Oliver, eyes wide at Felix on the bench and my bra-less, shoe-less condition, nodded. Felix rose and whispered a slight explanation as I picked out a sports bra, underwear, sweats, and running shoes. My fingers tapped the counter and then I grabbed a laptop, a messenger bag, the pre-made spell items they had. None of it was as good as my own stuff, but it was better than the nothing the Presidium had left me. I grabbed a couple more changes of sweats and all of the underwear. And I went for the things that I had left behind before. I hadn’t been that interested in defensive spells. But I grabbed the books on them now. And offensive spells too.
I took a piece of paper and wrote him a note: I'M SORRY ABOUT MISSING THE MUSIC. MY MOM AND THINGS.
Oliver wordlessly rung everything up and then said, warming my heart, “I’m off soon.”
I hadn't thought I would get another chance. I mean...I had forgotten our date in the light of Felix’s plans and my mother’s manipulation.
Felix looked at Oliver and then at me.
“You two got something going here?”
I flushed a brilliant red. I’m a pale person. Super pale. Until someone embarrasses me, and then I am so very red I could be re-named Scarlett.
“We’re just friends,” Oliver said. No blush showing on his face.
“She’s a Hallow,” Felix said, and I frowned at him. “You don’t get to just keep that quiet. Things are different for Hallow kids.”
I demanded his phone and typed, “I didn’t know.’
“Sure,” he replied with a frown, but he had hesitated before he said it. Did he believe me or not?
I snatched the phone back, and typed, “I DID NOT know.”
Oliver looked over my shoulder to see what I wrote and said, “Truth seruming mom not so forthcoming?”
I nodded firmly.
“That’s cold,” Oliver said, “My mom told me to avoid the Hallow kids. But college is about rebelling and finding your own way right?”
He let his shoulder bump mine, and I thought, yes, he is simply the hunkiest guy I have seen. Ever. I gave him a grateful smile and Felix looked at the two of us in disgust.
“Someone is killing Hallow kids, fresher. You need to be careful while you are with this one, or you could be collateral damage. And you need to pay attention so she isn’t one of the dead ones.”
My face must have shown my feelings because Felix backed up.
“Rue,” he said. “I’m sorry, but it’s true.”
I took his phone again and typed, “You are a massive jerk. Also, you’re wrong about me.”
“I hope that I'm not wrong about you," he replied. “If you’re taking my place, Oliver, don’t leave her alone. It’s not safe for her anywhere right now. Especially alone.” Felix had read Oliver's name tag, and there was a bit of threat in that statement, but given Felix’s stagger, I guessed even he knew that he'd be next to useless if anything actually happened.
I didn’t understand Felix—he wouldn’t leave me alone to be hunted and yet he was angry with me. Angry and refusing to let me hide behind who I thought I was—but still, he hadn’t left until Oliver had made it clear he wasn’t planning on leaving me alone.
* * *
Chapter 9
I ditched Oliver. The truth was—he was pretty adorable. And he'd forgiven me way too quickly. I mean…I knew he was lonely too. And I stood him up. I totally and completely forgot about him, and his willingness to forgive reminded me of my daddy. I couldn’t…I didn't deserve someone nice. Or forgiving. Or thoughtful.
Holy Hecate. I shouldn't have done it, regardless of his personality. It was stupid--he had come with me to help keep me safe. It was stupid. But I also didn’t want to be around anyone. I felt like saying to the murderer, Come at me. I’m not Chrysanthemum. I mean…that’s stupid right?
This killer probably has murdered generations of Hallow for some reason. Or something. Regardless, I headed—alone—into the oak grove and towards the woods. I figured no one would expect me to do something so stupid, not even the murderer, so I’d probably be okay. Maybe.
My self-preservation told me to run back to Lechner’s office and camp outside, but who is to say she wasn’t the murderer? I couldn’t trust anyone. I mean…if it were a spell that was making someone murder against their will, it could be Felix or Oliver. If it were someone else, it wouldn’t be anyone my age if we were including the murders from my mother’s time at St. Angelus, but Lechner would certainly be a possibility.
When I had heard that my coven mates, Emily and Ingrid, were trying to solve the murders they’d gotten involved in back home, I had thought they were the biggest idiots I had ever heard of. The Sage Island sheriff, Sheriff Tate, wasn’t going to arrest the wrong person. He could be counted on. I didn’t feel the same about the Presidium sharks. Not in the least.
I mean…Ingrid and Emily really are kind of idiotic. But investigating seemed stupid even for them. Now, however, I got it. Who really cared about my life except for me or my family? Felix would be sad that I couldn’t make potions for him and make him a fortune off of the rich St. Angelus students. Oliver probably wouldn’t even think twice about it. I mean. We’d bought a bunch of stuff at the book store together, but that was his job. And then we should have listened to some music together, but I stood him up. Maybe he’d be like, oh man, if she weren’t a killer, she might have been fun. If she ever showed up to dates.
