“I guess.” Sami chewed on her bottom lip, conflicted. Finally, as if making up her mind, she shook her head and focused on me. “Can I try to glamour you?”
Oh, well, I wasn’t expecting that. “Um … .”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Aric interjected. “Your mother knows what she’s doing, and we want to make sure the spell sticks because she’s going into a dangerous location.”
Sami opened her mouth to argue and then snapped it shut. I didn’t miss the look of disappointment that flitted across her face before she hid it. “Okay.”
Well, crap. “You can glamour me,” I announced, taking Aric and Paris by surprise. “You can try at least. If it doesn’t work, I don’t want you to get too down on yourself. Can you promise me that won’t be the case?”
Sami nodded, suddenly happy. “Yes!”
“Okay.” I sat on the back bumper and rested my hands on my knees. “Don’t go crazy and make me look like a circus freak or something, okay? The whole point of this is so I won’t stand out. I need to look younger and different.”
“I’ve got it.” Sami stood in front of me and ran her hands over my hair for a moment, her eyes screwed up in concentration. “I know how I want you to look.”
“Then try it.” I pressed my eyes shut, grinning when I felt Aric’s hand slide over mine. He was as nervous as I was. I could feel it. For a full minute I waited in silence, sure it wouldn’t work, and then I felt the magic snap into place.
I exhaled heavily as the magic washed over me. It was a different feeling, letting someone else have power over you. I was used to having the power and relying on everyone else to trust me implicitly as I wielded it. Now I had to trust Sami.
When I opened my eyes, I found Sami studying me with something akin to awe. I risked a glance at Aric and found a small smile playing at the corners of his lips. “What? Do I look like a circus freak? Please tell me I don’t look like a Kardashian. I’ll die of shame.”
Aric chuckled throatily as he shook his head. “You don’t look like a circus freak.”
“What about a Kardashian?”
“You don’t look like a Kardashian either.” Aric used his hand to prod me to a standing position, and when I found the courage to turn I couldn’t help but be surprised by the reflection staring back at me. “I look like … .”
“An older version of Sami,” Paris supplied, smiling.
“I wanted to imagine what I would look like when I went to college,” Sami admitted, chewing on her bottom lip. “Did I screw it up?”
I ran my fingers over my black hair, blinking rapidly as I tried to get used to my brown eyes. “You did a wonderful job.”
“You really did,” Aric agreed, moving behind me so he could stare at our reflections. “We look like brother and sister instead of husband and wife. It’s freaking me out a little bit.”
“Yeah, you can’t kiss me when I look like this,” I said, smoothing my dark top. “It’s too … freaky.”
“Hmm. I think I’ll risk it.” Aric pressed a kiss to my cheek. “You did a great job, Sami. This is amazing.”
Sami visibly relaxed at Aric’s words, pride evident in his voice. “Really? I did it right?”
“You did it exactly right,” I said, grabbing her head. “See, it wasn’t as hard as you thought it would be, was it?”
Sami shook her head. “It took me a little bit to mold things – it was like making a sculpture – but then the magic kind of knew what to do.”
“Well, you’re definitely prettier than me,” Kelsey complained. “I don’t like it.”
I didn’t bother hiding my snicker as I squeezed Sami’s shoulders. “You’re going to be a very pretty college student,” I offered. “Your father won’t be happy with that, but I think you will.”
“Yes, I’m locking you in the house until you’re thirty.” Aric’s voice was low, but I could tell he was teasing. “Good job, kid. You did a really good job.”
“Now I just need to do Aunt Paris,” Sami said, turning to her smiling godmother. “How do you feel about purple hair?”
“I CAN’T BELIEVE I let her do this to me,” Paris complained twenty minutes later as we walked into the lobby of the athletic center. “She said purple hair, and I didn’t think it would be so bad. I look ridiculous!”
She did look a little ridiculous. Apparently Sami was feeling more adventurous when she picked Paris’ glamour look, because the circus freak rule went out the window for the final transformation.
Paris’ long hair was now dark purple, her eyes a light shade of blue and her clothes looked as if they were selected from a stripper catalog. Aric laughed so hard when he saw Paris that he snagged Sami and hid inside of the Explorer to escape her wrath.
Now it was just the three of us, and I had to avoid looking at Paris to keep from making fun of her. “You look fine,” I lied. “You fit right in.”
Strangely enough, I found I was right. No one so much as glanced in our direction as we made our way through the building. We were no longer mothers checking out the school to see if it was adequate for children. Now we were simply faceless students who could study the building in great detail.
I led the way past the workout rooms, barely mustering a sidelong look for the sweaty kids using the machines in the gym. I kept my senses open in case danger should approach, but no one bothered speaking to us – although I did get a few appreciative looks. Sami would turn into a beautiful woman one day and Aric wasn’t going to like it one bit. I couldn’t wait to torture him with the details.
“This way,” I murmured, selecting a hallway at the back of the building and scanning the area before pressing my hand to the electronic sensor reader.
“We need a card,” Kelsey noted.
