Midnight Surrender (A Paranormal Romance Anthology) Page 4

  The Gathering: Prequel to Enchantment of The Channie Series

  By Charlotte Abel

  Channie bolted upright, smacking her forehead against the pine log above her bed. She groaned and ran her fingers over the wet, sticky lump already forming over her eyebrow. Blood. Yuck. She considered using a healing spell, but with her luck, she’d wind up with more bumps than a hedge-apple.

  What time was it, anyway?

  Moonlight streamed in through the window, casting long shadows across the braided rug on the floor — which meant it had to be well past midnight. What had startled her awake?

  The triplets were cuddled up against Abby’s side like a litter of pups, sound asleep.

  The pine tree outside their window swayed back and forth as if rocked by a storm. Something was in that tree. Plink, plink-plink. And something was tossing pinecones into the loft.

  Channie’s heart stopped. She reached out with her magic and felt the presence of another mage. Confident that Momma’s keep-away spells would protect her, Channie probed a little deeper to read his energy field.

  He raised his shield and blocked her, but not before Channie sensed his strongest emotions. He was excited and … hopeful? Not exactly what she’d expect from an intruder. And no thief would announce his presence by chucking pine cones through the window. Whoever he was; he wanted to wake her up.

  Or maybe he wanted to wake up Abby. He could even be the trips’ daddy. The thought spread a grin across Channie’s face. If she could discover that little secret, she’d never have to do dishes again. Only an idiot would pass up such a perfect opportunity for blackmail.

  Channie kept to the shadows as she made her way to the window. She had to see his face before he saw hers. The low angle of the moon striped the landscape with bands of light and shadow — perfect cover for lurking.

  Fog swirled over the ground and flowed down the hollow like a river of milk. Channie strained her ears but didn’t hear so much as a single cricket. Well, two can play at this game. She picked a pine cone up off the floor and threw it at the tree.

  Branches shifted and swayed, but Channie couldn’t see a darn thing.

  A dull thud drew her gaze to the ground. Whatever had been hiding in the tree was now in the back of Daddy’s old Chevy truck.

  That vehicle had been propped up on cement blocks since before Channie was old enough to crawl under it for afternoon naps. All sorts of critters had nested in it over the years, but that was no varmint creeping onto the truck’s cab. Channie craned her neck to get a better look, but all she could see was a vague shape … until he sprang straight at her.

  An instinctive burst of defensive magic shot out of Channie’s power-well, surrounding her with a protective wall of energy.

  She covered her mouth with both hands to stifle a scream. She recognized Hunter Feenie's mop of light blond hair, shining silver-blue in the moonlight. She slid her hands to the base of her throat and lowered her shield.

  Hunter grabbed the splintered windowsill, dug his toes into the chinks between the logs and clung to the side of the cabin like a tick on a dog. “Gimme a hand.”

  Channie leaned out the window and grabbed the straps of Hunter’s overalls while he adjusted his grip. The scent of pine sap clung to his skin. How long had he been hiding in that tree? Had he been spying on her? Watching her sleep? As soon as Channie was sure he wouldn’t fall into Momma’s protection spells, she let go.

  Hunter poked his head inside the loft and flashed a crooked grin at her — as if climbing through her window in the middle of the night was the most natural thing in the world.

  “Hey, girl.”

  Channie folded her arms across her chest. “How the heck did you get past Momma’s protection spells?”

  No one but a family member could get within ten feet of the magically enhanced shrubs surrounding the cabin. Not without getting hit with a bolt of pure energy.

  Hunter smirked at Channie. “Move over. Let me in.”

  “Are you crazy? My folks’ll kill you.”

  “Your Daddy’s out runnin’ moonshine with mine. They won’t be back till sunrise. And I ain’t afraid of your momma.”

  “Well, I am. What do you want?”

  Hunter pulled a sliver out of his palm with his teeth. “Are you gonna let me in or not? I cain’t hang on much longer.”  

  “That’s a lie.”

  The Feenies had more kids than food so they were all a little skinny, but they were stronger than they looked. They were also ornery and tough as nails. Hunter could hang from her windowsill all night if he had to. But he was making too much noise.

  Channie shushed him then whispered, “Meet me at the sycamore tree behind the kitchen garden. And stay outta sight.”

  Hunter tucked his knees against his chest then let go with one hand, twisting around so he faced the ground.

  “Hunter? What’re you doing?”

  He let go and pushed off from the cabin, arching his back, arms and legs spread eagled behind him.

  Channie’s heart leapt into her throat. She tried to grab him, but all she got was air. “No!”

  Sparks exploded when Hunter hit Momma’s protection spells. But instead of getting fried to a crisp — he bounced — skimming across the surface; like a stone skipping across a crawdad pond.

  “Wow.” Channie’s jaw dropped.

  Hunter used his shield and the energy from the protection spells to propel himself through the air.

  He bounced on his belly three times then swung his hips forward and flipped over backwards. He landed feet first on the roof of the Chevy then rebounded into the pine tree.

  “Good lord!” How’d he do that?

  Hunter dropped from the branches of the still swaying pine tree, waved at her then turned and trotted off.

  Channie waited until he disappeared into the shadows then crept down the ladder to the main floor. She took three steps then froze when a floorboard creaked. She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed Momma hadn’t heard her.

  What was she thinking — sneaking out to meet a boy in the middle of the night? What if Momma woke up and decided to check on the trips and found Channie missing? It’d be better to wake Momma up right now and tell her she was going to the privy so she wouldn’t come looking for her.

  She stood outside Momma and Daddy’s bedroom until her heart rate returned to normal, then opened the door.

  A stinging spell set Channie’s skin on fire. She cried out and knocked over the potted fern holding the curse, cutting off the flow of magic.

  “Enchantment? Is that you? Oh, baby girl, I’m so sorry. I set that spell for your Daddy and fell asleep. What are you doing up in the middle of the night?”

  Channie panted until the pain subsided then blinked the tears out of her eyes. “I just wanted to let you know I’m going to use the privy and … it might be awhile.”

  “I told you kids to lay off those dried apricots.” Momma sat up and swung her legs out of bed. “I’m all out of slippery elm, but I could brew you some raspberry leaf tea.”

  “It’s not that bad.” Channie took a deep breath and focused on calming herself. She’d have a hard time explaining why she was so nervous if Momma decided to scan her. “I didn’t want you to worry about me if you got up and found me missing, that’s all.”

  The lie pricked Channie’s conscience but since she’d already been hit with a stinging spell, she figured she’d paid for it in advance.

  Momma yawned and tucked her feet back under the covers. “Come get me if you don’t feel better before morning.”