My Tethered Soul: Volume 2 (Reaper's Rite) by Dorothy Dreyer Page A

water balloons.”
    I smirked. Served him right.
    Lilura gestured with her chin. “There are some matches in the drawer over there.”
    Tossing his lighter into a wastepaper bin in the corner—and making the shot—Chase turned to open the drawer. He pulled, but the drawer wouldn’t budge.
    “It’s stuck. How old is this bureau, anyway?”
    “It’s just a bit warped with age. Like me.”
    Chase huffed a laugh. “I’ll just go up and get another lighter. There’s one in my room.”
    Just as he’d taken two steps toward the stairs, the drawer slid open by itself.
    “Oh. Thanks, Grandma.”
    “I didn’t do it.”
    They all looked at me.
    “Neither did I.” I turned to Mara. “You?”
    Mara’s eyes were wide. She bit her lip, casting her gaze at the bureau. “Well, I really wanted to get to the candle thing. I guess I kind of willed the drawer to get unstuck?”
    Lilura arched a brow. “Not only did you get it unstuck, you pulled it open with your mind.”
    Mara visibly swallowed. “Oh. Is that good?”
    Lilura didn’t answer. She wasn’t about to give Mara praise. It just wasn’t her style.
    “Let’s just get on with training.”
     
    ***
     
    An hour and a half later, Mara and I stood to call it a night. We’d taken turns extinguishing the candles, and although Mara was a lot slower than I was, she was able get all three out by the end of the training session. The old Zadie would have been jealous of Mara’s ability to master the skill so quickly. But now I was extremely grateful. My life would be in Mara’s hands. I needed her to be the best Vila she could be.
    “Remember,” Lilura said at the door, “don’t go performing any magic for personal gain. If something happens, call m—”
    A fit of coughing and hacking buried her last word. I didn’t know if it was rude to leave her like that, but Lilura waved us off and shut the door in our faces.
    “She sounds bad,” Mara said as we started our walk home.
    “Chase says it’s just a cold.” I adjusted my backpack and shrugged. “I’m not so sure. But what can we do? You know how stubborn she is.”
    The loud growl of a motorcycle blasted through the air. With great speed, the offending vehicle charged around the corner and toward us. Mara and I stopped in our tracks. The motorcycle halted beside us, and the driver whipped off his helmet.
    “Hunter.” Mara rolled her eyes. “Try to get a little closer next time. You missed my toes.”
    “I move with precision, love.” He winked at her as he dismounted the bike. “But if you don’t believe me, I’m up to the challenge of proving it to you.”
    He stepped closer to her, unzipping his leather jacket. His pecs stretched out his T-shirt as he reached out and brushed a strand of Mara’s hair off her shoulder.
    “No, thank you,” she said.
    He smirked. “Going home so soon?”
    Mara squared her shoulders, glanced at me for a second, then adopted a confident expression. “Yeah, I have to figure out what I’m wearing to prom.”
    I gasped. “You’re going? With who?”
    Mara elbowed me and pressed her lips together. Whoops. Probably should have kept my mouth shut.
    “Yeah. Who are you going with, Mara?” Hunter asked, the corner of his mouth turned up.
    “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m going with a friend of mine.”
    Hunter crossed his arms, still smirking. “A friend, huh?”
    Mara shrugged. “Maybe more than a friend by the time prom’s over. Who knows?”
    “Sounds like you’ve got yourself quite the little adventure there, princess.”
    With narrowed eyes, Mara turned away from him. “Oh, shut up. We’re going home. Come on, Zadie.” She hooked her arm with mine and stomped down the sidewalk.
    “I hate to see you go,” called Hunter, “but I love to watch you leave.”
    Mara scoffed. “What an ass.”
    I leaned closer to her as we walked. “That’s probably what he’s thinking.”
    “Zadie!”
    “Sorry, couldn’t be helped.”
    “Ugh,