Winter Fire (The Witchling #3)(39)

Morgan walked around campus, past the boys’ dorms and across the creek. A picnic area was covered in snow. Deer, roaming kids and other wildlife had carved paths through snow into the forest at points, and she picked a random direction to go. The snow soon became too deep to proceed, so she returned to campus and walked down the gravel driveway towards the road that led to town.

Her thoughts went to the girl she beat up, and she struck off into the forest in the direction where she’d been headed earlier. Bright blood in the snow marked the spot where the encounter occurred. Morgan looked around, half-expecting to find the girl still there. Why on earth was she just roaming in the forest in the first place?

No one was there, so Morgan trudged into the snow.

She had no idea what she was looking for. Her phone rang, and she fished it out of her pocket. Her heart almost stopped when she saw whose number was on the screen. She hesitated then answered.

“Hi Daddy,” she murmured.

Silently, she prayed Beck or Amber hadn’t called him.

“Hey, Morgan. How’s the new school?”

“Great,” she said with more enthusiasm than she felt. “There’s more snow here than in New York.”

“That’s a lot.”

“Yeah.”

“Listen, your mom is headed up there for Christmas. I figure I’ll come for New Years and your birthday.”

“Oh,” she said. “Are you um, coming up alone?”

“No, I’m bringing Gordon.”

Morgan’s heart tumbled.

“We aren’t going to have any issues with that, are we?” her dad asked tensely.

“No, Daddy,” she replied. She’d given up trying to tell him what kind of person his brother was. On disability, Corwin McCloud needed someone at home almost full time to care for him, after an accident on a construction site. Gordon, his brother, had become that person. The roll of caretaker, though, didn’t fit the hot-headed man.

“We’ll see you in a few days.”

“Okay, bye, Daddy.”

“Bye, hon.”

Morgan hung up. She hated her uncle with all her heart. Between her dad’s mood swings and screaming at her and her uncle Gordon hitting her to vent his frustrations, she had a home life she wouldn’t wish on anyone, even Dawn.

Well, maybe Dawn. Beck was clearly trying to deal with her as rationally as possible. Morgan felt no such desire; she’d rather push the bitch into the river. The baby would be fine, and Dawn might think twice before confronting Beck again. Morgan would feel a little better.

Beck was a really good person, Morgan reflected with some melancholy. Much better than she was.

A second thought settled into her, as cold as the snow around her boots. If she didn’t find the heart of the Light before Gordon got here, she’d end up with another broken arm when he visited or worse – he’d follow through on his threat and do something horrible to her father.

Morgan shoved her phone into her pocket and began walking again. Distraught, she didn’t hear the sound of snow crunching beneath the boots of others, until someone spoke.

“Hey.”

Startled, Morgan turned. She saw the tall, pretty girl from this morning. She had brown hair and bright blue eyes.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “I’m glad to see you.”

The girl cocked her head to the side with a frown. Her nose was crooked and bandaged, where Morgan’s first strike had fallen. The second she’d leveled at the girl’s midsection.

“I meant to apologize for this morning. I didn’t …” Morgan trailed off, realizing there were more people with her. Two others, a guy over six feet tall and built like a tree, and another girl. None of them looked friendly.

“No worries. I brought back-up this time,” the girl said.

“I just reacted this morning. I wasn’t trying to pick a fight.”

“No? Well, you did,” was the hard response.

Morgan tried to smile, but subtly widened her stance and balanced herself on the balls of her feet.

“I’m sorry about that,” she said again. “My brother used to test me to make sure I reacted right. It’s kind of second nature, when someone grabs me.”

“Look, I came to give you a message from my friend. But when I told her what happened, she got real pissed. That message changed.” As she spoke, the other two moved closer to Morgan.

“I don’t understand.” Morgan shifted uncertainly. “Who’s your friend?”

“Dawn.”

“Dawn?” Morgan laughed. “Living up to her reputation and sending bullies to do her work. What’s she upset about?”

“Beck.”

It clicked then. Dawn’s parting words to Beck about not dating anyone. Beck’s concern about Morgan upsetting her. Dawn had something to do with the disappearance of Beck’s other girlfriend. Fire lit Morgan’s blood, a mix of magick and pure fury. The two others were closing in on her, and she pretended not to notice.

God! She wasn’t even dating him. She didn’t want anything to do with him, and she was going to get beat up?

“So, you’re here to what?” she demanded, face growing hot. “Teach me a lesson? Kidnap me?”

“Whatever it takes.”

“You’re a fool. People like her use people like you. She’s a coward, and you’re too dumb or scared to stop her.”