White Witch (9 page)

“Paige?”

“Yes.”

I feel her anxiety from five feet away and hope Eric doesn’t crush her. I’ll be forced to make good on the tossing him off a mountaintop threat.

“Wow, you look
 . . .
great.” He gives her a lopsided smile, and Paige looks like she might melt in response.

When I shift my attention to Keller and see him staring at me with totally unmasked appreciation, I understand how Paige feels.

“Come on, people,” Toni says as she climbs into the truck. “Let’s cut the googly eyes and hit the road before my mother decides you all are a bad influence and locks me in my room.”

Keller smiles at me. “You look nice.”

There will be enough nervous energy riding in the Tundra tonight to fuel a nuclear reactor.

As soon as Keller pulls away from the curb, his cell rings. When he glances at the caller ID, he sighs, looks like he might not answer, then hits the Send button.

“Hey, Dad.”

My blood chills at the thought of even Rev. Dawes’ voice being that close to me. I listen but can’t make out the words on the other end of the call.

“Now’s not a good time. I’m driving.” Keller pauses while his dad says something else. I notice his hand squeeze the steering wheel harder. “I’ll do it later.”

Do what later? Go hunting? Or get rid of me? Am I unknowingly riding into a trap? Have I misjudged my new friends? Could they all be in this together?

Stop it.

I manage to rein in my paranoia. Rev. Dawes probably just wanted Keller to patrol or take out some troublesome spirit. After all, the covens have been very good at concealing their true natures for hundreds of years. Despite my slips, I’ve done nothing that would suddenly allow Keller and his father to figure out the entirety of my real identity.

I resist the urge to ask if everything is okay. It’s not like he’s going to tell me the truth anyway. I’m not supposed to know what he is or how he usually spends his evenings, am I?

But the quiet that has settled in the truck, particularly the front, keeps me tense as Keller maneuvers the truck through the night. I only relax, and then just a little, when we reach our destination.

I hear the thump of the music as soon as Keller switches off the truck engine outside The Barn. Already, I’m imagining being inside, trying to dance away the anxiety gripping me, an anxiety that is ruining what could be construed as a first date.

Toni slides out of the truck and jogs toward a van where three guys are unloading band equipment. “Later, lovebirds.”

Her words sound forced, making me wonder if it’s because of the post-call tenseness or possibly that she’s not as okay with being the flying-solo member of the group as she would like us to believe. I hope Mrs. Dawes’s words aren’t eating away at Toni. My friend is beautiful, inside and out, just not in the Barbie sort of way.

“You ready?” Keller asks from beside me, sounding distant, like he’s still wrapped in the disagreement with his father.

With a final glance at Toni, I nod. “Yeah.”

He catches my gaze, holds it. I watch as a new emotion filters into his eyes, one I can only call determination. Maybe a touch of
 . . .
rebellion. He slips his fingers through mine. His palm feels warm, alive, and so right I can’t describe it.

The volume of the music increases tremendously as we enter The Barn. Inside, it looks as if every student from the high school is there and then some. People are dancing to the DJ music, drinking and eating at little tables lining the walls, and filling what once was a hayloft. Toni and the rest of her band are setting up on the stage at the far end of the building.

Keller leans close to my ear. “What do you think?”

“I love it.” And I do. I enjoyed going to clubs in Miami, riding in on my fake I.D. and the bouncers’ inability to throw my companions or me out. Witch compulsion at work. At least I’d enjoyed the dancing. What came afterward
 . . .
no, that was all in the past.

I want to have fun, but at no one else’s expense. Tonight I won’t be forced to end the evening by controlling someone’s mind for practice, making him steal or say something hurtful to someone he cares about. I shake off the memories, grateful I got away before I had to do something truly vile.

Already, Eric has directed Paige to the dance floor.

“Paige and Eric, who would have thought?” Keller says.

“You didn’t know she liked him?”

Keller shakes his head.

I laugh. “Guys, you really are the clueless wonders of the world.”

High on my new freedom and the heart-pounding bass in the song playing, I pull Keller toward the dance floor. I leave all worries about my family and his dad firmly on the edge of the room and start to dance, smiling at Keller until he joins in. From above, the dance floor must resemble a vibrating mass of teenage humanity, and I can’t picture a better place to be.

I let myself go and dance with abandon, intoxicated by this life of my making, by the boy dancing close enough to generate sparks. When a thumping Rob Zombie tune fades away into a slow song, Keller doesn’t move away. Instead, he takes the one step separating us and pulls me close. He never looks away from my eyes as we move together, ignoring everyone around us.

