“Now,” Jester says, although his stony stare is still fixed on Mason, “I think our guests ought to show us some goodwill by surrendering their weapons, starting with hunter boy over here.”
Mason’s chest swells with indignation, his broad shoulders squaring.
“Mason?” I call out when he doesn’t move.
That finally spurs him into action. He drops his backpack on the floor with a murderous glare at the cold ones surrounding him. His hands clench into tight fists, but I don’t think he’d be dim enough to attack when we’re so desperately outnumbered.
The cold ones grab his backpack, Charity’s bag, and Vanessa’s sachets of salts. I gasp when Bryar pulls out a silver blade to hand over to them as well. Like brother, like sister.
“That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” Jester’s grin is all teeth and no mirth. “Get them settled.” He says to his cold ones with one last nod in Mason’s direction. The teen cold ones hurry to obey him.
Jester turns to me with a softer expression—one I don’t mistake for sincere friendship. “As promised, there’s someone for you to see, my lovely banshee.”
I glance at the others—from Mason’s scrunched forehead to Seff’s menacing look. “Go with them. Please. I’ll be back with Jean soon.”
Jester cocks his head, jingling the bells on his outrageous hat. “I would assume you’d want to keep your viper around, too.”
Vanessa and I lock eyes. I nod to agree. We follow our extravagant host, traveling through the chilly, musty halls of his castle and up the red-carpeted stairs.
The chamber he invites us into, no other cold ones allowed, is spacious and has a fireplace for both warmth and lighting. It’s a drawing room with two plush couches mirroring each other and an unstable wooden coffee table between them.
Jester smiles smugly as he watches us take in the luxury. These must be the most decadent accommodations he has to offer. With a sinking discomfort, I’m about to ask if he’s brought us to his chambers, but he calls out before I do.
“Oh, Jean, darling, guess who I’ve fetched to see you?” he croons.
My sharp hearing registers quick paces behind the double doors to the right. They swing open with a deep creak, revealing Jean, pale and shock-stricken. I only spot a four-poster bed behind her before she closes the door.
“Cami?” She stares wide-eyed, then her gaze lands on Vanessa. “And Vanessa?”
Instead of offering an explanation, I swoop in to embrace her. Still shocked, Jean pats me on the back absently, tightening her arms around me only when I squeeze her in my embrace.
“I’m so glad you’re safe,” I say.
Jean takes a deep breath and expels it as she nods. “I am. I am. But what are you doing here? How did you...?” Multiple questions die on her lips.
A creak of wood makes my shoulders tense upward, and I whirl around. Jester pulls out three dusty wine glasses and a bottle of something dark from the bar.
“Take a seat, ladies,” he says in that fake, candied voice.
Jean leads me to a couch. Vanessa follows reluctantly, whereas Jester serves the glasses—a generous amount of wine in each—before plopping down opposite us, all alone on his couch. He sinks back into the velvety cushions, one arm spread out and cascading down the ornamented armrest.
“So,” he says, his brows bouncing at me. “Your friend Jean is safe and sound and, might I add, well taken care of. Just like I promised.”
Instead of wasting another glance on him, I grip Jean’s hand. “Are you really?”
Jean nods. “Are you?”
I nod as well. It’s hard to verbalize everything I’ve felt since my Claiming, since the vision of her being banished, since realizing a link exists between us. Not to mention the slow pace of every day since, a result of being torn between that sinking feeling of loneliness, tugging at me through the link, and my own dread of the circle being found out.
“Ugh.” Vanessa sighs. “Could you two be any more ssickeningly ssweet?”
“Hey, Vanessa,” Jean greets the viper with raised eyebrows, then pulls me so I face her. “That leads me to my next question, out of all people, you brought Vanessa with you?”
“Ah, to be perfectly candid, she brought a whole lot of unsavory legacies with her, but let’s blow past that for now.” Jester flicks dirt off his sleeve with two fingers, which is comic, considering his entire attire is speckled in mud and torn in places. “How delightfully juicy! So Jean doesn’t know? Can’t feel the link as you create it at all?”
