“Jill knows I can’t put my life on hold.”
“You should,” I snapped.
Now he was angry. “Well, you’d know all about that since you’re an expert in denying yourself the things you want. And now you’re going to leave the country to make sure you can deprive yourself even more.”
“Yes, exactly.” I walked over to the callistana and spoke the incantation that turned him back into his inert form. I put the crystal into my purse and summoned all my will to give Adrian the coldest look I could manage. It must have been a powerful one because he looked as though I’d slapped him. Seeing that pain on his face made my heart break. I didn’t want to hurt him. I didn’t want to leave him! But what choice did I have? There was too much at stake.
“This is done. I’ve made my choice, Adrian,” I said. “I’m leaving this weekend, so please don’t make it any more difficult than it has to be. I’d like us to be friends.” The way I spoke made it sound like we were closing a business arrangement.
I walked toward the door, and Adrian hurried after me. I couldn’t bear to face the agony in his eyes, and it took all my resolve not to avert my gaze. “Sydney, don’t do this. You know it’s wrong. Deep inside, you know it is.”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t answer. I walked away, forcing myself not to look back. I was too afraid my resolve would falter—and that was exactly why I needed to leave Palm Springs. I wasn’t safe around him anymore. No one could be allowed to have that kind of power over me.
All I wanted to do after that was hide in my room and cry. For a week. But there was never any rest for me. It was always about others, with my feelings and dreams shoved off to the side. Consequently, I wasn’t in the best position to give Eddie romantic advice when we met up that night. Fortunately, he was too caught up in his own emotions to notice mine.
“I should never have gotten involved with Angeline,” he told me. We were at a coffee shop across town that was called Bean There, Done That. He’d ordered hot chocolate and had been stirring it for almost an hour.
“You didn’t know,” I said. It was hard maintaining my half of the conversation when I kept seeing the pain in Adrian’s eyes. “You couldn’t have known—especially with her. She’s unpredictable.”
“And that’s why I shouldn’t have done it.” He finally set the spoon down on the table. “Relationships are dangerous enough without getting involved with someone like her. And I don’t have time for that kind of distraction! I’m here for Jill, not me. I should never have let myself get caught up in this.”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be with someone,” I said diplomatically. Unless that person turns your world upside down and makes you lose all self-control.
“Maybe when I’ve retired, I’ll have the time.” I couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. “But not right now. Jill’s my priority.”
I had no business playing matchmaker, but I had to try. “Have you ever thought about seriously being with Jill? I know you used to like her.” And I was absolutely certain he still did.
“That’s out of the question,” he said fiercely. “And you know it. I can’t think of her like that.”
“She thinks about you like that.” The words slipped out before I could stop them. After my own romantic disaster today, a part of me longed for at least someone to be happy. I didn’t want anyone else hurting the way I did.
He froze. “She . . . no. There’s no way.”
“She does.”
A whole range of emotions played through Eddie’s eyes. Disbelief. Hope. Joy. And then . . . resignation. He picked up the spoon again and returned to his compulsive stirring.
“Sydney, you know I can’t. You of all people know what it’s like to have to focus on your work.” This was the second time today someone had said “you of all people” to me. I guess everyone had a preconceived idea of who I was.
“You should at least think about it,” I said. “Watch her the next time you’re together. See how she reacts.”
He looked as though he might consider it, which I took as a small victory. Suddenly, alarm flashed on his face. “Whatever happened with you and Marcus? The St. Louis trip? Did you find out anything about Jill?”
I chose my next words very carefully, both because I didn’t want to alarm him and because I didn’t want him taking some drastic action that could accidentally reveal my dealings with Marcus. “We found some evidence that the Warriors have talked to the Alchemists, but nothing that shows they’re working together or have actual plans for her. I’ve also taken some steps to make sure she’s protected.”
I hadn’t heard anything from Stanton today and wasn’t sure if that last part would actually pan out. Eddie looked relieved, though, and I couldn’t bear to stress him out any further today. His gaze shifted to something behind me, and he pushed the untouched hot chocolate away. “Time for us to go.”
I looked back at a clock and saw he was right. We still had a comfortable window before curfew, but I didn’t want to push it. I finished off the last of my coffee and followed him out. The sun was sinking into the horizon, coloring the sky red and purple. The temperature had finally cooled off to normal levels, but it still didn’t feel like winter to me. There’d been a bunch of badly parked cars in the front of the lot, so I’d parked Latte in the back in case some careless person opened a door too fast.
“Thanks for the moral support,” Eddie told me. “Sometimes it feels like you really are a sister—”
That was when my car exploded. Sort of.
I have to admit Eddie’s response time was amazing. He threw me to the ground, shielding my body with his. The boom had been deafening, and I cried out as some sort of foam landed on the side of my face.
Foam?
Cautiously, Eddie rose, and I followed. My car hadn’t exploded in flames or anything like that. Instead, it was filled with some sort of white substance that had blasted out with such force that it had blown the doors off and broken the windows. We both approached the mess, and behind us, I heard people coming out of the coffee shop.
“What the hell?” asked Eddie.
