As if I’d conjured him with that thought, Marc drove by Daniel’s house in his blue Buick and sent me a hand code message that he would be at the creek in the morning.

  I told him I would be there early, while pretending that I didn’t care Jeanie was in his passenger seat. She was his cover. I was his heart.

  I was at the creek a little after dawn, waiting with nervous excitement for Marc to arrive. Had he missed me as much as I had him? Would he still like me as much? I’d grown up again during the six months he’d been away. I was now a full-bodied teenager with needs and everything. I was so worried over Marc’s reaction that I didn’t notice the steps coming through the woods behind me. I had a bad habit of that.

  “I want to talk to you!”

  Jeanie’s voice was startlingly loud in the morning air. Around us, crickets and tree frogs went silent.

  I turned awkwardly, ready to run or fight as needed. This was the first time I’d been alone with the bleached blonde bimbo. I wondered if she knew that pink shirt over those white pants made her look like a cotton candy cone.

  “You have to listen!” Jeanie ordered, hands on her hips.

  “What do you want?” I snarled. My Brady had kissed this girl, had loved her with his body–probably last night! I knew he’d been thinking about me, but my jealousy was powerful.

  “I want you to leave him alone.”

  The demand made me furious, but I held my sharp tongue to let her have her say.

  “He belongs with me, not some mutt! Get out of his life or I’ll tell Mother Brady everything. She’ll put a stop to it right quick.”

  “No,” I answered, falling into that dangerous place where anything might happen. It didn’t matter that Jeanie was right, that I had no claim to him. “Even if we were two planets apart, he would still be mine.”

  Jeanie’s perfect face filled with horrified triumph and I realized too late that she’d tricked me into confirming it. What would she do?

  She’ll tell, the witch whispered slyly. Close her mouth.

  Before I considered any other alternative, I started swinging, attacking without warning. I’d always wanted Jeanie’s blood and now was my chance to get it.

  Marc

  It was my nightmare to see them talking, and my guts twisted at Jeanie’s vicious words. Our time was up. We had to go now, today!

  Thud! Thud!

  The punches were nasty and hard enough to make Jeanie stagger. She fell on her butt, holding her bleeding lip.

  “You will not tell!” Angie shouted, right into Jeanie’s face. A hard shake and a shove put my whiny girlfriend on her back on the ground. I stared, shocked, with no thought of stepping between them.

  “It’ll take Mother Brady time to get rid of me and I’ll spend it hunting you!”

  Angie kicked Jeanie in the ribs, making me wince as I thought of my own injury there.

  “And break up with him!” Angie ordered angrily. “Do it tonight or I’ll be at your door come morning.”

  Another kick curled Jeanie into a crying ball and I finally remembered that I was standing in plain view. All they had to do was turn around.

  “You got it?” Angie demanded.

  “Yes, you evil bitch! Get outta my head!”

  That shocked me again, more than Jeanie’s fear. Angie was using her gift!

  “Say it!”

  Angie drew back and Jeanie scrambled away.

  “I won’t tell and I’ll break up with him!”

  Thud!

  “Oww! I will!”

  The noise that I hadn’t noticed before glared at me as Angie continued to intimidate my older girlfriend. It sounded like an engine, but I knew it for what it was–the hum of power.

  “I won’t! I swear!”

  Angie’s face worried me. It wasn’t the face of the girl I loved. It also wasn’t Angie’s voice coming from those lips. It was the inside creature that sometimes glared at me from empty sockets.

  “No matter where you go, Jeanette. You can’t hide from me.”

  And that girl was no longer the self-centered intern I spent time with because of my controlling parent. This was only a quivering soul that my Angie had terrified.

  Listening to the instinct that proclaimed me male, I slipped behind the nearest tree to observe from under cover. I couldn’t decide what to do until this was over anyway.

  “That’s not true,” Angie denied, finally stepping back. “He never loved you.”

  “How long have you been between us?” Jeanie asked, wiping at her bleeding lip.

  “Always.”

  “You bitch! He was mine.”

  “He was never yours!” Angie growled in bitter anger. “He didn’t pick you. His mother did.”

  Jeanie began to cry. “She promises me things…and she threatens my dad. He doesn’t even like your family.”

  “You cheat on him,” Angie accused, not taking pity. “I saw you. That’s not love. You just use him so Mother Brady will give you stuff.”

  Jeanie didn’t reply and Angie’s voice dropped into a nasty tone that gave me a chill.

  “Tell the truth!”

  Jeanie’s tears stopped as she got scared. “Yes. She gives me things!”

  Angie gave a short burst of laughter. “I knew it! That old bitch buys off everyone!”

  Angie wasn’t keeping anything back, but when she handed Jeanie the tissues from her pocket, neither of them flinched.

  Good. The fighting is over, I thought. I’d never enjoyed the sight of violence, though I was certainly capable of dishing it out when it was called for.

  “It’s not like that. I don’t do those things with him.”

  They had clearly moved on to a different topic than my mother’s scheming.

  There was a pause and Angie snarled, “Keep that to yourself!”

  “Then get out!”

  “Nope.”

