A Banshee's Wail (The Banshee Curse #1)

Chapter Ten

“OKAY, MY DEAR, beautiful girlfriend, just where do you suggest we find this gigantic cauldron of yours?” Lyle laughed, wrapping an arm around my shoulders as we walked down the sidewalk.

     I rolled my eyes. “I'm the redheaded stepchild, remember?” I pointed out to him, fingering the ends of my red hair. “I think 'witch' would be a more accurate description of me—and then it also goes with the giant cauldron that we're trying to find!”

     He eyed me with suspicion. “You seem a little too excited about all of this...”

     “Which reminds me,” I muttered, picking up his arm and removing it from my shoulders as gingerly as I possibly could. “What are you doing touching me? I don't want to get nasty slut germs on me.”

     He grinned and lunged at me, but I danced out of his reach. “You know, witch probably does describe you better,” he agreed, lunging at me again. I stepped to the side. “I mean, you make it sound like you're getting this cauldron to boil me alive and eat me.”

     I scrunched my nose up. “That makes me sound like a cannibal, not a witch,” I corrected him, turning to walk down the street the right way. “Besides, you're too old to be Hanzel, Lyle. You're almost eighteen, remember? I think Hanzel was around eight or nine...”

     “Yeah, I guess you're right.”

     I laughed. “You know I'm right,” I told him, wrapping my arm around his waist. “Seriously, though, you should go take a shower before you start getting the urge to pole dance or something equally as scarring.”

     He let go of me and raced to a light pole. “What, you don't find this sexy?” he asked, caressing the pole with his body while wearing a goofy smile.

     I giggled and shook my head. “Quite the opposite, actually.”

     He fake-pouted. “Aw, there goes my idea of supporting our family,” he muttered, coming back over to me. Instead of continuing to walk, he slipped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer. “Have any other ideas?”

     As he leaned in closer, I smirked. “Get a sensible job?” I suggested, feeling his breath feather over my face as he chuckled lightly. His lips met mine and I eagerly accepted the kiss. We stood there for a few seconds before I got a feeling equivalent to spiders crawling up my spine. Pulling back slightly, I glanced up and down the street, noticing the car parked on the side of the road not too far from us.

     “What is it?” Lyle asked a little breathlessly.

     I frowned and glanced up at him. “I'm not getting a good feeling,” I told him honestly. I grabbed his hand and started walking in the opposite direction of the car. “C'mon, let's get going. We need to find a place to hide out soon, anyway.”

     “I was having so much fun, though,” he whined, allowing me to drag him down the street. “Can't we just stop for a few minutes and make out?”

     “Men,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. I smiled slightly and shook my head at him. “Sorry, no can do. Now, if you went back to the academy, you could find someone else who would gladly do so with you.”

     The playful light in his eyes winked out. “As long as you're out here, I'm out here,” he muttered, tightening his hand around mind and pulling ahead of me.

     I sighed but allowed him to take the lead. I'd tried getting him to head back to the academy about six times in the past hour since the incident with the Wonder Sluts. Each time he'd lock up and decided that not talking to me for five minutes was my punishment. Who he was punishing, though, was a mystery to me. He seemed to forget that he was the talkative one—and by not talking to me, it was actually punishing himself. I didn't point this out to him, though, since I took this silence as a chance to keep an eye on the car that had started to creep along behind us.