Keeper

by Kim Chance

  “Well, yes, but . . .” Ty shifted from one foot to the other. “That’s not the only reason.” A slight flush colored his cheeks.

  The tips of my ears grew hot, and I didn’t know what to say. We stared at each other until the final bell rang shrilly, making us both jump.

  “Well, I guess there’s no point in rushing now,” I said. “Might as well take my time.” I started walking down the hall.

  “Are you sure you’re okay, though?” Ty asked, falling into step beside me. “You look—”

  “Like crap?”

  “I wasn’t going to say that.”

  “It’s okay.” I grinned. “I know I look pretty rough. I only got two or three hours of sleep last night.”

  “Just couldn’t sleep?”

  “No, Gareth was teaching me the proper way to stab someone. Did you know that if you stab someone here,” I indicated the soft spot underneath the corner of his jaw, “it will kill them almost instantly?”

  Ty’s eyebrows shot up.

  I laughed. “Let’s just say there’s a lot to fill you in on.”

  “Well, you know, Ms. Runyan probably already marked us absent.” Ty pointed down the opposite hallway. “We could always take the long way to class.”

  The voice in my head, the one that was still desperately clinging to the old order of things, protested weakly at the notion. Old Lainey would’ve been more concerned with getting to class than anything else. But I’m not that girl anymore, I thought to myself, and for the first time in my life, I didn’t feel a flood of anxiety when I thought about my future. I’m not that girl.

  I smiled. “You walk and I’ll talk.”

  “So let me get this straight,” Maggie said, brandishing her celery stick like a wand. “In the mere twelve hours since I last saw you, you played chicken with a train, made out with Pretty Face, and became Storm from X-men?”

  “Yep.”

  “And,” Maggie continued, gesticulating wildly, “you also pulled a Time Lord and somehow traveled back in time to see your long-lost grandmother get murdered by her resurrected lover?”

  “It’s true,” I confirmed. “Don’t forget about the part where I found out my uncle was a Faerie.”

  Maggie was silent for a moment, celery stick paused midair. “Holy crapkittens, Styles!” she finally squealed, sending the stalk flying behind her.

  “Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction too.” I chuckled, then winced. The headache I’d woken up with had become a massive migraine, and every time I moved or turned my head, the dull ache behind my eye sockets throbbed.

  Resting my head on my arms for a second, I tried to block out the noisy cafeteria. I’d already taken some ibuprofen, but it had had little to no effect, and the noisy commotion of lunch wasn’t helping either.

  “Um, excuse me, ladies?”

  I lifted my head to see Ty standing beside me, Maggie’s celery stick in his hand. “I believe this belongs to you.” He smirked.

  I smiled up at him, warmth spreading through my body. Maggie leaned over, grabbed the celery stick from his hand, and pointed it at him. “You. Sit,” she commanded.

  Ty chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.” He sat beside me, his shoulder brushing mine. A warm shiver skipped down my back.

  “Just so we’re clear,” Maggie said, leaning across the table. “You’re Wolverine. Got that?”

  Ty looked at me, his brows scrunched. I was equally puzzled. “Uh, Mags?”

  “Oh, good gravy,” Maggie said. “Don’t you people read?” She pointed at me. “You’re Jean Grey, and I’m Scott Summers. He,” she indicated Ty, “is Wolverine.” She looked expectantly at me and Ty, as though things were suddenly crystal clear. When neither of us showed any sign of comprehension, Maggie groaned and shook her head. “Look, most people assume that Jean Grey and Wolverine were the ’it’ couple when it comes to X-men, but in reality, Scott Summers was the true love of her life. Do you get what I’m saying?”

  I was still confused, but Ty leaned forward and nodded his head. “Absolutely.” He smiled. “You’re the best friend and I’m . . . just Ty.”

  Maggie raised her arms above her head in the touchdown sign. “Yes! Well done, Pretty Face!” She winked at me. “He’s quick too! You picked a good one, Styles!”

  “Maggie!” I hissed. Beside me, Ty chuckled and nudged my shoulder.

