by Jami Klein
“I don’t think we knew about each other. Weird family dynamics, you know?”
We continued to walk to the main classroom buildings. I wondered if he had to go to Enforcer training or if he took Algebra like the rest of us. “Can I ask you an impolite question?” I said, slowing my pace. I was in no hurry to get to class.
“Those are the best kind.”
“What did she do to get in here?”
He frowned at me.
“I know. I know. No one likes to talk about that. But I was wondering if she was like me and my dad.” I pointed to my temple. “Mindbending. I didn’t mean my spell to be as wide reaching as it was,” I was quick to point out—even though I totally had meant ever word of my spell, but he didn’t have to know that. “But I did and here I am.”
“Thank you for telling me that. I was wondering why you were wearing anti-magic bracelets.”
Score one for the good guys. My illusion was working. “That wasn’t in your new girl report?”
“There are levels of privacy and you still retain the right to yours, so far.”
So far. Great. Score two for the good guys.
“Did you know if Delia was the same way?” I had a theory that my father visited Delia shortly before they both died.
“No, she wasn’t. What I can tell you is most of the witches are in here for petty theft and cheating. Shifters are in here for violent crimes, and vampires are put in here when they can’t control the blood lust. Not everyone fits into a neat little box, of course” he said. “But for the most part, those are good assumptions if you don’t know for sure what someone did.”
“Oh,” I said. “So, she stole something.” Something from a demon maybe and blamed my father for it? Something that got my father killed?
“She didn’t talk about it. I think she was ashamed. But her parents didn’t have a lot of money either and she was struggling in her mixed school. She wasn’t mundane enough to fit in with the norms and she wasn’t powerful enough to fit in with the supes. She had been happy here.”
I needed to find out more information about her. There was an office where the students’ records were stored on a computer, but I didn’t know where that was and even if I did, I wouldn’t know how to get in. I wondered if an Enforcer would know. How would I possibly bring this up into conversation? Hey, by the way, just out of curiosity where do they keep the top-secret information and how do I access it without being caught?
Glancing at the bracelets he wore, I quickly pushed down the temptation to try and see what he knew with mind magic. I was going straight, just like I told Andrei. No more telling people what to do with magic. Of course, it was tempting. That was the point.
I sighed dejectedly. I didn’t want to go to Algebra class. I wondered if Enforcers skipped classes. Or at least looked the other way. Andrei had said they didn’t care about keg parties out by Hellion Falls.
“What are the Enforcers going to do for Halloween?” I asked. He wasn’t a witch, so he wouldn’t be involved in the Samhain rituals and celebrations.
“Enforce.”
“That doesn’t sound like much fun.”
“It’s our midterm.”
“Really?” I racked my brain. “Our midterms aren’t until Thanksgiving week.”
“Homecoming.”
“Huh?”
“We call it Homecoming because past graduates come back around that time. There’s a big feast since most of the students won’t get a pass to go home for Thanksgiving. Then there’s a football game and a dance afterwards.”
“There’s a dance at the Halloween party too.” I blushed and looked away when he smiled knowingly at me. I wasn’t fishing for an invite. I hadn’t even had a chance to think past the haunted hayride for the local hayseeds.
“There’s also a Yule ball in December, just before the winter break.”
“I can’t wait,” I said fervently. “For the break. Not for the ball. I miss my friends and family. It would be something if I could talk or text to them, but the cell service is non-existent and the technology is so bad around here, I’m surprised we get cable TV in the common rooms.”
“You could always write a letter.”
I smirked. “Yeah, it would be kind of neat to get mail. They don’t deliver it by owls here, do they?”
“Vampire bats.”
“Shut the front door!” I said. “Really?”
He laughed. “No. Earl the postman comes by. He doesn’t deliver the mail until nighttime though, because he’s got a crush on Headmistress Magee. He calls her Elvira, but that’s not her real name.”
“What is?”
“That’s classified,” he said, with a grin.
I wanted to joke that I had vays of making him talk, but it’s not that funny when I actually could use my powers to get him to spill his guts. I wondered if he was a spy from the FBMI to see if I could be tempted to do just that.
We entered the main concourse of classrooms. I really didn’t want to go to class, so I dragged my feet a bit. I didn’t want to be paranoid, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that Grantaire had an ulterior motive to walking with me. He was gearing up to ask me something and I was terrified it was going to be about the night Maya tried to cast a love spell on him, but Delia’s ghost showed up and the spell went haywire.
“Have you seen any ghosts?” I blurted out. Subtle. I hid a groan.
“Some. They say parts of the library are haunted.”
I bit my lip so I wouldn’t ask him about the restricted section.
“Mostly, they come around on Samhain.”
“Do you think Delia will come back?” Would my father?
He flinched. “Why would you say that?”
“I don’t know. I just assumed. She died here. The demon killed her.”
A muscle in his jaw jerked and I took a step away from him.
“Yeah, I heard what your roommate’s coven did. I thought Magee was a little lenient with them.”
