by Oxford, Rain
“No joking, no riddles, and no games. Was it real? Were you there?”
“Yes. I have dropped in a time or two. I saw you as useful. You were supposed to forget those times, though. You must have come in contact with an object of immense power. Until the tower is destroyed, I will be tenacious about stopping it. That means bribing, blackmailing, and manipulating anyone I have to, including you.”
“I’m not going to make a deal with anyone without knowing what I’m getting into.”
He sat back and grinned. “Whatever you say. Heather is the persuasive one. By the way, if the headmaster’s right-hand man suddenly left, who would have the best chance of killing the headmaster?”
“His deputy.”
* * *
On the way to Langril’s class on Tuesday, I caught up with Becky. “So, know anything about the new rules the council wants to push?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes. “Trust me, my father tells me nothing. I only see him when my mother guilts me into going to dinner with them. He spends the entire time ridiculing my life choices and complaining that he doesn’t have a son.”
Brian spotted me and started to say something before he noticed Becky, turned, and ran in the opposite direction.
“What the Freud was that about?” she asked.
“He’s afraid of women.”
“Good for him. If women were running the council…” She let the sentence go unfinished.
* * *
When I arrived at Elemental Configuration, Professor Watson was speaking with a student and didn’t notice the fight that was forming in the back of the room between Jackson and Dan. I really wanted to ignore it. Unfortunately, Dan was sweating and when he tried to punch Jackson, he missed and collapsed.
I brought him to the infirmary, where Dr. Martin said there was no change in the situation. Mack was also still missing.
By then, even I was starting to doubt that Darwin would pass his test. After we were done with our classes, we met in the dining room for a before-dinner snack. The room wasn’t very crowded and we didn’t feel like going back to our room.
Amelia found us and sat next to Darwin, unable to offer him any comfort over his upcoming test. “Have you been able to overhear anything about the sickness?” she asked him.
He shook his head. “It’s just fear now. Most are afraid it was some kind of communicable disease.”
A low growl in the back of Henry’s throat and an angry glare had us turning to the dining room entrance. Kale swaggered in and gave the room a sweeping gaze… until his eyes locked on Henry. Students fell silent as the council member approached our table. “Henry Lycosa,” he began loudly, making sure everyone could hear. “You are under arrest.”
“For what?” Darwin asked.
Kale glared at him. “For the murder of Luana and Matheus Lycosa.” Henry blanched.
“Your parents are dead?!” Darwin asked.
“Did you find their bodies?” Henry asked, ignoring our roommate.
The wizard’s eyes narrowed further. “We suspect you burned their bodies to destroy the evidence. Unfortunately for you, Holli Scout witnessed you attacking them on the night of August twenty-ninth.”
The full moon.
Henry stood, his face becoming blank. “I’ll get you out, bro,” Darwin promised.
“It’s okay. They’ll let me go when my parents are found dead or alive. Just focus on your test.” He said something to Darwin in Portuguese and then walked away.
Kale was obviously startled by Henry’s compliance, yet he managed to contort his shocked expression into a sneer at Darwin. “See you Saturday, Mason.”
“I’m not a bloody throwback, drittsekk. If you so much as irritate Henry, everyone on the council will know you slept with Chambers’s wife.”
“It hardly matters now; James is dead. In fact, the only one who wasn’t sleeping with her was James.”
“Brenn i helvete.”
Kale walked out.
“That was suspicious,” I said. “Henry hates cages, yet he was willing to go so easily. What did he say to you?”
“He said the amulet was in his pillowcase. Did he do it? I mean, he looked shocked, but maybe that was just because he was caught. We know he has a secret. Maybe his parents did genetic experiments on him, which explains his peculiar jaguar. It’s also a good excuse to snap and kill someone.”
“No. He’s never been secretive about the wanting to kill his parents; he would have told us if he killed them. Also, if he did kill them, he wouldn’t be seen. Either Holli is lying, or she was fooled. I think this is Gale’s doing.”
“He’s trying to get the amulet back. I get the feeling the council isn’t going to give Henry a fair trial or wait for evidence. Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“We’re going to use that damn amulet. I’m going to do magic if it kills that smarmy goat and if any of those damn councilmen bother my roommates ever again, they’ll be swimming with the fishes… in a volcano.”
“There is a wolf in you, isn’t there?”
He scowled. “And what if there is? You and Henry are two of my pack-mates and everyone not part of my pack can suck it.”
“Grab the amulet and meet me at the burn field,” I said. He nodded and took off.
“Is he okay?” Amelia asked.
“I think this is the first time since we got to school that he’s okay.”
* * *
Fifteen minutes later, Darwin joined us at the burn field. “You couldn’t have picked a closer location?” he asked.
“Shut up and concentrate. We’re going to do something different. I used the amulet before and you already know how to use my powers through a connection that I open. We’ll do just like what we did in Remy’s class, except you’re going to light the candles with real fire.”
He looked around at the candles and frowned doubtfully.
“Just think of Kale again. I’m pretty sure anger is associated with fire.”
“But my mother’s power is camouflage.”
