by Wendi Wilson
Levi’s face settled in a look of resigned determination as he took in my words. “You’re right. We need to do something. Maybe we can go to the dean.”
“Do you trust him?” I asked.
“With my life. He’s the only one I’ve ever seen stand up to Warren. He might know what to do.”
“Then we’ll go to him. We’ll figure this out. Together.”
He leaned down and gave me a chaste kiss. “Fine, but you have to promise me, if things go south, you’ll get the hell out of there and never look back.”
I nodded my head but knew there was no way in hell that was happening. Good or bad, we were in this together to the very end.
“I WANT to go over this again,” Dean Purty said, peering down at us. “Slowly, and from the top.”
Levi and I sat in his office in the two ratty chairs while he stood by the window near his desk, arms crossed and expression troubled. We’d unloaded everything on him once he’d gotten Sasha to take over his evening responsibilities and assured us that no one was around to hear.
I’d never seen the dean look more shaken all summer, and it was unnerving. I’d wanted him to be the stalwart one, the one who knew what to do and how to do it. The look in his eyes wasn’t giving me the reassurance I was craving. In fact, it was scaring the ever-loving crap out of me.
“So let me get this straight,” he said, beginning to tick items off on his fingers. “Warren has been using compulsion on Piper to try to persuade her to abandon Levi and give herself to him. Xander has been using compulsion on True to do what he wants with her as well. And you two are convinced you want to confront both of them, and somehow get them to stop.”
He held up three fingers. Levi and I nodded.
“That about covers it,” I said.
“That about covers it,” he repeated, turning to stare out the window at the darkening sky. When he spoke, it was more to himself than to us. “What have we become?”
“It’s not your fault,” I said, repeating Levi’s words, but they didn’t seem to soothe the dean either.
He turned to me, rubbing a hand over his tired expression. “It might not be my fault now, but I play a part. All vampires do. You know our history, right, Piper?”
I played with the hem of my shorts. “Um, I think so?”
“For a long time, vampires were savages. They hunted humans, killed whoever they pleased. The only rule was don’t get caught.” His eyes found me.
I shivered, thinking about vampires stalking the night. How many unsolved murders and missing persons were actually vampire attacks? How many more deaths simply went unreported?
The dean noticed my reaction and nodded. “You can see how terrifying that thought is. For us as well.” He gestured between himself and Levi. “There were vampires who called for peace. Who thought hunting humans was wrong. But, for so long, our voices were drowned out.”
“But then, The Society took up the cause, and suddenly all the vamps were on board. With Warren at the helm, I really thought things would change. And they did for a long time. But then there was the incident with your father. I thought that was a fluke. And then Sarah and Chloe.” He rubbed his brow again as if that would somehow take the stain of violence away. “I should have seen this all coming. Maybe I did. Maybe I didn’t want to believe it. Warren had been our ally for so long.”
“Wait a minute,” I said, my pulse beginning to thud in my ears. “You think Warren has something to do with my father?”
“I don’t know,” the dean answered. “But, from what I’m hearing, I wouldn’t put it past him.”
Levi sat up, interjecting. “Those mountain vamps didn’t seem the type to plot a murder, cover it up, and escape the wrath of The Society for this long. The whole time I was with them I got the sense that they were lying, but I couldn’t figure out why. Why would they cop to a crime they didn’t commit? But if they were being paid off by Warren…”
The dean nodded along. “If he, or one of his cronies, were responsible for Piper’s father’s death, he would want someone else to take the fall. And, with the amount of money and influence Warren has, he could give them anything they wanted in exchange for that.”
“In exchange for their life?” I asked, feeling sick at everything they were implying.
Levi nodded. “The mountain vamps I found didn’t have much of a life to begin with. Maybe all they wanted was a quick death.”
I winced as my stomach churned, threatening to evacuate all I’d eaten in the day, which wasn’t much. The idea of Warren trying to seduce me was one thing, but if he was responsible for my father’s death…
“I want Warren dead,” I whispered into my trembling hands.
