Darkly Sweet

by Juliann Whicker

  I smiled. “What you should handle is the way that the females of this school torment her. If you’re so worried that she’s a danger, I would be careful not to push her too far. If she kills someone after being tortured and bullied past her breaking point, the blood will be on your hands.”

  She glared at me openly. “You sound like Zach. It’s my responsibility to protect our kind from you, not to step in the middle of a personal feud.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “I see. In that case, I hope she finds a powerful mage to bind so she has someone between herself and your kind.”

  I stared at her evenly while she stared back. I wasn’t seriously offering to bind myself to Penny Lane just so that I’d have the technical right to fight a witch on her behalf, but I

  liked the way Viney took that threat, far more alarmed at the prospect of Penny Lane owning me than me fighting Viney. I glanced over her, quite short, but crackling with power that wrapped around her. It would be exhilarating to fight her, but not even Viney would stand very long against me.

  She saw the gleam in my eyes and inhaled sharply. “I appreciate the warning. I will do more to bring peace and good feeling back to the honorable halls of dear Rosewood.” She scowled and rolled her eyes before spinning on her heel and stalking off.

  After such a charged conversation, I felt exhausted. It was a little bit funny that Zach decided to take over Penny’s riding lessons the way I’d taken over her ballet. Even though I only got her twice a week and he got her five times, when she was with me, she only wore a leotard, and her hair was up so I could smell her long neck. She was built like a ballerina, but she moved like something else.

  I should talk to Jackson, torture him until he told me something interesting about the conversation Viney brought up. What would Viney have done if I’d touched Penny while she was sleeping? I should have. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. For me to pass it up made me look like a gentleman. Not that I hadn’t experimented on her.

  I leaned my hands against either side of the sink and stared out the paned window to the grass outside. Everything was so green and glowing, like it didn’t know that summer was ending and it was time for gold, strawberry gold like her hair.

  I’d insisted that she come to the hospital with me because I wanted to test her, see what she was really made of, but it didn’t work out quite like I intended. For starters, her fear was a curse. I was almost positive of it, and the annulling of magic was tied into that curse, as an antidote or side-effect. When I thought she feared me, I’d lost my temper. I had no idea what I would have done if she hadn’t rested her cheek against my neck, pulling my energy into her until she could breathe. Stupid. I’d never hurt a female and wasn’t about to start now, unless you counted Creagh. I’d killed a few of those, but things that happened in Darkside didn’t seem real.

  Penny was like that, a bit unreal. I felt like I’d entered a different world, a dream world where people sang at the top of their lungs from the tower as though no one could hear, a place where you went to a restaurant with someone and ate separately, a world where witches sat on the floor telling stories to children, making them laugh and smile, chasing their pain and fear away with her sweetness.

  I’d watched her for an hour, waiting for her to snap, to scream at one of the children who pulled her hair too hard, but instead of getting wound tighter and tighter, she

  unfurled and relaxed. They were like Senor Mort to her, pets, creatures she could tame and love.

  She did not look at me like that. Maybe she wasn’t paralyzed with debilitating terror in my presence the way she was riding in my car, but her eyes were wary, and she refused to eat with me.

  When she was stuck in the tower singing so horrendously, I couldn’t help but scale it, like the prince from her story. Is that what she wanted? She’d taken comfort from my presence, as in she’d pulled that energy from me without seeming to realize it. Did she actually admire heroic acts, kindness, goodness? Witches didn’t. That’s why Zach put on his act of shy and sweet intellect, because it didn’t make them froth at the mouth the way my blatant disregard for human life did. The fact that Zach’s nature was more diabolical and cruel than mine was one of the ironies we both enjoyed.

  What would I have done to her if she hadn’t sought my strength? I would have to watch myself. Viney was right about that. Penny Lane left me unbalanced, dangerous to us both. I would have to leave her to Zach. What if that’s what she saw in him, sweetness, and that’s what she wanted, not his name, Stoneburrow, a mage with power?

