Crave (Harlequin Teen)

them from ever mentioning the Clann to anyone else. The elders didn’t mess around when protecting Clann secrets.
    Anne’s sigh gusted into the phone. “Fine. Just tell me this…will it really help Savannah?”
    “Yeah. It will.”
    “Then I’ll do it. Just don’t use anything made out of chocolate, or she’ll eat it. It’s like her kryptonite.”
    I laughed before I could stop myself. “I’ll have to remember that.” I scanned my room, wondering what I could use and starting to get frustrated again.
    Then I saw it…a box of those little conversation heart candies. Savannah had given them to me on Valentine’s Day in the fourth grade. The same day we’d pretended to get married and kissed. She hadn’t signed her name on the box, so Mom never made me throw them out.
    “How does she feel about really old conversation heart candies?”
    “Oh, she hates those. Apparently they make her think of a certain backstabbing traitor, or something like that.”
    I glared at the ceiling, unsure whether to be happy that Savannah had talked about me, or bugged that she still seemed to be ticked off at me.
    “So don’t put them in a box, or she’ll throw them away,” Anne added in a softer tone. “She’ll probably ignore them if they’re just loose in the bottom of her backpack, though.”
    “Okay. When should I bring them to you?”
    “Before school would be best. She’s always running late, so she won’t be there.”
    “Right. See you then. And, Anne?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Thanks.”
    “Don’t let it affect your ego there, Arthur. I’m doing it for Savannah.” I could practically hear the eye roll in her voice. Man, she was a pain. But I was also starting to get why Savannah was friends with her. Some people would think twice before doing something that went against their family’s religious beliefs, even to help out a friend.
    I grinned. “Yeah, yeah, as if I could forget.”
    She hung up without saying goodbye. I hit the phone’s off button with a shake of my head, then jumped up and grabbed the box of hearts, feeling good for the first time in days. This just might work.
    Back outside, I sat down in the wet grass at the edge of the patio then shook three hearts out of their box. As an afterthought, I added a fourth to the lineup for that Romeo-wannabe soccer player.
    While touching the first candy, I pictured one of the creeps, mentally whispered the spell word and tapped the candy while visualizing a surge of energy entering it. How many times might these guys want to talk to Savannah? Twenty times? Fifty? I thought about how many times a day I was tempted to say something to her. Better make that at least a hundred times per candy. I could always create more charms later if it looked like any of them were wearing out too soon.
    I went down the row of hearts, saving the soccer jerk for last. With every tap of my fingertip, more of the constant edginess seeped out of me. I finished charming all four candies, then decided to go back over them again just in case Savannah’s weird pull on these guys proved to be even half as strong as the effect she had on me. But the first pass had really relaxed me. Stretching out on the grass seemed a good idea. The yard was wet and cold, but I could deal with it. This was more important.
    The dream began just as I started the second pass on Stanwick’s memory confuser.
    Savannah looked like some sort of goddess, her hair down and blowing behind her in the wind along with the folds of her long white nightgown. She stood facing a setting sun, dark asphalt sparkling beneath her bare feet. We were on the flat rooftop of a building overlooking Jacksonville.
    Behind her, a crowd of guys I recognized from school stood together in a tight group. They were edgy, staring at Savannah with wild expressions on their faces, ready to lunge at any second. Like a pack of jackals snapping at her heels. What held them back?
    I would.
    I was outnumbered, but I had to try anyway. Maybe if I stood close to her when they attacked, I could cast a blocking spell strong enough to protect both of us at once. If that didn’t work, I’d have to risk taking the brunt of the attack myself and focus the spell only on her for as long as I could make it hold.
    A voice whispered through the dream, hers but huskier, more sultry. The voice of Savannah as a dark seductress. And yet her lips didn’t move. “Look at them, Savannah. Give them what they crave, and they will end your