I closed the text without responding and slid the phone back into my pocket.
I returned my focus to Britney. “You can tell us anything,” I continued. “Selene and I are here to help. We want to find out who did this to you and make them stop.”
Britney’s mouth fell open, and for a second, she looked at us like we were insane. She shook her head. “You can’t help. You can’t.” She sounded half-angry and all-the-way scared.
“Yes, we can. Eli’s helping, too.” I said, stumbling over the words in my embarrassment. “You heard what we did, right?”
“You defeated the Red Warlock,” Britney said in a low, desperate voice.
I nodded vigorously and then brushed back the hair that had fallen into my face. “That’s right. So whoever you’re afraid of has got to be easy by comparison.”
Ice crept into her expression. “You have no idea what you’re saying.”
I winced, because it was mostly true. I was trying to make it sound like we’d gone into the fight with Marrow with a clear plan of victory. In actuality, we’d just gotten lucky. Me in particular when I delivered the blow that killed him—well, his current incarnation.
“Then why don’t you tell us what’s really going on?” Selene pressed.
My cell went off again. “Crap.” I yanked it out, getting annoyed now.
So was Selene. She turned a stony gaze on me. “Who is it?”
I didn’t answer her. I couldn’t.
Leave now, Dusty, Paul’s message read. It’s dangerous. Don’t talk to her. Don’t do anything except get out.
An automatic jolt of fear went through me at his words. But doubt followed quick on its heels. What kind of danger could we be in inside a hospital? I glanced back at the door, which we’d left open. My mom was right there, peeking in on us every couple of seconds as she kept the police officer busy.
“Nobody,” I finally answered, closing the text once more. Selene returned her attention to Britney. “We know that Lance was in the alcove. Do you remember that?”
Britney paled. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.
“You do remember, don’t you?” I said in a soft voice.
Tears filled Britney’s eyes. “Is he … is he all right?”
I tilted my head, surprised by her answer. It wasn’t what I was expecting. “Mostly … but he’s been cursed and we’re not sure what it was or how to take it off.”
Without warning, Britney let out a huge sob then burst into tears. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I did it. I didn’t mean to. It wasn’t supposed to be him. I messed up. I didn’t want to do it, but I had to. I had to.”
Selene and I exchanged a look.
“Wait, slow down.” I raised my hands. Britney sobbed again, her words disintegrating into garbled cries.
Selene reached out and touched Britney’s leg. “Shhhh. Try to calm down.”
A few seconds later, her cries died away.
“Okay,” Selene said, exhaling in relief. “Are you saying that you cursed Lance?”
Britney didn’t respond, just sat there, red-eyed and frozen.
“You can just nod if you want,” said Selene.
I sucked in a breath as Britney did. It didn’t make sense. If Britney attacked Lance then who had attacked her?
“Why did you attack him?” Selene said. The sound of her voice made my skin tingle, and I realized she was invoking her siren magic. Not much, just enough to lure Britney out of her paralyzing fear.
“I didn’t mean to.” Britney’s voice quavered. She pulled the bedcovers up over her arms.
Selene patted her again. “It’s okay. So you didn’t mean to attack Lance. Your target was someone else, right?”
“Who?” I said, and Britney flinched.
Selene didn’t glare at me, but I got the feeling she wanted to. It seemed of the three of us on the Dream Team, Selene had the best knack for interrogating. With her siren skills, she should always play good cop.
“Who did you mean to curse?” Selene said, her voice almost singsong now.
For a second I didn’t think Britney would answer, but then she said, “Eli.”
A weakness struck my knees and I grabbed the bed rail to steady myself.
Without any prompting, Britney went on, the words spilling out of her. “I left the message in his dorm room, knowing he would meet me in the alcove. But when Lance showed up instead, I panicked.”
“Why did you want to curse Eli?” I said.
Britney looked at me, clamming up once more.
“Who wanted you to do it?” Selene said. The question took me by surprise. It seemed Selene had made far more sense out of Britney’s crying fit than I had.
Britney bit her lip.
“Come on,” Selene said. My skin tingled again, and I could almost hear the hum of magic on the air. I half-expected Selene to start singing. “Tell us who wanted you to do it.”
“I can’t,” Britney cried. “You don’t understand. He has something on my mother. He knows—”
My cell chimed again. I closed my eyes, fury heating my skin. I yanked it out of my pocket, determined to shut it off this time.
Please, the message read. Please, Dusty. Don’t do this.
My hand lingered over the END button. If I held it down long enough, the phone would shut off.
“Who knows?” Selene said, not bothering to ask me about the cell this time. “And knows what?”
Britney shook her head, tears in her eyes again.
“Who is it?” Selene pressed.
“I can’t tell you.” The tears spilled over.
“Yes, you can.” The definite hum of music sounded in Selene’s voice, and the room filled with her siren magic.
I could see Britney struggling against it, caught between her terror and the desire to give into the siren’s call.
“Stop it, Selene,” I said.
She didn’t hear me, but asked her question again, the music-magic intensifying.
“Stop it, Selene,” I said again, louder this time. I knew what it felt like to have that power used against you. It wasn’t right to do it to Britney.