  What was his name, the kid I saw talking to a lollipop? Barry? He was one of the weakest mages in school, but still bright, an excellent Chemist and not a terrible fighter.

  If he had the right friends, he could do well enough. It would be nice if someone found

  love in Rosewood. Love wasn’t possible for myself or Zach. For different reasons. Very different reasons.

  I shrugged and turned back to my work. I would focus on doing what I did best, being Drake Huntsman, the mage without a heart. I’d learned as much as I could about Penny Lane without using a scalpel. The curse was a mystery, but not mine.

  Chapter 15

  Witch

  My days fell into a pattern, waking up early to put together some potions, running to class, seeing Drake in Pas de Deux and Business, Zach in Linguistics and Dressage, and Viney in History.

  I put the whole tower thing out of my head and didn’t spend any more time trying to understand Drake. What did I care if he seemed conflicted, like he was several different personalities? The big bad wolf walked around the halls, saying something cruel and cutting then he’d smile at someone and be really nice for no apparent reason. It didn’t matter if he had a real personality disorder, or if he just liked messing with people. Either

  way, at the end of the week I hadn’t talked to him since the tower and was ecstatic that he no longer invaded my personal space.

  At the end of Business class on Friday, I was putting away my books and not looking at him, completely unaware of the way his jacket formed over his broad shoulders and strong back. He always ignored me in that class for mysterious reasons I couldn’t possibly fathom with my cute little bubblegum brains.

  “Penny Lane, what are you doing over the weekend?”

  I inhaled sharply before I looked up at him. I didn’t have to force a brilliant smile.

  “Nothing. I’m going to stay in my room all weekend, order pizza and not see anyone.

  What about you?” I stood up and got my books organized.

  His lips lifted in a snarl. “You’re hiding?” He moved closer, brushing my leg with his as he pressed me back against the edge of my desk.

  He was so close; I could feel the warmth of him against my bare legs and my skirt felt very short. I swallowed hard and found my smile slipping.

  “I have things to do.” I put my hands against his chest and pushed, but he only leaned his fascinating contours into my palms.

  He spoke in a low voice. “You’re not going to invite me to a tea party?”

  I swallowed and shook my head while my fingers curled around his lapels instead of pushing him away. “You’re developing a reputation for doing things without thinking.”

  He raised an eyebrow while his focus shifted from my eyes to my lips. “It’s balanced more or less by all the things I think about that I don’t do.”

  He stepped back ripping his jacket out of my fingers before he left the room, moving so quickly, it almost seemed like he was running.

  I unwrapped a dirt tasting lollipop while I headed to History. I was jostled and knocked into walls, had my books pulled out of my hands to the ground, my hair pulled and my arms pinched before I made it to class, heart still pounding although it had nothing to do with Drake’s thighs pressed against mine.

  I slid into a seat and didn’t notice Viney until she said something stupid about how gross those people were to live with fleas, like it was an issue of intelligence instead of circumstance
. In spite of Professor Vale’s excellent lesson, I had no idea what it had been about when after class, Viney passed me a note. I ignored it, leaving it behind me on the desk. I’d waited until everyone else had left the class, staring at that white slip of paper before I stood, packed up my books, smiled brightly at Professor Vale and headed to my room.

  Halfway there, I saw a guy hobbling along on crutches, a guy who looked remarkably like my missing Linguistics partner.

  “Barry? What happened? Did you really get involved with the mob bosses’ wife? Oh, you must have taken out a loan from the loan shark to pay for your mother’s funeral…”

  He glanced up at me, and his face was swollen, his brown eyes nearly closed over. I walked a few steps closer to him before I stopped again.

  “Penny,” he said through split lips, “I hope you’re having all sorts of sordid affairs in linguistics without me.” He winced when he smiled.

  I shook my head and took another step closer to him. “What happened?” I held my lip between my teeth while I waited for an explanation.

