She knew about me, too? Did Dylan know this witch? Had he told her about me?

Nora continued with her spell, ignoring the girl’s questions. She pushed me forward slightly, and I staggered when her hand left my back. The weakness returned quickly, and my body hungered for life. I swallowed hard as I stepped closer to the witch.

“No!” she yelled. “Please, don’t. I don’t know what she told you, but I don’t deserve to die. Please.”

Another step closer, and my hand reached for her throat. I pressed my cold, lifeless fingers against her carotid artery, feeling the life surging through her.

She gurgled. “Don’t. You don’t have to kill.”

My other hand found her heart, pressing against it. Nora mumbled behind me as I drank in the witch’s life. It was different than the other times. I felt something mixed in with the life force as it filled me. She screamed in pain, and I watched her face shrivel and age. Her long, blonde hair turned gray and straggly. She gave one final gasp as her eyes closed.

I dropped my hands, feeling energized. No, it was more than that. I felt charged up. The witch was still being held up by Nora’s spell. I turned to face her, and she finally stopped chanting. The witch slumped to the ground, hitting my leg on the way down.

“That was—”

“Horrifying to watch?” Even though it wasn’t the first time I’d killed, it wasn’t easy for me to stomach what happened to my victims. The way their bodies shriveled into themselves was truly scary.

“Don’t blame yourself,” Nora said.

“How can I not? I killed her.” I turned to look at the body on the floor. Old, withered.

“She deserved to die.”

“How can you say that? Who are we to determine who should live and who should die? Who says my life is worth more than hers?” I was practically yelling, and tears streamed down my face.

“You didn’t ask to be like this.” Nora nodded toward the body. “She was evil by choice.”

“She didn’t sound evil when she was begging for her life.”

“Not many people do.”

“What was her name?” Not knowing who I was killing was worse. Seeing a nameless face in my nightmares haunted me more than knowing who I’d killed.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me.” I might be a monster, but I still had some humanity left.

She sighed. “Rebecca. Her name was Rebecca.”

“What do we do with her body?”

“Nothing. We leave it. Someone will find her eventually. Right now we need to get you back to the diner and come up with an excuse for why and how you took off.”

She was right. Ethan, Gloria, and Jackson were probably going crazy looking for me. I wasn’t sure how I was going to lie my way out of this one.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

ON the drive back to the diner, I didn’t have time to think about Rebecca or how she’d begged for her life. I had to figure out what I was going to tell Ethan and Gloria. What reason could I possibly have for running out of the diner by myself, when Ethan knew Dylan had been following me, and everyone knew I’d fainted earlier in the day?

I was screwed.

Nora took her time, doing the speed limit, while we brainstormed ideas. “Tell them you heard a noise outside, like someone was in trouble. So, you went to see what it was. Say it turned out to be a little girl, and she was lost and crying.”

“Why would a little girl be at a diner by herself at nine-thirty at night?”

“I don’t know. I’m just throwing out ideas. What have you come up with?”

“Nothing. At least nothing believable. Hell, I could tell them the truth, and they wouldn’t believe it.”

“You can’t tell them the truth. And keep me out of it. I was never with you.”

“I know, and thanks for helping me. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t come.” Actually I did know. I would’ve tried to get away from Ethan, Gloria, and Jackson. I would’ve collapsed in the parking lot. Then one of two things would’ve happened. All the life would’ve drained out of me, and I would’ve died for the second time at age seventeen. Or Ethan or one of the others would’ve found me, and they would’ve died trying to help me. As awful as I felt about killing Rebecca, I was glad it was her and not someone I cared about. God, I hated myself for thinking that.

Nora pulled over to the side of the road.

“What are you doing?”

“I can’t drop you off at the diner. Your friends would see me. You have to walk from here.”

She was right. She’d done enough to help me already. I couldn’t risk exposing her. Not everyone would be so open to the fact that she was a witch and she was helping me stay alive by finding me other witches to kill.

“Thanks again,” I said, getting out of the car.

“Hey.” She leaned over the middle console to see me better. “Go with the finding the little girl story. Say she was riding her bike and got a flat tire. She came to the diner looking for help.”

That wasn’t bad. I could make it work. “Okay, I will.” I shut the door, and before I could even wave goodbye, Nora pulled away.

I walked up to the diner and saw Ethan standing in the doorway on his cell. The outside lights illuminated the panic on his face. When he saw me, he lowered the phone and ran right at me.

“Sam!”

I swallowed hard and took a deep breath, getting ready to lie.

“What happened to you? Where were you?”

“Ethan, relax. I’m fine.”

“Where did you go? Gloria said she came out of her office and you were gone. Your book was on the table, and you were nowhere around. We searched everywhere.”

“Who were you on the phone with just now?” If he had called the police, we could get in a lot of trouble. If either of us was fingerprinted, they’d figure out we were using stolen identities.

“Jackson. He went driving around, looking for you.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Let’s go inside, and I’ll explain everything.”

He grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight. I could feel his worry in the strength of his grasp. When we walked inside, Gloria rushed over to me. She held my face in her hands and looked me over.

“Are you hurt?” she asked.

“No, no. I’m fine.”

Gloria brought me to the counter and motioned for me to sit down. “Tell us everything. What happened?”

I laced my fingers to keep from fidgeting. “I was reading my book, and I heard someone cry for help. I looked out the window and saw a little girl. She was only about eight. She was crying. I went outside to see what was wrong and why she was alone so late at night.”

Gloria poured me a glass of water, and I took a sip before continuing. “She said she was out riding her bike. She went out without asking because she was mad at her mom. They’d had a fight earlier. So, anyway, the girl got a flat tire, and she couldn’t get back home. She came to the diner looking for someone to help her.”

“So what, you walked her home?” Ethan said.

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you come get me? I would’ve taken her in my car or you could’ve driven her.”

“She was so freaked out, and I wasn’t sure if she’d get scared if I involved more people.”

Ethan shook his head, but Gloria put her hand to her chest and said, “Well, you nearly gave me a heart attack. Next time you tell someone before you go running off like that.”

I nodded. “I’m sorry I made you worry.”

She started for her office. “I’m going to call Jackson and let him know you’re okay.”

Ethan waited for her to get to the office before he said anything else. “I don’t understand why you would do something like this when you’ve got that guy following you around.”

“I’m not afraid of Dylan.”

His eyes widened and he stepped back. “What, now you’re on a first-name basis with him?”

“No. He wrote his name on that note, remember?”

Ethan put his hands on his hips. “This isn’t like you, Sam.”