Daniel laid his head against the couch and sighed, his breathing slightly labored, which worried me. “Yeah. Listen, Emma, I don’t want to scare you, and I can’t fully explain how I know this, but I’m pretty sure it’s not really a shifter, it’s something similar but there’s just something off about it.”
“Like you sensed it?” I asked. “Some sort of preternatural thing?”
He shrugged and winced. “I don’t know. But it, or he, or whatever, got away from me.”
Daniel looked so sad I shifted closer to him on the couch, and he turned to look at me, suddenly bringing us closer than we’d ever been “Hey,” I whispered. “It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re not hurt. And as you can see, I’m fine.”
His sage green eyes softened as he leaned forward. I couldn’t help but focus on his lips, my heart pounding with anticipation of how they’d feel pressed against mine. He had full lips. When we’d been in high school together, I’d had many, many dreams about them and what kissing him would be like. My breath hitched as he got closer, and my heart practically skipped in my chest. I wasn’t sure whether it was from nervousness or excitement.
My breath caught in my throat as my phone squawked from my pocket, playing an obnoxious country song that Deva had set for her ringtone as a joke. Lurching out of my seat, I ignored Daniel’s soft curse and yanked my phone out of my pocket. “Deva? What’s going on?” She wouldn’t call this late unless something was wrong. I couldn’t help it, I started to pace as I waited for my mind to absorb what she was saying.
“The police were attacked. Beth was cornered and the… thing told her if she can’t undo the spell by tomorrow night, it’ll kill her. The thing left, but Beth is a mess, and we don’t know what to do.” She sounded really shaken. There was a waiver to her voice that I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard before, which was saying something. My heart felt like it was being broken into a thousand pieces as my mind filled with images of what might have happened to Beth. If Daniel was this bad, then what chance did my friend stand?
“We’re coming!” I cried. “Daniel is with me.”
Daniel was already on his feet, his eyes that had been so soft a moment ago were hard as ice. “What?”
“Apparently the creature that attacked you attacked the police that were keeping an eye on Beth and cornered her. We have to undo the curse.” My hand covered my mouth once the words had left my mouth, like I couldn’t believe what I’d just said.
“Let’s go.” Daniel grabbed his keys from the table by my door where he’d laid them when he walked in. He held open the front door then closed it behind him. My hands shook as I tried to get my key in the lock, unwilling to leave Henry vulnerable. After they had scraped against the deadbolt a couple of times Daniel gently took them from me and locked up.
As I rushed around to the passenger side of his truck, I couldn’t help the sigh of relief at having someone like Daniel to go with me. He wasn’t a witch, so he couldn’t technically help with this, but it still felt good to have a partner in crime, so to speak. I wanted to get to Beth as quickly as possible, having to trust someone else to drive when I was already freaking out was hard, but if there was anyone who understood the severity of the situation, it was Daniel.
Now, I just hoped he could drive as fast as he moved.
18
Emma
As we changed lanes, a car came out of nowhere and swerved in front of Daniel. He slammed on the brakes and cursed under his breath as the sports car sped down the highway. Glaring at the taillights of the fast little car, I wanted to give the bad driver an immediate Karmic punishment. But even though I didn’t feel myself do it, apparently my new special ability did it for me. Seconds later, a police officer on a motorcycle pulled out from behind a small copse of trees and sped off after the bright red car.
“No way,” Daniel whispered. He glanced at me and I saw suspicion on his face.
But I knew. Beaming, I wished it wasn’t so dark so the driver could see the shit-eating grin on my face as we passed by him, pulled over and about to get a big, fat ticket from the police officer. “Nice,” I muttered as we went on our way.
Sometimes being Karma was freaking awesome.
“You okay?” he asked, after a quiet minute.
I nodded. “This supernatural world is still just so new to me.”
His one hand on the steering wheel seems to tighten. “Yeah, well, not many people learn about it in this stage of our lives. Although, I kind of think the world would be better off if all supernaturals didn’t come into their powers until their forties.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked, glad to have a distraction from my worries.
He shrugged. “Because we’re all idiots when we’re young. Giving teenagers the ability to shift, or use spells, or bite people, tends to bring a lot of trouble. I mean, I don’t even want to think about my days as a young bear.”
“I bet you were fine,” I said, with a laugh.
He shook his head. “I once actually tried to get honey out of a beehive. I mean, I’d seen bears in movies do that all the time. It was not a smart decision, and my old man definitely gave me a talking to
