Read Online Phantom Eyes (Witch Eyes) by Scott Tracey - Free Book Online
Authors: Scott Tracey
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But, Jason would admit with some hesitation, as long as I stayed close to the house, I could still go outside. Not into the woods, of course—I’d seen for myself how that had worked out. Not that the house had been very safe for me last night. I’d gotten out somehow. Whatever Ben was doing with my blood had gotten him around all of Jason’s defenses.
It took almost ten minutes before Drew’s “exercise” started to turn around. Jade had settled into the same lounge chair that I’d woken up in this morning, and I shivered a little at the memory. Drew cuffed me before I got too bogged down by the memories of last night, but all it did was give me a focus for my anger.
I couldn’t beat Lucien. I couldn’t beat Ben. But maybe I could beat on Drew a little. Instead of trying to block his pot shots, which had been the point all along, I started taking shots of my own.
Drew barked out a laugh, just the one, but the air around us changed sharply and so did his mood. It stopped being about a little horsing around between friends, and it started being about competition. Just because Drew was stronger and faster d idn’t mean he had the right to push me around. No one had that right. I’d meant what I said last night. I wasn’t a victim. I wouldn’t be any more.
My muscles stretched out in relief, and I found myself moving with the same sort of heightened agility that made Drew a threat in a proper fight. My awareness of my body seemed to pull back until I was like a spectator in my own skin. It was different from the puppet master feeling I’d had last n ight—I hadn’t been in control of anything then. But now, I was still in control, and I was also so much more aware.
Drew landed some hits on me, blows softened so that he didn’t leave me black and blue, I’m sure, but he never caught me off guard the same way twice. The faster he moved, the more he bobbed, the more I weaved and blocked and countered him. It only seemed odd for a moment, the way I seemed to be picking up skill quicker than I should be. Drew’s expression got more and more grim, and I stopped thinking about it at all.
It became a dance. Drew would throw a punch, I’d glide out of the way and retaliate with a jab of my own. His expression became more and more tight the longer we went on, irritation framing his face.
He bounc ed back a couple of steps, wiping his forehead off with the back of his hand only to go suddenly still. The tension left his face and he smirked, looking somewhere over my shoulder. “Oh, hey Gentry. Got him nice and sweaty for you,” he called. I spun around, my focus crackling like a lake during spring tha w.
But there was no sign of Trey. I started to turn back around, to ask Drew what the hell he was thinking when my legs were swept out from underneath me and I fell to the ground.
“That,” he panted, “is why you never let them distract you. Now what the hell was that ?”
I waited for the sky to stop spinning before I even started to consider his words. The way I’d moved, the way my body had responded … that wasn’t me. More mysteries. More things about myself that I didn’t und erstand.
“You’re a good teacher?” I offered, because soothing Drew’s ego usually seemed to work.
Twin snorts from both Drew and Jade, who looked up from her phone. “He’s a terrible teacher. Almost as bad a teacher as he was a student.”
“Hey, there was no one better at cutting class than I was,” Drew said as he lifted up his shirt to wipe off his face.
I turned my head, because while the view was nice, Drew was one of the last people I’d want to check out. At least not as long as he might catch me. I’d never hear the end of it.
Jade turned her head away, too. The relationship, or not relationship, between Drew and Jade had confused me ever since I’d come to Belle Dam, and I’d given up trying to figure them out. They claimed to hate each other, but they were always around, hovering at the edges of
It took almost ten minutes before Drew’s “exercise” started to turn around. Jade had settled into the same lounge chair that I’d woken up in this morning, and I shivered a little at the memory. Drew cuffed me before I got too bogged down by the memories of last night, but all it did was give me a focus for my anger.
I couldn’t beat Lucien. I couldn’t beat Ben. But maybe I could beat on Drew a little. Instead of trying to block his pot shots, which had been the point all along, I started taking shots of my own.
Drew barked out a laugh, just the one, but the air around us changed sharply and so did his mood. It stopped being about a little horsing around between friends, and it started being about competition. Just because Drew was stronger and faster d idn’t mean he had the right to push me around. No one had that right. I’d meant what I said last night. I wasn’t a victim. I wouldn’t be any more.
My muscles stretched out in relief, and I found myself moving with the same sort of heightened agility that made Drew a threat in a proper fight. My awareness of my body seemed to pull back until I was like a spectator in my own skin. It was different from the puppet master feeling I’d had last n ight—I hadn’t been in control of anything then. But now, I was still in control, and I was also so much more aware.
Drew landed some hits on me, blows softened so that he didn’t leave me black and blue, I’m sure, but he never caught me off guard the same way twice. The faster he moved, the more he bobbed, the more I weaved and blocked and countered him. It only seemed odd for a moment, the way I seemed to be picking up skill quicker than I should be. Drew’s expression got more and more grim, and I stopped thinking about it at all.
It became a dance. Drew would throw a punch, I’d glide out of the way and retaliate with a jab of my own. His expression became more and more tight the longer we went on, irritation framing his face.
He bounc ed back a couple of steps, wiping his forehead off with the back of his hand only to go suddenly still. The tension left his face and he smirked, looking somewhere over my shoulder. “Oh, hey Gentry. Got him nice and sweaty for you,” he called. I spun around, my focus crackling like a lake during spring tha w.
But there was no sign of Trey. I started to turn back around, to ask Drew what the hell he was thinking when my legs were swept out from underneath me and I fell to the ground.
“That,” he panted, “is why you never let them distract you. Now what the hell was that ?”
I waited for the sky to stop spinning before I even started to consider his words. The way I’d moved, the way my body had responded … that wasn’t me. More mysteries. More things about myself that I didn’t und erstand.
“You’re a good teacher?” I offered, because soothing Drew’s ego usually seemed to work.
Twin snorts from both Drew and Jade, who looked up from her phone. “He’s a terrible teacher. Almost as bad a teacher as he was a student.”
“Hey, there was no one better at cutting class than I was,” Drew said as he lifted up his shirt to wipe off his face.
I turned my head, because while the view was nice, Drew was one of the last people I’d want to check out. At least not as long as he might catch me. I’d never hear the end of it.
Jade turned her head away, too. The relationship, or not relationship, between Drew and Jade had confused me ever since I’d come to Belle Dam, and I’d given up trying to figure them out. They claimed to hate each other, but they were always around, hovering at the edges of
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