  Maggie and Ty continued to chat, but I couldn’t concentrate on their conversation. My headache was getting worse, and all I really wanted to do was find a nice quiet spot where I didn’t have to think.

  I glanced around the cafeteria, watching my classmates interact with one another. A bunch of football players were throwing balls of wadded-up paper at one another, and a few kids from the drum line were tapping out beats on their lunch trays with pencils. There was a group of mathletes working on what appeared to be advanced calculus, and several cheerleaders were hanging neon posters advertising the upcoming Halloween carnival. It was exactly the type of scene you would expect to see in a normal high school cafeteria.

  It was strange to think that, only days ago, I’d been just like them—completely oblivious to the fact that the world was home to an entire realm of people only believed to exist in fairy tales and bedtime stories. A realm I belonged to.

  The cheerleaders moved closer, hanging a large banner on the wall near my table. Their cheerful chatter seemed to amplify the pounding in my head. The other sounds—the rhythmic tapping, the thwack of the paper balls, the rustling of pages turning—all seemed to be getting louder. Every single decibel grated against my nerves. Groaning, I put my head down on the table.

  I just need it to be quiet. I flipped the hood of my sweatshirt up over my head, and immediately I noticed a difference. The sounds were slowly fading away. “Just a little peace and quiet,” I murmured.

  “Uh . . . Lainey?”

  “Yeah?” I replied, not moving from the sanctuary of my hoodie.

  “I think you need to see this.” There was something in Maggie’s voice that made me sit up. Ty and Maggie were both staring at me.

  “What?” I demanded. “What is it?”

  That was when I noticed that the entire cafeteria had gone silent. The students were still moving around, laughing and talking, but it was as if someone had pressed a gigantic mute button.

  “What the . . .” I looked around, watching as a tall, lanky boy tripped on his own shoelaces and dropped his tray to the floor. Where the loud clatter should have been, there was nothing but silence. I turned back to Ty and Maggie, my mouth hanging open. “What happened?”

  Maggie shrugged. “We were hoping you’d tell us.”

  “I didn’t—” I sucked in a breath. “Oh . . . it’s because of my head. I just wanted some quiet.”

  “Well, I’d say you got your wish. Nice job, Styles.”

  “Nice job?” I jerked my head around to look back at my classmates. “Maggie, this is not okay. I don’t know how to fix it!”

  “I think it’s an improvement, personally.”

  I groaned and threw my hands up in the air. I glanced around again trying to figure out a way to undo . . . whatever it was I had inadvertently done, but I wasn’t sure what to do and I was beginning to panic.

  “Just take a deep breath and relax, Lainey,” Ty’s calm voice whispered in my ear. “Your magic reacts to your emotions, remember? Just take a deep breath and focus on the sounds you heard before the silence.”

  I nodded, grateful for a game plan. I closed my eyes and took several deep breaths. After a few minutes, my heart rate slowed. Relief rushed through me when the silence suddenly broke and the loud sounds of the cafeteria flooded in on me again. Pain shot through my temple, but I was so thankful that the spell was lifted, I hardly noticed.

  “Thank you,” I said to Ty. “I don’t know why this keeps happening. I’m definitely not doing it on purpo
se.”

  “Maybe you should talk to Serena,” Maggie suggested. “Maybe she knows why your powers are going all haywire on you.”

  “That’s not a bad idea, actually.” I reached into my bag for my cell phone. As soon as I pulled it from the zipper pocket, it began to vibrate and chirp in my hand. Serena’s name appeared on the caller ID. “That’s a weird coincidence.” Swiping my finger across the screen, I answered the call.

  “Hello?”

  “Lainey!” Serena’s exasperated voice came through the speaker. “Where are you?”

  “I’m at school. I was just getting ready to call you, actually. I—”

  “Lainey!” Serena shouted into the receiver. “You have to get out of there now!”

  “What?” I gripped the phone tightly as a cold shiver ran down my spine. “Why?”

