Read Samhain (Matilda Kavanagh Book 2) for Free Online Page B

Most of it was confined to the kitchen, but one of my dining table chairs was shattered.
    “Some stupid teenager.” The words left a sour taste in my mouth. Bested by a kid. How embarrassing.
    “What did she look like?” Kyle asked as he turned around to face me.
    “Just a girl.” I shrugged. “Short, brown hair, brown eyes, looked like she was dressed for a damn funeral.”
    “All black and gray?” Kyle asked.
    I turned to look at him. His dark eyes were heavy with suspicion.
    “Yes,” I said slowly. “Except for the gold cross she was wearing.”
    “Gold cross?” Ronnie asked, her freckled brow contracting. “What was a Christian doing coming to see a witch?”
    “To blow up her kitchen and mace her,” I said, throwing my hands in the air.
    “It doesn’t really matter that she was a Christian,” Kyle said. “We’ve got Christians in the pack.”
    “Really?” Ronnie turned her surprised face toward Kyle, who nodded.
    “Yeah, I’ve heard of hedge witches and kitchen witches being Christian,” I said. I crossed my arms over my stomach and leaned back against the counter, feeling a headache coming on. I hoped all of my charms weren’t contaminated with whatever that bomb had been made of.
    “But I have a guess about what she really was,” Kyle said, bringing all our attention to him again.
    “Which is?” I prompted.
    “Bet she was a member of P.E.A.C.E.”
    My stomach went as cold as my toes, and Ronnie made a noise of surprise while Frankie growled. P.E.A.C.E. stood for “People for the Eradication and Cleansing of Evils,” and by evils, they usually meant anyone not human. Many factions of society believed any supernatural creature was a spawn of demons. They didn’t seem to realize demons were their own special, crazy race.
    “Could be,” I said with a small shrug. “But she could have just been some crazy chick.”
    “Sure,” Kyle agreed, “but there have been a lot more attacks lately. They’ve been a lot more brazen too.” He gestured around my apartment, and I nodded. “And the gray-and-black outfit? That’s, like, their uniform.”
    “Oh,” I said lamely.
    “Why now, all of a sudden?” Ronnie asked.
    “A lot of human teens are going missing, running away sounds like, but P.E.A.C.E. is blaming supernaturals for the sudden rise.” Kyle rubbed his chin. The sound of the stubble against his hand was rough. “They’ve been on the news, holding rallies, all kinds of propaganda.”
    “She did ask me if I did blood magic.”
    “What?” Ronnie spun around, her voice so loud that I flinched away from it.
    “Take it down a notch, please,” I said, holding out one hand while rubbing my forehead with the other. My skin was still sensitive, but the creeping ache in my head was worse. I kept my eyes closed for a few moments, feeling the sting bring tears to my eyes, but it actually helped. I let the tears fall and dabbed at my cheeks.
    “Yes,” I said when I’d pulled myself together. “She asked if I did blood magic. I thought she was asking because she wanted me to make her a black spell or something, so I told her it was time to go. That’s when she pretended to pull out money for the love spell, and blammo.” I finished with a huff. Looking around my kitchen, blackened and scorched, hurt something inside me. Just when I was finally getting ahead of my bills and able to put some money away for a rainy day, it was pouring right there in my kitchen.
    “Well it looks like you could use some help cleaning up,” Kyle said, stepping forward and away from Frankie.
    “Uh, hello?” Frankie put both hands on her round hips. “So what, our date is over just like that?”
    “Sweets, I’m sorry,” Kyle said, turning back to face her. He stepped closer to her, reaching to touch her face, but Frankie moved her head before his fingers could reach her cheek. “Don’t be like that. My friend needs some help. Am I just supposed to walk away?”
    Kyle’s words surprised me. I