“Mother wants you ready to go in thirty minutes!”
“That’s barely enough time, and I need to shower afterward its done,” Katherine wailed.
“Not my problem,” yelled Rose as she went into her room and slammed her door shut.
Cursing, Katherine hopped into some dirty jeans and raced out the backdoor to tend to their family…guest, she guessed you would call him. She didn’t know what else to refer to Mr. Gestap Vanders as. An unwelcome guest at that, as he had fallen squarely inside her responsibilities.
After she finished her tasks with them she raced back to the house, took a shortcut, and managed to run out the front door just as one of the large black SUVs pulled up out front. Sometimes her mother drove herself and sometimes she was driven by a guardian. Today was clearly one of the latter days as her flustered mother raced out the front door and Katherine raced to catch up with her.
As they flung themselves in the SUV’s backseats, Katherine asked, “Mom?”
She didn’t need to say more; her mother tended to know what she was asking without further prompting.
The queen grimaced. “The coven council has called an emergency meeting, dear, and the pair-ups have already started.”
Katherine’s eyes widened. “At the council meeting?”
“No,” her mother said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “That’s something else I have to worry about. Since you all are on school break, the principal has kindly allowed us to use his gymnasium for the initial meet-ups.”
“When?” Katherine said faintly.
Her mother glanced at the clock sitting on the dashboard. “In twenty minutes.”
Katherine stiffened and tried to catch her breath. That was sooner than she had thought. She’d opened that she would at least get a chance to go over everything she had discussed with Ethan last night in person, so he could…well, calm her nerves.
Instead Katherine took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, that’s fine.”
“No, it’s not,” her mother said absentmindedly as she thumbed through files that she had in her lap. “I promised you I’d be there.”
“No you didn’t,” Katherine said.
“Well, not explicitly,” her mother said firmly, “but that’s my job…as your mother and your queen.”
Katherine put a calming hand on her mother’s wrist. “I can handle it.”
“Katherine, I don’t think you’re ready.”
“Why not?” Katherine asked, generally puzzled. I mean, when was the right time to meet a murderer accused of fratricide anyway? Not that she hadn’t considered offing Rose a time or two herself, but only in jest. She loved her sister, but she didn’t like her.
“Because,” her mother said while pulling her glasses off her face in frustration. “Just because.”
A small smile blossomed on Katherine’s face. “Is this my mother talking or the queen?”
“Does it matter?” her mother asked while running frazzled fingers through her hair.
Katherine narrowed her eyes and stared at her mother…really stared.
Her mother was rarely like this. As long as Katherine could remember, she had been a regal and composed person, one that Katherine and her subjects could turn to with any problem. This wasn’t her.
“Mother,” Katherine said softly. “Tell me. What’s bothering you?”
Her mother looked out the window of the moving car for a moment, squeezed her daughter’s hand, and turned back to her with a tight smile. For a moment she dropped the façade that usually kept her face unreadable and Katherine saw raw pain in her mother’s eyes.
She knew that nothing—nothing—could cause her mother pain like that except one thing. With a gasp and a shudder as the realization went through her, Katherine briefly closed her eyes against the wave of emotional pain that went through her.
“Tomorrow’s the anniversary,” Katherine said numbly, rubbing her eyes with her unoccupied fist.
“Yes,” answered her mother softly. “Tomorrow is the anniversary of your father’s death. Tomorrow we will remember him as he was…and not how he died.”
Katherine nodded. “Of course.”
Looking up at her mother she said firmly, “I can handle this, Mother. You handle the coven dickheads and then we’ll come together as a family and remember Dad tomorrow.”
“Katherine Laine Thompson, watch your language!” her mother said in a scandalized tone which quickly gave way to giggles she couldn’t hold back.
Then her mother admitted, “They are rather stubborn idiots, aren’t they?”
Katherine sighed in relief. Happy to see her mother with some joy on her face again. “They’re also old and fat and stuck in their ways.”
Her mother took her files and swatted her lightly on the knee. “That’s enough of that. As women of the Thompson line, we must also respect them.”
“Right,” drawled Katherine. “Didn’t Great-Grandma Nellie have them held at gunpoint until they signed a contract for her?”
Her mother pinched her nose and winced. “Those were extenuating circumstances.”
Katherine snorted. “All I’m saying is don’t let them railroad you, Mother.”
“Have I ever?” the queen said with a hint of fierceness in her tone. “When I want something done, it gets done.”
“Yep, but you’re vulnerable this week and they know it,” Katherine said with her own brand of fierceness. “I want you to go into that meeting and take no prisoners. Beat them bloody if you have to, but come out unscathed.”
Her mother smiled bitterly. “You have more of Great-Grandma Nellie in you than you know.”
“And so do you,” Katherine said proudly.
With a sigh the queen leaned over and grabbed her daughter in a one-armed hug. “I’m so proud of you. Have I told you that?”
“For what?” Katherine asked suspiciously.
“For being you. For being different. For challenging the status quo and never backing down,” her mother said.
Katherine’s lips twitched as she fought to hold in her emotions.
