Even though this was a possibility, it just didn’t sit right with me. Dana could be a bitch, and had been acting suspiciously since the ascension, but I couldn’t align her with a cold blooded killer. The same went for John Spencer. Things about him were off, but he didn’t seem like a murderer.
Outside the window, dawn broke, a soft yellow light giving everything an ethereal glow, and waking the birds to sing their chorus. With my article for the paper completed, I shut down the laptop and started to think about the day ahead. I would need to go into school and face the fallout of Brooke’s murder. Shock would resonate around campus, and I hated that once again I would need to act as though I didn’t know more than I did. I had no doubt that the detectives would also be back to speak with me. Despite Riley’s assurances that the cell phone couldn’t be traced back to me, my innate sense of guilt wormed away at me, worrying they would find out I had been the one to place the call about Brooke’s body. I also wondered if I should confront John Spencer. While part of me wanted to avoid him because he’d obviously figured out something wasn’t quite normal about me, the other part of me wanted to know for sure if he had anything to do with the girls’ deaths. I didn’t expect him to admit to me if he’d killed Melissa and Brooke, and hurt Kayla, but I was hoping I’d pick up on something that would lead me to the truth.
Riley slept on, so I left my laptop and went to the bed. I slipped in beside him and curled into his body, pressing my lips and nose against the smooth skin of his shoulder and taking comfort in his steady breath. My contact must have woken him, because he twisted to face me, his eyes blinking open sleepily.
“Hey, baby,” he said, his voice husky from sleep. He pushed some of my hair away from my face. “How are you feeling?”
I shrugged and reached up to hold his hand. I pressed our joined hands against my sternum. “I’ve been better.”
“Couldn’t sleep?”
“Nah. Too much on my mind. Too much to do.”
“I don’t know if I like the idea of you going to school today. I’m worried about you.”
“I can’t not go. How would that look to everyone? I’m not supposed to know about Brooke, remember? If I start hiding out, people will get suspicious.”
“No, they won’t. They’ll just think you stayed in bed all day with your hot boyfriend.” A hint of a smile quirked his lips and I couldn’t help but smile back.
“Yeah, while that might be true, I can’t just do nothing. You should know me better than that. This person has taken out Melissa, Brooke, and Kayla. I can’t pretend the killer isn’t targeting my friends.”
His fingers tightened around mine. “Not just your friends. You too. You were pushed off the roof of the college by someone yesterday.”
I sighed. “Yeah I know. But I’m more likely to survive an attack than anyone else. Even though they’re witches, they’re not immortal.”
“Neither are you,” he warned.
“No, but I am strong and I heal fast.” I didn’t want to argue about this. I had no intention of hiding out in the trailer while my friends wandered around unguarded. Also, I still needed to get the newspaper article to Dana, and I wanted to speak to John Spencer, so there was no way I’d be spending the day here. “Anyway,” I said, trying to change the subject. “Don’t you have work to do as well?”
“Yeah, but it’s not like the world would stop turning if I didn’t bother to show.”
“No, but you could lose your site. If you didn’t have anywhere to put the trailer, what would you do then?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m not exactly used to staying in the same place. Finding somewhere else to go wouldn’t be a big deal.”
My stomach dropped. “It would be if you couldn’t stay in Sage Springs.”
He lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. “Don’t worry, Icy. I’d never go too far from you.”
But still I worried. Riley’s traveler roots meant his current static situation would never feel like his real life. Everything he’d ever done had been temporary, and I worried I was just another in a line of passing moments for him.
I released my hold on him and turned away, slipping back out of bed. I didn’t have the stomach for breakfast, but figured I could use another coffee before heading in to school. I offered Riley a cup.
“Sure.” He studied me from the bed as I pulled on my clothes. “So you’re definitely going in?”
I gave a rueful smile. “Sorry.”
He swung his legs out of bed. “Okay, but I’m giving you a ride in, and you need to keep your phone on and with you at all times. If you don’t answer, even if you’re in class, you can’t blame me if I turn up on campus and start busting through doors.”
I gave a short laugh. “Deal.”
