The others trade baffled expressions, which makes me laugh all the harder.
“I think I know why some of the spells aren’t working,” Felix wheezes.
“I’m missing a wand!” I hoot.
“Witches don’t use wands,” Kaleb replies, trading looks back and forth between me and Felix.
After a few hitching breaths and wiping at my face, I choke out, “They do inHarry Potter… which is where that spell came from.”
“No way,” Nolan breathes before he’s leaning over and laughing into my hair.
Connor silently shakes, his big shoulders shifting heavily with his contained mirth.
Donovan stares at Kaleb with disbelief. “You tried to get Callie to cast spells fromHarry Potter?”
Kaleb cringes and covers his face with one hand. If his skin wasn’t already naturally dark sepia, I’m pretty sure he’d be tomato red by now.
“I’ve never read the books,” he mutters in his defense.
“You should,” I chuckle. “They’re pretty good.”
It takes several minutes before we stop laughing, all the while, Kaleb is looking like he’s considering whipping out his wings if only to fly away from the embarrassment.Sorry, Kaleb. That stuff follows you.
“Well, we tried it Kaleb’s way,” Donovan opens, glaring at him. “Now, let’s try it my way.”
My heart does a sharp skip in my chest. “And what’s that?”
Kaleb moves in front of me and holds out a hand. “We want her to be able to cast spells with intended purpose.”
“Then we first need to figure out how she’s doing it by accident,” he challenges, striding towards us.
Nolan’s hands tighten on my shoulders, and Connor’s face hardens, his weight shifting to the balls of his feet.
“Jesus Christ, I’m not going to hurt her,” Donovan growls, looking at everyone like they’ve lost their minds.
“No one gets hurt,” I demand. “Not for this.”
He sighs, eyeballs Kaleb for a moment, then asks, “Before the rainstorm on Monday, what were you thinking?”
“I… I wasn’t,” I stutter out.
“You were,” Donovan insists. “Gina was there. Her hands were on Nolan. You pushed her away. Why?”
A deep stillness sweeps through Nolan-- and today and that day begin to merge together. My skin begins to crawl remembering the ugliness that lies inside that girl.
“I don’t… she felt wrong. I didn’t want her around,” I admit, swallowing heavily.
“No one does,” Nolan mutters under his breath.
Donovan stares right into my eyes, the vibrant aqua color making them all the more piercing, and shakes his head. “Not good enough, Callie. There’s more. Why did you push her away?”
“You don’t have to answer that,” Kaleb counters, his focus still on Donovan. “That’s not what today is supposed to be about.”
“Bullshit, it’s not,” Donovan shoots back. “She wants answers; this is how we get them.”
Connor stalks closer, and there’s a low growl emanating from his chest.
My heart pounds in my ears, sweat collects on the back of my neck, and my whole body trembles. The sounds, the intensity, everything echoes that day and then I see it again. The fracture of Nolan’s mask. The real fear that lights his eyes.
