Coven (26 page)

Woodenly staring, her eyes appeared to look
right through me. “You need to run,” she spoke, her voice too
strong and deep to be that of the woman we’d just been speaking
with. This was one hundred percent real. I could feel it. “Danger
is coming,” she droned on. “Big danger . . . in fact.”
She paused and her grip tightened painfully on me. “It’s too late,
the danger is already here.”

“What danger?” I asked, noting for the first
time that everything around us was shaking violently, as if we were
caught in an earthquake. Fear shot through me.

Instantly, her gaze snapped to Seth. “She’s
coming for you—the death bringer. She makes monsters of men.”

“Who?” I asked again, trying to get more
information.

Eyes settling back on me, she snarled.
“You.”

“Enough!” Jett yelled, jumping in between us
and severing the connection. Grabbing my hand he dragged me from
the table and toward the exit. I reached behind me, connecting with
Seth’s arm and hooking onto it and pulling him along with us.

Stepping outside of the tent, we were
greeted with the same cool, but sunny October air. Patrons still
roamed around freely—laughing, eating, and gawking at each other
without a care in the world. It was plainly obvious that no one had
just experienced what we had.

“What the hell was that?” I asked, rubbing
my hands as if that would remove the feel of her. It was like she
was still clinging to me, branding me.

“I have no idea; but she was definitely
tapped into some bad mojo,” Jett said, checking me over as if he
expected to find my hands slashed open or something. I thought it
was sweet of him.

“I wish I could’ve found out more. If
something bad is coming, I need to know how to stop it.” Glancing
at the tent, I wondered if I was brave enough to go back in
there.

“She said you were the evil that was coming.
We all know that’s impossible. I think she was pissed and was
simply grandstanding. Don’t pay any attention to the things she
said.”

“I don’t know, man. With the energy she was
putting out, there’s no way she could’ve faked that. I think she
was tapped into something else,” Seth disagreed.

“Well, then, it was actually evil. Kenna
could never be associated with something like that. We both know
her well enough to know that. Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

Madame Palmeroy chose that moment to step
out of the tent, smiling when she saw us. “Good afternoon, young
people!” she called out cheerfully. “Would you like your fortune
told today?”

“Whaat?” I managed to spit out in disbelief.
Was she serious?

“It’s a beautiful day! Come see what’s in
store for your future.” She beckoned us to follow her inside.

“Shit. She doesn’t even remember us,” Jett
said, clearly as puzzled as I was.

“We’re good. Thanks,” Seth said, slipping
his hand into mine and hauling me off in the opposite direction
down the street.

“What the heck is going on?” I muttered,
mostly to myself, my mind scrambling to try and keep up.

“I don’t know; but we are going to find
out,” Seth said in a determined voice. “Let’s go somewhere that we
can talk privately.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

“What’s going on here?” my dad asked,
clearly unhappy at finding not one, but two, guys sitting next to
me on the couch. His eyes drifted suspiciously between them.

“Hey, Dad.” I got up and went over to hug
him. “The guys were just hanging out and watching some television
with me until we needed to leave for the game. Care to join
us?”

In truth, I knew both of my parents were
working, today, and weren’t supposed to be home until close to game
time. This wasn’t the first Friday afternoon I’d brought them over,
but my parents had been none the wiser. I was surprised to see dad
here, early.

“I came home to see if you were okay. I was
at work when suddenly I felt this huge shift in power, a bad shift,
like something awful was happening to you. I tried calling out to
you, but you had your mental barriers up so tight, I couldn’t reach
you. I couldn’t even get you by phone. That’s not like you. What’s
going on?”

Puzzled, I pulled my phone out of my pocket.
There were several missed calls from him on it. “Sorry. I usually
have it muted for class. I guess I didn’t ever feel it vibrate. I
didn’t mean to ignore you.”

“What are you hiding from me?” he asked
point blank, not allowing me to lead him away from the situation at
hand.

I decided to go with the truth—mostly.
“Nothing, really. Jett and Seth took me to see some of the
Halloween festivities that are going on downtown. We had the silly
idea to visit a psychic and see if she was legit. Jett encouraged
me to keep everything about myself locked up tight so she couldn’t
try to read clues from me. I guess I took that literally and shut
everything down.”

