Free Blood Witch by Cate Tiernan

door. She was dressed all in black and was wearing vivid dark makeup, like Raven. It obscured her naturally beautiful face and made her seem anonymous somehow, as if she were wearing a mask. It filled me with an uneasy feeling. She stood outside, talking in a low voice to Chip Newton, and then they both came in and sat down.
    I swallowed. Chip was cute and seemed like a pretty nice guy. He was brilliant in math, too—way better than me, and I’m pretty good. But Chip was also our school’s biggest dealer. Last year Anita Fleming had gone to the hospital after overdosing on Seconal that she had gotten from him. Which made me wonder just how nice he really was.
    What are you doing with him, Bree? I asked silently. And what’s your coven up to?

    Later that morning, while I was in the first-floor girls’ bathroom, I heard Bree’s voice, then Raven’s, outside my stall. Quickly I pulled up my feet and braced them against my door so nobody could tell that the stall was occupied. I just didn’t feel up to facing the two of them, having them sneer at me, right now.
    “Where are we meeting?” Raven asked. I heard Bree rustling in her purse, and in my mind’s eye I could picture her fishing out lipstick.
    “At Sky’s place,” answered Bree. My interest perked up. They must be talking about their new coven.
    “It’s so cool that they have their own place,” said Raven. “I mean, they’re barely older than we are.”
    I breathed silently, intent on their voices.
    “Yeah,” said Bree. “What do you think of him?”
    “He’s hot,” said Raven, and they laughed. “But it’s Sky who knocks me out. She knows everything, she’s so cool, and she’s got awesome powers. I want to be just like that.” I heard more rustling, then one of them turned on the water for a moment.
    “Yeah,” said Bree. “Did you think it was weird, what she was talking about on Saturday?”
    “Not really,” Raven said. “I mean, everything has a light side and a dark side, right? We have to be aware of it.”
    “Yeah.” Bree sounded thoughtful, and I wondered what the hell Sky had been talking about. Was Sky pulling them toward dark magick? Or was she just showing them part of Wicca’s big circle, like Cal had said? It didn’t seem—
    “You got the hair, didn’t you?” Raven asked.
    “Yeah,” Bree answered. Now she sounded almost . . . depressed. I couldn’t follow the conversation at all. What hair?
    “What’s wrong?” Raven demanded. “Sky promised no one would get hurt.”
    “I know,” Bree mumbled. “It’s just, you know, I found the hair in this old comb—”
    “Morgan will be fine, ” Raven interrupted.
    “That’s not what I was talking about,” Bree snapped. “I’m not worried about her.”
    My eyes flew open wide. I bit my lip to keep from gasping as everything fell into place. Bree was talking about my hair. I couldn’t believe it. She was turning over a strand of my hair to a strange girl—a witch—behind my back.
    There could be only one reason: Sky wanted my hair to put a spell on me. So why had Bree gone through with it? Did she really believe that Sky didn’t intend to harm me? Why else would she want the hair?
    Or did Bree want me to be harmed? I wondered miserably.
    “We need more people,” Raven stated in the silence.
    “Yeah. Well, Robbie’s going to come. And we might get Matt, too.”
    Raven laughed. “Yeah. Matt. Oh God, I can’t wait to see Thalia’s face when Robbie walks in. She’ll probably jump him right there.”
    I frowned. Who was Thalia?
    “Really?” Bree asked.
    “She just broke up with her boyfriend, and she’s trolling,” Raven said. “And Robbie’s really hot now. I wouldn’t mind hooking up with him myself.”
    “Oh, Jesus, Raven,” said Bree.
    Raven laughed again, and I heard a purse being zipped shut. “Just kidding. Maybe.”
    Silence. I held my breath.
    “What?” said Raven as the door opened.
    “Thalia’s not his type,” Bree said as sounds