Read Online The Trouble With Spells by Lacey Weatherford - Free Book Online Page B

sealing the wound over again. Then he drank the blood.
    Vance’s mother ran
back through the woods. She jumped into her car and raced back home. She ran
inside, throwing some of her and Vance’s belongings into a suitcase, carrying
it out and placing it in the trunk of the car. Then she waited for them to come
back home, pretending she’d been busy cleaning while they were gone.
    His mom called out
happily to them from the sink full of dishes she was washingwhen they
returned. Vance bounded up to her, telling her about the great excursion they’d
had at the zoo. His mother laughed at his stories and told him she was glad they
had a good time.
    Vance’s dad told
his mother he would be away at a meeting for work that evening. She smiled and
said that was fine, telling him she would try to have dinner ready for him when
he got home.
    As soon as Vance’s
dad was gone, his mom asked him if he’d like to go out to eat with her. He
excitedly went out and hopped into the car. His mother stopped at their
favorite fast food drive-through and picked up some burgers for them. Next they
stopped at the bank where she cleared out her bank accounts. Then she started
driving.
    When Vance awoke
the next morning they were in a different city far from their home. His mother
had driven all night long. She checked them into a hotel with cash, trying not
to leave a trail. She used her magic to show Vance what his father had really
been doing to him.
    After that, they
kept moving from city to city trying to avoid being caught by his dad. His
father came close to capturing them a couple of times, but they managed to get
away. Finally, his mother met Marsha and begged her to take her son.
    Grandma explained
to me that Vance was a very powerful warlock, and by drinking his blood his
father was adding to his own strength. She also explained as this exchange was
happening, it was beginning to link Vance to the dark arts as well. She told me
how they’d done a lot of blessings over him, trying to remove the unwanted
attraction, and it was very important for him to be surrounded by good energy. If
he were to be overwhelmed by bad energy, it could turn him in a less than
desirable direction.
    The whole time the
story was being told Vance stared at me, watching my reaction to everything.
    I looked into his
deep blue eyes. “I’m so sorry,” I whispered, not knowing what else to say.
    He didn’t reply,
but he did reach out to briefly squeeze my hand.
    After the meeting
ended, I walked with Vance out to his motorcycle. He leaned up against his bike
while I stood looking at the stars overhead.
    “So, how do you
feel now that you know I’m the coven’s big dark secret? That I’m the bad guy,
so to speak?” he asked, folding his arms.
    I looked hard at
him. “None of this is your fault,” I said, wanting to reassure him.
    “That isn’t the
point,” he replied. “The fact is, I’m the dangerous one. I’m the person who
could be turned and destroy everything good about you and your family.”
    I walked up to him
and placed both of my hands on either side of his face. “I don’t believe you’d
ever hurt me, or any of us for that matter,” I searched his gaze. “The very
fact you’re worried about us tells me the kind of character you have.”
    He looked at me
for several long moments before he reached out, mirroring my move, and placed
his hands on the sides of my face, pulling me even closer.
    “I hope you’re
right, Portia.” He held me there for a few seconds before placing a light kiss
on my forehead. He dropped his hands from me, hopped onto his motorcycle , and started the engine.
    “See you
tomorrow,” he said.
    I stepped back
from the curb. I gave a little smile and a small wave after him as he drove off
down the street.
    He wasn’t at the
school when I’d arrived with Shelly in the morning. I waited by the door for
him, but he hadn’t shown before the warning bell rang. I brooded about him all
day long. I hadn’t seen