Freak of Nature (The Lost Witch Trilogy #1) by Katie Lee O'Guinn Page A

I jumped out of my jeep and just ran. I came right to you and I found you here with Lash. I didn’t know what to think. I know I didn’t like it.”
    Sarah walked up to Zane and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his neck. The tears she had tried so hard not to show Lash, ran down her cheeks now. She started sobbing and shaking and immediately felt Zane’s energy pulse around her, sending warmth through every nerve ending she had.
    “It’s okay now. It’s okay,” Zane soothed her. “What happened Sarah? Tell me what’s going on.”
    Sarah sniffed and waited a few moments to get her tears under control. Without letting Zane go, she told him everything that had happened since she entered her last class. When she finished, she stepped back, to look up into his face.
    Zane stared down at her shaking his head. “ Poor kid . No wonder you’ve been trying to help him. I feel like finding his dad and tearing him apart,” he said lethally.
    Sarah let out a shaky breath and nodded her head in complete agreement. “I’m with you on that.”
    Zane pulled her back toward his chest, rubbing circles on her back. “We’ll help him together. I promise I’ll do what I can for him, but on one condition. No more kissing. Ever .”
    Sarah looked up at Zane with a soft look in her eyes. “Do you want to know when my first kiss was?”
    Zane looked irritated but shrugged. “Sure, when was your first kiss? And who was it?” he asked menacingly
    Sarah smiled. “Yesterday. You were my first kiss.”
    Zane’s face lighted up and he ran his hands down her hair. “Now that is just as it should be.”
    Sarah grinned. “You know how when I kiss you, my power kind of wraps around you and flows into you?”
    Zane nodded, still smiling. “ Mmm hmmm ,” he said, leaning down toward her mouth. She pushed back, shaking her head. “Let me finish please. Well, when Lash kissed me, and trust me, I didn’t have any warning, my energy whipped up and would have seriously hurt him, if I hadn’t tried as hard as I could to hold it back.”
    Zane’s eyes widened and he looked up, over her head as he pondered what she had said. “So what you’re saying is, you’re meant to be my girlfriend and anyone else who tries to make a move on you will suffer bodily harm if not certain death.”
    Sarah laughed and pulled away from him as she heard the bell ring for lunch. “Well, that’s one way to put it. Another way to look at it would be that my energy instinctively see’s Lash as a threat because it can sense the bad in the things he’s been doing. Maybe when Lash is free from his addiction, he’ll be able to kiss me.”
    Zane frowned and slung his arm across her shoulders. “And maybe not. There’s no sense in putting him in harm’s way just to test out a theory Sarah. That would be inhumane.”
    Sarah laughed, feeling the warmth from Zane wrap around her. “Something to consider.”

Chapter 10 - Shells
    Sarah pretended not to notice when Zane held her hand as they walked into the cafeteria, but the heat pulsing through her arm kept her senses popping. She looked up at him and smiled when she saw the cocky grin. She wouldn’t be surprised if she saw the same grin on her face.
    They got in the pizza line and found a table quickly. Zane moved their chairs so they could sit side by side. They had a perfect view of the whole cafeteria together.
    “So have you ever heard of this blood lust thing?” Sarah asked Zane quietly in case anyone passing by overheard.
    Zane finished chewing his bite and shook his head. “Nah, never. I can see how the stories of vampires came from it though. It seriously grosses me out, but hearing about Lash’s life and seeing what’s happened to him, I sort of get it.”
    Sarah frowned, shivering at the memory of Lash’s neck. “Zane, he showed me his neck. He lifted the hair at the back of his neck and there were hundreds and hundreds of scars. I felt like part of me died with that little