Chapter Fourteen
Jasmine sat shotgun and held on to the timepiece, guiding me on where to go. We’d been driving about a half hour when we were instructed to turn off the highway and pull into a town that looked familiar to me. Yet it wasn’t until I saw the buildings looming ahead that I knew why.
“Fallon ran away to . . . the mall?” I asked incredulously.
“You’ve got to be freaking kidding me,” Jasmine said before reluctantly directing me to enter the giant parking lot.
I pulled up to a spot about thirty feet away from the entrance to the Orange Hill Mall and let the engine die before stepping outside. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and allowed myself to enjoy the quality of air down here in the valley.
God, I love the smell of retail in the afternoon.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this—because, hello? We’re at a mall—but what was Fallon thinking?” I said.
Jasmine led the way since she still had the watch, and I began to strut toward the big revolving doors. I was vaguely aware of people around me; my eyes focused on the most heavenly place I’d ever known. It was like seeing a mirage in the desert. I just couldn’t keep away, even though I knew it wasn’t as innocent as it looked.
“I’m not sure Fallon was thinking,” Sascha cut in. Since we’d left the car, her eyes had grown big as she took in all the stores in front of us.
“In a way, it was actually quite smart,” Jinx said thoughtfully.
“How do you figure?” I asked, not sure where she was going with the comment.
“Well, it’s less likely that anyone’s going to attack us here, in front of all these people,” she said, pointing to the hundreds of shoppers we’d already passed on our way in. “I mean, they wouldn’t be that stupid, would they?”
“We’re talking about mass murderers with magical powers here,” I answered. “I doubt they’re worried about being seen.”
As we walked across the threshold, we passed a group of guys who looked like they were around our age. The four of them surveyed the four of us in a not-so-subtle way and then gave nods of approval. Sascha let out a girlie giggle, at which Jasmine promptly groaned. Thankfully, our admirers headed into the nearest store and left us to do what we came here to do. Sascha looked after them longingly before speeding to catch up with us.
We weaved in and out of people as we tried to stay on course with where the watch was guiding us. Finally it brought us to the entrance of one of the busiest stores in the mall, the minute and hour hands both pointing us inside. As we walked in, we avoided the gaggles of girls all desperate to find something to make them look either skinnier or curvier in specific areas.
“Whoa, guys,” Jasmine said, stopping short just inside the doors. I glanced at the watch, and saw that the metal hands were now spinning around the clock frantically.
I looked around. “He’s gotta be here,” I said. “Let’s split up and try to find him as quickly as possible.”
I followed a group of girls onto an escalator to my right and watched the others take off in opposite directions as I headed to the second floor. At the top, I sped off to cover as much ground as I could. The floor wasn’t huge by any standards, but going through the whole store would take time we didn’t have. I started to rush through the maze of jeans and hoodies, looking for the one person I didn’t want to see and yet had to find.
I took a corner too quickly and immediately ran into something. I staggered backward and nearly fell, but before I did, a hand reached out, catching me underneath the arms and depositing me back onto my feet.
“Whoa,” a guy’s voice said. “You okay?”
I adjusted my jumper and then looked up at the person who’d saved me the embarrassment of having to admit to Jasmine that she might have been right about the heels. And then I saw him.
To put it bluntly: he was beautiful.
And not just in an easy-on-the-eyes sort of way. But in an international-male-model kind of way. His hair was so black it was almost blue, and it spiked up in the middle with just a hint of bad boy to its tips. As my gaze shifted to his eyes, I nearly gasped.
Because I knew those eyes.
I’d seen them as I jogged down my block and then again in the rearview mirror as we left town. Up close, I could see that they were a stormy gray color, rimmed with thick lashes. The level of his hotness was unreal.
“I’m fine,” I said, once I’d found my voice again. Then I smiled and pushed my purse, which had slipped during the collision, back onto my shoulder. “Nice catch,” I added.
“Thanks,” he said, smiling back at me. The dimples that erupted on both cheeks nearly disarmed me completely. Then he looked at me closely before his eyes widened and he seemed to step back surprised. “Wait, don’t I know you . . .”
“Sort of,” I said, cutting him off. “I think we live on the same block, but we haven’t actually met yet.”
“Well, we should probably rectify that, shouldn’t we?” he asked, holding out his hand. “I’m Asher.”
I put my hand in his and my heart began hammering in my chest. I couldn’t believe the reaction I was having to just touching him. Guys hit on me all the time, but I’d never been affected in this way. Yet here I was, acting like it was my first time talking to a boy.
“Hadley,” I said.
“I know,” he answered matter-of-factly.
This threw me off and I felt my blood turn to ice. Suddenly he didn’t look quite so innocent.
“How do you know my name?” I asked, the sweetness leaving my voice.
My eyes darted around the store, searching for either Fallon or the other twitches—anyone who could help out if I needed it. I mean, it couldn’t just be fate that I was running into this beautiful stranger here, could it?
Asher chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. “My aunt told me about you.”
I looked at him suspiciously and then began to walk away in order to search for the others and get as far away from this Asher as I could. True, I didn’t yet know if he was dangerous, but getting involved with anyone right now would be a bad idea in general.
Especially if he’s disarmingly cute.
“Hey! Where are you going?” he asked as he caught up with me.
