Deadly Darlings (October Darlings Book 2)

by Wendolyn Baird

  I bundle up some of the sage and vervain into some paper and pass it to Tomas. “Stick this in your pocket,” I instruct him.

  He obliges and I duplicate the bundle, tucking mine neatly into the inside of my jacket pocket. The rest of the plants, I slip into my back pocket, and then I nod towards the hall.

  “We’ll need salt,” I tell him. Tomas runs off to fetch some and his absence gives me time to survey my family’s reaction.

  “I think that’s the first time anyone besides a Nix has looked at me in at least two decades!” My great aunt exclaims. “Adeline, you need to bring him around more often! We could use some company besides Delia. As dear as she is, she never takes my cooking advice.”

  “I’m not sure it’s wise to allow an outsider into the fold,” huffs another relative, and they all dissolve into minor squabbles.

  “Enough,” I hiss at them as Tomas treks back down the hall. “He’s coming!”

  I smile brightly as he enters the room, and I close the tin. Still, he narrows his eyes in suspicion, and stands in the doorway awkwardly.

  Tomas’ sense of awareness— 1.

  Nix family ability to be subtle— 0.

  Just great.

  “Alright, you’ve got this?” I motion to the books, still glowing and giving off an unearthly chill.

  I’m met with several offended glares and a couple of overemphasized affirmations for my trouble.

  “Geez,” I scowl, “okay I get it. You got it.”

  Tomas offers his arm to me as I turn his way, we wave goodbye to my family, and standing in the narrow hallway, my heart jumps into my throat. His face is closest to me as it’s ever been, and I can smell the coffee still wafting off his shirt and a hint of chocolate coming from his lips.

  “Are you ready?” He asks me.

  I nod silently, and he carefully wraps both arms around before shifting. In a moment, I’m surrounded by feathers, and when he steps back, we’re somewhere entirely new.

  “What is this place?” I whisper.

  The floor is made of black, glittering concrete, a looming brick building cuts out the sky above us, and far beyond us, I catch sight of ashen trees, bordering the space. The sky is the same grey as before, but no fog blocks my view.

  Tomas shakes his wings out, and as feathers fall to the ground, he falls back into human form. Moving his head from side to side, a few spare feathers fall from his dark hair, and when he sets his eyes on me again, his irises are brighter than I’ve ever seen them. No longer metal, but stars.

  “We’re at a safe house,” he says. Raising his hand out to take mine, he jerks his head towards the dark building. “Come on. Terra’s waiting for us.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  A SOLITARY DOG IS CURLED up in the corner of the dark beneath a staircase. For a safe house, the building is fairly empty; only scattered mats and chairs fill the rooms.

  “It’s not like we can eat or drink in this realm,” Tomas explains as we cross the bleak space. “We really just need a place to talk away from listening ears.”

  “Such as?” I ask him.

  “Wild birds or dogs,” Terra replies as she stands in fully human form. “Without allegiance, it’s possible the animals can respond to anyone, and that’s a lot of eyes to avoid.”

  I shudder, feeling the weight of a thousand gazes falling on me. Nobody’s here, I remind myself. It’s just me, Tomas, and Terra. Shaking off the horror at the possibility of being spied on at any time, I press my fingers to my temples and groan.

  “I know, it’s hard to take in," Tomas says just as Terra quips—

  "—now you see why I refused to talk anywhere else. Speaking of which, why are we here? Spit out the problem so we can go home. There’s been something abnormally dark around here lately.”

  “You’re telling me!” I roll my eyes, remembering my last trip to the in-between.

  Tomas sums everything up while I pace, searching the room for even a facet of something interesting to preoccupy my mind with. Anything but reminders of where we are and why. The mats on the floor look like they’re halfway between yoga mats and the ones they give you in preschool to take a nap on. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were used for the same purpose. There’s nothing to do here except pace and watch your back, and maybe fall asleep from exhaustion.

  “I think your plan is solid enough, besides not going through with a binding. Between you and Ramona, her weird magic would be perfectly camouflaged if she connected to one of you,” Terra tells Tomas.

