Autumn Storm (The Witchling #2)(47)

The shower wasn’t able to drown out the voices. The slap of another soul going bad hit him as he shut off the water. Infuriated at the thought of Beck and Autumn, Decker wrenched open the door to his dorm room. His eyes went to the bed, where Alexa and another girl with blond hair were. His gaze went appreciatively over the model-like body of the blond before realized Alexa was going through his phone.

“What’re you doing?” he demanded, going to his closet.

Startled, Alexa dropped his phone and rolled away.

“Nothing,” she mumbled. “Are you leaving again?”

“Yeah.” Blowing out a sigh, he concentrated on dressing instead of the hammering in his head.

He didn’t deserve Autumn any more than he did Summer. His movements grew more deliberate. He knew Beck was right.

“About what I told you last night,” Alexa said.

Unaccustomed to any of the girls he slept with actually talking to him, Decker paused.

“You’re really okay with it?” she asked. “I know I apologized, but … you know.”

Decker sifted through the memories the Darkness shared with him. He saw the hours of sex and almost cursed aloud. Alexa had brought a friend this time: Dawn. He didn’t think Beck would care, but the girl was worse news than Alexa.

“If I was last night, I am this morning,” he snapped, wanting out of there.

“You didn’t seem like you last night.”

The Darkness had talked to her. Interesting. Normally, the Darkness just acted.

“Decker, I really want for us to be together again.”

“As long as you realize you’re one of a few hundred,” he replied. “I’m interested in you for the same reason I am every other girl.”

She was quiet for a moment. “I’m okay with that. I think you’ll change your mind, though. I mean, we were really good together. Maybe you just need to remember that.”

Months ago, Decker fooled around with Alexa to try to shake the draw he felt towards Summer. Dark and known for sleeping around, Alexa was the opposite of the innocent girl meant to be his mate. When he couldn’t fight the truth that his fate was with Summer, he’d left Alexa. He’d been Summer’s first kiss, the only guy ever to touch her.

Summer is gone. You are not. Grandpa Louis had told him.

Decker rubbed his aching head. He’d never be able to let her go or live down how much he’d failed, betrayed her. He deserved someone like Alexa.

With his back to her, he sat at his desk to pull on his boots. His shadows crept to her in an effort to figure out what she’d told him last night. The image in her head was of Tarzan, the deer Summer had nursed back from near-death. The fawn was seated on the rock in the clearing near Miner’s Drop, its leg in a cast. It was night time. Bothered by the image, Decker waited to see what the memory showed him.

Four Dark witchlings and three Light, Bartholomew-the-Terrible’s voice broke Decker’s concentration. Not sure if it’s enough for the Darkness, but you must claim them all.

Decker rose to obey. He crossed to the bed and swung on his jacket, tucking the phone into his pocket. Alexa was smiling at him hopefully.

“Do you still miss her?” she asked.

“Who?” he hedged.

“Summer.”

“That’s none of your business,” he said in a low, lethal voice. “In fact, you will never say her name again around me.”

The light in Alexa’s eyes faded with her smile. “She broke Dark Laws, Decker. Even I haven’t done that.”

He knew this. He still didn’t understand why she’d done it. Alarms went off in his head when someone broke the Laws, but he didn’t know how, unless he peered into their minds when he confronted them. He’d been too horrified to read her crimes when he discovered she was the one who broke both Light and Dark Laws. And then he’d shoved her off a cliff.

The circumstances around Summer’s death had been declared forbidden for the students to talk about, under threat of expulsion. Decker had left the issue alone, unable to bear the thought of his Summer doing something atrocious. She was an angel in his eyes. He never wanted to think differently of her. If he decided to, he’d uncover what happened that night from the mind of Biji, who was present when he arrived to claim Summer’s soul. For someone who’d broken no Laws, it took effort or touch for him to filter through their thoughts.

“It’s good you haven’t,” he said calmly. “I don’t believe in second chances.”

“I know.” This was a scared whisper. “That’s why I wanted to tell you last night.”

It didn’t matter what she told him. The Darkness was going to claim him soon.

He grabbed his knife, his thoughts involuntarily going to Autumn. Of all the girls he’d taken to his bed the past few weeks, why couldn’t she have been one of them? He almost wished he hadn’t tried to behave himself around her. One night with her … the futile wish of a man on his deathbed.

She deserved better than him. The Darkness would save him from making the same mistake with her that he made with Summer.





Chapter Thirteen





Autumn’s second full day of school passed quickly. The half-day Wednesday was painless, as the school dismissed earlier than noon so students leaving for the holiday were able to make their flights before a snowstorm rolled in. After lunch, she found herself in the forest when the large flakes started falling, seeking the mysterious monster named Sam.