“What are you doing to her?” Ryan cried out.
“Making sure she doesn’t go anywhere. Now both of you: sit!” Ryan fell into the nearest chair. Gray felt herself pulled to the seat beside him and pushed down. Holloway looked down at them darkly. “I’ve decided to keep this secret. As council members, Mr. Curry and Ryan’s dad will need to know, but there’s no reason for it to go any further. This is Adrian’s spell we’re dealing with, not yours, but you did release the hold we had over his powers.”
Ryan’s eyes bulged. “Charlene?”
She shrugged.
“I’m holding you both responsible, especially you, Charlene. I leave it to you to get control of this situation.”
“And how do you expect me to do that?” Gray asked.
Holloway grinned. “You managed to steal three pendants off the necks of council members. I’m sure you can figure out a way to steal them back.”
Gray grinned back. Easy, she already had them.
“I’m also going to need Adrian’s blood—enough to put a couple drops in each vial.”
And there was the clincher.
“How the heck am I supposed to get Adrian’s blood?”
Holloway walked to the door. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”
Chapter Fifteen
Lee jolted awake. She gripped the armrest at her left as though she were falling and tried not to panic as she looked around the room. The mahogany furniture and glass coffee table appeared before her like foreign objects. What really concerned her, though, was she couldn’t remember who she was.
A man chuckled and Lee whipped her head around. Relief flooded her as her life came back into focus. “What’s so funny?”
Mr. Morehouse shook his head. He sat two couch cushions over with his newspaper unfolded over his lap like a blanket. “We both fell asleep.”
Lee’s jaw dropped. “In the middle of the afternoon?”
Mr. Morehouse grinned. “It’s not afternoon any longer.”
Lee looked at the window. Sure enough, the glass pane had darkened against the sky, reflecting a warped image of the living room. Lee blinked. Mr. Morehouse chuckled again. “You were really out.”
“You have no idea,” Lee mumbled. She felt completely disorientated. She looked down at her lap and froze. The eye in the center of the nazar stared up at her. She looked quickly at Mr. Morehouse, but he was folding his paper, pausing only briefly to examine a missing corner that had been torn off. Lee snatched the nazar, inspecting the broken chain before tying it into a knot around her neck. Phew! Apparently she was safe as long as it was touching her body. This was not the kind of amulet on which she wanted a faulty chain. Once she got to her room, she would replace it with something sturdier.
“Oh, Stacey,” Mr. Morehouse called out as she headed for the stairs.
Lee turned and gave him a ‘what?’ look.
Mr. Morehouse arched a brow. “Why are you dressed that way?”
Lee glanced down at her tight dress and tall boots. She shot Mr. Morehouse a puzzled look before realizing what had happened. She’d meant to sneak out, but first she’d retrieved the sleeping salts to take care of Mr. Morehouse while she slipped away. And karma, wicked fiend that she was, must have seen to it that Lee got a taste—or in this case, whiff—of her own medicine.
“This? I was trying on outfits for my dinner out with Raj on Valentine’s Day.”
Mr. Morehouse’s forehead wrinkled. It’s the first time she’d seen him doubt her.
“When I came down to model, you were asleep on the couch,” Lee said defensively. “I didn’t want to wake you so I sat to wait and I must have drifted off, too.”
For a moment, it looked like he wouldn’t buy it, but then Mr. Morehouse’s features relaxed. “We’re just a couple of slugs today.” He turned back to the couch. “Have you seen my pencil?”
“Negative,” Lee called out as she headed for the staircase. “I’m going to change back into jeans.”
The first thing Lee wanted to change was the chain on the nazar. She set the amulet down on the dresser while she rummaged around Stacey Morehouse’s jewelry box. Little by little, she’d been removing Stacey’s belongings and replacing them with her own. There were certain items, however, that she couldn’t banish so easily—like the jewelry Stacey had inherited from her mother.
The felted box contained a tangle of her own jewelry intermingled with Stacey’s. She was always trying to separate the two, but all the bobbles managed to mix together every time she closed the lid.
