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

I couldn’t stop the screams that tore from my lungs. They just kept coming in great waves of pure horror and absolute fear. Never before had I seen anything so cruel and sadistic. My screams finally stopped when May swung me around.

“Llona! What’s wrong?” she cried.

I still couldn’t believe what I’d seen and had to look one more time. Very slowly I turned around and shined the light. Lying in a pool of blood was a dead, white bunny. Its throat had been slit and carved into its side was my name written in blood.

“Who would do this?” May gasped. “It’s horrible!”

“Llona!” Christian’s voice called. I clearly detected a hint of panic. He was nearby and moving fast.

I grabbed May by the arms. “Please! I don’t want him to see this.”

I don’t know why I didn’t, there wasn’t time to process my feeling, but I felt strongly he shouldn’t.

“Please, May,” I begged again.

Her eyes flashed to the rabbit and back to me. The conflict in her eyes marred her pretty face.

Footsteps grew closer, racing though the stalks. May lifted her hand and with the flick of her wrist, the bunny burst into flames, completely erasing my name.

Christian burst into the clearing. “Are you okay?”

He looked at me and then at the fire, which burned so hot and brightly, you couldn’t tell what lay crisping at the inferno’s mouth.

“What happened?” he asked.

“A stupid prank,” May answered for me. “Llona saw the fire through the corn and came to inspect it.”

He turned to me, brows furrowed. “Why were you screaming?”

I crossed my arms to my chest to stop them from shaking. I didn’t want to lie to him, but I couldn’t tell him the truth either. He seemed to have this obsessive need to protect me, and I wanted him to want to be with me, and not because he thought I needed him.

“She fell,” May blurted. I glanced at her gratefully. Christian was about to say something more, but the others joined us.

“What is this?” Tracey asked. She circled the fire.

May shrugged. “Someone else started it.”

Matt walked over to me and placed both hands on my arms. The motion was firm and warm. “Why were you screaming?”

“Someone scared me,” I whispered. The image of my blood-carved name into white fur appeared in my mind.

Christian narrowed his eyes. “I thought you fell.”

“I scared her and she fell,” May corrected.

I have to get out of here. I wasn’t thinking clearly and was going to end up saying something I’d regret.

“So who won?” I said, changing the subject.

Adam pulled out his card. “We’ve got nine stamps. How many do you guys have?”

“We’ve got eleven,” Tracey cheered.

Christian stared at me. “Let me see your card, Llona.”

Without thinking, I moved to give it to him, but my hand shook so badly the card dropped to the ground.

“I’m taking you home.” He reached to take my arm, but I stepped away.

“No. I’m fine. You guys owe us a dinner.” I tried to make my voice sound as strong as possible, but it still cracked.

“Don’t try and get out of this, Christian,” May said, elbowing him. “We won fair and square. Let’s go. I’m starving.”

May turned into the cornstalks, and I quickly followed. Everyone else followed, too, except for Christian. When he finally appeared back at the entrance, his lips were pursed tightly together, and the sides of his jaw muscles bulged big. Something had sure pissed him off.

I quickly turned to Matt. “Can I ride with you?”

“Sure. Where we going?”

“Let’s go to that new restaurant on Fifth,” Tracey said. “I hear it’s really good.”

“Cool. We’ll meet you there,” Adam agreed and motioned Christian forward.

Matt surprised me by taking my hand and guiding me to his car. The forwardness of the motion caught me off guard, and I almost pulled back, but then I caught Christian’s eye. He looked even madder if that were possible. I hoped it was because he was jealous. Maybe he’d know how I felt seeing him with Haley.

Matt stopped me at the passenger door of his car and stared down at me with intense eyes. “I don’t know exactly what happened out there, but I can tell you’re lying. Crazy stuff has been happening in this town lately so you need to be careful. You never know who could be next.”

Words caught in my throat.

He leaned toward me so close I could feel his warm breath on my lips. “You mean a lot to me, Llona.”

His hand brushed against my hip as he opened the door. I couldn’t get in fast enough. My whole body trembled, still with fear from earlier, but also something else. A kind of energy like I’d done something naughty or maybe was about to. That could be dangerous.

Matt slid into the driver seat and started the car. I glanced at him sideways, at his strong jaw line, his muscular chest. My heart began to pound. It’s not like I was with Christian. I could do whatever I wanted.

Matt turned a corner and glanced at me, smiling seductively as if he could tell what I was thinking. It was the heated look in his eyes that doused the sparks inside me. No matter what my body felt, my heart belonged to Christian.

“Would you mind taking me home?” I didn’t feel like socializing anymore. The night had gotten too weird and, honestly, quite scary. I shook my head to erase the image of the burning bunny from my mind.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I just don’t feel very good.”

“You mean you don’t feel like socializing,” he said. “Or more specifically, being around Christian.”

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

“I can help you forget him.” His tone had deepened, and though his words were vague, I knew exactly what he meant.

“Thanks, but I’ll be okay.” I turned my body slightly away from him.

“You can trust me, Llona. I wouldn’t ever hurt you.”

His words startled me, and I looked at him. “I don’t think that you would.”

“Good.” He faced forward and didn’t say anything the rest of the way to my house.

I might’ve tried to decipher what he had meant, but I was too busy thinking about the rabbit. Who would’ve done something like that?