I felt like I was about to be mugged and in the worst way. I knew that it was coming, but had no idea when. The sneak attack element of the whole situation was hard to accept.
"Remember in the human world, when two people liked each other and went out on dates? And it was years before they started talking about marriage and babies?" I mumbled to Lilly, but then realized she was still at home until Lucan left Omaha.
The suspense was turning me into a crazy person.
When Amory had arrived yesterday with the news, I had dropped and shattered my coffee cup. I had been expecting the announcement for almost twenty-four hours, but the finality of the decision still surprised me.
I winced, remembering Amory's dark eyes and how sad they looked. I had asked him if he was disappointed in me. It was obvious that he had been planning something different for my future, but he assured me he was only worried about me.
Still, when he pulled me into a hug, I felt the weight of his sorrow and had to use magic to hold myself together. I felt like a disappointment, even if I wasn't one. I was tormented with the sickening feeling of letting down my brother, grandfather and my closest of friends.
And when I tried to convince myself that not only would I get to be with the one person that my soul belonged to and I loved whole-heartedly, I couldn't help but feel inadequate for the task ahead of me.
I didn't know the first thing about being a queen. And I certainly didn't know how to reverse thousands of years of racism and prejudice. Or how to protect my family from a king that would still murder them at the first opportunity.
I swallowed hard and leaned against the bathroom door, not ready to face the reality of school or the promise in Kiran's eyes. I had expected a length of years before I would have to deal with any of this and I was now realizing how naive I had been.
The bathroom door suddenly swung opened and I fell through the open space, landing in a heap on the floor.
"Well, look who it is," Seraphina's wind-chimed voice snarled at me from above.
I stood quickly to my feet, the bathroom door slamming behind me once I was out of the way.
"Hello, Seraphina," I said carefully. My heart fell to the pit of my stomach, taking in the sight of her.
Her long blonde hair was limp, tangled and somehow duller. Her eyes were a mess of smudged mascara and swollen, reddened eyes, their once pretty blue, now an unlit cavity of anger. Black streaks stained her pale cheeks and her bee-stung lips were more swollen than usual. Her uniform was wrinkled and untidy, her tights torn and her shirt untucked. She literally looked like the scary movie version of herself and I tried to push down the fear-induced lump in my throat.
"Hello, Eden," she growled, unmoving, and then stood silently staring me down.
"I, um, I.... I should.... Um, I should get to class," I wanted to run from the bathroom screaming, but more than that I wanted to fill the terrifying silence and remove her stare.
"No!" she screamed at me, shaking the glass of the mirrors and rattling the door behind me. "You will leave when I say you can leave." Her voice dropped to a menacing whisper and I let my magic loose in my veins, the electricity igniting my senses.
"What do you want?" I asked with an even tone.
"Don't ask me what I want," she replied, her eyes turning to stone "You do not want to know what I want."
"That is probably true," I mumbled, finding courage in my magic. The last bell rang in the hallway and I was officially late for English, again. I turned to leave the bathroom, hoping, unreasonably, that she would understand.
"Stop!" she screamed at me and I did. This time the force of her magic shattered all of the glass in the bathroom and I covered my head with my arms to protect myself from flying shards of broken mirror. "You have ruined my life." she accused loudly, "You do not just get to leave. You're going to have to answer for this."
"For what?" I asked innocently, watching her swirl the broken glass around behind her in a dangerous tornado of pointed shrapnel.
"I was supposed to be queen!" she screamed and a glass dagger broke from her whirlwind and flew at me. I ducked out of the way just in time, and the shard slammed into the brick wall behind me where my head had been, shattering into a million tiny pieces.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" I screamed in fear. I didn't know how to act. I could take her down with my magic, but I also felt that she had a right to be mad. I didn't hate her the way she hated me. Just because she was willing to kill me, didn't mean I could do the same.