Lechner wouldn’t be surprised. Chrysie…just thinking of her made me sad. She was a cousin, I guess. I’d seen other people have fun with their cousins through the coven. The Perry girls had cousins that came every summer. Me and my sister, Bran, had been jealous of those cousins. I probably would have liked Chrysie as my roommate once I got past my OCD and she became part of my normal. Besides, I wasn’t really OCD. Just territorial.
I wandered off the path. No reason to make it easier for some murderer to find me. They’d have to at least tromp through something possibly nasty. Poison ivy or oak. Maybe nettles. I wasn’t sure what was growing around here, actually. I could identify witch herbs in all of their stages. My mother again, of course. But random green things? Nope.
As I moved deeper into the trees, I saw some stones. I had seen some of the ruins before, but these were new. Might as well explore before I die. Once I started looking, I found more stones that seemed to be steps in a hillside and a green-space where the trees weren’t quite so thick or old. As I looked around closer, I realized that many of the trees were cypress, there were too many to be entirely natural.
This had been a cypress grove, I realized. In fact, there was a separation between the cypress over there. I walked towards it and stood in the middle. If I turned in a circle, it became apparent that I was in a lane that had once been lined with cypress. And it was so very familiar. Which was also stupid, since I was certain that I had never been here before. Even still, I knew which way the house was. And I moved towards it as if I’d walked this lane thousands of times. At the end of the lane, where the cypress stopped, there was a clearing. Far more empty space than there should be given the age of these ruins. I walked forward. I knew what was what. I knew where to go.
I walked towards the house entrance. The stairs still led up to where it had been—though there was nothing beyond the stone steps. I didn’t go that way though. That was a shell that had once protected the family. There was nothing for me there. But as I walked around where the house was, I knew what I would find. I’d find a green area where trees hadn’t grown. Not because they didn’t want to fill in, but because the spells that had been laid on the land were still there. The same reason that the lane hadn’t filled in. The same reason these woods surrounded every inch of this property but didn’t move in on it.
On the other side, there was more greenery. There had been vast lawns here. The spells that kept the trees and weeds out didn’t keep the grass from not growing, and it was several feet high. I should have been concerned walking in it, but I wasn’t. I didn’t know what lived in the grass,
but it wouldn’t hurt me.
At the far side of the green-space was a graveyard and that was where I should be. I stepped past the broken down fence and into the soil that held my ancestors. You would think, as a necromancer, that their spirits would jump up around me and talk to me. But they didn’t. I sat down between a moss covered angel and a large stone that was simply carved with the name Able Hallow.
Maybe I should have gone back when the sun started to set, but I didn’t feel safe at school. So, I curled up at the base of the angel and waited for my mother to come get me.
*
My mother is not a small woman. So when she nudged me awake she was flushed and irritated. I didn’t need her to tell me that she wasn’t happy about tromping through the woods to find me. I wasn’t happy with her either, so I figured we were even.
Not that she wouldn’t make me pay. She had nudged me with her foot, and I had a muddy boot print on my butt. I looked at it and her, but she didn’t even seem to notice.
“This seems to be a poor choice,” she said with her usual weighted glance.
I shrugged.
She said the words that released my voice.
“Finally,” I said. “Finally. They think you’re using me to finish whatever you started before.”
“Yes.”
That was it? Yes. Are you kidding me, I wanted to shout. But there was no point in yelling at her. I needed her right now.
“Where is your phone?”
“They took it.”
“And your coat?”
“They took it. They took everything I had.”
“That was a mistake on their part.” She smiled the same evil smile that reminded me of Bran. My sister and I were like her. Gods, but mostly, monsters.
“Why?”
“Your phone is a way I’ve used to track what you’re up to for a while.”
I wanted to scream as I saw her pull out her own phone and open an app and then voices could be heard.
“But why,” the male shark asked. I recognized his voice. My mother may or may not know who was speaking, but I saw no need to explain one thing to her.
“Why what?” Female shark asked. “Why would Autumn Hallow decide to kill the Hallow clan? What about the fact that she’s psychotic?”
“What is the benefit? What is the motive?”
“Power? When Dominque died, she left Autumn in control of the house and the attendant responsibilities.”
“An inheritance Autumn forsook,” Lechner said.
I could tell by the look on my mother’s face that she was unimpressed by any defense from Lechner.
“I thought you agreed that Autumn was the likely killer,” female shark said.
“I’m fine with the psychotic motive,” Lechner said. “My only point is that inheritance doesn’t make sense. She lives on a tiny island as a suburban housewife. She didn’t kill her cousins for the inheritance.”
“There is the other fact.” This was a voice I didn't know. But it was smooth-cool and reminded me of a snake. She continued, “That other Hallows died when Autumn was a girl. Or do we think that she killed them as well.”
“Are you linking the deaths of Autumn’s parents?”
“Of course I am,” said the cool voice. “Someone has been killing members of the Hallow family for over forty years. Members of a particular line of Hallows. And you know exactly what I mean. You can not bypass the obvious nature of what is happening here simply because it is convenient.”
I looked towards my mother, but her face was as smooth and emotionless as I’d have expected. My mother, of course, did know exactly what they were talking about. Whereas I was entirely without a clue.
“You can not possibly expect us to solve that crime as well.”
