“I didn’t lie!” I protested. “And I’m not—”
“You know I’m obligated to tell my father what you did.” Her voice was quiet and even. “And he’s going to have to take it to the board. You shouldn’t be at Ainsworth, Katy. You’re too dangerous.”
“Will someone please tell me what she did?” Cheswick pressed.
No one answered him. In the silence that followed I saw that they were all looking at me, even Peter, and I realized there was no point in deluding myself anymore. “It’s this,” I said, holding up my hand. I thought about what Verity had said, and how irritating she was. The ring on my finger glowed a dull blue.
“It’s coming back,” Verity said, squinting her eyes. “The nimbus. I can see it forming around you like a dark cloud.”
I closed my eyes. As miserable as I should have been—Verity hadn’t been kidding about telling her father, the school’s attorney—I nevertheless couldn’t help but feel the ring’s strength as it filled me with its power. With its poison, which felt so good.
With a little shriek Verity retreated into the hall, where I heard her retching. Cheswick ran after her.
“Katy—” Peter began.
“Get out.”
“But—”
“Get out now.” I heard the rising note of panic in my voice. “Please.” It was happening all over again. “Go!” I screamed, slamming the door behind him.
It didn’t feel good now. It just felt like I’d lost the person I loved most in the world.
I stood for a long time with my back against the door, crying silent tears. Verity had been right. I was dangerous. I couldn’t control the ring. I never had been able to. I couldn’t even control how I felt about it. I’d known when the power had started to grow just now. It was when Verity had called me a liar. And it wasn’t even what she’d said that had set things off. It had just been something in the whiny, weaselly sound of her voice. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like her. And when the ring had started to glow, I’d been glad. I’d felt powerful. I’d felt right. So right that, at that moment, I could have killed her.
It was the Darkness coming into me, just as it had come into Morgan le Fay. I knew it, and—God help me—I welcomed it.
As I stood there trembling, hating myself, the orange roses Peter brought me withered and died inside their paper cone.
CHAPTER
•
THIRTY-SIX
Calm. Stay calm. Think.
Being alone during those early-morning hours gave me a chance to assess my situation. As horrible as it was, there were two things that offered some hope. One was that apparently I wasn’t always the bringer of doom. Peter hadn’t keeled over when he’d come to my room. Neither had Verity, until she’d started threatening me. I knew she was going to say that I’d zapped her out of spite, but that wasn’t the case. I couldn’t help it.
I supposed that made things worse, the fact that I couldn’t control the ring’s power. It seemed to be tied in with my emotions. I was like the Incredible Hulk, except that instead of turning green and beefy when I got angry, I became evil.
Great. That was just swell. I could picture my entry in the yearbook: Serenity Katherine Ainsworth, honor roll, French club, pawn of the Darkness.
Okay, it wasn’t funny. Which was what made me cling like crazy to the other slender possibility—that maybe someone could unmake this curse Morgan had saddled me with. Only one person had ever bested her—the Seer of Avalon. Unfortunately, from everything I’d heard, she wasn’t exactly Glinda the Good Witch, but I was desperate. The Seer was my last hope.
• • •
When the first streaks of daylight cut through the dark of night, I picked up the phone and called Bryce. “I need to see you,” I said.
“What? Who is this?”
“Katy. Can you meet me right away?”
A snort. “Dream on, girl.” His modern English wasn’t giving him any trouble now, the little creep.
“Please.”
“I just stopped heaving an hour ago,” he said crankily.
“Believe me, I wouldn’t call you if it wasn’t important.”
“Jeez,” he complained. There was some scuffling, yawning, water running, throat clearing. “All right. I’m up now. What do you want?”
I told him about the versimka. “It’s the same scene as before, but there are things about the picture that are different. The lake is . . . Well, the picture’s just different.”
There was a long pause before he said, “You woke me up at the crack of dawn to tell me about a painting?”
“A painting that Morgan le Fay brought to my room, Bryce.” I heard him exhaling. “There was something else. Written across it was the word ‘poison.’ ”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning that . . . well, I might have caused what happened at the dance last night.”
“What?” He yawned. “Are you telling me that you’re what made everyone get sick?”
“I think so. And not just here but in Avalon, too.” I told him about the ring Morgan had given me. “I was wearing it when I fell into the lake. I think when that happened, I may have poisoned it.”
“The lake?”
“Yes.”
“So take the ring off,” he said irritably.
“I can’t.”
I could picture him rubbing his head and examining his teeth in the mirror. “Have you tried butter?”
“It’s not that the ring is tight,” I said irritably. “It’s bonded to me somehow, by magic. I need to know how to break that bond.”
“And you’re asking me how to do that?”
“Not you,” I said. “The Seer of Avalon.”
He coughed. “Are you insane? You’re lucky she didn’t kill you the last time you decided to pay a visit.”
“I know, but I can’t think of anyone else who’d be able to help me.”
“Yeah, well . . . ”
“Please, Bryce,” I pleaded. “You could convince the Seer to listen to me.”
“Why should she?” he shouted into the phone. “Look, Morgan gave you a poison ring that won’t come off, and then this painting thing to get you back to Avalon. She wants you to go there, Katy.”