  “You’re in danger, Lainey! You have to leave right now!”

  “What are you talking about?” I stood up, throwing my backpack over one shoulder, and headed toward the double doors of the cafeteria, beckoning Ty and Maggie to follow me. “Serena, what’s going on?”

  There was a long pause. Finally, Serena exhaled sharply and started talking. As she spoke, all the blood drained from my face.

  “We’ll be right there,” I managed to whisper, hanging up the phone.

  “Lainey, what is it? What’s going on?” Maggie yanked on my arm, trying to get my attention.

  “It’s the Guard. They’re coming.”

  Ty and Maggie began talking over one another, asking me questions, but the only thing I could focus on was the rapid pounding of my own heartbeat.

  “They’re coming . . . for me.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Serena paced back and forth, muttering to herself.

  I sat with Ty and Maggie on one of the blue couches in Serena’s shop and drummed my fingers against my knees. With so much adrenaline pumping through my system and the frustrating lack of information, I was like a caged animal waiting to pounce.

  “Hey,” Ty leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Breathe. It’s okay.” He nodded at my hands. Tiny green sparks were shooting from my fingertips.

  “This whole mood ring power situation is getting old,” I said, forcing my hands to lie flat.

  “Just take a few deep breaths now and then,” Ty said, grabbing one of them in his own. He smiled at me—the crooked smile I’d grown to adore—and despite my mood, I managed a small smile back.

  The front door flew open with a bang, and Gareth rushed in, his face red and eyes wide. “What is it?” he demanded. “What’s happened?”

  Serena dashed over and gripped Gareth’s arm. “Nothing yet.” She looked over at me, her face pale. “But I had a vision about the Master. He knew about Lainey, knew who she was. He wants to use her to unlock the Grimoire. He sent the Guard after her.”

  “Wait, let me get this straight.” I held up a hand. “The Master knows I’m alive, knows that I’m the last remaining Keeper, and is coming after me.”

  “If my vision is correct,” Serena swallowed, “then yes.”

  “That’s impossible,” Gareth said. “Everyone who knows Lainey exists is either in this room or dead.” He scanned the room, landing on Ty. He coughed and straightened his shoulders. “That is—”

  “This is Ty,” I said, trying not to roll my eyes at the overprotective uncle routine. “The guy I told you about last night.”

  Gareth narrowed his eyes. “Praetorian, right?”

  Ty nodded, standing up to shake Gareth’s hand. “Pleasure to meet you, sir.”

  Gareth shook hands, but still looked wary.

  “I’m afraid there’s more,” Serena said, pulling Gareth’s attention back to her. “I also saw Scavengers.”

  The word didn’t mean anything to me, but Gareth swore under his breath and Ty stiffened in his seat.

  Maggie leaned forward on the couch. “What’s a Scavenger?”

  “A traitor,” Gareth spat. “Supernaturals from all different factions who earn money by rounding up Supernaturals who either oppose the Master or who they think might be of interest. He gives them a reward for every one they capture.”

  “Like some kind of supernatural bounty hunter?” Maggie asked.

  “Exactly. They can sense magic,” Gareth said. “They track it like a bloodhound on the hunt.”

  “And they’re coming here?” I asked.

  “Yes.” Serena nodded. “In my vision, I saw you through their eyes. I could smell the magic emanating off of you, could feel how it fueled their urge to hunt—”

  “But it makes no sense,” Gareth said, waving his hand to cut her off. “They can’t be sensing her, so what trail are they following?” He raked a hand through his hair and started to pace.

  Oh. My stomach did a somersault. Of course. I cleared my throat. “You’re wrong.”

  “The storm,” Ty said, reading my thoughts. “And today in the cafeteria.”

  Maggie was just as quick. She leaned forward and snapped her fingers. “The rosebush! And the dryad! At the cemetery.”

  “The clock,” I said, nodding my head. “And the streetlights—that was all me.”

  Gareth and Serena were quiet, staring at us like we’d failed to deliver the punch line of a joke.

