The Witch is Back

Chapter Six




I’d never much minded walking into situations where I didn’t know anyone. Not just because I was a natural influencer, but because I wasn’t exactly shy.

Call me crazy, but I feel like powerful people have a duty to use their positions in the public eye for good, not evil. Like the saying goes, you catch more bees with honey.

Besides, history had pretty much proven that what you put out there comes back to you, tenfold. Take a look at Marie Antoinette for instance. Great dresser, but she was selfish and focused on spending money frivolously rather than helping the hungry or lessening the rising deficit in France. In the end, it didn’t matter how great she looked or that she was royalty—her subjects were unhappy with the way she treated them and she paid the price for it.

With her head.

And I wasn’t about to lose mine because I treated people badly. I recognized that I’d been blessed. With numerous talents like my ability to throw multiple back handsprings in a row or argue just about any topic. I’d also hit the genealogical jackpot. Being a direct descendent of one of the most powerful witches of all time had left me with magical gifts most others didn’t have.

It was with this mindset that I walked into our first session at Brighton, pumped to learn and ready to rock every challenge they threw my way. I was even looking forward to making new friends. Since graduating from Astor High in May, my relationships with my old friends had grown strained. I’d heard that this often happened to people after they graduated and moved on to separate colleges, but I hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.

Plans to spend our last summer together had disintegrated as I learned about Brighton. And then Sofia headed off to cheer camp, while Bethany and Trish flitted to Europe for the quintessential post-high-school backpacking trip. So, I found myself without my trendy trio for the first summer in forever.

I was friendless.

And apparently overly dramatic. But what was a girl without her friends? Nothing. The Cleri sort of filled the hole left by my old social circle, but even with them it was an odd relationship. I’d been their leader. Still was, if you considered the meetings I regularly held to make sure the Parrishables stayed gone. They still looked to me to guide them and that made for an unequal balance of power between us. We were friendly, but I wasn’t sure we were “friends.”

Expanding my friendship circle was exactly what I needed. Especially since I felt like there was no one I could really talk to about this ex-girlfriend thing. And I was in serious need of a sounding board. Luckily, Colette had turned out to be much cooler than I’d expected and I felt like I was already making progress with her.

“Hey guys!” I said, walking across the grass behind the cabin to meet up with the Cleri members who had already sat down within the mini amphitheater.

So far only Jasmine, Jinx, and Sascha had shown up. Like a weird Three Musketeers. Sascha was chatting excitedly as Jinx attempted to get a word in here and there, and Jasmine rested back against the edge of a stage, looking bored. Or angry. Or annoyed. I still couldn’t tell any of them apart.

“This is Colette,” I said, gesturing for her to come closer. She joined me, twisting the bottom of her shirt absently. But instead of looking down at the ground, intimidated by the group in front of her, she locked eyes with each of the girls and gave them genuine smiles. “She’s rooming with Abby and me.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sascha said, sliding her butt off the edge of the stage and coming forward to shake Colette’s hand. Jinx followed suit, but when I looked at Jasmine hoping she’d at least try to be friendly, she just nodded her head and said, “What’s up?”

“So good to meet you guys!” Colette said.

Jasmine took in Colette’s outfit and stared at her blankly. “What’s your deal?” she asked finally.

If Colette was offended, she didn’t let on. Instead she just stood there, and answered as if she were asked the question all the time.

“Well, what do you want to know?” she asked genially.

“What’s with the outfit?” Jasmine asked back.

This was the sort of thing I’d been afraid of. The rest of us were used to Jasmine’s blunt nature, but to strangers, her attitude could be misconstrued as hostility.

“Jasmine!” I scolded and then turned to Colette apologetically.

But she didn’t bat an eye. “My aunt Betsey gave it to me. She always sends me her latest creations,” she said. Jasmine’s comment hadn’t bothered her one bit.

“Is this your first time at Brighton?” Sascha asked, changing the conversation to safer subjects. “We’re all newbies.”

“Nah,” Colette said. “I’ve been coming here since I was, like, eight, I guess? So, like, nine years give or take a summer?”

“Is the rest of your coven here, too?” I asked, looking around for any sign of them.

“I was the only one invited this year,” she answered with a shrug. “There’ve been others from my group in the past, but they’ve all graduated. Or are too young and inexperienced to make the cut. So, it’s just me for now.”

