Night Witch (Book 1) ✔️

31 - Curses Fly

Luke immediately steps in front of me in a move that is both kind and patronizing. I mean, did he just miss the amazing ward I wove? I choose to believe the best of him and simply lay a hand on his shoulder before stepping around him to face Carter who storms up to glare down at me.

I place my hands on my hips and glare right back. "How dare I what? Have a life? Leave my job?"

"How dare you leave without talking to me about it! How dare you not let us know you were alive!" He practically vibrates with the words.

I move so our toes touch and look up into his face. "I didn't need your permission."

He jerks back a step. His voice,when he's gathered himself, hasn't lost its intensity though he's stopped yelling. "No, you didn't. But, I would like to think you could have talked to me and we could have discussed it. And if you were going to leave you didn't have to cut us all out. We would have supported you." 

"I know." The anger drains from me. "I wasn't running from you."

He scowls and the anger jumps back into his eyes. "High Realms Gate, you're still on about that? CODE isn't the enemy!"

"This is why I didn't say anything! You never believed me!" This time power leaps to my aid. The air around me warps as it gathers and before I can recall it pressure grows and Carter is surrounded in the same aura.

"You never liked any sort of authority. CODE isn't any different than any of the other groups we met up with and you were paranoid about. I guess I shouldn't be surprised then that you ran and are using them as your excuse. Your fears always meant more to you than your friends." His words are vicious now and I realize Nova was right, he has changed. And it's my fault.

But that doesn't give him an excuse to say that to me just because he's angry. My anger simmers and my voice turns cold. "There are more important things in my life than you, Carter."

"Obviously." He bites out a harsh laugh. "I guess I should have know it was you when the demon was contained. Seeing as -"

I cut him off by sending a wave of the pure magical power at him. He doesn't have time to brace himself so he stumbles back until his own magic surges to crash into mine. We stay there, stuck, neither of our magic retreating or advancing. As if on cue, we both release it.

He pants out a laugh as he watches me try to catch my breath. "They don't know what you are. You chose them over us and you don't even trust them enough to tell them the truth as to what type of witch you are."

I bite my lip to keep from retorting that he has no idea what type of witch I am either. It won't do to start another fight when this one seems to be drawing to a close.

We stand, separated by a yard of empty pavement, and watch each other. He finally shakes his head and I shrug as the stress races from me.

"You should have called."

I don't bother to hide my wince. "Yeah, I probably should have."

There's another long pause before he turns and walks back to his car. He hauls open the door and just as he gets in, he stops long enough to look at me again. "I'm glad you're alive."

"I'm glad you are, too."

He nods then gets in, slams the door, and spins the car around before driving away at a more sedate speed than when he'd arrived. When the car is out of sight, Luke stalks up to stand in front of me while the others all just stare.

"Who the hell was that?" Great, yet another person decides to yell at me today.

I just shake my head and head to the car without answering. He dogs my steps and glares at me as we get into the car. After the doors have slammed and we're sitting in silence I turn to him and take a deep breath to organize my thoughts. "We used to work together and when I left I didn't think it was safe for me to keep in contact because I didn't want their boss finding out about my sister."