I leaned forward. “What did she do to them? Priscilla won’t tell me.”
“They deserved to wear bracelets.” He pointed to my wrists.
I flinched back before he could touch them.
“But instead, she designated them black witches.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Black witches don’t ever leave here because they’ll be neutered by the FMBI if they’re caught outside the gates.”
I couldn’t suppress a shudder. “How is that lenient?”
“They’re not graduating for another year. That’s plenty of time for them to get back to grey or white even, if they really assert themselves. A year from now, Delia is still dead.” He clenched his fist.
“Delia cast her spell without the coven.”
He hung his head. “I know. They should have tried harder to stop her and they should never have tried to recreate the spell.”
I cleared my throat. It was dry. “They weren’t trying to summon a demon.”
Grantaire cocked his head at me. “Really? Magee said they were doing a black magic ritual, but she didn’t say what it was.”
I nearly sagged in relief.
“Still, they got off light.”
“What would you have done if you were Magee?” I asked.
“I’m an Enforcer.”
My skin got goosebumps.
“I would have turned them over to the FBMI so they could never summon a demon again.”
Just like an Enforcer. For a moment I had forgotten and thought he was different. He’d tase me as soon as look at me.
“Well, I’ve got to get to class,” I said, speeding up. I guess it was Algebra after all.
“Wait. I…uh… wanted to ask you something.”
Uh oh. Here it comes. He was going to ask me if I saw him in the magical fire. What was I going to do? I’d have to lie. But I didn’t really want to.
He pushed his hand through his tousled brown hair. “I was wondering if you had any plans this weekend?”
Aside from trying to get on the football team’s bus for the game to Old Saybrook and possibly a little breaking and entering if I could figure out where the records room was, no. “Nope.” I shook my head.
“Do you want to go to the movies with me?”
I blinked. “There’s a movie theater here?”
“In the next town over.”
My mouth dropped open. I quickly shut it. “I’m not sure I’m allowed to go out.”
“Did Headmistress Magee tell you that you couldn’t?”
“No.”
“Then as long as you’re with a teacher or an Enforcer…” He pointed to his chest. “You’re good to go.”
“Seriously?” I asked. Suddenly, him being an Enforcer wasn’t so bad. All I had to do was keep it together and make sure I didn’t cast any spells that were frowned upon. All I had to do was act normal. It wasn’t my forte, though. I was bound to screw it up and then Grantaire would haul me to the FBMI to be neutered.
“Seriously.”
“I bet you guys don’t sit home alone on the weekends.” My loathing of Enforcers was warring with the desperate need to be a normal teenager again, even if it was only for a few hours. What could it hurt? I could get a cell signal. I could call my mom.
“We don’t.”
I can’t believe I was considering this. I hated Enforcers. They were the police and the gestapo all rolled up into one. They were the FBMI bulldogs. I was terrified of them. But Grantaire did seem nice and I could get the heck out of this place for a few hours. Although, I’m pretty sure if the demon asked me out for a milkshake, I’d say why not? “Sure. Sounds great. I’ll even let you choose the movie. We can see Rambo meets Godzilla for all I care.”
“I’ll pick you up around noon on Sunday? We can catch a matinee.”
“Awesome.” I tried not to dance with glee. I couldn’t wait to get out of here. Two days in a row, I’d smell the air of freedom.
He grinned. “Well, this is my class. See you later.”
I practically skipped into Algebra class. It was just the movies and maybe he’d let something useful slip. Or maybe I could take a break from investigating my father’s death for two freaking hours. I settled into my chair and scowled at the pop quiz the teacher handed me. It wasn’t until midway through solving for x that I remembered that Maya had a crush on him. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be around on Sunday otherwise things could get pretty awkward.
Chapter Four
When I went back to the dorms, I felt Priscilla’s coven like a thousand little bugs crawling over my skin. Closing my eyes, I considered turning around and camping out in the common area just to avoid them. No. This was my room too. If they didn’t like it, they could either ask me to join their coven or they could just deal with me.
Opening the door, I didn’t even bother to say hello as they just continued on with their conversation and ignored me as I tossed my bag on my bed.
“It’s not fair,” Abigail moaned. “It’s a school activity. It shouldn’t count. War was counting on me to be there to cheer him on.”
“I’m glad they’re benching us from away games until we can earn our way back to grey witch status. What if some mundane decides to freak out or if there’s an accident? We’d get blamed for it and …” Betty’s voice hitched.
“They wouldn’t dare,” Maya said. “They wouldn’t dare neuter us. We’re still in school.”
Maya was still boyfriend-less, still angry, and unhappy that she lost her chance for a coup to take the coven over from Priscilla. She was going to turn all that simmering resentment on me if she noticed I was going to the movie with Grantaire.
“Never suffer a black witch to live,” Abigail said in a creepy voice.
