Page 91 of Soul of a Witch

“Nowthat’snot very nice!” Darragh whined, his voice emanating from somewhere within the branches. “Don’t mind me, just go on with whatever you were doing.”

“Bedroom,” Callum whispered, before he teleported again. After taking a moment to focus myself, I followed, teleporting myself to my bedroom. I flopped down on top of the bed, which wasn’texactlywhere I’d intended to appear, but close enough.

It made my desires obvious at least.

“I can’t reward you quite yet,” my demon said, standing at the foot of the bed. He held up my bag in one hand. “You’ll need this. Your next teleportation will take you outside the house.”

I took the bag, slinging the strap over my shoulder. Scrambling off the bed, I took my position in front of him, continually readjusting my bag because my nervous hands couldn’t stay still.

“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “You need to be confident you can get back to the house without me, if necessary, and teleportation is the safest way to do so. Try teleporting to Abelaum and back again. But remember, you must have a very specific location in mind. You must picture it vividly, with as much detail as you can. Both getting there and getting back.”

“To Abelaum? Oh…okay.”

The places I knew most vividly in Abelaum werenotplaces I wanted to risk randomly showing up in. But then, I thought of the perfect place. My favorite coffee shop; a quiet cafe tucked away down a narrow street, the brick facade coated thickly with vines. The front door had a bell that jingled when you opened it, and when you walked past you could smell the pastries baking, rich butter and yeasty bread, hot coffee and sweet cream…

Something wet hit my face, and suddenly, I was standing in a downpour.

Hurriedly pulling up the hood of my jacket and tucking back my hair, I stepped out of the shadows of the alleyway into which I’d teleported. People hurried by on the sidewalk, rushing to get indoors and out of the rain.

I peered through the windows into the coffee shop’s cafe. Baristas bustled back and forth behind the counter, and patrons sat at tables reading and playing board games as they sipped their drinks.

But then, there at the table just inside the window, I saw them.

Victoria and Raelynn. Together. Sipping coffee, chatting with big smiles on their faces.

My heart nearly stopped. My first instinct was to flee, toimmediatelyteleport back to Callum. But I knew what this was. I knew exactly what Victoria was doing, because I’d seen her do it before.

I’d watched her call Juniper her best friend. Watched her play the long game as they grew closer and Juniper’s trust ran deeper.

Only to stab her in the back in the end.

She was going to do to Raelynn exactly what she’d done to Juniper.

The wind whipped rain into my face, catching my hair and pulling it from the safety of my hood. Lifting my head so I could hurriedly tuck my hair away again, my eyes met with the woman sitting at a corner table, behind Victoria.

My palms went cold and clammy.

My stomach lurched, terror bursting through every inch of me as adrenaline pumped from my frantic heart.

The woman in the corner, staring at me as if she wanted me to drop dead, was Juniper.

Juniper, who’d looked at me with such desperation as an ambulance took her away. Juniper, who’d screamed the truth only for no one to listen. Who’d seen my mother’s wickedness. Who’d witnessed my cowardice.

Who’d been thrown down to God andlived.

She rose slowly from her chair, her eyes locked on me with vicious intensity, and I turned and sprinted.

Dodging down the rainy sidewalk, I was certain I heard the cafe’s bell jingle as the door was shoved open. Shit, shit, shit! I didn’t dare stop, my mind too addled with surprise and fear to concentrate on teleporting. I turned down every street — right, left, left, right, left — constantly glancing over my shoulder.

But with every turn, Juniper was behind me. Moving quickly and easily through the crowd, hood up, eyes locked upon me.

The look on her face was murderous. She wasn’t a frightened teenage girl anymore. This was a woman who’d looked death in the face and wasn’t afraid to do it again.

With every fiber of my being, I knew with absolute certainty she wanted to kill me.

But after another quick turn, I was facing a dead end. A narrow alleyway was before me, wedged between three buildings. The fire escapes were out of my reach, there was nothing I could hide behind. With my back to a brick wall, I faced the mouth of the alley…

And willed myself to disappear.

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