“If he hurts you, I’ll smack him or, I don’t know, shift and make him feel the wrath of my—”
“Your what?”
I chuckled. “No clue, but I’ve got wings. That’s got to be good for something.”
“I think it’s awesome. But enough about me.” She waved for us to continue down the hall. “I sense a hint of doggie in this direction. Let’s check it out.”
We walked in silence for only a moment.
“What about you and Rhys?” she asked.
“I like him. He calms me.”
“Sounds exciting.”
My laughter rang out. “Yeah, it makes us sound like some old couple who’ve been married a thousand years, right?”
“You’re not planning the wedding yet, are you?”
“Hell no.” I stared down at the grungy floor tiles as we walked. “I like him. He’s sweet and kind and thoughtful and—”
“That sounds promising.”
“Or boring, right? Like I said, I breathe smoke, while you jump headfirst into the flames with complete confidence. We all need balance. I need someone who tames me.”
“Tames, huh? Definitely don’t want him controlling you, Maddy.” She stopped and placed her palm on a door. Her eyelids slipped shut before they opened again, and she shook her head and continued down the hall.
We turned a corner and started down yet another hall. Sometimes, I felt like I’d been locked up in a mouse trap; if I wasn’t wary, the jaws would snap closed on my leg.
“He doesn’t try to control me,” I said.
“Good. Because I’d do the same if he did.”
“Same what?”
“Knock him around.”
It was my turn to hug her. Weird, but we rocked together in the hall. I couldn’t remember the last time we’d really talked. Touched. “I missed you, Cece. That time when I was alone—before you got here—it was awful.”
“When I woke up in the hospital, I freaked out about you,” she said. “Especially after Dad…”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. “What did Dad do?” I ground out through my teeth.
“Nothing.” She backed out of our embrace and strode down the hall ahead of me. “I think I’m sensing something in this direction.”
I let the subject of Dad go, because sometimes he wasn’t a father; he was the mouse trap snapping down on my leg. But that didn’t stop my eyes from stinging. I swiped the wetness from my face. Damn rain falling inside.
Fortunately, Cece didn’t seem to notice. Or she chose not to mention it.
“You keep sensing Wolfy in one place, then another. Maybe he’s running around inside the walls.” I was only half-joking. This was a wild goose chase, with him going in one direction, then pulling a reverse and going in another. But if anyone could find him, it would be my sister.
Gnawing on her knuckle, she stopped and stared forward, her attention locked on a blank wall. “It’s…” Her breath whooshed out. “Fuck. I’ve lost him.”
“Like he somehow left the building?”
“I’m not sure.” She turned and started back toward the main part of Wadsworth. “Not much I can do without a solid lock on him.” Her arm wrapped around my shoulder. “Maybe we can try again later?” I nodded. “In the meantime, let’s go get some dinner. I’m hungry.”
“You’re always hungry.”
“I’m a growing girl,” she whined.
“Guess you’ll need the energy to keep up with Aidan,” I said under my breath.
“I heard that. And you mean ‘to keep my wits about me so I don’t spill everything to him’, don’t you?” Releasing me, she strode forward but turned and walked backward, grinning. “So, you and calming Rhys. Have you two done more than kiss yet?”
My face had to be five hundred degrees. “Cece!”
“What? You like him. He likes you. He tames the beast inside you. Personally, if it were me, I’d rather the guy—”
I held up my hand. “Stop. Don’t want to hear it.”
“So, I’m assuming you two are going to the dance together?”
“We haven’t talked about it yet.” I opened the door at the end of the hall for her this time and waited while she walked through.
“He’ll ask. Or you will. Or he’ll tell you he’s taking you. Whatever guys do these days when they want to take girls to the Incarceration Prom.”
“God. That sounds horrible!”
She shook her finger at me. “But true.”
“Probably. It would be nice if he cooked up a prom proposal, though, right?”
“Here?”
“Why not here?”
“Because this place is anything but romantic.”
“Yet here we are, talking about romance.” My lips curled down. “I missed that, too.”
“We’ll get out of here,” she said fiercely.
“And until we do, we can look forward to the...Incarceration Prom. It has a catchy ring to it. I’m picturing a bright banner stretched across the entrance christening it with that name.”
“That would go over well with the headmaster.”
“Guess it’ll have to be our secret, then.”
“Deal.”
“Now that we have the name settled, what are we supposed to wear?” I pinched the front of my numbered t-shirt. “This is sure to make me the belle of the ball.”
“No clue.”
I stalled in the hallway, and Cece ran into me. “Actually...I think I have an idea.”
“We’re going to sew dresses out of the curtains?” she asked, staring at the windows.
“No,” I snorted, “but follow me.”
We raced through the halls, then rushed up the stairs and took the corridor with the door to the attic and the dusty room housing the wardrobe.
I led my sister inside, and as we moved forward, I lifted my arm to break the cobwebs that had formed all over again. I couldn’t hold back my shudder.