  “Uh, I’m literally right here,” I snap. “Lifelong commitment to each other seems really big, so excuse me if I’m not jumping at the opportunity!”

  “Exactly,” Tomas nods, “besides, hiding is one thing. We still need to figure out how to bring down the ghost.”

  “Hold on,” I interrupt. Holding a hand up, I stand and stride over to them. “What I don’t get is why you,” I say to Terra, “aren’t already working on this with us.”

  She shrugs, twirling a thick lock of hair around her finger. “I’ve already got a target off campus. We usually don’t go after more than one spirit at a time. Things get too messy that way.”

  “Great,” I say brightly. Nodding with frantic enthusiasm, I throw my arms out and pace faster. “The dead are freaking everywhere! I just want to live a normal life, but there’s dead people everywhere!”

  Terra stares at me, her eyes wide in confusion and her arms stiffly at her side, like she’d rather be anywhere but here. Tomas steps forward, brushing a hand against my arm and halting the circle I was about to repeat for the hundredth time. Drawing me nearer to Terra, he gently wraps an arm around me to lead and clears his throat uncomfortably. My feet shuffle as I accustom myself to not pacing, and I squirm uneasily under Tomas’ arm.

  “She’s had a long day,” Tomas explains for me.

  Better he than I. My eyes are prickling again, and my throat is tight. It’s only a matter of time before the useless tears start again. God, I hate crying!

  “Alright, fine, whatever.” Terra presses her hands to her temples and shuts her eyes, showcasing her gold eyeshadow and heavy liner. Sighing, she continues, “if there is a mage in town, we all need to be on our guard. I’ll get the girls together at y’all’s place tonight and we’ll go over not shifting until the mage moves on. In the meantime, y’all burn those books and try not to get caught. But if she has that many spells floating around, I’m betting she also has a grimoire stored somewhere. Witch as she may be... she’s not a good one. I say we relieve her of the possession of that spell book before anyone else gets hurt.”

  “Okay,” Tomas drawls out slowly. “Besides calling your friends, which I could have had Ramona do, are you going to help us at all? That is why we came here, after all.”

  Terra shrugs. Clearly our apocalypse is just an annoying insect buzzing at her ear— only bothersome if it tries to sting her as well.

  “I’ll keep Ramona and Yvette distracted. And if you want, I can try to talk to that boyfriend and mortal friend of yours?” She eyes me curiously and I fidget under her gaze, my face burning and a lump in my throat forming. “Although,” she muses, “maybe it’s best to keep them out of the loop. You probably don’t want them to end up in the hospital next.”

  I can’t breathe. Hunching over, I place my hands on my knees as my vision goes blotchy. Somewhere above the roaring in my ears, Tomas is telling Terra to shut up, and I know she’s right. She hates me, but she’s right. She’s scared of me... but she’s right. She should be scared. I’m a target.

  I hold my breath as I try not to sob, and only a few hot tears slip out. By the time Terra shifts and disappears— likely back into our world— my head is pounding, and my eyes and lips are swollen. I’ve nearly chewed through my bottom lip again and I curse as I inspect the damage, hating that Tomas is seeing me like this.

  He stands hesitantly at my side, hands outstretched, feet lifting forward and then back with every mutter I make. His hair floats and falls wi
th each movement, and if I weren’t so miserable, I’d be laughing at the feathery likeness of it. It’s as black as a raven's coat, with the same iridescent blue shining through the strands.

  “Okay, let’s go,” I tell him.

  But as he wraps his arms around me to shift, I catch sight of movement over his shoulder.

  “Wait,” I murmur, pressing down on his arm.

  It’s just a flash of color, but my gut twists and I stumble into action without a second thought.

  “Come on,” I shout at him, following the orb. “I need to see this!”

  “See what?” Tomas sounds frightened. “A spirit that won’t show itself?”

  Funny. My heart feels like it’s going to jump out of my chest. I didn’t think we could both panic at the same time.

