The Witch Is Back Read Free Page A

guy’s feet, creating a steady stream of white, which circled and covered the area in wisps. I had no idea what was happening, but the man in the hat wasn’t moving.
    â€œDammit!” Asher said loudly as he walked over to the man and pulled off his hat forcefully. Then he began to fan the area until the smoke dissipated. Thoroughly confused, I made my way across the yard until I was close enough to see what was going on.
    â€œDid you just turn him into a mannequin?!” I asked, slightly horrified and impressed at the same time. “Asher, I’m sure you had your reasons, but . . .”
    â€œHuh?” he asked, looking over at me as I walked up. “No. I mean, I know. He already was a mannequin. I was trying to cast a flame, but all I ended up doing was setting off a smoke bomb. Great for stupid high school pranks, not helpful in defeating bad guys.”
    Waves of relief rushed over me.
    Though I was embarrassed to admit it, I had thought for just a moment that maybe Asher was back to his old tricks. That he was using less-than-savory magic for his own purposes again. It was only for a moment though, and then I remembered that the lying, sneaky Asher wasn’t the real him. But I couldn’t help the knee-jerk reaction. Apparently I still had some trust issues that I needed to work through in that regard.
    â€œWell, maybe Brighton will be good for us after all,” I said, seeing how frustrated he was by the failed spell.
    â€œI’m just a little rusty, that’s all. I didn’t use magic at all when we first met, and lately I’ve been too busy to practice,” Asher said, placing the hat back on the dummy’s head and giving me a pointed look. This was his way of letting me know—not so subtly, I might add—that this was because of me.
    The truth was, spending all our time together had made it difficult for either of us to focus on magic lately. Except for the kind we were making together. But that wouldn’t come in handy if we were going up against guys like the Parrishables again, which was still a possibility, considering that many of Samuel’s followers had run off into the night after we’d banished their leader.
    â€œBrighton will give us both a chance to catch up on the things that we’ve let slide,” Asher said.
    I walked over to him and threw my arms around his neck.
    â€œI still think we could have done that here,” I said, kissing him on the cheek softly. Then I moved my lips up to his temple and kissed him there, before heading over to the space below his ear and lingering for a moment. His body stiffened beneath mine. “Then we’d be able to be alone . I bet it’d be easier to concentrate without all those other people around.”
    â€œYou’re the only thing I’d concentrate on if we stayed here, and you know it,” Asher said, pulling away from me but keeping his arm on my waist. “You know I love you, Had, but not all of us are magical geniuses who don’t need to practice their craft. I’ve been letting that side of my life slide these past few months. Don’t get me wrong—it’s totally been worth it, but still . . . Let me put it this way: I respect you for being the kick-ass witch that you are, but I want to at least be in the same stratosphere as you. You might not need me to save you from evil, but I don’t want to be a liability, either.”
    As a witch, I understood what he was trying to say. Magic was important to both of us, and in a way, it should trump our relationship. But as a girl, all I heard was that Asher would rather go to some summer magic intensive than spend time alone with me.
    Ugh, is this what it’s like to be in love ? Blinded by rainbows and unicorns, and sappy soundtracks that played in your head whenever you were around each other, and having all logic and sense of self thrown out the window? Had I turned into the