“I didn’t know,” she whispered, looking down.
Her mother lifted her chin and said, “You know it now, Katherine Laine Thompson. You are my daughter and I am proud of you.”
The queen’s fierce eyes met her daughter’s hopeful ones.
When Katherine nodded in acknowledgement, the queen nodded back and separated a file from her stack. “This is what I know about Ms. Natalie Cumberbatch that I can share at the moment.”
Katherine took the file gratefully.
“Study it, my dear, on your way to the gymnasium,” the queen called out as she exited the SUV with the help of one of her guardians, “and keep me apprised.”
Katherine yelled out, “I will,” with a smile as she watched the door close and her mother head into the council meeting with her head held high. They both should have very interesting days today.
Katherine studied the file intently on the ride over to the high school. It held a lot of interesting facts and had quite a bit of overlap with the things she and Ethan had surmised last night while poring over the grimoire, which made her absurdly proud. But she also saw that quite of a lot of pertinent information had been blackened out about Natalie. Even her birthdate was marked unreadable, for some odd reason.
Muttering to herself, Katherine said, “Well, at least I have some idea of what I’m getting into.”
As she hopped out of the SUV and strode up the cement path to the gymnasium, she looked out for Ethan. He was just about the only person she could count on at the school other than Rose, who would defend her life but not her dignity, and her cousin Cecily, who was away for two semesters of training abroad.
Just as she reached the gym doors, Katherine’s stomach growled with an embarrassingly loud sound that reminded her and everyone within ten feet of her that she had not yet had breakfast.
Fortunately as she walked in on the polished hardwood floors she saw Ethan coming forward
with a tired smile on his face and two breakfast sandwiches in hand. When he offered her one, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to kiss him more or devour the sandwich. She settled on the latter with profuse thanks.
“You are a godsend,” she said between bites as they sat on the stiff side benches and waited for the principal to come in for the pairings.
Ethan smiled and said, “I try to be a good boyfriend, and that includes bringing a starving witch a hot sandwich knowing that she tends to forget to eat.”
Katherine sighed happily as she scarfed down the last bite. “And I thank you for that, awesome boyfriend.”
“Ohhh, I’m awesome now,” Ethan teased. “Remind me to bring you food more often.”
She punched him in the shoulder and stood as the seated participants rose at the entrance of the principle. Katherine knew it was more out of a sense of expediency rather than anything else like respect that the students rose. The faster they found their match, the faster they could leave.
The principal cleared his throat and said, “Well, by now you are all aware of everything. So for the next seventy-two hours, daylight only, you are bound at the hip to this person. Fae to witch. Witch to fae. I hope this brings a sense of community to all.”
The man nodded as if he had said something profoundly important. When no applause emitted from the waiting students he cleared his throat and gestured at his staff.
Whispers abounded until he turned back from an impromptu meeting with his assistant principals and said, “Well, time to find your partners.”
His tone was clearly impatient.
Katherine shook her head in disgust. “He wants us to meander around and look for them ourselves?”
“Look at it this way,” Ethan said. “There’re only two hundred or so eligible candidates.”
“If that’s supposed to be funny, it’s not,” growled Katherine. “You’re fast on your way to losing your ‘awesome’ status.”
“All right,” Ethan said while leaning over her and pointing. “How about this? There’s Natalia right over there.”
Katherine blinked and followed his finger to a young woman off in a corner with bright silver hair and a jean jacket on.
“That’s her?” she said tensely.
“That’s her,” he confirmed. “I asked around before you got here.”
“Thank you,” Katherine said tightly. Her entire body felt on edge. She didn’t know if she could do this. Despite what she had told her mother. Being brave in the car was a lot different than being brave when the going got tough.
“Katherine,” Ethan said gently, wresting a hand on her shoulder.
“What?” she said tautly while wresting her gaze from the girl that held her attention.
Looking up at Ethan, she watched him smile fondly and say, “You’ve got this. You know more about her than the cops, and what did we discuss last night?”
“That she may be guilty but there’s another side to the story,” Katherine said.
“A non-evil side,” Ethan said. “I can’t prove it, but it’s clear from the fact that she’s walking around free and that your mother let you do this that she may be a killer, but she’s not evil.”
“There was a reason, a plan, and a purpose for it all,” Katherine said.
“We hope so,” Ethan said.
“But try to find out what it was,” he continued with a teasing nudge.
Katherine rolled her eyes. “Are you trying to get me killed?”
“Of course not,” Ethan said as he swooped down and captured her lips with his own.
When she pulled back, Katherine had a soft smile on her face.
Ethan said, “I like you a little too much for that.”
“I would hope so,” Katherine teased. “Now let’s go see my new friend.”
Ethan shifted uneasily. “Well, I can’t go with you.”
The smile was immediately wiped off Katherine’s face. “Why not?”
Ethan held up a stone in his right hand. “I have a warlock of my own to meet across the gym.”
Katherine closed her eyes for a moment. “Of course, I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. You’re eligible, too.”