“No, we don’t.” I breathed out a short burst of magic and flashed a triumphant smile when I heard the lock disengage. I shoved open the door, ushering Kelsey and Paris in front of me, and then turned my full attention to the hallway once the door shut behind us. “This is more like it.”
“I recognize this,” Paris intoned, bobbing her head, her makeover forgotten. “This is part of the old building. This is the way to the basement.”
“Yeah. It looks as if they added on to the front of the building, the part the students visit regularly,” I said. “This part is still the same, although the security has definitely been beefed up.”
“That’s probably because you broke in here so many times before,” Kelsey said.
“Yes, well, nothing will keep me out now.” I gestured for them to follow, tilting my head to the side as I mentally scanned the corridor. I was pretty sure it was empty, but I didn’t want to take any chances. “I’m going to put a dome over us as soon as we get on the other side of this door,” I whispered. “We should be able to talk freely then and not risk anyone seeing us.”
Paris was understandably dubious. “What if someone is on the stairs?”
That was a good question. “Then I’ll fry first and ask questions later.”
“As long as we have a plan.”
The scanner on the door in question was similar to the one I bypassed a few moments earlier, so we weren’t trapped in an area where anyone could see us very long. I slapped up the dome the moment we crossed the threshold, taking a moment to test its limits before giving Paris and Kelsey an encouraging nod. “It’s working.”
“So … we can talk?” Kelsey didn’t have nearly as much experience with my domes as Paris had.
“Yeah, they can’t hear us,” I said, descending the steps. The stairwell was dark, only emergency lights illuminating the way. That was a holdover from years ago, too. “If they really funneled all of the new funds into the front of the building, I’d be shocked. That has to be a cover-up, right?”
Paris shrugged. “I told you we should’ve asked Roger and Brittany, but you pretended I wasn’t talking when I suggested it.”
“I don’t want them overly involved in our business.”
�
�I think it’s too late for that,” Paris argued. “Brittany knows we’re up to something. She’s not an idiot.”
Something occurred to me. “Did she question you about why we’re here?”
“She was curious, but not overbearing.”
I didn’t believe that for a second. “How was she really?”
“She was curious,” Paris said, following me down the steps. “The first thing she asked was if you and Aric were having problems.”
“Of course.”
“She actually thought maybe Aric was upset because you guys only had Sami, but I made sure she knew that wasn’t true,” Paris conceded. “She’s still jealous of you. I don’t think she can help it. Anyone who sees you and Aric together can’t help but be a little jealous.”
“I’m not,” Kelsey volunteered. “I don’t care how hot he is. I would never live out in the woods like you guys do. I prefer the city.”
I snorted as I hit the main floor, resting my hand against the cool bricks as memories washed over me. It was the same. Well, it was mostly the same. The overhead light fixtures were newer and cast stronger light on the area, but the bare cement floor remained – as did the classrooms on either side of the hallway.
“Is anyone down here?” Kelsey whispered even though it was unnecessary.
I reached out with my mind, giving the entire area a thorough scan, and then dropped the dome. “There’s no one down here.”
“Someone might come, though,” Kelsey whined. She was always the biggest pain when it came to adventures.
“If they do, I’ll put the dome back up,” I said. “I figure we can cover more ground if we spread out.”
“And what are we looking for?” Paris asked.
“Whatever you can find that might be of interest.”
I chose the gym room to my right to search first, leaving Paris and Kelsey to tackle the offices. I remembered the room from when I worked for The Academy, which was a very brief time but one that still haunted my memories. The floor was bare, except for a few duffel bags that held ankle weights and empty water bottles.
I took extra time to go over every wall, but they were blank and unadorned. In truth, there was nothing in the room to suggest anyone was training monster hunters beneath the athletic building. For all I knew the practice really had been disbanded. It was kind of a relief, yet I couldn’t shake the dark feeling resting on my shoulders.
Then Paris called out from somewhere down the hall.
I hurried out of the room and followed the sound of her voice. She was in an office at the end of the hallway, a large grimoire clutched in her hand. I recognized the book for what it was – an older volume of magic history – but it was the symbol on the wall that caused my heart to sink.
“What is that?” Kelsey asked, appearing behind us. “Do you recognize it?”
I swallowed hard as I nodded, reaching for the cell phone in my pocket. “It’s the symbol from the abandoned house,” I murmured. “It’s the same symbol that was on the Ouija board … and in the witch journal … and on the floor when the shades tried to capture Sami.”
“But what is it?” Kelsey pressed.
“I have no idea.” I methodically snapped photos of the symbol as Paris rummaged through the books. “Take the most important ones,” I ordered, my stomach twisting. “We have to get out of here. I have a bad feeling about this place.”
As if on cue, a door at the far end of the hallway slammed shut and the sound of voices echoed throughout the mostly empty chamber. People were in the basement … and they were coming this way.
“Oh, well, great,” I muttered. “I should’ve seen this coming.”
Nineteen
I made up my mind on the spot. We had the option of pretending we were members of the new Academy or we could hide and eavesdrop. Of course I went for the spy route and slapped up a camouflage dome, pointing toward a corner so Kelsey and Paris could shuffle in that direction and remain hidden from our new guests.
