Incipient A Dark Paranormal Romance - Bianca Scardoni Page 0,93
there.
“Our party,” corrected Carly, rolling her eyes at him.
“What party?” I asked, this having been the first I heard of it. Not that I cared, though. I was hardly in the mood for parties these days with everything going on.
“We,” answered Caleb, exaggerating the word for his sister’s benefit, “throw a little soiree at our house every year before the Halloween dance. It’s become somewhat of a tradition.”
I made a questioning face. “Is this really the best time to throw a party with all these demons on the loose?” The whole thing sounded like a horrible plot from a D-rated horror movie where the main characters were just asking for it.
“Are you kidding? Our house is protected to the neck,” he said as he buffed his nails against his shirt, letting me know it was his magical doing and that he was dang proud of it, too. “There’s literally no safer place in town.”
Hmm. That was a good point.
“I’ll think about it,” I said, not wanting to commit to anything in case the shit hit the fan again, and if my history was any indication of how my future was going to go, there would definitely be fan hitting.
“Come on, Jemma. You have to come,” said Carly, her wide-set caramel eyes in a tizzy as though I were her best friend and she couldn’t fathom having a party without me. “It’s the best party of the year. Everyone’s going to be there.”
“Oh, well in that case, I’ll definitely stay home.”
Carly laughed as though I were kidding. “You’re so funny, Jemma!”
Ben covered his grin because he knew I wasn’t trying to be funny.
“Me and Morgan are going costume shopping Thursday. Nikki was supposed to come too, but I doubt she’ll be showing up. She’s been so MIA lately.” Her eyes doubled in size. “Ooh! You should totally come with us instead!”
I glanced over at Morgan who gave a quick nod of her head, letting me know she was okay with me tagging along. Well, color me tickled. Who would’ve thunk it? Me and Morgan. On our way to being besties. “Thanks,” I said, turning back to Carly with a smile. “I might just take you up on that.”
“Great!” she said, clapping her hands excitedly as Morgan banged away on her phone.
“So, now that your shopping date is all settled, how about we go get some grub?” asked Ben as he absentmindedly rubbed his belly. “I’m starving.”
“Didn’t you pick up tacos on the way over here?” asked Carly as she followed Ben toward the main door, which was now free and clear since most of the attendees had already vacated the hall.
“I sure did,” he said as he flopped his arm around her shoulder. “Are you impressed?”
I waited for everyone to get out of earshot and then snagged Caleb’s elbow, holding him back.
He quirked his brow at me. “What’s up, Blackburn?”
“I need a favor.”
“You guys coming?” called Carly, noticing we weren’t behind them anymore.
“Go ahead. We’ll meet you outside,” answered Caleb as I forced a smile. As soon as the three of them left the meeting hall, he turned his curious eyes back on me. “What kind of a favor?”
“I need you to work a spell for me,” I whispered and then casually tossed my hair over my shoulder, exposing my bandaged neck. “A healing spell.”
His eyebrows knitted as his gaze moved to my neck and then back to my eyes. “What happened?”
“Hazards of the job. It’s nothing I can’t handle,” I lied evenly. “I’m just sick of wearing this thing on my neck. I look ridiculous,” I said with a laugh, trying to play up the whole vanity angle. “Do you think you can help a girl out?”
He studied me for a moment and then nodded. “It’s an easy spell.”
“Great…what are the chances of being able to use this spell on myself at a later time. Like, as needed?” It was a longshot, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask.
“Well, you’re not a Caster so you can’t actually do magic,” he pointed out, his eyes thoughtful. “But I can probably put a spell together for you and tie it to a talisman.”
My eyes lit up. “And it would automatically heal me?”
“Well, no. You’d need to say a short incantation while holding the talisman for it to work. And it won’t do anything for substantial injuries either.”
“So, if I get impaled and my guts spill out, it’s not going to fix that, right?” I asked teasingly.