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The thought of having another girl with magic mixed in with my family had a ball of dread curling in my stomach and a sour taste slithering up my throat. Bitter, I was so very bitter.
I looked down at the too thin girl on the bed in ill-fitting clothing. All I knew of her was that she looked to have some seriously soft blonde locks that I desperately wanted to run my fingers through, an insane number of holes in her ears (or, at least in the one ear I could see), and she lived in a damp, beat-to-shit apartment.
And she had magic.
She was a witch. Like me, like my family.
And, if not for the beautiful fact that she had magic, I might not have been openly opposed to having anything to do with her.
Fool me once and shame on you. Fool me twice and…
Yeah, girls with magic weren’t for me. Not ever again.
I shielded my heart, brick by brick I built the wall surrounding the organ that caused me so much pain when I let it take the lead, and I turned away from the sight of her in time to see Uncle Quint silently reentering the dimly lit bedroom. An envelope crinkled as he folded it in half and shoved it in the back pocket of his jeans. From what I saw of the front of the envelope before it disappeared from sight it looked like some kind of bill. If I was correct and it was a bill then there would be a home address, a billing address, front and center on the envelope with a name of whoever she lived her with. The sneaky son of a bitch had left to find out where we really were, to find out where she lived. So he could come back.
One look at him and the steely determination he wore on his face like it had been etched into stone and I fucking knew. I knew my Uncle better than anyone else, so I was able to read the look on his face with just one glance. Uncle Quint was not going to walk away from this witch and this pathetic, probably roach infested place without ever looking back. No, that look on his face said he’d just found a map that lead to the most beautiful, exotic treasure that ever existed in this whole freaking world and he was bound and determined to find it. All without ever having seen the other half of her face, or her eyes open so he didn’t have any clue as to what color they were, or hearing the sound of her voice.
Fuck.
You either prepared to die or you got the hell out of Uncle Quint’s way. I had to figure out if this girl was worth fighting with my Uncle or not.
The girl shifted slightly, and a whimper escaped her.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as both twins stepped forward as if unable to help themselves after hearing her make that tiny sound.
God damn it, they were both ready to rush to her side and neither of them knew the color of her eyes or the sound of her voice yet, either.
Godfuckingdamn it.
I would have to fight them on this too if we were going to live our lives without her and leave her in peace to her own shitty one.
“Time to go,” Uncle Quint insisted. “We need to go before she joins us in her dream and realizes what’s going on. We aren’t ready for that.”
We weren’t ready for anything the draw of her implicated. I didn’t want any part in anything having to do with this girl. In a way, I hated her for making me feel anything at all, even sympathy for her.
“But, Quinton,” one of the twins said cautiously, “she clearly needs us. We can’t just leave her here.”
We sure as fuck could.
“We may be leaving her for now,” Quint said quietly, “but I promise you, it isn’t for good. You need to trust me on this, we aren’t gonna contact the Council, but we are gonna handle this situation. I give you my word.”
Masculine grunts echoed throughout the room, bouncing off the cold, barren walls. They all trusted Uncle Quint to handle the situation and take care of the nameless girl.
I wanted to put my fist in every single one of their faces in protest.
I was going to fight them on this and from the looks they were giving her I knew they weren’t going to be happy with me.
“Brace,” Quint said as he held his arms out at his sides and closed his eyes, concentrating.
I knew what to expect before I felt it.
The room around me darkened until no light remained and I felt like I was standing alone in a black tunnel.
I stood there in silence, counting. I made it to fifty-eight before my world shifted again and I sat up in my own bed, gasping, disoriented.
And I did it angry.
And I also did it not knowing that the beautiful girl we’d left in that shit hole apartment would soon become everything to me and my very reason for breathing.
