a lot in the past year. They were chatty and carefree, always wearing bright smiles. But not today.
Felicity passed Gabi and went straight to Silas. “Do you think I don’t ever want to go to the beach or the mountains again? What if I want to go to college? You can’t do this, you can’t make this decision for me and for everyone else in town.”
Gabi was completely confused, but oddly enough, Silas was not. “There are pros and cons, I know…”
“There are way more cons,” Bria said in a calmer voice than the one her friend had used.
“It wasn’t my idea,” Silas said as he stood.
“Maybe not, but you went along with it and didn’t tell anyone! What if it’s too late? What if it happens and we’re trapped here?”
Gabi moved so that she was between Silas and the girls. “Can someone explain to me what’s going on?”
“Later,” Silas said sharply.
Felicity turned to Gabi. “He’s lying to you, too. Do you know it was his job to run you out of town?”
Gabi looked at Silas. “What?”
“She asked him to do it, and he went along with her plan.”
“Who’s she?”
“Jenna Maxwell,” Bria answered. “She’s bad news, that’s what my dad says.”
“Maxwell?”
“Clint’s ex-wife,” Silas explained. “She’s remarried and has another last name now, but…”
“Not important.” Gabi snapped. She felt like her head was swimming. What plan? Lying, no different than Blake? Was the only reason Silas had started paying attention to her so he could chase her out of town?
“Girls, y’all need to go,” he said sternly.
Felicity looked Gabi square in the eye. “Not until you know what’s going on. Silas and his friends plan to cast a spell that will close this town off forever. No one will be able to get in or out. Beyond the town limits, everyone will forget about us. The town, the people, we’ll all be ghosts. I don’t want to be a ghost!” Her eyes filled with tears. “I want to live, and go where I choose to go, and one day maybe meet a boy who doesn’t live right down the street from me. I’ve never been to a big city, or flown on an airplane, or seen an elephant. I want to do all these things, but I’ll never do any of it if your boyfriend has his way.”
Bria backed away from her friend, edging closer and closer to Mia and Judge. For a moment her friend had her full attention, but then she looked down at Mia, who reached up for her. Bria obediently lifted the child, and in spite of the current mood, she smiled. Mia cooed, and played with the necklace Bria wore.
Still holding Mia, Bria turned to Gabi.
“She’s a Springer.”
Silas slipped past Felicity to address this new issue with a ferocity Gabi had not expected. “You can’t know that.”
“I do know. I feel it. Can’t you feel it?”
Silas sighed. “Sometimes.”
“What do you mean?” Gabi asked. Springers was a local term for, well, locals. As far as she knew, transplants didn’t become Springers. You were one from birth, or you weren’t.
“You’re not a Springer,” Bria said. “Mia must get it from her father.”
Gabi felt faint, for a moment. She didn’t want Mia to have anything of her father in her. “Springer doesn’t mean exactly what I thought, I take it. Is this part of the whole magic thing?”
Silas sighed and nodded.
Gabi took her daughter from Bria, walked to her station, opened a drawer, and calmly withdrew her purse. While balancing Mia on her hip she grabbed her keys, and dropped the day’s earnings into the purse. Then she turned to face the three people who watched her.
“Get out,” she said. Felicity and Bria immediately moved toward the door, heads down. Silas didn’t move, until Gabi directed her words to him. “You, too.”
“Gabi, I…”
“If your assignment was to get me out of town, congratulations. You’ve succeeded. I’ll be gone by dark.”
And she’d pray that Blake didn’t follow her. At least her ex-husband was honest about being a complete asshole. Silas was worse. He’d made her think he was a good guy, he’d made her think that he truly cared.
She held the door open for Silas. Judge stayed at her heels. It broke her heart, but she said, “Take your dog with you. I can’t take care of him on the road. I don’t know where I’ll land and a big dog…”
“You need us,” Silas argued. “Until we find your ex, you need us.”
That was her problem, wasn’t it? She always