Read Online Bones of a Witch by Dana Donovan - Free Book Online Page B

two it took me to turn
away and then back again. Overhead, a pesky seagull began buzzing
my airspace, swooping down like a dive bomber and pecking at my
head. I swatted at it, defending my ground with unjustified
tenacity, not wanting to give up an inch, lest Lilith needed it to
reappear from her realm of inconspicuous domain. Within moments
other gulls emerged from the open sea, perhaps drawn by the
activity of the first and whipped into frenzy under the false
pretence of a free meal. They too began buzzing, swooping and
dive-bombing me in Hitchcock fashion until I could no longer defend
my territory. I buried my head in my shoulders, my arms and fists
swatting blindly in dead air. Then a voice behind me called out,
“This way!”
    I turned and stole a peek over my shoulder.
“Lilith? Where did you go?”
    “Never mind. Come on.”
    She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me in the
direction of the upper shore, laughing as she ran and tripping in
the bog-effect of the soft sand. By the time we reached the car,
the gulls had given up on making a meal of us and had flown off to
richer shores. I looked at Lilith, who was still trying to catch
her breath between bouts of spontaneous laughter. “You think that
was funny?” I said, though clearly she did, and frankly, so did
I.
    “Funny? That was hilarious. You know I think
that grey spotted one liked you.”
    “Oh, do you?”
    “Yeah, but you know what, I like you, too.” She
leaned in and kissed me.
    “Wow,” I said, “what was that for?”
    “That’s for being a good sport and taking me
out here. Thanks.”
    “You’re welcome, but you mind telling me now
just what the hell happened back there? Where did you disappear
to?”
    “I didn’t disappear. I was with you the entire
time.”
    “You were?”
    “Sure. Now what do you say; are you ready to go
back to see Carlos and Dominic down at the Justice
Center?”
    “Me? That’s where I wanted to go all
along.”
    “All right then.” She turned and practically
skipped around the front of the car to the passenger side door.
“What are you waiting for? Let’s go.”
    I could tell it would do no good to press the
issue. Had she disappeared? Had she not disappeared? Really, what
did it matter? She had her sand—her precious Gloucester Beach sand.
That’s all that mattered. I jumped into the car and we headed for
home. It wasn’t until we were pulling into the Justice Center
parking lot when the thought hit me. She hadn’t disappeared back at
the beach. If she had, she would have said so. Instead she told me
that she was there all the time. I found a parking spot and pulled
into it, and after shutting off the engine, I turned to her and
asked, “Did you shape-shift into a seagull?”
    She looked at me with a semi-guilty smirk. “No,
that was just a little gas. Sorry, I didn’t think you
noticed.”
    I sampled the air and grimaced. “I hadn’t, but
thanks for fessing up.”
    “No problem. Come on; let’s go in.”
    “No, wait. I was talking about back there at
the beach. I turned around for just a second and when I turned back
you were gone, but this seagull was there pecking at my
head.”
    “Really?”
    “Yes.”
    “Huh. What do you know?”
    She opened the door and hopped out before I
could grab her arm. From there it was a sprint up to the building
to catch her, and after that there were too many people around to
carry on such a bizarre conversation. So I let it go for the time
being and escorted her upstairs where we found Carlos and Dominic
bullshitting over coffee and donuts.
     
     
     
    Dominic Spinelli:
     
    Whoa-ho man, I mean to tell you;
you could have blown me over with a feather the night I saw that
tattoo on Lilith’s rear end. That is one fine…uh, tattoo, for sure.
The girl is just too freaky. I love that about her. Of course, not
that I am ‘ in’ love with her or anything; I’m not. That would be wrong.
Tony’s my friend and I respect him. Besides, Lilith wouldn’t…that
is to