A History of Hexing

by Evie Wilde

  “None of this should have happened,” I said. “It all falls on the headmaster. He knew all along, but instead of protecting the academy and its students, he chose to protect his brother. Blood is on his hands.”

  “We need to call him out on all the shit his inaction has caused.” Braeden put his arm around me. “Cass, I believe everything you say.”

  In my room, I laid in my bed while Braeden checked the door and windows. He then laid in bed next to me, his arm over me, his protection undeniable. “I love you, Brae.”

  “Love you, Cass.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Oliver

  I hated delivering good news that was also bad news. But last night had stressed everyone out to the point they all left mad. Cassandra had all but accused Kyler of working in cahoots with Sonny. That was why Kyler was trying to protect his friend that used to be his friend but was no longer his friend up until the point Cassandra called him out. It was enough to make a person’s head hurt. Dash got so confused that a migraine incapacitated him for the rest of the night. He just wanted it all to end. Braeden naturally took Cassandra’s side as did I. We had the text messages, the proof plain as day. Everyone returned to their rooms pretty unhappy. Except for me. I went straight to the library to continue digging. This morning, I called Cass and asked her to meet me at the library. She agreed.

  “Hey, Oliver, you look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.”

  She looked awesome just like she always did, and I thought for a moment she caught me checking her out. She gave me a quaint smile. I guessed because she knew I was just being a guy. Truth be told, I was a guy who was madly and deeply in love with her. I didn’t mind sharing as long as there were times I could be with her alone.

  “Huh?”

  “Nothing.” Cassandra sat across from me and sipped a cup of steamy coffee. “You been in the library all night?”

  “Yeah.” I pointed at the sleeping bag and pillow in the far corner. My back ached, and I was in desperate need of a rub down. “I like it here. I like being surrounded by knowledge. Makes me feel good. Books are a place we can go to when our reality isn’t very inviting. I’m also thinking neither Ren nor Edius would be found dead in a place like this.”

  “Can’t argue with that.” She reached across the table and held my hand. “Thanks for all the research you’ve done. I know you were trying to help me last night. I’m just sorry it ended the way it did. I thought with all the proof, Kyler would finally see how untrustworthy Sonny really is. I guess it didn’t work.”

  “I don’t understand what’s going on between everyone,” I said. “Whatever’s bugging Kyler won’t seem to go away and none of us know how to get rid of it. It’s like he’s having a mid-mid-life crisis.” I leaned back in my chair and stared at Cassandra’s neck while she looked around the library. “I’ll keep digging. I promise.”

  “I thought the messages you showed last night would have been enough. They were pretty straight forward. I don’t know what else to do.” She withdrew her hand and placed it around the coffee cup. “And he’s the one who started blaming Sonny in the first place. I didn’t start it.” She shrugged, and pain washed across her face. I knew she wanted to fix things, and it was up to me to help her.

  “I think part of the problem is that Kyler blames himself for letting the princess die in the first place. He blames himself because he left her alone with Sonny.” I removed a folder from my backpack and laid it on the table. “If he’d stayed on the train, he thinks, she would still be alive today. I don’t know how we help him get past that.”

  Cassandra leaned back in her chair. “It wouldn’t have mattered even if he’d stayed with her. Sonny was hell-bent on killing the girl. He would have found another time to do it. That's what we have to convince Kyler of. But Sonny had to of had some kind of help.

  “I did some more digging while I was here last night.” I opened the file. “I’ve got copies of emails, text messages, official reports from Kyler’s hometown and even a few photos from cameras in the areas where they stopped. It really is amazing how many cameras there used to be, watching every move the citizenry made.” I crossed my arms on the table. “There’s no doubt Sonny killed the girl, and there’s no doubt he’s been working with Ren and Edius.”

  “Where’d you get all this?” She flipped through several of the pages, shaking her head, a smile creeping across her face because she was amazed I could find the things I found.

  I smiled. “I hacked the dark web. I guess you could say I have friends in low places.” I laughed. Cassandra didn’t. I hit a few keys on my computer and pulled out the chair next to me. “I also found this.” Cassandra moved around the table and sat next to me, her shoulder rubbing mine. She smelled delicious. “There was a security camera at the train station the night they stopped and the princess died. The camera happened to be pointing at the train car they were in.”

