Evergreen Academy - The Complete Series

by Ruby Vincent

  Madeline threw her head back laughing. “You’re such a scream, darling. Come, come. We don’t want to miss our reservations.”

  The restaurant Sofia’s parents booked was high-end in the extreme. Mom and I bought gowns for the celebration and we still felt underdressed. Even so, I had a great time. We laughed, joked, and stuffed ourselves on the tastiest food I had ever eaten. Adam delighted everyone with his cuteness, and by the end of the night, not even Madeline could resist holding him.

  Mom and Adam spent the night after we stumbled back to the mansion. They squeezed in with me despite the Richards offering up their fifty-odd spare bedrooms. I snuggled up with my baby and fell asleep feeling so happy I could bust. I knew her screams wouldn’t find my dreams when sleep claimed me.

  “BYE, MOM. I’LL COME back at the end of summer.”

  “You better. It’s our ritual for me to do this awful drive and drop you at those gates. No reason to stop now.”

  “Agreed.” I gave them both one more kiss and hug.

  Mom honked her way down the massive driveway as I waved. When they were gone, I made to go back inside.

  Buzz. Buzz.

  I answered my phone without looking at the screen. “Hello?”

  “Try that again and you’re going down, playboy— Hey!”

  There was a shout, the obvious sound of fighting, and then laughter that faded as cursing took its place.

  “People think Ricky is nice,” Jaxson raged. “Asshole! Motherfu—” There was a bang. “No throwing!”

  I stifled a laugh. “What the hell are you guys doing?”

  “Minding my own business watching a movie,” he grumbled. “Then the big guy decides he wants to watch some stupid gadget show and attacks. There are six other televisions in this house!”

  Maverick’s shout came through clear. “Then watch your movie on one of them!”

  “Is this why you called?” I asked.

  “Nah, baby. Wanted to make sure you were ready. I’ll send the car to your place now.”

  “Oh.” I looked down at my outfit, then I cringed.

  Your first thought is how you look? Seriously, Val?

  “I’ll be ready in five minutes.”

  “Clive will be there in ten.”

  He hung up but not before I heard renewed shouting on his end. I shook my head as I headed upstairs to change. I may have understood why they were friends, but that didn’t make them any less of an odd bunch.

  I didn’t have much time so I hurried into a pair of jeans and a silk blouse Mom bought me for my birthday. What I wore did not matter, but it had been a while since I had been in Ryder’s house and no time at all since I had hooked up with Jaxson. Worrying about clothes and jewelry saved me a few minutes of having to think about that.

  Clive was waiting outside when I walked out. The drive to Ryder’s house was short, but my fretting made it longer. Were we finally going to talk about Scarlett? The Spades? What happens now? What happened back then? Would I ever shake the feeling that there was more to Walter McMillian’s death? Did everyone who tangled with the Spades end tragically? And if that was true, what would happen to me?

  My head was a mess when Clive finally spat me out in Ryder’s drive. I tried to sort through it all as I climbed the steps. The door opened before I raised my hand to knock.

  “Hello, Miss Moon. We are expecting you.”

  I blinked at the tall, bald stranger. “Do I know you?”

  “You do not. My name is Mr. Grange. I am the Sheas’ butler. If you would follow me, the master and his guests are on the terrace.” He took off at the end of his sentence and I hurried to stay on his heels.

  The Shea mansion was more magnificent than I remembered. Twice the size of Sofia’s place, the place screamed wealth so loud it deafened anyone who walked inside. It didn’t escape my thoughts that this could all be Adam’s, but it went as quickly as it came. That happy baby did not need any of this. Ryder grew up here and happy was far from what he was.

  Grange led me through the multitude of rooms until we reached the sliding glass door. He bowed slightly as he held it open for me.

  “Thank you,” I said absentmindedly. I was already fixed on the sight of Maverick, Ezra, and Jaxson surrounding someone I hadn’t expected to see: Caroline.