  A short pause and then, “You’re lying.”

  “Ask him.”

  That made me nervous. I hadn’t heard the question. What if I gave the wrong answer?

  Easy, Angie soothed me mentally. I’ve got it covered.

  I jumped, jaw dropping in shock. She was able to link to both of us at the same time!

  “I can help with that,” Angie offered, clearly trying to make a deal.

  “No! Get out!”

  “Stop whining. You know that’s how he sees you, right? The whining extra that he can’t get rid of.”

  I winced again and Jeanie ducked her head in shame. She’d known all along, deep down, that she was a cheap substitute for someone.

  “Yes. Once you graduate those classes, she can’t control where you go.”

  Jeanie stood up, and kept a good distance between them. “In October, what happens?”

  “The Braves blow out St. Louis on the 14th. On the 31st, pick Alphabet Soup at Woodbine.”

  “I don’t know what that means,” Jeanie complained, but she didn’t whine this time.

  “Tell your dad. Convince him of those two things and your family will have the money to get out of here.”

  “My dad won’t move.”

  “He will when you tell him what everyone else is too scared to say. She doesn’t own you. You can leave. Her arms aren’t that long.”

  Jeanie stared at Angie for a long time. I assume they were still talking mentally, but it was quiet for so long that the birds and bugs came back out.

  “You mean it?”

  “Yes. Your dad calls them ‘winners’. He comes into the diner. Unlike you, his thoughts are nice!”

  “We’ll get to leave this shitty little town?” Jeanie demanded, now appearing exactly like the self-centered intern that I spent time with because of my mother.

  “Yes, but if you betray me, it’ll get bad for you.”

  The deal was closing now, with Angie bartering our future. Would it be enough?

  No, it will not, Marcus Brady.

  The witch inside Angie spoke to me directly for the first time.

  You will make an unavoidable mistake. Love her while you can. The future holds darkness.

  The warning tortured me. How can I stop it?

  There was silence as my answer and I understood. I couldn’t stop it. We would be separated.

  “Do you want me to walk you home?”

  “No.” Jeanie stood up, wiping blood from her lip. “Stay away from me, you freak!”

  Angie winced. “I will, as long as you remember our deal.”

  Jeanie didn’t answer and as I watched her leave, I wondered if that was the mistake. How much time did we have left?

  There was no response to any of my concerns and pain surged. Angie!

  She shared my anguish with a look as I stepped into view. We knew right then that we were doomed, but I tugged her into my arms anyway. We would have this moment.

  “Missed you,” I whispered softly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “A lot.”

  Angie sealed our lips with a quick move that reeked of my own desperation and her embrace held the urgency that it had lacked before. She’d grown up on me, all the way this time. I’d known it was coming after catching her with her hand in her pants, but I’d refused to accept it then. Now, I had no choice. Her body melted against mine in a way that I instantly responded to and the heavy fear in my heart let me take things further than they’d gone before. I tasted her.

  Her mouth opened automatically under pressure from mine and I slid my tongue in with a shiver of want that Angie felt through our mental link. Her breath caught and her hands tightened into fists against my chest. She liked that.

  I did it again, taking my time. So did I.

  I drew back slowly. Her eyes were the darkest blue. It was incredibly sexy against that tan skin and ebony hair, and I couldn’t help kissing her again–really kissing her. My mouth slanted over hers hungrily and I forgot, for an instant, the walls between us. My hand slid up her arm to curl behind her neck… The feel of her hair went through me like lightning. I’d known it would be this good.

  I’d waited years to touch her openly and I pushed my limits now, letting those silken locks tangle around my fingers. Angie!

  Her breath caught again and I felt the wave of furious need that rushed over her skin. I wanted to explain, to slow things down and make every single step perfect for her, but she responded in a way I wasn’t braced for. She tasted me back.

  One feel of her sweet tongue against mine made me arch against her. Yes!

  Lightning flashed again and I fought for control. I could take her now, claim her. She’d let me.

  It was picturing her on the ground under Scot and Rodney that broke temptation’s hold and I pulled away from her as if she was fire. Because for me, she was. There would never be anyone else. The taste of her was burnt into my soul.

  “Sorry.”

  I grinned at her. “I wasn’t protesting.”

  “We should go,” Angie suggested, glancing around. “There are a lot of people out today. More than I thought there would be since it’s already so hot.”

  “Wanna go for a drive? I have air conditioning.”

  Angie delivered one of those rare, soul-catching smiles and I gently took her arm and led her toward where I’d hid the car. It was impossible not to grin like an idiot as I did it. Angie had fought for me. She had freed me from Jeanie. She was perfect.

  I still went to Jeanie’s house after doing my chore list the next day, but Jeanie wouldn’t tell me how she’d gotten the black eye and the fat lip. Her breakup with me was quick and brutal.

  “You’re only coming over here because your mother wants this land and you’re not even good at sex. Tell her we’re gonna sell. I’ll get my dad to agree. Now get lost, Brady!”

  I left two minutes after I’d arrived, completely awed with how Angie had set me free of that chain. I had spent the last year exploring Jeanie’s body and coming up disappointed because her mind was so lacking. I wouldn’t miss her.

