Cursed In Love (The Adams' Witch Book 2) (13 page)

I stomped out of the woods and found Travis in the clearing by himself. There was another search party nearby, and they’d been coming back to this base periodically too, but for right now, it was just him.

I plopped down next to him. He arched an eyebrow and even though he didn’t ask, I answered him anyway. “Nothing.”

He smirked and shrugged.

“Where’s Jennie?”

He inclined his head toward the dirt road. “She took the Jeep and went to get us something to eat. Hope you’re hungry.”

“Why? What time is it?”

“It’s seven, Sarah. We’ve been at this for hours.”

“We’ve…?”

“Fine. You’ve been at this for hours and I’ve been playing security guard all day and I’m famished.”

I nudged his foot with mine. We’d been hanging out a lot lately. So much so that our stares lingered longer and my stomach usually had butterflies when he was around. “How can you be a security guard when you’re not even around us?”

“Trust me, I would know if something happened to you, and I’ve been watching my sister like a hawk. She’s the Natural. If anything is going to happen, it would be with her.”

I looked toward the empty mouth of the dirt road and back at Travis. “Watching her like a hawk, huh?”

“She threatened to kick me in the balls. I told her be back in fifteen.”

I stifled a laugh. “If she was that pissed, she probably won’t come back at all.”

“I’ve thought of that. I have faith in my little sister though. She wouldn’t leave you all alone up here with me.”

I smiled awkwardly. Jennie hadn’t said much about her brother and me hanging out. I knew they didn’t have the best of relationships and I wasn’t saying at all that this flirtation we had was going to turn into anything more, but Jennie had been a good friend and I didn’t want to do anything to risk that.

Travis nudged my shoe with his own. “She had a talk with me, you know?”

The familiar butterflies in my stomach started flying. “A talk?”

“She said she noticed we were hanging around a lot and wanted to know what my intentions were with you.”

“Intentions? Are you sure she used that word?”

“Oh definitely. Jennie gets very formal when she’s asking serious questions.”

I didn’t ask what he said to her even though my brain was screaming at me to find out. The less said the better right now. There were too many other things to worry about. Though my body didn’t seem to feel that way when Travis was around, my mind was trying to compartmentalize things. Courtney, Drake, and the missing Naturals were the priority. My hormones could wait.

I looked over to find Travis staring at me and it was clear his hormones were being louder than mine. His stare made me think of a lion targeting his prey. “I’m glad you decided to come,” I said.

He sat up and scratched his face. “Jennie talked me into it with the same line she used to talk you into it. It looks better for all of us if we’re out here looking to see what we can find out, instead of not showing up.”

I nodded. “Agreed. I’ve been thinking. Should we try a locator spell again?”

Travis shrugged. “I don’t know if you have the juice.”

“Could it hurt?”

His lips tipped up. “Only your pride and my time.”

I shoved him in the shoulder, well, tried to, but he dodged and grabbed my hand. “You’re awfully physical, lately. Do you always hit guys you like?”

The breath whooshed out of my lungs. What could I say to that? It wasn’t as if he was wrong per se, but he was so… “You’re so pompous.”

He grinned. “But I’m also right.”

“But you’re still full of yourself.”

We inched closer, his stare drawing me in. His eyes the color of emeralds and darkening the nearer I came. I’d imagined what it would be like to kiss Travis ever since we took the trip to the park that day. My heart felt as if it were going to come out of my chest.

Two short beeps of a car horn pulled us up short. Travis cursed under his breath as his gaze moved to the dirt road. He waved.

My face felt as if it were on fire. I knew it was too red to turn around because Jennie would be able to see right through me. Then she’d probably give me the third degree instead of her brother. I let out a long breath, hoping it would calm my nerves. Travis avoided eye contact with me as he got up and jogged toward the Jeep to help Jennie with the food she’d bought.

When they arrived back together, Jennie had picked up a pizza from the little spot downtown. She handed out paper plates, and we all sat and ate together. I was quiet the entire time. Jennie and Travis exchanged glances throughout dinner, but I couldn’t bring myself to act too normal. I’d almost kissed Travis for heaven’s sake. That was a big deal. It would be monumental. If I did, it would almost be like making a choice between him and Drake and I didn’t think I was there yet.