  The older woman reclined in a lounge chair by the pool, although she was in full dress. The long-sleeved linen dress looked lovely on her, but it covered every inch of her pale skin except for her face and hands. Shielding her from the nice day were a pair of thick sunglasses, floppy hat, a large parasol, and the man that had been an ever-present shadow for as long as I could remember. I didn’t know if Jacob was a bodyguard or what, but whenever Caroline emerged from her bedroom, he was nearby.

  I drifted closer to the group.

  “...be excited now that summer is here,” said Caroline. “Tell me everything you’ve done.”

  “Ricky went to football camp,” Jaxson replied. “Ezra and I went on vacation with our parents.”

  She hummed. “Did you go anywhere exciting?”

  “Mom.”

  I jumped. I hadn’t even heard the doors open behind me. Ryder passed me by holding a tray weighted down with a single glass.

  “Guys, stop crowding her. Go away.”

  “They aren’t crowding me, my love,” Caroline protested as the boys stood up. “I love talking with your friends.”

  “Why? They suck.”

  “You suck, Eugene!” Jaxson shouted back.

  “My middle name is not Eugene!”

  Caroline placed a thin hand on Ryder’s arm. “Don’t shout, son.”

  “Sorry, Mom.”

  Jaxson delivered the final blow by throwing his middle fingers up all the way to the door. I clapped my hand over my mouth to cover my laugh. I could have gone inside with them, but something pulled me closer to mother and son.

  Caroline beamed at him. “Is that for me?”

  “Yes.” He set the lemonade on the small table beside her. “Can I get you anything else?”

  He’s so attentive to her.

  It shouldn’t have surprised me. Ryder was always good to his mom even while he was his most beastly to me. Despite that, seeing his kind side still shook me.

  “You can sit with me.”

  “In a minute. I’m making you soup and a sandwich for lunch. It’s almost ready.”

  Her smile was fond as she gazed at him. “We have a chef for that.”

  “He doesn’t make it the way you like it. I heard you say so.”

  “So, of course, my love steps in to make it right. Where would I be without you?”

  “You won’t find out.” Ryder bent and kissed her cheek. He turned and froze as if noticing me for the first time. “Valentina.”

  “Valentina?” Caroline gifted me with her smile. “Hello, dear. You’ll sit with me, won’t you?”

  “Mo—”

  “Yes, I will.” I crossed over to her without hesitation, claiming the seat Ezra vacated. “How are you?”

  “Very well.” She said that, but Caroline Shea looked as thin and frail as she always did. I got the feeling that so much as a tight hug would shatter her into pieces. She glanced at Ryder. “Go on, love. Don’t let the food burn.”

  I could read the reluctance on his face, but he didn’t argue with her. When he was gone, she turned to Jacob. “Would you give us some privacy, please?” The silent man backed away without protest.

  “It’s good to see you, Valentina. I hope you’ve been well too.”

  “I have. It was my birthday yesterday. We went to this fancy restaurant.” The words poured from my lips unbidden. I couldn’t help it. Something about Caroline’s open face made you want to speak to her. “We had a great time.”

  “That’s wonderful. I was worried there was something wrong when you asked to be put in touch with a hacker and assigned a bodyguard from my personal staff.”

  “A few issues with people at school, but they’re settled now.”
r />   More or less.

  “That’s good news.” She leaned back, getting comfortable. “So tell me about young Adam.”

  “He’s two now. He likes books about magical forests and screaming my name at the top of his lungs.”

  She laughed. It was a soft sound that managed to shake her whole body. “My Ryder was the same. He’d scream for me even when he could see me. He wanted me close by at all times. Boys and their mothers.”

  “I can’t picture baby Ryder,” I said with a laugh. “My brain can’t conjure up chubby cheeks and a round bottom.”

  Caroline covered her mouth to hide her mirth. “My son had the chubbiest cheeks. He was truly quite fat and I’ve got the pictures to prove it.”

  “I’d like to see those.”

  Giggling, she swatted my knee like we were indulging in something sneaky. What Caroline Shannon Shea and I had couldn’t be described as friendship. We barely spoke outside of hidden texts, and I knew very little about her life. She was kind in every way, and yet, I had no clue why she married that brute Benjamin Shea, or the demons she fought every day. She wasn’t my friend, but it was like Jaxson said. Sometimes big things happen that bind the most unlikely people together.

