Page 48 of White Charms and Dark Secrets

“Shut up, Rhydian,” I bark back, rolling my eyes.

“I agree with his choice to bow out,” Kier declares. “You can all consider yourselves opted out, becausenobodyis coming with me.”

“Kayla stays here, and we will join you,” Darren counters, as if this is some kind of negotiation.

“Look, we can't just keep going around in circles. It's smarter to take backup with you, so they’re coming, and you can't find him without me, so I'm going too. That's final,” I snap, glaring at all of them.

“I don't need you to find him,” Kier mutters.

“Are you so sure about that? I guess you can go try and find him by yourself, and I can go try to find him by myself. Which of us do you think will catch up with him first?” I ask him, barely able to curb my temper from the annoyance at his insistence at leaving me behind.

Kier stares at me, and I wonder if he can tell how determined I am. I'm not letting him do this alone. This is my mess, and I need to fix it. After a few moments of silence, he sighs and closes his eyes for a moment.

“If you tell me where to find him, I'll take those two with me,” Kier offers.

“Fine,” I pretend to relent. “Better they go with you than you go off alone.”

“Great. Kayla, you do your special little witchy magic spell, or whatever, and locate Elias, and I'll work on giving a fuck,” Rhydian announces, giving me a firm look when he says the piece about the witchy magic.

“Shut up, Rhydian,” Darren practically growls.

“It's fine,” I mutter. I understand Rhydian's message loud and clear. I can write my tracking of Elias off as a special spell.

Maybe as something an ancestor came up with, but kept quiet about?

“It's not fine,” Darren responds softer this time.

“It is,” I brush his concern off before continuing, “Okay, I'm going to need some space to do my family's location spell. I'm going upstairs, don't disturb me.” I'm already heading for the stairs the second I finish speaking. Don’t leave time for questions or arguments… or for anyone to figure out my plan.

“How long will it take?” Kier calls after me.

How long will it take to close my eyes, follow the route from myself to Kier's father in my mind, and then try and retrace the route on google maps afterwards to find out the location so I can tell the others?

“Kayla?” he prompts when I pause but don't answer.

“It may take a while,” I answer honestly, before continuing to the stairs.

What I'm not being honest about is the fact I also need to figure out a plan for how I'm going to follow the others there without them noticing me. Chaotic magic or not, I can't just let them walk into a mess I'm responsible for creating. I have to help fix this. Even if it means walking into a dangerous situation with my magic cut off, so I can avoid my curse hindering them in my attempt I make to help.

“Be as quick as you can. Every second he's out there he's a danger to everyone around him. He’s a threat to innocent bystanders.”

I bite my lip to stop myself from responding and hustle up the stairs, not slowing until I shut my bedroom door behind me.

Fuck it. Who needs a plan anyway?

Twenty-Three

The Witch With No Master

The second I'm through the portal I check over myself, ensuring that I'm intact from my travel. I breathe a sigh of relief once I've reassured myself that all my limbs are still in place, and that I'm not about to spontaneously combust. Before going any further or getting closer to the warehouse, I slide the bracelet onto my wrist.Cutting off my bad luck is worth losing my magic for a while, considering that I'm not planning on using it anyway.

A weird feeling rushes through me as I let go of the bracelet on my wrist, making chills run down my back from the sensation. Curious, I reach down and try to pull the jewellery off so I can inspect it, but it won't budge off my hand.

“What the hell?” I mutter, trying harder to yank the damn thing off. After spending a few too many minutes battling with a piece of jewellery, I give up. Rhydian must have done something to it to stop me from taking it back off.Whatever.I swallow thickly, wishing I'd done something to dull my nerves before putting it on.

I mean, I was going to wear the bracelet anyway... wasn't I?

I’d already decided that with the chance my bad luck could affect the guys, that wearing the bracelet had to happen. I’d debated using my connection with Elias to keep an eye on them all, but with my bracelet off, there’s no telling what could have happened. I just have to get in there quietly, and make sure everything is going to plan for the guys. If they're in danger and need help, I'll call the officials and report Elias' location. A team would be here in less than a minute, I bet… and hope. Desperately. Kier wouldn't be happy if it comes to that, but he'd be alive, and his father would likely be back in custody where he belongs. Or dead. Dead works too.

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