Read T*Witches: Double Jeopardy for Free Online

Mystery. What was the meaning of Thantos’s grotesque Dylan-in-the-Dumpster trick? It had been meant to scare them, to prove Thantos’s power, nothing more, Cam tried in vain to reassure herself. Her heart thudded and panic struck at the very idea. Plus, she didn’t have her cell phone. What if something really did happen to Dyl and he tried desperately to reach her?
    Without meaning to, Cam hit the brakes abruptly.
    “Watch out!” Alex shouted. “What’s wrong with you? You practically crashed into me.”
    Cam swallowed. “Not even close. And just because you’re nervous doesn’t give you the right to be such an irritator-tot,” she shot back, grateful to stop thinking about Dylan. “You’re not the only one who’s —”
    “Scared? Nervous? Petrified that Uncle Devious has got some skanky plan up his lumberjack sleeve to involveDylan in our doings?” Alex took a deep breath. “Look, Cam — like it or not — we just have to deal. We had no choice in the timing of this mother-and-child reunion.”
    Alex let Cam pedal ahead of her. She knew she was being totally irrational, but suddenly, every little thing about her twin annoyed her. The way her pink jacket puffed just so, the way she leaned forward on her pricey, ergonomically correct mountain bike. The fact that she’d been brought up wealthy and carefree — while Alex had scrounged in poverty, often feeling lonely, different, and desperate.
    She thought about Sara’s funeral — and remembered what Karsh had said about her mother. She’d thought he meant Sara, but later realized that it had been Miranda he was speaking of. “I knew her. She was quite a babe. Stellar eyes she had, like your own.”
    Alex had written “scripts” in her head. She’d choreographed and even imagined the music for the scene about to be played out. Sample dialogue [Comedy]: Alex: “What took ya’ so long, Moms?” Miranda: “Ooops, never checked the clock.” Or [Drama]: Alex: “How could you abandon us?” Miranda: “I had no choice. I was kidnapped.” Or [Musical]: Alex: “You say you’re my real mom? Prove it.” Which was when Miranda would sing a blues number about leaving, never to be seen again.
    In some peculiar way, Alex liked this last scenariobest. Because it would vindicate her allegiance to Sara — to date, her best and only mom.
    Cam now led the way, bouncing her bike off a curb and steering through the ornate entrance arch to Mariner’s Park. They hesitated before hopping off their bikes to begin walking toward the hill.
    It was when they began to hike up the familiar narrow path that they instinctively reached out to each other and clasped hands. And traded telepathic “what-if’s.”
    What if she doesn’t like us?
Cam wondered.
    What if we don’t like her?
Alex proposed.
    What if she does some weird spell on us and spirits us away?
Cam fretted.
    What if she only likes one of us?
Alex mused.
    What if there’s no connection at all?
Cam speculated.
    “Hello,” Alex challenged out loud, “what if she doesn’t even show? If this is all a Thantos move to lure us here, away from home, so he or some of his shady associates can snare us?”
    “No,” Cam said passionately. “I believe him, Als. She’ll be there.”
    “Is that your mojo, your heart’s desire, or your deepest fear talking?” her sister challenged.
    “Is that your paranoia or your pessimism asking?” Cam shot back.
    It was still dark, windy, and cold in the park. Cam hitched up the collar of her pink ski parka.
    Alex buttoned the camouflage jacket she’d worn over her sweatshirt. “Remember the last time we wore these?” she asked as they neared the huge, gnarled tree.
    “Fiasco,” Cam remembered. “It was the night we did the Transporter and wound up in different places —”
    “And Ileana forbade us to ever use the spell again.”
    “Hey, I’ve still got some stuff in my pocket.” Cam held out her palm but Alex ignored it. She was straining through the