Believe: The Complete Channie Series (5 page)

As
soon as everyone else was asleep, Channie crawled out from under her quilt and opened her window. A blast of cold air made her eyes water. She tried to cast a warmth spell on herself, but it didn’t work. Panic squeezed her chest when she realized her new power name was still dormant. What if she couldn’t activate it before school tomorrow morning?

The distant sound of male voices drew her attention. Her new name,
her curse,
was designed with one purpose in mind, so to activate it—she needed a dirty-minded boy.

She removed the window screen and shoved it in her closet then crawled onto the roof. She couldn’t cast a listen-up spell on herself, so she cupped a palm behind her ear like an empty. It sounded like the voices were coming from the park next door.

Channie scampered down the fake, but convenient, rocks on the front of the house. She followed the crushed gravel path that led from her front yard into Heritage Park.

The three-quarter moon peeked out from behind a cloud and revealed two masculine silhouettes. The boys were inside the pavilion, sitting on top of a picnic table. One of them was smoking a cigarette. When Channie stepped out of the shadows, he elbowed the other boy. They both stopped talking and stared at her.

She froze, unsure of how to proceed without Enchantment’s natural charm.

A prickly sensation, like cockleburs, ran under Channie’s skin. She didn’t need magic to read the boy’s energy fields—curiosity mixed with a fair amount of lust—nothing unusual about that.

Channie had assumed that her new power name would repel boys, or make them repulsive to her. Instead, Chastity’s magic was attracted to their lustful energy and grew stronger as it fed off their carnal desires. Momma and Daddy must have messed up the spell when they changed her name.

Channie coughed and fanned the air, frowning at Cigarette Boy. He tossed the nasty thing onto the ground and snuffed it out with the toe of his canvas shoe.

The skinny, non-smoking boy leaned forward and smiled at her. “I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you new?”

Channie licked her dry lips and nodded. What was wrong with her? She wasn’t shy. Or was she? She didn’t know who she was without Enchantment’s magic.

Cigarette Boy ran his gaze up and down her body. The level of lust in the air doubled and flowed into Chastity’s power-well, awakening its potential.

He smirked at her. “What’s the matter, can’t you talk?”

Channie started to take a step back, but didn’t want him to think she was easily intimidated. She straightened her spine and held her ground. “I can talk just fine. When I have something to say.”

Cigarette Boy elbowed his friend in the ribs. “Dude, did you hear that accent?” He hugged his chest, copying Channie, and pitched his voice up high to mock her. “Aw kin tawk juz fiiiine whin ah have sumthin’ to say.”

“Jeeze, Eric. You’re such an ass.” The skinny boy shoved Eric’s shoulder then looked at Channie and smiled. “I apologize for this idiot. He has no social skills whatsoever. That’s why we only let him out at night.”

“It’s okay. I can handle it. But thanks.” Channie pulled a small amount of Chastity’s power to the surface and tried to send the obnoxious Eric away using persuasive magic instead of an actual spell. Nothing happened.

She narrowed her eyes and pushed a little more magic at him. Instead of flowing out of her power-well in a gentle stream the way Enchantment’s energy would have, it shot out of her with a sudden burst of power.

Folks rarely noticed when Channie used persuasive magic on them, and even when they did, they didn’t usually care. Enchantment’s energy was positive and soothing. Chastity’s was not.

Eric yelped and hopped off the metal table. “Did you feel that?”

“Feel what?”

“Something shocked me. There must be a short in the wiring.”

“What wiring? The table’s not wired.” The skinny boy shook his head and chuckled.

“Well, something sure as hell zapped me.”

Channie stepped into the shadows to hide her grin. She’d never, in her entire life, ever cursed anyone. This was fun. She zapped him again.

Eric twitched and swore. “Come on! You had to feel it that time.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What the hell have you been smoking?”

Eric suggested his friend do some inappropriate things to himself then trotted down the path towards the parking lot. Channie waited for him to drive away then took a small step towards the skinny boy on the picnic table. He watched her but didn’t say a word. She read his energy field again and was surprised to find anxiety. What she needed…what Chastity needed…was lust.

She could try to encourage him by flirting, but that could take all night, and Chastity’s energy was already waning. Come-hither spells were illegal, but this boy was an empty and didn’t know that. Besides, who was he going to tell?

Channie held her breath and used a small amount of Chastity’s power to cast what she hoped was a weak spell.

The boy hopped off the picnic table and closed the distance between them in two strides. He was tall—much taller than she’d thought. He was also stronger than he looked. He grabbed Channie with one hand, digging his fingers into her side, then slid his other hand to the middle of her back. He pulled her close and crushed his mouth against hers—taking her completely by surprise.

Her power-well sucked up the lustful energy like a dry sponge. The sensation was more than just pleasurable. It was intoxicating. She needed to curse the boy and run away, but she wanted to know what Chastity’s magic would do on its own.

If she were being honest with herself, she’d have to admit that she was enjoying more than just the influx of power. She’d meant to just stand still and wait for Chastity’s magic to do its thing, but when the tip of the boy’s tongue traced the seam between Channie’s lips, her mouth opened instinctively. He tasted like spearmint and honey. Her heart skipped more than one beat.
I’m kissing a boy…and I like it. A lot.

Magic shot out of her without warning.