  Some orbs are spirits that aren’t strong enough to present as an apparition. Other orbs prefer their form to hide who they were. To lure victims where they please.

  I must be really idiotic, because even though I know all this, I can’t stop running after it.

  Swearing between gasps, I ignore the stitch in my side and the way fog is seeping around my ankles and knees. Nothing matters but the flash of violet bouncing before me. There’s a pull to it I can’t ignore, and something else. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s important, I know that. It makes my heart race faster, and my adrenaline rush is so high, I can barely feel my panic anymore.

  “Addie, wait!” Tomas begs me as he struggles to keep up. He may have longer legs, but he hasn’t spent the past year chasing after a couple of troublemakers. Sabrina and George are impulsive enough apart, but together, it took all I had to help them avoid detentions, groundings, and possible arrests.

  One moment the ground beneath my feet is solid, and the next I’m plummeting into an empty space, impeded only by the splashing of water. A black lake, hidden by the mist, consumes me. I have no chance to do anything but flail my arms as I fall headfirst into its depths. There is no shallow entry, no foothold to help me out, nothing but bleak, icy water.

  Every inch of my flesh is stinging as my lungs burn with the need for oxygen. There’s no telling which way is up or down, and as I kick towards what I hope is the surface, ragged hands pull at my waist and ankles. Dragging me back, they claw at me, and panicking, I let out a muffled scream, expelling the last precious air I have.

  What happens to a living soul if they die here? Will I be stuck in this misery for eternity?

  My torso is on fire as all feeling fades from my limbs, and I can’t tell if the darkness before my face is the underwater shadows or a loss of vision. All I know is I’m incredibly heavy, and everything aches.

  Just as the burning in my lungs takes over all other sensation, another set of arms grasp at my waist, pulling me in another direction. Within seconds, the brisk slap of air hitting my face tells me I’ve reached the surface, but I can’t inhale against the sharp wind as I’m lifted up.

  I swerve around, looking desperately for my savior, but the figure that comes into view is the last one I want to see.

  Grey skin, clouded eyes, and teeth far too pointed to be natural greet me as the hunched figure of an elderly woman steps forward.

  “I apologize for the shortcut, sweetie. But I wanted to get you alone. Your young man wants to kill me, you know?” She cackles loudly, wheezing as she laughs. “Imagine,” she chuckles, “trying to kill the dead.”

  Her cold eyes latch onto mine and a thrill of fear shoots down my spine. A chill far deeper than the pain radiating in my bones travels through me, freezing me at my core.

  “I just need one more kill. One more chance at fun before I move on.”

  She sidles closer to me, moving faster than anyone should be able to. Every time I try to turn and run, she blocks my view, and I feel like I’m drowning all over again in the depths of her vile pleasure as she stalks me.

  “There’s something delicious about you,” she continues on. “I bet I can get myself a pass out of hell if I harness enough of you. You can’t blame me for that, now, could you?”

  She crosses the last bit of space parting us, and I’m so stiff with fear, I can’t even lift my foot to try and run.

  “Such a pretty face you have.” She reaches out and caresses my cheek with one sharpened, yellowed nail and I shudder, acid churning up my throat. “I bet your skull will be even prettier uncovered. I could paint it then, and no one would ever know.”

  I blink rapidly, swallowing and stuttering, and searching for another direction to run.

  She lowers her jagged teeth towards my face and then—

  A loud keening resounds through the fog and the hag curses bitterly. She jerks back and retreats, leaving me with my back exposed to whatever frightened her off.

  “I thought you had more gumption than that,” a low voice mutters, laced with disapproval.

  “She must have too much of her mother in her,” her companion retorts. “That cowardice most definitely is not a Nix trait.”

  I force myself to relax, turning gratefully towards the sight of relatives I normally can’t stand.

  “Anna and Eleanor,” I sigh. The knots in my shoulders lessen as I struggle to keep my voice level.

  “Well, who else would it be, child?” They snap at me as one. “No one else has navigated this place as long as we have, nobody else would be able to find you.”

  “Except for the ghoulish haunt from about two seconds ago?” I laugh hysterically, doing my best to shake off my nerves.

