Page 8 of The 13th Daughter (The Witches of New Salem #1)

Chapter Six

Ethan dragged me out of Lucy's and across the street to the park where he settled me under the first set of trees he came to with a stern, "Don't move." Then he turned around and went back into the café.

My chin hit my chest. I felt my face heat with rage and wouldn't have been surprised to see smoke coming out of my ears.

Oh, he so did not! The wind picked up and blew through the trees with a force that matched my anger.

I grabbed my bookbag and started walking deeper into the park.

Angry and embarrassed, I trudged along for another ten minutes or so before collapsing under a tree.

Mr. Melt In Your Mouth Gorgeous was turning out to be a royal pain in the ass. Stay put? As if!

I sighed. This had to be the worst first date of my life.

I'd gotten a crappy note taped to my locker while he was with Kay and then, when he'd finally shown up, his high-handed tactics only managed to piss me off.

This was worse than when Craig had taken me to the Nascar Hall of Fame and proceeded to drone on and on about cars.

Sure, my dad was a mechanic, but why would he just assume I'd know all about cars?

I'd been bored within minutes and he'd gotten irritated when he figured out I wasn't paying attention to his babble.

Needless to say, that had been our first and last date.

I couldn't help but to wonder if Ethan and I would end up on that same course.

The rustle of leaves caught my attention and I looked up to see Sara Jordan and Megan Parker, Jeff's little sister, heading down one of the trails. Megan jumped up and down, barely able to contain her excitement.

"I can hardly wait," she said. "Can you believe it's on Saturday, Sara?"

"How could I not?" Sara asked dryly. "You won't let me forget."

"Well, it's not every day a girl gets inducted into the Junior Coven," she said defensively as they continued on down the path and out of hearing distance.

I smiled at the excitement in her step as she bounced from one foot to the other.

Megan always did get a little over excited about things, but I suppose she had a right.

Her induction into the Junior Coven was a big deal.

Entrance signaled the beginning of the training that would end when she turned eighteen.

Junior members were inducted at age fifteen and spent the next three years learning their craft from respected teachers of the Senior Coven.

Megan's excitement made me remember the night of Emily's induction. I wasn't allowed to go, but I'd stayed with her right up until she'd gone to the Hall. I let myself drift back to that moment.

Emily twisted her hair up and then let it fall back down.

She turned in front of the full length mirror in her room and frowned.

Her hair went back up and she flipped back and forth, trying to see it from all sides in the mirror.

It blazed with life, all the colors shimmering as she moved.

Her hair fascinated me. I'd never seen anyone's with so many different colors. It was beautiful.

"What do you think, CJ?" she fretted. "Up or down?"

"Up," I said promptly. "It makes you look older." I was obsessed with being older, especially tonight. I wanted to go and see Emily inducted into the Junior Coven more than anything, but my parents said no, I was too young. You had to be fifteen to go to the meetings and I was only twelve.

She saw my disgruntled face and smiled. "It'll be your turn before you know it."

"I don't want a turn," I rolled my eyes at her. "I just want to go and see you."

"You'll change your mind when you're older," she promised. "The Coven is everything you could ever want, CJ."

"Would it give me the new Nintendo Game Boy?"

She laughed. "I don't think even the Coven has that much pull. You'll have to work on Mom and Dad for that."

"So what use is the Coven then?" I grouched and crossed my arms over my chest.

"CJ, the Coven is a part of us even if we don't want it to be. Our family has been members since the town was founded and I can't wait to become a part of that history."

"Are you sure I can't sneak in? Kay would do it. She's dying to go too."

"I'm sure she is, but no, you can't sneak in.

You need to respect the laws and traditions of our past." She pulled on her ceremonial gown.

It shimmered in the light as if a thousand tiny diamonds were woven into the silvery white material.

I jumped off the bed to touch it. I'd never seen it before.

It was tiny and delicate, barely reaching mid thigh.

Two thin straps held it up around her neck and I was glad she'd kept her hair up.

It made the dress look even more fragile and Emily all but sparkled in it.

"It's beautiful," I whispered and fingered the soft material.

"This is part of our history, too," she told me while she fastened her silver locket around her neck. "This is the original gown Sara Bishop wore when she became a part of the Coven in Massachusetts."

