The Darkness Within Read Online Free

what’s happening to him at this moment.”
    I stopped and faced Dylan. “You mean last night. With the spell.”
    “Of course.” He narrowed his eyes. “Wait, did something else happen?”
    “No.” It slipped out. The question was, was it a lie? Ethan had lost his temper with me before we had gone home last night, and then there was the kiss in the hall this morning. But I wanted to talk to Ethan before I told Dylan anything.
    “Are you sure?” Dylan stepped toward me. His face was full of concern, and I had a feeling it was more for me than Ethan.
    “Yes.” I couldn’t tell him, but I was interested in finding out what Dylan thought was wrong with Ethan. “Why are you asking? What do you think is going on with Ethan? You must think it’s something if you tricked me into meeting you here.”
    Dylan reached for my hand, but stopped. I took a step back, not knowing what to make of the gesture. Was it concern? Or something more?
    “You’re freaking me out right now.”
    “Yeah, well, this is pretty freaky stuff.” He took a deep breath. “I think your boyfriend is messing with dark magic.”

3

    I DIDN’T know if I should laugh or slap Dylan across the face. Ethan using dark magic? It was crazy. I couldn’t figure out why Dylan would even suggest such a thing. Sure, he and Ethan had gotten off to an even rockier start than Shannon and I had. They’d beaten each other up. But to accuse Ethan of using dark magic was going too far.
    I gritted my teeth and shook my head to keep from screaming at him. “I don’t know if you think this is some sort of game or what, but this isn’t funny. Ethan would never use dark magic. Never. I get that you two aren’t the best of friends, but seriously, if Shannon and I can put the past behind us, you two need to do the same. Get over it.”
    “This isn’t about a grudge, Sam.” Dylan grabbed my hand—not forcefully, more like the way Ethan would. My eyes fell to our hands. What the hell? Did he have feelings for me? Was that what this was about?
    “Wow!”
    My head jerked to the side, and I tore my hand from Dylan’s. Beth was standing in the doorway, staring at us.
    “This is interesting. I heard you and Ethan liked to meet here. A little risky taking another guy to the place you sneak kisses with your boyfriend, don’t you think, Sam?”
    This couldn’t be worse. First Dylan might have feelings for me, and now Beth catches me holding Dylan’s hand? I wanted to screamat her to keep her nosy self out of my business, but I didn’t want to make the situation worse.
    “It’s not like that, Beth. We were talking about Ethan. Planning his birthday party.”
    She wrinkled her forehead. “And you needed to hold hands to plan the party?”
    “I had a cut on my hand. Dylan was looking at it for me.” Hopefully, she wouldn’t ask to see it, since I’d already healed myself.
    She nodded, but didn’t look the least bit convinced. “Isn’t Ethan’s birthday like a month away?”
    Damn her for knowing so much!
    “It’s going to be a hell of a party,” Dylan said. “We need to start planning now in order to put down a deposit to reserve the location.”
    Beth smiled. “I’ll be expecting my invite soon then.” She gave a little wave before entering one of the stalls.
    I nodded toward the door. We couldn’t talk anymore now that we had an audience—a loud, blabbermouth audience. Besides, I didn’t have anything else to say to Dylan. I needed to get away from him.
    The bell rang, and Dylan ran off before anyone else could see he’d been in the girls’ bathroom. I pushed my way against the flow of traffic and back to Mr. Ryan’s class. Shannon had my bag for me and was ushering me back out the door.
    “Everything okay, Miss Smith?” Mr. Ryan called, following us out of the room.
    “Yeah. Sorry I was gone for so long. I had trouble finding a Band-Aid. I’ll be sure to get the notes from Shannon.”
    “Yeah, I’ll make sure she’s all caught up for