  My mother wasn’t as angry as I’d expected either. Instead of threats to keep dating Jeanie or even possible comfort over a breakup, Mary calmly told me to take a little time and then pick someone else who was worthy of joining our family. That proved it all for me. Jeanie had been chosen because her family owned land that my mother wanted. It had nothing to do with me. That’s why we hadn’t been a match. My mother hadn’t even tried to find a female that I might like. As usual, I’d underestimated her lack of empathy, but at least it had worked out in my favor this time.

  I told myself that evil voice could be wrong about the future. Everything was rolling our way, but even when we were laughing together over the next weeks, Angie’s eyes never lost that haunted edge. I didn’t have to ask her why. I already knew.

  The witch was never wrong.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Summer Bonds

  July to September

  Angie

  I saw my Brady almost every day in June and July. He finished teaching me to drive his dirt bike, which was nice. I liked it best when I had my arms locked around his waist and my cheek pressed against his back while we tore down the dirt paths that ran behind the neighborhood. Marc also reminded me how to laugh, to live for the enjoyment and not just the survival. And he taught me to hide better, so if Rodney and Scot, or even Jeanie came searching for me, I would still be safe.

  I taught him to listen to the world, and to talk over long distances with his mind.

  “You have to concentrate,” I said for about the tenth time as we held our first lesson on mental communication.

  And he was trying, but I couldn’t stop my fingers from playing in his hair as I stood behind him. It was long and feathered now, against his mother’s wishes, and so silky that I didn’t want to let go. And Marc liked my touch. I could tell by the way he would tense and close his eyes.

  “Try again,” I directed.

  Marc also liked it when I got into his mind and I reluctantly withdrew my hand from his hair so that I could concentrate enough to connect us. This was important.

  “You’re searching for a door in your mind. Sometimes there are words or shapes on it, but not very often.”

  “What kind of door?”

  “The hidden kind. Check the shadows.” I entered further, searching with him. “When you can find it and open it, we’ll be able to hear each other.”

  “No matter how far away?” he clarified. There was sadness in his thoughts of leaving when school started up.

  I withdrew from his thoughts to keep from carrying his sadness too. Mine was heavy enough. “Yes. They won’t be able to keep us from talking.”

  I could feel his determination grow.

  “We’ll always know what’s going on with each other, or if there’s trouble.”

  Marc found the door on my last word and the line between us lit up as he shoved into my thoughts.

  “Mmm…”

  He groaned at the feel of me and I shuddered, fighting the need to bend down and kiss him. These new feelings were growing. I sometimes found myself staring at his mouth as we talked.

  “Easy.”

  His warning was tense, full of need and control, and I grinned, feeling it from his side too as we stayed connected. I loved the way he felt.

  “Angie.”

  I giggled and the way he sucked in a tight breath made my stomach feel funny. His pleasure was mine and I liked it. A lot.

  The world shifted suddenly, becoming hard and gritty.

  “I like you, too. A lot.”

  I blinked in surprise at his rough growl and the rougher ground. How had we gotten down here? Marc was lying on top of me, hard where I was soft and the fear rose.

  “Sorry.” His face was flushed, blue eyes glowing. “Did I hurt you?”

  His concern banished my worries. This was my Brady. I wanted to do these things with him.

  “No.” I smiled and let both hands go his hair this time. His weight was almost like a blanket that I could hide under.

  “Can you find the door again?” I asked.

  “More than one,” he stated, sounding odd.

  “Good.”

  “Yes, it is,” Marc agreed and leaned down to kiss me.

  Anyone passing our clubhouse would have seen a sin or a crime, but there was nowhere else on earth that I would have rather been. And it was only a kiss. I wasn’t ready for more and Brady knew it. His hands didn’t move from the dirt, but his mouth! Those lips did things to my insides that made me feel hot and guilty. It was a strange mix.

  Marc drew back, pressing short, almost rough kisses to my lips. “We have to stop now.”

  “Okay,” I said, but wrapped my arms around his neck to pull his mouth down to mine for one more. My Brady.

  Marc left at the end of July, going to the farm as far as we both knew, and I tried to keep myself together. We hoped to see each other again at Christmas, but nothing was certain. After the way we had spent the summer necking, it wouldn’t surprise me if Marc stayed away until next year. As hard as it was, I understood. If we were caught in a bad situation now, he would go to jail. We’d been sneaking around family rules and society’s opinion before, but now, we were actually breaking the law.

  That thought bothered me so much that I went to Patty about it a few days after he left. With no Marc, no job at either place, and another full month before school went back in, I was a bit lost again. Maybe that’s why I didn’t notice Mother Brady’s car in front of the shop.

  “It would be in your best interest to agree.”

  I stopped at the door, recognizing the voice. She sounded angry.

  “This is my place. I’ll make the payment.”

  “I doubt that, Ms. Shaw, but until you don’t, all I can do is ask.”

  “You’ll get the same answer,” Patty stated coolly. I rarely ever heard her that upset.

  I heard steps and ducked into the evening shadows of the next doorway.