Dark Summer (Book I, Witchling Series)

Chapter Twelve

Decker didn't know what to think of Summer's silence, except that it made him angry at himself. He paced the kitchen, digging into Beck's cookie stash, then flung himself onto the couch in the family room. He'd been trying to do the right thing for once, show her how bad things might get once he turned eighteen. He would have preferred waiting on the conversation. Then, he'd at least have a few more days with her. Perhaps he wasn't so Dark after all. At least, not yet.

He couldn't bear the thought of her hating him or leaving him. It was better to let her go now, as much as it hurt. And it did hurt, more than he expected. She'd leave him and go on to marry someone like Beck. Decker would accept his new role and find a way to survive without her calming touch, confidence in him and beautiful, brown eyes.

It wasn't that easy. He buried his heads in his hands, horrified to feel he was close to crying. The Dark Master didn't cry. Maybe he took her there tonight because he knew he had to let her go eventually. No one with a pure heart deserved to be with someone broken like him.

Decker wanted to leave the cabin and build up some Darkness to soothe his ache. He rolled his shoulders, gaze on the ceiling in the direction of his room. It was likely the closest he'd be to her ever again. He wasn't leaving tonight.

He flipped on the television until he was too tired to stay awake. He climbed the stairs to the second floor, lingering outside the door to his room. Knowing she was there and he couldn't touch her was torture. He opened the door silently, surprised to see she was curled up in front of the fireplace, asleep.

Decker crossed to his bed and pulled down the covers. He knelt beside Summer's sleeping form and touched her face gently. Her skin was silky, her face relaxed in deep slumber. She was so small and delicate. The light brush of his fingers against her skin silenced the turmoil in his head. His throat tightened at the thought of losing the one ray of sunshine in his life.

He told himself that it was for her own good...and his. She'd reject him, and he'd continue down his path alone. The thoughts pulled at his heart and his mind went to conflicting emotions. He let himself imagine for a moment what life might be like if she didn't walk away from him in the morning. He'd never asked his parents what it'd been like when they met, but he could easily imagine Summer becoming a counterbalance to the Darkness. His mind was calm and quiet with her when nothing else worked.

Decker lifted her and carried her to the bed. He pulled the blankets over her, studied her face one last time, and left. He went to Beck's room next door and threw himself into bed, exhausted and heartbroken. He dozed for a short time. A tingle of warning woke him. His magick was churning the way it did whenever Beck was about to hit him. Decker blinked away sleep before he pulled on his jeans and left the room.

He didn't recognize what his magick tried to tell him. The elements whispering in his mind were edgy, upset, though what exactly they sensed that he didn't was just out of his reach, like the secrets Sam kept for after his transition. Decker stood in the middle of the hallway on the bottom floor, listening. His spirit magick sensed the malice of the three souls before he heard their muffled voices. They came from outside the house. If it were Beck or his parents, they'd come through the garage, not the back door, where the sound originated.

Burglars? In Priest Lake? The village-sized town had virtually no crime, especially during summer months. Most tourists came for the winter skiing, not the relatively weak summer sun. He went to the coatroom and pulled on a sweatshirt and boots.

Decker strode through the kitchen and garage, exiting into the night. His magick unfurled protectively around him. The agitation of the elemental whispering grew as he moved silently through the forest towards the front of the house. When he reached a vantage point looking out onto the front of the house, he paused in the shadows. The cabin faced the lake. Moonlight reflected off the water in waves and ripples.