Deadly Truth

by Laney Powell

  Madame Karathos put an arm around her and kissed her forehead.

  Katherine’s face smoothed out, and the look of panic faded.

  “What did you do?”

  “I used a calming spell. It will help her to get past the fear, and allow her to sleep, and heal,” Madame Karathos said. She looked at me. “I felt whatever it was that was with her. You’re right. It was very ugly.”

  “So what do we do now?”

  “You and I are going to bring her upstairs, and then you are going to make yourself scarce,” Madame Karathos said. “We will discuss this later. But you can’t be anywhere near this.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  Together, we helped Katherine walk out of the cell. As we left, she turned, and said something in what sounded like Latin. There was a pop, and then everything in the room disappeared, leaving an empty stone room.

  “Close that, please,” Madame Karathos nodded at the door.

  I shut it, the sound echoing in the stone hallway.

  It took us another ten minutes to get Katherine back to Madame Karathos’ office. I thought it might take longer, but she was alert, and didn’t need to be carried. Thank goddess.

  When we reached the case that we’d walked in through, Madame Karathos stopped. “Wait,” she said.

  She stood in front of the case, her back to Katherine and me. I couldn’t see what she was doing, and I was pretty sure that was deliberate. At this point, I didn’t mind. I wanted to get out of here and get the next steps moving.

  And I needed to mull over what had just happened. Why could I see the dark shadow that no one else could? The same thing occurred last night. I could see through Councilor Tennyson. There was something angry and scared that traveled with her, although it wasn’t like the shadow Katherine had been carrying around.

  “All right, in you go,” Madame Karathos put an arm around Katherine and brought her into the office. She led her over to the other side of the room where there was a small couch. Katherine laid down, closing her eyes.

  “Will she be all right?” I asked.

  Madame Karathos looked up at me, a slight smile on her face. “She will. We have a lot to discuss this week, but for now, thank you, my dear. You need to leave.”

  I didn’t need to be told again. I slipped out of the office, and headed for breakfast, keeping my head down. I didn’t want to look at anyone. I didn’t want to see anything I’d regret seeing.

  Chapter Twelve

  Olivia

  Sliding into the chair at the table in the dining hall, I reached for the coffee carafe. I’d been drinking it a lot more recently. I fixed a cup, and after a couple of sips, sat with my hands wrapped around it. The heat felt good.

  “Hey,” Matty sat down next to me.

  Oh, goddess. Here it was. I had to look at him, and even though I knew he was good, he was all good, I was afraid. But I looked anyway.

  And what I saw made me smile even as tears formed.

  “What’s wrong?” Matty leaned close to me, seeing the tears. “Hey, what’s up?”

  I shook my head and threw my arms around him, burying my face in his shoulder, breathing in the lavender and sunshine smell he seemed to always have around him.

  Matty’s arms came up around me, holding me close. “Olivia, what’s up?”

  I took a deep breath. “I’m just glad you’re you,” I said, letting go of him so that I could look at him.

  He looked confused. “Okay, I think?”

  “Definitely okay,” I said. I wiped away a tear that had fallen down on one cheek.

  Matty let go of me, but I could feel his gaze.

  “I have a lot to tell you guys this weekend,” I said.

  “Good or bad?”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “I liked being prepared.”

  “Oh.” I thought about it, and what I’d just seen. That alone made me smile again. “Probably some of both.”

  “Normal, then.” Matty kissed the side of my head and grabbed the carafe from in front of me.

  Despite everything, I felt happy.

  When Jake came down, I took a breath, and looked at him carefully. What I saw made me smile even more.

  “What’s up?” Jake looked between Matty and me. “I feel like I missed something.”

  “Ask Olivia,” Matty jerked his head in my direction.

  “I’m just happy. I’ll tell you everything this weekend,” I said, referring to our plan to get together as a group.

  “Then it’s a good thing,” Jake said, smiling at me warmly. I felt a flush move over me. I could feel the caring and the desire from the brothers, and I found that I wanted both of them, right now. Normally, I was able to control my urges for them. Mostly because I was shy, even with the low-key affection all three of my guys showed.

  But now? I could have cheerfully dragged both of them off to a broom closet somewhere. It would definitely make me late for class, I thought with a giggle.

  “Hey,” Silas sat down on the other side of me.

  “You look tired,” I said, peering at him.

  “I am,” he was short. “I’ve been out every night.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  He cocked his head to one side to stare at me. “You look different.”

  “I could be,” I said.

  Matty and Jake were instantly alert.

  “Ease up,” I said, laughing a little. “We’ll talk about this tomorrow. All day, if you want. Why aren’t you getting enough sleep?” I asked Silas.

  “I’m running the grounds every night.”

  “Why?”

  “You need to ask me that, Toots?” he said, one eyebrow going up.

  I saw that both Jake and Matty nodded. “Did I miss something?”

  “Apparently, we all did,” Silas grumbled, and he started eating.

  I watched him carefully. I didn’t see anything that alarmed me. He was tired, and definitely in a crap mood. But everything else… I couldn’t help it. I smiled. I’d have to figure out how to explain this. This new vision, or whatever it was.

