At my locker, I shoved in the books I didn’t need and slammed the door shut. In my mind, I was already planning my afternoon session with Marica: a little showing-off of my plant growing ability, a little display of how well I could control the air now...I pushed aside the memory of the freak lightening storm the day before. I had nearly convinced myself that it was just a coincidence. If Marica didn’t know about it, I wasn’t going to tell her...
“Tasmyn! Wait a second!” Amber’s voice jerked me out of my brooding. She was behind me on the walkway, waving to get my attention. Annoyance flared, and I tried to keep it from showing in my face. Amber knew something was up. She’d pressed me at lunch today about why Rafe wasn’t eating with us. I could hear the suspicions in her mind. I needed to get out to Lake Rosu, and I was tired of making excuses to Amber—or anyone else.
She caught up with me and smiled. “Sorry, I just didn’t want to miss you. Are you heading home?”
“Um. . yeah. And I’ve got a ton of homework, so I can’t-”
“Tas, I really want to talk to you. Please. Come home with me. Or I’ll ride home with you. I just feel like something is going on and you’re not telling me.”
Temper threatened again, and I choked it down. “I can’t today, Amber. I’m sorry. I’ve got—I just can’t. We’ll talk tomorrow, okay? At lunch. Everything’s fine. Really.”
Amber’s brow knit together. “Wait a minute, isn’t today your tutoring day? Aren’t you supposed to be working in the library?”
I clutched desperately at that straw. “Ah, yeah, that’s right, thanks for reminding me! I’m going to head there right now. So I’ll see you-”
“I’ll wait for you. I’ll do some reading in the library. And then maybe afterward we can talk.”
“Amber!” Now the impatience and anger were in my voice. “I told you, I can’t. Not today. Please, give me a break.”
I saw the hurt on her face, but this time it didn’t bring guilt, only irritation. My heart began to pound, and I didn’t fight the surging rage. It was feeding on itself, waves of animosity breaking at the surface.
Amber didn’t seem to notice. She reached out to touch my arm. “Tasmyn, I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but I know it’s something bad. Is it—are you still seeing Ms. Lacusta? I know you said you weren’t, but you’re acting so strange. Please, let me help you-”
“Oh for the love of God! Leave me alone!” I screamed the words, and as they left my mouth, I felt the surge of power explode and watched Amber fly across the open courtyard.
She hit the huge oak tree that dominated the center of the green and crumpled in a heap at its base.
Hey, Tasmyn. I’m just calling to remind you that no matter what, I’m with you, even when you think you don’t want me. The world is going to end before my love for you does. I love you. Call me.
“Oh, God!” The frustration and the anger were gone, swallowed up by remorse and disbelief. How had I done this? What kind of monster was I?
I ran to Amber, my heart in my throat. What if I had really hurt her? What if she was—but no, I refused to think about that. As if through a tunnel I heard shouts of alarm; apparently other students had witnessed this little display.
Amber laid horribly still, her eyes closed. One leg was folded beneath her body, and both arms were flung out, as though she had attempted to fly. Her face was so very, very white, and I remembered the night Michael and I had rescued her from Nell. Had I saved her life that night only to take it today?
I grabbed her hand, my own fingers shaking as I searched for a pulse. Please, Amber, please, I’m so sorry, please be okay...
“Amber! Come on, wake up. Come on. You’re going to be fine.” I spoke through chattering teeth, and then I felt a reassuring pulse in her wrist, and I saw her chest rise and fall.
“What happened? Did someone call 911?” A girl stooped next to me, gaping at Amber’s still motionless form.
Before I could formulate an answer, a boy whom I vaguely recognized from my English class joined us. “I don’t know what happened. I’ve never seen anything like that. It was freaky—one minute she was standing over there, then it looked like someone threw her into this tree.” He too was pale, I saw, his eyes wide in disbelief. “You know, like there was an explosion and she just got totally blasted over here.” He fastened on me. “You were talking to her. What was it?”
I shook my head. “I don’t-”
“What’s going on here?” I looked up as a shadow fell over me, and felt the first hint of relief. It was Mr. Frame, my history teacher from last year. He would be able to take care of this, to help Amber.