“Away.” From you.
“Well, that’s not very neighborly of you,” Asher said, sounding let down. “And here, I thought you were like, Miss Social Butterfly. I was told there’d be a welcome wagon?”
“Looks like you should fire your informant,” I said, wondering why he’d been asking about me in the first place. I still hadn’t found Fallon, and this guy was managing to distract me. I stepped into the dressing room and called out Fallon’s name. There was no response.
“You looking for your boyfriend?” Asher asked as I spun around, heading back toward the middle of the store.
“I don’t have a boyfriend,” I said without thinking. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him smile, and then cursed myself for giving him any personal information.
“That’s good to know,” he said, still following me.
Despite my horror, I felt myself start to blush. I made a beeline for the escalator so he wouldn’t see my reaction to his flirting.
“So who are you looking for?” he continued as he stepped onto the moving steps behind me.
“Why are you following me?” I answered, evading his question.
“I wouldn’t exactly call it following you. You ran into me, remember?” he said, chuckling and running his hand through his hair.
“And yet, you’re still here,” I said, trying my best to sound annoyed.
“Look, my aunt offered to take me shopping and I needed a few things, so I came along. It’s just a coincidence that we ran into each other,” he said easily.
“You just happened to be at the same outlet mall as me, when there are at least three others that are closer to home?” I asked. I began to walk around the bottom floor where I’d left the others, hoping I’d run into them and that Fallon would be in tow. We needed to get out of here. Quick.
“What can I say? My aunt loves her Chico’s and this is the only one in the area. What about you?” he said smugly. “What are you doing all the way out here? Maybe it’s you who’s stalking me.”
My jaw dropped. “You wish.”
“Oh, do I?”
“Seems like it.”
“You think pretty highly of yourself, don’t you?” he asked. I blinked. The question surprised me, because the answer was of course, yes, I did. But that was mostly because I had high self-esteem. I never understood those girls who complained about how fat they were or how bad their hair looked. Even if it was true, what was the point in pointing it out? The rest of the world was going to be tough enough on you, why join in on the negativity?
But what rendered me almost speechless was the fact that faux-hawk here was more brazen than any guy I’d ever met. No one had ever challenged me like this, and I couldn’t decide if I hated him or admired him for it.
“Well, you would know, apparently,” I said, bringing back up the fact that he knew more about me than I did about him. “What about you? You must think you’re pretty important, crashing my afternoon and all,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him. “FYI, I’m here with my friends.”
As I said this, I did a final sweep of the lower floor and frowned when I realized Sascha, Jinx, and Jasmine weren’t there. Jasmine still had the watch, so it was likely that the tracker had moved and the others had gone to follow it. They probably thought it would take too much time to go looking for me.
I turned on my heel and began to stalk over to the exit.
“Do you want me to leave?” he asked from behind me. He was being coy now, testing me. I could tell him to go, put a little magical persuasion into my words and watch him as he walked away.
But I was torn.
On the one hand, he wasn’t completely horrible to talk to and he was definitely the first guy my own age who had ever piqued my interest for longer than, like, a second. On the other, he’d practically told me he was stalking me and not in a sexy kind of way.
“You never did tell me why you’re on me like a shadow. How about we start with that and see where it goes?” I said, not telling him to leave, but not letting down my guard either.
He smiled, showing off his dimples again, and for a moment I got lost in the totally cute cheek craters. I started to smile back flirtily and then stopped myself.
Oh my God, did I want to be flirty? Was I really flirting with this stranger who appeared to be following me and, not only that, didn’t seem to fawn over me like everyone else usually did? What was I thinking?
His hotness was no doubt addling my brain.
“Well, the truth is—”
His sentence was cut off by a loud explosion. The sound startled us both so much that we stopped in our tracks. Looking in the direction of the noise, I could see smoke rising above the outlet buildings a few hundred feet in the distance. Screams were mixed in with shouts.
“What the hell was that?” he asked, looking over at me.
“I don’t know, but it can’t be good,” I said. “I’m going to find out.”
“Seriously?”
“Of course,” I answered without thinking. “Someone could be hurt and need my help.”
“What, do you know CPR or something?” he asked me, giving me another one of his lopsided grins. It was then that I realized how closely we were standing. If I were to just get up on my tippy-toes, our lips would be perfectly level . . . not that I was thinking about kissing him or anything. It was just an observation.
Another scream pulled me out of my daydream and I began to walk backward, putting some distance between us as I did.
“I’ve gotta go,” I said, and turned to run.
I’d barely gotten a few steps before I felt him come up beside me. I looked over at him, startled. “I’m going too,” he said.
“Fine,” I said as I somehow managed to jog in my heels. I didn’t have time to argue with him. “But I’m going to need you to stay out of my way if anything happens.”
“What, like you’re Wonder Woman or something?” he responded sarcastically.
I gave him a look that told him I was being totally serious about this and waited for him to agree. “Fine. I’ll let you be the hero today.”
I was about to respond with something equally snarky, but as we rounded the last corner, I took in the scene in front of me and nearly froze with fear.
But I couldn’t. Members of my coven were in trouble and there was no way I was ditching them now.
With a force I didn’t know I had, I propelled myself into the bedlam before I could talk myself out of it.