"Kiran was mine and you took him from me!" she accused and sent another glass dagger soaring through the air, this time at my leg. I moved out of the way, but not soon enough and the glass sliced my thigh before breaking against the brick wall. Hot, crimson blood soaked through my white tights and plaid skirt in seconds before I could use my magic to stop the bleeding.
"Please, Seraphina," I held up my hands, surrendering. "Kiran is not mine. This was Lucan's decision." I believed my answer, but apparently Seraphina did not, because another glass dagger came flying across the room, narrowly missing my throat.
The spinning cyclone of glass moved faster and with more force. I pressed myself against the brick wall afraid of the dangerous weapon Seraphina was feeding her magic, but more afraid of the hateful look darkening the eyes that controlled it.
"No," she said calmly, but the tempest of shrapnel behind her betrayed her true emotion. "You did this. All of this. And now it's my turn to take back what's mine."
"Seraphina stop!" Avalon burst through the bathroom door, and with one meaningful look and burst of his magic, he dropped the glass pieces to the floor.
Seraphina, too, fell to the floor, sobbing hysterically. Avalon grabbed me by the arm, pulling me from the bathroom roughly.
"Are you crazy?" he half shouted, half whispered at me. "Were you just going to let her kill you?" He spun me around in the hallway, making me face him.
"No, of course not!" I answered back with the same conviction.
"Then what the hell were you doing in there?" he yelled, staring me down. His emerald green eyes demanding answers.
"I.... I don't know...." I stumbled, "I just felt like, I don't know, that.... I just felt bad." I hung my head, realizing I had been punishing myself. I felt responsible for Seraphina. I felt responsible for my family. I had been wanting someone to take their hate out on me, because I felt like I deserved it.
"You don't," Avalon answered the thoughts in my head. "You haven't done anything wrong."
He pulled me into a hug, wrapping his huge arms around me and comforting me. My head was pressed against his chest and I could see the faint outlines of his tattoos underneath the long sleeved white uniform shirt.
I started to cry. I didn't deserve Avalon's forgiveness, or his compassion. A marriage to Kiran was not Avalon's answer to the problem with the monarchy. Avalon wanted the monarchy destroyed completely and the entire Kendrick line wiped out. I was another roadblock now, another obstacle in the way of Avalon's perfect dream for our society.
"I've ruined everything," I cried into his shirt, my voice muffled against his chest.
"Well, ok, that's true," I could hear the smile in his voice, "But that doesn't mean you deserve to be punished." He patted me on the head, like I was a small child and I felt comforted.
I'm sorry. I said inside of our heads, hoping he could feel the sincerity behind it.
"Alright, that's enough. No more feeling sorry for yourself," Avalon pushed me away playfully, grinning at me. "Go find Amory, he'll let you call someone to come pick you up. I don't think it's a good idea for you to be at school today."
"Ugh. You're probably right," I started walking backwards to the stairwell. "What are you going to go do?" I called out, curious why he wasn't coming with me.
"I'm going to go deal with the train-wreck in the bathroom," he smiled mischevously. "Do you think?" his expression turned serious, "Do you think it's too soon to ask her out?"
"Oh, Avalon," I ga
sped, appalled at his twisted sense of humor.
"What? It is too soon, isn't it?" he turned to the bathroom, "How long then? A week? Two weeks?"
"There is something wrong with you," I called out before turning around and running down the stairs.
I sprinted out of the English and Arts building and across campus to the Administration building. I flew through the doors and up to the second-floor teacher's lounge before Mrs. Truance could stop me. There were no teachers upstairs, but I could see the light on in Amory's office at the end of the hall. I walked the rest of the way slowly, trying to catch my breath and a little afraid to fill Amory in on Seraphina's nervous breakdown in the bathroom.
I knocked on his door politely, waiting for Amory to invite me in. He looked up at me from an older-looking document on his desk and smiled.
"And what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked from his deep, melodic voice.
"One of your students just took a serious ride on the crazy train," I replied glibly, taking a seat in one of his leather chairs.
"What do you mean?" Concern flickered in his eyes.