  I hit another button, and the video began. It showed Kyler leaving the train and then showed Sonny lowering the shades in the car he and the princess occupied; except the shade didn’t completely lower. Sonny fought with it for a few minutes while the princess laughed behind him. He finally gave up and took a seat next to the princess. He handed her a nice shiny apple. I fast forwarded the video to the point where the princess dropped the apple and collapsed. The look on Sonny’s face was the stereotypical face of a serial killer: relaxed, smiling, unaffected by taking a life.

  “Just like the fairy tale,” Cassandra said. “This is all unbelievable.” She turned and stared at me. “What do you make of it?”

  I nodded and closed the screen. “And Kyler was not the prince who could wake her with a kiss. I don’t know what to make of any of this. It keeps getting more bizarre.”

  “Could Sonny have poisoned her bodyguards? Did he have that opportunity?”

  I narrowed my eyes, staring at the images. “No, according to Kyler, Sonny never left his sight before it was announced the bodyguards were sick.”

  “And they couldn’t kill the bodyguards because that would have sent up an immediate red flag,” she said.

  “Right.” I smiled.

  “Why’re you smiling?”

  “This is fun, playing detective with you,” I said.

  “Are you Holmes or Watson?” she asked.

  “Whatever you want me to be.”

  “Why do you think Sonny did it?” Cassandra rubbed her chin and sat back. “He had to know it would piss off Kyler.”

  “It’s obvious. The guy is jealous of anyone who gets too close to Kyler. Or anyone Kyler wants to get close to.” I pushed my computer away and turned. “Sonny’s a classic example of a delusional psychopath. He's always wanted to be the center of Kyler’s attention.”

  “Sounds creepy.” She looked at the file again. “All this evidence out there that Kyler was innocent, and nothing ever made it to the authorities?”

  I shrugged. “The only thing I can figure is that Ren and Edius used their magic to hide all the evidence. And I'm sure a simple hex on the authorities created a huge obstacle in nailing Sonny. It was easier for them to say the princess died of food poisoning. Say that maybe she ate the same thing the bodyguards ate, but it took longer to affect her.”

  “Yeah, but the problem is how do we convince Kyler it wasn’t his fault, and the guy he once considered his best friend is a murderous asshole?” She held up her hands. “Don’t worry, I won’t put it like that.”

  “Sorry, but I think it’s all on you,” I said. “We talked to him last night, but he kept going back to the fact you were suspicious of him for protecting Sonny.” I turned my chair to face her. “You need to talk to him. Convince him you weren’t saying he helped Sonny.”

  “Really, Oliver? Is that the way you took my comment?”

  I looked away from her, uncomfortable tension hanging between us. “No. But I’m not the one dealing with being a shapeshifter, witch doctor, and falling apart at the seams. He’s at a breaking point, and you’re the on
ly one who can fix him. We tried and failed.”

  Cassandra let out a loud sigh. “You’re right, as usual.” She then leaned toward me and placed her lips against mine, my cock responding immediately. The damn thing seemed to have a mind of its own. I glanced at the table and all the books on the shelves. It was definitely my fantasy to make love to her in the library, surrounded by a mass of information.

  I pulled Cassandra close, and we kissed hard and deep, hungrily and greedily. Our hands searched and found and groped and prodded. When we came up for air, we both smiled and composed ourselves.

  “I needed that,” she said.

  “Me too.” I laughed, and she crossed her arms, looking at me accusatorially. “Any time you need that I’m more than willing to give.”

  “Thank you, Oliver,” she said and started to leave, grabbing her coffee cup.

  “Wait.” I pulled another folder from my backpack. “There’s something else.” Cassandra sat and moved closer to the table when I opened the folder. “I debated whether or not to show you this, but I decided as much as it would hurt you, I didn’t want you to be upset with me if you found out from someone else.”

  “It’s from Ren to Sonny,” she said. She slid the coffee cup away.