“I know.”
“Do you know why?”
“To destroy it, I think.”
“But the lake . . . ”
“I don’t know. Maybe that wasn’t enough. Maybe that’s why she sent me back a second time.”
“That makes sense.” The line was quiet for a few seconds. “Still, I think your plan is hobbling.”
“Hobbling?” I thought about it. “You mean ‘lame.’ ”
“I do. As lame as it can be.”
“Well, I can’t go to Avalon by myself. Those witches will kill me if you’re not there to protect me.”
“Protect you? What do you think they’ll do to me?” he sputtered. “I’m the one who lost Morgan in the first place. They’re not exactly going to greet me with a brass band, either. Besides, if you’re right about being poisonous or whatever, I don’t really want to come near you. No offense.”
“I’m okay now. It won’t happen again, I swear.” I crossed my fingers. “Just meet me at my gram’s house. And don’t tell Peter.”
“Listen, I don’t know about any of this—”
“Bryce?” It was Peter’s voice.
“What are you doing here?” Bryce asked, away from the phone.
“Don’t say anything to him!” I hissed.
“Why not?”
“Because he’ll try to stop me from going.”
“That might be a good idea,” Bryce said. “Listen, Katy—”
“Shut up!”
“Give me that.” Peter again. “Katy?”
Oh, hell.
“Katy?”
I hung up. So much for Bryce’s help.
CHAPTER
•
THIRTY-SEVEN
Plan B.
It must have been the coldest day
of the entire winter, with winds so fast that the bits of snow that blew off the trees and rooftops felt like icy daggers. Clutching the versimka under my arm, I made my way to Gram’s.
She was waiting for me, along with the others I’d asked her to invite: Miss P, Agnes, and Hattie Scott. They were standing on Gram’s porch, bundled up in their parkas. “Katy, dear, let’s do go inside,” Gram entreated.
“I can’t, Gram. I need to be out here while I talk.” I knew I was probably safe to be around, but I’d seen how quickly things could change, and I didn’t want to take any chances with my eighty-six-year-old great-grandmother.
“Well, this better be damn good,” Hattie said, red-eyed and looking at her watch. Saturday was always a late night at the restaurant, and she’d been alone in the kitchen while Bryce, Peter, and I had been at the dance.
“I’m sorry, Hattie. I won’t take long.” I moved the versimka in front of me. “I guess I’d better start with this.” I explained that it was the painting that I’d gone through to get to Avalon. “They called me poison,” I said. “And they were right. I think I’ve poisoned their water supply.”
“You what?”
“I didn’t mean to, Gram. It happened because of this.” I held out my hand.
“Your kitty cat ring?” Gram squinted at it. “You’ve had that for weeks.”
Hattie put her hands on her hips. “If you brought us out here for some kind of engagement announcement—”
“Gracious me!” Gram exclaimed. “It’s not even gold.”
“Are you pregnant?” Hattie demanded.
“Is it Peter?” Agnes ventured.
“No, no, no!” I shouted. “It’s a lot worse than that, believe me.”
“I see it,” Miss P said. Her eyes were slits, partially concealing a greenish glowing light behind them. “Yes . . . there’s a blue stone,” she said slowly.
“Morgan le Fay gave it to me, and now I can’t take it off,” I nearly sobbed. “That’s why I asked you here. Can you help me?
“Land sakes,” Hattie said, trundling off the porch. “Hold out your hand.”
“No, stay back!” I warned, but it was too late. Hattie lunged at me in an attempt to grab my arm. She never made it. It was as if she had run headlong into an electric fence. With a cry of pain she recoiled backward and fell into a snowbank.
I screamed too. Nothing like this had ever happened before. As Gram and Agnes scrambled to help Hattie, Miss P looked directly at me.
“I don’t understand,” I babbled. “I thought it made people sick, but it never—”
“It knew,” Miss P said quietly.
“What?” I asked, bewildered.
“It hides itself,” she said. “The ring. It won’t allow itself to be removed.” She blinked once, slowly. “And it’s getting stronger.”
I felt cold tears trickling down my face. “Is there anything you can do?” I squeaked. The witches looked at me, their faces caricatures of worry. “I need to get rid of it before . . . before . . . ”
“Katy!” It was Peter, coming around the side of the house with Bryce.
“He forced me to tell him,” Bryce said.
Yeah, right. Bryce was a wuss, plain and simple. “You didn’t have to bring him here,” I snapped.
“Yes, he did.” Peter pushed past him, striding toward me.
“Keep away from her!” Hattie shouted.
Bryce grabbed Peter’s arm. Peter shook it off.
“Listen to them!” I shouted, wiping my nose on my sleeve. “There’s something wrong. With me. You saw what I can do!”
“There’s nothing wrong with you,” Peter growled. Bryce looked at me and shrugged. “And if there is, we’ll fix it,” Peter went on. “All of us, together, okay?” He helped Hattie back onto the porch. “Okay?” he repeated.
“Of course, dear,” Gram said. “And we will. We’ll fix it.” Her gaze wandered toward the others. “We just have to find out how.”
