“Well, what did you guys do? Was she anywhere near the desk?” Austin pressed.
Anna nodded. “Yes, she was standing next to the desk.”
“And you just let her take the potion?” Austin asked, his reddish eyebrows raised.
“Austin, I think she might have used mind control on me,” Anna told him. “The last thing I remember is agreeing to let her hang out with us, even though I didn’t really want her to. My memory goes kind of blank after that.”
“Mind control?” Lexi questioned.
“It’s one of the most powerful abilities a vampire can have,” Anna explained to her. “I’m pretty sure that Rhonda uses it. She controls peoples’ minds to make them do things she wants them to do. I bet that’s why I don’t remember anything—and why your potion disappeared, just like I don’t remember her even leaving our room last night.”
Lexi just gaped at her. “Why didn’t you tell me about this mind control stuff?”
Anna shrugged, and her lip quivered, as though she was about to cry. “I-I didn’t think she would be able to do it to us. The thing is . . . most vampires who use mind control use it on the vampire who changed them. They tend to do it in retaliation—it’s like their way of saying, ‘you changed me, so now I’m going to control you.’ It’s rare for a vampire to be able to use mind control on anyone they choose to.”
“Well, you know what we need to do now then, don’t you?” Austin asked.
Anna nodded. “Yeah, we might as well get this over with.” She opened the door to their dorm room and strolled out into the hallway. Lexi followed close behind her and Austin, feeling dazed. She couldn’t believe that this was really happening, that the potion was gone, and that of all people, Rhonda might have it.
Once they were at the door to Rhonda’s room, Anna knocked on it loudly.
The door was swung open, and Rhonda stared back at them, a smile on her glossy red lips. “May I help you?”
“Give us back the potion,” Austin demanded. “Now.”
“Potion? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rhonda said innocently, and Lexi gritted her teeth. It was obvious that Gabe’s offspring did know what they were talking about.
“Stop pretending, Rhonda. It isn’t cute. I want my potion back. Now,” Lexi demanded.
Rhonda only shrugged her shoulders this time. “You’re more than welcome to search through my room if you don’t believe me, but I don’t have your potion.”
“Okay, do you want to stay in here while we search, or do you want to step outside?” Anna asked, pushing the door open further so that she could step inside. “Because we’re not going to leave until we’re positive that you’re not hoarding it in here somewhere.”
“Be my guest,” Rhonda said, sitting down on her bed and smoothing out the silky lavender comforter. Crossing her legs, she leaned back on her arms, staring at them pointedly, daring them to search through her things.
Lexi began searching through the dresser drawers. She tried to ignore all of the sexy lingerie—mostly lacy bras and G-string underwear—that she found inside before moving to the bookcase. Neither of the two revealed anything.
When she glanced up, she noticed that Rhonda was glaring at her. “Are you done looking? I really need to get some beauty sleep, and that’s difficult to do with a search team in my room,” she said sarcastically.
Turning to Austin and Anna, Lexi asked, “Did either of you find anything?”
Anna shoved something back under the bed and shook her head reluctantly. “No, I don’t see it anywhere.”
“Me either,” Austin agreed, plucking an empty soda can off the floor and stuffing it back into the trashcan.
Lexi turned to Rhonda, who glared at her. “If I ever find out that you are the one with the potion, I’m going to make you regret it.”
Rhonda’s lips twisted into a smile. “Good luck with that, sweetie. One thing you should know about me is I don’t have regrets.”
*
Lexi lay in her bed, staring at the wall. She was past the point of sadness; the only thing she could feel at that moment was hopelessness. How could she get Dan back . . . and the potion? She felt like a failure.
Anna had suggested that she should ask Gabe if he could try to have a vision about it, but Lexi knew that was really hit or miss. It could take him weeks or longer to have a vision, and by that time, there was a risk that whoever had it would either drink it themselves or pour it down the drain, not realizing the powers that the jar contained. She needed to come up with a quicker solution, but her mind felt blank.
