Free The Oath by Apryl Baker Page B

issues with her potion crafting. She couldn’t quite seem to get them to do what they were supposed to, and it was because she was measuring wrong. He’d tried and tried to explain that to her, or so he’d told me.
    “No, I’m a little busy right now, Megan.” He listened and winced. “No, I am not mooning over Cassie. I’m not even with her right now, I’m on a date.” He pulled the phone away from his ear, grimacing. I could hear her squealing, which made me smile wider.
    “Look, I’ll call you when I get back, okay?” He sighed and shook his head. “No, you can’t do that in just an hour. It takes at least three…what do you mean you have to have it done by tomorrow?”
    I laughed out loud at his outraged tone.
    “Okay, okay,” he said, giving in. “Give me about twenty minutes to get back, and then we’ll Skype.”
    “So I guess our date is over?” I asked once he’d shoved his phone back into his pocket.
    “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “She’s having more issues than anyone I know.”
    “Potions can be hard for beginners,” I soothed. “She’ll get it eventually.”
    “I guess we should go,” he said and stood up.
    “Melinda!”
    We both turn to see Sebastian making his way toward us. Jeff gave me a questioning stare, and I smiled.
    “Hey, guys,” Sebastian greeted us as he came to a skidding halt beside our table.
    “We were just leaving,” I said. “Jeff needs to get home to help his sister with some homework. She’s flunking.”
    “I can take you home if you want to hang out for a little while,” Sebastian offered.
    This would be the perfect opportunity to start sowing my plans, but I’d brought Jeff. He didn’t have a car.
    “Jeff doesn’t have a car,” I said. “We came in mine.”
    “Well, then, let Jeff take the car to his place, and I’ll swing you by to pick it up.”
    “If you don’t mind me driving, that’s cool,” Jeff offered.
    Well now, things might be looking up after all. The Cheshire grin on my face made Jeff’s eyes go wide. He’d just figured out that Sebastian was one of the people on my hit list. Before he could back out, I nodded. “That’d be great, Jeff, thanks!”
    His eyes narrowed, but I shoved the keys at him, and he was forced to take them. After a minute, he nodded and then headed out the door.
    Sebastian gave me that turn your knees to butter smile and slid into the seat Jeff had vacated.
    Time to begin.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Thirteen
     
     
    ~ Date Night 2.0 ~
     
    “Soooo…” Sebastian drew the word out and grinned.
    I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Sebastian’s good mood was infectious. He looked so teasing and conspiratorial I had to remind myself he was the enemy.
    “I thought you were going to wait until tomorrow to hear all about my hot date?”
    “So was it a hot date?” He gave me what I could only assume was the Caine look designed to melt the heart of any girl he bothered to even glance at. It was butterflies in the stomach, knees turning to jelly, and heartbeat thudding in your ears, all while you scarfed your favorite chocolate kind of look.
    “Do you do that on purpose?” I asked.
    “What?”
    “That look designed to make a girl fall down at your feet.”
    He laughed out loud. “Do I really do that?”
    “Yeah, you do,” I said with a smile.
    “Is it working on you?” His grin widened at my blush.
    “There isn’t a girl alive it wouldn’t work on,” I told him. “Unfortunately, I have no desire to date you, so I’ll brush it off in a few minutes.”
    “And that’s why I like you, James. My good looks don’t work on you.”
    I shook my head as he ordered a cheeseburger platter. The boy sitting across from me and the one I’d gotten to know in the latter half of Jenny’s journal were so different. Maybe because he looked at me as an equal and not just a means to an end? I still needed to figure out what kind of spell they’d done that required my sister to kill