Entangled (Spellbound #1)

Chapter 14

"So what are you going to do?" Raj asked as they headed to the parking lot.

"I don't know. My mom's waiting for her mysterious contact to get back to her. Whoever brought me back better be able to fix this. I can't spend the rest of my life trapped inside Charlene's body. I don't even get full access to it. I'm a part-timer. Half a human. And I don't even get a cool identity. I get to be the sister slut."

"I take it she's aware of what's happening."

Gray snorted. "She made me a manual on How to Be Charlene. Oh yeah, there's instructions on everything from hair and makeup to acceptable behavior. I've got a dress code and everything." Gray glanced down once more. "Thus the miniskirt. Even when I'm myself I don't get to be me."

Gray had only been half paying attention as she walked alongside Raj to the parking lot. His car was the sole vehicle around. "Did you drive?" he asked.

"I'm parked on the street."

"Wanna grab a mocha at The Daily Grind?"

A hot mocha sounded good and it wasn't like this was a date. Gray had bumped into Raj. They just happened to be two people in the same place at the same time with a simultaneous craving for caffeinated chocolate.

Gray walked around Raj's car and opened the door of the passenger's side. The handle lifted without interference. "Still not locking your doors, McKenna?" She caught his eye across the hood of the car. Raj flashed her the first smile she'd seen since... well, since she'd died. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed that mischievous self-assured grin.

"At least this time I can see you getting in." They both settled into their seats. Raj rested his arms on the steering wheel and stole a look at Gray. "You still haven't explained your invisibility spell to me."

"You really want to know that spell?" Gray asked.

"Yes, I do."

She grinned and motioned him closer with her finger. Raj pressed his lips together and shook his head so Gray leaned across the armrest. "I'll take it to my grave."

* * *

Raj chose the table in the back corner of The Daily Grind. The Grind wasn't your typical dark-paneled, cozy coffee house. The walls were glass windows and the place had a high ceiling. It looked modern, light, and clean. There was the additional benefit of drawing an older crowd rather than McKinley students.

Gray had already polished off half her mocha. She was trying to take time to enjoy it, but it was way too tasty.

"What happened with the spell?" Raj asked. He didn't lower his voice or shift uneasily the way Nolan did when discussing magic in public.

Gray drank another sip of her mocha. "No idea. My mom asked to have both her daughters. She didn't specify having us in separate bodies."

Raj, who had been tapping the table before, now tapped his white enamel mug. It was probably better to have him tapping tables and cups than flicking his Zippo on and off inside a café. "How did it happen exactly? Were you pulled out of a magical realm?"

"Nope." Gray took another sip. "There was nothing. No consciousness. Nada."

"There can't just be nothing."

"I'm telling you there was nothing."

Raj stopped tapping his cup. "You must not remember."

"Maybe 'cause there's nothing to remember."

Raj leaned forward. "Or maybe you weren't really dead. Maybe you were in an alternate dimension. That must be why your mom was able to get you back."