The Darkness Within by Kelly Hashway Page B

together.”
    “Well, we did,” Dylan said. “Rebecca helped a lot, too.” Why was I not surprised Nora wasn’t among the helpful ones?
    “Sam, I hate to say this, but maybe Dylan’s right about Ethan. Binding his magic would buy us time to figure out what’s wrong with him. Why he’s tapping into dark magic all of a sudden.”
    No. There was another way. They’d just admitted it to me. “You didn’t bind Dylan’s powers. You helped him through it. We can do the same for Ethan.”
    Dylan glanced back at Nurse Wentworth. She was on her computer, which meant our spells were still holding up. “It’s not that simple.”
    “Why?” I hated feeling like they didn’t want to help Ethan. Like he was the newbie gone bad in their minds.
    Dylan and Shannon shared a look. “We didn’t do it alone,” Dylan said.
    “Who helped you?” A thought struck me. “You can’t be talking about Nora. Please, tell me you’re not.” If Nora had been the only one strong enough to help Dylan stop using dark magic, Ethan was doomed.
    “Yes and no,” Dylan said, resting his hands on his hips.
    Great. More riddles. “What does that mean?”
    Shannon sat down next to me. “Nora told us about a witch she’d met once. She was wicked old and knew just about every spell there was.”
    “So this witch is the one who helped you.”
    Dylan nodded.
    “Great. Then, let’s get her. She can help Ethan.” I jumped up, ready to rush out the door and hunt this witch down right now.
    This time, when Dylan reached for my hand, he didn’t pull away before making contact. His fingers felt strange in mine. We’d held hands before during spells, but this was different. Our eyes met. Ohcrap. He’d lied. Or maybe he’d never denied his feelings. I couldn’t remember. But they were there. I felt them in his touch.
    “After she helped me, she told us never to contact her again.” His voice was soft, sympathetic.
    “Why?” I could barely speak. All I could think about was his hand on mine. Why was he still holding my hand, anyway? I wasn’t running away anymore.
    Shannon gave Dylan a suspicious look, and her eyes dropped to our joined hands. Finally, he let go. She knew it, too. It was out there.
    “Dylan, why doesn’t this witch want you to contact her?” I tried to bring the conversation back to helping Ethan and off Dylan’s inappropriate feelings for me.
    “When she drained the dark magic from me, it had to go somewhere. She tried to put it inside some crystals, but they shattered and…” He took a deep breath, like it was too difficult to continue. Instinctively, I reached for him, but I stopped. I couldn’t do anything that would lead him on. I wouldn’t be like Mindy. “The magic went into her.”
    I wasn’t expecting that. “So, now she has dark magic in her. Your problem became her problem.”
    He nodded. “I felt terrible, but she left. She wouldn’t let us try to help her. She said she never wanted to see us again.”
    My heart sank. Where did that leave Ethan? “There has to be someone else. Another witch who knows how to do this the right way. Who won’t end up like…what was her name?” I didn’t know why I wanted to know. I just did.
    “Mirabella,” Shannon said.
    “Pretty name.” Of course that might have been the only pretty thing left about her if Dylan’s dark magic had consumed her. “Can we try to find another witch to help Ethan? Please?” My eyes stung at the thought of losing him, at him turning into what Dylan had once been.
    “You aren’t safe around him right now, Sam.” Dylan stared at me with such intensity, like he was looking inside me. I felt naked. “You should start wearing the necklace I gave you. It will protect you from any spells Ethan might cast on you.”
    “He’s not going to cast any spells on me!” That was absurd. “He loves me. He’d never hurt me.”
    Dylan sighed. “I loved Mindy, and look what happened.”
    “But you—”
    “Were going through the same