“Deal,” she said finally. They didn’t have to know that she’d take the book with her, or that she would get rid of it somewhere in the woods before she’d ever admit to her mother that she’d been hiding the book from her all along. It would devastate her mother if she learned her daughter had followed in her father’s footsteps. As Ivy saw things, she was behaving no differently than he had. She gritted her teeth. Even without his influence, she was still like him. Was there no way to fight genetics?
Still, it hurt to think her friends would give up so easily on going with her. Had she hurt them that much? She couldn’t look at them because the truth was too painful. Ivy had a feeling that neither Raven nor Bane had told Shayde they’d gone to the Prescotts the other night. If she had, Shayde would have been really hurt and totally furious. Ivy had jeopardized them all, and in more ways than one. Her friends were keeping secrets for her and it was starting to strain everyone’s relationships.
If she kept the book, she would hurt them again.
But, she needed The Rise of the Dark Curse one more time—tomorrow.
Shayde got up, bowl in hand. “It’s settled then. The deal calls for more ice cream.”
“And more chocolate syrup,” Raven said as she collected her own bowl.
Spike, who had remained eerily quiet and sullen, was already ahead of them. He’d made himself a second bowl of ice cream and was frantically scooping the spoon around the sides of the bowl. All three girls grimaced at the same time.
“Spike, your sprinkles are moving,” Raven said.
Shayde peered harder at the bowl. “Um, they’ve got legs!”
Ivy saw exactly what her friends had noticed and her stomach lurched. “Spike, are those—”
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “Gareth bought me a carton of meal worms.” His voice hitched again. “Look at me! I’m a bug addict! I’m drowning my sorrows in food!” Tears glimmered in his eyes. “And... I’m so…emotional!”
He set his bowl of ice cream on the table with a clatter and placed his face in his hands. The mealworms that weren’t stuck in caramel or frozen were escaping down the sides. Ivy swirled a finger at them and the bugs returned to the middle of Spike’s bowl.
Yeech! she thought. We may never use that bowl or spoon again. For that matter, Ivy didn’t feel like finishing her ice cream. She nudged the chocolate sprinkles around in her own dish and pushed the bowl away.
“I thought that was another carton of Chinese food!” Shayde opened the refrigerator and peered inside. “You mean I put a carton of bugs in the fridge?”
Raven glanced at Ivy’s bowl. “You’re not going to finish that?”
“No. Spike’s right,” Ivy said. “I’m eating out of frustration.” Great. First she couldn’t finish the pizza, and now the ice cream. Couldn’t she even eat the wrong things correctly?
Raven returned to the table, taking Ivy’s bowl. “Apparently, Shayde are I are the only ones without relationship issues.”
“I don’t know what to do anymore!” Spike said, his face still in his hands. “Did he give me the box of meal worms as a send off? He’s got a new pet now. Oh, you should have seen her, guys. The way her skin glistened like glass, the way her big black eyes shone like polished beetle shells. And the way Gareth stared at her! I hate her.” Spike belched heartily again. “And I... I love her.”
In a way, it was sad to see Spike so upset. Guilt weighed heavy on Ivy, not only for Spike’s feelings, but because she was glad that he’d managed to guide the conversation away from the book.
Shayde put down her bowl and placed a comforting hand on Spike’s arm.
“Excuse me,” Spike said, wiping his eyes.
Spike got to his feet and shambled out of the kitchen. They all listened as Spike shuffled down the hall, past the living room and to the small half-bath located under the stairs. The door clicked shut and then they heard Spike blowing his nose loudly.
Shayde leaned toward Ivy. “He worries me. I think I’ll go check on him.” She hurried from the kitchen and out of sight.
“Men!” Raven said. “Lizards. They can be so weird, don’t you think?”
Ivy nodded. “Yeah, well, in Spike’s defense, he’s suffering from bug withdrawal.”
Truth was, she understood Spike’s feelings about rejection. True, there was probably quite a bit of difference between a pet-master relationship than a boyfriend-girlfriend one, but it didn’t change the heartache of rejection. Not that Nick had ever been her boyfriend. Spike hated that he could be replaced so easily and Ivy just hated Phoebe for stepping in so quickly. It took one emotion to escalate the other. Who’d have thought love and hate could have so much in common?
