First Magic by Raven Steele (ebook reader screen txt) 📖

going to punch me, but he didn’t. Did he ever find you?”

“Yeah.”

“Were you okay?”

I wondered how much to tell him. I didn’t want him to feel bad. “I was fine. He didn’t need to worry.”

“Good. Do you want any help studying?”

“No, I got it, but thanks.”

“Do your parents work on Saturday?” Tracey asked.

“I live with my uncle. Are you guys doing anything fun today?” I quickly changed the subject before she could inquire further. I hated explaining why I didn’t live with my parents. Tracey looked at Matt expectantly. Matt didn’t notice.

“We just had breakfast,” he said, “but I have to go home now and help my dad. We’re remodeling our basement.”

“That sounds fun. What about you, Tracey?”

“No plans. My parents are out of town, so it’s just me. Are you doing anything?”

“No. Just hanging out.”

“Do you want to go shopping?” she asked me.

I hesitated. My expression must have been awfully grim, because Tracey said, “That’s okay. We can do it another time.”

“No. That’s not it at all. It’s just that—well, I have to go to the police station.”

“Why?” Tracey and Matt said together.

I inhaled a deep breath and told them what had happened to my car.

“Wow,” Matt said. “That sucks.”

“I heard on the news they found another body. I can’t believe you’re involved,” Tracey said.

“Hoping to be uninvolved by this afternoon.”

Tracey stood and walked over to me. “Why don’t I go with you? Then, if you feel like it, we could go shopping afterwards.”

“Sure. Why not?” At least it would take my mind off the blood-soaked hair.

An hour later, I gave the police my statement, which wasn’t very long since I didn’t know anything to begin with, and then Tracey and I drove to the mall. I never did like shopping—of course I always did it alone so the whole experience never lasted long. “In-and-out” was my motto, but being with a friend suddenly made the whole experience new and exciting.

We shopped for a little while, then decided to take a break and eat. We sat down at a table in front of a restaurant kiosk that served just about every kind of food you could think of on a stick. I was leery at first, but quickly found that for some reason food did taste better on a stick.

Tracey took a long sip from her soda, and asked, “What are you doing tonight?”

“Christian’s coming over.”

“Are you two dating?”

“Not sure.”

“Then you are. You just need to make it official. Maybe that’s what tonight’s about. You should—” Tracey grabbed my arm, eyes wide. “You’ll never believe who’s walking toward us.”

I turned around, but regretted it a second later because all of a sudden I went weak. Strolling toward us, as if a super spy in a preview for a blockbuster thriller, was Mr. Steele. At any moment I waited for him to pull a shiny revolver from behind his back and arrest the skinny wiener man behind the counter for being a terrorist.

As if he sensed my thoughts, he locked eyes with me, then walked over, smiling. “Hello, ladies.”

“Hello, Mr. Steele,” Tracey chimed back.

He glanced from me to her. “I didn’t know you two were friends.”

Tracey winked at me and said, “Best."

“That’s wonderful. It’s good to see two kids from different groups become friends.” His expression turned serious, and he rested his hand on my shoulder. “I want you to know, Llona, that those boys were punished.”

“Thank you.”

“Did you get home all right?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Good. You girls have fun and stay out of trouble.” His gaze shifted to mine, and for a moment I swore I saw a warning flash in his eyes, but before I could be sure he walked away.

“We will,” Tracey called after him. She turned to me. “He has got to be the hottest man I know. Don’t you think?”

“For a teacher, yes.”

“Yeah, but technically he’s only a few years older than us,” she said wistfully. After a long sigh, she added, “So what guys was he talking about?”

I set the last of my cheese stick down onto my plate, no longer hungry. “Just some assholes from the game last night.”

By the time we were done shopping, I ended up with two new pairs of jeans and several tops that I would never have had the courage to pick out on my own. I chose one of these pieces to wear on my date with Christian—if it was a date.

Just before Christian was to arrive, Jake knocked on my bedroom door. “Can you come out for a minute, Tink? There’s someone I want you to meet.”

I set my math book down and focused my hearing. Beyond the door, I could hear Jake whispering for someone to stay put, followed by the sound of a woman’s giggle. I grinned. It was about time I got introduced to his mystery woman.

Deciding to make this easy on Jake, I opened the door and asked, “How long has it been official?”

His face paled. “What?”

I pushed past him and walked down the hall. A pretty woman with black spiky hair and a diamond-studded nose piercing looked up at me from her position on the couch and smiled. “Hey. I’m Heidi. You must be Llona.”

Jake hurried up behind me.

“I am. It’s nice to finally meet you.” I dropped next to her onto the couch.

“How did you know?” Jake asked me.

I rolled my eyes. “Come on, now. You’re always cleaning the house now, including your room. You got a haircut. You’re shaving every day.”

Heidi laughed.

Jake looked at me hopefully. “And you’re cool with it?”

“Of course I am!”

We talked for a little longer before the conversation turned to gaming, something I didn’t know much about, but Heidi sure did, which clearly made Jake happy. She was definitely a keeper.

I finished my hair, which I actually curled and left down, then waited for Christian in the living room. Five minutes before he was to arrive, the doorbell rang.

“You’re early,” I said to Christian who stood in my doorway looking exceptionally good. It wasn’t that he was wearing anything special, but his jeans and blue t-shirt fit his muscular frame like a glove.

“I wanted to make sure I wasn’t late. I remember how mad you got last time. Are you doing better today?”

I joined him on the porch, closing the door after me. “Much, and I wasn’t mad at you. I was mad at myself.”

“For what?”

“For letting myself become distracted. I’ve always done things a certain way and since I met you, I’ve been doing things differently.”

“Is that good?”

“I think so. I guess I just got scared, but after what you did for me last night, I don’t see how I can’t trust you. And others for that matter. It’s time I let go of my fears.” I squared my shoulders.

“You are the bravest person I know,” he mocked, but his expression was serious.

I lifted an eyebrow. “That’s nice of you to say, but you don’t know me.”

“I know you better than you think I do.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ve got something special planned tonight.”

I eyed him suspiciously. “Okay.”

“But before we go, I need to give you some bad news.” I opened my mouth to speak, but he interrupted me. “And then afterwards, I want you to forget it. It means nothing. It was just a coincidence.”

I swallowed and waited for him to continue.

“The woman they found last night. She was the mother of one of the boys who attacked you.”

My knees weakened, and I sat down on the nearest chair. “Why didn’t the police say anything to me when I was there this morning?”

“I asked them not to. I wanted to be the one to tell you.”

I looked up at him. “What does this mean?”

“Nothing. Like I said, a coincidence. The police are pretty certain that whoever killed the other woman also killed this one. And she had nothing to do with you. So don’t worry.”

But the last murder did have something to do with me. Her shoe anyway. I inhaled deeply, trying to remain calm. Christian was right. I needed to forget about this. Shove it as far down as I could.

“You’ve had a rough time, but tonight I want to give you something else to think about, okay?”

I barely nodded.

“Good.” He slid his hand into mine and led me outside toward his truck.

I stopped him halfway. “By the way, why were you late that night you asked me to meet you in the woods?”

His body tensed. “I had something important to do.”

“At midnight?”