Entangled Read online

  Also by Nikki Jefford

  The Spellbound Trilogy

  Entangled (#1)

  Duplicity (#2)

  Enchantment (#3)

  Holiday Magic (A Spellbound Christmas Story)

  Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter

  Aurora Sky (#1)

  Northern Bites (#2)

  Stakeout (#2.5)

  Evil Red (#2.6)

  Bad Blood (#3)

  Hunting Season (#4)

  Night of the Living Dante (#4.5)

  Whiteout (#5)

  True North (#6)

  French Kiss For Hire

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  Copyright © 2016 by Nikki Jefford

  Second Edition

  All rights reserved

  Cover design by Najla Qamber Designs

  Editing by Sara Meadows

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or the author has used them fictitiously.

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Entangled is dedicated in loving memory to Grandma May

  Chapter One

  If Gray’s twin sister wanted to be taken seriously, she should have threatened to step in front of a bus rather than off a building. She was a witch. Heights weren’t particularly a problem.

  “I’m going to do it, Lee. I mean it.”

  Gray joined Charlene on the roof of McKinley High and peered over the edge at the damp walkway below. It led into the student parking lot. Everyone was in fifth period . . . everyone except for the identical twins standing over the heads of their oblivious classmates and teachers.

  A suicide threat, seriously? This is why Gray was missing English?

  They were supposed to be discussing Yeats that afternoon and Gray didn’t appreciate having Charlene’s minion stop her on the way to class with a message that her sister planned on plunging to her death before the day was out.

  That would teach Blake Foster—or so Charlene thought. The jerk had dumped her sister after first period and, worse, had been seen sucking face with Stacey Morehouse at lunch.

  Gray started shivering the moment she’d stepped onto the roof. It was friggin’ February for crying out loud and she was wearing shorts. Granted, she had thick black tights on underneath, but still—brrr! Couldn’t Charlene have scheduled her dramatic death scene in the warmth of their home over a bottle of pills?

  “What about me? You expect me to watch?” Gray said. “Sure, that won’t haunt me the rest of my days.”

  Charlene’s face contorted. “You’re so freaking selfish!”

  “Me? What about you? Do you know what this would do to Mom? And what about me? How am I going to get through the rest of the semester when I’m all sad and stuff?”

  Charlene snorted. “Like you’d care.” She had to be cold in her skinny jeans, but at least she was wearing a sweater.

  The cold seeped down to Gray’s bones. The tips of her fingers felt as though they’d been dipped in ice water. She tried to conjure up warmth, but her body didn’t respond.

  “Of course I care. You’re my sister.” Gray nodded at the building’s edge. “It’s not like the fall would kill you, anyway.”

  “It wouldn’t?”

  “Nah. We’re not high enough. It’d just cripple you.” Gray bent her neck in, hunched over and held her arms close to her body, and then proceeded to walk around like a gimp. “Hey, Char, here’s you walking down the halls of McKinley.”

  Charlene’s lips tightened.

  Gray shuffled around. It helped warm her up. Charlene was fighting back a smile. “Don’t you dare make me laugh!”

  “Hey, Char. Here you are at prom.” Gray moved like a T. rex, flopping her hands back and forth against her chest.

  Finally Charlene couldn’t hold it back any longer. Her body shook. It was a good thing she was laughing because Gray couldn’t contain her mirth any longer. Then Charlene’s laughter turned to tears.

  Gray rushed over, reached out, then stopped herself. Charlene wasn’t the hugging type, not even when her heartthrob dumped her out of the blue.

  “I’m not going to prom,” Charlene sobbed. “Not anymore.”

  Gray patted Charlene’s back. “There’s always next year. Anyway, there’s plenty of time to find another date. Heck, it’s only February second.”

  Charlene ceased crying abruptly. “I don’t want another date! I want Blake!”

  “What’s so special about that dumbass, anyway?”

  “Lee, he’s the love of my life.” Charlene’s voice broke.