“What link?” Jean balks, then snaps to look at me as her jaw drops. “Does he mean... Did you start a circle?”
I suck in my lower lip. All this time I’ve been struggling with my desire to keep the link alive and the consequences the circle would have on Elmwick’s peace treaty. I never stopped to consider what Jean would want.
She did her best to help me hide from Mason and protect the peace. Now that she’s been banished, she’d want that peace and a return to normalcy more than ever. She’d never wish to stay linked to me.
“I didn’t mean to.” The words gurgle out as I struggle to explain. “It was an accident.”
“How do you accidentally bind yourself to the local mean girl?” Jean makes a face at me. “She could have exposed you back at Mason’s party! She’s not to be trusted...”
Her eyes swim with pure hurt, but I’m blown away by another realization. She still doesn’t know, doesn’t understand...
“Jean.” I squeeze both her hands in mine. “I did link to Vanessa—in a moment of desperation and thanks to an attack from him.” I glare pointedly at Jester. “I defended her when she was in a worg, too afraid she wouldn’t snap out of it in time.”
“But she could have...” Jean moves her eyes from me to Vanessa. “You sneaky forked tongue!”
Vanessa folds her arms in front of her chest. “Hey, why are you surprised? I told you last year I want to be in the new circle.” She smirks, drawing her gaze to Jester. “And it seems I’m not the only one.”
“What?” Jean leans in.
“All right, none of this is helping,” I say. “Let’s all take a breather and go step by step.” My attention is all on Jean when my tone softens. “Jean, I did link myself to Vanessa, and trick or no trick, I don’t regret it. But you’re missing the most important point. I linked to you first. You and I started the new banshee’s circle.”
Jean’s features freeze.
“Jean?” I give her shoulder a little squeeze. “Did you...”
“I heard you,” she says breathlessly. “But how? When?” Her stare is blank, transfixed.
“Right after my Claiming, when you fed on me.” The last bit is hard to say under Jester’s scrutinizing curiosity. “I mistook it for the sway of the bite, but there were gold colors twirling all around us. The same thing happened just now in the forest when I linked to Vanessa.”
Jean mulls over my words, feeding the dread inside me until it threatens to swallow me whole.
“Does... anybody else know?” Jean croaks in a hoarse voice.
Jester picks up his wineglass and clinks it against Jean’s, which rests untouched on the table, much like mine and Vanessa’s. “You mean anyone apart from me?”
“Seff and Fillan figured it out, too,” I whisper. “And I think they saw Vanessa and I link.”
“Me too,” Vanessa says. “Awan and Charity will find out soon enough. Our wolf boys might be sharing the gossip with them right now.”
At Jean’s wild and questioning look, I explain. “I had to bring Vanessa and the twins to help come get you. Then we ran into the others in the forest.”
“What would they be doing in the forest?” Jean scrunches her forehead. “And what do you mean come get me?”
Vanessa sighs in exasperation, but I soldier through. This conversation must be so confusing to Jean, and I won’t deny her the opportunity to be a part of the discussion. I grow more confident and stoic with the two links, as if they feed me energy.
>
“Bryar has been asking questions about you. She went looking for you, which is why Mason, Charity, and Awan went after her. They’re all downstairs.”
Jean only gapes at me as I speak. Her entire body seems to go rigid. “Is Bryar all right?” There’s genuine fear in her voice, which neither I nor Jester miss.
“She is,” I hurry to say. “But, Jean, if we’re apart for too long, the link will fade. It’s already started.” A tingling sensation washes over me. What if she doesn’t want us to stay linked? “I want to preserve the link. To both you and Vanessa.”
Jean opens her mouth to object, but I raise a hand to silence her.
“Before you say anything, I promise that I don’t intend to complete the circle. The other legacies will stay out of this.”
Jean shakes her head. “Even if you stop here, the hunters will still see us as a threat.”
“Not necessarily,” Vanessa draws out.
“You know the famed heightened powers of the circle?” I wet my lips, unsure if I should go on in front of Jester, but a knowing spark in his eyes makes me feel like this will be no news to him. It must be what he’s after. “Cold ones get heightened compulsion capabilities after they’re bound into a circle.”
