Spellbound Read online

  Spellbound

  By Samantha Combs

  Published by Astraea Press

  www.astraeapress.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.

  SPELLBOUND

  Copyright © 2011 SAMANTHA COMBS

  ISBN 978-‐‑1-‐‑936852-‐‑36-‐‑9

  Cover Art Designed By Elaina Lee

  Edited By Audrey Jamison

  To Mallory and William, who’ve always loved Mummy’s stories, and to Cathi, who was the first to believe that the world might too.

  PART ONE

  Prologue

  LOGAN

  My girlfriend’s anguished screams pierced my soul and I spun around, frantic to find her. I spotted her across the barn, struggling against the clutches of the demon, Christophe. He had my Serena trapped in his arms and was headed with her across the party to the gaping tear in the air. If I let him get there with her and go through to the other side, I would never see her again. What could I do? I was only a teenager. But, I was her only hope.

  Besides that, in the short time that I had known Serena, she had become my world. It didn’t matter that she was a witch. It didn’t matter that in knowing her, I had uncovered startling revelations about my own heritage, my own background. It mattered only that she was my destiny, my future, and that we were fated to be together. It mattered only that I loved her. I’d loved her from almost the first moment I laid eyes on her at school.

  I remembered every second of that day like it had only just happened. I couldn’t have known it at the time, but that meeting was the first step on the journey that had brought me here today, fighting for our lives. The day my spellbinding life with Serena began.

  Chapter One

  LOGAN

  I woke up with a start and realized I’d overslept. Great. Late again. I got dressed in a flash, grabbing clothes off the floor. I forged a quick note, jumped in my car and sped off. As a senior at White Mountain High in Lancaster, New Hampshire, I had an easy schedule, but I still hated to be late. I stuffed my car into the last spot in the school lot and raced inside. I jammed hard, hauling so fast past the administration office that I almost missed them.

  Almost.

  Three girls were leaning against the administration counter in the office, chattering back and forth and filling out papers. The prettiest one immediately caught my eye. She was tall and slender with long hair the color of honey and shimmering green eyes. A younger girl with red curls and smiling eyes stood close to her playing with the zipper on her backpack and next to her was an older girl, tallest of them all, with short, dark hair. She busily filled out most of the papers. Glancing up when I approached, she appraised me swiftly, her eyes clearly NOT smiling at me. That one leaned over and whispered something quick and sharp to the blonde one, who waved her off and ambled right over to where I still stood, motionless.

  “Hi,” she said. Her voice was like soft music. “My name is Serena Starr.” She motioned to her dark-‐‑haired sister. “This is my sister, Elizabeth.” She indicated her other sister smiling widely at me. “And this is Tabitha. We call her Tabby”.

  “Hi,” I said. “I’m Logan. So, you’re new here?” Great, I thought. I sounded so lame.

  “Yes,” she answered. “Just transferred in. My sister is registering us.” And then she favored me with a smile and I thought of how dazzling and bright the sun had been this morning.

  “Hey, Logan, what’s up!” My best friend Dave waved at me from across the hall. He thought he was better looking than me and secretly I did too. Not that I would ever admit it. And Dave’s radar was uncanny. He had probably sensed me talking to the new girls from clear across the parking lot and killed himself to get here before the first bell rang.

  “So, who’s this?” Before I had the chance to answer, the first bell trilled. Dave gave me a pained expression that said I’d have to tell him everything later and trotted off down the hall. I wanted to say something to the girls but they were gone too. I caught just a glimpse of them as they rounded a corner. Their hair made me think of three different flavors of cotton candy.

  ****

  I was hoping I would bump into the new blonde girl sometime during the rest of the day. I didn’t know what classes the new girl had, so it surprised me when I walked into my first class and she sat in the front row. She didn’t acknowledge me when I walked in, so I walked over to an empty chair across the room and sat down between two girls I have known since first grade. Patty and Tamera have been best friends and inseparable since they were in diapers. I went out with Patty a couple of times but that qualified as old news. My buddy Dave had been dating Tamera since the seventh grade. I’ll probably be the best man at their wedding.

  “Hey, Patty. Hey, Tam.” I nodded at the two girls.

  “Hey, Logan,” the girls said in their usual living stereo. I didn’t know how Dave put up with it. I had almost tuned them both out when I realized they were talking about the new girls.

  “What?” I said. “Did you say something?”

  “I said did you catch the new girls in the office?” Tamera heaved an exaggerated sigh at the end. “They’re gorgeous! What I wouldn’t give for hair like that.”

  “I know, right?” echoed Patty. “Gorgeous!”

  I tuned them out again when I realized this constituted the part of the conversation where I was in danger of falling asleep.

  Instead, I directed my attention to the new girl, Serena. I peeked at her to check if she might catch me and when I thought she might not, I took the opportunity to study her.

  I decided Patty and Tamera were right; she was gorgeous.

  And she did have great hair. The color of golden honey, it went straight down her back in loopy curls. It was the kind of hair that begged to be touched. At least, I found myself wanting to touch it. I had a crazy need to verify if it was as soft and velvety as it looked.