  “I think we ought to turn him into a toad.”

  Charlene pulled back. “Oh, no, don’t do anything to Blake.”

  No, good ol’ Blake was beyond reproach in Charlene’s book. They’d gone to homecoming together and been inseparable ever since . . . well, until today. Not that Gray would do anything bad to him either way. Both she and Charlene had taken the Vow of Honor at age twelve, and that meant absolutely no black magic.

  Gray lifted her hands in surrender. “Fine, I won’t make a Blake Foster voodoo doll when I get home.”

  Charlene’s eyes widened.

  “But don’t blame me if his car gets keyed.”

  “Lee, don’t touch Blake’s truck, either.”

  “Why not?”

  “When we get back together I don’t want to see a scratch on Blake or his truck.”

  “Oh, so now you’re getting back together?”

  “Blake just needs to realize the error of his ways.” Charlene flipped a long strands of blond hair over her shoulder and smiled right before turning away.

  “Char . . .” Gray said in a warning voice.

  Wonder of all wonders, Charlene ignored her. She took one gigantic step off the building.

  Gray hurried to the edge in time to see her sister float gently to the walkway below.

  “Brat,” Gray muttered under her breath. Charlene knew she was buoyantly challenged. Not to mention they were at school, for freak’s sake. What if someone was watching them from a parked car?

  And way to leave her high and dry—or rather, high and chilled to the bone.

  Gray stormed to the door leading back inside McKinley.

  Ryan was on the other side. His pear-shaped head craned around her, the corners of his mouth curving down like a weepy clown’s when he didn’t see Charlene. “Oh my god, she jumped.”

  Gray rolled her eyes. “No, she floated.”

  Ryan took in a gasping breath. “Thank god.”

  Gray pushed ahead of Ryan and hurried down the stairwell. She paused in front of the door leading into the second floor hallway. Ryan caught up to her and looked at her with big round eyes.

  “Now what?” Gray asked herself. “If I walk into English late Mrs. Pritchett is going to skin me alive. If I’m absent without an excuse . . .” Gray tapped her toe then looked down at Ryan. “Well? What are you waiting for?”

  Ryan looked at the door and cleared his throat. “I don’t know. What are you going to do?”

  Gray stopped tapping her foot and smiled suddenly. “I know what I’m going to do.”

  She squeezed her eyes closed and disappeared before Ryan’s eyes. The last thing Gray heard before she pushed the door open into the school was Ryan sucking air.

  He would be surprised. Invisibility was advanced magic. Gray doubted that even the peer leaders at Gathering could disappear from sight.

  Gray’s clogs clomp
ed across the deserted hallway. Lucky for her Mrs. Pritchett hadn’t closed the door to her classroom yet.

  Gray slipped in and skirted the row of desks nearest the wall. She sidestepped backpacks and heavy textbooks.

  “Casey!” Mrs. Pritchett snapped. “If I hear your mouth again I’m sending you straight to Principal Coleman.”

  Gray winced and counted her lucky stars Mrs. Pritchett wasn’t a witch . . . at least in the magical sense.

  Gray’s classmates weren’t the only ones who couldn’t see her; Gray couldn’t see herself or her foot when it rolled over a pencil. She sucked in a breath and picked her way to the back of the room.

  The use of magic in the presence of normal humans was forbidden by their coven—except in case of emergencies. She highly doubted that getting out of a tardy counted, but Charlene started it, and Gray had obeyed till now. If anything, she eschewed magic in public. She simply wanted to be a normal high school student. And forget about ever dating a magically inclined member of the male species. She wasn’t passing on her wonky witch genes to her children. Not that dating a warlock automatically led to children, but one could never be too careful.

  Gray surveyed the back row. This would be her best bet. Sneaking into English as Invisi-girl was easy. Reappearing without anyone noticing—not so much.

  Gray set her pack onto the floor and slid sideways into the desk. She looked side to side.