My heart beats so fast and hard that I’ve no doubt Keller feels it. Or is part of that beating his heart? I can’t tell which is which. I love the feel of his arms around me, his firm chest pressed close to mine. How is it possible to feel this good without popping like an overfilled balloon?

Too soon the song fades away, but Keller doesn’t let go. I know I will ache with longing if he tries to break contact.

“One more slow one before Nemesis takes the stage and blows the roof off The Barn!” the DJ says, earning cheers from the crowd.

The next slow song starts, and I catch sight of Eric and Paige—kissing. I laugh. “Guess they decided to start making up for lost time.”

Keller glances at his friends, then back at me. “Looks like a good idea.” He lowers his mouth to mine, and I do dissolve then.

For the first time in my life, it makes me indescribably happy to get such a compliment. It feels like Keller is seeing more than just the physical, and that makes his words that much more special.

The song disappears at the same moment a loud guitar announces its presence on the stage. The lead singer of Nemesis, a guy I think is in my Art class, sings a few fist-pumping lines. Then the rest of the band jumps in, and the dance floor turns into an ocean of dancing bodies. Keller and I maneuver our way to the side of the room and snag a tall table in a dark corner. Keller weaves through the crowd to the bar and returns with two soft drinks and a big plate of nachos.

I move to the music and smile as Toni wails away on the drums. “She’s good.”

“Yeah, she’s been drumming since she was little. I still remember when my uncle bought her first drum set. It was this tiny thing, but she loved it. Wouldn’t let me touch it though, greedy little snot.”

“How old was she?”

“Five, I think.” He looks toward the stage, and I see that despite their jabs and barbs, the cousins love each other.

“It’s cool that you two are close.” A pang for what I’ve never had, a close relationship with siblings or cousins, any family members other than my mother, makes me envy Keller and Toni.

“Yeah, guess we’ve just kind of grown up in the same boat.”

“With each of you losing a parent?”

“Yeah.”

“How old was Toni when her dad died?”

“We were about nine.”

“How’d he die?”

“In a hunting accident.” Keller stuffs an overloaded nacho in his mouth, and I get the feeling that the conversation is making him uncomfortable. Is that because of what his uncle had been hunting? Because of the phone call with his father earlier? Is he feeling guilty because he’s not out hunting right now?

I can’t exactly press for more answers without revealing how I even know supernatural beings exist. Time to change the topic.

I glance out at the dance floor and laugh. “Wow, I don’t think Eric and Paige have stopped since we got here.”

“Dancing or kissing?”

“Either.”

Despite its rocky start, the night turns out to be as close to perfect as I could ever hope for. Keller and I dance and eat and talk, getting to know each other better. We discover we’re both fans of summer popcorn movies where lots of things blow up.

“I just can’t picture it,” he says as he rubs his thumb across the top of my hand.

“Why? Because I’m a girl?”

“Yeah.”

“Have a degree in typecasting, do you?”

He holds up his hands, palms out. “Just not what I expected. But it’s cool.”

“Thank you.”

Keller points at me. “What other surprises are you hiding, Jax Taylor?”

I’m glad for the dimness where we’re sitting because I’m not sure the fear that surges up inside me isn’t reflected on my face.

“An insane fondness for cheese straws?”

Keller laughs then squeezes my hand before heading to the bar to refill our drinks. I turn my attention toward the dance floor, forcing myself to focus on something other than how my life is turning into a minefield of lies.

I spot Eric and Paige totally enjoying each other’s company and personal space. And Toni is in her element, rocking out with her pink-streaked hair flying. Seeing them all happy lifts my mood. I shouldn’t feel sorry for myself. I’ve already had more fun and freedom in the past few days than I have in my entire life. I renew my vow to focus on the positive and not worry about what-ifs until I have to.

I talk to Keller about favorite books—I like romances and fantasy while he’s a nonfiction kind of guy. He rolls his eyes when he finds out I’m as big a Whedon fan as Toni, and I tease him when he says his favorite show is
Dirty Jobs
. I almost giggle at the idea of host Mike Rowe doing an episode on supernatural hunting. I think I could talk to Keller about the U.S. Revenue Code and still be happy.

The evening ends much too soon as Keller twirls me through one last song before the barn lights come up and people start streaming out to their cars, back to parents and curfews and life outside this teen cocoon.

Our group waits until the band breaks down the equipment and gets it all loaded, with Eric and Keller lending a hand. When everything is secured in the van, we head for Keller’s truck. I feel like floating as Keller holds my hand, but floating would definitely stand out as not quite normal.