Jean glances at Jester as if searching for a confirmation from someone of her kind. He finishes the rest of his wine in one big gulp, then winks at her.
“Don’t you get it?” My chest heaves with the nervous energy coursing through my body. “You could compel your mother to convince the hunters. You could come back to Elmwick.”
“As if he’d ever let us leave,” Jean snorts.
Jester rests his ankle against his knee. “Oh, don’t demonize me, Jean. I’m a reasonable vampire, willing to negotiate.” His expectant gaze turns on me. “Let’s start, shall we? I can offer you Jean’s safe return, plus the wellbeing of your friends while they’re with my vampires. A very lucrative offer if I dare say so myself.”
Vanessa narrows her eyes at him. “And in return?”
She’s figured it out, same as I have.
He rests his clean-shaved chin against his knuckles. “All I want is the teeny, tiny gesture of being added to the banshee’s circle.”
Jean regards me with a scolding glare way too reminiscent of her mother. “Cami, you don’t know what it’s like in here. These cold ones are starving. They only get blood once in a while when they go into the bigger cities, which by the way are all swimming with hunters, so Jester and his vampires could never risk bringing any humans here to turn into their devoted.”
She pauses for a sharp breath, but despite Jester’s menacing look, she says, “He’ll use his extended compulsion to attract even more cold ones to his company. He’ll draw all strays from the bigger cities, who’re only trying to keep their heads down and hide from the hunters. He’ll raise an army. He’s...”
“Dangerous,” Jester says. “Yes, I am.”
Jean’s eyes flash at me as she swallows whatever else she seems to want to scream in warning at me. I’ll get an earful of it soon, I’m sure.
“But I also take promises very seriously,” Jester says. “What do you say, banshee? Do we have ourselves a deal?”
Every boom of my heart seems to echo inside the room, but of course, I’m the only one who hears it. There’s no way I can get everyone out of here safely without Jester’s help.
But I don’t need to mean it when I entertain his suggestion. My strategy is to stall until Jean can compel Jester. For the first time since starting the circle, the power that comes with it makes me feel brave. Daring, even. Who cares what I promise to Jester now? Jean could compel him to forget he ever met me.
“We have a deal,” I say under Jean’s wide-eyed look. Vanessa, though, licks her lower lip and nods.
“Under one condition,” I add. “The link can’t happen now.” I hope I sound firm and confident. “I need you to keep us out of trouble while we’re here. Only once we’ve returned home safely will I meet you again and bind you into the circle.”
His lips press into a tight line, turning his expression stony. “Granted. Provided that you, my dear banshee, remain at my side at all times. Jean, with her dangerous new gifts, shall remain far, far away.” His eyes flash dangerously at Jean. “Use the time to catch up with your friend, Bryar, was it?”
Jean stiffens at my side, her breaths turning shallow.
Jester seems to savor the threat. “Humans have such breakable little necks, don’t you agree? I’d hate for Bryar to be the one to suffer, should you make any move to compel me.”
The silence following his words is thick and suffocating. I break it as soon as possible.
“What of your cold ones?” I ask. “Will they really let us stay the night without trying to feed on us?” Jean’s warning about how starved they are rings clear like an alarm in my head.
“My vampires will do as I command,” Jester says. “Although, we could do with a decent distraction, especially if Jean is to leave with you. That might cause a bit of a fuss.”
Jean groans, having already seen the direction Jester is taking us into. Vanessa and I only share exasperated looks.
Jester dusts off his vest and straightens it, as if that would do anything to improve his unkempt appearance. “We’ll have ourselves a little ball tonight, of course.”
Chapter 12. Mason
BY THE LOOKS ON THE legacies’ faces, they aren’t happy to see Cami go off with the cold one either. At least Vanessa is with her, I try to tell myself, but frankly, that girl is her own version of a mad jester—always seeking out chaos.
That’s when I have to stop myself. Cami isn’t mine to protect. And when it comes to the world of the legacies, chances are she can handle herself all on her own.