“You’re not a forest fae; you’re a genius. You have the know-how and that amulet gives you everything else. You’re not going to scare the council by making the walls pink.”
He nodded. “I’m not in a pink mood, anyway.” He sat down and I sat across from him. In my opinion, he was making progress since he hadn’t changed the color of anything in two days.
Opening a mental link between us was second nature to me and his manic thoughts were as familiar as my own calmer ones. I pushed away his compulsive calculations and focused on fire. The sun was high in the sky, burning me slowly. I thought of grease fires, steaming coffee, fireworks, and sunburns.
“Stop,” Darwin groaned. His mind took control and he imagined the ocean.
“No. You need fire.” I opened my eyes and studied the candles around us. “You need to do this yourself. I’ve created fire before and you know how magic works.”
He nodded again and the image of a cauldron appeared in my mind. The first time I created fire replayed like a video, except I could feel it. I felt the excitement as I realized for the first time and without any doubt that I could really do it.
Through me, Darwin felt that as his own excitement. Images and sensations of fire flashed between us quickly and faltered on my last kiss with Astrid. “Why?” I asked, but oddly, I knew the answer. Heat built inside me as I remembered details of the kiss that I hadn’t even noticed during the event. I never realized Astrid had an underlying scent of strawberries or that she shivered when I started to pull away. I hadn’t really seen the look in her eyes even when I was staring into them. They were more green than brown, shinier than usual, yet the skin under her eyes were darker, probably due to a lack of sleep.
I could feel her soft pants against my skin and couldn’t resist pulling her back for another kiss… only we were kids again. It wasn’t sexual as it had been a moment before, but it certainly wasn’t innocent. In the memory of our first kiss, she gave off the
impression of being fragile. At least she was physically. Mentally, she was fearless, brave, and borderline psychotic. After that one horrible night, I replayed everything she had ever said at least a hundred times. Her sociopathic tendencies had always been there.
She wasn’t a bad person, but she didn’t think like “normal people” did. Of course, neither did Darwin. Hell, who was I to judge anyone? She didn’t lack morals; her morals were just not exactly aligned with mine. This conclusion led back to kissing her, except that the memory slipped into a fantasy as her shirt slipped off.
This was fire. Passion was fire.
Although he never liked to sit still, Darwin’s focus was much better than mine. His imagination, on the other hand, could use some work. Within seconds, I saw and felt fire take form, split into thirty-one parts, and line perfectly with the wicks of the candles. Reality returned to me and I found myself breathing heavily. Darwin blushed, also panting. “Are you planning on… seeing her again tonight?” he asked, staring too intently at a particular candle.
“Perv. Lust over your own girlfriend.”
“I hope I don’t get as boring as you in my old age.”
I laughed. “Your I.Q. is higher than Regina can count. If you want to be intimate with Amelia, get creative.”
“I tried; I suggested a sheet. She turned redder than her hair and nearly had a panic attack. So, what are we going to do to help Nightshade and Watson bring down the council? I guess we could just ask Watson to cut us in.”
“Let’s play nice to get you past your test first and we’ll come up with a plan to spring Henry out second if they don’t let him go by then.”
“You don’t think they’ll kill Henry?”
“I don’t think they can.”
* * *
I was already heading for the door when it opened. It wasn’t entirely sunset yet, but Astrid must have felt the same sense of urgency I did because there she was, barging into my room and into my arms. Her mouth met mine hard enough that I was surprised there wasn’t any blood. Lost in her kiss, I somehow ended up in my chair with her in my lap. God, strawberries. It was the oddest thing to be aroused by, but she smelled so damn good.
Her lips broke from mine and she nipped gently at my shoulder and neck as her hands tried to get the button undone on my jeans. My head was so clouded that I missed how we went from the chair to the floor… or where her shirt went.
Soft, warm skin… I licked a line of her skin from her throat to her navel, purposefully avoiding her most intimate areas. Before I was willing to give up my teasing, she pushed me off. Using her inhuman strength, she got back on top and started kissing my neck again. When the sharp tips of her fangs grazed my skin, I shuddered. It was with anticipation, not revulsion. I felt it when she pulled back that she was about to bite.
“Get off him!” Darwin yelled, shattering the illusion the vampire and I were under.
The illusion that everything was okay between us.
Astrid sprang back like she was electrocuted. Obviously, she was as lost in the moment as I was. “Sorry,” she said quickly, turning away. “I had a very strong dream and it… I needed to feel it for real.”
She was dangerous. She was also shirtless. Because our bond was based on a shared history of turmoil, trauma, and being outcasts, the last thing either of us needed was to have a sexual relationship… or any kind of relationship. Unfortunately, there was nothing reasonable about what I felt at that moment.
I tried to distract myself with thoughts of the female black widow spider which, during mating, is known to eat its mate. It didn’t help.
She reached for me again, but I felt an odd, unfamiliar sensation. The connection between Darwin and me was forced open. His mind instantly helped to clear the lust from mine. Darwin was using the amulet, yet I didn’t feel the same as when Gale used it. Instead of an underwater sensation, it felt like one of my limbs went numb, only I couldn’t actually tell which.
