope that it would undo everything that had just happened, but when I did Rand and the glitter remained. I was thinking of trying the vacuum on the hologram when it started speaking.

“Because you won’t let me anywhere near you, I recorded this message so that I could explain some things to you,” he began.

Even though it was just a recording and Rand wasn’t really standing in the middle of my living room, I still felt on edge. I crossed my arms against my chest and continued watching, reminding myself that I was safe.

But are you really safe?
my inner voice piped up.
Rand’s a warlock, so who’s to say you didn’t just release a spell?

Well, if I had just opened Pandora’s box, there wasn’t
much I could do about it now. And as far as I could tell, nothing of a worrisome nature was happening. I mean, I didn’t feel as if I were on the receiving end of a spell, and it wasn’t like anything threatening or dangerous had come out of the box. Instead I just focused on the hologram of Rand.

“You won’t be able to turn this off until I’ve said everything I need to say,” he continued. “It’s up to you whether or not you listen to any of it.”

“Fine,” I said, but then I realized it was ridiculous because I was essentially talking to myself.

“Jolie, you need to know the truth. There is a whole history you’re missing, a history between you and me.” He took a deep breath. “And that history is why you can feel that there is an incredible bond between us. I feel it too, and even if you don’t want to admit it to yourself, I think you know it’s real and valid.”

The visual of Rand faded and was replaced with what appeared to be images cycling in the mini twister of glitter. I took a few steps closer, not quite able to make out the dancing pictures from where I’d been standing. Once I came closer, the cyclone began to slow and a picture began to take shape, delineating itself into something I recognized. It was the inside of a mansion, the same one I’d seen in my visions of the masquerade party when I’d supposedly been contacting Rose Pierson’s boyfriend. I watched an image of myself, again dressed in the garb of a fairy, walking into a ballroom, only to be greeted by Sinjin, dressed in the costume of a vampire.

“This is how it truly happened, Jolie,” Rand narrated over the images before me. “You met Sinjin two years ago at a masquerade party held for the creatures of the Underworld.”

I shook my head, not wanting to believe a word of it. I had no memory of this, nothing that would in any way
help me believe it. It was just Rand’s artifice again, his powers of persuasion.

That image of the mansion died away, only to be replaced with one of Christa and me standing in the living room of a house I didn’t recognize.

“This is Pelham Manor, my home in Alnwick, England. You and Christa moved here with me so I could act as your protector and tutor,” Rand continued as the image of his living room died away, replaced with pictures of verdant forests and open pasture where bubbles of light frolicked in nature. “You learned from the fae, Jolie. They taught you everything you know.”

I shook my head, not understanding how any of this could be true. I didn’t even know what fae were. Fairies, I guessed.

“I know you don’t know what to think,” he continued. “That all of this sounds crazy to you and you have no memories of it.”

I seconded that. I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t want to believe it, couldn’t imagine how it could be true—and if it was true, what did that mean about Sinjin?

It means he’s been lying to you all along
, I answered myself.

How, though? You know you first met him when he had a flat tire (even if he orchestrated the flat tire) outside your store
.

“I know this is going to sound absurd, Jolie,” Rand continued. I couldn’t really imagine anything sounding more absurd than what he’d already concocted. “This is all possible because time was altered,” he finished.

“What does that mean?” I demanded, even as I realized he couldn’t hear me. I was merely talking to a projection of him. ’Course, he was a warlock, a practitioner of magic, so maybe he could hear me.

“I am certain you have questions about all of this and
I can answer all of them, Jolie. We need to meet in person.”

Well, that figured.

“I just need you to trust me, Jolie,” he continued. “Everything you think you know isn’t real. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to happen. Time was manipulated and this is the outcome.”

I still didn’t fully grasp what the hell he was talking about. What was the difference between time travel and time manipulation? Was I supposed to believe that Sinjin—or was it Rand—had stepped into a local time machine and pulled a Marty McFly on me? Not likely.

“I just hope you will be open to the possibilities, Jolie.”