I gave her a crazy look. Sara Bishop? She'd lived in like the 1690's. "It's too short. Didn't they wear stuff that covered everything?"

She grinned. "Usually, but this is different. Witches wore things a little more risqué when they worked their magic."

I gave her a look of total disbelief. I was not going to fall for that crap.

"I swear, CJ, it's hers," she promised with a wink. "Magic."

"There's no such thing as magic," I grouched, mad that she'd try and trick me.

She laughed and kissed the top of my head. "So how do I look?"

"Beautiful," I told her, unable to stay mad at her for long. She really was the most beautiful person I'd ever seen and tonight, tonight she looked like a goddess descending from the stars.

"Thank you," she said and fingered the locket. "Do you know why I'm wearing this?"

I shook my head.

"So you really will be with me." She leaned down and pulled me into a hug.

The heart shaped locket held a picture of both of us.

"I have an idea." She went into the bathroom and came out with a pair of scissors.

She snipped a piece of each of our hair and put it into the locket.

"I want you there too, little sister, and this way, I'll have a piece of you with me. "

Her sapphire eyes had glowed with happiness when she'd left the house.

She'd been just as excited as Megan. Emily had truly loved everything about the Coven, so why had she warned me to stay away from it?

It made no more sense to me now than it had all those years ago.

I'd seen the same desperation in her eyes that I'd seen in Dad's.

What had caused her to change her mind? It was a mystery I needed to solve and soon.

"Can you not stay put for five minutes?"

I looked up into a pair of flashing storm clouds. Ethan glared down at me, a picnic basket in one hand. I swallowed. Picnic basket?

"I had to pick up our food," he growled and sat down next to me.

His shirt stretched tight over his muscles and his jeans looked poured on.

Did he have to look so yummy? "Then I come out to find you gone.

I have been looking for you for the last twenty minutes.

How do you move so fast in those heels?"

I glanced at my favorite black Jimmy Chou's. They'd cost me a small fortune, but the three inch black heels were more than worth it.

"Do not start on my shoes. You're in enough trouble as it is.

I didn't really appreciate the attitude so I left," I told him, aware of his arm brushing mine as he pulled out the Styrofoam containers.

My stomach rumbled at the smell of hamburgers.

I was really hungry. Dad claimed my stomach was a bottomless pit and I had to agree with him.

When I opened the one he handed me to reveal my favorite burger off the menu, made just the way I liked it, I almost started salivating.

Lucy's had the best bacon cheese burgers in the state.

Her burgers had even been featured on that show about diners on the Food Network.

"Attitude?" he asked, puzzled.

"I didn't appreciate getting hauled out of there like a naughty child."

He took a bite of his burger and his eyes crossed. "Good God, what's in this? I've never tasted anything so good."

"It's a secret recipe. Lucy won't tell anyone. Next, I did not appreciate you leaving a note on my locker while you were off with my best friend." Did my voice get just a wee bit loud at that? He was lucky I wasn't shouting.

"I took her home because she is your best friend," he snapped. "She was dead on her feet and I didn't think you'd appreciate it if she fell asleep driving home and was in an accident, especially considering what happened to your sister."

Oh. I cast a quick peek up at him and saw him glaring down at me. He'd taken her home because of me? Wait, I didn't tell him how Emily had died.

"How do you know what happened to my sister?"

"I asked Billy." He grabbed a fry and paused, watching me dip my own in blue cheese sauce. "What's that?"

I held it out for him to sniff and laughed when his face screwed up in disgust.

I popped the fry in my mouth. "Blue cheese. It's an acquired taste."

"If you say so." He eyed me with open curiosity as I savored the taste. "Billy said you took Emily's death really hard. I was only trying to make sure you didn't have to go through that again."

Crap. He had to go and remind me what a nice guy he was. "I'm sorry," I muttered. "I jumped to conclusions. Kay..."

"...is Kay," he interrupted me. "She's not you."

"She's beautiful," I whispered, not looking at him. "Every guy we know wants her." My paranoia was getting the best of me. I had never doubted myself before, but Ethan made me think crazy things, feel insane things, and I felt like I was losing my mind.