Paris clutched the pilfered books to her chest, and for a moment I wondered if we would be better off leaving them behind. From the sound of the voices in the corridor, however, there were only a few people heading this way. Should we be discovered – which was in no way a foregone conclusion – I would have no problem fighting off our foes.
For now we could do nothing but wait … and listen.
“When is the furniture arriving?”
I didn’t recognize the voice, other than realizing it was female, but that was hardly surprising. I shouldn’t know any of the new players. This was a new breed of monster hunters, after all. These would be fresh faces trying to carry out the same old agenda.
No one answered the immediate question so the girl asked it again.
“When is the furniture arriving, Martin?”
Hmm. At least we had a name. It sounded like a first name, though.
“Oh, sorry, what did you say?” A man, I assumed he was the aforementioned Martin, seemed distracted as he walked into the room.
Kelsey cowered closer to Paris as the party grew, but I wasn’t particularly worried about being discovered given our location. The trio – and it was a trio I realized once a man in his thirties, a girl who couldn’t be out of her teens and a boy who might be crowding twenty if he was lucky walked into the room – seemed oblivious to the fact that they weren’t alone.
“I asked about the furniture,” the girl repeated.
“Oh, well, it should be here by the end of the week,” Martin answered, turning so he was at a better angle for me to study him. His hair was blond, eyes blue, and he looked to be fit but not overly muscular. He wore simple cargo shorts and a T-shirt, and he seemed to be focused on something other than the two students. “We’ll be able to fill every room down here with desks, bookcases and sparring equipment.”
Sparring equipment? That sounded worrisome.
“And we’ll actually be training?” the boy asked.
“Yes, Alan, we’ll be training.” Martin’s smile was enigmatic, but there was a certain light in his eyes. He reminded me of one of those television evangelists, the ones who try to bilk poor people out of their money while insisting it’s a good thing that they’ll go hungry while someone else benefits from the funds. “I have specific instructors joining our cause. They’ll be able to teach you how to kill the monsters.”
I snorted, earning a dark look from Kelsey. Martin and his cohorts didn’t so much as glance in our direction. When Kelsey realized that, she relaxed a bit, although she obviously wasn’t thrilled with our situation.
“And what kinds of monsters will we kill first?” Alan asked, his eyes gleaming.
“He’s a bloodthirsty little monster, isn’t he?” I commented.
Paris tilted her head to the side at my words. It made sense to be quiet given our proximity to the enemy, but the dome protected us and there really was no reason to be silent.
“He believes the hype,” Paris offered. “He thinks he’s going to be fighting evil because that’s what he’s obviously being taught. He’s something of a victim in this.”
“I have trouble looking at him as if he’s a victim.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Even if you believe you’re fighting evil everyone has a conscience they should be listening to. That’s why I never fell for Blake and his bunk. I knew he was lying to me. This guy is worse.”
“So how will it work?” the girl asked, turning her pretty face to Martin. “How long will it be before we start the scourge?”
“The scourge? I see they’re still using fancy words they have no way of understanding.” My temper would get the better of me before this was all said and done. I realized that, and yet I didn’t attempt to calm myself. In this case – perhaps only this case – the anger was useful.
“Well, Christy, that’s a hard question to answer,” Martin said. “We’re starting over after a failed attempt twenty years ago. You know that, right?”
Christy nodded, solemn. “But we won’t fail this ti
me, will we?”
“That’s the plan, but the evil that roams this campus is tricky,” Martin explained. “We need to make sure we’re better prepared this time. The first go around was … a mess. We learned from that, though. We have notes from the man who made the first attempt. He was a good man, but by all accounts he made mistakes that doomed the mission.”
Good man? He couldn’t possibly be talking about Sam Blake.
“This man, I’ve read some things about him,” Alan said. “The packet of information you sent to us after we passed the initial tests was enlightening. I performed some additional research on my own, though.”
Oh, well, this promised to be illuminating.
“And what did you learn, Alan?” Martin feigned interest, but I could tell he was agitated by the boy’s bold nature. They would drum that out of him if they could. Only those who followed the rules and did what they were told without question would be allowed to remain. The others would be considered a detriment, perhaps fodder in battles. They most certainly wouldn’t be allowed to claim leadership roles. I’d heard all of this before, witnessed it firsthand. That didn’t stop me from feeling sick to my stomach.
“I learned that Sam Blake was the son of a monster,” Alan replied, not mincing words. “He was the son of one of the creatures we’re supposed to be hunting.”
“That’s not true,” Martin countered, extending a warning finger. “Sam Blake was the son of a shifter who believed in keeping the lines pure. The thing is, not every creature out there is a monster. Sure, some of the creatures aren’t human – and humans are most important in this battle – but some of the creatures have been … tamed, so to speak.”
“Aric will love to hear how he’s been tamed,” Kelsey offered, her temper flashing. “I can’t wait until you tell him about this.”
“Speaking of that … .” I rummaged in my pocket and came up with my cell phone, pointing it in the direction of Martin and his acolytes so I could snap a few photos.
Paris arched an eyebrow when she realized what I was doing, surprised. “Will that work?”
Dying Covenant: The Complete Series Page 69