The boy held up his cell phone. “I already called 911. We don’t know how it went down, though.” He repeated his story, and Mr. Frame frowned at all of us.
We heard a siren, and within minutes, paramedics swarmed into the courtyard. I stepped back and with shaking hands groped for my phone. I hit the button for Rafe’s speed dial, and when he answered, I began to cry.
“Amber—she’s hurt—Rafe—we’re at school, can you please come? I need you. I-I did something so bad-”
He didn’t even hesitate. “I’ll be right there. Wait for me. Don’t go anywhere.”
As I hung up, I heard a low moan, and one of the paramedics said, “She’s coming around. Take it easy, honey. Keep still.”
I strained to see over the backs of the medics as they carefully moved her onto a stretcher. I felt a hand on my shoulder.
“I think she’s going to be all right, Ms. Vaughn.” Mr. Frame looked at me appraisingly. “Did you...see what happened to her? I imagine there will be questions.”
I flushed miserably and shook my head, unable to meet his eyes. “I-no. We were talking, and then she just—was here.”
He frowned at me, and I realized anew how lame that sounded. I just didn’t have anything else to say. When my silence made that clear, Mr. Frame nodded. “All right. You know, you look pretty shaken up yourself. Why don’t you have a seat and try to settle down?”
I looked after the group of men, wheeling my best friend toward the ambulance that I was sure was waiting in the parking lot. “Should I go with her? And someone should call her parents.”
“I’ll take care of notifying her parents, and no, they won’t let you ride with her. Better off to stay right here.” He guided me to the bench on the other side of the tree. “Sit tight.” I watched him stride away, toward the office.
I don’t know how long I sat there, numb, but it felt like only seconds before Rafe was kneeling in front of me.
“Tasmyn! What happened? God, you look like a ghost. Where’s Amber?”
Wordlessly I gestured toward the parking lot and then dropped my hand and shook my head.
“Tas!” Rafe took hold of my shoulders and shook me gently. “What happened? You’ve got to tell me. I can’t help if I don’t know.” He touched my face, held my chin and looked into my eyes.
Huge and ugly sobs racked my body, and tears gushed down my cheeks. “Rafe...oh, I did something terrible. I don’t know—I didn’t know it would happen—but-” And then it all poured out. I don’t know how Rafe understood what I was saying through my gulps and tears, but I saw his face change from concern to a grim comprehension.
“What’ll I do? I—I’m so frightened, Rafe. I never meant to hurt her. It just—she kept talking and talking, and it came out, I swear I didn’t mean it.”
Rafe sank onto the bench next to me and pulled my face into his shoulder. “Of course you didn’t mean it. You love Amber. She knows that. This isn’t your fault. It’s that witch—she unleashed the power, but she never taught you how to control it, to use it the right way.” Rafe’s voice was tight, and for just a moment, his mind opened to me and I saw that he was picturing strangling Marica.
“Rafe—no, no more violence. Please. I’ve got to get to the hospital, see if Amber’s all right. Will you take me?”
“Yes, of course.” He stood and pulled me to my feet next to
him. And then I saw his face darken, and I looked over my shoulder, following his gaze.
Mr. Frame was walking into the courtyard toward us, accompanied by two men. One was dressed in regular clothes, but the other wore the familiar uniform of the King Police Department.
Tasmyn, sometimes I think if I just keep saying it enough, you’ll believe me again. I’ll wait for you. When you realize we belong together, I’ll still be here. I love you. Call me.
“Tasmyn, don’t say anything. Listen to what I’m thinking, and do what I tell you.” Rafe moved to put himself between the approaching men and me.
Mr. Frame reached us first, and I clearly heard his thoughts as he took in Rafe’s protective stance. What’s going on here?
“Tasmyn, this is Officer Burton and Detective Lawrence. They want to talk to you about what happened to Amber.”
Detective Lawrence met my eyes. “We’ve met. How are you, Tasmyn?” There was a wealth of meaning behind his words, and I remembered the last time I’d spoken with him, days after Nell had tried to kill me last year. He had left me that day with a cryptic warning about King, and now I could hear him thinking that I must not have paid very close attention.