Raven nervously glanced toward the hallway. “You’ve got to change him back soon, Ivy. He hates her and loves her? He’s gone completely mental.”
How strange, Ivy thought. Raven showing this much concern was rare. Not unheard of, but rare. “I’ll change him back anytime he wants.” She got up from her chair. “Maybe I should go talk to him. Convince him that Gareth really wants him to come back now—”
“No! Just let him be. We can’t all go coddling him, can we? Knowing Spike, it’ll only convince him we care more than Gareth. Let Shayde handle him.” Raven began to collect the bowls and spoons. “Let’s just clean up.”
Ivy waved a hand and the dishes floated from Raven’s hands and into the sink. The water turned on and a dishrag hovered as the detergent bottle squirted liquid into the bowls.
“So,” Raven said. “If you’re going to the river to find this guy, you’ll have to cut classes.”
“Yeah,” Ivy replied with a sigh. She had never cut class before. She actually liked her classes.
Raven leaned against the counter. “You’ll be fine. How exciting! But, unless you want your mom to ground you until graduation day, you’ll need a note. How good are you at forging her signature?”
Ivy hadn’t given it much thought until now. Luckily, Ivy had never felt the need to individualize her penmanship. Her handwriting was a lot like her mother’s. “I think it’s close enough that no one will notice.”
“Good,” Raven said, giving the kitchen doorway another glance. “We won’t mention the note thing to Shayde, okay? Just be careful out there. Use that Quieting spell on your shoes or something. You don’t want this guy to hear you.”
Ivy nodded. “Good ideas. Thanks.”
Spike trudged back into the kitchen, still looking dejected, but overall, much better than when he’d left. He opened the fridge and took out the carton of bugs. With a deep sigh, he sat and ate the last of his mealworms like popcorn.
“Where’s Shayde?” Ivy asked.
“Here,” Shayde said, entering the room. She seemed a little pale.
“You okay?” Ivy asked.
“I’m not feeling so well,” she said. “If it’s okay, I think I’ll just go home.”
From behind her, Devlin hiccuped. Ivy whirled to see a small flame erupt from his mouth before quickly disappearing into a tiny puff of smoke. “You’re not the only one.”
After Shayde and Raven left, Ivy sent Spike to the guest room to get some rest. She returned to her bedroom in time to see Devlin hiccup and set the bedspread on fire.
“Yikes!” The fire went out quickly, thanks to the Fireproofing spells her mother had painstakingly put on everything flammable in the house. It had taken her months.
“Looks like you need acidophilus.” Ivy fetched a bottle she kept in her nightstand, just for this purpose. She handed a couple of capsules to Devlin who readily ate them.
“I don’t care if Phoebe’s been studying black magic or not, she can’t be that much more experienced with spells,” she said. “I mean, she’s my age, right?”
Devlin’s eyebrows shifted. “Nrrrrrgh.”
“Okay, okay! So she’s seventeen. She’s only a few months older. How good could she be?”
Devlin hiccuped again. This time, only a wisp of smoke came out his nostrils.
/> “Much better!” she said. “So she’s better at being a dark witch. I’m okay with that.”
Devlin licked her face, then cocked his head toward the doorway.
“Spike? Oh, yeah. Wouldn’t want a repeat of the other night.” Ivy got out of bed and kissed Devlin’s head. “Thanks.”
She walked down the hall and opened the door. Spike was sound asleep. Ivy charmed the window shut in case Spike decided to wander off. After closing the door behind her, Ivy repeated the spell, then added one more—the Quieting spell just in case Spike woke up and went off on another crying jag. She could only imagine the start it’d give her mother in the middle of the night.
Just a couple more nights and Spike would be safely back in his terrarium.
Ivy sighed. She only wished that finding out who had The Book of Lost Souls could be half as easy.
CHAPTER 27
For the second time in a week, Ivy slept very little. Fortunately, her nerves kept her alert the next morning. She had to admit she was nervous about going without her friends, especially Shayde who was familiar with the woods and had senses to detect things and people that Ivy did not.