  She had on a sundress in pale colors my sister probably would have called pastels and a sweater in a purple color I’m sure she would have called eggplant. I stopped short a little when I realized what Dave would have called me for even knowing that. While I scrutinized her Serena uncrossed and crossed her legs and I almost stopped breathing. And then she glanced at me. I thought she would think I was some kind of perv for staring but she just gave the sweetest smile, and I found myself grinning right back. Then she lowered her eyes. I must have been holding my breath because as I exhaled I became aware of other sounds, which were growing louder. I realized the sounds were voices and chairs scraping the floor, and people gathering their books to leave the room. Had I missed the bell? The whole class? I scanned the room for the new girl but I never caught a glimpse of her. I did catch Tamera and Patty looking at me funny.

  “Are you alright?” they singsonged.

  “Yeah,” I muttered. “I’m fine. Where did she go?”

  “Who?”

  “The new girl. Serena.”

  “You already know her name?” Patty was disbelieving, even hurt. “Yeah. We met at the office this morning. I was late. Had to get a pass. So…” I repeated. “Where did she go?”

  They both spun around to inspect the now empty room.

  Tamera spoke first, Patty a half second behind, “She’s gone.”

  ****

  I searched for Serena the rest of the day b
ut I didn’t spot her.

  For some reason she wasn’t at lunch and she wasn’t in any of my afternoon classes. I didn’t locate her sisters either. I went to baseball practice and got home around six o’clock. My sister had made it upstairs to the phone already. No doubt talking to someone she had left at school a mere two hours ago.

  “Can you believe she wore that?” my sister shouted into the phone. “Can you die? That is so last decade!” I made a slicing motion across my throat like off with her head and Jade rolled her eyes at me. She scooted forward on her bed and slammed the bedroom door shut with her foot. I threw my practice gear in my room and went looking for my mom. I found her in the kitchen, sitting at the table warming her hands around a cup of coffee.

  Hearing me come in, she looked up when she saw me and gave me a weary smile.

  “Hi, Sweetie. How was practice?” My mom’s name was Lily, but my dad had always called her Lil. Since he had died she only wanted to be called Lily. She pushed away from the table and leaned her body over the chair. She seemed tired a lot lately. I sat next to her and she reached over and rubbed the top of my hair.

  “Fine.”

  My mom stared at me for a minute. Then she said, “Okay baby, out with it. What’s on your mind?”

  I hated it when she did that, zeroed right in on me. She could read me like a book. Not such a good thing for a teenager and a parent, I’ll admit.

  “There were some new kids at the school today,” I said, with a grin. “Your sister told me some buzz about new girls at school today.” She gave her own little smirk.

  “Remind me to strangle her later.” I clenched my teeth, grin all but gone.

  “Logan,” she warned, but it was just out of habit. “I wonder if they are the ones moving into the house across the street.”

  “Really?” I got up and strode across the room to the window. Sure enough, the house across the street, empty for so long, was all lit up and I could make out empty moving boxes in the driveway. How had I missed that?

  “When did all that start?”

  “I’m not sure, honey. I stayed up late last night, almost into morning. I must have been overtired since I slept in until almost eleven. I know you kids can get yourselves up for school, you’ve been doing it so long now.” She almost sounded guilty, but kept on talking. Jade and I both knew she hadn’t slept well since dad died.

  She thought we didn’t know. “I woke up when I heard the sound of the moving truck.” She blinked at me. “What time did you meet the new girls?”

  I thought about it. I was late to school, but I wasn’t telling her that. “I guess maybe 10 or 10:30. I had just walked by the office.” I didn’t tell her I’d been there with another forged late note.

  She seemed to consider that for a minute. “Mm-‐‑hmm, that’s about the time I heard their car pull away. They must have been leaving to go to the school.” My mom put her arm around my shoulder. “Looks like we may finally have some new neighbors, kiddo.” “Yeah.” I wondered if this might be a good thing or trouble.

  “Looks like.”

  Chapter Two

  LOGAN

  When I got to school the next day, I wasn’t the only one who knew about the girls. I said I went to a small school and I wasn’t joking. Lancaster, New Hampshire is way small. And since nothing ever happened here, new people were major news. They practically qualified as front page news. Pretty much everyone had something to say about them and everyone had a new piece of information to add to the mix. It would have been hilarious if it wasn’t so, well so small-‐‑town.

  “I heard they were Honors students in their last school.”

  “I was told one of them got pregnant and that’s why they had to leave.”

  “Janet told Becky that she got it from Dylan’s sister that they’ve never even been to real school. They’ve been home-‐‑

  schooled their whole lives! Can you imagine? Never even been to a real school before.”

  “We heard their whole family is a bunch of gypsies!” I happened to be walking past when this gem got uttered. I spun around to find a group of freshmen gathered together on the benches and glared in what I hoped qualified as a menacing scowl.

  That seemed to shut them up, at least for now. My intention was to turn and walk off down the hall, having put stupid rumors to rest.

  That would have been entirely cool. What did I do instead?

  Slammed right into Serena Starr, nearly knocking her right down.