  “Turn to page fifty-two. Brian, read the first verse of ‘Leda and the Swan,’” Mrs. Pritchett commanded.

  Good, everyone was looking down. Gray pinched her eyes closed and filled herself in like a line drawing in a coloring book, except at warp speed. It wouldn’t do to appear with half a body, or decapitated. She always started from the toes up—backpack last. When she reopened her eyes she saw her arms resting on her desktop. A wry smile formed over her lips. She couldn’t help it. She didn’t know anyone else capable of invisibility.

  Gray reached into her now visible pack and quickly withdrew her poetry book and flipped to page fifty-two.

  When the bell rang she stuffed her book back inside. Everyone leapt from their desks to make for sixth period. Sadie Howard glanced back then did a double take when she saw Gray. They usually sat together. How was Gray going to explain that one?

  Just as she headed toward Sadie, Gray was bumped from behind. The force of the body against hers sent her pack flying out of her hands onto the ground. Okay, now she was pissed. “What’s your . . .”

  Gray whipped around to find herself face-to-face with Raj McKenna.

  “ . . . problem,” Gray finished, the word fading like bleached denim.

  Raj flicked his Zippo open and closed in his left hand while studying Gray.

  Raj had the kind of bronze-toned skin the socialites of McKinley tried obsessively to replicate in tanning booths. The only thing they managed to enhance was their orange-ish glow. Raj’s was a hundred percent authentic. His mother was Indian—as in India Indian. He’d inherited her lush dark hair and exotic eyes, the color of which he got from his American father; green like a panther’s, which fit him well, ’cause he looked ready to pounce if you made the mistake of turning your back to him. Case in point: ramming Gray as he’d just done now.

  The Zippo clicked shut again. Raj really shouldn’t be playing with a lighter considering he’d burnt down his last house.

  “Sorry, didn’t see you.”

  Gray’s jaw dropped.

  This time, Raj’s eyes met hers. There was a glint there, or maybe that was just the flash from Raj’s lighter as he flicked it open and closed again.

  As Yeats might’ve said back in the day, bloody hell.

  The last person Gray wanted knowing about her newfound disappearing act was Raj McKenna.

  Raj was the kind of warlock who didn’t take vows of honor. An invisibility spell had no place inside Raj’s bag of tricks. He probably hadn’t considered it before and now Gray had gone and put the idea into his delinquent head. Friggin’ great.

  Raj didn’t belong at McKinley High. He ought to be sent off to one of the coven’s rehabilitation campsites far from civilization. But no order had been handed down, not even when Raj’s own mother had taken his younger sister and gotten the hell away from him.

  Mr. McKenna no longer showed up for meets. They said Raj had driven his dad to drink and the boy was left unsupervised in the ramshackle home where he and his father had relocated in a seedy part of town.

  Raj’s smile widened. “See you around, Gray.”

  Not if she could help it. Gray bent down and picked her pack off the floor. If only she knew how to do a memory spell on Raj and make him forget what he’d seen . . . or rather not seen. But Gray had no talent for messing with memories or emotions. She was content to let the world go on without her interference. She simply wanted to be left alone. Maybe that’s why she was so good at disappearing.

  Chapter Two

  “Mom, Charlene’s gone off the deep end!” Gray yelled when she arrived home.

  She entered the kitchen in time to see her mom attempting to wrench a six-inch knife out of Charlene’s hand. “Charlene, give me the knife.”

  “I’m going to kill her!”

  At least Charlene wasn’t trying to take her own life. She gripped the knife so hard her knuckles were turning white. “Stacey Morehouse moved in on my man. She so picked the wrong girl to double-cross.”

  “Charlene, I know you’re upset, but you can’t go using magic on someone you’re unhappy with,” Mom said.

  “Who said anything about magic?” Charlene snapped. She lifted the knife and grinned. “I don’t need a spell to take care of Stacey Whorehouse.”