Dad visibly relaxed. “And was she
legit?”

“That’s debatable. Most of it seemed like TV
drivel, though she seemed to have one moment of clarity. We ended
up hightailing it out of there. She was kind of weird. Would you
like me to fix you something to eat?” I hoped the question sounded
casual enough. “We were just feeling kind of hungry.”

Dad wasn’t so easily dissuaded. “Kenna, is
that all that happened? You know you can tell me anything.” Again,
his eyes roamed over the three of us and I felt like all my secrets
were completely exposed.

“It’s all right, Dad. Look. I’m totally
fine. The lady was just a little strange and it made me nervous.
Seth and Jett got me out of there as soon as they saw that.”

“Hmm,” was all he said, still staring them
both down.

“Actually, I’ve been hoping to speak with
you, sir,” Jett spoke up. “Kenna told me about your custom
motorcycles and I’m interested in possibly buying one.”

“They aren’t cheap,” Dad replied, clearly
not sold on the idea of Jett being here. It didn’t take a rocket
scientist to know he was remembering their first encounter
together.

“That’s okay. I don’t mind paying for
quality.”

“Is that your Charger outside?” Dad asked,
and I realized this was probably the first time he’d ever seen it.
Seth was always the one to pick me up whenever the three of us did
anything together.

“Yes, it is. My dad got it for me for my
sixteenth birthday.”

“Somehow I think I have the two of you to
blame for Kenna’s sudden love of sports cars, then, and the new
Mustang sitting in my driveway.”

“Actually, I advised her against the
Mustang,” Jett replied. “They’re a bitch to drive in the snow.”

I cleared my throat, wanting to derail this
conversation as quickly as possible. It had taken me a couple of
weeks of begging and pleading to finally talk my dad into buying
that car. I wasn’t about to lose it after just barely getting it.
“Dad, why don’t you let the guys go out to the garage and see the
bikes you’re working on?”

He stared at me for several long moments and
I thought he was going to say no; but then he pulled a key ring
from his pocket and tossed it to Seth. “Here you go. Go ahead and
take a look. I’ll be out shortly. I need to have a minute with
Kenna—alone.”

Wisely, Seth and Jett didn’t argue; and
instead got up and headed for the door.

“Oh, and he doesn’t mean the detached, house
garage; it’s the long shop building behind it,” I added, so they
wouldn’t get lost trying to figure out where to go.

As soon as the door shut behind them, Dad
spoke. “Seriously, Kenna? You’re dating both of them?”

Cringing, I moved back to the couch and
plopped down. “Is that bad?” I knew I wouldn’t be able to hide it
from him, forever—especially if he saw us all together. He was too
observant.

He shrugged. “It’s not exactly normal. I’m
surprised they both agreed to it, to be honest.”

“Me, too; but they both wanted a shot.”

“And how long as this been going on?”

“Pretty much the whole time we’ve been
here.”

Sighing, he sat down in one of the leather
wingback chairs, rubbing his hand across his brow. “You aren’t
sleeping with both of them, are you?”

“Dad!” I practically shouted. “You can’t ask
me things like that!”

“I can and I just did. Now answer me.” His
voice had that no-nonsense tone to it.

“I haven’t crossed that line with anybody,”
I answered, truthfully, and a giant whoosh of air escaped him.

“That’s the best news I’ve heard in
ages.”

“It may not seem like it, but I’m trying to
be responsible about this relationship. I like them both; and as of
right now, I’m not sure who I like better. Instead of being with
one and sneaking around to cheat with the other, I just decided to
date them both. They agreed, and so far it seems to be working out
just fine for us.”

“Until you fall in love with both of them,
or they both fall in love with you—which has probably already
happened. You’re just delaying the inevitable and someone—maybe
even you—is going to end up really hurt in the end.”

I knew he was right, but I didn’t want to
think about that. If I didn’t cross any big lines, then we could
simply keep existing in this perfect bubble we were in. At least
that was what I hoped.

“It’s not right for you to lead them both
on.”