  Ryder returned with a tray of food and it brought our conversation to a halt. Caroline grabbed his hand when he set it down.

  “Ryder, go and get your baby pictures.”

  He went rigid, half doubled over. “What?”

  “Valentina wants to see you when you were little.” She looked at me. “I have the most adorable one when he was a month old. You can see his little round bottom.”

  I snorted a laugh as Ryder seized my hand.

  “There’s no time for that, Mom.” Ryder pulled me to my feet. “Everyone is waiting for us.”

  “But—”

  “Eat, Mom,” Ryder said, cutting through my protest. “I’ll come back and sit with you after.”

  “Alright.” She waved us off as her shadow returned to her side again.

  “What were you two talking about?” Ryder asked the minute we stepped inside. “Why do you want to see my pictures?”

  “I don’t— I mean, I wouldn’t mind seeing them. It was just an offhand comment.” I turned away, scanning for the rest of the guys. “Where is everyone?”

  “In my room.”

  “Then let’s go.” I made to leave, but a hand stopped me. “Ryder, what—” I paused when I saw the look on his face.

  “My mom...” He looked to be forcing each word out. “...did she ever tell you who...”

  “Your father was?”

  He nodded.

  “No,” I replied softly. “She never said and I never asked. Do you want me to ask her?”

  His hair fell across his eyes as he shook his head.

  “Will you talk to her?”

  “I can’t without revealing how I know. It’s up to her to tell me.”

  “I’m sorry.” It didn’t feel like enough, but what else could I say?

  He released me. “We should go.”

  It was me who led the way to his room. It was funny how well I remembered the clown painting where I took a right. The slight scratch on the door for the bathroom. Then at the end of the hall, Ryder’s room.

  The boys were waiting inside. Jaxson laid out on Ryder’s bed like he owned it. Maverick sat at his computer, and Ezra checked out his bookshelves. Except for them, everything was perfect, spotless, bordering on sterile. There were photos, of course, and awards and medals, but I never felt like any of this said a thing about the real Ryder, not like his room at the academy did.

  Jaxson propped himself up on his elbows and patted the spot next to him. Smiling, I went to sit at his side. He rested his head in my lap and got comfortable.

  I looked up and saw Ezra watching us. He looked away when I caught his glance. “We’re all here. Let’s talk.”

  “About Scarlett.” I didn’t say it as a question. “What’s going to happen now?”

  “Nothing happened after she— after she disappeared,” said Jaxson. “Everyone accepted that she resigned and took off.”

  “But there are still too many questions.” Maverick swung the desk chair around to face us. “Who is she? How did she become a Spade? And are there others?”

  “I think we can be sure that she picked us to be Knights,” Ezra spoke up. “To keep us nice and under her thumb. The four boys who knew her secret.”

  “What if she is the only one?” Maverick added. “What if there always was a single Spade who ran the school until they chose someone else to take their place?”

  Ryder finally spoke up. “This is all just guessing. We don’t know any more about the Spades than we did before, and the only one who could have told us is dead.”

  Jaxson lifted his head. “We know that Scarlett marked Valentina and we know why. If she had more Spade buddies, do you wanna bet that she didn’t tell them the reason? ‘Hey, the new girl may know that I’m a pedophile, let’s get rid of her.’”

  Maverick inclined his head. “That’s true. If there were others she needed to explain it to, then she would have made something up.”

  “Then this would be over if they knew the truth.”

  All eyes flew to me.

  “That’s where this is going, right?” I continued. “If she was the only Spade, then this is over, but we can’t be sure of that. If there are others, they would need to know the truth of why she marked me to back off. Maybe they would take back the mark themselves, if that’s a thing.”

  “I’ve never heard of a mark being taken back,” Ezra said slowly. “But you’re also the first person to last this long. The others left right away and McMillian—”

  “—was killed,” I finished. “Killed because the Spades thought that was the only way to end it, but if they knew I was never a threat in the first place, this could end another way.”

