T*Witches: Dead Wrong Read Free Page A

she wasn’t even sure it would work. But Cam aimed a searing stare at Alex, carefully holding back so that her twin’s eyes would sting but not burn.
    It worked. Not only did Alex start to cry, but she squeezed Cam’s hand so hard, Cam got misty-eyed, too.
    “Alex? Are you okay?” Dave put his hand on her shoulder.
    “Camryn?” Emily sounded alarmed.
    Not knowing where her tears had come from, Alex saw through blurry eyes that Cam was crying, too.
    “I’ve got some money,” Cam blubbered. “The money Grandma put away for me. I’ll pay for the tickets.”
    “I’m going,” Alex asserted. “I want to. I need to. Just once. Once before you guys become my guardians, I want to go back. I need to … say good-bye to Sara. To my mom. I miss her so much. I need to really say goodbye. And see my friends again. And the places we used to go.” She was sniffling back tears for real now.
    For a moment, there was silence.
    Alex heard Cam thinking,
OMG, the girl is good. She’s a total Gwyneth!
    Finally, Dave cleared his throat. “We’ll work it out,” he said, looking at his wife.
    “Of course,” Emily answered.

CHAPTER THREE
    COVENTRY
    Ileana felt it, smelled it — fear.
    Like an electric current, it ran up her spine. It stung her nostrils, left a sour metal taste in her mouth.
    Terror.
    Only it wasn’t
her
emotion. It was someone else’s. Far away.
    Whatever you want. I’ll call it off. I’ll tell the lawyers to leave them alone. Just… don’t hurt me anymore. My arm! Please, whoever you are, whatever you are, don’t kill me!
    “Ileana?” Karsh’s cry brought the beautiful young witch back … to the overwarm cottage, the pleasantcrackle of the fire in the hearth, the green scent of the herbs she was chopping.
    “Are you all right?” he called from his sickbed.
    Ileana tossed her head, flipping back a cascade of pale blond curls. “Of course,” she answered, with her back to him. “I’m perfectly well. You’re the one who needs help.”
    But the awful feeling clung to her. The feeling — no, the certainty — that something bad was about to happen. Or had already occurred. Something evil.
    Well, what of it? What had it to do with her? She had her plans.
    Ileana refused to turn around to face Karsh.
    It didn’t matter. The wily old warlock could read her like a book.
    She was like a good mystery, Karsh had always thought, one that could be read over and over again and counted on, each time, to deliver new delights and surprises.
    Ileana was often bad-tempered, yet she could stun one with sudden kindness. Wildly self-centered, she would risk her life doing what she believed to be right. She was very outspoken — her words sharp as swords — yet it was hard for her to say what she really meant. And hardly ever what she felt.
    Though Ileana had never met them, had no ideawho they were, the child Karsh had reared had inherited the different natures of her father and mother.
    From his sickbed, he studied her now. Tall, flaxen-haired, wrapped in her long velvet cape and elegant winter boots, Ileana was preparing herbs for his midday medication.
    “Haven’t you anything better to do,” she grumbled, “than stare at my back? Are you afraid I’ll mix up your potions and poison you? You know I can’t — not until you tell me where I came from and how you came to be my guardian. Which I think you’d be grateful enough to do by now.”
    Weeks ago, Karsh had been kidnapped. It was Ileana who’d risked all to rescue him. Now, she was nursing him back to health.
    Karsh rubbed his head and hid a smile. His once-thick curls had thinned to a nappy white fuzz — like a favorite plush toy rubbed bare by a child. “My dear witch —”
    “Call me goddess,” Ileana snapped, as he should have known she would.
    “Goddess, then. My well-being is of no great consequence. It is the twins we must protect,” Karsh continued. “As their magick grows stronger, so does their desire to protect and help others