Travis’s phone rang. He took the cell from his pocket and peered at the screen. “Jesus. It’s the search party people.”

“Well, answer it. They probably just want to check in.”

Travis sneered. “I still don’t know why we had to give them my number.”

Jennie kicked him. “Just answer it.”

“Hello?” he said brusquely. “Yeah. We’re still up here.” A few moments went by and he said, “Sure thing,” then hung up. “Idiots,” he muttered.

“What did they want?”

“It’s getting dark. Thy want us to head back to the park and check in.”

I looked down at the pizza box. There were only a few slices left. Travis grabbed one, and I offered the other to Jennie, but she declined. I didn’t want it either, so I took it to the edge of the woods and threw it in.

“Is that how they recycle in Miami?” Travis called after me.

I glared at him and then we picked up our trash and hopped in the Jeep again. This time, Jennie got in the back. “What are you doing?” I whispered.

“I want to stretch my legs.” She smiled and gave me a nod toward the front passenger door. Heat flooded my cheeks again, but I hopped in the front anyway.

Travis looked pleased. His smirk stayed on his face as we bounced down the rut-filled dirt road. In fact, it was still on his face five minutes later as we pulled into a parking spot by the park.

We walked toward a group gathering around a table in the center of the pentagram. Mrs. James was there and so was Andrew. Everyone talked excitedly. The blood pulsed at the vein in my wrists. Did something happen?

When we got closer, I recognized more people. A bunch from the Wiccan meeting I’d attended and the other that I’d spied on. It seemed like everyone who was in the park at this moment was a witch, besides me.

Travis put his witch cop face on. “What’s going on?”

Courtney’s mom put her nose in the air, but Andrew stepped forward. He spoke even and slow, but not very inviting. “A few of us did a locator spell today. We had more witches here than normal and thought maybe the group could use their combined powers.”

“And?”

“We’ve got a general idea. She’s nearby. She’s trapped, we think. Somehow. We got the feeling of being enclosed.”

“How close?”

“You know yourself it’s not a science, but close. Within a couple miles. And we all felt she was somewhere south of us.”

The cousin looked at me and my stomach did a somersault. Shit. Was my house south of here? I didn’t even know.

Jennie crossed her arms. “You know, you could’ve asked us to help you and you probably would’ve found exactly where she was.”

He looked over his shoulder and then back at us. “I tried. It was a no go.”

She shrugged. “Your loss.”

Her tone was bitter. I put my hand on her shoulder to soothe her. Cold seeped right through her shirt. It must’ve been getting freezing out with the sun going down. I wrapped my arms around myself to block out the chill.

“What Jennie means,” I said. “…is if you can ever convince them, we’d be happy to help lend a hand.”

Jennie sniffed as if she actually wouldn’t do that, but Travis backed me up. “I meant what I said. If we find something, we’ll tell you, and vice versa. We appreciate the update.”

They both made a manly nod toward one another and then we turned around and walked back toward the Jeep. Other groups were parking now and getting out to check in. I was glad we got there when we did so we could get the witch scoop. I doubt they’d be sharing that information with everybody, only the select few that knew about Naturals and the actual power Wiccans had.

“Apparently there’s a party tonight,” Jennie said, fidgeting with her hands.

“Party?” Travis asked.

“A high school party,” Jennie clarified. “I thought it would be fun if Sarah and I went.” Travis went to speak, but she cut him off. “And in case I haven’t made it clear, without you.”

Travis and I exchanged a glance, but I looked quickly away. I didn’t want to give Jennie any more fodder for letting me sit in the front seat. “A party? Is that really necessary?” I asked.

Jennie shrugged. “Normal teens find any reason to party, even if one of their classmates has gone missing.”

“I don’t like the idea,” Travis said.

“Of course you don’t. You want to be up our asses every second, but it’s just a party. And I’m going.”

Jennie marched to the car and jumped in the backseat.

Travis let out a sigh. “If she’s going, you’re going.”

“But I don’t want to go.”

