Witch and Wizard - James Patterson [10]
“You almost flunked biology?” Wisty whispered as I watched a vein appear in Byron’s forehead. “Cool.”
“Shut up, freak!” he roared at Wisty, who just stuck out her tongue. “I saw what you did earlier! You burst into flames! And you weren’t even hurt afterward! If that’s not sick and wrong, I don’t know what is! You think it’s bad, being here in this wussy prison? It will get a lot worse! Trust me on that, you deviants—a lot worse.”
“You know, Byron,” Wisty said in her most insulting la-di-da voice, “you’re the freak, actually. We could put you on our secret voodoo witchcrafty to-do list.”
At that, Swain snapped. Lunging across the table, he grabbed Wisty’s arm so hard she yelped. And then, the weirdest thing—and that’s saying something—a flash of blinding light leaped between my sister’s free hand and Byron’s chest.
The creep squealed like a guinea pig and was thrown backward, falling on his butt near the astounded guards.
My eyes nearly falling out of my head in disbelief, I looked over at my sister and realized she had just hit Byron with a lightning bolt.
Lightning. A small bolt, sure, but lightning! From her fingertips!
“More proof!” Byron squeaked, his voice sounding extracrispy and his face almost purple. He was rubbing his chest, obviously horrified by the burn mark on his shirt. “You are a witch! You’ll be locked up forever!” He got to his unsteady feet and staggered from the interrogation room.
“You’re throwing lightning at people now?” I asked Wisty. “I mean, whoa.”
Chapter 14
Whit
I MUST HAVE FALLEN OFF to sleep soon after Spud Swain’s visit. Then I woke in my cell with hot tears rolling down my cheeks.
It’s not that I’m a total wuss, though I can be during sappy movies sometimes. I was crying because I’d just talked to Celia—in a dream, I guess it was a dream, but it felt so real to me. No, it was real. I remembered hugging Celia tight to my chest like we were on the most heart-breaking date of all time.
“Hi, Whit, missed you,” she said, like it was perfectly normal for me to be seeing her again after all these months with her missing. “I’m trying to act casual, and failing pretty bad,” she said with a gentle smile. “Sorry.”
“Celia, are you okay? What happened to you?” I blurted out. My heart was pounding like a bass drum.
“We’ll get to all that. I promise. The question is, are you okay? Is Wisty?”
“Sure—you know me, Celia, I can roll with it. And Wisty is tough as nails. She’s smoking, actually.” I chuckled weakly at my own joke. “I guess we’re a little weirded out, though.”
Celia smiled again, and I just about couldn’t stand it. I’d had no idea how much I’d missed that incredible grin of hers until right now. And she was prettier than ever—if that was even possible. Smooth skin, long dark curls, the brightest blue eyes that always told me the truth, even if I didn’t want to hear it.
“You look great, Whit—for somebody who’s been kidnapped, beaten up, and jailed illegally.” Now a half smile.
“Forget about me. I want to hear everything about you. Celia, what is going on? Where did you go?”
She winced, then her head slowly moved from side to side, and tears rolled from her eyes. “That’s a tough question. And I know I just got here, Whit, but I really have to go now. I just had to make sure you were okay. And Whit—it’s hard to believe I’m saying this to you, of all people—you really have to hang tough. You and Wisteria. Otherwise you’ll both be dead.”
Then Celia was gone—I was wide awake—and I’d been warned about what to do next.
Hang tough.
Chapter 15
Wisty
I USED TO THINK detention was kinda fun. A badge of honor, almost. Man, how quickly things can change.
This was the real thing.
My old life, and the days of recklessly skipping class, felt like a million worlds away now. I missed it, and our house, and especially our mom and dad, so badly that I felt like I was going to lose it.
I stared at