  He shrugged, hanging onto his crutches. “I was involved in a mafia war between two rival gangs. There were multiple women I was trafficking black market furs for, and while it was strictly business, their husbands were convinced that I was actually seducing them.” He cocked his head slightly. “There may have been a little bit of that. I fought them off, you know, but when my ex-lover Russian assassin spy discovered that I’d been having an affair with multiple women, she hit me with her…” He pursed his lips for a moment. “Tank. Yes, her pink tank, stole all my furs, decimated both mafia lords and left me like this.”

  I exhaled and reached out to touch his shoulder. “Are you coming back to linguistics? There are so many missing details that could only be justified in the Spanish language.”

  He gave me a half smile before he shook his head, looking away.

  I stood there for a moment before I let my hand drop. “A tank? A green tank?”

  He looked at me, his eyes sharp. “No. Pink. Didn’t I say that?”

  I nodded and licked my lips. I pulled a lollipop out of my bag and stared at it. “Can I give you a lollipop? I’ll unwrap it for you.”

  He stared at me for a long time before he shook his head, a slight movement that sent a spike of pure fury through me. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to be addicted to your drug-laced lollipops. I’ll see you around, Penny Lane.”

  I stood there and watched him hobble away. Someone had to do something about his Russian Spy mistress and her green tank, aka soccer mom car. I’d seen Drake break Jackson’s arm. Who else would hurt Barry for absolutely no reason?

  By the time I made it to my room, I could barely keep from screaming. I entered the common room of Lilac Stories and froze. My door was gone. Not open, not ajar but gone including the doorframe, black scorch marks on the lilac colored wall around it.

  I dropped my bag and ran into the room, crunching over the broken glass that littered the floor along with shredded clothing. Zach was in the middle of the room and swung around with a bat ready on his shoulder before he came up short.

  “What are you doing here? Didn’t Viney tell you not to come?” He stepped towards me, his expression intense and body language dangerous instead of his usual relaxed, lazy.

  I stood there staring at him until I heard a little scuffling in the corner behind my trunks.

  “Señor,” I called, stepping around Zach, but he grabbed my wrist, and then I twisted, shoved his arm backward and would have dislocated his elbow if he hadn’t gotten out of my way quickly.

  I tugged on the trunk, sliding on the glass while I crouched down. “Come on, Mort.

  It’s okay. I know you’re scared, but it’s going to be all right. Come here.”

  A flash of russet and a pair of beady eyes were all I saw before it scrambled along my arm and hid itself in my hair, curling around my shoulders and nudging my neck with his cold nose. I stood slowly then turned to Zach. I couldn’t smile, so I looked away, at the walls spray painted nasty words I didn’t know very well, at all my tubes and vials shattered, at my bed ripped out of the ceiling and broken up, at the only thing left standing: the trunks.

  “I chased them out before they could get into your trunks.” Zach lowered the bat and crossed one well-muscled arm over his stomach. “I asked Viney to keep you away until I got maintenance in here.”

  I tried for a smile but my lips were trembling. “Thanks. I should… I can’t…”

  I looked around for a lollipop, but my latest batch was nothing but shattered red bits ground into the floor.

  “Why don’t you wait in my room? Come on.”

  I shook my head and stumbled away from him, rubbing my arms. “I’m fine. I mean, everything will have to be replaced, but it’s just stuff. Señor Mort is fine. I think I’ll take a walk. He hasn’t been able to get out since we’ve come here. The woods are so beautiful.”

  I turned and left the room, picking up my bag on the way through the pale lilac commons while Señor Mort dug his little claws into my skin. I walked through the pillared halls and out onto the Green, past all the students who watched me with terrible anticipation on their faces. They knew about my room. They wanted to see me react, see me break and shatter into a million pieces. I stopped and stood there for a moment, clenching and unclenching my fists while a few students close to me edged away, fear tingeing their faces. I dug through my bag and found a bright pink lollipop I’d been saving for a special occasion just like this.

  I unwrapped it slowly, the edges of the cellophane sliding against my fingertips until I put the lollipop on my tongue, swirling it around until my heart sped up, blood

  pumping while I continued walking across the grass, swishing my skirt as I walked, eyeing every guy I saw with my most seductive lollipop look.