What caught Lee’s attention now was the luck amulet Raj had given her the first time she was resurrected. He’d meant it to be a Valentine’s gift before she died. Lee held it in her palm and wrapped her fingers around every piece of stone, symbol, and metal.
This year they were going out, dang it! She didn’t care if Raj had to sit butt naked at the dining table. Neither magic nor murder was going to take another Valentine’s Day from her.
Lee set the luck amulet gently back in place and grabbed the chunky square of amethyst beside it. If the silver chain was strong enough to hold the weight of the rock, it would work with the nazar.
The next evening, Mom and Gray showed up at the Morehouses’ before Raj. Gray waltzed in wearing a short skirt with no tights and a clingy blouse tucked inside. Her legs were perfectly smooth and tanned.
Lee’s fashion scan of her double was abruptly interrupted by Mom and Mr. Morehouse’s lip smack. Mr. Morehouse leaned back and grinned. When he noticed the girls staring he cleared his throat. “Uh, Stace, why don’t you show Charlene your room?”
As though she were a twelve-year-old, Lee grumbled to herself. “That’s okay. Raj will be here soon. We can wait in the living room.”
“I’d love to see your room… Stace,” Gray said with a glint in her eye.
Lee pasted a smile over her frown. “Of course,” she sang out. “Please, follow me… Charlene.”
Mom frowned, but Mr. Morehouse was already ushering her into the kitchen with an offer of wine.
“Shall we?” Lee asked.
Gray’s lips twitched. “Lead the way.”
Neither girl spoke as they mounted the stairs. Lee led Gray into her room and shut the door. When she turned around, she saw a flabbergasted Gray looking around the room. Lee smiled to herself. This was like no room Gray had ever decorated. Even ten months later, Lee wasn’t above admiring her handiwork. She had transformed the room into a haven of rich textures and foreign appeal.
Gray rounded on her now, arms folding across her chest. “Well, aren’t you girlfriend of the year.”
“Tastes change, Gray,” Lee said defensively. “I’m not the same person I was a year ago.”
Gray went over to the bed and flopped on it. She leapt up in the next instant as though she’d been shocked. Her eyes widened. “Have you and Raj…?”
Lee scowled. “That’s none of your business.”
Gray glanced at the coverlet. “On the contrary, I think it’s every bit my business.”
“Think what you want, you’re not getting an answer out of me.” Lee stomped to the door. “I think it’s time we returned to the living room.”
“What happened to Nolan?”
Lee stopped in her tracks and turned slowly. “Excuse me?”
“How did you retaliate against the turd?”
“Retaliate?” Lee repeated, as though the word were as foreign to her as French.
Gray’s hands were now planted on her hips. “For what he did to us. How did you get even?”
Lee cocked her head, still confused. Nolan. She hadn’t given him a thought in ages. Hijacking Stacey’s body had been tantamount to a rebirth—a new body, new being; one neither Ryan Phillips nor Nolan Knapp had any connection to. “I didn’t do anything,” Lee said.
Gray sputtered. Her words were incomprehensible. When she regained herself it was to say, “I can’t believe you of all people let him get away with rape.”
Lee’s
insides recoiled. “That’s not what happened, Gray. He played a horrible prank on us… and it’s taken a lot of meditation on my part to let go of that, but he did not…”
“Meditation!” Gray’s eyes bugged out. “Ryan Phillips extracts your soul with the intention of purging you from existence; Nolan Knapp rapes your body while you’re unconscious; and your solution is to meditate?”
Lee’s jaw ached. She hadn’t realized she was rubbing her teeth together quite that hard. “Nolan did not rape my body! And he didn’t rape yours. Our body is gone. You have to let it go. I have. And he was never with us. He was with Charlene.” As Gray processed the information, Lee added, “and speaking of Charlene, why are you dressed like her?”
Gray glanced down as though noticing the miniskirt for the first time. “Oh, that. The council thinks I’m Charlene.”
“What?”
“Shall we wait for Raj downstairs?”
Lee stepped in Gray’s path as she made for the door. “Why does the council think you’re Charlene?”