I swallowed hard and tried to concentrate on Rafe’s thoughts. Answer him. Tell him how you really are.
“I just watched my best friend get carried out of here on a stretcher. I really want to get to the hospital and see if—see how she is. That’s where we were headed.”
Officer Burton’s eyebrows rose skeptically, and I looked away from him. Detective Lawrence was still watching me closely as he spoke.
“I’m sure. We need to find out what happened to Amber, how it happened, and since apparently you were the last one to speak with her, we’d like to get a statement from you before you go over to the hospital.”
I flicked my eyes to Rafe and heard him think, Just relax. Go with it. Tell them you were talking to her, then you went to leave and the next thing you knew, she was under that tree.
I nodded to Detective Lawrence, and Officer Burton pulled out a clipboard.
“So...were you with Amber? Where were you two going?”
I focused on sharing on the barest facts. “I—we were going home. That is, I was going to my house, and Amber was going to hers. She asked me if we could do something together, and I told her I had a lot of homework.” Tears filled my eyes again as I remembered my harsh words. “And then I told her good-bye. I turned to go. A few seconds later, I heard someone yell, and I saw Amber under the tree.” I didn’t have to fake the shudder that accompanied that memory.
“I ran over to help her, to see if she was okay. And there was a girl with me and a boy, too...he said he’d called 911.”
Officer Burton nodded. “We’ve got their statements already. The boy—he said he thought it looked like you were both upset when you were talking with the victim.”
I cringed. The victim. That was my best friend. And if she were the victim, what did that make me?
Focus, Tas. I heard Rafe thinking. Tell them. . you were upset. We had a fight. That’s not a lie, and everyone will believe it. Tell them you were angry with me.
I nodded, just slightly. “I was. I—Rafe and I had an argument. I was still thinking about that. I wanted some time to myself, to just think things over. Amber was trying to help.”
“Did this fight with your boyfriend have anything to do with Amber?” Officer Burton tried to keep his tone even, but I could feel the growing suspicion. And I heard him think, Love triangle. These kids get so worked up. A girl spat that got out of hand...
“Absolutely not. Amber is our friend, but it’s nothing like that.” I glanced sideways at Rafe. “Rafe and I just had a kind of difference of opinion over something. Ask anyone, it’s not that uncommon for us.”
Detective Lawrence spoke this time. “So you’re saying you have absolutely no idea what happened between the time you finished your conversation with Amber and her hitting the tree? We have two witnesses who claim that she flew through the air, as though she’d been thrown.”
I shook my head, keeping my eyes down.
“Look at her,” Rafe interjected. “Tasmyn said they were talking on the walkway over there.” He pointed across the courtyard. “She and Amber are about the same size. You can’t honestly believe that Tas could physically toss Amber against that tree from there, can you?”
Detective Lawrence shrugged and then shook his head. “No. It doesn’t seem possible.” He regarded us both for a few beats and then turned back to Officer Burton and Mr. Frame. “Frank, would you and Mr. Frame go tell the other witnesses they can leave now? I’ll take a look over here at the tree, and I’ll meet you back at the car.”
After the two men had moved out of earshot, Detective Lawrence turned back to me. “So, Tasmyn. You’ve been here in King how long? Not even two years yet?” When I nodded, he sighed heavily. “And I’ve met you twice in the line of duty. That doesn’t make me happy.”
“This wasn’t Tasmyn’s fault. You can’t hold her responsible for anything that happened here.” Rafe’s voice was full of certainty.
“You’re not wrong, Rafe.” Sam Lawrence didn’t sound happy about that fact, either. “There’s nothing under the law that points to Tasmyn being culpable here. But let’s drop all of the pretense. Something went down, and you both know what it was.”
Rafe and I were silent.
Detective Lawrence shook his head again. “If you two-either of you—are over your head in something here, you could tell me about it. I could help you.”