Cece glanced around the room. “This could use some redecorating.” She slapped the empty bed and about three billion years’ worth of dust puffed up into the air. We both coughed and wheezed. “Just so you know, I’m not using this crappy bedspread to make a dress. And even if the sheets are a bit cleaner, I’m not into togas.”
“I meant this.” I reached for the handle to the wardrobe, intending to fling the door wide and shout ‘voila’!
The damn thing was locked.
“These doors opened recently,” I said. “Really. And there’s a closet full of dresses inside.”
Cece joined me at the set of double doors and tugged on them. “More doors that weren’t locked but suddenly are, but what else is new with this place?”
“I don’t get it.” Turning, I flopped against the mahogany structure.
My gaze fell on the bed…
Holy crap. Talk about secrets.
Two gorgeous gowns now lay on the bedspread, arranged as if for display. One was a deep royal purple, Cece’s favorite.
And the other was the color I’d adored since I was little: a rich, indigo blue.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Cece
“Umm…what in the hell are these?” I asked, staring at the gowns lying on the bed.
“They must be some of the dresses that were in the wardrobe earlier,” Maddy said, reaching for the blue one. I caught her hand before she made contact, eyeing the silk and sequins like they were poisoned or possessed—which, in fairness, were strong possibilities.
“Maybe we should just leave them alone,” I said, taking a step back.
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe getting something to eat isn’t such a bad idea,” she agreed. But her eyes remained on the blue gown, its shiny silk taffeta catching the light of the room in glorious fashion. “Too bad we can’t use them for the dance.”
“If we can determine that they’re not going to try to kill us somehow, then we can. I’m just not sure how to do that, and I don’t think trial-and-error is a solid plan for this one.”
Sh
e laughed at my assessment, and I looked her way. A genuine smile greeted me, and I gave her one in return.
“Let’s go get you some food,” she said as she hooked her arm with mine and headed for the door.
“Good call.”
We started the journey back to the new wing of the building and whatever awaited us there. I tried to tap into Wolfy’s energy along the way, but came up short yet again. I reached into my pockets and found them both empty.
“Motherfucker,” I grumbled under my breath.
“Excuse me?” Maddy said, feigning affront.
I let out a sigh. “The crystal ball…it’s buggered off.”
“Um…not following you.”
“Remember how it just showed up before? Well, apparently, it can leave when it sees fit, too.”
Her eyes went wide. “That’s strange.”
“I know.”
We strolled down the hall toward the cafeteria, pondering what it all meant, until we ran into the headmaster. I braced myself for the conversation that would ensue.
“Girls!” he said with more enthusiasm than necessary. “How is the planning going?”
“Aidan and I have a solid idea for decorations—that’s where he is now. Going through them all and organizing them in his room.”
“And I found some dresses,” Maddy added cautiously. Clever girl. Feeling out the headmaster about them to see if it triggered him somehow was a good plan. But like every other time, it was in vain.
“How fun! Hopefully there will be enough for anyone who wishes to wear one.” We just stood and smiled at him, uncertain what else to say. “Well, I must be off. Our special guests have arrived. Much business to attend to before tomorrow night!”
Without another word, he walked away toward his office. Maddy and I exchanged a nervous look. We already knew about those special guests; we just didn’t know why they’d come, and with such suspicious timing, too.
We hurried to the cafeteria to join the rest of the student body, who were already there by the sound of it. We grabbed some pizza and sodas, then found our usual seats. Rhys wasn’t there yet. No sign of Aidan at the fey table, either.
Maddy and I ate in silence for a moment, both of us angled to scan the kids in the room like we were waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Because that was what it always did.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Maddy asked before taking another bite.
“Definitely.”
“I wonder how many of them can use their magic right now,” she whispered as she leaned in closer.
“I guess that depends on how and why they can at all.” That was a mystery we needed to solve sooner than later—one that I hoped didn’t involve Aidan. Lucky for me, I knew it wouldn’t be long before he showed up. He said he’d be done researching the ball by dinner. One way or another, I wouldn't have to wait long before I could see if he was somehow involved, provided that was even possible.
My gaze fell upon the fey table again, only to find Sarah shooting daggers at Maddy and me from the far side. I steeled myself, wondering if she planned to suffocate me for good or just lord that possibility over me with her menacing glare.
“Hey, Meg,” she said to the redheaded girl at her table. Her voice carried across the room, as was no doubt intended, and her eyes remained fixed on me. “Do you have a date yet for the dance?”
“Yeah, Thomas is taking me,” the girl replied. “Are you going with—”
“Aidan?” Sarah said, cutting Meg off. “Of course! Who else would he take?”
Heat crept up my neck, and I tried to push it back down so it wouldn’t redden my complexion. She was trying to get to me, that much was clear. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.
Maddy reached across the table and placed her hand on my arm to calm me. Then the boy in question strolled into the room like he owned it, cold blue eyes darting my way before he headed for the fey table, and my anger spiked.
“You’re not the only option in this place,” I said before casually taking a bite of my food.
Sarah laughed, the sharp trill wrapping around the room like a snake about to strike. “He thinks so.”
I cocked my head and dropped my pizza on the tray. “Maybe we should ask him.”
