by K M Charron
"Is that so? Seems I have a lot of friends for someone no one likes. Besides, people need a leader to follow. It’s basic human instinct, don’t be pissy cause it’s not you."
Jax broke into a smirk. "A little help here?" He made a show of looking at the rest of them for back up. "You’re all going to make me say it?" When she narrowed her eyes at him, he relented. "I love you, seriously, but you’re a bitch. Yet no one on campus even thinks to cross you. The best part is that they probably don’t even think about why they shouldn’t like you because they’re too busy being intimidated by you. Magic or not."
Her throat ached as she swallowed the lump threatening to form. Her friends shouldn’t be making her feel shittier than her mother had. "Maybe I’ll replace all of you with people who actually appreciate me then." When no one met her eyes, she asked, “So, you all agree?"
"Of course not. Jax is just trying to get a rise out of you," Justin said.
"Stop acting wounded. We all know you’re not that delicate," Jax added. "Besides, we kind of like you that way." He threw a wadded up napkin at her and smiled, but his words didn’t lose their sting.
Sydney commanded a certain amount of respect as the High Priestess’ daughter, but she wasn’t near as cold and cutting as her mother. She still had no idea what made her mother that way. Did she have a horrible childhood? Were her grandparents secret tyrants? Her mother never spoke about them, and Syd’s grandmother had never stayed at the estate when she visited the coven. But all Sydney’s experiences with her grandmother before she died showed a loving and sweet woman.
Her mother, however, had always been curt and calculating, with the warmth and emotional range of a monitor lizard, but she’d hardened after being elected High Priestess seven years ago. She probably believed she needed to shut off that part of herself in order to lead their coven. Maybe if Sydney did the same, she’d finally rise to the top of apprentices.
"Whatever, Jax." It was his issue if he couldn’t handle a strong female.
Sydney had more important things to attend to than worrying about his ego. She stood and threaded between the rows of tables, stopping in front of Ainsley and her awkward lunch companion. She remembered something her mother always said. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t, and she was determined to figure out if this middling belonged in the devil category.
Forcing a wide smile, she said, "Hi, I’m Sydney. You’re new this year."
Harper stared blankly at Sydney. "Uh, no I was here last year."
"Not you." She pointed to Ainsley. "You."
Ainsley gestured to herself. "Me?"
Syd nodded, smiling at how dumbstruck she was. "Yep. What’s your name?" she asked, playing dumb.
"Uhhh…Ainsley. Ainsley Davenport."
Harper was a rumble of uncertainty and anxiety, and it was forcing itself into Sydney’s body. Her stomach turned as her palms grew slick. Harper’s eyes widened as she gaped behind those garish purple frames.
She pushed the emotions out, trying to focus in on Ainsley. "What brings you to Ashcroft? You’re not a freshman."
Ainsley’s cheeks turned petal pink. Her eyes searched around, never quite settling on Sydney. "Uh, going to school here like everyone else. Ashcroft has an excellent reputation for academics.”
Sydney suppressed her frustration at still reading nothing from her and gave her a smirk. "I mean, why did you and leave Augusta?" She kept her face blank, only batting her eyelashes and enjoying how unnerved Ainsley seemed by Syd knowing this little detail.
"How did you—"
Syd locked her gaze on the girl, trying to rattle her. She needed to gain some insight into what made this middling so different. "This type of institution is probably a shock for you. I can’t imagine Maine has many schools of this caliber. How are you adjusting so far?" The subtle probing found a blankness in Ainsley where she should be able to recognize the middling’s energy.
Ainsley locked her eyes on Sydney, all trace of insecurity appeared to be gone. "It’s bigger than I’m used to. The rest is impossible to know since it’s only my first day."
Harper’s stare intensified. Sydney contemplated shaking it free with a simple charm. That girl was like a needy puppy without the cuteness.
Sydney narrowed her gaze on Harper. "Can you stop gawking at me? Did you forget your meds today?"
Ainsley’s mouth dropped in obvious shock at her rudeness.