Before leaving the house that morning, Ivy tried the Quieting spell on her shoes. Sure enough, it worked—even over the squeaky floorboard in the upstairs hallway. She’d have to apply the charm again once she got to the woods just to be on the safe side, but all in all, she couldn’t thank Raven enough for the idea.
Ivy spent a few extra minutes with Devlin in the backyard, wondering if she could really go through with burying The Rise of the Dark Curse somewhere in the woods. Her choice seemed simple—get rid of the book or tell her mother about it. Her friends weren’t going to let her keep quiet any longer.
Then, tell them you buried it. Slide it under the car seat and show them the inside of the book bag...
Ivy tried to ignore the idea. Would they believe her? Could something that simple work?
“You sure you’re okay?” her mother asked as Ivy came back inside. “You look a bit tired.”
“Just studying a little too hard I think,” Ivy assured her. Even though it wasn’t a real lie, Ivy felt horrible about it. She told herself it was for her mother’s own good and that she’d worry if she knew what her daughter was really up to. Worry? She’d freak out.
Her mother smiled brightly, “I never thought I’d tell a child of mine that they studied too much.” She shrugged into her jacket and blew a kiss to Ivy as she grabbed her purse and keys from the table in the foyer and headed off to work.
Ivy watched out the window as her mother drove away. Then, she and Devlin raced up the stairs to let Spike out of the guest room. Spike was dressed and waiting for her, looking tired and depressed, but still much better than the distraught Spike from last night.
“Ready to go bee hunting?” she asked.
He shrugged half-heartedly. “I’m not that hungry.”
Ivy sat on the bed next to him. Devlin jumped up and sat on the other side. “Gareth misses you, Spike. Even if the new lizard is everything you say, she’s not a Horned-Toad lizard. I think he’ll be thrilled with two lizards to care for.”
“You think so?” Spike said, sounding slightly happier.
“Yeah, I do.”
Spike’s soft brown eyes found hers. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you? You’ve been a good friend. Aside from Gareth, I love you the most.”
Ivy put her other hand on top of Spike’s. “Not this time, Spike. Gareth would kill me.”
Spike nodded. “If it’s all the same to you, then, I’ll just hang around here today. I promise I’ll hide if your Mom comes back. I’ll keep Devlin company.”
Devlin barked happily.
“I guess that would be okay,” Ivy said. “But, I have to go. I’ll have Shayde check on you as soon as she gets home from school.”
Spike nodded.
Devlin followed her down the steps and sat at her feet. Ivy shrugged into her jacket and knelt down in front of him. His ears were half-mast, as though he was uneasy about being left behind.
“Don’t be scared. I’ll be fine,” she said, giving him a hug. “I’ll see you when I get back.”
Ivy stood and grabbed her car keys, snatched up her book bag, and rushed outside. As she closed the front door, she heard Devlin barking and scratching against it. The way he always worried about her was so cute.
She tossed the book bag into the back seat and slid behind the wheel as the engine cranked to life. As she drove to school, she thought of how pleased Gareth would be to have Spike back. He had to be really missing him by now, even though he knew Spike was okay. At least Spike wasn’t with Tara anymore, which made Ivy feel a lot better. If Spike wasn’t already scared for life, he would have been after a few more days with Tara. She could just see Gareth contacting a pet psychic who could translate Spike’s trauma to a psychiatrist.
Shayde met her at her locker first thing. Like Ivy, she seemed a bit tired, and like Devlin, she also looked very worried. “Before you say anything Ives, I’m really sorry.”
Ivy frowned as she opened her locker. “What are you talking about?”
Shayde seemed to consider Ivy for a few minutes. “We were a bit hard on you about the book. You do know it was for your own good, right?”
Leave it to Shayde to worry about their friendship and every little disagreement.
“Yeah. I understand,” Ivy said. “And you’ll be happy to know that I didn’t touch the book once last night. I promise, if I don’t get rid of the book by Saturday, I’ll hand it over to mom. It’s just that...it’s just that I know what this is going to do to her.”
Ivy hung up her jacket, aware that Shayde had grown quiet.
