Blood Witch Read Free Page B

exactly,” said Mary K. “It’s just, I feel kind of sorry for Bree. She lost you and Cal.”
    I sniffed. “Well, she’s being a total bitch to me now,” I muttered, forgetting how much I had been missing Bree just minutes ago. “So she obviously isn’t all broken up about it.”
    Mary K. stared out the window. “Maybe being a bitch is just how Bree acts sad,” she murmured absently, watching the barren trees pass. “If you were my best friend for about twelve years and you left me for a guy you just met, maybe I would be a bitch, too.”
    I didn’t answer. Just stay out of it, I thought. Like my fourteen-year-old sister knew anything. She’d allowed herself to get involved with a sleazebag like Bakker, after all.
    But deep down, I wondered if I was irritated because Mary K. was right.

3
    Woodbane

    After lunch I was in my room, twisting my long hair into a braid, when I felt Cal’s presence. A smile spread across my face. I focused my senses and felt my parents in the living room, my sister in the bathroom—and then Cal, coming closer, tickling my nerves as he approached. By the time I snapped an elastic around my braid, he was ringing the doorbell. I dashed from my room and down the stairs.
    Mom answered the door.
    “Hello, Cal,” she said. She’d met him once before, when he’d come to visit after Bree had practically broken my nose with a volleyball during gym. I could feel her giving him the standard maternal up-and-down as he stood there.
    “Hi, Mrs. Rowlands,” Cal replied easily, smiling. “Is Morgan—oh, there she is.” Our eyes met, and we grinned foolishly at each other. I couldn’t hide the pleasure that I took in seeing him, not even from my mom.
    “Will you be back for dinner?” Mom asked, unable to resist giving me a quick kiss.
    “Yes,” I said. “And then I’m going to Jenna’s tonight.”
    “Okay.” Mom took a deep breath, then smiled at Cal again. “Have a good time.”
    I knew that she was trying hard not to ask Cal to drive safely, and to her credit, she managed it. I waved good-bye and hurried out to Cal’s car.
    He climbed in and started the engine. “Still want to go to Practical Magick?” he asked.
    “Yes.” I settled back in my seat. My thoughts instantly turned to the night before, to finding Maeve’s Book of Shadows.
    As soon as we were out of eyesight of my house, Cal pulled the car over and reached across to kiss me. I moved as close to him as I could in the bucket seats and held him tightly. It was so strange: I had always counted on Bree and my family for grounding, for support. But now Bree was out of my life, and my family and I were still coming to terms with the fact that I was adopted. If it weren’t for Cal . . . well, it seemed best not to think of that.
    “Are you okay?” he asked, pulling back to kiss my face again. “No worries with the BOS?”
    “Not yet,” I told him, shaking my head. “It’s really amazing, though. I’m learning so much.” I paused. “Your mom isn’t mad I took it, is she?”
    “No. She knows it’s yours. She should have told you about it.” He smiled ruefully. “It’s just—I don’t know. Mom is used to being in charge, you know? She leads her coven. She’s a high priestess. She’s always helping people solve problems, helping them with stuff. So sometimes she acts like she’s got to protect the whole world. Whether they want her to or not.”
    I nodded, trying to understand. “Yeah. I can see that. I guess I just felt that it wasn’t really her business, you know? Or maybe it could be, but it should be my business first.”
    There was a flash of faint surprise in Cal’s eyes, and he gave a dry laugh. “You’re funny,” he said. “Usually people are swarming all over my mom. Everyone is so impressed with her power, her strength. They blurt out all their problems and tell her everything, and they want to be as close to her as possible. She’s not used to people challenging her.”
    “But I like