Freak of Nature (The Lost Witch Trilogy #1) by Katie Lee O'Guinn Read Free Book Online

phone into his back pocket. “Hi, I’m Zane,” he said, extending his hand towards Lash.
    Lash tore his eyes away from Sarah and turned impatiently towards Zane. “Yeah, I’m aware,” he said staring at Zane’s hand for an awkward moment before taking it. He looked almost angrily at Zane and then instead of letting go, stepped closer, squeezing tighter and tighter. Zane raised an eyebrow derisively but then shrugged and squeezed back.
    “Look, I know you just moved here Zane, but me and Sarah have a history that you couldn’t understand. We’ve cared about each other too long to have some surfer show up and ruin everything.”
    Zane’s face turned from friendly to hard as the muscles in his arms bunched. Sarah switched her gaze to Lash’s face and noticed that not only were the muscles bunched in his arm too, but he was gritting his teeth and looking like he wanted to kill Zane.
    Zane shook his head, still trying to squeeze the life out of Lash. “There’s caring and then there’s caring. I’m sure the way Sarah feels about you is very different than how she feels about me. Don’t take it too hard Lash. And just for the record, I don’t surf.”
    Lash ba red his teeth at Zane as his other hand turned into a fist.
    “That’s enough guys. I insist you stop right now,” she said putting her hand over theirs and feeling the brutal effort they were both putting into crushing each other’s bones.
    Zane’s eyes turned silver and she felt a burst of energy shoot through him and into Lash causing him to gasp in pain and immediately let go of Zane’s hand.
    “Whatever you say Sarah,” Zane said, putting his arm back around her shoulders.
    She stared at Zane reproachfully but wasn’t sure she disagreed with the way he handled Lash. Lash seemed determined to be aggressive.
    “But to answer your question Lash, Sarah already has plans Friday night. She’s working at the book store and then having dinner with me and my mom. Sorry buddy,” he said, not unkindly Lash flexed his hand and looked at Sarah as if he was hurt. “Seriously Sarah? This guy? You’ve never let a guy get close to you before,” he said, sounding confused.
    Sarah tried to push Zane’s arm off, but gave up and reached out for Lash’s hand. She concentrated her energy on the pain she could feel coursing through his nerve endings and pulled it out of his skin and into the air. Lash’s face relaxed as the pain disappeared and he looked pleadingly at her.
    “Lash, Zane and I are friends. Just friends, right now. I think you’re sweet to want to go out with me, but like I said, this situation is too messy for me. Something is different about you now. I’m worried about you Lash. Something’s not right. Please tell me what’s going on.”
    Lash looked surprised and massaged his hand, ignoring Zane again. “You wouldn’t understand Sarah. I’m doing this for the both of us. You know I would never hurt you, right?”
    Sarah blinked in surprise. “Of course you wouldn’t. Why would you say that?”
    Lash shook his head, looking sad for a moment. “I just mean that out of everyone in this world, I would never want to hurt you. You mean more to me than anyone.”
    Sarah’s eyes softened and she stepped forward and gave Lash a hug, putting her arms around him and squeezing warmly. It was the first hug she’d ever given him. Lash’s arms immediately wrapped around her, holding her more tightly than she expected. She could feel raw emotion pouring out of Lash and stepped back in surprise. Lash refused to let go at first, but then slowly released his arms.
    “ Lash ,” Sarah said, shaking her head as he leaned his head against her shoulder for a moment before pulling away.
    L ash stared for a moment at Zane and then turned and walked quickly down the hallway, leaving Sarah and Zane completely alone.
    Sarah let her breath out slowly and rubbed the goose bumps off her arms. “Oh my heck. What just happened?”
    Zane stood silently staring