Surrounded by a dozen cold ones, we pace the length of the room. Seff and I take turns looking up the marble staircase to check if Cami will return, as if we’ve agreed upon it. His expression matches the sourness I feel.
Fillan is more preoccupied with our fanged chaperons. He keeps eying the exits. Awan stays close to Charity, who answers the whispered questions Bryar still has for her.
When our patience runs thin, the glances between us become frequent and worried. I can tell the wolves are using their heightened sense of smell to pick up any sign of impending trouble. For all the good that would do us with no weapons.
At last, Jester leads Cami back down the stairs with a huge grin on his face. Vanessa follows them with Jean in tow.
“Jean!” Bryar rips away from the small circle Charity, she, and Awan had formed.
Jean reaches to clasp my sister’s hands in hers with imperial grace. “I heard you’ve been looking for me.”
“I had to. You were just gone... I hated that,” Bryar says as they hold each other’s gaze. “I know everything now.”
There’s a softness in Jean I’ve never seen before. “Then you must know I couldn’t tell you any of it.”
“Yes, got it, because of the curse,” Bryar moans, but seems to resist the eye roll I expect from her in such cases. She nibbles on her lower lip. “Is this why you always kept me at a distance?”
“I didn’t want to mislead you,” Jean whispers. “You shouldn’t get mixed up with someone like me.”
“Aww, dear,” Bryar coos. “That’s for me to decide.”
And without leaving Jean time to reply, she leans in for a soft kiss. The sight of them makes a bulb go alight in my head. How come I never sensed it before?
After they pull apart, Jean finds my eyes and reads the surprise in them. “I never, you know, compelled her or fed on her or anything.”
I nod, although I would have definitely wished my sister wasn’t crushing on someone with fangs.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Bryar almost stumbles in a wrinkle on the red carpet as she takes a step toward me, then looks back at Jean. “That you’re one of them?”
Jean purses her lips. “Let’s talk.” She exchanges a quick look with Jester and leads B
ryar down the corridor to the side.
Jester claps his hands cheerfully. “I am pleased to confirm to all of you that the banshee and I have reached a consensus in our negotiations. Now, let us celebrate that success with a gorgeous event.”
He snaps his fingers, and a few cold ones rush to him. He points to two girls who look roughly our age. “Show the ladies our finest collection and get them ready for a ball. The gents can come along with me.”
Rather than leave Cami alone with the cold ones again, I’d much rather stake Jester, but I clench a fist and follow him with Seff, Fillan, and Awan. Cami will get an earful about this from me as soon as I can get her alone.
The vampire leads us to our accommodations—a dusty although plush room with two king-sized beds, small windows, a wooden table with four chairs, and a little washroom behind a door to the side.
“Gentlemen,” Jester says with enthusiasm. “Let’s do our best tonight, shall we? Care to wipe those sulks off?”
Without looking at the other three, I’m willing to bet anything that we all deal him the same sullen glare. Jester doesn’t seem fazed when he snaps his fingers again. Two cold ones roll in with a long rack of men’s formal wear from about two centuries ago. I grimace when I notice more than a few shirts with frilled collars and sleeves.
“Our finest selection is at your disposal.” Jester spreads his hands in what seems to be his favorite over-exaggerated gesture.
None of us approach the moth-eaten clothes that might have one day been luxurious.
“Suit yourself.” His smile spreads slowly, but his eyes remain cold. “We only let appropriately dressed guests at our events. If you prefer, you may stay in and sulk.”
He shoos the cold ones out of the room and closes the door with a slam.
Fillan disappears into the washroom, Awan and I sink into a chair each, waiting our turn, and only Seff browses through the rack. Once we’ve all cleaned up using nothing but cold water from the buckets in the bathroom, there’s no more delaying it.
In silent protest, we each shuffle through the ancient wardrobe before us and pick out an outfit. I’d rather wear Jester’s very own ridiculous hat than leave Cami, my sister, and the others alone with the likes of these cold ones.
Suspension (Elmwick Academy Book 2) Page 8