Aidan sat down next to Sarah and stared at me with a coldness I’d never seen from him before. A warning lay deep in those dead eyes; one I chose to ignore.
Instead, I opened my mouth to ask him the question, but the words never came out. In their place was the breath in my lungs. Sarah drew it out slowly—subtly—like she was unraveling a hem with a methodical tug of a thread. I doubted anyone else would notice at first glance, except for my sister, whose concern was growing by the second. To the masses, it likely looked like I was chickening out. But when my mouth began to gape and the muscles in my neck strained, I wondered if they knew what she was doing.
I wondered if they were enjoying the show.
But it didn’t last long. Seconds later, she released her hold and began laughing yet again.
“Guess she’s afraid of what you’ll say, Aidan,” she said, turning her doe eyes to him.
His arm wrapped around her shoulder and he drew her closer.
“She should be more afraid of what I'll do,” he said before releasing Sarah and standing. “The little witch and I have unfinished business. Maybe now is the perfect time to settle it.”
He strode toward me, and I shot to my feet. Maddy was up, too, sliding over the top of the table to my side. Rhys sprinted across the room, having walked into this shitshow at an opportune time, and stopped beside Maddy to create a united front. But a front against what? That was the real question.
That, and where were all the keepers?
The cafeteria roared with excitement, students losing their shit over the possibility of a rematch between the malum magicae fey and the empath with the big mouth. And with every step Aidan took, I wondered if that was what they were going to get, or if Aidan—clever bastard that he was—had another plan.
Just before he reached us, I noticed the collective stare of the students turn toward somewhere near the doors. They all hollered at the same time, making the sound you did when something clearly painful happened to someone. I looked over to find nothing there.
Then my eyes fell to Aidan, and I realized what he was doing.
“You’re glamouring us with a fight, aren’t you?”
“We need to talk,” he said as he stopped before me.
“Then talk,” I replied with heat in my tone, “because I’m not the one who needs to explain myself.”
“Really? Because I’d like to know what the fuck I just walked in on.”
“And we’d like to know why you removed the collars of students here,” I countered.
“You’re the only one who can,” Maddy added.
“And you’re the only one morally questionable enough to do it for his own gain,” Rhys said, arms folded across his chest.
Another roar from the students had them on their feet, cheering like wild animals as they watched what I imagined was me getting my ass handed to me by Aidan.
“Wait, what? You think I did that?” His question was met with our silence. “Are you serious? To what end? What could I possibly gain from that?”
“Who knows? It’s not like you tell us anything—just enough to help you achieve your goal of escape,” Maddy said in challenge. “And since that didn’t work out, maybe testing the powers of other kids here to see if they could help is your plan B.”
His angry eyes darted from Maddy to Rhys, then to me. “And this is what you think, too?”
“I don’t know what to think, Aidan. Maddy’s assessment isn’t exactly wrong.”
“We struck a deal to escape this place,” he seethed, “and a fey does not go back on a deal.”
Through the cloud of anger surrounding him, I could feel the sincerity supporting his claim. My resolve faltered ever so slightly.
“So you didn�
�t let that bitch off-leash?” I asked, pointing to where Sarah stood on the table, screaming like a wild animal at the imaginary fight taking place before her.
Aidan winced. “No. I had no reason to.” He looked at Maddy and Rhys, and a frown grew on his face. “I see. It doesn’t matter what I say. You’ve made up your minds.”
“We just want to figure this out.”
“You want to blame the arrogant asshole that you don’t trust,” he argued.
“Can we trust you?” Maddy asked.
His eyes narrowed. “It seems you can’t, and you won’t.” He stepped closer to me, our difference in height more pronounced than ever. “If you can’t tell,” he said to me, “can’t feel it, then I’m guilty no matter what, aren’t I?”
A wave of sadness punched through the wall of emotions surrounding me, and my heart fell to my shoes.
“How is it happening, then?” I asked, my voice barely loud enough to be heard over the din. ”How are they using their powers?”
Aidan let out a long sigh. “The source that fuels the wards also fuels the other magic of Wadsworth. Including the collars.”
Oh no...
“And we messed with it.”
He nodded. The three of us swore creatively.
“I suspect that only the strongest of those here can push past them—for now. But the strong ones are also the most dangerous,” he explained, pinning a deadly stare on me, “including Sarah. You have no idea what she’s capable of.”
“Oh no, I think I have a clue,” I said, rubbing my throat.
“What she did just now was just a taste.”
“She did it in the hallway earlier, too,” I said, looking over my shoulder at the wild fairy in question. “She’s psychotic…”
“At best.”
Those words hung in the air for a second as my mind reeled with all the possible ways Sarah could kill me.
“How do you know the source is behind this?” Maddy asked, snapping me back to reality.
“Let’s just say that my parents weren’t always the most discreet with their conversations in the past.” Aidan took my hand, and the mark on it flared. “I need to talk to you, little witch. Alone.”
Rogue Reformatory: Broken (Supernatural Misfits Academy Book 2) Page 13