The older women all looked blankly at one another. Finally Bryce sighed. “There may be someone who already knows how,” he said.
I closed my eyes in relief. “Thank you, Bryce,” I whispered. Wuss or not, he was coming through for me after all.
Peter glowered at him.
“What are you talking about?” Hattie demanded.
“I’m going to take Katy back to Avalon,” Bryce said. “To the Seer.”
“Oh, no, you aren’t,” Hattie said. “This girl’s poison, like she said. You’re not going to go near her.”
“If I don’t, she’ll eventually poison Whitfield, too,” he countered miserably. “But they’re not going to care about that in Avalon. They’ll want vengeance for what she’s already done to their lake. And I’m the only one who can protect her.”
“No, you’re not,” Peter said. “I will.” Our eyes met. That was Peter all over, willing to go up against forces that he had no idea how to fight.
“You can’t go,” I said.
“Oh, no? Watch me.”
“Peter, don’t—,” I warned, but he wasn’t listening to me. He stepped through the painting, feet first.
And tore it.
“Oh, man,” Bryce said.
“I’m sorry.” Peter knelt down beside me as I tried to pull the ripped canvas together.
“That was my last chance,” I said, choking.
“I can fix this. I know I can,” he countered. “I’ve been working on something—”
“This may be a bigger problem than we thought,” Gram said. Everyone looked over at her. “From what you’ve said, the witches of Avalon are already doomed.”
“What?”
“If their water supply has been poisoned, their world will end, and they will have nowhere else to go.”
“Except for here,” Hattie said, gesturing toward the torn versimka. “Through that.”
Gram nodded. “That’s the real problem.”
“No, it isn’t!” I shrieked. “The problem is getting this stupid ring off me!”
Gram gave me a pitying look. “We’re talking about a whole community, Katy. A community that you were sent to destroy.”
“But it’s all tied together. If I can get rid of the ring—”
“It may already be too late to save Avalon,” Gram said. “We have to find a way to bring the residents here.”
“But what about me?” I said in a small voice.
Gram shook her head. “I think it would be best if you waited,” she said.
“She’s right,” Peter said. “Let’s give ourselves some time to—”
“I don’t have any more time! Don’t you see? I already can’t go to school anymore. I can’t be around anyone. I can’t live anywhere near other people. Every day I get more poisonous.”
“And you want to expose the people in Avalon to you?” Gram shook her head, clucking. “Not good form, I’m afraid.”
“Help me,” I mouthed to Bryce. He nodded slightly. He understood.
“I’m telling you, I can help,” Peter was saying. “I’ve been working on something that’s very close to this. . . . ” He nodded toward the versimka. “It’s touch-screen technology, only any sort of picture can be adapted—”
“Dude, can’t you see she’s cold?” Bryce asked.
Peter hesitated.
“She’s your girlfriend. The least you could do would be to get her a blanket.”
Peter looked at me, bewildered. I shivered in response. “Okay,” he said at last. “I’ll be right back.”
“Peter—”
“Just wait, okay? Don’t do anything.”
I expelled a puff of air as he ran toward the steps leading to Gram’s porch. I was going to say good-bye, but that would have defeated my purpose.
“If you’re going to go,” Bryce whispered, “go now.”
“But the versimka—”
“It might still work.” Bryce pushed me toward the painting. At that moment Peter, who was at the top of the steps with his hand on the doorjamb, turne
d around, looking as if he’d just been stabbed. He knew.
“Hurry!” Bryce said.
“Come back!” Peter shouted as he ran down the stairs, his breath making hot clouds around him.
I turned around. My eyes met Peter’s. “Katy, stay,” he whispered hopelessly.
“I can’t,” I whispered back.
Then in one anguished movement, I fell backward into the painting.
“I love you,” I added, but I didn’t think he heard me.
CHAPTER
•
THIRTY-EIGHT
I found myself rolling down a grassy hill, scrambling to find my feet. Once I finally righted myself, I looked around for Bryce. He wasn’t there. For a moment I thought about going back, but I knew that wasn’t really an option. Gram and the other women, not to mention Peter, would never allow me to leave again. I guessed that I would have to face the Seer alone, until I noticed someone cresting a hill up ahead. I tried to slink unobtrusively into the woods, but he waved at me, and I realized that it was Bryce.
“Why’d you go way over there?” I asked, stripping off my coat and mittens.
“Traveling is a lot harder than walking through a painting,” he bristled. “I wouldn’t be here at all, except that your crazy boyfriend was ready to strangle me.”
“I know the feeling. My relatives aren’t going to be that happy about our coming here either.”
“Yeah, well, I have a feeling we’ll be wishing we’d stayed with them.”
I swallowed. “Is the Seer really that bad?”
“Does it matter?” he said. “We need her to help us. And the only way she’ll do that is if we can offer some alternative to their world being obliterated.”
“Easy,” I said. “If I can get rid of this ring, her problem is solved too.”
“Mm,” he replied. “Maybe. On the other hand, she could just chop off your finger.”
I gulped. “In that case we’d better talk fast.”
“Preferably while running away.”
“Great,” I said. “You know, I’ve got to wonder why you stayed here in the first place.”
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