"Seraphina just tried to stab me to death in the girl's bathroom," I answered, more put together than my shaking hands believed I was.
"Oh, Eden," Amory gasped. He walked around to the second leather chair, sat down and took my hand. "Are you alright?" he asked, his eyes finding the crimson stain marring my skirt.
"Yes, I'm fine," I said quickly, trying to smooth out my blood-soaked uniform. "I'm just a little, um, shaken up." I blinked several times in a row, trying to hold back the tears.
"Of course, you are." Amory whispered soothingly, patting the hand that he held.
"Can I go home, Amory?" I asked meekly, wanting nothing more.
"Of course, you can," he paused for a moment, "Actually, I have a better idea." Amory sat up straight, letting go of my hand and reaching the cell phone sitting on his desk. "I think it's best if maybe you leave for a little bit. The news of the broken engagement will travel fast and if there are more out there that want you dead, this might quicken their plans." I was speechless. I watched silently as Amory's mind worked quickly, deciding on the course of action he would take. "I think it's best if you get out of town for a while."
"Out of town, but what if-" I started, thinking about Lucan's reaction if Kiran wanted to find me and couldn't.
"I'll deal with them, we have to think of your safety first," Amory sat back in the chair and started dialing a number. "I am sending Jericho on a mission. He was going to leave this afternoon."
"Jericho?" I asked, putting the pieces together.
"Yes, Jericho. I think it's best if you go with him," Amory didn't wait for my reply, he pushed send on the phone and was explaining the details of the day to Jericho before I could object.
Sure, my safety came first, but I was pretty sure leaving town with a boy that was not Kiran was just as dangerous. I was maybe only days away from becoming engaged to the crowned prince and Amory wanted to send me away, alone with a boy that not only had feelings for me but was in a rebellion completely in opposition to the monarchy.
Oh, boy.
37.
Jericho pulled up to the school in a black Escalade with severely tinted windows and no license plates, screeching to a stop right in front of me. I jumped into the passenger seat quickly, Jericho barely waiting for my door to be closed before taking off again.
"In a hurry?" I asked sarcastically.
"Obviously," he replied curtly.
"Hey, thanks for picking me up and you know, taking me with you," I tried to break the tension with thankfulness, but Jericho wasn't having it.
"Yep. Didn't really have a choice though," he mumbled, staring straight ahead through dark aviator sunglasses.
"No, really," I wasn't going to give up. "Seraphina was seriously trying to kill me. She had like this spinning weapon thing made out of broken glass. It was crazy."
"Your clothes are in the back seat," he replied, ignoring me. "You should change, I don't want blood on the seats."
"Ok...." I didn't know what to make of Jericho's attitude. He had picked me up, and not even questioned Amory about taking me with; but ever since the news of Kiran's broken engagement had been announced at our house yesterday, he had avoided me at all costs.
I pulled the duffle bag that Lilly had packed for me from the back seat and unzipped it. All of the shirts inside were warm and black and she had packed a couple pairs of dark, washed jeans and some black yoga pants.
I looked over at Jericho, who was wearing a black long sleeve shirt and dark washed jeans and figured out this must be the uniform of the Resistance spy. I laughed out loud, apparently this was my first real mission.
"How long are we going to be driving for?" I asked, realizing it would affect what I would wear.
"A long time," Jericho replied snidely.
"Ok...." I pulled out my yoga pants and an oversized thin black sweatshirt that hung off one shoulder. I usually wore this outfit to workout in, but a long car trip required comfort. I took off my shoes and unbuttoned my skirt, hoping Jericho knew what he was doing by demanding that I change.
"Not up here," he snapped at me. "Seriously, Eden, go to the back."
"Oh, sorry," I mumbled, tossing my duffle bag to the back seat and crawling awkwardly over the center console.
"And do something with your hair," he called from the front seat.
"Why?" I asked innocently, fingering my long, tangled curls.
"Because," he answered crossly.
"Because why?" I pressed, hoping to irritate him. I didn't appreciate his rudeness.