Levi’s hand stroked my back, but it was the dean’s voice that reached me. “That’s easier said than done, Piper.”
“I don’t care,” I blurted out. “We can’t let him get away with this.”
The dean nodded. “You’re right. We can’t. He won’t stop. If he gets away with it, he’ll keep going. Every human life will be in danger.”
“Then what do we do?” I asked, glancing between the dean and Levi who were staring at each other and nodding.
“We gather the team,” Levi said, “and then we move to take Warren down.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Finding True was easier said than done. Levi and I went to the cabin she now shared with Amelia. The fact that she’d deserted me still stung, even though I knew it wasn’t her fault. Xander had obviously spent a lot of time and energy using compulsion to create a gap between us before finally ripping us apart.
And now that I could remember being compelled myself, I knew there was no reason to be upset with my friend over her defection. She couldn’t control it and had no idea it wasn’t her own desire.
But still… it stung.
When we found Amelia dealing with the campers on her own, harried and pissed that True was missing in action, Levi and I headed down the path toward the lake and the woods beyond. There were only so many places True and Xander could go to be alone in a camp filled with kids, even at this time of day.
The sun was sinking below the horizon, and we were running out of daylight. It felt like we were running out of time. I picked up the pace as the lake's dark water came into view.
“They’re not here,” I groaned when Levi and I stopped along the bank.
“Wait,” he whispered, turning around. He cocked his head to one side, listening.
I didn’t hear anything, but of course, Levi’s hearing was a gazillion times better than mine. He remained stock-still for so long I got antsy and started trying to figure out how to use my developing witch powers to find True.
I concentrated hard, picturing her beautiful face in my mind as I willed her location to come to me. The crack of a twig snapped me out of my forced meditation, my eyes widening as True stumbled out of the woods ten yards away from us.
“Did I just… conjure her?” I whispered to no one in particular as a tingling sensation of awe rippled through me.
“No,” Levi said, bursting my bubble with the note of humor in his voice. “I heard her footsteps coming this way and knew it was her because she was mumbling. I was trying to figure out if Xander was with her or not.”
He shook his head as True looked up and spotted us. Her happy and somewhat dazed expression morphed into something hateful, and I took an involuntary step back.
“It’s not her, Piper,” Levi whispered, growing serious. “Go talk to her, but don’t forget that she’s being manipulated. No matter how malicious she is, don’t let it hurt you and don’t give up. If anyone can reach her, it’s you. I’ll stay out of it until you need me.”
Levi’s words filled me with resolve as I hurried forward to intercept True. She’d already changed direction so she wouldn’t have to pass by us to get to her cabin. I called her name, but she only picked up her pace. I yelled louder, rushing forward and grabbing her wrist. She spun around to face me, yanking her hand out
of my grip.
“What do you want, Piper?” she demanded, tapping the toe of her sneaker against the dirt.
“I need to talk to you, True. It’s important.”
“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say,” she said, lifting her nose into the air.
I took a long look at her, noticing small changes I hadn’t seen before I knew the truth about Xander’s character and propensity for using compulsion to cover his dark deeds. True’s usually brown skin looked pale with an almost grayish tinge. Her eyes had dark circles beneath them, accentuated by unusually prominent cheekbones. She was too thin.
“Please, True,” I begged. “Just give me a few minutes. It’s important.”
Her face softened for a split second before turning back into stone, giving me a sliver of hope. Somewhere deep inside her, the True that loved me still lived on. I just needed to figure out how to break her free of the shell of a girl standing in front of me.
“I’m a witch,” I blurted as she started back away.
She froze, frowning. “Whoop-dee-doo,” she said after a beat of silence. “I kind of already knew that. What does it have to do with me?”
“I had a vision… about you,” I replied, my voice just barely above a whisper.