When we still didn’t answer, Sam shrugged and dug into his pocket. “Okay. Here.” He handed me a small business card. “I gave you my card back after all that Nell business, but in case you’ve misplaced it, hold onto this one. If you think of anything you feel I should know, call me.” He leveled one last sharp glare at Rafe. “You know what I’m talking about, with your family. Whatever’s going on, I can take care of it, as long we don’t let anything get out of hand.” He waved us away. “Go on now, get to the hospital.”
Rafe took my hand again and pulled me away. When I glanced back over my shoulder, Sam Lawrence was kneeling by the tree, but I had the sense that he was a million miles away.
Hey, Tas. I was dreaming last night of that day in the clearing. I was never so scared in my life. Even now, with you so far away and with all your doubts about us, as long as you’re okay, I can hang in there. I’ll be here for you, forever. I love you. Call me.
I convinced Rafe that I was okay to follow him over to the hospital in my own car. The idea of having to return to the school to pick it up later didn’t appeal to me at all. I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to walk past the courtyard again without seeing Amber lying beneath that tree.
When we walked into the waiting area of the emergency room, Mrs. Cole jumped up and hugged me close.
“Oh, Tasmyn, I’m so glad you’re here!” I tried to smile reassuringly at Amber’s mother. She led me over to a seat next to a tired looking man I recognized as Amber’s dad. Rafe trailed behind us.
“How’s Amber?” I asked.
Mrs. Cole began to cry, and my fear ratcheted up a few notches. And then I heard her thinking, My poor baby, thank heavens she’s going to be okay. She’s been through so much...
“She’s going to be fine.” It was Mr. Cole who answered. “A pretty nasty concussion, contusion to the back of the head, bruised up badly, but it could have been much worse.”
I swallowed hard as tears of relief welled in my eyes. “I’m so happy to hear that,” I said. “Did...is she awake? Do you know what happened?” My heart began to pound as I considered all the things that Amber might have to say.
“We saw her briefly, and yes, she was awake,” Mrs. Cole told me. “But we didn’t press her about what happened. She was in some pain, and they were working on getting her settled.” She wiped her eyes and turned to face me. “What did happen? Do you know?”
I hesitated. Without knowing what Amber
was going to say, it was hard for me to tell her parents anything. I decided it was safest to stick with the same story I’d told the police.
Mrs. Cole frowned as I finished. “Tasmyn, you don’t think it was any of those awful girls who gave Amber such a bad time last year, do you? I know Nell Massler is put away, but could it have been her friends? They were just terrible to Amber.”
I shook my head. Tempting though it might have been to place the blame on Casey, Liza or Julie, it wasn’t right. They had all carefully avoided any involvement with Amber or with me since Nell had been...removed from the situation.
Rafe stood abruptly. “Tas, I’m going to grab a drink. Can I get anyone anything?” Both of the Coles shook their heads. I watched Rafe turn down a hallway, and a disturbing suspicion took root.
Jumping up, I excused myself to the Coles, telling them I needed to check in with my parents. I followed the same hallway Rafe had taken and catching up with him, grabbed his arm.
“Don’t do it, Rafe,” I said in a low voice.
He looked down at me, expressionless. He wasn’t even going to bother to deny it, I realized.
“Please,” I breathed. “I know you’re trying to protect me. I know you think it’s the perfect answer. But—you can’t. It’s not fair to Amber, and I deserve whatever she decides to say or do.”
“No, you don’t.” The steel was back in Rafe’s voice. “It’s her. She’s the one responsible for Amber being in the hospital. She set you up for this. You know it’s true.”
He wheeled around and pulled me into a darker alcove. “Don’t let her get away with this, Tasmyn. I’m trying really hard not to say I told you so—but let this prove to you that the witch has been using you all along. Break it off. Don’t see her again. And let me take care of Amber.”
“I—no. Not Amber. Let me take the consequences, Rafe. I deserve them. You’re right. I’ve known for a while that Marica wasn’t good for me. I couldn’t stop. It’s like I’m addicted to her, to what she’s teaching me. It made me feel...special, powerful. But I knew, deep down, that it was wrong. And so I need to go through whatever Amber says or decides. She’s been nothing but a wonderful friend, and this is how I repay her.” The tears were there again, and Rafe caught them with his thumbs.
King Series Box Set Page 70