Tucking her hair behind her ears, Syd refocused on the new girl. "Lovely to meet you, Ainsley from Maine. Have a good orientation day. The campus seems big, but it’s amazing how tiny it feels once you get used to it. So small you feel like you just might suffocate."
She spun around and headed back to her table. Langston and Justin stared at her with disapproval. No shock there. But Khourt and Jax seemed amused.
Sitting down, Syd pulled her empty cup toward her and slowly waved her palm over it. When she pulled away, it was full of steaming coffee. One sugar and a little cream, just the way she liked it.
"What was that about? Trying to prove the great Sydney Lockwood can be benevolent?" Jax asked. "Because I think you came up short." He loved to poke at her. He’d moved from England four years ago but had become tight with their group from day one. His accent bought him more leeway than he deserved, and he used it to his advantage.
She didn’t always mind his attempts to throw her off-balance though. They kept her on her toes.
"You keep believing you’ve got me all figured out, Jax." Syd rose, her coffee in hand. "It’ll be fun to watch you fall off your pedestal." She took a tentative sip and scanned her friends. "See you kids later." Winking, she sauntered off as though she hadn’t a care in the world.
As soon as she stepped out of the caf doors, however, she made a beeline for the building’s exit. If Ainsley and Harper were here, then no one was in their room, and Syd needed more information, pronto. Going through Ainsley’s personal belongings was the place to start.
Ainsley
Chapter 5
Ainsley knew she should engage Harper in small talk, but all she managed was to make it look like she was eating and not trying to figure out why some strawberry-blonde, porcelain-skinned girl had approached her out of nowhere. Girls didn’t do that. At least not in her experience. They watched from the sidelines, waiting for a casual moment to start up a conversation, like being assigned class partners. They did not stroll up to a stranger’s table and announce their presence.
"Who the hell is she? Doesn’t seem too friendly despite the fake smile. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything to her about the stupid meds comment. I guess I was too shocked."
If Ainsley wasn’t mistaken, she saw a glimmer of fear in Harper’s eyes.
"It’s fine, don’t worry about it. I’m almost speechless that Sydney Lockwood made a point of coming over to you though."
"This is somehow notable?" Ainsley made a conscious effort not to roll her eyes.
Harper nodded with her whole lithe body. "Huge. Sydney has never even looked in my direction, let alone come over to talk to me the way she did with you."
"What’s the big deal? She’s just a person and kind of bitchy to boot, but I guess she learned it from her mom." Ainsley looked around before motioning for Harper to move closer across the table. "I saw her with her mom this morning. She was so mean to Sydney. Maybe that’s where she gets it,” she whispered. She hated to gossip, especially on her first day, but the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.
"She may be a bitch, but Sydney is still the most popular girl here. Didn’t your old school have a hierarchy?"
"I guess, but not quite like this.”
"Well, Sydney is the queen. Always has been. She has her group of friends and doesn’t let anyone else inside. In fact," she halted with a sudden quizzical look on her face, "it’s rare for her to even talk to people outside her circle, and she just came over here, out of the blue, to introduce herself to you."
So, Ainsley was right to feel
weird about it. This wasn’t normal, especially from the school’s queen bee. "Maybe she’s just nosy since I’m new and wanted to come over and sniff me out."
Harper beamed as though holy light shone down upon Ainsley. "Yeah, well, there’s lots of new people, and I don’t see her making her way over to any of them."
"You seem like you’re a fan."
"What?" She shrugged back as though catching herself. "No, I mean, she’s kind of mysterious, so I suppose I’m intrigued. But I’m guessing you’re not, so change of subject—"
"Are her eyes violet?"
"Yeah, it’s a really rare genetic mutation called Alexandria's Genesis. Babies are usually born with gray or light blue eyes, but if the mother carries the recessive gene, the child’s eyes will change to violet as they get a bit older. Some people think it’s a hoax and violet eyes are simply the right mixture of melanin. No one really knows for sure, but I could look into it. I love bio research. I’m a science geek, if you haven’t noticed yet."