  “Yeah, and look at the date.”

  Cassandra read the date and then looked at me, the color draining from her face. “Ren wanted us out of the picture last year right after we joined the academy.”

  “Correct. In the rest of the email Ren tells Sonny exactly what yours and Braeden’s weaknesses are. He mentions your inability to control your magic. He also points out that Braeden is too concerned about your safety, and that it will cause him to lose his purpose.” I didn’t want to say anymore, but Cassandra prodded me to do so. “It even tells Sonny how to kill each of you if he had no choice.”

  “All those things Ren said to me.” Tears formed in her eyes. “Telling me how much he cared and talked about how much potential I had. That asshole was like a father to me.” A tear hit the table, and Cassandra wiped her face. “I just don’t get it. What did we ever do to him?”

  I reached up and wiped away another tear, momentarily caressing my hand against her cheek. “It’s Edius,” I said. “He has power over people. He can make them do things even without his magical powers.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Ren still had a choice, and his choice was to hurt Braeden and me.” She stood but didn’t leave. “He looked me directly in the face and lied. This was all a setup. I’ll never forgive that man.”

  “We have to fight for the right reason,” I said. “Not for revenge. Those are your words, not mine.”

  “I agree, Oliver. I will do what’s right, but when what’s right is finished, I will make this personal just like he has.” She took a deep breath and wiped away the last of her tears. I stood and put my arms around her. “You guys don’t have to risk your lives.”

  “You know I’ve got your back no matter what.” I squeezed her in my arms and then kissed her forehead. She laid a hand against my cheek. I wanted to make love to her right then and there, but I knew it was the wrong place and wrong time. It seemed I was the only one of the guys who wasn’t constantly causing her angst.

  “I love you, Oliver.”

  My soul felt reenergized. “I love you, Cass.”

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt your moment.” Nicolette leaned against a bookshelf, watching us. The smirk on her face looked creepy as hell. Not that anyone asked me, but I found it strange that Nicolette had managed to avoid Ren’s and Edius’ hexes. She was never in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  Cassandra moved from my arms. “It’s okay, we were just leaving.”

  Not wanting Nicolette to see what I'd been working on, I shoved the folders into my pack. She glanced at my pack but didn’t ask. I glared at her for a moment, waiting for her reason for interrupting. “Well?”

  “The guys sent me over. They're with Aurelius. Braeden says he’s really bad off, and they want you to join them as soon as possible.” She stared at me and then glanced at my pack again.

  I grabbed the pack and followed Cassandra out of the library, Nicolette on my heals.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Cassandra

  “Did they say what was wrong?” I asked as we ran across the courtyard. The morning was starting the way the evening ended. I needed to start my morning off with bourbon instead of coffee.

  Nicolette ran alongside me, out of breath. I considered speeding up just to see her stop to catch her breath. “Just that he wasn’t responding,” she said. “Dash seemed pretty upset. He even seemed panicky.”

  “He’s still alive, right?” I watched Nicolette for a reaction, and all she did was shrug. “Answer me, Nicolette!”

  “He said Braeden and him were trying to save him, Cass, geez.”

  “Oliver, what do you know?” I asked.

  Oliver pulled his computer from his pack as we ran. He fumbled with it in his hands but managed to type something on the screen. He then stopped and stared in horror at whatever came up. “Aurelius’ life-force is almost gone. He doesn’t have much time.”

  I stopped to look at the screen. “Damn it.” I pointed at the screen and the other glowing dots, one of them a bright yellow, almost blinding. “Who is that?”

  Oliver tapped another button, and Kyler’s name appeared. “I have no clue what’s going on. It must be broken.”

  “Shit!” I said and then darted forward.

  “What’s going on?” Oliver stuffed the device into his pack and tried to catch up, Nicolette still lagging behind.

  I stopped at the back of the building where Dash and Braeden were waiting, their faces grim, eyes bloodshot. Braeden’s hands were shaking, and Dash’s eyes were wild.

  “What happened? Don’t tell me Aurelius is dead!”