  When my friends joined us for breakfast, I cast a careful eye over them. Once again, my friends were what I expected. They weren’t hiding an evil side, or anger, or anything negative. How I’d gotten this lucky to have five people like this in my corner, I wasn’t sure. But I’d take it, grab it with both hands.

  The smile didn’t leave my face for the rest of the day. Even as I saw some rather disturbing sides to several of my fellow students—a lot of envy—and Professor Carlisle in Acquisition was as oily on the inside as he was on the outside. Professor Ventiman, my physical Combat instructor, however, glowed like a candle. Everything about her was open.

  What had happened last night? This had something to do with the demon vapor, I knew it. And that alone should warn me off, make me feel worried. But I didn’t. I liked being able to see into what it was people carried with them. I noted that most of my professors had a block around them, so it wasn’t infallible. But it was pretty damn great.

  I sat with everyone I cared about at dinner, and for once, was more quiet than normal. I liked seeing them interact, liked seeing them happy. I wondered if I’d been drugged, or had some sort of spell cast over me, because I felt like I walked on clouds all day, and this couldn’t be normal.

  “Hey, we have to head out to a captain’s meeting,” Matty said to me when everyone had finished.

  “All of you?” I asked, dismayed. I’d been in a state of desire for my guys, for all of them, even Silas in his grumpy form, all day. And now they were bailing? I’d been planning on surprising whoever it was that came back to hang out tonight.

  “Sorry,” Silas said, and he really did look sorry. “We’re coming up on the tournaments, and we need to be there.”

  “Well, you’re all mine tomorrow,” I said, getting up. “I’m not taking no for an answer.”

  “Bossy britches,” Jade muttered from where she sat with Levi.

  Thalia snickered. She wa
sn’t with Marcus tonight, but she’d mentioned she’d be seeing him later.

  All was well in Olivia world, except for the fact I’d be alone tonight.

  “I have it all planned,” Matty said.

  Jake and Silas both groaned and rolled their eyes, almost in unison.

  “Thank gods it’s the day, because I’m tired of hearing about it,” Jake said.

  “Go,” I said. I gave each of them a kiss on the cheek and a hug, which was something I didn’t normally do. I wanted everyone to know they were mine.

  Then I walked back to my room, still feeling pretty good. Tomorrow would come soon enough. Maybe I’d take a long shower tonight and put my hair up so that it would be wavy tomorrow. Thoughts of hair consumed me until I got back to my pod.

  I stopped short in front of my door. “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  Caspian Silverwood pushed himself off my door. “I wanted to speak with you,” he said formally.

  When I looked at him, he shimmered. Which sounds weird, but it was like seeing the moon, full and gleaming, reflecting on a dark lake with no other light around. Caspian glowed with the light of the moon. He was beautiful.

  I stifled a laugh. I couldn’t get sillier if I tried, but he did. There was nothing bad around him, but he was miserable. I could feel his unhappiness like he’d handed it across to me.

  “Okay,” I said. “Come in.” I unlocked the door and walked in with him on my heels.

  Caspian closed the door behind him, and stood in the middle of my room, his hands clasped behind his back. I wondered if all the fae were so formal. Or was it because he was uncomfortable? His discomfort was right up there with his misery.

  “What did you want to talk about?” I asked, sitting on the bed. “You can sit down,” I gestured toward my desk chair.

  He sat down carefully, his hands on his knees. “What happened the last time we cast the spell?”

  “I was going to ask you,” I said. “I felt a shift in me, like someone pulled back a curtain,” I finished. That wasn’t anywhere near as extreme as what I’d felt, but it would work.

  “I felt your shift as well,” he said. “I personally felt nothing, outside of the fact that our banishment spell increased its effectiveness.”

  “You have got to ease up,” I leaned back against some of my pillows. “I think you’re going to burst a blood vessel or something.”

  “This is not easy for me,” Caspian said, and then he stopped. From the look on his face, he hadn’t meant to say it.

  This was getting interesting. “Why not? It’s not like you hate me, or I hate you,” I said. In fact, it was the exact opposite. I couldn’t stop staring at him. He was tall, and his blond hair was pulled back from his face and held with a leather thong at the top of his head. His hair was smooth, falling just past his shoulders. He had a jaw that was so striking, I swear all my lady bits swooned whenever I saw it. Which was happening right now, I noticed. His eyes were bright gray, almost a silver. Everything about him was the dancing light of the moon.

  And weird as he was being, I still wanted him. I felt a warmth in my core as I studied him. What would he look like without his shirt?

  “I… I don’t hate you. But… “ he looked away. “You are not being honest with me.”

  “No, I’m not. I don’t know you, and I can’t tell what your angle is,” I said, sitting up. “Every time I see you, you’re all tortured, or whatever is going on with you, and you kiss me, and that feels real, but then you run off. So why don’t you tell me what’s going on with you?”

  “You can trust me,” he said. His face was a mask, but behind it, he was miserable.

  I couldn’t understand why. “You haven’t done anything to show me that,” I said.

  His head whipped toward me. “I haven’t? I’ve found you near a source of demon magic more than once. I didn’t tell our headmistress that. I helped you, and it was obvious you needed help. There’s a reason that the demon magic is attracted to you or attracting you. All of this would be very interesting to the councilors that are currently here.”

