Twisted Magic (Book 2 of the Ink Series)

The plan

My mouth went dry. I opened my mouth and prepared to be honest when Slade yanked me backwards, and Audrey stepped in my way ending my confession. Slade kept his grip on my wrist keeping me in my place.

Audrey muttered something under her breath and I screamed at the sounds coming out of Tucker's mouth. He was in pain. He dropped to his knees, falling forward into the sand. He used his hands to keep himself from face planting.

"What is she doing to him? Is she going to kill him?" I asked Slade. He ignored me. Sure, I didn't like Tucker, but I didn't want to see someone hurt him.

Audrey pushed into him with her fancy heel, "That would be to simple. We are going to use him."

I shook my head in disbelief. Tucker seemed to be fading right there in front of us. And I was the only one who cared. I tried again to break Slade's hold. "Please, just let him go. Do you know how much trouble we could get into?"

Audrey whipped her head in our direction annoyed with me. "Get her out of here. We will meet up later."

Slade didn't hesitate. He pulled me toward the party, but he soon stopped when several men wandered across the sands towards us. It was obvious they were looking for Tucker.

"What are we going to do?" I asked him.

Slade didn't speak. He lowered his head. I gasped; part of the decorations went up in flames falling on the dance floor. The crowd screamed, running toward the sands.

"Are you kidding me?" I couldn't believe my eyes.

The men heading towards us quickly turned around running back to take care of the fire.

We slipped through the crowd. Nobody cared anymore we were there.

"Nona is here." I told Slade. "What if something happens to her?"

Slade's eyes softened. He scanned the crowd. "I don't see her, do you?"

I searched myself not laying eyes on her. Even so, it didn't make me feel any better. "We need to make sure she is okay. Do you have a phone on you?"

"We are right here. We don't see her. She's okay." As the words left his lips the church sign crashed onto the ground, knocking the table of refreshment over.

I couldn't believe what was happening all around us, because of Slade and Audrey.

"I didn't think this was you." I told Slade as we headed back down the beach.

"Relax, it's not like I killed anybody," Slade said.

"I'm sure you wouldn't care if Audrey killed Tucker."

Slade let his grip on my arm go. I settled into a slow pace next to him.

"Whatever you want to believe," Slade said. We stopped in front of my house. Dad was gone. Which gave me a bit of relief; I didn't want him involved in any of my newest issues.

I unlocked the door, and Slade walked in before I could. I scrunched my nose in disgust at his forcefulness and shut the door behind me. He leaned against the kitchen counter. I picked up the phone.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Calling Nona, making sure she hasn't burned alive in your shenanigans."

Slade smirked. Was he really amused by me in a time like this?

As soon as I knew Nona was alright nothing else mattered. Whatever I was going to have to do was fine by me. I wasn't going to go down without a fight against Audrey.

"Now what?" I asked. I put my hands on my hips waiting for an answer.

"Now we wait," Slade studied me closely. He pushed off the counter and grabbed a seat, as if it wasn't a big deal he was in my house.