Fire irrupted from the floor, forming a five-foot wide wall between Astrid and me. Although she backed away, the look in her eyes told me she wasn’t ready to give up. I opened the connection between us without considering the consequence. Since Darwin was using my power over fire, Astrid’s memories of fire flowed over.
Fire spread across the carpet, destroying everything it could catch until it met blood. Astrid, only about a year old, was sitting in a pool of her mother’s blood. She didn’t cry even as the air filled with smoke. Even though the memory was warped and faded from years of newer memories, I saw a man approach. Between the smoke and light, even her exceptional vision was impeded, but she knew who it was. She trusted him.
Astrid forced Darwin and me from her mind and when I opened my eyes, she was gone.
* * *
Wednesday morning, Addison sat in Henry’s usual seat at breakfast and looked around. “Where is he?”
“He had to go home for a few days,” I said without thinking. If she knew he was arrested, she would want to know why, and I couldn’t be sure whether she would believe he was innocent or not. If she was going to leave him, it should at least be for something he did.
“Students are saying the council showed up.”
“Nothing gets past you, does it, didi?” Darwin asked. “Maybe if you were nicer to him, he would have said bye before heading home.”
“Darwin,” I admonished.
Addison stood, shaking with anger. “I don’t shut him out and say I don’t care if I never see him again! I’m not the one who would rather draw than talk!”
“He draws when you’re with him?” Darwin asked, astonished. Addie walked off without answering. “He never draws with us in the room. He always acts like we’re going to make fun of his drawings. Damn. I wish we had been the ones to kill his parents. Henry could have been a famous artist if his parents hadn’t–” He snapped his mouth shut, angry beyond words but still unwilling to betray Henry’s secrets if someone was listening.
* * *
Nobody else got sick, but those already sick were still getting worse. Darwin and I tried to find a link between Caleb, Nathan, and Dan. They weren’t at the pool, they didn’t have phones, and nobody saw them talking to Astrid. This time, Darwin and I split up the list of six sick students and retraced their steps.
We got nowhere. Kristen, Conner, and Len were all missing for a period of one to four hours, but Caleb, Nathan, and Dan were not. Mack was still missing. “What’s the next step?” Darwin asked. We were alone in our room with our reports spread all over the floor. Dinner had been somber and quick.
“Find a motive and let it lead us to a suspect.” I flopped onto my back and twirled my pen between my fingers.
“We know the first four had mobiles that were not working or confiscated. Maybe the suspect wanted to call someone, asked them, and then… inflicted a powerful and vicious spell on them to hide their actions.”
“Astrid would be a victim, too. I don’t think someone who could do this would need a cell phone. Maybe they wanted to make sure no one could call for help.”
“Stop that,” Darwin said, taking the pen from me. “You’re gonna cut yourself.” He handed me a red foam ball, which I fiddled with instead.
When I tossed it up in the air and caught it, I realized what I was doing. “Hang on. This is Langril’s ball.”
“So?”
“He always has it with him. How did you get it?”
“Astrid had it, but she said she didn’t know where she got it from.”
“Nathan wanted Jackson’s position as Langril’s assistant, and Dan was fighting Jackson when he got really sick.”
“You think Jackson is involved?”
“Or Langril. Mack went missing looking for his jacket in Langril’s class.”
“But Len didn’t take Langril’s class or have any reason to be around Langril. I don’t think he even had a class with Jackson.”
“We’re missing something. I know we’re missing something.” I thought for a few minutes. “I th
ink I saw something that was wrong, but I can’t remember what it is. Maybe someone said something they shouldn’t have.”
“Something your instincts missed?”
“Yeah. Whoever it is knows what they’re doing and who they’re up against. They’re probably angry because they’re killing students slowly. They’re extremely powerful and know old magic. We know really angry people, and we know really powerful people, but not anyone who is both and has a reason to attack those students.”
“But they haven’t gone after us or the teachers. Maybe it’s random,” Darwin said.
“No, that kind of magic would probably take a lot of work; you don’t do that for a hit or miss target. Maybe it’s not who they hit but what they do or who they work with. If it’s Langril, why not strike at Langril directly? Unless they couldn’t get Langril’s blood or hair or anything. He seems smart enough not to let anyone that close. But if it’s those around Langril, why Len? Why not Jackson?”
“Who would want to put up with Jackson’s whining? Even his gang hasn’t been hanging around him this semester.”
I sat up quickly. “Did you see Jackson at dinner?”
“Yeah. He came into the dining room and walked right back out. I didn’t care enough to pay attention.”
“We need to watch him. We’ll keep an eye on him during the day and Astrid can watch at night. By watching him, we’ll also be semi-watching Langril. Also, Jackson strikes me as a serious trouble magnet.”
* * *
My mother had taken me out of school to get clothes. There was nothing special at all about the day, only that it was her day off. I had no idea why I desperately wanted to stay at school, and I wasn’t going to argue when she as trying so hard to spend time with me. She picked out the goofiest clothes, which we both laughed about when I tried them on.
“You know, one of my sisters wanted a daughter so bad that she dressed her son in a dress until he was eight,” she mused while I changed into a blue polo shirt and jeans.