Unraveling Selena by Marisa Maichel (black female authors TXT) 📕

you made a mistake, and she is with somebody else. And you had relations with a female werewolf named Sadie Peterson. Oh dear, that is a problem. Ah, the witch's name is Scarlett? I must have a talk with her parents. What she did and is doing is not how a good witch acts. Of course, she may be a dark witch, in which case I must speak to her mother."

She swayed into the back. Uncle Soren followed her, so I did as well.

"Hmm, just enough left for one batch," Agatha said, holding up a large vial of brownish green powder. She took a bowl from the cupboard and dumped into powder into it. Then she added some white powder, a bit of salt, some herbs, and some other powders. She mixed it all together. She held the spoon up to her nose and sniffed it.

"Mmm. Just right. This will be a bit bitter, son. You must drink all of it." She handed me the bowl.

I stopped breathing and downed it all in record time.

"Wow, he's fast," Agatha said. "Give it some time, and don't vomit for at least three days. You may change again, but that will be the last time you are forced to go through the change. After that, you will become a shapeshifter whose form is that of a wolf. You may choose to use that form again. Now, is that all?"

"How do we stop the mental communication?" Uncle Soren asked. Agatha swept over to a shelf full of test tubes and more glass vials. She selected one with a label in Latin and handed it to me.

"Drink."

I drank it. It smelled like sage.

"Now you should be fine," Agatha said. "Go to bed at a normal time tonight and try to avoid confronting the girl with whom you have bonded."

"Trust me, I'm not going near her," I said. She smiled in approval.

"Good. Do you need anything else?"

"No," Uncle Soren said. "How much do I owe you?" he asked, pulling out his wallet.

Agatha waved her hand dismissively. "Not a penny. This is my good deed for the day."

"Well, thank you, Agatha," Uncle Soren said. "I owe you another one."

"You are most welcome, Soren and Reese."

As we went back to the car, I thought about Sarah. What would she say if she knew? She would accuse me of cheating on her, and she wouldn't be wrong. But I was wrong. I was dead wrong. And now I'd lost her.

My heart jumped into my throat when I saw her again a few minutes later in a science store, studying rocks that the owner claimed were dinosaur bones. Without thinking, I started to go inside. Uncle Soren grabbed my shoulder, and I shook him off.

"Don't be stupid, Reese," he warned. I paused. He was right. What was I thinking? This entire thing was my fault. Not Caden's, and certainly not hers.

Father pounced on me when I got back and started smelling me.

"You don't smell much different," he said.

"Agatha gave him some potions," Uncle Sore explained.

"Ah, that explains it. Agatha's rather good at that, isn't she? Be still Reese, I'm not finished." He continued to smell me all over again. "You don't have much a wolfish smell anymore. Well, that's good."

"Agatha recommends bed rest," Uncle Soren said.

"An excellent idea," Father said, hauling me over his shoulder and carrying me upstairs.

"Father, I'm not a baby!"

"Hush, my little one. No complaints. I am going to nurture you until this passes, so get used to it."

Father's overprotectiveness was irritating.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night was painful. I was in pain all the time. My bones felt like they were breaking, my muscles tore, my heart struggled to stay still and silent, my stomach protested loudly. But at least I didn't change. Faolan came by to see me in wolf form. Father greeted him like a favorite pet.

He scratched Faolan's ears, rubbed his belly, and scratched his shoulders. Faolan's tail went crazy. Along with him came some other members o the pack, including Sadie. I told Father and Faolan to keep her away from me, and Faolan gave a small howl to show that he understood.

Sadie didn't like it, but she stayed away from me. Father stayed with me, along with Faolan.

"He's stinking up my room," I complained. Faolan growled at me.

CHAPTER EIGHT - EX-BOYFRIENDS AND ENEMIES

I was healing slowly. It had been a week since my transformation, and I was almost ache-free.

I saw Evan coming up the driveway. I was sitting on the porch, smoking a cigarette. I flicked it onto the ground and stepped on it as my ex-boyfriend's car pulled up. This was unusual, even though I'd been the one to change him. My first fledgling.

He opened the door, looking like a scared rabbit.

"Reese, I need help," he said. "I screwed up big-time. You're the only one who can help me."

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's..." He took a deep breath. "It's Reed."

"Lockhart?" I'd also been the one to introduce Evan to his other potential soulmate, a human-born vampire named Reed Lockhart. Lockhart was beautiful, with long blond curls and one green eye and one blue eye and a chiseled body.

"Yeah," Evan said. He hugged himself. "You know we broke up, right? Well, he's been...following me around. He won't leave me alone."

"Huh. Sounds like someone else I know," I said, raising an eyebrow. He had the grace to look ashamed. Evan wouldn't leave me alone for a while after we broke up.

"I know, I know. I shouldn't be the one to talk. But Reese, I'm scared. I have no one else to turn to. My parents still refuse to accept the fact that I'm a vampire now. I need your help. You're the one that changed me."

I sighed. He was right. I would have to help him, even if he hadn't brought that up.

"All right. How is Lockhart following you?" I lit another stick.

