Blood Witch_ Book Three - Cate Tiernan [31]
“What do you want?” I asked, swallowing. I remembered my bad dream of last night, my overwhelming feelings of being smothered, the dark cloud that had been chasing me.
He coughed. “I want to talk to you.”
“About what?” I slung my backpack up onto the porch, not taking my eyes off him. I watched his hands, his mouth, his eyes, anything that he could use to do magick. My pulse was racing; my throat felt tight. I wished hard that Cal would suddenly drive up out of the blue. I considered sending him a message with my thoughts, a witch message—but then I realized I should just turn around and go in. I could handle myself. I didn’t even need to talk to Hunter.
But for some reason I just stood there as he strode toward me, cutting across our lawn, leaving black footprints in the half-melted ice. He was close enough now that I could see that his fair skin was completely unblemished and there were a few freckles across the bridge of his strong nose. His eyes were cold and green.
“Let’s talk about you, Morgan,” he said, and he pushed his leather cap farther back on his head. A few tufts of blond hair poked out beneath it. “You don’t know what you’re doing with Cal.” He made this announcement firmly but casually, as if he were simply telling me it was four o’clock and time for tea.
I shook my head, feeling the anger rise. “You don’t even know—”
“It’s not your fault,” he interrupted. “This is all new to you.” The anger welled in the pit of my stomach, turning to rage. What right did he have to be so condescending to me?
Hunter fastened his eyes on mine. “You can’t be expected to know about Cal, and his mother, and who they are,” he said. “No one blames you,” he added.
“No one blames me for what?” I demanded. “What are you talking about? I don’t even know you. Where do you get off telling me anything about people I know, people I care about?”
He shrugged. His manner was as cold as the air around us. “You’re stumbling into something bigger and darker than you could possibly imagine.”
Rage turned to sarcasm. Hunter definitely brought out the worst in me. “Oh,” I said, trying to sound bored. “Stop, stop, you’re scaring me.”
His face tightened, and he stepped toward me. My stomach clenched, and adrenaline pumped through my veins. I resisted the urge to turn and bolt into the house.
“Cal’s lied to you,” Hunter snarled. “He isn’t what or who you think he is. Neither he nor his mother. I’m here to warn you. Don’t be stupid. Look at me!” He gestured at his puffy eyes and red nose. “Do you think this is normal? Because it isn’t. They’re working magick on me—”
“Oh, are you kidding me?” I interrupted. “Are you actually telling me they’re plotting against you? Give me a break!”
Who was this guy? Did he really think I would believe that Cal and Selene gave him a cold with dark magick? Or was he simply some paranoid nut? Maybe I should feel sorry for him—but I couldn’t. All I felt was fury. I wanted to shove him as hard as I could, knock him down, and kick him. I had never been so angry, not at my parents, or Bree, not even at Bakker. I spun to go inside.
Hunter darted forward and caught my arm in a painful grip. Feeling trapped, furious, I drew my fingers together and smacked his hand. A jolt of crackly blue light jumped from my hand and shocked him. He released me at once, looking startled.
“So that’s it,” he whispered, rubbing his hand. He nodded in astonishment. “That’s why he wants you.”
“Get the hell away from me!” I shouted. “Or do you want me to really hurt you?”
Hunter sneered. “Trying to show me just what a powerful Woodbane you are?”
Time seemed to freeze.
“That’s right,” he whispered. “I know your secret. I know you’re Woodbane.”
“You don’t know anything,” I managed. The words came out in a misty whisper.
“Maeve Riordan,” he said, shrugging. “Belwicket. They were all Woodbane. Don’t act like you don’t know.”
“You’re lying,” I spat, but I felt an awful sensation bubbling inside me, like a boiling cauldron. I wondered if I was going to throw up.
A flash of surprise crossed his face, instantly replaced with suspicion.