She kept replaying the situations over and over again in her head, without coming up with any solid ideas of how to get both Dan and the potion back, when she heard a sound.
Glancing at the window in front of her, Lexi nearly gasped.
Her ex-boyfriend Justin was hovering there, his body nearly translucent, his skin as white as porcelain.
“Justin?” Lexi whispered, unsure if what she was seeing was reality. Justin had been killed in a supposed car accident shortly after she’d arrived to Briar Creek—the same day he happened to be going back to New Jersey to ask his mom for permission for Lexi to live with them.
She knew that wasn’t what really happened, though. Someone—probably her uncle and Greg Lawrence—had murdered Justin.
“Hi, Lexi,” Justin said, his voice soft and calm.
“Are you a ghost?” Lexi asked, even though she knew that he had to be. That was the only way he could be standing in front of her at that moment. It wasn’t that surprising, either. Her mom was a ghost, after all.
Justin shrugged his shoulders. He was wearing the same hockey jersey he had always worn when they were dating. “I’m not sure if that’s what you can call me or not.”
Lexi raised her eyebrows at him. “What do you mean? Obviously you’re not alive.”
“I think I’m more like a spirit or something,” Justin replied. “Actually, I think I might be your guardian angel.”
“Those really exist?” Lexi asked. She wasn’t sure why she felt surprised; if vampires, werewolves, witches, and immortals existed, surely guardian angels could, too.
Justin shrugged again. “No one’s actually told me that’s what I am, but I have been watching over you ever since the day I died.”
“Why me?” Lexi questioned. “Or do you get to watch over more than one person?”
“Well, I check in on my mom sometimes. I really miss her,” Justin admitted. “But I think I watch over you because you were my first love.”
Lexi glanced down at the palms of her hands. Before she’d moved to Briar Creek and had fallen in love with Gabe, it had been obvious to her that Justin still had feelings for her. Even though she’d agreed to move in with him and his mom just so that she could get away from her aunt and uncle, she’d never given him nearly enough consideration. Mostly, she’d just blown him off.
“Do you think you’ll have to be my guardian angel forever?” Lexi asked quietly. It made her feel guilty to think that he was stuck in his afterlife watching over her.
“I’m not sure,” Justin replied. “I think it’s just until you figure everything out.”
Lexi stared at him blankly. How much did he get to see while he was “watching over her”? Did he know everything that was happening in her life now? Did he watch her changing her clothes or showering this morning?
Justin shook his head and laughed at her. “No, I don’t watch you change your clothes or shower, Lexi. Sure, I’d like to, but I know I have to respect your privacy. But I do know everything that’s going on. I can hear your thoughts, which you might have realized just now.”
“I see,” Lexi replied, feeling at least sort of relieved, except now she knew that she needed to monitor her thoughts. It’s not like she felt like she needed to hide anything from Justin, but she didn’t want to embarrass herself by thinking of something that was too private—or by thinking of something that could potentially upset him. Even as a ghost, he
still had feelings for her, and she needed to do whatever she could to respect them, because she cared about him, too.
“Anyway, I think I need to watch over you until you can get this Dan guy out of that book,” Justin replied. “That’s why I’m here. There’s something you need to know.”
Lexi raised her eyebrows at him. What could he possibly know about the book and Dan that she didn’t already know herself? “What is it?”
“The reason you can’t get in the book and Dan can’t get out is because Mary-Kate put a spell on it,” Justin explained. “She sealed the book shut so that no one else could get in—or out.”
Was he right? What if she had been wandering around aimlessly trying to will Dan to come back when it was never possible because of Mary-Kate? It made complete and total sense, but . . . how did Mary-Kate put a spell on the book? She wasn’t a witch, too, was she?
Justin shook his head, sitting down on the bed. “She’s not a witch, but she figured out how to do a spell. Witches have the power to do any spell at ease, but a human can also do a spell if they know the right words to say and if they put enough feeling into it.”
