Hold Tight

repelling spell on this necklace as he had to his.

“Really?” Kaylee asked.

“Yeah.”

She smiled and handed me the box to hold while she switched jewelry. She’d just dropped the cross on top of the Jelly Bellies when Sarah held out her bright purple gift bag.

“Open mine now,” she said.

Kaylee dug through the lilac tissue paper and pulled out a bottle of her favorite perfume. “I was almost out. Thank you!” She spritzed her neck and wrists, then carefully tucked Sarah’s gift on the top shelf of her locker and grabbed a package of Jelly Bellies.

“How about we drink these first,” I said, holding up the tray of coffees.

Kaylee tucked the candy in her purse, claiming she’d need them by history. Sarah gave Kaylee one last birthday hug, took her drink, and hurried to her first period class. Kaylee and I headed to English.

I contemplated filling Kaylee in on what Isaac and I had discovered last night, but I couldn’t bring myself to ruin her day by telling her there were new supernatural threats. In Mr. Chapin’s classroom, we settled into our chairs. She took the worksheet we’d been assigned out of her bag. I groaned.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t read the chapter we were assigned,” Kaylee said. I wasn’t sure why this surprised her. I never got through Mr. Chapin’s homework. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Hurry and copy mine before he asks for us to hand them in.”

Doing so broke my new rule not to cheat, but my grade was in jeopardy. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw her answers were all short and not mini essays.

Kaylee took a sip of mocha. “Josh has the whole afternoon planned. The celebration starts at the final bell. I wonder where he’s taking me.” She said the last part in a dreamy voice like she was thinking of the possibilities. “All he said was I’m going to love it.”

I knew. Josh planned to drive up the coast to her favorite sushi restaurant, and he had a bouquet of deep purple calla lilies—also Kaylee’s favorite—waiting to be picked up at one of the little florists along the way. The evening would end at his place, with her blowing out the candles on a double-chocolate cupcake that his mom baked.

I had two answers to scribble in when Mr. Chapin told us to listen up. When he turned his back to the class, I gave Kaylee her worksheet back and mouthed, Thanks.

While Mr. Chapin discussed the significance of Hester having to wear a large letter A stamped across her chest in The Scarlet Letter, I enjoyed my pumpkin spice latte.

The first few periods went by quickly, but halfway through fourth hour, Kaylee figured out that I knew what Josh had planned for her birthday celebration. Her constant begging for me to tell her made lunch the longest fifty minutes in the history of time.

“Josh will kill me if I ruin his surprise,” I said, thankful we didn’t have the next period together. I was sure if she gave me the puppy-dog eyes one more time I’d cave and at least tell her it included sushi.

“Just give me a hint,” she pleaded.

“Can’t. I promised.” I got up, tray in hand, and headed toward the exit.

She followed. “Why’d you do that?”

I hadn’t actually promised Josh I wouldn’t tell Kaylee about his surprises, but I wished I’d thought to use that magical loophole an hour ago, because she finally stopped badgering me.

I tossed the rest of my fries into the trash, turned, and bumped into Caden.

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” I asked. I had enough problems without adding a Witch Wannabe to them.

He took my and Kaylee’s trays and deposited both on the tray return. “I’m on lunch break. Do you have a minute?”

“I have to get to class.”

Caden grabbed my wrist, his hand wrapping around one of my fancy iron bracelets. Still no sizzle of flesh. “One minute,” he insisted.

I huffed. “I can’t help you find Emma. Sorry. We done?”

He ignored me and instead addressed Kaylee. “May I borrow Madison, please?”

Kaylee looked at me.

My gaze fell to Caden’s hand. He let go of me. To Kaylee, I said, “It’s fine. I’ll catch up with you later.”

Caden held his arm out to his side. “I’ll walk you to class.”

“Fine.” I led the way, although Caden set the pace to a slow stroll. “Seriously, Caden, Emma’s not worth all this trouble.”

“I’m not here about her.” He stepped in front of me. “Look, normally I stay out of other people’s business, but even I have a code of honor I live by, and trickery is not part of it.”

“What are you talking about?” As I said the words, my powers made the trek down to my fingertips, ready to strike should I need to.

“Reed,” Caden spat. “You know, it never turns out well for a person who’s been marked by the Fae.”

“You know what he is?” I whispered, checking to my left and then my right to make sure no one was listening. “How? Who are you?”

“I can see through his glamour. Call it a gift. I can help you, if you ask.”

“I don’t even know you.” I stepped around him.

Caden kept pace with me. “Sure you do. I’m the Creepy Dude turned Mystery Guy turned Nice Guy watching out for a friend’s brother. Ask me.”

I stopped just outside my next class. “How do you know what I’ve called you?” I’d never said those nicknames aloud. He didn’t answer. “Are you psychic?” Again he was silent. Asshole. I waited to see if he got that thought. After a few seconds, I crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t need help, and your minute’s up.”

With that, I marched into my classroom without looking back, seriously wondering what the hell was up with Caden, who I decided was definitely Creepy Dude squared.

Chapter 16 Intruder

That evening, Chase and I sat at the kitchen table, sharing a frozen pizza and swapping stories about our day. Dad had promised he’d be home early, but these days that meant sometime after seven.

“And then Haley dumped green paint all over Suzy. Suzy cried worse than the baby seals at the zoo. Her mom had to come and bring her new clothes.” He had already told me that Suzy had called Haley’s painting ugly, claiming she knew art when she saw it. Chase assured me that the only thing Suzy knew was how to be mean to Haley.

“I bet Suzy will think twice before insulting someone else’s project again,” I said.

Chase plucked a piece of sausage off his pizza. “They both had to sit on the bench at recess, and Haley has to pay for Suzy’s top.”

There never seemed to be a shortage of drama in his first grade class. In turn, I told him about surprising Kaylee for her birthday and how I had to read twenty pages in The Scarlet Letter to catch up on my homework. “Speaking of homework, you got any?”

“Nope.” He pulled the cheese off his pizza and stuffed it into his mouth.

“You know, the whole idea of pizza is to eat the crust, cheese, and toppings together,” I said, handing him a napkin.

We were silent as we munched on dinner. I had told Isaac about Caden’s visit on the way home from school. Based on what Isaac’s grandfather had told him about psychics being able to read minds, sense witches, and see through glamours, we decided Caden had to be a psychic. But we also deduced he wasn’t clairvoyant or else he’d know exactly where to find Emma.

Regardless, neither of us trusted Caden enough to ask him how he intended on helping. Not to mention psychics were extrasensory, but they didn’t possess supernatural abilities. Our coven was already four strong—