I touched some of the foam on my face and rubbed my fingertips together. “It’s sort of like the stuff you’d find in a fire extinguisher,” I said.
“How did it get in your car?” he asked. “And how did it get there so fast? I glanced over at it when we first walked out. You’re the chemical expert. Could some reaction have happened that fast?”
“Maybe,” I admitted. At the moment, I was too shocked to really run any formulas. I rested a hand against Latte’s hood and wanted to burst into tears. My emotions were at a breaking point. “My poor car. First Adrian’s, now mine. Why do people do stuff like this?”
“Vandals don’t care,” said a voice beside me. I glanced over and saw one of the baristas, an older man who I believed was the owner. “I’ve seen stuff like this before. Damn kids. I’ll call the police for you.” He took out his cell phone and backed away.
“I don’t know if we’ll make curfew now,” I told Eddie.
He gave me a sympathetic pat on the back. “I think if you show a police report at the dorm, they’ll be lenient with you.”
“Yeah, I hope that—ugh. The police.” I hurried over to the passenger side and stared bleakly at the wall of foam.
“What’s wrong?” Eddie asked. “I mean, aside from the obvious.”
“I have to get to the glove compartment.” I lowered my voice. “There’s a gun in there.”
He did a double take. “A what?”
I said no more, and he helped me dig through the foam. Both of us ended up covered in it by the time I reached the compartment. Making sure no one was behind us, I quickly retrieved the gun and slipped it into my messenger bag. I was about to shut the lid when something shiny caught my eye.
“That’s impossible,” I said.
It was my cross, the gold one I’d lost. I grabbed it and then immediately dropped it, yelping in pain. The metal had burned
me. Considering the foamy substance was cool, it didn’t seem likely it had heated up the cross. I wrapped my sleeve around my hand and gingerly picked up the cross again.
Eddie peered over my shoulder. “You wear that all the time.”
I nodded and continued staring at the cross. A terrible feeling began to spread over me. I found a tissue in my purse and wrapped the cross up before adding it to the bag. Then I retrieved my cell phone and dialed Ms. Terwilliger. Voice mail. I hung up without leaving a message.
“What’s going on?” asked Eddie.
“I’m not sure,” I said. “But I think it’s bad.”
I hadn’t yet developed the ability to sense magical residue, but I was almost certain something had been done to the cross, something that had resulted in Latte’s foamy demise. Alicia hadn’t been able to find the cross. Had Veronica doubled back and taken it? If so, how had she located me? I knew personal items could be used to track back to a person, though the most common ones were hair and nails. As advanced as Veronica was, it was very likely an object—like this cross—would serve just as well.
Veronica might very well have found me. But if so, why vandalize my car instead of sucking out my life?
The police came soon thereafter and took our statements. They were followed by a tow truck. I could tell from the driver’s face that it wasn’t looking good for Latte. He hauled my poor car away, and then one of the officers was nice enough to return Eddie and me to Amberwood. Against all odds, we made it back just in time.
As soon as I got to my room, I tried Ms. Terwilliger again. Still no answer.
I emptied out my bag onto my bed and found it had gathered a number of items today. One of them was a donut I’d picked up at the coffee shop. I put it and the quartz crystal into the aquarium and summoned the callistana. He immediately went after the donut.
I found the cross and discovered it was now cool. Whatever spell it had been used in was gone. The gun was near it, and I quickly hid that back in the bag. That left Ms. Terwilliger’s envelope, which I’d neglected all day. Maybe if I hadn’t been so distracted by personal matters, I could have saved Latte.
I pulled the latest spell book out of the envelope and heard something jangle. I removed the book and then saw another, smaller envelope inside. I pulled it out and read a message Ms. Terwilliger had written on the side: Here’s another charm to mask your magical ability, just in case. It’s one of the most powerful out there and took a lot of work, so be careful with it.
That same guilt I always felt about her helping me returned. I opened the small envelope and found a silver star pendant set with peridots. I gasped.
I had seen this charm before, this powerful and painstakingly made charm that could allegedly hide strong magical ability.
I had seen it around Alicia’s neck.
CHAPTER 23
FOR A MOMENT, I THOUGHT it had to be a coincidence. After all, what was so special about a peridot star? For all I knew, Alicia might have been born in August and was just sporting her birthstone among that mess of necklaces she always wore. And yet, if there was one thing I believed more than ever, it was Sonya’s adage that there were no coincidences in the world of the supernatural.
I sank to the floor and tried to reason my way through things. If the charm Alicia had worn was like this one, then it meant she too was a strong magic user trying to mask her abilities. Did she know about Veronica? Was Alicia trying to protect herself? If so, then it seemed like she wouldn’t have been so casual about Veronica staying at the inn. So, that meant either Alicia didn’t know about Veronica’s true nature—again, a suspicious coincidence—or that Alicia was covering for Veronica.
Could Alicia be in league with Veronica?
That seemed the likeliest answer to me. Although Veronica apparently sought out young, powerful magic users, it was totally possible that she’d seen the advantage of having one as an assistant. And, as we’d observed, Veronica had plenty of other victims to choose from. Alicia could therefore help and cover up Veronica’s nefarious plans—like when a curious couple came asking questions.