“When? What happened in the vision?” she asked, showing her first signs of curiosity.
“It was the night of the yacht party. I was looking for you, and found you in one of the rooms. You were unconscious, and Xander was… lying on top of you. Doing things.”
“Bullshit,” she spat. “Xander would never do that. Besides, you would’ve told me before now. You’ve been looking for a way to break me and Xander up.”
“I swear, it’s true. I shouted your name, and Xander tried to tell me you two were just kissing. But, True, you weren’t awake. He was molesting your unconscious body.”
“I don’t have to listen to this,” she hissed, turning to leave.
I grabbed her wrist, my fingers closing over the wide leather bracelet she’d gotten from Xander. She tried to tug away, but my hold was firm. She looked at me with a snarl on her face as I spoke quickly.
“That’s when I had the vision, True. You were dead, crumpled and lifeless in the arms of a rogue vampire.” I paused to swallow against the knot of emotion forming in my throat. “Xander is going to kill you.”
“You’re insane,” she said, her eyes widening with disbelief. “Xander loves me. He would never hurt me. Now, let me go.”
She jerked her arm hard, and the leather cuff snapped open. True stumbled back a few steps, leaving the bracelet clenched between my fingers. I looked from it to True’s face, which was screwed up in a pained expression as she charged forward.
“Give that back!” she shouted, her hands shoving at my shoulders.
My eyes darted to Levi, who’d been standing off to the side and now took a step forward to protect me. I waved him off before quickly turning my attention back to True.
“I’m not lying, True,” I said, my voice pleading as I held the bracelet behind my back. “Please, I need you to believe me. Xander has been using compulsion on both of us. He made me forget that scene on the yacht. That’s why I didn’t tell you. I didn’t remember it until today.”
My words went unheeded as she tried to reach around me, swiping at the hand that held her bracelet. I spun, putting a few feet between us. Her dark eyes were as round as saucers and glassy, like she was about to cry. Or have a panic attack.
“Give it to me. Please,” she begged, her voice tinged with desperation. “I’m not supposed to take it off. I have to put it back on. Give it to me, Piper.”
Her words were rushed and broken, and I had a real fear that she might pass out if I didn’t give her that stupid bracelet. I pulled my hand from behind my back and stared down at it. It was reddish-brown in color and as wide as my palm. There were no decorative trimmings, no pictures stamped into the leather, and the snaps were a plain, dull bronze.
As I stared at it, trying to figure out its significance, True’s hand shot forward to snatch it from my grasp. On instinct, I jerked it away from her grappling fingers while my other hand angled up to grip her wrist. She yelped in pain, and I instantly released her. When she shook her arm as if the motion would ease the pain, my eyes nearly popped out of my head as I saw what the bracelet had been covering.
“True, what is that?” I asked, pointing to her wrist.
“Give it back, Piper. Now.”
“What is that?” I repeated, trying to catch her hand.
She jerked it away and demanded the bracelet once more. I shook my head and widened my stance. She was making this extremely difficult, but snapping her out of this trance was worth the work. I’d stand out there all night if I had to.
“I’ll give this back to you if you look at your wrist and tell me what happened to it,” I offered.
I know what happened to it, I thought. And I’m going to kill him!
Her gaunt, pale face. The dark circles under her eyes. The wound on her wrist that was always covered by a bracelet she thought she couldn’t take off.
Xander wasn’t just compelling her to love him and hate me.
He was feeding on her.
Tears burned my eyes, and I blinked the pain away. I could cry later. Now, I needed to finish what I’d started.
“Look at it, True. Tell me what it is, and I’ll give this back,” I demanded, wiggling the bracelet in the air.
Her expression grew even more pained as she lifted her arm. Her eyes stayed locked on me, her nose scrunching with concentration. Xander must’ve instructed her not to look at the wound when he compelled her, because try as she might, she couldn’t seem to look at her wrist.
