Vampires & Vinca (Hawthorn Witches Book 4) Read Free Page B

walking away. He usually wasn’t so open in public, but there wasn’t much either of us wasn’t willing to do when it came to weirding out Gates.
    “I’ll bring the detergent, too.” And then he was off to his next class.
    I looked back at Gates and her raised eyebrows.
    “You know I want to know about the quarters, right?” she asked.
    I cocked my head. “Tough. Go get your own.”
    I hassled her about using all of her free time to find a date as we walked back to the apartment. She hassled me back about the quarters.
    I opened the door and dumped my bag onto the floor as I kicked off my shoes. Gates picked up the remote and turned on the television. We had picked up a bad habit of watching the reality court shows and eating microwave burritos before my classes started at noon.
    But as I turned to go into the kitchen, I knew something was wrong. It was in the way the light came through the window, and the stillness in the air.
    Someone was there, and they were bringing a new storm into my life.
    “Thorn.”
    I turned back to see Charlie standing by the front door.
    Gates still had the remote poised in her hand and a shocked expression on her face as she stared at him.
    I shook my head in disbelief. “No.”
    “Kendra needs to speak with you.”
    “No,” I repeated, shaking my head. “No, no—I found her for you. That was the deal. You’re not here now, because—”
    “You’re still my bridge,” he corrected, taking a few more steps into the apartment. “And so is she. And as my bridge, she has requested that I fetch you—both of you—because she needs to speak with you. I suggest you eat quickly.”
    The microwave door popped open on its own, and I could already smell the warmed burritos inside.
    “No.” It seemed to be the only word my mind could conjure.
    “Yes,” Charlie said with an apologetic nod. “She’s waiting, and so is Lyssa. Make it fast.”
    I faced him properly, shaking my head. “Lyssa was worried about you. Enough that she actually came by to see me, and that’s saying something, because she seems to think I’m some kind of untouchable freak since she found out about me being a demon for a few minutes. She tried to call, and then she went to the greenhouse, and it looked like it had been closed down. She moved to be with Josh and Rosie.”
    “A few minutes? May as well have been a lifetime, Thorn, because you of all people know time moves differently in the Other Side.” Charlie cocked an eyebrow, looking guilty. “I may have turned off the phone and done some things to discourage visitors. I wanted some privacy with Kendra. We had a lot of laundry to do after our separation, as the turn of phrase seems to be around here.”
    “Your code is worthless,” Gates muttered.
    “And I didn’t want to know that,” I added. “So she just gets to ditch us in our hour of need, but the second she wants to chat I have to drop everything? I don’t think so.”
    Charlie’s eyes narrowed, and he raised a hand and snapped his fingers. We were all in the greenhouse.
    “I do,” he said.

Chapter 2
     
    Kendra was sitting in front of me at the workbench. She’d set out a tablecloth and laid out a spread of doughnuts and tea. Lyssa sat next to her looking as serious as usual. Kendra gave me a wide grin.
    “Annie, so nice to see you again!” she rose and started to walk toward me, her red hair brilliant in the natural light of the greenhouse.
    I took a step back and raised my hand out in front of me.
    “No,” I said again, shaking my head. “I have classes today at noon. I don’t have time for witch and demon crap.”
    “She also has to do laundry at six,” Charlie added.
    Kendra stopped, furrowing her brow. “It’s laundry. Just ask Charlie to do it.”
    Gates barely contained another laugh, and Lyssa rolled her eyes.
    I shook my head. “Charlie’s not getting anywhere near my laundry. What do you want?”
    Crossing her arms and smiling again, Kendra looked me over and