The boy jerked his head up and shoved her away from his body. He pushed his hair off his forehead with both hands and gaped at her. “What the hell?”

Tears pricked the back of Channie’s eyelids. This was not how she’d imagined her first kiss. She knew it was selfish to focus on her own disappointment when the poor boy was so obviously confused and frightened—but how could she reassure him with Chastity’s magic buzzing like a swarm of angry hornets?

She blinked in an effort to hide her tears, but they leaked out of the corner of her eyes and slid down her cheeks.

The boy opened his mouth as if to speak, but then slammed it shut and shook his head. He held his elbows close to his body, lifted his hands, palms up, and shrugged his shoulders as he backed away from her. He leaned over, grabbed a bicycle off the ground then raced away, disappearing into the shadows.

Channie
couldn’t believe how deeply the boy’s rejection wounded her. She kept herself under control until she climbed back onto the roof, then gave in to her tears.

Her bedroom window slid open with a gritty squeak. Channie whirled around and was instantly blinded by a shaft of light. She would have tumbled off the roof if Abby hadn’t grabbed her arm.

“Good grief, Channie, what the hell are you doing out there in the dead of night?”

“None of your damn business!” Channie jerked her arm out of Abby's clutches, climbed inside and shut the window. “What are you doing in my room?”

“I came to see if you were okay. How are you adjusting to your new power name?”

“Get that damn flashlight out of my face.” Channie wasn’t usually so short tempered. Was this just another manifestation of her new name?

Abby redirected the beam to the floor and sat down on Channie’s bedroll. “What Momma and Daddy did to you was dangerous. I was just worried, that’s all.”

It was risky to confide in Abby, but who else was she gonna talk to? Channie grabbed an extra blanket out of the closet and tucked it into the crack between the bottom of her bedroom door and the carpet then turned on the ceiling light. For some reason, the small act of rebellion against Daddy’s orders to not use electricity made her feel better. “What Momma and Daddy did to me was wrong, but what makes you think it’s dangerous?”

Channie already knew her name was dangerous, but she wanted to find out what Abby knew about it. Maybe Momma and Daddy had let something slip in front of her.

“I’m afraid it’s going to change you.”

“Probably.” Channie already felt like a different person. “It’s nothing like Enchantment. It’s all prickly, like a curse. It even smells like one. And it’s hard to control.”

“So, it’s fully active now?”

Channie crossed her ankles and sat down in front of Abby, resting her elbows on her knees. She lowered her voice and said, “Promise not to tell on me?”

“Of course.”

Channie leaned closer. “I kissed a boy in the park and Chastity’s power-well sort of exploded on him.”

Abby's eyes widened. “Is he okay?”

“I think so. But, he took off before I got a chance to scan him.”

Abby smiled and said, “Did you enjoy kissing him?”

Channie grinned in spite of herself. “I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it hadn’t of scared the living daylights out of him.”

Abby giggled then slapped her hands over her mouth.

Channie held her breath until she was certain Momma and Daddy were still asleep.

Abby said, “Just wait ‘till you fall in love. You won’t believe how much you’ll enjoy kissing then.”

“Have you ever been in love?”

Abby's shoulders dropped three inches. “I still am.”

This was news. “Who are you in love with?”

“The boys’ daddy.”

Channie had always assumed the rascal was nothing but a passing fling since Abby didn’t even try to get him to marry her.

“Why didn’t you name the fella? Daddy would have made darn sure he stepped up and did right by you.”

“Are you serious? Daddy would’a killed him.”

“Not if he agreed to marry you.”

“He’s magically disabled, Channie. How many times do I have to say it before somebody believes me?”

“The trips don’t act like Halfies.”

“You ever met any
Halfies
?” Abby narrowed her eyes when she repeated the derogatory term for mixed-blood people.

“No, but everybody says—”

“Magically disabled blood does not dilute power. My babies are proof enough of that. Besides, I got no reason to lie about it. You know how folks look down on mixed-blood people. Why would I want to burden the boys with that kind of prejudice if it weren’t the truth?”

“Well then, how come you didn’t lie about it the other way. You could have said their daddy was a mage instead of an empty.“

“If I would’a done that, Daddy never would have stopped tormenting me about who it was until I told him another lie and named some poor mage. And then I would’ve had to marry him. And please quit calling the trip’s daddy an empty. If you’re too lazy to say ‘magically disabled,’ call him an MD.”

“Sorry, it’s just a habit. I meant no offense. How did you meet him?”

“Me and Momma had gone into town. I smarted off about something and pissed her off. You know how she is. She made me sit in the bus while she went in to Wal-Mart. It got so damn hot, even with the doors open, I thought I was gonna die. I knew better than to go inside where it was air-conditioned after Momma told me to wait in the bus, so I went around to the north side of the building to get out of the sun and found a couple of boys leaning against the wall.”

Abby got a faraway, dreamy look in her eyes. “They worked at the McDonald’s next to Walmart and were on their lunch break. We started talking and one thing led to another and Diego...I mean...oh crap…”

Abby pressed her fist to her mouth and closed her eyes.

Channie reached out and touched her elbow.

“It’s okay, Abby. I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”

“I can’t believe I said his name. Five years and I ain’t never said his name in front of nobody. What the hell’s wrong with me?”