Betty tossed a pillow at her and they all broke up into giggles. Yeah, I wasn’t feeling at all left out. It was like they didn’t even think I was there. It could be because the mind altering spell I hexed them with last month was to forget all about me being part of the demon fight. It could also be that they were just being elitist jerks because they thought I was magically crippled by the bracelets still. The magical bracelets had kept me from being labeled as a black witch for my crimes, so I supposed that was something to be grateful for.
Priscilla lounged on her bed and painted her toes. “Who cares about a dumb football game anyway?”
“It’s not just the football team. The cheer squad was counting on us. Now they’re three people short and we’re going to look like we don’t have school spirit.”
This really wasn’t a type of school that people were proud to go to. Still, Magee and her crew wanted us to have as normal of a teen age experience that we could have, given the circumstances.
“No,” Abigail said. “They’re holding emergency tryouts for replacements. They’ll fill up the seats on the bus.”
I needed to be on that bus, if I wanted to see my mother. If Janine wasn’t playing a crazy game with my head. Of course, I didn’t know the first thing about being a cheerleader. However, I didn’t think I was going to find another way.
“When’s tryouts?” I asked.
All four girls jumped and gaped at me.
“Where did you come from?” Priscilla asked.
“New Haven,” I said dryly.
“How long have you been sitting there?” Maya asked.
“I just walked in. Magee wants me to get involved in more school activities. I figure I’d try out.”
“It’s just a temporary position,” Betty said quickly. “We still have our spots on the cheer team.”
“Since when do you want to do anything but hide out in the Archives with the undead?” Priscilla asked.
“Since Magee said I needed to, if I wanted to get these off.” I waved my non-existing bracelets at her.
She shrugged. “They’re going to start after dinner tonight in the gym.”
“Any tips or tricks I should know about?” I asked, not really expecting an answer.
“Yeah, don’t wear anything you own.” Priscilla snorted. “Betty, give her your outfit.”
Betty looked like Priscilla slapped her. “What?”
“It’s not like you’re going to be using it. And besides, we want to look good for Magee too. Helping my roommate will only reflect well on us.”
So much for altruism, but I’d take what I could get.
Betty and I were roughly the same size, but she had a bigger chest. Still, it felt a little weird to be wearing someone else’s clothes. I looked in the mirror and thought the black and orange of the school’s colors washed me out something fierce. But I wasn’t in it for a beauty contest.
“Make us proud,” Priscilla said and practically shoved me out the door.
***
It was all worth it to see the look on Stefan’s face. He and the rest of the football team were practicing while the cheer team coaches sorted us into groups.
“What in Hades are you doing here?” Stefan asked.
To anyone watching, he was running drills with the rest of the team—not even looking at me. He had been suspended for ripping off the quarterback’s arm last year. But since Brice grew another one and Stefan had been exonerated in school rumor when Delia’s death was blamed on the demon, Stefan had been reinstated back on the team.
“Magee wants me to join a coven or get more involved in school activities. Since Serena would rather drown me, Priscilla thinks I’m and diamond, and Tracy doesn’t seem to know I exist, I’d figure I’d try out for the cheer squad.” I stretched and did the calisthenics that the coaches led us through.
“Are you mad at me?” I asked when the silence grew too long.
“You’re not the first person to tell me I wasn’t needed anymore.”
“Stop. It was not like that.”
More silence.
“I’m sorry,” I said, but he remained radio silent. Great. I hadn’t meant to hurt him. I was trying to save him from being tased. Rolling my eyes, I shut down our mental link so I could concentrat
e on learning the steps to the cheer. I had no rhythm, but I liked the music. In my mind, I looked like those girls in the movies. But then I caught sight of myself in the coach’s sunglasses as he assessed us. I looked like a flapping chicken with its head cut off. I was sweating hard and breathing heavily. When we took a water break, I leaned up against the brick building before I fell down.
“What’s the real reason you’re here?” Stefan growled in my head.
It was hard to keep secrets when you were used to speaking mind-to-mind. He must have picked up on my ulterior motives, so I told him about Janine and that my mom was going to be at the game.
“Do you know what a raven shifter like Janine could have been late giving to War and his pack?” I kept myself from looking at Stefan and the rest of the football team.
“Could be anything. They could have asked her to pick them up something and she got distracted by a pretty shiny thing and traded it.”
“I think they were going to hurt her. That’s why I did what I did.”
“Should have minded your own business.”
He was right, but it wasn’t that easy. I could have at least waited to see what would have happened before trying to control War’s mind.
“Is he still pissed about that?” I asked.
“Yes, but he’s not going to do anything about it.”
“Why not?”
“Because I told him I’d rip his legs off if he went after you.”
“You spoke?”
“I thought it was worth saying.”
I could tell he wasn’t bluffing. “War must have worked hard not to back down from you after you said it.”
“I am more Alpha than he is. There is no shame in backing down from a superior force.”
“I’ll remember that,” I said dryly.
“You should.”
As I tried to catch my breath, I saw Priscilla and the coven were looking around for someone. It occurred to me that they really couldn’t see me. I waved my hand to get their attention, but it wasn’t until I went over to them that they noticed me.
“Where have you been?” Priscilla asked.