  “Slow down, Cass,” Braeden said as he grabbed me by the shoulders before I could rush inside. “Aurelius stopped breathing about ten minutes ago.” He glanced at Dash. I could feel his hands shaking as he held onto me.

  “Let me in!” I tried to shove between he and Dash. “You guys are starting to piss me off.” I grabbed for my wand, but Dash stopped me, his eyes a little calmer.

  “Cass,” Braeden said and restrained me. “He’s breathing again. Dash did CPR and brought him back. He’s sleeping right now but…”

  “Where’s Kyler?” I looked them both in the eyes and realized what was going on. I shoved Braeden out of the way and raced up the steps, the guys following and yelling for me to wait. I knew exactly what was going on. And when I opened the door, I stopped dead in my tracks.

  “Let him finish,” Dash said. “It’s our only hope.” Both he and Braeden grabbed my arm.

  “Holy crap.” Oliver moved forward and started taking pictures with his computer. Nicolette entered next to him. “He’s using his witch doctor magic.”

  I slowly moved closer to get a better view of whatever it was Kyler was doing. A wooden bowl sat next to Aurelius’ head. From where I stood, I could see herbs and what looked like rune dice. In his left hand he held some sort of bone wand. I had seen pictures of all those things but never in real life. I’d also never seen a witch doctor perform an incantation. “Doesn’t even seem like Kyler,” I said.

  “He’s been at it for several minutes,” Dash whispered. “Told us to leave him the fuck alone while he cast his spells. So we backed off.”

  “Aurelius seems to have stabilized.” Braeden touched my arm. “Let him do his thing.”

  “What made him change his mind?” I looked at Dash, taking my eyes off the ceremony for only a few seconds.

  Dash smirked his tough guy smirk. “I told him to quit running from everything. Face his demons like the rest of us had to.”

  Kyler waved the wand as he chanted a chant I didn’t understand. I assumed it was a witch doctor language, but I couldn’t be for sure. His hands glowed, and the energy he created could be felt throughout the room. He’d obviously accepted h
is mother’s heritage. He raised his hands, and he seemed to be bigger than the room. His entire body glowed; the entire room shook.

  I took a step closer and saw that Aurelius’ shirt was open and Kyler had drawn some sort of figure on his chest, the symbol archaic. Aurelius’ face looked in distress, and his body began to shake. “We have to stop him.” I said it but didn’t mean it. We’d tried everything else and nothing else worked. “He’s killing him.”

  “No,” Braeden said. “Dash may have brought him back from the dead, but so far Kyler is keeping him alive. We have to let this play out. Let Kyler do what he’s been called to do.”

  “Those are witch doctor chants,” I said. “Stuff his mother taught him?”

  “Yeah.” Dash moved next to me. “He’s been going ever since I brought Aurelius back. I’ve never heard Kyler say this shit before. It’s pretty freaking amazing. He's not looked back once since he began.”

  Oliver pushed forward and showed us his computer screen. Aurelius’ life-force was only slightly better, but it was also flickering as if it were ready to die out. “He’s got to be able to do this. I don’t see any other way for Aurelius to make it through.”

  I shook my head at the screen. “There’s got to be some way for us to help him. If he knew the spell that was used in the first place, then I would have the confidence this was going to work.”

  “There’s nothing else we can do,” Braeden said. “We’ve fucking tried everything.”

  “Yeah.” Dash leaned against the wall. “It’s on Kyler now.”

  “Has anyone seen Sonny?” I asked. “I bet he could undo the spell.”

  “Missing in action.” Braeden held my hand. “I’m not sure there’s anything else any of us can do.

  “The scroll.” The guys looked at me. “I never opened the scroll that was stuck to my door. The one I showed you guys. Things kinda went to shit so fast last night that we never looked at it.”

  “Where is it?” Oliver started to leave, but I grabbed his hand.

  “No, you stay here. Kyler may need you guys. I’ll be right back. Keep Aurelius alive!” Dash grabbed my arm, and I looked down at his hand. “I need to do this. I’ll be okay. We need to get Aurelius well, and then we need to find Ruby.” I gritted my teeth. “If they hurt her, my vengeance will be harsh.”