“Yep,” Ethan said with a grin. “Except mine isn’t a cold-blooded killer. Son of a librarian and as boring as they come.”
Katherine glared with her fists on her hips. “I thought we established that she wasn’t cold blooded.”
“No, Katherine,” Ethan said in a serious voice. “We said she had a reason to kill her family. But never forget, not for a moment, that in order for her to kill seven members of her family, one after the other, she had to be merciless. Never forget that.”
A shiver went down Katherine’s spine. “I won’t.”
Katherine shouldered her bag and prepared to move across the gymnasium, since it looked like Natalie hadn’t moved from her spot since the announcement.
“And Katherine?” Ethan said.
Katherine turned to look back at him over her shoulder. “Yeah?”
“Remember that just because you need to be with her doesn’t mean you have to be alone with her. Keep a guardian by your side at all times.”
Katherine nodded in acknowledgement, for once grateful that her special status as daughter of the Queen of Sandersville afforded her a little extra protection.
She was going to need it.
Chapter 6
Katherine wasn’t going to lie to herself. Going up to this fae girl was one of the bravest things she’d intentionally done. She just hoped it was worth it. She knew her mother wanted more unity between the fae and humans. Katherine would settle for staying alive.
Taking a deep breath she marched forward the last five steps to Natalie and stood in front of her, waiting for an acknowledgement.
When Natalie didn’t even look up at her, with her turned-down face hidden behind a shield of silver hair, Katherine decided to take the next best step. She stuck out her hand a few inches from Natalia’s face, stood definitely in her line of sight, and said, “Hi, I’m Katherine Thompson. I’m your witch buddy for the next three days.”
When Katherine heard a slight movement to her right, she turned to see one of her guardians standing a few feet away with a fierce look on his face and his earpiece in as usual.
By the time Katherine had turned back, Natalia was looking directly at her with the creepiest stare Katherine had ever seen. Her silver hair framed her face with bone straightness and was held back by pins to either side and fell down the small of her waist. Natalia’s skin was a white so pure that when they said alabaster skin, Katherine was sure this was what they meant. It looked like finely veined snow-white marble, but most disturbing feature was her eyes. They were pink like a newly bled carcass.
Or a vampire after they’ve fed, Katherine thought to herself.
When Natalia didn’t acknowledge her hand. Katherine dropped it and cleared her throat, prepared to try again.
Natalia abruptly said, “I know who you are.”
“Oh, good,” Katherine said weakly. “That’s good. Then you know about the assignment because…”
Katherine trailed off as Natalia gave her the snarkiest look she had ever seen. She almost took a step back in fright. Almost. It was the same kind of look her sister gave her after Katherine had done something stupid.
“Yes, I’m aware,” said Natalia, “as is everyone in this room. We all received contracts this morning.”
Did I miss something here? I’d almost swear I’ve just met Rose’s alabaster vampire twin, Katherine thought to herself miserably, except I don’t think Rose has ever killed somebody. Let alone several somebodies.
Natalie sighed deeply. “We’ll just have to survive these three days together.”
Katherine blinked and fear must have shown in her eyes because Natalia said, “Oh, you’re one of those. The people that think I’ll kill them for just blinking at me.”
“Well…” Katherine said.
Natalia snorted in disgust, rea
ched down, grabbed a bag, and proceeded to leave.
“Wait, I didn’t say that!” Katherine said frantically.
Natalia didn’t stop as she said, “You didn’t have to. Now come on, witch, we have work to do.”
Katherine watched her new companion leave the gym at a fast pace. “Did she say work?”
She looked over at her guardian to see if he had heard the same thing, but his expression didn’t change and he didn’t acknowledge her look. He was here to protect her. That was all.
“Witch!” came the shriek as Natalia walked through the doors.
Flames burst on Katherine’s cheeks as everyone between her and Natalia—about thirty people—turned to look over at Katherine.
“I have a name, you know,” Katherine tried to shout back.
Unfortunately Natalia was already through the rapidly closing doors.
Sighing in irritation, Katherine raced off after Natalia with the guard hot on her heels. By the time she caught up with her on foot, with a frantic wave of her hands to signal the other guardian to come with the car, Katherine was panting.
“Where are we going?”
Natalia gave her cold look. “Unlike you, I have a job to do.”
“I work!” yelped Katherine.
“At Mommy’s job, right?”
“Actually, it’s a family business,” said Katherine stiffly, “and I’ve worked there since I was twelve.”
“Right,” Natalia said derisively. “Well, some of us have real jobs, and mine won’t like me being late. This stupid community project or not.”
“It’s not stupid,” Katherine muttered from a few feet away.
But Natalia heard her, stopped, and whirled round like an avenging marble statue. “What else would you call it? I don’t know you, you don’t know me. Why in the world would someone stick us together?”
“That’s the point. To get to know each other,” Katherine said, frustrated.
“Why?” responded Natalia. “What do you think that will accomplish? World peace? News flash, sister, your people killed tens of thousands of mine before the war started, during the war, and after the war. This won’t make a difference.”
Katherine opened her mouth and closed it again, aghast.
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