  “Right, because stabbing her without the use of magic doesn’t make it evil.” Probably not the best time for sarcasm.

  Charlene gave Gray a look that curled her toes. Charlene gasped a moment later when the knife turned into a spatula.

  “Charlene Perez,” their mother said. “You are not leaving this house until you calm down.”

  Charlene threw the spatula to the ground. “Fine!” she snapped. “Then I’ll stay here forever!” She turned on her heel and stomped up the stairs to her room. Her door slammed shut with a force that shook the house.

  “Wow. You don’t think she’d really . . .” Gray cleared her throat. “Hurt someone?”

  “I don’t know,” Mom admitted.

  They avoided each other’s eyes. Gray looked around the kitchen. Her mom sighed. “I better work on a protection spell for Stacey—just in case.”

  Gray nodded. “Good idea.”

  * * *

  “I heard about your sister and Blake Foster.” Gray’s best friend, Thea, plopped into the seat next to hers in first period the next morning. “She must be suicidal.”

  Thea had no idea. “She didn’t get out of bed this morning,” Gray said.

  “That bad?”

  Gray nodded as Mr. Houser began roll call.

  After class, Charlene’s best friends, Brittany and Kiki, practically shoved Thea aside to get to Gray. Both girls were wearing long leather boots over skinny jeans.

  “Where’s Charlene?” Brittany demanded at the same time Kiki asked, “How is she?”

  “She’s at home and she’s fine.”

  “Obviously she’s not fine. She just had her heart ripped out,” Brittany said.

  “And yet it still beats,” Gray said. “Excuse me, ladies; I’ve got to get to class.” She felt bad ditching Thea that way, but she wasn’t about to stick around for a lecture on broken hearts from Thing One and Thing Two.

  And speaking of heartbreakers, Stacey turned the corner with Blake’s arm draped over her shoulder.

  Glaring at Stacey Morehouse came naturally. Her beauty was as blinding as the sun. She was all legs, perky Victoria’s Secret–sized breasts, and as blond as a Barbie. Charlene didn’t stand a chance.

  Gray dodged a group of freshmen and pounded her way up the stairs to the second floor. As she rounded the corner,
Raj McKenna stepped in her way.

  Just great. If she’d known the Annoying People Parade was scheduled that day, Gray might’ve elected to stay home, too.

  Raj leaned into her. “Pretty neat trick yesterday.”

  Gray frowned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Raj put his hand out, blocking Gray as she tried to walk past him. He grinned. “Of course you do. What about the whole Vow of Honor thing? No magic in public?”

  “That’s not part of the Vow of Honor, and anyway, it was just that one time.”

  Raj’s grin widened. “That’s how it starts.”

  “Starts? I’m not starting anything.” Gray decided it was worth touching Raj to push past him.

  Raj quickly caught up. “How about you teach me your invisibility spell?”

  “You’re the last person I’d teach.”

  “I’d make it worth your while.” Raj’s lids closed halfway and his voice turned husky.

  Gray focused on the disgust his tone elicited in her and laughed. “Not on your life.”

  Suddenly, Gray was no longer walking. She was frozen in place, paralyzed. Not only was Gray rooted to the ground, her mouth wouldn’t work. She could only follow Raj with her eyes as he circled her like a jungle cat.

  Her head finally moved, but only when Raj pulled it back by her ponytail. His breath was moist on her neck. “Hair like gold,” he said. “What a contradiction, Gray.”

  Gray tried to move, to strike out at him. She felt herself break through the spell. Perhaps Raj had released her. Her eyes stung from having her hair pulled, or maybe it was from the unshed tears of anger at having been so grotesquely violated.

  Raj waited as though expecting Gray’s outcry. Instead, she turned and ran. Her clogs pounded down the hallway. Even after she turned the first corner she kept running.

  When Mrs. Ryerson called on her in third period, Gray sounded like an idiot, sputtering, “Huh? What?”