  I gave girls the same glance because it didn’t make any difference. None of them mattered. Nothing mattered in this stupid little world. I kept walking through the garden until I came to an iron fence, eight feet high. I didn’t hesitate but scaled it, glad it wasn’t electric before I jumped off the top and landed in my stupid shoes.

  I slipped them off, tucked them in my bag, shifted it on my shoulder, stroked Señor Mort a few times and then started running. There were narrow deer trails that wove through the woods and I followed them, running in my socks over the spongy earth.

  While my heart pounded, the concoction in my mouth entered my bloodstream. I ran faster and faster, pushing my body until my mind couldn’t process, until all the pain inside was replaced by the pain in my muscles, my legs screaming. I ran until my legs collapsed and I fell forward, spread fingers catching on layers of moldy leaves, but gladly not on top of Señor Mort.

  I lay there on my face, hands outstretched, legs askew until I felt Señor’s little nose on my ear, then my cheek. I curled up on my side, wrapping my arms around my little weasel, and pressed my forehead against his while the pain I’d been trying to outrun pounced and devoured me.

  Penny had died on a day like this: sunshine, running through the woods, coming back to the house and seeing her motorcycle in the driveway. I’d run inside, eager to tell her what an idiot she’d been to leave with some uncouth blackguard, and seen her perched on the edge of the balcony, three stories up. She’d looked at me and smiled, like she’d been waiting for me, and then she leaned forward like she was going to fly away, and fell instead.

  I hadn’t even had time to scream while she tumbled through the air, her long golden hair rippling before she came to a sudden jerk, on top of the unknown soldier’s spear.

  The bronze statue had always been in the hall, but I’d never really noticed it until the mounted soldier carried my cousin on his shoulder, blood running over the aged bronze and dripping to the floor.

  I curled into a tighter ball while I hurt and the pain didn’t seem to have anywhere to go. I ached with a fullness of the grief, the agony, the loneliness, all the emotions I’d never felt, not
like this. I hadn’t cried at the small service we’d had for my cousin, just me, Revere, and the priest, before we buried her in the backyard.

  “Why were you so stupid?” I muttered, my lips gritty and specked with leaves. “Why would you trust someone on the outside? Why would you give your heart to someone like that? Why?” I smashed my fist against the earth, the pain rushing up my arm and

  dulling some of the ache in my chest. I slammed my fist again, and again and again and again until someone grabbed it.

  I shuddered, trying to control myself, to keep the panic and anger in check. If it was Zach, I couldn’t dislocate his elbow or break his neck, or light him on fire and hope the whole world burned. He was a nice boy and I was going to marry him.

  “Penny?”

  I sat up and stared at Drake in the dim light of the deep woods. “What are you doing here?” Seriously, the last person in the world I wanted to see, and he dared look like that, dangerously delectable in the shadowed woods with that hair and his green eyes dripping with faux concern.

  He shrugged and glanced away and then back at me. “I was in Chemistry club when I heard some yelling, so I thought I’d find out if we had a new banshee in the woods.

  Turns out it was just you.”

  I opened my mouth to say something, but only a sob came out.

  His mouth twisted in disgust. Finally, he could see how revolting I was. Fine. Good. I didn’t want Drake to see anything other than vomit when he looked at me. I wiped my nose on my arm and left a long line of snot. My makeup would be streaked with leaves and dirt in it. Fine. I wanted him to see vomit, snot, and dirt when he looked at me. I

  caught my trembling lower lip in my teeth while I stared down at the leaves. “Now you know it’s just me so you can go back to Chemistry club. Sounds super fun. Run along.”

  He put his hand on my shoulder. I’d completely forgotten about Señor Mort. Drake pulled back with a gasp, pressing his now bleeding hand with his other one.

  The smell of blood and black cherry filled the air. I closed my eyes and clenched my fists. “When are you going to learn your lesson about grabbing girls?”