There's a knock on my doorframe. “Can I talk to you?” Morpheus asks.
I close my laptop and swivel my chair around. “Sure.”
A quick once-over tells me Morpheus is not back in top shape yet. His skin is too pale, and there are dark circles under his eyes. He’s shed some of the layers of clothing, but he’s still wearing a cashmere sweater and woolen beanie.
Morpheus closes the door and shoves his hands into his jeans pockets. “It’s about Daisy.”
My spine becomes rigid in an instant. Of all the subjects I want to avoid, Daisy is at the top of the list.
“If you’re here to give me a sermon about how foolish I was for hooking up with the Norm, you’d better—”
“It’s not about that,” Morpheus cuts me off. “It’s about what I saw while that asshole was in my head, torturing me.”
“You had another vision?” I lean forward, eager all of a sudden.
“Yeah. I didn’t realize at the time it was a vision. I was in too much pain to pay attention. But once that motherfucker got out of my head, my thoughts became clearer.”
“What did you see?”
“Daisy and you next to her. You were in a white void of sorts, and there was a line of power linking each of you to other people.”
“Other people? Who?” I narrow my eyes to slits.
“I don’t know. I couldn’t get a clear visual of them. They were blurry and see-through, almost like ghosts.” Morpheus shakes his head. “I honestly have no clue what it means. The sense I got is that you were separated from those ghosts by a great space, time maybe.”
I lean my elbows on my knees and let my head dip between my shoulders. “Were Daisy and I linked in any other way in your vision?”
Morpheus makes a disgruntled noise in the back of his throat, prompting me to meet his gaze again. “What?”
“There was an infinity band circling your wrists.”
I inhale sharply. Son of a bitch. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
Running my fingers through my hair, I straighten up in my chair. The infinity band is the ultimate vow two Idols can make to each other. It’s like marriage on steroids. Unbreakable.
“Daisy isn’t an Idol. Even if I was crazy enough to even consider it, we could never form an infinity band. She’d be killed in an instant.”
“You’re concerned about that?” Morpheus’s eyes widen. “How about the fact that you were bonded by an eternal vow in my vision? An infinity band doesn’t only link you in one lifetime. It’s forever.”
“I know that. Jeez, Morpheus. Chill out. I’m not worried about it because it’s never going to happen, and not because Daisy is a Norm. I’d never do something stupid like that.”
“Fine. Whatever. But we still need to figure who you two were connected to in my vision. If it’s someone from the past, you should start with your bloodlines. Daisy’s will be trickier. Do we even know where she’s from originally?”
“Hawk City,” I reply.
“Damn. There must be thousands of Woods in that metropolis.”
“Her last name isn’t Woods.” I turn to my laptop, opening it once more. There’s no sense hiding what I learned from Morpheus, not after what he told me. “Her last name is Rodale, and her parents died in a fire seven years ago. Her father was the editor of the Hawk City Gazette.”
“Shit. Isn’t that newspaper known for inflammatory articles?” Morpheus moves closer to my screen.
“Yeah.”
“Wait, her father was the infamous Paul Rodale?” Morpheus’s tone rises in pitch.
“What about him?”
“Dude, he stirred a lot of feathers in the Idol community prior to his death. He wrote a controversial article stating that Idols were initially created to protect the weak, but instead we turned into tyrants who terrorize the people we were supposed to protect.”
I snort. “So, the guy was a wacko.”
“Pretty much. And it doesn’t stop there. He ended the piece by saying that if Idols couldn’t be bothered to uphold their purpose, then what does the world need them for?”
“So, basically he was calling for our destruction,” I say.
Morpheus nods. “I’m not surprised he was killed.”
Pieces of the puzzle are slowly becoming clearer. I just don’t know how they fit together yet. My mother doesn’t hate Norms, but what happened to her in the past that made her hate her own kind? What if she’s part of the Knights? I can’t believe that possibility never occurred to me until now.
“What’s on your mind?” Morpheus asks.
Meeting his gaze, I say, “If word gets out that Daisy is his daughter, she’s as good as dead.”
Morpheus turns his back to me and begins to pace. “What if Daisy shares her father’s ideas about Idols?”
His suspicion makes my blood run cold. What if I allowed myself to care about someone who wanted me dead all along? No. I don’t believe Daisy is duplicitous like that.
“I don’t think she does.”
Morpheus whirls around. “How can you be so sure?”
“I’m not sure. But what if she does share the same ideas as her father? She’s a Norm, Morpheus. Powerless. She can’t kill us by just wishing us dead.”
“But she could be working for the Knights, and they aren’t powerless.”
I run a hand through my hair. They could have easily killed me, but they didn’t.
“My own mother could be a Knight, which is way more troubling than Daisy’s possible connection to them,” I say, but my words are empty. They lack conviction. Morpheus’s argument has filled me with doubt.
He stares at me without blinking for a moment. “Do you seriously believe that?”
“It would explain a lot.”
He shakes his head. “But it doesn’t explain why that powerful god would want Daisy gone.”
“Maybe it has to do with your vision. Maybe Daisy isn’t the problem, but her lineage is.”
His expression twists into a frown, making me wary.