"Because it's...." I watched his aviator sunglasses tilt towards me in the rear view mirror. "because it's everywhere."
That wasn't really an answer, but I obeyed anyway. I pulled a hair-tie off of my wrist and wrapped my hair into a messy bun on the top of my head. I slipped down to the floor, below the range of the rear view mirror and changed into the comfortable black sports wear that would be road-trip appropriate.
"That's better," I sighed, sliding back into the front passenger seat.
I watched Jericho glance at me for a moment before clenching his jaw and turning his attention back to the road. He let out a snicker that was actually hurtful.
"Is there a problem?" I asked carefully, sounding more sensitive than I would have liked.
"Yes, there's a problem," Jericho snapped at me again, and I flinched. This trip was going to be miserable.
"What did I do to make you so mad?" I whispered, not really expecting him to answer.
He turned to look at me full on for the first time since I had gotten in the car. I couldn't see his eyes behind his dark tinted sunglasses, so I had no idea what to make of him, and that bothered me.
"You didn't do anything," Jericho conceded, and his rigid shoulders slumped. He pressed down on the gas even harder and we accelerated past all acceptable speed limits. "It's just that.... Well, I was looking forward to taking this trip alone."
"And you're mad that I'm tagging along?" I asked tentatively.
"I don't know. I just felt like I really needed some alone time."
"I can understand that," I said honestly, feeling like I needed the same thing. "I won't say a word. You'll completely forget I'm here." I pretended to zip my lips closed with two fingers pressed together, and turned to face the window.
"You are the one person that I actually don't think I'm capable of forgetting
about," I turned my head quickly, watching as heat crept up the back of his neck.
"So, you're ok with me being here?" I asked hopefully.
"Ugh, yes," he sighed exasperatedly. "only if you hand me my coke," he held out his hand and I looked around for a soda.
"Sure," I said energetically, "Where is it?"
"It's in the cooler in the trunk, Lilly and Roxie packed us some snacks so we wouldn't have to stop."
I unbuckled and leaned across the back seat, reaching with an extended arm into t
he trunk, awkwardly pulling a blue cooler across the seats. Jericho jerked the car to the left suddenly and I fell clumsily on top of his shoulder, before righting myself and giving him a disapproving glare.
"Sorry," he offered sheepishly, his face red, matching the tone of his neck.
I opened the cooler and took out two plastic bottles of Coke before turning around and sitting back down in my seat.
"So, where are we going?" I asked, realizing I had agreed to a mission I knew nothing about.
"The Mexican Border," Jericho replied casually.
"Really?" I was surprised, I hadn't been expecting Mexico, but then again, I hadn't really known what to expect. "What's there?"
"I don't know exactly," Jericho said pensively. "Amory just asked me to deliver a letter for him. He said it was of the utmost importance but that I couldn't tell anyone and that my contact would find me and not the other way around."
"Oh, well that sounds.... confusing," I laughed.
"Yes, it does," he agreed with me.
"So, the Mexican Border? Alright. When do we have to be there by?" I folded my arms and smiled, this was fun, I was beginning to feel like a real spy.
"We have to be in El Paso by four AM, but I'm hoping to get there a little bit early and stake the place out." he said matter-of-factly.
"Oh, right," I tried not to laugh. "We don't want to be walking into a trap."
"Exactly," he replied seriously and when a laugh escaped me, he turned around, a little offended. "It's called due diligence, Eden, we have to be careful."
"No, I know. I'm sorry," I couldn't stop laughing.
"It's all fun and games until someone gets caught and sent to prison."
"No, you're right. It's just that, this is my first mission, come on, give me a break," I pushed his arm a little and his bicep flexed rigidly beneath my fingers.
"Just this once," he mumbled, turning his full attention back to the road.
"Is this what all the missions are like?" I asked a question I had been wanting to know the answer to for a long time.
"No, not really. Well, sometimes," he answered vaguely.
Hopeless Magic (The Star-Crossed Series) Page 28