Gray’s eyes slid around Lee’s shoulder as though she meant to slip past her. She tried, and Lee stepped in time with her. Gray sighed audibly. “Because I told them I was. Holloway was about to bust Raj so I made an appearance and put the whole thing on Char. As luck would have it, Ryan burst in at the right moment and confessed to being my accomplice.” Gray snickered. “Fool. Guess we don’t have to get even with him quite yet.”
“Get even with who?” Raj asked
Lee’s heart skittered. Raj really should knock before entering a girl’s room, even if he was always welcome.
Gray lifted her eyes skyward. “Ryan Phillips and Nolan Knapp.”
Lee sucked air in through her clamped teeth. Gray missed the warning look she shot her.
Raj’s forehead wrinkled. “Why do you need to get even with Nolan Knapp?”
Lee quickly stepped between him and Gray. “For taking Charlene to that warlock in Bellingham last year.”
“Who, Brock?” Raj tilted his head. The question was written across his face as he looked at Lee.
“All that stuff’s still fresh in Gray’s mind,” Lee rushed to say. “What I’ve been explaining to Gray is what’s in the past is past. I’ve moved on with my life and I’m happier for it.”
Raj’s expression softened. Lee wished they were alone together. If they were, she would have kissed him. Everything had been going so well until duplicate Gray showed up.
She was staring at them now. Raj smiled kindly. “That’s all water under the bridge now.”
Gray’s chin lifted. “Is it?” She looked from Raj to Lee. When their eyes met, Lee’s heart froze. She didn’t bother pleading with her eyes. She simply waited for the confession to fall from Gray’s lips, but it never did. Instead, she smiled. When she did, Raj’s eyes momentarily lit. It was a smile Lee couldn’t replicate since taking Stacey’s body. No matter what she wore or how she behaved, she could never pull off the cute girl next door grin. Stacey had the build of a model and perfect hair and teeth to go with her physique.
“Both of you are right, of course,” Gray said, her dimples deepening. “Best to let bygones be bygones.”
What the heck was this? Lee couldn’t be sure if Gray was being sincere or manipulative. Everything inside her brain was screaming manipulation, but she knew herself, and she wasn’t the devious sort. Well, not exactly.
Lee frowned. Her eyes narrowed on Gray when she moved toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Raj asked.
Gray’s lips quirked up. “To hang with my mom and Mr. Morehouse till the pizza arrives. I don’t want to get in your way,” she said, looking between Lee and Raj.
“Stay here with us,” Raj insisted before Lee could get a word in. “Besides, we need to update Lee with the latest from Gathering.”
Lee folded her arms. “Yes, let’s update Lee now.”
Raj’s apologetic smile wasn’t enough to smooth Lee’s ruffled feathers. She lowered herself onto the ottoman and was annoyed a second later when Raj and Gray took a seat on the tapestry rug. They folded their legs in at the same time and chuckled in unison.
Lee cleared her throat. “Gray was just telling me that Holloway was onto you, Raj.”
Rather than look at Lee, Raj met Gray’s eyes. “I was beyond freaked when Holloway called me into his office.”
“You were freaked?” Gray asked half laughing. “I was about to hit him over the head with one of his spell books.”
Anger flared through Lee’s chest when Raj and Gray burst into a fit of laughter. She rolled her hand impatiently. “Yes, and then Gray appeared in the nick of time and said she was Charlene and that it was all her fault.” Lee leaned forward. “And you’re telling me Holloway bought it.”
Gray straightened her spine. “My performance was quite convincing.”
Lee rolled her eyes skyward. “I don’t doubt it. And where does all this leave us now?”
“With un gran problema.” Gray looked at Lee. “That’s Spanish for a major problem.”
“I know what it means,” Lee said, grinding her teeth.
Raj, who was so good at reading people’s moods via their auras, seemed oblivious to the war of the Grays. He rocked forward on the rug. “Holloway has tasked Gray with retrieving the pendants and filling them with Adrian’s blood.”
“Basically we have to redo the binding spell the council put over his powers,” Gray said. “Unless you want to wear the evil eye forever.”