“You don’t think we should obey his wishes, do you?” I ask.
He glances away. “If you’d asked me this a few weeks ago, I’d say fuck yes. But now, I don’t know.”
“So why did you spend the last minute trying to convince me Daisy is the bad guy?” I snap.
Morpheus meets my gaze once more with arched eyebrows. “That’s not what I was doing. But we can’t simply ignore her past.”
“You hated her from the very beginning,” I point out.
“I didn’t hate her like Rufio did. I knew she was dangerous. I still believe she is, but now I’m not so sure if the danger she presents is to us or to the god with the leash around our necks.”
“If she can somehow help us get rid of him, that’s one more reason to keep her safe.”
“I know.”
“So what’s up with the scowl?” I ask. Seriously, I can’t guess what he’s thinking.
“We need a specialist in Idol bloodlines and history to dig further into your past and Daisy’s, someone we can trust.”
“I see. I’m sure we can find someone who qualifies.”
“That’s not the problem. I already have someone in mind.”
“Who?”
“My father.”
8
Rufio
Away from the guys, I can finally let the rage coiled tight in the pit of my stomach loose. It spreads through my body like wildfire, tinting my vision red. School is still in session—a murder attempt on a Norm wouldn’t be enough reason to cancel classes.
The students I encounter on my way to the principal’s office recoil away from me. I’m projecting my destructive nature to the max, and they can sense it.
I barge into the office’s reception area like I own the place. My mother’s assistant lifts her gaze from the computer and opens her mouth, but I ignore the old hag completely and march straight into my mother’s office.
“I’d like to have a—”
M
y statement is cut short when I see she has company. Her visitors—two suits, a man and a woman—turn around when I enter. My mother stares hard in my direction.
“Rufio, what’s the meaning of this?” she demands.
“I came to talk. Didn’t know you had company.”
“These are Agents Sylvia Hawthorne and Greg Bauer. They came to ask a few questions about Mr. Rogers.”
“You called the cops on him?” I ask in disbelief.
Sure, Bryce told me Mom was the one who got Daisy a scholarship and that she doesn’t hate Norms like she’d led us to believe, but I’m still shocked.
“Of course I called the cops. What Mr. Rogers did was inexcusable.”
Agent Hawthorne chuckles. “You don’t need to keep up the pretenses around us, Principal Fallon.”
“What’s going to happen to him?” I ask.
“Well, he’s detained for questioning, and then, well, who knows?” The second agent shrugs. “Wait for trial—that is, if he’s indicted.”
I can’t remember the last time an Idol was charged for attempting to kill a Norm, or even succeeding in killing one, but the agent’s answer doesn’t sit well with me. The fury hovering above my skin increases tenfold.
“Are you saying he can go free?” I ask through clenched teeth.
Both agents regard me with surprise.
“I think I’ve answered all your questions, agents,” Mom chimes in. “I’d like to be informed when Mr. Rogers is released. He’s banned from the school grounds, of course, but without knowing his motives for attacking Daisy Woods, I can’t rule out that he’ll try again.”
I don’t know if Mom’s statement was meant to get a reaction from me or not, but my stomach clenches painfully. If Mr. Rogers gets near Daisy, I’ll kill him. The thought should alarm me; after all, I’m vowing to kill an Idol over a puny Norm.
Understanding Mom is dismissing them, the agents stand up and shake her hand.
“We’ll inform you, naturally. We understand this situation is less than ideal for you and this institution’s reputation,” Agent Bauer says, “but perhaps it can also serve as a lesson.”
“A lesson?” she asks with a frown.
“Norms have their place in society, and it’s not among Idols.”
My mother narrows her eyes. She grabs a random item from her desk, a dark stone paperweight in the shape of a pyramid, and runs her thumb over the sharp edge.
“Are you trying to teach me how to do my job?” she asks in a hard, dangerous tone.
The window behind her desk bursts open and a gust of wind comes through. Mom is a level fifteen Idol, and her gift is elemental—air, to be exact. She can summon the nastiest storms. I saw her do it once when I was very young, maybe five. She was having an argument with my father then, but I can’t remember what it was about.
“No, not at all,” Agent Hawthorne amends quickly. “Forgive my partner.”
Both suits hastily make their way out of my mother’s office, leaving the door wide open. With an annoyed grunt, Mom flicks her finger, and the door closes. She drops to her seat and massages her temple.
“Morons.”
“I don’t know why you called the cops. You know their investigation won’t go anywhere,” I say.
“I didn’t call them. Mr. Amaro did. Now we’ll just have to deal with them.” She stares me straight in the eye. “What do you want? If it’s to bitch about something, I’m not in the mood.”
I grapple with my emotions, which are bouncing all over the place. Anger is dominant, but the reasons for it are the problem. They contradict. I’m angry that Mom made me her puppet, angry at Bryce for sleeping with Daisy, and furious at myself for caring.
“You lied to me,” I say.
“About what?” she asks like she doesn’t know.
“Cut the bullshit, Mother. Two weeks ago you called me here to make sure Daisy wouldn’t last a week at Gifted Academy, but you were the one behind her admission. I want to know what kind of game you’re playing.”