“Well, I can’t go and my little sister is not going to a party alone. You’re going.”

He strode to the car in angry silence and hopped in the seat behind the steering wheel. What the hell happened? Now I was roped into a party that I didn’t even want to go to.

I looked at the two of them in the car, both staring out their respective windows with similar scowls on their faces. Those two were a lot alike in many ways. One being their tempers. If they would just talk about whatever was bothering them, they may even be able to get over it, but I didn’t see that happening anytime soon.

I smiled and slid into the passenger seat in front of Jennie. “What time are you picking me up?”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Travis’s jaw tick.

The heat from the curling iron burned my pointer finger when it got too close. “Ow,” I yelped. It had been a long time since I dressed up for the sake of going out. Adams parties were most likely going to be different than the parties back home, but the idea of it was the same. I needed to dress up at least a little so I didn’t completely cast myself as an outsider.

I opened the curling iron and a cute ringlet fell from the ceramic. I ran my hands through my hair, sprayed a little hair spray, and bam, I was done.

On the way out of the bathroom, a knock sounded on the room door. That was weird. It wasn’t like Mom usually knocked, or if she did, it was immediately followed by her coming in so the knock was automatically void and unnecessary.

“Come in,” I called. No one did. My heart popped into my throat. Being around the house had been scary enough as it was after Aunt Rose died, then Andrew had broken in and we’d found a Pentagram in the center of the library. Creepy. But not creepy enough for me to want to leave this place that my dad had lived in. “Hello?” I called out again.

A husky voice sounded from the other side. “Are you decent?”

I smiled. It was Travis’s unsure voice that came through the closed door. I walked over and whipped it open. “Of course I’m decent. I wouldn’t have said ‘come in’ otherwise.”

A mischievous smile toyed with his lips. “Well, I don’t know what girls do. You might let another girl come in when you’re half naked and I thought maybe you would think it was Jennie here early to pick you up.”

I rolled my eyes. Guys and their overactive imaginations. “No. Letting anyone see me half-naked wasn’t on my to-do list today. Sorry to disappoint.”

I moved out of the way so he could walk into the room. He looked around, and I remembered this was the first time he’d been in here. I’d kept it much the same as when I first came to Aunt Rose’s. It still had the same ugly flowered quilt, but I’d added a few things of my own and made my mom hire a mover to move the desk my aunt freaked out about downstairs into the library. There was no way I was going to sleep near that thing now that I knew whose it was.

“Your mom let me in.”

“Did she flirt with you?”

“Just a little.”

I smiled at his honesty. “She can’t help herself.”

“I do tend to—”

I slapped his shoulder. “Oh my god. There’s the overconfidence again.” His smile widened as he sat on the edge of the queen-sized bed. I loved the way it did funny things to my stomach. “So, what’s up? Are you coming to tell me Jennie can’t go to the party?” I asked hopefully.

He shook his head and looked at the carpet. “No. I can’t do that to Jennie. She deserves to go out and act normal, but that’s not the only reason why I’m pissed off about this party.”

He looked up and his green eyes zeroed in on mine. My heartbeat kicked up a few hundred notches. Excitement rose to a fever pitch inside my body. Something was about to change. Words were about to be said that couldn’t be unsaid. Was I okay with this?

He cleared his throat. “I don’t like the idea of you going to a party.”

“M-me?” I croaked out.

He shook his head. “And not because I’m one of those asshole guys who want to put girls into a box and keep them there, but because…”

His throat worked. He was uncomfortable, I realized. This was something Travis didn’t do all the time. He always had this laid back persona and an air of superiority, but this was something that made him nervous. I clenched my fists together to work out some of the jitters coursing through my body.

Softly, he said, “I don’t want someone else touching you. Or having the kind of thoughts I do about you. And damn, Sarah, the way you look tonight, the way you look every day, I know that it’s an impossibility.”

Words stuck in my throat. I wasn’t able to say anything. Not a damn thing. I was scared. Not knowing what to say or how to act, was terrifying. I liked Travis. I really did. But this was all new to me. He was Travis. He was a Natural. He was a member of the freaking witch police whatchamacallits for crying out loud. He was better.