Chapter 10 #2
The shards on the floor whipped away from me, flying into the wall, instantly reduced to dust. I stared wide-eyed, blinking in disbelief. “Alright…” I stood to my feet, ignoring the blood on my hand, trying to hold onto that feeling of utmost frustration in my chest. “Let’s try this again.”
I snapped an arm to my side, pointing across the room at a speaker that sat on the fireplace mantle.
It blasted to life, pounding Kesha’s latest bop into the room.
The song echoed over the wooden floorboards, up the wainscoted walls and into the rafters.
Hissalot bolted from under the couch, wailing at the sound as he darted into the kitchen for cover.
Laughing, I cast a glance around the room, trying to decide where to begin.
With a wave of my hands, the doorwall leading to the patio slid open, letting in fresh air.
I pulled my hands back, closing my eyes as I tried to connect with the house.
The ancient ancestral abode filled with magic that was meant to be mine.
I stomped my foot, and instantly the air filled with dust that had rested among the stained wood floors.
I held my hand to my lips, blowing air over my palm toward the open door.
My breath churned through the space, becoming a breeze strong enough to move the particles floating around me, driving them away and out into the dusk.
Grams would’ve scolded me into the following week if she’d caught me cleaning with magic.
“Come back and stop me then,” I snickered to myself as I danced around the parlor, shaking my hips as I pointed to candle after candle that lined every surface, setting them alight.
Gesturing to the books scattered throughout the room, I willed them to return to the spots on the shelves where they knew they belonged.
I bounced along beside the windows, swiping my hand in time with the beat as if I were giving each one a single wipe, making them shine in the light of the setting sun.
Sweeping, polishing, dancing, and laughing, I managed to thoroughly entertain myself. Using the power I insisted I was letting go of to accomplish the tasks I had to in order to say goodbye. I felt so in control. So suddenly at ease.
I leapt onto the arm of the sofa, climbing the upholstered sleigh back to point at the ceiling where the chandelier hung high.
It twirled in place, freeing itself of the dander that had settled there over the years.
Dust particles wafted down, glittering in the light that filtered in through the freshly cleaned windows as they spiraled around me, cascading through the parlor and out the door with the rest.
On and on I went, delighted with every flick of my finger and wave of my hand, leaving the space looking immaculate.
By the time the sun had set and the sky had turned dark, I didn’t think the parlor had ever been so clean since the moment it was built.
Finally, I dropped onto the sofa, grinning from ear to ear as I laid my head back, turning the music off with a snap of my fingers.
“That was nifty,” I muttered, practically high on the magic resonating inside me. The ability to move things with my thoughts was rather addictive.
Realizing it had probably been nearly half an hour since my supernatural cleaning party began, I got myself back up, slightly weak in the knees and wobbly from the way I’d been dancing.
I snagged a helping of lasagna from one of the dishes that had been left by my fellow witches, tossing it in the microwave.
I was tempted to try heating it with magic since I was already on a roll, but feeling the way I did, with power coursing through my veins, I was likely to make it explode and ruin my good mood.
I’d tried it before. I didn’t like to talk about it.
After returning to the pristine parlor and scarfing down my dinner, I sat there in a state of comfortable bliss.
Looking around, I wondered how quickly I could get the house in order if I kept that up, but something about preparing the house to sell using the magic that resided there suddenly soured my stomach.
Like I’d betrayed someone who had only ever done right by me.
And just like that, my little bubble of happiness burst right in my face like that bowl of Spaghettios I’d tried to warm up with magic at seven years old.
With a sigh, I draped my elbow over the arm of the couch, resting my head on top of it. “What else am I supposed to do? Live out my life as a target?”
No, thanks.
Out of the corner of my vision, a shadow moved across the back yard in the blink of an eye. I leapt from the sofa, startled, before I rolled my eyes and gritted my teeth. “Jesus, Emery.”
Turning to my phone where it lay on the coffee table, I snatched it up, meaning to give him a piece of my mind for leaving me holed up alone for four days straight without even bothering to pause his ridiculous patrols for a quick hello.
I supposed he was just as irritated with me as Tyler was, though.
My heart shot into my throat when my phone screen lit.
Seven missed calls from Tyler and six text messages between both of them that all basically said exactly the same thing.
Stay inside. Do not leave the house under any circumstances.
My eyes went to the window as that same shadow whipped past again—and I knew.
That wasn’t Emery outside.