Losing patience, I shouted, “It’s a vampire bite, True! Xander has been drinking your blood!”
“No,” she whispered, her eyes remaining locked on mine as her arm dropped to her side. “He wouldn’t.”
A growl worked its way up my throat, but I forced it back down and took a deep breath. There had to be a way to get around Xander’s compulsion. I briefly considered asking Levi, who still stood quietly beside us, to compel her to remember, but I quickly brushed the idea off. I didn’t want to mess with her brain any more than had already been done.
An idea hit me, and I nearly smacked a palm against my forehead.
“True,” I said, leaning a little closer to speak earnestly, “you’re a witch. If you concentrate, you can break free of what’s been done to you. Think about the power. Pull it to you. Please.”
“I don’t have any power,” she wailed, and I could see the toll this was taking on her mind.
“Yes, you do. You had a vision that saved your life, so that means it’s there inside you. I believe in you, True. You just need to believe in yourself. You’ve got this. I know you do.”
Her eyes closed as her face screwed up in concentration. She was trying, and I silently begged the cosmos that this would work. I sucked in a sharp breath as True’s body began to shake, and I remembered my own experience. She dropped to her knees, a keening cry howling through her lips.
Her eyes opened, staring down at her wounded wrist. Tears plopped into the dirt as she bowed her head and sobbed. I stepped closer and sank to my own knees in front of her. She refused to meet my eyes, pain and shame written clearly all over her face.
“This is not your fault, True,” I said. “You can’t blame yourself.”
“I’ve been so awful to you,” she muttered, her bloodshot eyes finally meeting mine. “You were only trying to help, and I was a total bitch.”
“I know it wasn’t you,” I started, but she cut me off with hurried words.
“I wanted what you and Levi have,” she said, her eyes darting from me to him and back again. “I wanted it so bad, I let myself get swept up into a flirtation with Xander. I remember now. He’s been compelling me since the very beginning.
“At first, it was superficial,” she continued, her eyes unfocused as she relived
the memories. “He’d suggest that I like him. That I think he’s the hottest guy I’d ever seen. That he’s funny and charming. Then after you came back to camp, the suggestions turned darker.”
“What did he make you believe?” I encouraged when she trailed off.
Her eyes snapped to meet mine, and the pain I saw behind the dark orbs nearly broke me. I wanted to tell her it was okay, that we could forget all of it, but I knew she needed to work through this. If she was going to forgive herself, she needed to get it all out.
“That you’re a bad friend,” she said, sniffing. “That you wanted me to be alone and devoted only to you. And other things, too, like making me have zero patience with the campers and an overall disdain for the camp.”
I nodded. Her short temper and blasé attitude made sense now.
“Then it got even worse,” she whispered with horror lacing her voice. “Xander started feeding on me, making sure I forgot all about it and kept the wound covered with the bracelet. He also made me… do things to him.”
Without thought, I grabbed her shoulders and jerked her toward me. I hugged her frail body tight to my chest, tears pouring from my eyes as I tried not to picture the things Xander compelled her to do. I really was going to kill him.
“He turned me against you, Piper,” she sobbed into my ear. “He made me hate you and fed me hateful things to say to you anytime you tried to talk to me about it.”
I made a few shushing sounds, rocking her back and forth. “It’s going to be okay, True,” I whispered. “It’s over now, and we’re going to make Xander pay for everything he’s done.”
She suddenly jerked back, her glassy eyes widening as a hand lifted to cover her mouth.
“Oh, my God,” she hissed, looking from me to Levi. She stared at him for a moment before meeting my eyes again. “I just remembered something else.”
“What is it?” I asked, panic rising up inside me to match the alarm on her face.
“It’s Warren Thornberry,” she croaked, then cleared her throat and spoke more clearly. “I caught Xander talking to him, and Warren compelled me to forget all about it. He’s behind this, Piper. He sent Xander here to break us apart and destroy our friendship.”