  “Then why haven’t you said anything?” I asked.

  “Because I can’t,” he whispered. “I can’t let you be harmed.”

  “Why not?” While he was a ball of misery, he wasn’t bad. There was nothing black on his soul. Nothing at all.

  He stood up abruptly, his lips clamped together.

  I got up and taking a chance, I put my hand on his arm.

  He jumped.

  “I don’t know what’s going on within you,” I said, picking up some of his formality. “I can feel your unhappiness. But if it’s something to do with me, I can’t help you unless you tell me. And Caspian?”

  His eyes met mine. They were hungry. He reminded me of a man in the water looking for a lifeboat, or rope, or something that would keep him from going under.

  “If you can’t be honest with me, I can’t be honest with you. And this… this whatever we’ve been doing, it has to stop.” My heart was beating so fast I was sure he could hear it. This was a major step for me, putting my foot down. But I had to. For me. For my guys. And even for Caspian.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I am attracted to you,” I said, deciding to be honest about what I could. “That should be obvious by the fact that I haven’t throat punched you one of the many times you’ve kissed me.”

  His cheeks went a dull shade of red, but he didn’t speak.

  “But I have other promises I must keep, and I won’t hurt them by continuing to fool around with you. If you can’t open up, and make a commitment, I’m going to ask you to leave, and to please leave me alone.”

  “Without my help, you might have died,” he said. His voice was low.

  “That’s true, I might have. I’m glad I didn’t. But this has to stop.”

  “What other promises?” he asked.

  “That is something I am not going to share with you. You don’t have the right to that part of my life,” I said, hands on my hips. This was harder than I thought it would be.

  He stared at me for a long time and then nodded once. Stepping away from me, he went to the door. Opening it, he walked through. He turned to look at me, his eyes told a story and inside, he was both heartbroken and… relieved? And guilty.

  Why would he be both relieved and guilty? Whatever his reasons, this made me feel I’d done the right thing.

  Caspian opened his mouth to say something and then clamped it shut. The door slammed, and he was gone.

  I fell onto my bed.

  What in the name of all the goddesses had just happened? I really didn’t know. I took a deep breath. I’d done the right thing, for all of us. It hurt. But it was the right thing.

  Which meant it was all right if I cried a little tonight, in the privacy of my room. There had been something there. There was still something there, between Caspian and me. But it couldn’t be, not with whatever was going on with him.

  It took a long time to go to sleep that night.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Olivia

  I was up a lot earlier than I thought I would be, given the drama of last night. There was something wonderful to look forward to today, and that’s where I kept my thoughts. It was time to share all that had been happening, even though I’d be sharing things that Madame Karathos wanted kept quiet. But I knew. And to me, that meant my guys should know.

  Jade and Thalia were ready when I was.

  “Hey, stranger,” Jade said, looping her arm through mine. “How are you?”

  “Up to my ears in homework and drama,” I said.

  She and Thalia laughed.

  “You’re not one to talk,” I said, looking at Jade. “Every time I see you, I see you with Levi. And you with Marcus,” I glanced at Thalia.

  “It’s a lot all at once,” Thalia said. “But I’m happy. The question is, are you?”

  I thought about it. “Yes, the guys make me really happy.” I put the thoughts of Caspian asi
de. “My family history that won’t stay quiet and in the past doesn’t make me happy.”

  “Why?” Jade asked.

  “Because new things keep being revealed,” I said, rolling my eyes. “It’s a pain to think you know what’s going on, when in reality, you only have half the story.”

  Jade nodded. “We’re here, you know that.”

  “I do, and I’m sorry I’ve been distant,” I said.

  “Neither of us have a leg to stand on,” Thalia said, and then she laughed as her cheeks went pink.

  It felt good to laugh and gossip with my friends.

  “Where’s your fan club?” a voice sneered from behind me.

  All three of us stopped to look at who was speaking, but I already knew.

  Wendi was standing with her arms crossed, glaring. For once, she was alone. I didn’t think she had the spine to attack solo. She might actually have a bit of courage. I didn’t have the patience for her, however.

  “Didn’t your mom tell you to leave me alone?” I asked.

  Wendi’s eyes narrowed.

  “Because you made her look really bad, and you made yourself look even worse. I wouldn’t think you’d want a repeat of that, Wendi,” I said, taking a step toward her.

  Fear rose in her, a sickly green and yellowish color within her.

  Okay, that was weird. Since when did colors come into this?

  She was afraid, which made her angry and worried. That was a terrible way to live, but it sure as hell wasn’t my problem. I was done with it.

  “You are nothing more than a pain to me, but if you keep harassing me, I’m going to make sure you regret it.”

  “You can’t touch me,” she sneered.

  “I don’t have to touch you, Wendi. I wouldn’t want to,” I made a face myself. “You will wish you had found another hobby. That’s all I’m going to say.”

  “There’s something wrong with you,” she said, her sneer gone. “I can feel it.”

  “Well, I’m not you, that’s for damn sure,” I said. “And I guess that might feel wrong.”