Cursed (The Spellbound Series, #2)

14 | Home is Where the Heart Breaks

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Chapter 14 – Home is Where the Heart Breaks

"Yeah this is the place," Melissa said, and Hayley turned the car into the parking lot of the Edgewood Emporium. After they'd pulled up, Melissa opened the door and stepped out, and she rubbed her arms as the cold swallowed her. The snow had let up, at least, but there were few cars in the lot, and so there wasn't much to shield them from the full force of the wind.

"Here." Melissa turned and looked over the car. Maddie held out a dark brown jacket, which she had brought with her from the house at Cape Anthemus. "My sister insisted I bring it, even though I constantly remind her that the cold doesn't bother me much."

She had noticed. Even Hayley, who had been wearing shorts just earlier that day, donned a thick, black hoodie as she got out of the car. But the siren was still in her sundress, arms and legs bare against the cold. Melissa accepted the jacket and smiled her appreciation. She quickly put it on, the thin bands of faux fleece tickling her neck and wrists. It wasn't her favorite gray coat, but it was still pretty warm.

She placed her hand on the roof of the car and lowered her head, peering inside. Anson was in a sitting position, but his head rested against the back of the driver's seat, some of his hair pressed onto his forehead. He could wake up at any moment – the sleep spell lasted about three hours, but could go half an hour either way – and they didn't have the time to wait.

She took in a breath, and then placed a hand on his shoulder. "Expergo."

Anson woke with a jump and jerked away from the seat, his face alert and his arms flailing. He seemed to realize where he was, though, and relaxed a little. He turned in Melissa's direction and looked up, his emerald eyes catching her gaze, and for a second there was a little tug at her insides, an iota of guilt gnawing away slowly. But when he smiled at the sight of her, it flitted away like a speck of dust in the wind.

Anson quickly grabbed at the edges of the door frame, scrabbling out of the car. As soon as he was upright he reached his arms around Melissa and pulled her close, and his lips instantly descended on hers. She accepted his kiss, but only for a few seconds. Despite the fact that she didn't feel guilty anymore, she knew in an objective light that no matter how right it felt, this wasn't how it should be. So she had to resist the urge that pulled her to Anson, and go through with the plan.

Melissa pulled away from him, and smiled. "I'm sorry things have been so crazy lately," she said, and she'd genuinely meant it; Cameron had knocked him unconscious, and then it had been agony and sleep spells for reasons he probably didn't understand. She caressed his cheek gently. "But everything's going to be normal again after today. I just need you to come with me, and promise to do what I say."

He nodded with a too-eager grin. "Anything you say, I'll do it," he said, and Melissa flinched slightly. Maddie had told her that he would jump off a cliff if Melissa told him to, and that she would for him as well. To lose control over your actions, and, moreover, to be quite pleased to do so... She couldn't help but imagine a siren with ill intentions, and the terrible things they could do with a simple song, and a little kiss.

Melissa took Anson by the hand after he'd shut the door, and they walked around the car, in the direction of the entrance of the shopping complex. "What about Cameron?" Hayley questioned as she joined up with her sister, swinging the car keys around on her finger.

Melissa glanced past her at the tinted windows of the car, behind which Cameron's sleeping figure still lay, and she thought of all that he'd had to put up with for the past day. She pulled her hair out of her face, and shook her head. "Let's just leave him there for now. Better if he wakes up when this is all over."