  “But they can’t know,” Ezra protested. “No one knows what she did to— Not even my mom.” He tossed his head. “I’m not telling—”

  “You don’t have to.” I slid out from under Jaxson and stood. “I’ll say it was me. Scarlett went too far with me and when I threatened to tell Evergreen, I wound up marked. People will believe it. They know I hung out in her class alone, and they probably overheard all the times she called me pretty or touched me.”

  Maverick got to his feet. “Val, you don’t have to—”

  “Do you have a better idea?” I stepped into the middle of the room and met each of their eyes. “I can’t go the next two years always looking over my shoulder with bodyguards on my tail. If I can end this now, then I have to do it. Even if this doesn’t stop the Spades, then it might stop the rest of the students. They wouldn’t keep attacking me if they knew they were doing it under the orders of a predator.”

  Ryder stepped in front of me, filling my vision as he blocked everyone else out. “That would turn the school against the Spades... and you know what happened to the last guy who did that.”

  I swallowed hard. “I’ll take that risk.”

  “What if we won’t?” I felt Jaxson’s hand on my waist. I let him turn me to face him. “What if I can’t stand for you to be a target anymore?”

  I pressed my hand to his cheek, heart aching for what we all knew I had to say.

  “We don’t have a choice.”

  Chapter Three

  “I can drive you down so your mom doesn’t have to make the trip.” Sofia rested on my bed, feet in the air, as I packed. “It’ll be fun. We’ll blast the music the whole ride.”

  “That would be fun.” I tossed in my last dress and plopped down next to her. “But Mom and I were planning to make a day of it. A new waterpark opened up between here and home so we’re taking Adam. We’re packing in as much stuff before I’m locked away in Evergreen.”

  “Okay, I get it. Although, I think this year will be a lot more fun.”

  “Why? Because you’re hot and heavy with Zane?”

  Looking at her upside do
wn, I still didn’t miss her smirk. “That is one reason, but I meant that the juniors and seniors get more freedom. Later curfew. More weekend passes. Plus the school trips. Last year, the junior class would have gone to Aspen for winter break if the headmaster hadn’t had a meltdown. This year, I hope he keeps it together long enough for us to go.”

  “That would be amazing. I’ve never been that far before.”

  “We’ll totally share a room. Go skiing together. Sip hot chocolate in front of the fire. It’ll be epic.”

  My smile was tinged with sadness. “That would be epic, Sof, but until I’m sure the mark is off my back, it can’t happen.”

  “Oh, yeah. I’ve been waiting till the last minute to tell you this so here goes. I’m not pretending we’re not friends anymore. No matter what happens, I’m on your side. Don’t argue with me.”

  I sprang up, narrowly missing knocking our heads together. “But, Sofia! This is dangerous! Someone tried to burn me alive, throw me down the stairs, and drop a planter on my head. Until I know—”

  “Didn’t I say not to argue with me?” She grabbed me and shoved. I went back down with a yelp as she put her head on my chest. “This is why I waited because you’d try to talk me out of it. I’m not stupid. I know it’s dangerous, but I’m done, Val.”

  “You’re sweet as honey,” I replied, remembering something Jaxson said. “I’m ruthless. If they come after you, it’ll be too much.”

  “Sweet as honey?” She laughed. “I’m tougher than you think. Plus, you’re not changing my mind. If you’re so worried about me, then we work harder to get rid of the mark.”

  “Trust me, I’m trying.”

  Ring. Ring.

  “That’ll be Olivia.” I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed. “Thank you for letting me stay. I had so much fun.”

  “Me too.”

  We hopped up to get my things. One stop to say goodbye to her parents and then we headed out to meet Mom.

  “Everything will be different this year,” she said as she hugged me once more. “I promise.”

  “EXCITED FOR SCHOOL, kid?”

  “That’s one word for it.” The line of cars crested over the hill. It was move-in day. The students of Evergreen had returned. “This year is going to be intense. We have to start prepping for college. Grades are everything this year.”