“Since when did you become such an expert in witchcraft?” Lexi questioned, feeling unsure about the answer he’d given her. How did he know that was how it worked?
“I know how everything works lately,” Justin replied, shrugging. “Try me. Ask me anything.”
Lexi scanned her head for a question. She settled on a geography question, since it was one of Justin’s worst subjects in school. “What’s the capital of Ukraine?”
“Kiev,” Justin replied. “That’s an easy one. Let’s try another.”
She had to take his word for it, since even she didn’t know that answer.
“Who won the VMA for the best music video of the year?” Lexi asked, knowing that there was no way he would know the answer, since, well, he was dead. Even if he had been alive, he probably wouldn’t have known the answer, anyway, since he wasn’t into mainstream music; he chose to listen to Indie and acoustic bands only, claiming that the music that was normally played on the radios was garbage.
“Rihanna,” Justin replied, flashing his toothy grin. “Believe me now?”
“I guess I have no choice but to believe you,” Lexi admitted, still surprised that he even knew who Rihanna was. Stranger things had happened over the past year, after all. “So, what am I supposed to do about the spell on the book? Can I break it?”
“That, you’re on your own with,” Justin told her. “I have no clue how the book can be fixed.”
She slapped him across the shoulder playfully, the same way she normally would, but her hand went through his body. She shakily folded her hands in her lap, hoping that she hadn’t upset him. “Wow, you’re really useful! The one piece of information I could really use, and you have no clue.” She joked—mostly because there wasn’t much else she could do.
“Sorry, Lexi,” Justin replied, shaking his head. “I can tell you who took the potion, though. Well, sort of. I can only give you a hint, or there’s no way I can ever come back if you need me again.”
Lexi rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know all about the rules from when my mom visits me. Quite frankly, I think they suck.”
“I couldn’t agree more. I get to watch all of this stuff take place, and yet, I’m not allowed to say a word to anyone about it. It’s no fun to find out all of these secrets and have to keep them all to myself.”
“So, wait, my potion was definitely stolen then? It didn’t just disappear into thin air or something?” After the search of Rhonda’s room had produced nothing, Anna had suggested that she may have simply misplaced it, but Lexi knew, deep down, that she hadn’t. Someone had definitely taken it.
“It’s someone who you’ve trusted a lot lately,” Justin told her. “Someone who you’d never even suspect.”
Lexi sighed. “That doesn’t tell me a lot.”
“Sorry, I don’t know how to give you more details about who it was without giving it away.” Justin hesitated. “I need you to promise me that you’ll be more careful in the near future.”
“Careful about what?” Was he insinuating that it was her fault the potion had gotten stolen? That wasn’t fair. It’s not like she had done anything wrong; she’d only evacuated her dorm room like she’d been told to. She hadn’t thought that someone would steal the potion while she was gone for only a few minutes.
Even so, she wanted to kick herself in the ass. If she could turn back time—just enough to slip the potion into her pocket before they’d headed to the auditorium—she wouldn’t be dealing with this mess.
“I know it’s not your fault,” Justin told her softly. “Just be careful about who you trust.” He stood up and turned to walk away from her, but he glanced back over his shoulder. “And Lexi?”
“What?”
“Think twice about taking that potion. Just for me, okay?” Justin asked. “It’s selfish of me, but I hate to think that I’ll be dead forever . . . while you’ll always be here on earth.”
And just like that, he disappeared into thin air.
Chapter 12
There was a loud knock on the door to her dorm room shortly after Justin left. Lexi got up to answer it, trying to absorb all of the new information that she’d learned about the potion and the spell book. She knew that she was going to have to talk to her father about it; he was one of the only people who might be able to make sense of things, only because he was wise beyond everyone else’s years.
Craig’s hazel eyes stared back at her from the doorway. There was a look of panic and something else—something that she couldn’t place again. “Lexi? Did you get the text message from Gabe?”
