Free The Darkness Within by Kelly Hashway Page B

hear you. They couldn’t really see you, either. If they focused on you, they could see you, but they couldn’t stay focused on you for long.
    Shannon slowed her pace and grabbed my forearm. “Did something happen with Ethan?”
    “No. With Dylan.”
    She let go as we went down the stairs. “Did he do something? Hit on you? Try to kiss you? What? The suspense is killing me.”
    “Nothing like that. Worse. I think.” I was definitely relieved he didn’t have a crush on me. It would’ve been disastrous for the coven, but this wasn’t any better. If Dylan was a killer…
    I knocked on Nurse Wentworth’s door. I couldn’t hear anythingon the other side of it, so hopefully that meant the office was empty. More people around would mean we’d need to cast a stronger spell so we could talk. My nerves were distracting me, which wasn’t going to help me focus on the spell in the first place.
    The door opened, and Nurse Wentworth reached her hand out. “Passes, ladies?”
    I shook my head. “Um, we don’t have any. I was sort of sick in class, and Mr. Ryan said if I felt like I was going to be sick again, I should just come here. He didn’t write me out a pass.”
    “And what about you?” She turned to Shannon.
    “Mr. Ryan thought I should escort her. She’s thrown up so much we were afraid she’d pass out on the stairs or something. I think she should lie down.”
    “Very well. You may go back to class. I’ll handle this from here.”
    “No!” Shannon couldn’t leave. I thought quickly. Mind-control spells weren’t easy, and I hated the idea of putting one on Mrs. Wentworth, but I had to find out more about Dylan. If he was dangerous or not.
    Mrs. Wentworth felt my head. “I think you may be running a fever.”
    “Can I please stay with her for a few minutes? Mr. Ryan won’t mind at all. And that way I can update him on how Sam’s doing when I go back to class.” Shannon was good, and I was relieved she hadn’t gone straight to the mind-control spell. What did it say about me that it had been my first thought?
    Mrs. Wentworth sighed. “Fine. A few minutes. That’s all.”
    “Thank you.” Shannon smiled and took my arm, leading me to the cot in the back of the office. Seeing it and the ugly green curtain reminded me of Nora putting a spell on Mrs. Wentworth and making her fall asleep on that very cot so she and I could talk. God, I was no better than her.
    “Lie down. I’ll get the thermometer.” Mrs. Wentworth walked to the cabinet on the opposite wall. Shannon pulled the curtain closed and started mumbling the bubble spell. I joined in. We had to work quickly. It wouldn’t take Mrs. Wentworth long to locate a thermometer. I felt the barrier go up as Mrs. Wentworth started walking backtoward us. She veered off to her right and sat down at her desk. We watched her filling out paperwork, forgetting we were even there.
    “We’re good,” Shannon said. “Now, tell me what’s going on.”
    “I talked to Dylan. I asked him the things you told me to ask him.”
    She lowered her head and played with a tear in the sheet on the cot. “Oh.”
    What, she was going to get all quiet on me now? She was the one who’d put me up to this. “Shannon, he told me about his magic going wrong, like Ethan’s. He said his parents disowned him, and Ben took him away. He told me about Ben’s girlfriend.”
    “Ben was a good guy. A bit of a hothead at times, but so is Dylan.” By the soft tone of her voice, I could tell Shannon had had a thing for Ben.
    “I’m sorry if this is hard to talk about.”
    She shook her head. “No. It’s fine. I liked him. There. I said it. But everyone liked Ben. He was amazing, and wickedly powerful.”
    “What about his girlfriend? What was she like?”
    “Not a witch, if that’s what you’re asking.”
    Not a witch? That was shocking. “How did he date her, then? Wasn’t that risky?”
    “Extremely. When he came here, she followed him. They were in love.” She rolled