Chapter 13 - Rachel
“Great job!” Amelia said, taking a step back from me.
I grimaced as I pushed myself up to a half-seated position, propping myself up on my forearms. “You still managed to knock me to the mat,” I said.
“Sure, but it’s taking longer each time,” Amelia said, reaching her hand out to me and helping haul me to my feet.
I grimaced, rotating my arm, which felt like she had yanked it from its socket when she jerked me upright. “It doesn’t feel like I’m getting that much stronger,” I said.
“It’s a process,” Amelia shrugged. “You’ve been doing this for all of a few weeks. That isn’t a lot of time. But you’ve made a lot of great strides. When you started, you couldn’t even break a simple hold.”
Making another face, I stretched, first one way, then the other. “Sure, but it isn’t as though I’m going to be able to fight anyone.”
“The point isn’t to fight,” Amelia lectured. “But to defend yourself long enough to get away. You’re small. You just need to learn to use your opponent’s weight and size against them, and that takes time. But you’re already getting the feel for it.”
I didn’t answer right away, glancing around the sparring room, the mats soft beneath my bare feet.
I knew all of this, but still, something made me feel as though I had to prove myself.
Maybe it was the way Sam looked at me like I was fragile stained glass that would shatter with a single touch.
I hadn’t missed the way he hovered over me whenever he got the chance, or how he constantly asked where I was going and if I would be alone.
I had hoped that training with Amelia would soothe his fears as much as it built my confidence.
Instead, it had only seemed to exacerbate them.
I understood he was concerned, especially with the lesser demons and the wraith, but it was impossible not to feel smothered.
“I’ve got to get ready for my next class,” Amelia said, glancing up at the clock. “But I’ll see you Thursday. Remember not to be so hard on yourself.”
I gave a half-smile. “No promises, but I’ll do my best.”
I walked home, letting my aching muscles stretch and loosen. The street was empty, and the first vestiges of twilight shone out over the sky. I let the cool air brush across my face, and I inhaled deeply, savoring being outdoors.
My hands suddenly grew hot.
I stiffened, fear gripping me as I stared down at them. The last time they had burned like this, flames had shot from my fingers and burned the chicken I had been cooking in a matter of seconds.
Panic raced through me. I wasn’t sure what was happening with me.
It was as if there was a fire somewhere in my body that I hadn’t realized was there.
Only, the last few weeks, it had grown more powerful, and I didn’t know what it was or how to control it.
I felt like I was going insane, except there was no way I could be hallucinating, because I had seen it happen too many times before.
I ran home as fast as I could, ignoring my protesting muscles. I needed to get home before anything happened. My hands were a ticking bomb, and I had no idea how long the timer was set for.
I barely managed to make it home and slam the doors shut before the heat seemed to burst out of me as if someone had released a valve. This time, there were no bursts of flame, but I could feel that ripple of heat in the air. Slowly, I looked at my hands.
Fire wrapped around each of my fingers, casting flickering, dancing shadows.
They didn’t burn, but I could feel their heat, and I could feel a sudden urge to wield it.
More than that, I could sense some sort of instinct lurking beneath the surface, as if I had always known what to do and I had just been waiting for the right moment.
I watched, concentrating on the flames that looked like pointed caps covering each finger.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when the flames lengthened, turning into spiraling tendrils that wrapped themselves into a bright orange and yellow orb swirling over my palm, illuminating the room as it waited for my command.
A lump formed in my throat.
When we had been attacked by the demons, and Emma had cast her magic, I had thought I imagined sparks of flame bursting from my fingers. I had told myself it was only in my imagination. After Sam and I had sex, it had only gotten worse.
I had been denying it ever since that hike, but I couldn’t do that any longer, not with the proof swirling in my hand right in front of me. I had seen Emma wield water often enough to know that it was magic.
I swallowed, staring at the flame as I forced myself to accept the truth: somehow, impossibly, I was a witch.
I made the globe grow and shrink in my hand.
I released it, and it hovered in the air, bobbing slightly.
I made it follow me, illuminating the otherwise dark house.
The flame did whatever I wanted, dancing and swirling, stretching into a line and twisting itself into a perfect pretzel shape.
It seemed to respond to my every thought, listening to whatever came into my mind almost as fast as I could think it.
Eventually, though, I made it vanish, leaving me in a chilly darkness as the heat dissipated. I ran my fingers through my hair as I took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to do.
I couldn’t tell people the truth. Despite Emma being somewhat accepted by the pack, witches in general were still disliked and distrusted at best in the pack, despised and reviled at worst. Emma only got a pass because she was the luna and had proven herself during the wraith’s attack several months ago.
I, on the other hand, didn’t have the luxury of being the luna or of having done anything remotely useful during the attack.
Most of the pack still only tolerated me, calling me weak and useless when they didn’t think Elias could hear.
If I came out and announced my powers, I’d most likely be cast out at best.
And then there was Sam. I had no idea what he would do.
We had only recently started connecting again.
I had found myself enjoying spending time with him.
I liked his company. I didn’t know how I would react if he rejected me when he found out.
Despite our past history, the thought of losing him because of magic terrified me.
No, it was better to keep it a secret. I just needed to learn how to control it all.
The question was, how to do that without anyone discovering my secret, and how to do so without burning down the entire town.
***
Night had fallen. Jenson had left an hour ago, leaving Liv and me to close. As we did, I noticed Liv tapping her foot as she glanced at her watch, gnawing the inside of her cheek as she looked outside.
“Trying to get somewhere?” I asked.
She blushed. “I may have a potential date lined up. Or, I was supposed to, at least until Alex called out and I had to close. I told him I would let him know if I got out early enough.” She stared down at her watch again.
“Cute?” I asked.