  By grabbing her arm, I succeeded in keeping her on her feet, but her books fell out of her arms and scattered everywhere. I couldn’t believe it. I had wanted to bump into her, but not like this.

  “Oh,” she said, and used her other hand to steady herself by wrapping it around my waist. I could smell spring flowers and that smell that happens right after a fresh rain. I liked it. I hoped she didn’t notice me inhaling her like a freak. I helped her right herself and dropped to one knee to gather all her papers and notebooks together. Serena eased herself down on her knees and helped me.

  “Thank you for helping me up, Logan.” She purred the words. And her voice matched the flowery scent, all roses and ribbons. I couldn’t believe she remembered my name. I opened my mouth to speak and got lost in those emerald eyes. Even as I swam around in them, I realized I needed to get hold of myself. How would I ever have a conversation with her if I couldn’t even put three words together? I blinked, once, twice, and finally found my voice.

  “I think I actually helped you fall. Sorry.” I stood up, holding a bunch of her papers and offered her my hand. She slipped a ridiculously soft hand in mine and used it to straighten up as well, smoothing her skirt.

  “Nonsense. I wasn’t watching my step. And you were there to rescue me. Such a gentleman.” She sent me a coy smile.

  “I think you are giving me way too much credit.”

  “But it’s my credit to give.” She dazzled me with another smile.

  Then she glanced down at her hand, which was still in mine.

  “Thank you for helping me.” She squeezed my hand and then pulled back. “You’re not late today, are you?”

  It surprised me she remembered that.

  “Nope. Made it on time today. Had plans to crash into you.”

  I handed her the papers and notebooks that we had kneeled on the floor and gathered together. “I’m Logan. Logan Daniels.”

  She laughed then, and it sounded wonderful.

  “I know. I remember you from the office. And I’m no worse for wear Logan Daniels. No damage done.” And she gave me that blinding smile again. “I should get to class now.” She began to walk away, then stopped and glanced back over her shoulder, like she had forgotten something. “I hope I run into you later. I do.”

  Then she winked at me and continued walking down the hall.

  By the time she reached the end of the hall, the spell had broken. I’m not ashamed to say I watched her walk all the way until she rounded the corner. Only when I finally headed out did I notice the pack of freshman girls still huddled on the bench.

  Clearly, they had seen the whole exchange. Great. Now I would be the major topic of conversation with the Squeakers, as Dave and I called the freshman girls. We didn’t give them the time of day. We didn’t even consider them datable. Not that I dated much anyway.

  None of the girls at the school interested me. I had this notion from my mom that when it felt right with a girl, I would know it. I wasn’t sure how exactly that would feel, but I knew I wanted it. I’d never cared one way or another for most of the girls I knew, but I was sure about one thing now. Since I had met Serena Starr, I couldn’t wait to see her again.

  ****

  I didn’t have to wait long. The morning passed without any more embarrassing incidents as I drifted in and out of my classes without hearing the teachers. Maybe they didn’t notice my lack of attention or maybe they were experiencing their own fleeting regret at career choice. Either way, they all left me alone. As soon as the lunch bell
rang I made a beeline for the quad and scanned it as quick as I could. But I didn’t spot Serena Starr or her sisters. Where did she keep going all the time? I spied Dave and Tamera sitting with a bunch of my friends at our table in the middle of the room so I grabbed a lunch tray and went to join them. As feared, I made up the hot topic.

  “Logan, Baby, what up with you and the looker?” This came from Dave, of course. “Keep catching rumors about the ‘encounter’

  this morning. When’s the wedding?” He guffawed like he had made some amazing joke until Tamera jabbed him in the ribs, cutting his laughter short.

  “Yeah,” said Patty. “Do you think she, like, likes you?” Patty gazed up at me with hope in her eyes. Like I said, we had dated before, but I had called things off. She wanted to get all hot and heavy like Dave and Tam and I just wasn’t into that. She was a nice girl and she would have made an okay girlfriend, but on account of my Mom and all, I wanted the fireworks. And I’m pretty sure that’s what had to be happening with the new girl, Serena Starr. But, I fudged it for Patty’s sake.

  “Yeah, right. The Neanderthal who crushed her to the floor this morning. How could she resist that?”

  “Oh, I’m sure I could find a way.”

  I spun to find Serena standing behind me, all light and sunny smiles, and I swear, I never even heard her coming. I could tell by the looks on everyone’s faces at the table that they hadn’t either. I tried to recover from the surprise of her stealthy arrival and still appear cool.

  “Hey,” I managed, and scooted over, dragging a spare chair from the table next to me so she could sit down. “Why’nt you sit down and have lunch with us?” I gestured to the empty chair. I hoped I sounded cool but I knew I probably didn’t. How did she keep appearing like that?

  “Oh, thanks, but I should eat with my sisters.” She twisted around and waved to them seated across the room at a table by themselves. Where the heck had they come from? I swear they weren’t there before. Had that table even been there? Her sisters were both watching us intently. She waved to them and the little red-‐‑haired one waved back, but the dark-‐‑haired one kind of glared at her. Serena giggled a little and turned her attention back to us.