“I’ve been thinking,” Shayde said at last. “Give it to Nick. He’ll turn it over to his dad and you’ll be in the clear.”
Ivy closed her locker and leaned against it. If Nick really would give it to his dad, she might consider it. But, Nick would have to tell who he got it from, and she wasn’t ready to trust Mr. Marcelli.
Ivy smiled. Yesterday, she wouldn’t have given up the book at all. Today, she felt better about the decision. It still felt uncomfortable, but not like she was giving up an heirloom or her right arm. Although Raven hadn’t realized it when she’d lashed out about Ivy’s slowly growing dependence on the book, a challenge had been laid down. Ivy hadn’t touched the book because Raven had said she couldn’t go a single day without seeing it.
“I’ll think it over. It could work. I just have to deal with the whole trust thing with his dad a little more, okay?”
Shayde gave her an easy grin. “Good to know this means you’re starting to trust Nick.”
“I’m not,” Ivy replied as they walked toward their first class. “What I mean is, what if Nick is back with Phoebe? It wouldn’t be good if Phoebe ended up with The Rise of the Dark Curse, would it? Especially if she already has The Book of Lost Souls.”
The thought of what Phoebe could do with both books made Ivy shudder.
Shayde shook her head. “I don’t think there’s anything between them anymore. He wasn’t real happy with her the first time.
Ivy didn’t feel so sure. “Well, she looked happy with him. And, he wasn’t exactly chasing her off. You were there. You heard what he said to Raven.”
“Yeah,” Shayde replied. “I did. So I um, I sort of asked him about all that.”
The hallway spun, and Ivy wanted to crawl somewhere and die of embarrassment. “You asked him? Great! Now I look pathetic.”
“Stop looking at me like that. Just listen, okay? I called him last night.”
Pathetic wasn’t the word. Now, she just looked stupid, desperate. How long before this bit of news got out? “Does Bane or anyone else know about this?”
“Well, yeah. He walked in and heard me talking to him. So, it’s just Bane and me. Unless he told Raven. He probably told Raven. She’s been saying all along that you and Nick—”
“No. No, no, no!”
Ivy wheeled around in a state of panic and confusion. She wanted to run down the hallway and out the doors. She’d call her mother at work—tell her she was sick. Maybe she’d say she had some incurable, rare disease and that her dying wish was to never step foot in school again.
“Ives. Get a grip so I can tell you what he said.”
Ivy took a deep breath. “Okay, tell me. He’s seeing her again, isn’t he?”
“No. He’s not. They’ve hung out a few times since you’ve been so stuck on Dean. I think Phoebe just flatters his ego. He wants a chance to talk to you. You’ve got class together after lunch, right? He wants to straighten things out. And, he’s still willing to take the book. Very willing. He’s worried that something bad will happen to you if you keep it much longer.”
Of all the crazy ideas Shayde ever had, calling Nick had to be the dumbest. “Talk to him? No. I can’t. I won’t be in class.”
“You’re still going to the river this afternoon, aren’t you? You’re actually going to cut class?” Shayde wanted to know.
Ivy sucked in a great gulp of air. “Yep. I’ll be fine, Shayde.” She glanced at her watch. If they ran, they’d each make it to their classes. “So, that talk with Nick is going to have to wait. Gotta go.” With that, Ivy turned and ran down the hallway to her first period class.
If she hadn’t been cutting class before, she sure was now. The trick would be to not even return to her locker today—just in case Nick was waiting for her there.
Now what? She couldn’t manage to talk to Nick much less give him the book. And, if he and Phoebe were getting all buddy-like, she couldn’t risk it anyway. Not until she could prove to Nick that Phoebe had The Book of Lost Souls. Unless he already knew. What then?
Like she had most of the morning, Ivy kept checking out the hallways to make sure Nick wasn’t anywhere around. She made her way through the lunch line, expecting Nick to walk up any minute. What would she say? Sorry my friend decided to try matchmaking? I didn’t really put her up to it? He wouldn’t believe that. She wouldn’t believe that. Even so, where did that leave them with the books? She’d only sound worse if she asked Nick to stop hanging around Phoebe.
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