“I’m not leading them on!” I snapped,
feeling frustrated. I didn’t know how to make him understand. “I
honestly have feelings for both of them. You know I would never
willingly hurt anyone. Besides, I’m new to all this stuff. I have
no idea what I’m doing, I’m muddling along the best I can.”

Sighing heavily, Dad shook his head. “Maybe
I was wrong to keep you so heavily secluded as you grew up. You
certainly didn’t get very much opportunity for social interaction,
did you? I guess if you’re bombing it, it’s most likely my
fault.”

“Dad, I’m grateful for everything you’ve
done for me. I don’t feel like I’m bombing things. I feel like I’m
having fun getting to know two awesome guys.”

“When did that Jett guy become so awesome?
I’m pretty sure I told you to steer clear of that one.”

“You did, but Seth and he are best friends.
It was kind of hard to stay away from him when he was always
around.”

“I’m still not sure he can be trusted.
Something about him just feels . . . off . . .
to me.”

“He’s just been raised differently. His
family isn’t as close and tight-knit as ours is. Trust me when I
tell you, he’s a good guy. I like him a lot. You might, too, if you
get to know him better.”

Standing, his only answer was a grunt as he
headed toward the door. I quickly jumped up and followed after him,
anxious to see what he’d say to the guys and hoping it wouldn’t be
anything embarrassing.

Upon entering the workshop, we found them
both leaning over one bike in particular, mine.

“This is incredible!” Jett exclaimed,
glancing up at us. “Why’d you even get a car? I’d be riding this
baby everywhere.”

“Would you, now?” I replied with a giggle as
I stared at the pink and black motorcycle. “I never pictured you as
a pink guy.”

“I meant you,” he replied with an eye
roll.

“It gets cold in Salem, I hear. I’m pretty
sure I don’t want to be driving that thing around through piles of
snow. Besides, it’s not finished yet; we are still waiting on some
parts for the engine.”

“Well, it looks amazing!” Seth said, running
his hand over the seat.

“Thank you.” I glanced at Dad. “I enjoy
working with my dad. He’s all kinds of awesome.”

Dad winked at me. “Glad I got you fooled,
Firecracker.”

“Fooled. Whatever.” Slipping my arm around
his waist, I leaned my head against him. “I have the best dad in
the whole world.”

“Now you’re just being a kiss up,” he
replied with a laugh, squeezing my shoulders and then placing a
light peck against the top of my head.

“You like it when I kiss up, remember?” I
glanced up at him and he chuckled. I loved the sound of my dad’s
laughter. It was one of my favorite sounds ever. He’d suffered
through so many hardships in his life that it made me feel good
when he was happy.

“I kind of do,” he agreed, squeezing me,
again. Glancing at Jett, he released me and moved next to the bike.
“What kind of bike are you interested in?”

My thoughts drifted away from their
conversation and back to Madame Palmeroy and her wild freak-out
session. Unease settled in the pit of my stomach as I thought of
her warnings. Were they true? Was danger really coming? Was I that
danger, somehow?

I couldn’t even fathom what she might mean,
I only knew I didn’t want to be responsible for doing anything that
would disrupt the current peace of my parents’ lives. They’d been
through enough. I needed to figure out what this prophecy meant on
my own, without including them. And no matter what happened, I was
making a vow right in this instance to do everything in my power to
see that nothing evil would harm them again.

~~~

“I have a present for you,” I said with a
smile as my mom walked into the house looking tired, but beautiful,
in a pair of pink scrubs. The color was amazing on her, making her
black hair glisten like a raven and giving her pale skin a pretty
blush.

“A present for me?” She laughed as she set
her things down on the counter. “And to what do I owe this
surprise?”

“Nothing. You’re just an amazing mom and I
wanted to get something for you.” I handed her the bag with the
wrapped item inside.

“Oh, sweetie. You don’t have to get me
presents. You’re the only gift I need.”

“Too bad. You’re getting something anyway.”
I smiled as she took the bag and glanced inside. “What’s this?”
Pulling out the wrapped paper, she slowly unrolled it, revealing
the beautiful pendant with its glowing purple stone and tarnished
silver filigree. Her face paled and her gaze shot to mine. “Oh my
gosh!”