“You can not possibly expect me to allow you to destroy the life of a child for crimes that were committed when she was decades unborn.”
“You know that we think that the Ahvatlemise Spell was used.”
“Please,” snake voice said. “That spell requires a level of willingness.”
“She’s the child of the killer. Surely that is a reasonable expectation.”
“I am centuries old,” cool voice said, “And I still remember being a teenager. Willingness to comply with the expectations of my parent was not something I felt in 1806, and it is certainly not something that teenagers of today feel.”
“You weren’t raised by Autumn Hallow,” male shark voice said.
He’d been speaking on my side until that moment, and my eye’s narrowed in anger. But…
“Indeed I wasn’t.”
It was such a simple statement, but it left the sharks silent in a way that showed they were a little bit afraid. Maybe I was reading more into it or maybe that was my witch senses, but I was suddenly very, very glad for the owner of that cool voice.
Male shark cleared his throat, and the female shark shifted in a way that let me know she was probably rearranging papers.
“Idiots,” my mother muttered.
“Who is that?” I asked, doubting she’d answer.
“Elizabeth Darlington, if I am not mistaken.”
“Who is that?” I asked again.
“She, Veruca, is your Protector.” The jackal in my mother came out at that moment. The slightest sneer in the form of a polite smile.
“Should I be afraid?” I referred to the entire situation. The murders. The suspicion on me. The possibility that I would be next.
“They’re idiots. But we need to clear your name. There was very little chance that any protector would have executed you. The Presidium investigators would have come after me, really. But with Elizabeth Darlington in tow, they’ll have to prove things for all of us.”
“Is she here to protect you or me?” I asked.
“It is the same thing, my Veruca,” my mother said. “But if you find some reassurance in it, I called Hazel. Hazel sent Elizabeth.”
“How could Hazel do that? She’s the leader of the Sage Island Coven not the Presidium.”
“Do not be mistaken into believing that Hazel is some sweet island flower. She has a history of her own. And she used her resources to protect you.”
“Both of us it seems,” I said.
There might have been the slightest softening about my mother when she nodded, but it was gone before I could be sure.
“I don’t have a room or most of my things,” I told her.
I was not surprised when she shrugged.
“Can you make them give me back my room?”
My mother shrugged. Probably not.
“There’s always Hallow House,” my mother said precisely.
I stopped and waited. Why ask? She wasn't going to tell me a thing.
“When I forsook my inheritance, I did it in a way that my heir could inherit the house—should they choose.”
“Me?”
“Indeed.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Find Hallow House, walk up, and knock on the door. If it opens for you, it deems you worthy. If it doesn’t, then it will seem that Branka will need to make her attempt.”
“And if it turns us both down?”
“Well…Chrysanthemum would have been the next heir, but she is dead now. I’d have to look at a family tree. The house has always had to accept the heir. More than once it has skipped someone to take another.”
“It doesn’t surprise me that even our inheritances are judgy controlling jerks,” I told my mother. I should have waited for her. People were killing Hallow kids. But the truth was…I didn’t feel like it. What I felt like was slapping my mother upside her head and then screaming at her until she finally, finally realized she was a super-villain jackal she-beast.
But, I’d scream myself permanently voiceless before I’d ever crack her self-righteous shell. So I walked away. This, I told myself, was why I was here. I was here to get away from her. And yet, here she was controlling me. Did she know that I’d choose St. Angelus? Did she know that I’d
be in a position to inherit this stupid house? What did that even do for me? Probably nothing good. Probably something that would control me, once more. Give me decades of taxes to pay? You could never, ever tell with her. Was this what she wanted or was she setting me up to fail so she could push me at Grace College? What was her purpose and how would I ever…ever…ever……know if I had found my own life or freed myself from her machinations Hecate! Hells! Monsters!
My mother had followed for a while until I veered off the path and found my way back to the graveyard, flopping down onto a random grave and laying with my head near the headstone and lay my body to mirror the one beneath. I pressed my head into the dirt and weeds and tried to think. Closing my eyes against the sky and potential killers and whatever else, I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth.
What to do? What to do? Gods, what to do? I had to face the facts. Chrysie was dead. My mother was the main suspect and that could ruin me.
But, like always, my mother was going to be one step ahead of whatever decision I made. Gods. Hells. Sweet Hecate.
Might as well accept it. Accept it and acknowledge it and be sure I was choosing what I wanted regardless of her wants. As I lay there, above the grave of my ancestor, I realized that this was a safe place to me. That being here among my kin felt right, and it felt right to me.
Did it matter if this was where my mother wanted me to be if this was where I wanted to be? I thought the answer might be no. So…Hallow House. I guess it was time to make that mine.
* * *
Chapter 10
“What are you doing?”
I looked up to see Felix jogging across the courtyard to me. Based on the fact that he looked refreshed, I assume he slept off that energy potion.
“Where is your protector? Where is bookstore guy? What are you doing alone? Are you crazy?” He sounded super angry.
My head cocked as I examined him and I raised my brow, “I don’t know.”
“Gods, Rue, what the hell? You could get hurt.”
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