“The cutest,” Liv gushed, turning a brilliant pink. “Like, we’re talking Adonis-levels of attractive here. And I’m going to miss it because Jenson forces two people to do a one-person job. And I just know that he’s going to find some other girl if I miss out tonight.”
I bit back my laugh. “We can’t have that. You go on,” I said, flicking my hand.
“Are you sure?” I heard the hesitation even as her eyes sparked with hope.
“Yeah, yeah. It’s not like closing is that difficult. I think the only reason Jenson has two people close is because he’s paranoid one of us is going to skim from the register. Which, considering what he pays us, I wouldn’t blame any of us for doing. But yeah. I’ll be fine.”
Liv squealed and flung her arms around me. “Oh my God, you’re the best,” she said, jumping up and down, jostling me with every bounce.
“Just remember that next time I need you to cover a shift,” I teased as she continued to jostle me, her feet kept bounding up and down.
“Absolutely,” she said, stepping back, her hair a little mussed from all her jumping. “Okay, I’ve got to run. Thank you again.”
I don’t think I had ever seen her punch out and race out the door so fast.
Laughing and shaking my head, I kept moving through my closing routine.
I mopped the floors, I wiped down the counters, I cleaned the windows.
I let my mind turn off for a while as I went through the age-old ritual.
For a while, I didn’t have to think about Sam or how confused I was when it came to him.
I didn’t have to think about how I apparently had powers. I could just be me for a few minutes.
The bell chimed cheerily through the store. I stiffened even as I cringed. Shoot. I’d forgotten to lock it.
Taking in a deep breath, I forced a smile onto my face and turned away from the shelf, can still in hand as I rose to my feet.
Two large shifters I had never seen before strutted into the store. The smile on my face froze. Unease prickled up my spine as their gaze swept the area and landed on me. I got to my feet, mind racing as my intuition screamed at me that something was very, very wrong.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “We’re closed.”
The first shifter, one with dark hair and a scar running along his chin, gave a casual shrug. “The door was open, the lights were on. That seems pretty open to me. What about you, Reg?”
Reg, the one with shaggy brown hair, kept his eyes locked on me as he said, “Absolutely.”
“It’s after ten,” I said, trying to sound firm despite the fact that each of these shifters outweighed me by at least a hundred pounds of muscle, and my head didn’t reach their collarbones. “We’re closed. Come back in the morning.”
“We’ll leave once you empty the register for us,” the first one said.
I gave a half-laugh that died in my throat when they stepped toward me again.
“Trust me, doll. Peter’s not the kind to joke,” Reg said. “You should just give us what we want before things get ugly.”
I glanced at both of them, sizing them up. They didn’t have guns, but they didn’t need them. Already, I could see one of them lengthening their fingers into sharp claws, their teeth turning into fangs as they leered down at me.
I still didn’t move. Then Peter’s smile vanished, and he grabbed my bicep. I winced as his claws pressed against my flesh, not breaking the skin, but a reminder that they could at any second.
“Come on,” he growled, dragging me over to the register.
One of Jenson’s saving graces was that he had always told us not to be heroes when it came to robberies. The store was insured, and he didn’t want to have to deal with that sort of mess. Best to let the dangerous guy get what he wanted and leave without adding a body to the mix.
He let go of me, hovering over me as I opened it. When it chimed open, he lunged forward and grabbed fistfuls of cash, as did Reg.
“Not a bad haul,” Reg said, counting through his cash. Peter grunted in agreement. Both of them were still blocking my exit, leaving only a sliver of a gap that I could pass through.
“You have what you want. Now get the hell out,” I snarled.
Peter looked down at me with amusement. “You know, we only came in to rob the place,” he said, almost conversationally. “But that was before I saw you. How about it, sweetheart? Wanna have a bit of fun?”
Bile churned in my stomach. “No thanks.”
I dipped around them, trying to stay as close to the wall and as far away from those creeps as possible. I had barely gotten a few feet when Reg darted forward, grabbing my wrist and holding it over my head.
“I think we might stick around a while,” Peter said. “I don’t think we’re quite done yet.”
I let out another snarl as I tried to wrench my hand away.
“She’s a fighter,” Reg laughed. “I like my girls to have a bit of spirit. It makes it more fun—”
I drove my knee into his crotch, twisting my wrist out of his grasp at the same time, using one of the techniques Amelia had taught me. He howled, letting go as he doubled over, but I didn’t have time to gloat. As Amelia had said, I was training to get away, not beat these guys.
Reg was already straightening, his hand lashing out at me. As he grabbed for me again, I narrowly dodged. I couldn’t get through the front, not with them blocking it. But there was a back exit. I spun and raced down the aisle.
I kept moving, hoping that I would be able to get away, going to the very last aisle, preparing to turn and head for the back door. I rounded the corner, only to find Peter blocking the end, slowly moving toward me. I went to double back, but Reg was already closing in on me. They’d pinned me.
I shrank back, trying to keep as much distance between myself and the two shifters as possible. My shoulder blades pressed against the corner, items rattling and falling from the shelves.
“Nowhere to go now, is there?” Peter jeered as he strutted forward.
With a smirk, Reg grabbed for me, his hand closing once more around my wrist. This time, though, he yelped, his hand releasing me at lightning speed, shaking it as though he’d been burned.
“She’s hot—literally,” he said, staring at me as though I were a freak.
“What are you talking about?” Peter asked. “Grab her.”
My hands began to prickle with heat. Fire sparked at my fingers, the light and heat flickering before they vanished. Peter stumbled when he saw it.
“What the hell?” he asked, blinking as if trying to decide if he had imagined it.
As quickly as it flared to life, it vanished, disappearing into nothing.
I tried to make the fire come back, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t focus, not with the two shifters still slowly approaching. All I could fixate on was how quickly they could close the gap as they kept coming nearer.