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“Jenna Maxwell,” Bria answered. “She’s bad news, that’s what my dad says.”
“Maxwell?”
“Clint’s ex-wife,” Silas explained. “She’s remarried and has another last name now, but…”
“Not important.” Gabi snapped. She felt like her head was swimming. What plan? Lying, no different than Blake? Was the only reason Silas had started paying attention to her so he could chase her out of town?
“Girls, y’all need to go,” he said sternly.
Felicity looked Gabi square in the eye. “Not until you know what’s going on. Silas and his friends plan to cast a spell that will close this town off forever. No one will be able to get in or out. Beyond the town limits, everyone will forget about us. The town, the people, we’ll all be ghosts. I don’t want to be a ghost!” Her eyes filled with tears. “I want to live, and go where I choose to go, and one day maybe meet a boy who doesn’t live right down the street from me. I’ve never been to a big city, or flown on an airplane, or seen an elephant. I want to do all these things, but I’ll never do any of it if your boyfriend has his way.”
Bria backed away from her friend, edging closer and closer to Mia and Judge. For a moment her friend had her full attention, but then she looked down at Mia, who reached up for her. Bria obediently lifted the child, and in spite of the current mood, she smiled. Mia cooed, and played with the necklace Bria wore.
Still holding Mia, Bria turned to Gabi.
“She’s a Springer.”
Silas slipped past Felicity to address this new issue with a ferocity Gabi had not expected. “You can’t know that.”
“I do know. I feel it. Can’t you feel it?”
Silas sighed. “Sometimes.”
“What do you mean?” Gabi asked. Springers was a local term for, well, locals. As far as she knew, transplants didn’t become Springers. You were one from birth, or you weren’t.
“You’re not a Springer,” Bria said. “Mia must get it from her father.”
Gabi felt faint, for a moment. She didn’t want Mia to have anything of her father in her. “Springer doesn’t mean exactly what I thought, I take it. Is this part of the whole magic thing?”
Silas sighed and nodded.
Gabi took her daughter from Bria, walked to her station, opened a drawer, and calmly withdrew her purse. While balancing Mia on her hip she grabbed her keys, and dropped the day’s earnings into the purse. Then she turned to face the three people who watched her.
“Get out,” she said. Felicity and Bria immediately moved toward the door, heads down. Silas didn’t move, until Gabi directed her words to him. “You, too.”
“Gabi, I…”
“If your assignment was to get me out of town, congratulations. You’ve succeeded. I’ll be gone by dark.”
And she’d pray that Blake didn’t follow her. At least her ex-husband was honest about being a complete asshole. Silas was worse. He’d made her think he was a good guy, he’d made her think that he truly cared.
She held the door open for Silas. Judge stayed at her heels. It broke her heart, but she said, “Take your dog with you. I can’t take care of him on the road. I don’t know where I’ll land and a big dog…”
“You need us,” Silas argued. “Until we find your ex, you need us.”
That was her problem, wasn’t it? She always needed something, or someone. Dammit, she was tired of it all.
“Were you really trying to find a way to get me out of town?” she asked, her voice as cold as she could manage.
“In the beginning, yes.”
“And that included sleeping with me?”
“Not initially, but…”
“What makes you think I need a man who would use me that way. You’re no better than Blake. You’re no better than any man I’ve ever known. I don’t need you. What I need is to get out of this damned town as soon as possible.”
* * *