“And I brilliant one, clearly.” Ainsley was impressed.
Harper grinned with such pride that Ainsley couldn’t help but laugh.
"So, thoughts about Ashcroft so far?"
Ainsley’s smile waned. "I’m not sure. I guess I’m worried the classes will be really hard. I’m coming from a regular high school. It’s like a mini Yale or Harvard here."
All this small talk was killing her. She wanted to ask if Harper had known Daphne Whitmore or her boyfriend, Darren Angelo (who could be sitting behind her for all she knew). She wished everyone was forced to wear name tags. It would make her life a hell of a lot easier. But it was too soon to go there. How bizarre would she come off if she brought up a missing girl on her first real day? She needed to find a way to fit in and get information as naturally as she could.
"The professors can be tough, but as long as you do your work and keep out of trouble, you’ll never have to deal with Headmistress Chambers. You want to avoid that at all costs. I almost crapped myself the other day when she called me into the office. Turns out it was to ask-not-ask me to work on some Ashcroft publicity project. I’m really good with tech stuff."
"She’s that horrible, huh?"
Harper perked up, grinning. "She’s intimidating. For me, anyway. I sure she’s fine, she’s just not warm and fuzzy. Definitely the no-nonsense, no sense of humor type. But maybe she has to be to run a school with over a thousand teenagers." The inflection in her voice was cheerful and animated. Ainsley felt the sharp edge of envy. She hadn’t felt so authentically at ease since before he dad died.
"Want to get started with the tour?” Harper asked.
"Show me everything.” Ainsley wanted to see as much of Ashcroft as she could. It was exactly what her investigation needed. “But can we stop at the room for a second first? I need to get this hair out of my face.”
Sydney
Chapter 6
Sydney made sure the hallway was clear before she spelled the doorknob unlocked. The slight clicking sound warmed her belly as she turned the knob. She pushed the door open and scurried inside, careful to close it soundlessly behind her and re-locking it with a simple charm.
The room was the same setup as all the dorms, but she could see that only one side of the room had been arranged. She evaluated the decorated side. The navy bedspread and curtains were standard, but the stack of comic books and a poster of Thor wasn’t. Clearly, this tacky disaster was Harper’s, not that Ainsley had much better taste by the looks of her.
Sydney narrowed her gaze on the opposite side of the dorm room. Stacks of cotton t-shirts and jeans were piled on the bare mattress along with a ratty backpack. Who carries a bright red backpack unless they’re in middle school?
Shifting her sights around the room, she looked for anything that seemed out of place but was disappointed. She spotted two suitcases that had been pushed to the foot of the bed. "What do we have here?" Sydney pulled them out one at a time arranging them side-by-side so she could lay them down and open both flaps. A pang of disappointment curled inside her chest when she saw one had already been emptied.
She ran her hand inside the interior pockets. Her fingers touched something cold and metallic. Pulling the object out, she frowned at the ugly necklace in her hand. It was a single heart with a blue stone in the center. She doubted it was even real gold. Closing her eyes, she clasped it in her palm and tried to get a reading. Psychoscopy, the ability to read energy or information from objects, was a natural extension of her gifts as an intuitive empath. She couldn’t read Ainsley, but her stuff might be a different story.
Sydney sat on the floor and did her best to quiet her mind. Almost immediately, she started to get a picture in her head. Her own thoughts subsided as a cloudy white mist appeared in her mind’s eye. This happened before an associated image appeared.
A woman with shoulder-length dark hair and bright blue eyes smiled as she held out the necklace and opened the clasp. She reached toward Sydney, who saw things as though through the eyes of the recipient, stretching around to secure the necklace. Leaning back, the woman smiled and said, "It looks beautiful on you, sweetie."
The image disappeared just as fast as it had come.
Sydney glanced down to see her free hand holding her own necklace, one her father had given her many years ago. She released it, concentrating on Ainsley’s heart pendant in her other palm. She was certain the woman in the vision was the woman from the admin building, Ainsley’s mother.