"His car is everywhere. I smell him all the time. If I go hunting, he follows me on the rooftops and sidewalks. If I go to the bloodbank, I see him there. He's everywhere I am, even when I'm asleep."

"Give me a moment to think."

Not even a second later, another car pulled up, a brand-new Kia Soul. Evan yelped and flitted over to me, clinging to my arm.

Reed opened the door, looking enraged. "I knew it!" he shouted. "I knew you went back to him! What the fuck, Evan? Who's the one who saved you from heartbreak caused by him? Me! Who saved you from that wendigo? Me!"

"Whoa, there," I said, standing up. "Slow down, Reed. Why are you stalking him?"

"Because he is my mate! I love him! I'm sorry I broke up with you, Evan! You belong with me!"

"Reed, I think it's time for you to go," I said. He snatched the cigarette out of my hand and stomped on it.

"What the fuck?" I exclaimed. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Leave us alone!"

"Not until I have Evan back!"

"Screw that. Not happening." As Evan's creator, I was also responsible for his safety. "Leave, Lockhart. Now."

He shook his head.

"Fine," I growled. I grabbed him by the shoulders, but he punched me in the gut. I doubled over, and Toby interfered. Toby grabbed Reed and threw him bodily to the ground, elbow in his neck.

"It's time for you to leave," my guard growled.

"Fine, I'll go. But mark my words, Evan will be mine again. I'll murder and slaughter everyone who gets in my way, starting with you, Reese."

Evan clung to me, hiding behind me.

"Leave," Toby ordered.

Reed glared at him, then got into the Kia and drove away over the speed limit.

Evan was still shaking as I turned to face him.

"Thanks, Toby," I said. "You are dismissed." He nodded and left.

"Are you all right?" I asked Evan. Something happened then. Evan looked at me with wide, tearful green eyes, and I felt my heart plummet into my stomach. "Evan?"

He wrapped his arms around me tightly. I thought about those green eyes. Something about them called to me. Madam Indigo had stated that Sarah and Evan were my two potential soulmates. And I'd ruined things with Sarah. Now I had Evan. I felt only Evan, saw only Evan.

Regret, horror, love, and fear all mingled in my chest and brain at once. I loved Evan Byrd.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I thought about my feelings over the next few days. Evan stayed with me, sleeping in the extra guest room. Now that Toby and Spencer shared a bedroom, there was a free room. Evan called his parents and told them what happened. His mother begged him to come home, and Evan would have if I hadn't convinced her that it was too dangerous for both her and him. His father, equally concerned, stated that it was all my fault and I was to blame for all of Evan's problems.

He wasn't wrong. I knew that Evan's relationship problems were my fault as well.

My new feelings for Evan increased over the days he spent with us. He borrowed my laptop for his online classes while I went to regular public school, I lent him several vampire books, and he thanked me with a fresh meal every night.

I taught him how to weed out evil people and how to drink from the good ones.

"See him?" I pointed to a man with curly blond hair. "He attacked a girl last week and tried to violate her. She's okay now, but he never got arrested or charged for it."

I pounced on the man and stunned him with my poisonous teeth. I made an incision in his neck, and handed him over to Evan. Evan drank greedily from him. I smiled at my protege. He was a fast learner.

Next, I showed him how to dispose of the body.

"See these?" I said, showing him my fingernails. "They're extremely sharp, even though they're short right now. A lot of vampires can grow them in an instant, but I can't, so I'll have to use my teeth to cut roots and stuff."

I dug a hole to show him how. We tossed the body in together, after stealing cash from his wallet. I took his driver's license and burned it.

"That is amazing," Evan said. "Do you ever feel guilty?"

"Depends," I said. "If the victim was a good person, then yes. If I've made a mistake in character, then yes. But if I'm right in their character, then no, I don't."

"You killed Michael Nales last year."

"Yes and no. My father did the actual killing, I just asked him to do it."

"You did it for homeher."

"Yes, and I do not regret it. But my time with Sarah is over."

I looked at him. He blinked and studied the grass. I tilted his chin up.

"Evan, look at me." He looked up. Butterflies attacked my stomach. I leaned forward and kissed him, slowly, carefully. After a full minute of kissing, he pushed me away.

"Reese, what are you doing?" he asked.

"I love you, Evan. I have since that day we saw Lockhart."

"When did you realize...?"

"When I looked into your eyes. It's pretty apparent that I'm fond of the color green."

"Last time we were together, you were in love with Sarah."

"Evan, I made a huge mistake. I should have realized what I had."

He looked down and sniffed, crying softly.

"Oh, Evan, I'm sorry."

"Take me home."

I did. I took him , where he let himself in the house.

"I'll be back for my car tomorrow," he said.

"I'm so sorry," I said. "I didn't mean for this to happen."

"But it did. And we both moved on. It was over a long time ago."

"Evan, please-"

"Goodbye, Reese."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I got home, I went to my room and moped into my pillow. I tried not to cry, but failed.

Work was meaningless the next day. Now that I had no one. Or so I thought.

Evan came back the day after, eyes swimming with emotion.

Again, I was outside, smoking. I had just gotten out of the pool, and my hair was still damp.

"Reese," he said softly, "I need to talk to you."

"What is it?"