I groaned. Alicia had been playing us from the beginning. From the instant we’d stepped through her door with stories about our anniversary and “friend” Veronica, she’d known we were lying. She’d known we weren’t actually friends with Veronica, and she might have been strong enough to fight Adrian’s compulsion a little. She’d gone along with everything—even being so helpful as to call me when Veronica had shown up again. I had no idea now what was true, if Veronica had ever left in the first place or returned from being gone. I did, however, have a sinking suspicion that my car wasn’t the only one she’d incapacitated.
I could understand if she’d used the cross to find me, but how had she initially located the Mustang? I racked my brain for any identifying information. Adrian’s spirit magic should have muddled our appearances, covering up any connection to us. Then I knew. Alicia had walked us out and admired the Mustang. A clever person—someone who was already on high alert because of our visit—could’ve made note of the license plate and used it to track down where Adrian lived.
But why slash the tires? To delay us, I realized. That was the night Lynne had been attacked. And we had arrived too late to warn her.
The more I began to sift through the events of the last few weeks, the more I began to think we had been very, very careless. We’d thought we were being so cautious about concealing ourselves from Veronica. No one, not even Ms. Terwilliger, had considered that she might have an accomplice we also had to watch out for. And the dreams . . . those had started the day Adrian and I had been on the velvet bed. The day my garnet had slipped and had possibly been enough for Alicia to sense a magic user in the inn.
Which brought me back to the present. Ms. Terwilliger. I had to tell her what I’d found. I called for a third time. Still no answer. Although I often had images of Ms. Terwilliger conducting late-night rituals, it was entirely reasonable that she’d be in bed right now. Was this the kind of thing that could wait until morning?
No, I decided on the spot. No, it wasn’t. We were dealing with dangerous, violent magic users—and my car had just been attacked. Something might be happening as I stood there, trying to decide. I would have to wake her up . . . provided I could get to her.
It took only a moment to make my next decision. I called Adrian.
He answered on the first ring but sounded wary, which I couldn’t blame him for after what I’d done earlier. “Hello?”
I prayed he was the noble guy I thought he was. “Adrian, I know things are bad between us, and maybe I have no right to ask, but I need a favor. It’s about Veronica.”
There was no hesitation. “What do you need?”
“Can you come over to Amberwood? I need you to help me break curfew and escape my dorm.”
There were a few moments of silence. “Sage, I’ve been waiting two months to hear you say those words. You want me to bring a ladder?”
The plan was already unfolding in my head. The security guards that patrolled at night would have eyes on the student parking lot, but the back property would be relatively unguarded.
“I’ll get myself out of the building. If you come up the main road that leads to Amberwood and then go past the driveway, you’ll see a little service road that runs up a hill and goes behind my dorm. Park there near the utility shed, and I’ll meet you as soon as I get out.”
When he spoke again, his earlier levity was gone. “I’d really like to believe this is some awesome midnight adventure, but it’s not, is it? Something’s gone really wrong.”
“Very wrong,” I agreed. “I’ll explain in the car.”
I quickly changed into clean jeans and a T-shirt, adding a light suede jacket against the evening chill. To be safe, I also decided to pack my bag with a few supplies and bring it along. If all went well, I’d simply be warning Ms. Terwilliger tonight. But with the way things had been going lately, I couldn’t presume anything would be simple.
Bringing the suitcase this time would be unwieldy, so I had to make a few quick decisions about chemicals and magical components. I tossed some in the bag and stuffed others in my jeans and coat pockets.
Once I was ready, I headed down to Julia and Kristin’s room. They were dressed for bed but not asleep yet. When Julia saw me with my coat and bag, her eyes went wide.
“Sweet,” she said.
“I know you’ve gotten out before,” I said. “How’d you do it?”
Julia’s many dates often occurred outside of sanctioned school hours, and both she and Kristin had bragged about Julia’s exploits in the past. I’d hoped perhaps Julia knew about a secret tunnel out of the school and that I wouldn’t have to attempt some crazy feat of acrobatics. Unfortunately, that was exactly what I had to do. She and Kristin walked me to their window and pointed at a large tree growing outside it.
“This room has a view and easy access,” said Kristin proudly.
I eyed the gnarled tree warily. “That’s easy?”
“Half the dorm’s used it,” she said. “So can you.”
“We should be charging people,” mused Julia. She flashed me a smile. “Don’t worry. We’ll give you a freebie tonight. Just start on that big limb there, swing over there, and then use those branches for handholds.”
I found it amazing that someone who’d claimed badminton in PE was too “dangerous” would have no qualms about scaling a tree from her third-floor room. Of course, Marcus’s apartment had been on the fourth floor, and that fire escape had been a million times more unsafe than this tree. Thoughts of Alicia and Ms. Terwilliger snapped me back to the importance of my mission, and I gave Julia and Kristin a decisive nod.
“Let’s do this,” I said.
Julia cheered and opened the window for me. Kristin watched just as eagerly. “Please tell me you’re running off to meet some breathtakingly handsome guy,” she said.
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