The images died away then and the image of Rand returned. He seemed pensive, as if he were pondering his next words. He glanced up at me and amazingly seemed to make eye contact with me even though he was just a hologram. It was eerie and sort of spooked me out.

“I never meant to frighten you,” he said and then paused, sighing. “Nothing has worked out the way I hoped it would so far. I would never hurt you, Jolie. Please believe that.”

And then the vision blinked a few times and disappeared into the air as if it had never been. I glanced down to see that the glittery particles were also gone. All that remained was the little green box with the peonies and the hummingbird.

And as for me? I was at a complete loss. I just didn’t understand how any of this could be true, how Sinjin could have actually met me in a situation I didn’t remember, wasn’t familiar with. Or how I had apparently spent so much time with Rand, when as far as I was aware, I’d only met him a few days ago.

The answer is time travel
, a voice rang out within me.

This is ridiculous!
I thought back.
I can’t believe I’m even entertaining the possibility
.

Well, you believe in vampires, warlocks, and witches, right? What’s a little time travel then?

I shook my head.
No, I don’t believe it, I won’t believe it. Nothing that warlock said is true. Sinjin said Rand is only trying to control me, that he’s dangerous and I should stay away from him
.

And that was when I made up my mind not to put any trust in Rand.

I was agitated, nervous about the fact that Rand knew where I lived. How he’d gotten my address was anyone’s guess, but it made me feel like I wasn’t safe in my own house anymore—that any moment he could drop by in person.

Hurrying to the Jetta, I buckled up, started the car, and backed out of my garage, heading for Sinjin’s. I needed to see him, now more than ever before, needing the strength of his embrace. And, furthermore, he would know what to do.

I drove the five minutes to Sinjin’s house in silence. Well, the radio might have been on but I couldn’t say I noticed it if it was. Instead I was trying to construct an apology for Sinjin, trying to think of a way to say I knew last night had been my fault, that I’d overreacted and, consequently, been a dumb-ass.

What if he doesn’t accept your apology?
I asked myself.

I took a deep breath.
That’s a risk I’m going to run, I guess
.

At his house I didn’t bother with parallel parking on the street out front. Instead I pulled into the driveway, hoping Sinjin wasn’t planning on leaving anytime soon because I was completely blocking the garage.

Maybe he isn’t here
, I said to myself.

Well, there’s only one way to find out
.

I opened the car door and stood up, holding my head high as I steeled myself for what I was about to do.
Without waiting any longer, I closed the car door and strode up Sinjin’s walkway, not pausing as I reached for the doorbell and pressed.

There was no answer, so I rang it again.

I was convinced he wasn’t home, and had started to leave when I heard the door open. Feeling my heart in my throat, I turned to face Sinjin, my heart now racing.

“My pet?”

“I, uh, I came to tell you a few things,” I started.

Sinjin just smiled at me languidly, as if he had no idea how stunningly handsome he was in his black shirt and slacks. “Oh?” he asked.

I cleared my throat, wondering where the speech that I had planned to make had gone. It was like it was hibernating and now I had only my nerves to rely on. “Yes,” I said.

Sinjin chuckled and held the door wide. “Come in, my love, I do not like to see you shivering in the cold night air.”

I didn’t say anything but nodded and entered his house, trying to get my nerves in order.

“Come,” he said and took my hand, leading me upstairs.

“Where are we going?” I demanded, all too aware that Sinjin’s bedroom was upstairs.

“To my bedchamber,” he answered nonchalantly. “I was repairing a faulty light switch.”

I smiled at the thought of Sinjin repairing anything. He didn’t really have the essence of “handyman.”

“Okay,” I said as I followed him up the stairs and into his bedroom, my heart in my throat the entire time.

“I am pleased to see you, love,” he said. “I did not care for the way our last visit ended.”

I swallowed hard. “About that,” I started.

But then Sinjin turned his attention to me and smiled sweetly. He opened his arms and I smiled in return, falling
into them. I rested my head against his chest and toyed with the buttons on his shirtfront.