“I’m going to say the same thing I told your brother. I did what was necessary.”
“Necessary for what?” I raise my voice. “What’s so special about Daisy?”
Mom narrows her eyes. “Don’t tell me you don’t know. I gave you one simple task: unleash your worst on the girl. But you couldn’t do it, could you? You held back, and when she was in mortal danger, you chose to save her. Why is that, Rufio?”
I yank my hair at the roots. “Fuck! I don’t know. If I did, I wouldn’t be here.”
“The world is in constant motion, and there’s a big shift coming our way. You either embrace the change or you perish,” she says.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Our kind has been dominant for centuries, but it hasn’t always been this way. The universe works in cycles, and we’re on the verge of an era where Idols are no longer at the top.”
“You mean Norms are going to take over, and you’re planning on siding with them?”
I can’t believe this. It’s one thing for me to crave Daisy knowing she’s not ordinary. Quite another to completely betray my kind in favor of beings I’ve been taught to despise my entire life.
Mom leans against her chair and stares at me intensely, still clutching the paperweight. “I don’t know if that’s going to happen, but make no mistake, Rufio. Change is coming.”
I approach her desk and sprawl my hands over it as I lean forward. “Do you think I buy this load of crap? You’re hiding something, and I will find out.”
Before she can spew more half-baked stories, I leave her office, but the desire to unleash my fury and level this building to the ground is immense. By a miracle, I manage to keep my power bottled in. But I can’t return to my apartment and be that close to Daisy.
I head for the treehouse where we keep our stash of Silver-voltage. Tomorrow, I’ll figure out my next move. Tonight, only oblivion will do.
9
Daisy
I had hoped that I would feel better after I saw Rosie, but I’m feeling more wretched than before thanks to the conversation I had with Toby. It’s horrible that his parents are pulling him out of Gifted Academy because he defended me. It’s not fair.
My heart is heavy and my mind is whirling as I take the bus back to campus. The mysterious package from Hawk City is burning a hole through my backpack, but I won’t open it until I’m in my room. Not knowing who sent it or what it contains, it would be a bad idea to find out in public.
About fifteen minutes away from my stop, the bus’s engine begins to sputter. The vehicle loses speed until the driver pulls off the highway.
“What’s going on?” a woman sitting across the aisle asks.
Grumbling, the driver heads out to check the bus’s motor. A few minutes later, he returns, fuming and cursing.
“All right, folks. This bus is not going anywhere. You all have to wait for the next one.”
Distressed murmurs erupt among the passengers. I look out the window and curse in my head. The next bus won’t come for another hour. I’ll get back to school faster if I walk.
One by one, the passengers file out of the bus. I hoist my backpack over my shoulder and follow them. Together, we head toward the next bus stop, which is half a mile from where we are. They all stay there, but I continue on. The afternoon sun is hot on my back, but the walk is not unbearable. I’m glad I’m wearing my comfortable sneakers.
About thirty minutes up the road, I hear the sound of a car approach. Without changing my pace, I glance over my shoulder. An old station wagon slows down until it stops next to me. I’m wary in an instant, even if the occupants of the vehicle are an old couple.
“Hello there,” the woman says with a smile. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Where are you headed in this heat? Do you need a ride somewhere?” the man asks.
I shake my head. As tempting as it is to not have to walk all the way to campus, I know better than to ac
cept rides from strangers, no matter how friendly they seem.
“It’s okay, I’m not too far from my destination.”
“It’s no big deal, sweetheart. We’re headed in that direction anyway,” the woman insists.
“No, really. I’m okay.” I begin to walk faster.
“Nonsense. We can’t simply let you walk all by yourself. It’s not safe. I’d feel horrible if we just left you behind.”
They’re too pushy. I don’t sense power coming from them, which means they’re Norms, but even so, that doesn’t mean I can trust them. Norms can be bad too. Maybe I should run back to the bus stop and wait for the next bus to come.
“No offense, but I don’t know you, and I was taught to never get into a car with strangers,” I say, ready to bolt.
The smile wilts from the woman’s face. “I understand. But I must insist.”
Something strange happens to me. My mind becomes foggy, and I start to see the friendly couple in an entirely different light. I can’t remember now why I shouldn’t accept their offer.
“Okay,” I reply.
“Good girl. Hop in, Daisy. We’ll get you back to Gifted Academy in no time.”
I open the back door and slide into their car. They know my name and where I’m going, but that doesn’t alarm me at all.
“You’re so lucky we saw you on the side of the road. It’s not safe for a pretty girl like you to be walking by yourself in the middle of nowhere,” the old man says.
“Yes, I’m very fortunate. Thank you,” I reply.
In less than five minutes, the gates of Gifted Academy loom in the horizon, but instead of heading straight for it, the driver stops the car just before the campus entrance.
“Why are we stopping here?” I ask.
“Oh, honey, it wouldn’t be convenient for us to be caught on your school’s security camera,” the woman replies.
“Why not?” I ask.
“Trust us on that, sweetheart. Before you go, can I ask you something?”
Ruthless Idols: A Paranormal High School Bully Romance (Gifted Academy Book 2) Page 5