Free Spellbound (Spellbringers Book 1) by Tricia Drammeh Page A

short as I
was. I tried to hide my irritation that he’d distracted Jace before
he could ask his question. I craned my neck, searching for Jace in
the crowd, but finally gave up and enjoyed dancing with the young
boy who kept looking at my chest. Oh, well. At least I felt
somewhat desired.
    When I spotted Jace with Rachel, my
heart thudded painfully. She was breathtakingly beautiful with her
deep caramel skin and delicate features. Her ebony hair was piled
high, revealing her graceful neck. I felt short, squat, and hideous
in comparison. The second Jace pulled her close, I knew he was lost
to me.
    Standing in a daze on one side of the
gym, I watched as Jace left Rachel on the bleachers. Jace was by my
side in an instant. His arm wrapped around my waist and he led me
to the entrance into the school. As soon as we were safe within the
privacy of the school hallway, Jace released his hold on
me.
    “Rachel is the one we’ve been looking
for. She’s strong, so much stronger than she should be. It’s
dangerous for her,” he insisted.
    I stood quietly, watching him. I
willed myself not to cry because I was afraid of what his next
words might be.
    “Something happened between us. She
was inside my head and I was inside hers.” Jace seemed to be
searching for the right words. “I don’t think I liked it at all. I
don’t like the fact that someone can read me like that.”
    I sighed, certain there was something
more. I could see the connection between them when they danced. I
didn’t need magic or a special gift to see it. Was Jace that
oblivious, or was he hiding his feelings from me?
    “I’ll have to talk to my parents about
it, but I don’t want to do it now. I know that sounds irresponsible
and selfish, but I just want to have fun tonight. There will be
plenty of time later for my parents to give me the third degree,”
Jace said. “You wanna leave and go get something to
eat?”
    “Okay, cool.” Avoidance was my
favorite way to deal with unpleasant topics, so I was thrilled to
discover Jace was a hardcore procrastinator as well. Like he said,
there would be plenty of time to worry about it later.
    After Jace dropped me off at home, my
mother brutally forced me to describe in detail everything that
happened at the dance. Obviously, I decided to omit mention of the
Jace/Rachel incident. I tried to impress upon her the fact that
Jace and I were only friends, but she was too busy planning our
wedding in her head to actually listen to me. I finally gave up and
went to bed.
    I fervently prayed things would stay
the same between me and Jace. Our friendship was precious to me and
I was afraid it would be diluted if Rachel was thrown into the mix.
I knew once Jace spoke to his parents about Rachel, they would want
to meet her. Would she become part of their lives the way I
had?
    Jace was my best friend—my only
friend. Ever since the cookout with his family, he called me every
day, at least twice. We saw each other after school most days and
on weekends. I could talk to him about everything. He knew about my
lack of friends, the fact that I had never had a boyfriend, and
that I dreamed of one day becoming a writer. He knew my hopes and
dreams and encouraged me to go after what I wanted.
    We spent hours talking—at his house,
on the phone, or driving around. He told me how hard it was when
his oldest brother died, and about his strained relationship with
Bryce. He even told me about his fears and self-doubt. Jace was
often afraid he wouldn’t qualify for admittance into Warrior
Training.
    When I woke up the morning after the
Homecoming Dance, I worried our relationship would change
irreparably. Would he call me, or would he talk to his parents
first and leave me in the dark? All my fears were scattered when my
phone rang.
    The first words out of Jace’s mouth
were, “Hey, my family is playing tennis in a couple of hours and I
need a partner. Can you play?”
    I almost fainted with relief. Things
were still normal