Lee’s mouth flew open. “Adrian’s behind this.”
Gray nodded.
“Is he in town?”
“That’s what we’re about to find out.”
Lee joined Raj on the rug as he readied the locator spell Adrian had used to find Gray when she’d been teleported from Adrian’s shop to her house by Ryan Phillips. Raj pulled four candles out of his backpack and arranged them outside the rug, one facing each direction—north, south, east, and west. Then, he set incense in the middle of the rug inside a bamboo tray. Raj pulled out a goblet and held it out to Lee. “Do you mind filling this with water?”
She stared at it. “Tap water?”
“Any kind of water.”
Lee grabbed the goblet and walked to the bathroom sink. As soon as she turned the faucet off, she heard Raj and Gray laughing. Lee tried to replace her scowl with a look of nonchalance as she returned to her bedroom.
“I’m not the one packing a lighter anymore—you are,” Raj said.
“Hey, I quit smoking cold turkey,” Gray said. “I don’t carry a lighter anymore either.”
“Here,” Lee said gruffly, throwing a box of matches onto the rug. She was much gentler when handing Raj the goblet. He cleared his throat and began lighting the candles and incense. This wasn’t the way Lee had tried location spells. Maybe that’s why hers had never worked.
Gray’s expression turned serious as she watched Raj’s movements, probably memorizing the proceedings just as Lee was doing.
“Let the water show the location of Adrian Montez.” Raj repeated this command three more times.
They leaned forward. The water inside the goblet trembled, then stilled. A street flashed over the surface of the water then disappeared.
Gray sat back and groaned. “That’s it? That could be any street anywhere.”
“I’ll try to bring the image back,” Raj said, frowning.
Lee lifted her head from the crouched position she’d taken. “That’s not any street,” she announced. “That’s Meridian.”
They looked from one to the other.
“Adrian’s back in town,” Gray said.
Raj nodded. “And from the looks of it… back in business.”
“Of course we’ll clean up,” Lee said, ushering her mom and Mr. Morehouse to the living room after dinner. “You two just sit back and relax. Would either of you like more wine?”
Mom tilted her head and looked at her glass. “Mine’s still half full.”
Mr. Morehou
se’s glass was empty. “I suppose just a little.”
“Great! You two head into the living room and I’ll be there shortly.”
Mom gave Lee one last quizzical look before following Mr. Morehouse to the living room. Raj had already washed their plates and forks and was starting in on the salad bowl when Lee joined him and Gray in the kitchen.
Gray was using a hand towel, of all things, to wipe each plate. Probably so she could cozy up beside Raj as he washed, Lee grumbled in her head. “Here, let me help you,” Lee said, lifting a finger. The water instantly vaporized from the plate Gray had been dabbing at. She nearly dropped it as though she’d been burned.
“Lee!” Raj said.
“What?”
“You know you have to watch yourself with Mr. Morehouse in the next room.”
Lee stuck out her lower lip.
“You said Adrian sees clients on Saturdays,” Gray said, picking up the thread of their earlier conversation. “So I’ll stop by for a little chat first thing tomorrow.”
Raj leaned toward her. “I’m coming with you.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Anyway, I’ll be fine.”
“I’m still coming,” Raj said.
“Raj…”
Lee’s eyes darted from Raj to Gray as though following a tennis match. Before Gray had a chance to lob another protest, Lee stepped in. “I’ll go.”
That got Raj’s attention. “You can’t go.”
Lee squared her shoulders. “Why not? I’m just as responsible for releasing his powers. Besides, I have an advantage. Adrian doesn’t know who I am.”
Raj’s mouth opened and closed. He nodded, then shook his head. “Too risky.”
Lee put a hand on Raj’s shoulder. “Far more risky for Gray.” She spared her duplicate a brief glance. “We already know Adrian has some sort of weird fixation with her. Why else would he almost kill himself to bring her back and carve his initials in her hands?”
The plate Gray had been holding hit the counter with a clack. Her frown deepened. “If he’s obsessed with me, he’s just as obsessed with you.”
Duplicity (Spellbound #2) Page 9