Not That Kind Of Witch • Kai Parker #1

16: not this girl

Kai awoke from the best night of sleep he'd had in the past eighteen years. Peeling open his eyes, he took in his surroundings. He was in his own bed. There was someone with him. Well... more like on him.

Valerie was sprawled half across his body, her head rested on his chest and her arms wrapped around his torso. She sure had made herself comfortable. Remembering that her grasp on reality had been blinking lately, Kai decided to let her sleep.

Slipping from underneath her sleeping form was extremely difficult and on several occasions he thought he'd woken her. Eventually standing above her, he looked at her. Really looked at her. She looked even more beautiful in sleep, her brows were more relaxed and her plump lips were naturally pouting.

Shoving his feet into his shoes, Kai located a pen and paper. Scribbling a note, he left it on the bedside table and went searching. Last night, before he'd dozed off on the sofa: he'd been thinking. Jo must have left her magic somewhere relatively close to where they met in the woods because she'd had her magic when they'd met earlier that day.

***

Valerie stirred hearing the bedroom door creak. "Kai, be quiet." Valerie shouted, the demand coming out muffled from under the duvet. Hearing a door slam further down the hallway, Valerie whipped the cover off of her head and flipped her legs out of bed.

The small gust of wind sent the note sailing to the floor, where it slipped under the bed. Stepping out into the corridor, Valerie heard steps making their way down the stairs. Following after him, Valerie told him, "You could've just woken me up instead of being a dick."

Rudely plodding her way down the expanded stairway, Valerie witnessed Kai's shadow quickly dart past into the kitchen. Thinking she could one-up him, she went the opposite route and tried to catch him off guard.

Creeping into the kitchen, she jumped around the corner and shouted, "Ah-hah!"

Kai wasn't there.

But somebody else was. The man she saw last night, the face from the window. All color seeped from her face and Valerie began backing away. "Who are you?"

His reply was a snide, knowing smile. Approaching her, he loomed over her. Deciding to-hell-with-it, he didn't seem to be in a question-answering mood. Valerie sprinted for the front of the house.

Aiming for the front door, she had just slid the handle down when she felt a cold slice between her ribs.

***

Kicking twigs, Kai let out his frustration. He'd searched the entire yard and the surrounding woods. There was no where she could've hidden her magic. His house now in sight, Kai strolled past the tree stump. Him and Jo had climbed that tree for years until their father had chopped it down one summer. Freezing in place, Kai spun around and headed for the  stump.

Picking away at the specks of wood, Kai thumped the top. It sounded hollow. Tearing the aged wood from its home, Kai's frantic hands began shaking when he reached down and felt something cold. It was metal.

Gripping his fingers around the object, he let out a breathe and jolted when it pricked his finger. A knife. Placing his sliced finger into his mouth, he reached his other hand down and grasped the handle. Carrying out the all-too-familiar pull, he almost broke into a celebratory dance feeling magic rush into his arm. He'd found it.