  The twins exchange glances.

  “Better not worry her now,” Eleanor whispers to her sister. “We don’t need her to lose her head completely.”

  “Nonsense,” Anna Mae shoots back. “Would you rather her dead?”

  That stops me up quick as my laughter halts into a choked splutter. “Excuse me?”

  They quarrel for another moment while ignoring me and my panic completely. Finally, the two straighten up and face me head on.

  “Your friends aren’t all they appear to be, and you need to make a choice. The sooner the better. Choose the person who helps you be the most you can. If you hold back, you will die, and if you choose wrong, your friend will.”

  “I’m sorry, what?” I shout. “What does that mean? Why do I have to choose anyone?”

  Instead of responding, they turn to each other and shrug. Snapping their fingers, they link arms, and the next time I open my eyes, and I’m back beside Tomas at the edge of the lake.

  “What the hell is going on!” He roars at me. “Where did you go? I thought I lost you!”

  “Stop! Stop,” I say, covering my face with my hands. “We just need to go home. Now.”

  Back at the duplex, I’m still freezing and drenched in supernatural water, and as we pop into the hallway, I resolve to head straight for the shower.

  “Wait,” Tomas hisses, covering my mouth with his hand and dragging me into a broom closet.

  The musty smell of old cleaning supplies and dust bunnies is suffocating enough without his palm over my face, and I fight against him silently. Once he knows I’m not going to talk, he drops his arms, but his body remains tense as we huddle against each other.

  A pair of voices whisper through the hall, out of place, and clearly trying to lurk. Oh. Yeah, I’d rather be hidden in this cramped closet than out there now.

  “That’s the thing though, Atlas,” a man is saying. “It looks like a regular mortal house except for the books.”

  Oh god, Eden’s things!

  “It’s haunted as hell, that’s for sure, but what I can’t make out is why these things are here.”

  Wait, he knows my family’s here? And doesn’t care?

  The second voice is distorted and after a second I realize they must be on speaker phone.

  “—could exist anywhere. Important thing is to keep them hidden and alive.”

  “How many have you lost?” The intruder asks his friend.

  The answer is impossible to hear, but one thing is clear; w
hatever magic Eden is practicing, it’s deadlier than I thought.

  “Okay, well I’ll dispose of these and head home as soon as the basement renovation is complete. The entire campus will be under siege of the haunting if we can’t get it under control,” the man continues.

  At his mention of the basements, it clicks— this is the same man with the longer hair we’d seen before! But why would he be here? Unless...

  He had tattoos that glowed. He had magic.

  The mage with a propensity to kill my roommates is standing in our home!

  “OKAY, EVERYONE CALM down!” Ramona pleads. Crowded into Bridget’s tiny living room, Tomas and I crashed their study group and made Terra meet us here. Of course, the moment we said mage, everyone flipped the hell out.

  “He’s going to kill us!” Yvette cries. “He already knows where you live!” She adds, clutching Ramona’s hand.

  “He said it looked like a mortal house,” Tomas argues. “He doesn’t know!”

  “But he might guess,” I argue. “He knows he found magic there. What if he comes back?”

  “If he comes back, we run,” Terra decides.

  “No, we fight,” Bridget corrects her.

  “Okay,” Ramona throws her arms out, shaking Yvette off her hand, “everyone shut up with the panicking! He knows nothing yet, so nothing’s changed!”

  “Exactly!” Tomas agrees. He looks grumpier than ever with his arms crossed and a fierce frown covering his face. The top of his tattoo is showing over his collar and his eyes are flashing as his muscles tauten with stress. Again, I see how intimidating he can be, and my stomach flips with emotion that has nothing to do with fear.

  Crap. I cannot start liking him. What would that do to Ellis? Oh Ellis... my heart drops as his face flashes into my mind and guilt swoops through my gut. I miss Ellis.

  “All we have to do is lay off shifting until he leaves. We’ll get rid of the hauntings another way.” Tomas is saying, and I blink as I try to focus on the conversation again.