“It’s—” Britney’s voice cut off. For a second nothing happened. She just stared at us, frozen in place.
But then the mermaid began to shriek.
19
The Target
It wasn’t a normal scream, but the fierce, terrible sound of a mermaid in pain, the kind of thing that was dangerous to hear without the high density of water to attenuate the frequency. The handheld mirror sitting on the end table beside the bed cracked. I covered my ears and hunched over, that noise like a hatchet to my skull. On the foot of the bed, Selene was doing the same, both of us paralyzed by the screams.
I forced my eyes on Britney, trying to make sense of her terror. She’d fallen back against the headboard and was thrashing around like a horror movie demon. Struggling against some unseen force, she raised both hands to her neck and started pulling at the collar of the robe against her throat.
A second later I realized what was wrong—the robe was getting smaller. Already I could see where the fabric pressed into her skin, making it bulge around the seam. Britney’s shrieks lessened as the pressure increased around her chest, cutting off her air supply.
The pain in my head eased, and I jumped forward, able to move again. Selene ripped the bedclothes off. The robe was shrinking everywhere, cutting into Britney’s wrists and ankles. It no longer looked like a gown but like a bodysuit, the fabric pressed against every inch of her body, crushing the life out of her.
I tried to grab the edge of the fabric and pull it off, but it was like trying to slide my fingers beneath two pieces of metal welded together. I searched my mind for some spell to use, but I’d never learned anything to combat this.
“Mom!” I screamed over my shoulder. Where was she? Neither she nor the deputy was visible in the doorway. I searched the room for some way to call for help, but there wasn’t a phone or any other re
cognizable device in the room. Abandoning the attempt to pull off the robe, I spun around and dashed to the door. There had to be someone nearby.
The hallway was empty. I raced down to the nurses’ station in the distance, but it was deserted. I searched behind the desk for a way to page a nurse, but again there wasn’t any recognizable device. My mom hadn’t been kidding when she said this place was run completely on magic. Mom, I thought, trying to focus my mind the way we did in psionics, where are you? I need you.
My chest bursting with panic and frustration, I raced back to Britney’s room.
Selene was singing at the top of her lungs, trying some kind of siren magic to free Britney from the robe, but it only seemed to be slowing down the pace of the robe’s shrinking. Britney’s face had gone a sickening shade of blue-gray, her lips like slate.
I pointed at her. “Alexo.” The magic left my fingertips, but when the shield spell hit Britney it dissipated uselessly.
“Aphairein,” I said, but the correction spell bounced off.
Britney’s thrashing started to slow, and for a moment I thought Selene’s magic might finally be reversing the curse. But the dread pounding through my body told me otherwise. I’d witnessed death once before, that slow giving in to the inevitable.
Mom, I cried again, putting all the force of my mind behind it.
A dead silence descended into the room as Selene stopped singing. Britney lay motionless on the bed, her body bound as tight as an Egyptian mummy.
I closed my eyes, too horrified to scream or cry.
Click-click-click.
The familiar sound of high-heeled shoes striking stone broke the hold of my despair, filling me with hope.
I turned to see my mom striding into the room. Her expression was dead calm, her eyes focused on Britney. She raised her hand toward the mermaid and spoke an incantation. I didn’t recognize it, but at once magic filled the air around us like a powerful wind. My skin tingled from the force of it.
There was a loud crack followed by a ripping sound. I looked down to see the robe falling off Britney. Her naked body beneath was a ruin of bruises and swollen flesh. I turned away, shielding my eyes from the gruesome sight.
I felt my mom’s arms slide around me. She began to pull me toward the door. “Come on now,” she said. “She’s going to be fine. I promise.”
I didn’t believe her. Couldn’t. Damage like that must surely be fatal.
* * *
We spent the rest next few hours inside a private lounge in the hospital waiting for news.
Across from me, Selene sat in the corner, her head in her hands, crying silently. My mom and I both tried to console her, but she wouldn’t listen.
“It’s my fault,” she said, her voice raw. “I shouldn’t have pushed her the way I did.”
I exhaled, desperate to hug her, but I knew she wouldn’t want me to. Not yet. Selene prided herself on always being tough and strong. But right now she was broken.
“You couldn’t have known what would happen,” I said.
But I had known. Paul had warned me.
I’d managed not to cry so far, but guilt pressed in on me every second, making it hard to breathe. I should’ve listened to Paul. We should’ve left. Britney might still be okay then.
How did he know?
I closed my eyes, aware I could drive myself crazy wondering about it. But I swore I would find out soon.
As we waited, my mom explained her disappearance. “There was a fight in the opposite wing, as far from Britney’s room as it was possible to be, it seems,” Moira said. “It was between a Mors demon and a Werra fairy who somehow managed to escape the psych ward. You can imagine the havoc it might’ve caused.” She made a face.
So did I. A magickind psych ward? A Werra fairy gone insane? What a horrible thought.
“I went to help as well, not knowing the danger I’d left you girls in.” My mom looked first at Selene and then at me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how serious this situation was. I’ve been away and out of touch for too long, it seems.”
“What made you come back to the room?” Selene said, gratitude in her voice.
