Lonely Souls by Karice Bolton Page A

freak!” he exclaimed, glaring at me, trying not to smile. “Ten, unless you want charcoal instead of pancakes.”
    And he left my room like that, leaving me wanting a lot more of something, but I wasn’t sure what.
     

 
     
     
    Chapter 11
     
     
    We pulled into the parking lot for day hikers at Stampede Pass and parked. We had made it up the mountain in a little over an hour with Logan’s driving technique, which included a promise to myself not to look at the speedometer.
    “This an okay surprise today?” Logan asked, opening his door.
    “I think this hits the spot,” I said, slowly feeling a little like my old self again, climbing out of the car.
    “I packed everything in your pack, and I put some of your pencils and drawing paper in my bag in case you saw anything you needed to sketch,” he said.
    I was completely blown away.
    “How did you know I loved to draw?”
    “Well just because you didn’t like to write me back, didn’t mean your mom ignored me,” his eyes were sparkling, but it wasn’t because of the sun’s rays.
    “Wow, you certainly know how to make a girl feel lousy!” I teased, trying to scowl at him. “Or wonderful. I can’t quite figure it out with you.”
    “I’m trying any method I can, Triss! If guilt will work, I’ll take it.”
    He came around to my side of the car and helped me strap on my pack, and then he secured his. He must have missed shaving today. I kind of liked it. He caught me staring at him, and I immediately blushed. I couldn’t get his hopes up. That wouldn’t be fair to either of us.
    “So you wanna lead the way?” I asked, trying to shift the attention away from my ogling.
    “You’ve been here more recently than me, Triss. I’ll follow your lead. Do you want the map?” he asked, grabbing it out of his back pocket.
    “No, I’ll stick to the trails.”
    The mountain air was immediately beginning to center me. Logan might have known me better than I knew myself. We walked over to the trailhead and started our hike up the Pacific Crest Trail.
    The temperature was a little brisk but would be perfect as we started our climb. The native huckleberry bushes were sprouting out of the old stumps along the trail and the wild strawberries were rampant. It was a beautiful sight. The trail was pretty well kept and easy to navigate.
    “Thanks for this and for everything, Logan. It means a lot,” I finally said.
    “I thought you might like getting away. I know it always helped clear things up for me after my father’s death,” he uttered nervously.
    I nodded and snuck a peek at him, and again, his eyes were dark.
    “Can I ask you something?” I asked.
    “Did you come up with anything on that weird letter number combination in my mom’s planner?” I asked, switching topics but only slightly.
    “No, I haven’t figured anything out yet. Sorry,” he grimaced. “I know we will, though. I actually brought you up here for another reason too.”
    “What’s that?” I asked, squinting over at him.
    “I wanted to teach you some protection spells, and I thought it would be better away from your aunt and my mom. I don’t know that they would approve.”
    “Why wouldn’t they approve?” I was mystified; slowing my pace, I looked back up at Logan and concern had washed over his face.
    “Because my way of teaching you will ensure that you’ll actually be protected.”
    Silence fell between us, and I stopped walking. I didn’t know which to be more concerned with, the fact that I was in danger or that I was walking a very fine line between the two worlds of magic, so I chose the easy one.
    “You believe I’m in danger?”
    “I know you’re in danger.” His voice was sullen.
    “How can you know that?”
    “I’ve just got a feeling, and my feelings are usually right when it comes to stuff like that.” He wasn’t boasting. I could tell it almost pained him to say it aloud.
    “You mean because of what you dabbled in briefly?” I wasn’t sure I