She flushed, heat warming her ears and she stuffed the jewelry back into the pocket, zipping it up. "Fine, maybe the next bag will have something useful." Ripping the second suitcase open, she saw nothing but useless crap—scarves, socks, shoes, a makeup bag. Nothing to give her a clue as to who this girl really was. And then her hand brushed against something hard at the bottom. Sydney’s breath hitched. She gently removed a handful of notebooks from under a stack of neatly folded scarves.
"Did I just find your diary?" Her skin prickled with excitement. She opened the notebook on top—red with a flowered cover. Her stomach dropped to see it was only a sketchbook. She flipped through to find drawing after drawing of trees, mountains, flowers, and every other monotonous thing someone with minor talent would scribble.
Syd closed it and chucked it on the floor next to her.
Holding her breath, she flung open the second book, revealing very crisp handwriting. Her body tensed as her eyes scanned down the page. "Shit."
It looked to be a rough draft of an English Lit essay. She continued flipping through the pages and found notes on astronomy, a few pages of math equations, and a title that said: The Road to Revolution. Ugh, Sydney hated studying American History. They got so much of it wrong.
She was getting nowhere. One last notebook sat in her lap. She wasted no time cracking the spine open. It was blank. Without warning, it levitated and hung in the air. Shocked, Syd was seconds from flinging it out the window when she heard voices in the hallway. She snatched the book from the air and placed it under the others, using them as ballast.
Sydney stood and froze. What if it was Ainsley and Harper? How could she explain what she was doing inside their dorm room? They’d report her. Pulsing started in her temples.
Bolting to the door, she put her ear up to it, praying she could recognize the voices.
The few giggles and small exchange between two girls made her release a sigh and drop her shoulders. It was only Vanessa Evans and Penelope Wilson, two witches from her coven. Vanessa was Jax’s little sister, a sweet girl. What was she doing with a bitch like Penelope? She’d have to have a little chat with Vanessa.
She leaned against the door, relieved. With a wave of her hand, the items arranged themselves back into their proper spots in the suitcases, zipped themselves closed, and moved back to the foot of the bed.
Sydney turned and slid the closet door to one side. Harper had filled her side with a variety of lame superhero t-shirts, flannel shirts, and oversized cardigans. She shook her hea
d, moving to the other side. There were only a coat and a garment bag hanging up, and a few Ashcroft uniforms on the rack. Her stomach sank. Was this middling seriously so dull? There had to be more to the story—a reason she could withstand Sydney’s ability.
She closed the closet door and sighed. "What am I missing?" Her gaze flitted around Ainsley’s side of the cramped space.
The red backpack.
In seconds, Syd had it in her hands and was unzipping it. More books and a laptop. This could prove interesting. Sitting on the bed, she pulled it out, placing it on her lap. She opened the computer, and her heart fluttered as the screen blinked to life.
"Let’s see what you’re hiding," she muttered under her breath.
The doorknob gave a rattle.
Sydney gasped, nearly dropping the laptop on the floor between her legs. Shit.
She only had seconds before the door would open.
Voices drifted through the door, followed by laughter.
Syd bounded up, shoving the computer back in the bag. There was no time to make sure it was replaced in its spot under the books. No time to zip it back up. She spun around the room, looking for somewhere to hide.
"My key is stuck," she heard Ainsley say on the other side of the door. “Try yours.”
Microscopic beads of sweat peppered Sydney’s hairline and upper lip. The door was opening. She had no choice but to slide the closet open and jump in, closing it as gently as possible. It made a slight shaking noise, and Sydney prayed they hadn’t heard it. Her chest pounded, matching the thrumming in her ears.
Why couldn’t apprentice witches use magic on themselves? The Elders restrained apprentices’ ability to perform self-magic until after they became full-fledged witches. It was meant to protect them and keep them from abusing it. The wrong kind of magic could disrupt growth or permanently alter their DNA. Otherwise, she would’ve used a shrouding spell on herself and walked right past them.