Mom smiled. “I heard Dusty calling.”
I returned my mom’s smile, glad it had worked. Mr. Deverell had told us in class that it was possible to communicate telepathically over long distances so long as the two people shared a strong bond. It was nice to know that included me and my mom. I would never forget the way she had charged in and saved Britney. We didn’t always get along, but right now, in this moment, there was nothing I wanted more than to be like her.
Finally, one of the doctors came in and confirmed what my mom had said from the beginning—Britney had survived. She was hurt badly, but they were sure she would recover in time.
Selene finally stopped crying, and the hopeless knot in my stomach began to unwind.
Sheriff Brackenberry and Lady Elaine arrived not long after that. I told them everything, including the stuff about Lance being cursed. He was officially off the suspect list, and it was about time someone stepped in to help him.
The moment I finished, Selene said, “That was Paul texting you?”
I squirmed beneath her accusing stare. “Yeah.”
Her nostrils flared. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t believe him.”
“But—”
“Let me see the phone,” Lady Elaine said, cutting off whatever accusation Selene had planned to say. I handed the phone to Lady Elaine. She examined the texts—navigating the cell’s functions far better than I would’ve expected—and then gave it over to Sheriff Brackenberry, who did the same.
“I’m going to need to keep this as evidence.” Brackenberry set the phone down on the end table beside his chair. “I’ll have one of my men pick Paul up as soon as we’re done here.”
I frowned, unhappy at losing both my phone and the chance to be the first to talk to Paul.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” my mom said, crossing one leg over the other.
Brackenberry cocked his head to the side, eyeing her suspiciously. The animosity between the two of them was well known. “Of course, I’m sure. Clearly, Paul is connected to the attack somehow. This is just the break we’ve been hoping for to put that young man where he belongs. In jail.”
I flinched at the animosity in Brackenberry’s tone. I didn’t think it was so much that he hated Paul, but more that he hated the idea of a guilty person going free.
Moira tossed her blond hair behind her shoulder. “Well, do what you judge best, but if you want my opinion, I think you should hold off bringing him in.” She sat up straighter. “In fact, I think you should pretend that Dusty never showed you the texts at all.”
Brackenberry stared at my mom as if she’d gone insane. But Lady Elaine looked intrigued by the idea. “Why do you think that?”
A smug smile crossed my mom’s face. “Because that text message is a dead end. It proves nothing at all. And I’m quite sure that you’ll have no better luck getting the truth out of Paul Kirkwood this time than you did last time.”
A huge, wolfish grin spread across Brackenberry’s face. For a second, his eyes seemed to glow yellow. “Oh, I wasn’t the one interrogating him last time.”
A chill danced across my neck. I’d never particularly liked the sheriff, and now I had a better idea of why. There was something bloodthirsty about him.
Moira scoffed, completely unimpressed. “Whoever orchestrated his release in the first place won’t let you alone with him for more than a minute, and we both know it.”
Brackenberry’s grin disintegrated into a scowl.
“What do you suggest?” Lady Elaine asked.
The constant attitude my mom gave the sheriff lessened some when she addressed the older woman. “Let Dusty do it. Paul has already reached out to her through those texts. If you give it some time, she’ll be able to uncover all the buried secrets. I’m certain of it.”
I was completely
taken aback, and not just by her faith in me. Her stance on this was a complete one-eighty from what she would’ve done a few months ago. I’d noticed the change earlier when she didn’t comment on the sheriff and Lady Elaine recruiting me to spy on Paul, but I’d dismissed it as a fluke. I couldn’t dismiss this, though.
Brackenberry leaned back and rubbed his beard, his eyes thoughtful. “I suppose you might have a point.” It sounded like the admission pained him.
To my mother’s credit, she resisted rubbing it in.
Lady Elaine turned her gaze to me. “Are you okay with this strategy?”
I scratched my head, unsure of how to answer. At the moment I was too numb with shock to be certain of anything. “I guess so.”
Lady Elaine frowned, her lips a thin tight line. “You need to be certain. Clearly, the situation is even more dangerous than we first suspected.”
“How so?”
Lady Elaine gave me one of her patient looks. “It’s obvious that you are as much of a target for whoever this madman is as Britney was.”
“What?”
“Honestly, Dusty,” Moira said, snapping her fingers. “You need to get with the picture.”
I might’ve held back my temper when it came to Selene, but my mom was a different story. “Don’t talk to me like I’m stupid.”
“Then prove to me you aren’t.” Mom shifted in her seat, uncrossing and recrossing her legs. “You told us that Britney admitted she was waiting down there to attack Eli. Well, there’s only one reason why he would be a target of the same people who helped Paul escape punishment.”
Slowly, the answer came to me. Actually, it had been there the whole time—I’d just refused to admit it. The only reason why they would target Eli, an ordinary with only the smallest recourse to magic now that he was a Conductor, was because …
“He’s a dream-seer,” I said, my voice catching.
My mother nodded, her expression both proud and worried.
“Yes,” Lady Elaine said. “Whoever targets him, targets you both. Always.”
20
A New Client
The Nightmare Dilemma (Arkwell Academy) Page 17