  “It is me. The trail they’re following is mine,” I explained, quickly pouring out the details of all the strange occurrences . . . what I now knew were pulses.

  Serena sank down on the edge of the couch. “We knew our cloaking spells were failing, but—”

  “But we underestimated one very important thing,” Gareth finished. He looked at me. “You’re a DuCarmont. And more powerful than even we realized.” Emotion flashed in his eyes, but he blinked it away. “Power like that . . . of course they’d be drawn to it.” He sank down next to Serena. “How long?” He looked at her with a face that had seemed to age at least ten years.

  She jumped up, unsteady on her feet, and darted over to the table where her stack of cards lay. She waved her hands over the deck, her whispered words unintelligible, and then expertly cut the deck in half.

  She placed the first card faceup on the table. The tower card. The terrifying, yet familiar sight of the burning structure stared at me from across the room. A wave of nausea rolled in my stomach. Then Serena placed another card on the table.

  It depicted a young woman kneeling at the edge of a small stream with two containers of water. She was pouring one of the containers back into the stream and the other she was pouring onto dry land. Behind her, there were several stars shining brightly. It was a sharp contrast to the bleak tower card lying next to it.

  Serena looked up at me, relief etched on her face. “The star card,” she said, pointing.

  “Please tell me that one doesn’t also predict my impending doom.”

  “Oh, no.” Serena held up the star card and smiled. “This means there’s hope.”

  “So what do we do now?” Gareth asked, moving toward the table. “Do we run? Go into hiding?”

  Serena shook her head. “Well, now that we know what’s drawing them in, it’s possible that the vision will change. The future is subjective, after all, much like my visions. Nothing is set in stone until it happens.”

  “Okay,” I said. “So, just so we’re clear—the Scavengers are tracking my magic. If I stop using magic, then they won’t be able to track me, right?”

  Gareth nodded, his eyes lighting up. “Yes, that’s it. We just have to change the vision.”

  “There’s only one small problem,” I said. “Changing the vision is contingent on me not using my magic. So far I haven’t consciously attempted to use it—it just happened. How am I supposed to stop doing something I apparently have no control over?”

  Gareth and Serena shared a look.

  “You’ll need training for you
r magic,” Serena said. “But there’s no time . . .”

  I rolled my eyes again. “Okay, so we need something to draw the Scavengers’ attention away. Something to distract them.”

  Gareth looked to Serena. “Would that work? If the Scavengers began to sense magic somewhere else, somewhere close enough to be connected, but far enough away that they wouldn’t be able to track it back to Lainey?”

  “A diversion?” Serena’s eyes were wide, but she nodded. “Yes, I think it’s possible.”

  “A diversion?” Maggie echoed. “How will that help?”

  “We need to get the Scavengers off my trail,” I answered. “If my magic is drawing them into Lothbrook, then we need someone to draw them back out. Someone whose magic is more noticeable than mine.”

  “But you’re a DuCarmont.” Maggie turned to Gareth and Serena. “Didn’t you just say that she was really powerful? Will you even be able to find someone with more power?”

  “Probably not,” Gareth admitted. “But we won’t necessarily need to find someone with more power. We just need to find someone with more frequency. Someone who is using large quantities of magic on a daily basis. Any small spell that Lainey might accidentally cast would barely be a blip on their radar by comparison.”

  “But it’s a crazy idea,” I argued. “How in the world can I ask a perfect stranger to go out there, perform magic, and potentially be captured by Scavengers?”

  “Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? It wouldn’t be a perfect stranger. It has to be me.”

  I stared at Gareth, his words and the horrible realization of their meaning slamming me in the face. “No,” I said firmly when I found my voice again. “No.”

  “There isn’t another option.”

  “But you could be hurt . . . or worse. There has to be another way.”

  Gareth crossed over to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. “I’m not afraid for myself. My only fear is what might happen if the Scavengers get their hands on you.” He gripped my shoulders even tighter. “They would deliver you directly to the Master, and that fate is not one I’d wish on my greatest enemy.”