Once a Witch by Carolyn Maccullough

Author:Carolyn Maccullough [MacCullough, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
ISBN: 9780547223995
Publisher: Graphia
Published: 2009-08-05T04:00:00+00:00

An hour and a half later we grind to a halt. "Home sweet home," I say, and for once I mean it. Rowena seems to be asleep in the back seat, although every once in a while a spasm crosses her face and she moans as if in pain. Gabriel switches off the ignition, leans forward a little, and rests his head on the wheel. With one hand he rubs at his neck, his fingers circling the blue moon tattoo. "Aren't you glad you came back?" I ask after a few seconds. He gives me a look, one side of his mouth hooking upward in what I hope is a smile, but he doesn't answer. And I don't have time to thank him because the door crashes open and my mother is flying down the driveway, her hair struggling free of whatever she's managed to stick in it. In the next second she disappears and then flickers into view in the back seat of the car.

"Hi, Mom," I say, my voice somewhat muffled as she has me enveloped in as much of a hug as she can from the back seat. My head is smashed into her shoulder and my neck is starting to develop a serious kink. Her skin smells of lavender and sage, its heady perfume thickening all around me.

"Um ... Mom, can you—"

"Oh, Tamsin," she says, her arms releasing me suddenly. I gulp in air. "You found her. Thank the earth and stars above." Her face is so sharply drawn and so blotchy from crying that I feel a terrible pang that I didn't think to call her from my cell sooner than I did. Then again I was dealing with a maniac.

"About that, Mom," I say, pulling back a little. "I've just made a couple of interesting discoveries."

But my mother's gaze is pinned to Rowena as my sister stirs and opens her eyes. She peers at all of us, blinking several times as if we are apparitions from the wrong dream. "Where is he?" she murmurs. Her hands comb through her hair as though she's searching for answers there, and I have to turn away. Movement flickers at the edge of my vision and I look out the window to see my father and Uncle Morris heading down the driveway.

"Where's James, you mean? He's coming. He'll be here right away." My mother speaks in a loud, extra-careful voice, the kind people seem to reserve for non-native speakers and children.

"Uh, Mom," I begin. "She doesn't—"

"He wants me back," Rowena frets.

"He certainly does," my mother agrees too quickly. "We all do, sweetheart. You haven't been yourself these past few days. You..." The little rush of my mother's words tumbles to a halt. She has found the marks on Rowe-na's wrist, and now she smoothes her fingers over and over them, her mouth working with the weight of what she can't or won't say.

Rowena stumbles out of the car and my mother almost trips in her haste to follow. Gabriel and I look at each other.

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