(ON HOLD) Spellbound (BxB)

Chapter 16 | Crack, Boom

The next morning, Asher broke out of his dorm room early to stretch out on the dew-cold pavement of the practice field while the sun rose over the many trees wrapping Kingsly all the way around like a wool scarf. They wouldn't be playing here; they'd be packing onto a bus for an away-game against the Melody Ridge Ravens—a private catholic school in the west. But still, it brought him peace to imagine the ball on his own turf—the goal, the defenders, the support waiting for him to fail so they could pick off his success like vultures.

He was the center forward. His job was to put points on the board. As many as he could and as quickly as possible.

God, he was going to fuck up.

And above the layers of anxiety encrusting his over-imaginative brain, Asher couldn't peel away the image of the face he'd seen in the mirror last night. The sound of its teeth, scraping against screaming glass. The empty socket of its nose, the eyes without lids and far too much white. How was he supposed to gather his courage and seek out Logan if things like that were awaiting him on the other side?

He turned his head to the bracelet on his wrist, wetted by the prickly, well-manicured grass. Without much thought, he removed it.

Mimi stood at his feet, staring down at him, dark eyes below a straight fringe—a look of boredom on her face, as if she'd been there for some time. When she realized he could see her, she reached out. Her mouth opened to speak.

Asher slid the bracelet back on, his heart pounding against his spine, and Mimi was gone. Like she'd never been there, she was gone.

He gathered his things and raced back into Kingsly where he refused to think about it for the rest of the day—partly because he was overwhelmingly anxious for the game, but also because he was disappointed in himself. He had questions for Mimi, loads of them, and he was too afraid to bear her presence for more than a moment.

What good was he ever going to be to a coven of witches?

For some reason, that fear began to overcast the other, and Asher found himself sitting at the window seat of the team's shuttle, his soccer uniform poking him in all the wrong places and Brian Gunthy beside him, offering from a bag of M&Ms. Scarcely did any of his teammates ever really talk to Asher, but neither did they talk to Brian. He was a strange breed; scrawny with long blond hair and glasses, and one too many facts on the tip of his tongue, but great defensive instincts. The only center-back Asher was ever afraid of pitting off against.

"You're rejecting chocolate?" asked Brian when Asher didn't take any. "Is the world ending?"

Asher shook his head, but the sick feeling in his stomach made him wonder if it was.

That was when the sound of low bass reverberated his window and he looked out to see the black mustang, top down and one too many bodies crammed inside. Jackal was driving, sunglasses on and a smile playing on his lips. Courtney was in the passenger seat with her boots up against the dashboard, while Ryan stood up in the back, his shirt raised to flash a pair of mauve nipples at Asher. Kat was beside him, laughing and clapping, and Aspen sat on the opposite side, tugging at his jeans to pull him back into his seat.

Asher had expected one or two of them to show up to his game, not all of them at once.

He laid his head against the glass and watched them speed off into the distance, Ryan barely making it back into his seat before they overtook a minivan in the left lane. Asher's breath fogged the glass where he'd been, and in the condensation, he drew a frowning face. Damn the world if it was ending when he finally had something worth living for.

The rest of the drive was not long enough for Asher to gather himself, and once they'd arrived, all the nerves in him tore from their tethers. The seats were only half full, but the dome itself was massive—a college stadium with ample food services and lights like blinding, glaring eyes from above. It wasn't even dark—evening at most, and those lights shown down at him with godly condemnation.