Even though Colette seemed perfectly fine to be here by herself, I had to imagine it was incredibly lonely. I made a vow to include her as much as possible.

“What’s it like here?” Sascha asked, like she wanted Colette to spill Brighton’s biggest secrets. I, myself, was curious to hear what she thought of the witches’ intensive, too. So far, it hadn’t been what I’d expected. On several different levels.

“Brighton is unreal. The teachers are all really smart and always come up with the best lessons each year. They’re some of the most influential witches alive, you know? And they take time out of each of their summers to come here and teach us. It’s pretty wild when you think about it. I mean, these are the witches that are changing the face of the magicking world. We couldn’t be taught by more talented people.”

Well at least I was going to be in good company. I’d never really paid much attention to what was going on in terms of current events in the witching world, since I figured it had little to do with my life personally. So I probably wouldn’t recognize any of the elders for the strides they’d made in the paranormal world. But still, it was cool to find out that our teachers were so celebrated.


If you wanted to be the best, you had to learn from the best.

Other kids began to show up then and the area we were in started to get more crowded. I heard a loud-pitched laugh and turned to see Brooklyn and her posse sauntering our way. Still looking perfectly put together, the blond bombshell once again commanded everyone’s attention. I forced myself to turn back to Colette and the others.

“How about the other twitches?” I asked her, hoping it sounded nonchalant despite the timing. “Everyone else cool?”

Colette followed my gaze over to Brooklyn and a shadow crossed over her naturally happy face. “Most of them,” she said, fighting to keep her pep up. “Every group has its rulers.”

“And Brighton’s are?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Brooklyn and her bestie, Eve,” Colette said matter-of-factly.

“Eve’s the brunette with her nose in the air, right?” Jasmine asked, unimpressed.

“How’d you know that?” I asked her when Colette nodded.

“Their room is right next to ours,” Jinx said. “It’s just the two of them.”

Brooklyn and Eve had gotten a double room. It figured. The fact deepened my dislike for them both.

“We ran into them earlier. They walk around like there are cameras following them. The Brooklyn girl introduced herself, but Eve acted like we didn’t exist,” Jasmine said. “Can’t say I’m a fan.”

“Brooklyn seemed okay, though,” Sascha said, practically salivating. She was the only one of our group who gave any importance to popularity and pop culture. She’d been a supporter of mine from the beginning, the only one who acknowledged my place in the social hierarchy. Now that I’d taken on more responsibility in the Cleri, the novelty of my life had sort of worn off for her, I think.

Sascha couldn’t resist a chance to glom on to the glamorous, so I wasn’t totally surprised she was impressed with Brooklyn and Eve. But would she side with me if she knew that Brooklyn had dated Asher? Or was popularity by association more important to her?

“She’s fine,” Colette admitted. “But Eve . . . she’s like, Mormo.”

“She’s Mormon?” Jasmine asked. “Well, that explains a lot.”

“No, Mormo. The demon witch who devours hearts so she can retain her youth,” Colette said. When the rest of us still had no clue what she was talking about, she giggled in response. “You know . . . she was the Queen of the Ghouls and chief consort of Hecate, the Greek goddess of the underworld and witchcraft. Mormo.”

“Read some pretty freaky fairy tales growing up, did you?” Jasmine asked and went back to scrutinizing the incoming beauty barrage.

“There are demons now, too?” Jinx whispered to me. I took a look at her and shook my head, noting that she’d gone white at the mention of the otherworldly beings. Poor girl didn’t need another thing keeping her up at night. She had real-life darkness doing that already.

“I can’t believe Asher’s here at Brighton, too!” I heard Eve say, much more loudly than was needed considering Brooklyn and the other girls were walking right next to each other. “Was there still a spark when you saw each other?”

My blood began to boil as the small brunette talked about my boyfriend. The conversation they were having very publicly meant that Brooklyn already was talking about her encounter with Asher. She obviously wasn’t worrying about anyone hearing her, that was for sure. I wondered what she was planning next.

“Well, we do have a history, you know,” Brooklyn responded, just slightly quieter than Eve had been. “We were each other’s first loves. It takes a long time to get over something like that. Much longer than it’s been at least.”

The rest of the Cleri listened to the conversation as the girls talked, and each of their eyes was growing wide with shock. My hands clenched into fists and I prayed for the strength to keep from drop-kicking Brooklyn and Eve onto the stage.

“Do you think you’ll work things out?” Eve asked.