Lexi shook her head. “No, I haven’t heard from him since before he left. Why do you ask?”
Craig held out his phone. The open text message said it was from Gabe, and it read I’m in serious trouble. I’m at Bear Cliff State Park.
Glancing back up at Craig, Lexi asked, “Did you ask him what type of trouble he’s in?”
Craig nodded. “Yeah, and I haven’t heard anything back, so I figured we should probably go there. He might be hurt or something.”
Lexi shook her head. “We can’t just do that. Huntington is under lockdown. We won’t be allowed to come back if we leave—if they even let us out. Maybe we should tell someone, and they can go find him.”
“We can get out, don’t worry. Teachers have special privileges,” Craig explained to her. “They’ll let me out, but I was wondering . . . do you want to come with me?”
She hesitated. On the one hand, it was obvious from that text message that Gabe needed help, for whatever reason. But at the same time, she also wanted to stay at Huntington, just so that she could stay with the book in case Dan did manage to come back. “I don’t know. . . .”
“Gabe really needs you, Lexi,” Craig insisted. “He needs your help. Mine, too. He needs both of us. I think we need to go to him.”
Lexi still wasn’t convinced. “People need me here, too.” And the fact of the matter was, Gabe hadn’t even told her he was leaving in the first place. But now he needed her? What about when she needed him through the whole Dan ordeal she was going through? He had just up and left without saying a word.
“Come on, Lexi,” Craig insisted. “We can’t just leave Gabe hanging. How about this? We go to Bear Cliff State Park, get him, and come back right away. I’ll make sure Huntington’s security guards let you back in. Actually, come to think of it, I don’t think they could deny you entry back into the school. All we have to do is point out that the town of Briar Creek is after you, and they’ll let you back in.”
Letting out a sigh, she nodded. “Fine, let’s go. The sooner we get there, the sooner we get back.” She grabbed her jacket and followed Craig out into the hallway. “I think I’m going to let Austin and Anna know we’re going.”
Craig waved his hand in the air. “I wouldn’t worry about it. The park is only about fifteen minutes from h
ere. We’ll be back before they even realize you’re gone.”
She decided not to object because Craig was probably right. Austin and Anna were so wrapped up in each other lately that they might even be relieved to know that they had some more privacy since Lexi wasn’t going to be around for the next half hour or so.
Once they were outside, the cold wintry air hit against Lexi’s cheeks. She remembered that it was getting really close to Christmas. The holiday was only a few days away.
It was going to be Lexi’s first Christmas without her mother.
Sighing, she followed Craig to his car, which was parked in the front of the Huntington parking lot, the ignition already on.
“I figured I would warm the car up before I asked you to come with me,” Craig explained, as he unlocked the passenger side door and opened it for her.
She was a bit annoyed that he had automatically assumed that she would go with him. Was she really that predictable?
“Thanks,” Lexi muttered, as she climbed into the familiar car. It was the last car she had been in before she’d traveled to the 1800s. She had a feeling that if she hadn’t been so stubborn—if she hadn’t agreed with Austin’s request to just let Dan retrieve the book from the Lawrence’s house on his own—they wouldn’t be in the predicament they were in. But because she hadn’t trusted Dan at all at that point, she had insisted on getting the book herself.
When Craig was in the car, he backed out of the parking spot and drove over to the security guards, who were pacing back and forth, their expressions as hard as stone.
Craig lowered his window when one of the guards came over to them.
“Where do you think you’re going? You do know that we’re on a lock down, right?” the guard questioned. It was obvious by the tone in his voice that he wasn’t amused.
“Yeah, we have some business to attend to off campus,” Craig told him. “I will be back within two hours, as I do have a six o’clock class to teach.”
The guard’s face softened a little, but he still shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I cannot let you out—” he started to say, but he was interrupted by the sound of Craig gunning the engine.
Cold as Ice Page 6
