Read Something Wicked for Free Online Page B

happened. Said I looked like I was electrocuted. With flyaway
hair, and my green eyes turning yellow, and glowing. When the witch really took
over me, I had to admit, it felt kind of nice. Powerful.
    I pulled my spine straighter, smoothed down my hair and
continued. Tara would not bully me into magic out of my comfort zone. "If
I do this, I will not take the repercussions for you. Because there will be
repercussions."
    This got Tara's attention, and she sat up again. "God,
stop being so dramatic."
    Maybe Tara didn't notice the witch in me rising.
    "I will not take the repercussions," I said again,
my voice stern.
    "Fine, fine, whatever," Tara brushed it off.
"I don't give a shit who take or doesn't take these repercussions.
Just make that damn potion work."
    "You've no idea what you're gotten into," I told
her.
    "Ooooh, I am so scared," she mocked, dragging
herself to her feet. Either the hangover cure kicked in or being a bitch simply
made her feel much better. "Look, just fix the spell there's nothing to
worry about. Now where the hell is my purse?"
    "On the coffee table in the other room," Amanda
grumped. "And don't let the door hit you..."
    I cut her off with a look. She smirked and turned back to
her granola.
    "I'll walk you out," I said to Tara's back as she
pushed past me, the smell of stale beer lingering in her wake.
    "Are you insane?" Amanda whispered, grabbing my
arm before I could follow Tara into the other room. "How the hell are you
going to do a black magic spell?"
    I shrugged and she released my arm. I trailed after Tara.
    "Where's your other housemate?" Tara asked as she
poked around the living room looking for her bag. She moved like molasses, I
assumed from the hangover.
    "Don't know," I said, feeling my pulse leap at the
mention of Finn. I'd heard him stomp down the stairs while I readied the coffee
this morning. "He left early."
    "Does he always leave early?"
    I shrugged. "No idea. He keeps to himself mostly."
    I saw her purse on the floor under the coffee table. Of
course, it was a freaking Birkin. That one bag would cover the cost of my
college classes for a year. Full time. The words "not fair" caught in
my throat. I swallowed them back down and snatched up the overpriced cowhide
and handed it to her.
    She took it from me and rooted through it, coming up
triumphant with a pair of sunglasses. Of course they were Gucci.
    I opened the front door wide, and she flounced right past
me.
    "And you should totally do that dark witchy shit at the
Halloween party. It'll go over like gangbusters," she said, blinking in
the morning sun. Clearly, she noticed that I went a little scary witchy in the
kitchen. Obviously, it didn't phase her one bit.
     As she stepped through the threshold, karmic justice took
over. She tripped.
    "Whoa!" I said, grabbing her from behind before
she landed ass over teakettle. "You sure you're okay to drive?"
    She righted herself, and snarled at me. "I am fine to
drive. You, however, should pick up the junk on your porch. Someone could break
their neck out here."
    And with that, she put on her overpriced sunglasses, whipped
her snarled hair around and stalked to her car.
    Only when the engine to the Mercedes turned over did I see
what she stumbled over. It was a strange book— oversized and pretty thick, with
a worn leather cover. It looked ancient.
    I glanced around, half expecting someone to pop out of the
bushes. But apart from a few cars burning down the road, there was no one
there. Not even a dog walker. I squatted down and examined it like I was a CSI
and it was a piece of evidence. I ran my fingertips along the leather cover. I
could feel the grooves where there was once a symbol stamped into it. Time wore
it down so much that barely a mark was left. I picked the book up, feeling my
wrist give slightly under the weight of the thing. Turning it, I noticed its
binding was cracked. There was no doubt it was an old thing, and in pretty
fragile shape.
    Carefully, I opened it. The words