Read Watch Me Burn: The December People, Book Two for Free Online Page B

pillow off the bed and grabbed the afghan that was draped over her legs.
    “David,” she said.
    “Don’t look at me like that. I’m giving you the whole bed. I’m taking the afghan.”
    She followed him out into the living room.
    “So you’re sleeping on the couch,” she said—an obvious fact that didn’t need stating aloud. “Listen…I’m sorry.”
    He couldn’t remember the last time they fought and she apologized. “You’re sorry? What’s your angle?”
    “My angle is apologetic.”
    “You messed with my head. I asked you to never do that again.”
    “Can you please trust me on this one?”
    “That’s not how it works, Amanda. I don’t care if you had the best reason in the world. You don’t get to decide what I know and what I don’t.”
    “You don’t understand.”
    “Yes, obviously. That was the point, right?”
    “Fine, be mad at me. I guess next time I’ll ask you to leave yourself a note.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “You
asked
me to cast this spell. I thought it was a good idea, so I did. And if I tell you, then you’ll just ask me to cast the spell again. And then every day you’ll be mad at me when I come home from work. Like some fucked up
Groundhog Day
.”
    David wanted to yell again, but her words sounded true. Getting that small bit of truth relieved his agitation, as if puzzle pieces in his brain had snapped together.
    “Why would I want you to make me forget something? What could have happened yesterday that would be so traumatic?”
    “It wasn’t like that. You wanted me to counter a spell that had been cast on you. I did the best I could. I’m sorry. I’m not a fantastic witch.”
    That last line gave David pause. He couldn’t remember Amanda ever admitting to not being fantastic at anything. Granted, she had lived most of her life as a non-practicing witch, and had been raised by the same, so she didn’t have much training or experience. It probably annoyed her deeply to be a beginner at anything at forty-two. She sat on the couch, and pulled the afghan up to her neck.
    “I don’t want to fight,” she said. “If you really want me to tell you what I distracted you from, I will.”
    “I…” David’s mind had cleared, but he still felt as if he missed important things, like trying to catch smoke. For one, since when did she give in so easy?
    “Tell me,” David said.
    “I don’t want to lose you,” she said.
    David sat next to her. “What do you mean?”
    “The good guys always win.
Always
. They talk about dark wizards being dangerous, but that’s ridiculous when you think about it. The good wizards win every time. They’re the dangerous ones.”
    “I think you’re thinking about Disney movies.” He put his arm around her and pulled her close, even though he didn’t understand why he was comforting her. She leaned her full weight into him, as if she might fall asleep at any moment.
    “Maybe. I just don’t like you involved in summer magic. I don’t understand it, and I don’t like it.”
    “Summer magic?”
    She leaned over and grabbed the tablet off the end table. After a few swipes and taps, she handed the tablet to David, displaying a news story about Julie Prescott.
    David sighed with relief, feeling his brain reorienting itself. He also felt the magic that had propelled him to investigate Julie coming back. Well, not coming back, exactly—it had never left. Now it vibrated in him more strongly than ever, as if the spell had been screaming over loud music, and someone had turned the music off.
    However, the feeling of relief subsided, because he also remembered why he had wanted Amanda to make him forget.

    David considered asking Amanda to cast the spell on him again, but aside from the grief she would give him, he knew she had been right. Her spell hadn’t worked. Amanda’s spell and the summer magic would battle it out in his head, which could not be good for him. The spells had fought for less than 24 hours, and he felt