They were right behind us now, and I turned my head to show them that I could hear every word they were saying. They already knew that, of course, and were unperturbed. It was the whole reason for this show, anyway. Brooklyn was trying to get a rise out of me, but I wasn’t about to stoop to her level. She wasn’t worth it. Asher was, however.

“We’re supposed to talk things over later,” Brooklyn said. She passed by us then, staring me down like she was challenging me. “When we can be alone.”

I started to move toward her, either to confront her or claw her eyes out, when a hand clamped down on my arm, holding me back. I expected it to be Jasmine, possibly Colette, but when I looked back, I saw that it was Fallon.

“Down girl,” he said quietly. “You’re giving her the daggers that you used to reserve just for me.”

“Guess the torch for World’s Most Annoying Person on Earth has finally changed hands,” I said between clenched teeth, but not dropping my gaze at Brooklyn as she walked away.

When she was at a safe distance, Fallon let go of my arm and clutched at his chest dramatically. “You’re killing me, Bishop.”

I could tell he was trying to diffuse the situation, and for the most part, it had worked. The fire that had been brewing inside me started to burn out.

“What are you doing over here, anyway?” Jasmine asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be on the boys’ side of camp?”

“Boys’ side?” I asked, confused. “What are you guys talking about?”

Jasmine looked at me for a moment before a huge smile appeared on her face. “Ooh, can I tell her? Let me tell her,” she said. Then, not waiting for anyone else’s okay, she continued. “Brighton’s motto is: boys with the boys, girls with the girls.”

“As in, segregation?” I asked incredulously.

“As in, less PDA opportunities with your man,” Jasmine said, happily.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” I said, a little more angrily than the news called for. But it was like I was seeing the time I thought I’d have with Asher this summer disintegrating right before my eyes. And given Brooklyn’s surprise appearance, I felt like we needed couple time now more than ever.

But it looked like that wasn’t going to go my way, either.

“It’s always been that way,” Colette chimed in. “Ever since Brighton opened up in 1864. They say it helps everyone to concentrate more if they’re not ogling each other’s goodies.”

“But that’s why I came to camp,” Sascha said, play-pouting.

“Gag me,” Jasmine said and made a face. “Better yet, gag her.”

“So, we don’t share any classes?” I asked, disappointed to hear there would be whole parts of my day that would be Asher-free.

“We have meals and free time together, but typically, no,” Colette answered, brightly. “Guess it’s just us girls for now!”

I frowned in response.

“So what are you doing over here then, Fallon?” I grumbled.

Fallon took a step back, like he was afraid to become the first victim of my less-than-stellar mood.

“I walked over with Abby since she was by herself.” And then I noticed that Abby had entered our circle at some point and was standing there silently. I wondered how much of my run-in with Brooklyn she’d witnessed.


“That’s actually . . . really nice of you, Fallon,” I said, surprising even myself with the compliment.

“You act like I’m usually a jerk or something,” Fallon said, glancing over at Abby and then again to me.

Gee. I wonder where I got that impression.

But I held my tongue. “Did Asher come with you?” I asked, leaning around him to see if he was in the area.

“Nope. Haven’t seen him since we checked in,” he said. “He’s probably already over with the guys.”

“Oh,” I said, unable to hide my disappointment. Well, at least if I couldn’t see Asher, that meant that Brooklyn wouldn’t be seeing him either.

Silver linings.

“As much as I’d love to be a fly on this wall, I must get going,” Fallon said, tipping an imaginary hat and then taking off around the far wall to where the boys’ side of camp must have been. Once he was out of earshot, Colette turned back to me excitedly.

“Um, how cute is he?” she said.

I blinked in disbelief. “You’re kidding, right?” I said. Obviously Colette didn’t know Fallon well enough. If she had, she’d be washing her mouth out with a soapy concoction right about now.

“No,” she said seriously. “He’s a little on the young side, but totally crushable. Am I right?”

She looked around at the rest of our group, waiting for someone to agree. Abby shrugged noncommittally, but there was a hint of a smile on her face when she did it, which threw me for a loop.

Unbelievable. Was there something in the water here that made everything backward?

“Hello, Brighton campers!” an obnoxiously bubbly voice suddenly called out from the stage behind Jasmine. We all looked up to see Miss Peggy standing there, in the same Brighton T-shirt that the angry check-in guy had been wearing, only most of hers was covered by her vest. “Let’s get started!”