We drank our coffee in companionable silence, and then rode Riley’s bike down to campus. I was expecting for us to have to take a detour, and find Ocean Drive closed by the police, but the beach road was quiet and there was no sign of any area of the beach being cordoned off. I guessed the police had gotten everything they needed already, and hadn’t wanted to alarm the tourists who were already pulling up into the parking lot to find their spot on the beach for the day. A shiver wracked though me at the idea of someone spreading out their beach towel on the exact same spots my friends’ bodies had lain.
Riley dropped me off outside the main building. My gaze flicked around the parking lot for any sign of the detective’s car, but I didn’t spot it. They’d be around soon enough.
He kissed me goodbye. “Be careful, and keep your phone on and answer it if I call. You have been warned.”
“I know, or you’ll turn up and start attacking teachers again.”
He gave a grim smile. “Only if a certain teacher is asking for it.”
I rolled my eyes at him, and he reached out to give my behind a swat, except I saw him coming and danced out of his way.
“Love you,” he called after me.
“Love you, too,” I said, blowing him a kiss.
As I walked toward the building, Riley roared out of the parking lot. My first plan was to get my article to Dana, though I had no intention of going to see her. I’d get online and email it to her.
I felt torn about what to do about Dr. Spencer. Part of me wanted to challenge him about what I’d seen in my dream, but the other part warned me to stay away. He’d stabbed my hand with a letter opener, but I didn’t think he’d intended on hurting me. If he’d wanted to kill me, it wouldn’t have been my hand he’d stabbed. He’d been testing me. He’d seen me heal after my fall, and had wanted to test his theory.
I made my way to my first lecture, and quickly opened my laptop and emailed my work to Dana. In less than a minute, I received an email back.
I’d almost given up on you. The paper goes to print in a couple of hours. Did you forget the elections are tomorrow? Dana (Editor, Sage Gazette)
I sighed, my fingers hovering above the keyboard. I was tempted to write something back about obviously not having forgotten due to the fact I’d just sent it to her, but I couldn’t be bothered to get into an email war. It wasn’t worth it.
Other students filed into the lecture hall. I hated to think of the three who were missing. I kept my head down, not even wanting to see Laurel. I didn’t trust myself to keep Brooke’s death to myself, or if I even should. I wanted it to be public knowledge before I spoke of the previous night’s events. What if someone overheard me talking about it, and demanded to know how I knew? I’d figured the cops would be crawling all over school, wanting to talk to people—especially me, considering I was Brooke’s roommate. A wave of guilt hit me. If I’d stayed in my dorm bed, as I was supposed to, would Brooke have lived? I would have woken when she tried to leave the room, and would have stopped her. By staying at Riley’s, I’d left her vulnerable.
I blinked back tears.
My decision was made. I needed to stop this, and if Dr. Spencer was involved, then I had to forget about protecting my
self and call him out on it.
Where would he be? Did he have a class on now? Or would I be better to check in his office again? I guessed his office would be the best place to start, though the prospect made me nervous. He’d stabbed me there the previous day. If Riley knew what I was doing, he’d kill me.
With the lecture finished, I gathered my belongings and hurried to John Spencer’s office. My heart pounded, my mouth dry. Part of me hoped I wouldn’t find him, but when I peered through the office door, I found him sitting behind his desk, his dark head bent over some paperwork. Not bothering to knock, I pushed through the door.
He looked up in surprise. “Elizabeth?”
“Where were you last night?” I demanded.
He frowned. “At home, in bed. Not that it’s any of your business.”
“And who would verify that? Your wife?”
He shook his head. “I’m not married. I live alone. Why are you asking me these things? What happened last night?”
I realized I’d tripped myself up. No one knew about Brooke’s death yet. “Nothing. What about the nights Melissa and Kayla were attacked?”
“Again, I was home, alone. I haven’t hurt anyone, Elizabeth.”
I arched my eyebrows. “No? Seems like you’re perfectly capable of hurting students to me.”
“That’s different, and we both know it.” He paused, studying my face. “And how is the hand today?”
Shit. I kept my hand behind my back. Why the hell hadn’t I thought to bandage it or even add a Band-Aid to cover the fact there was now only an angry red scar in the place where a stab wound had been twenty-four hours earlier?
“My hand is fine considering you attempted to put a letter opener through it yesterday.”
“I didn’t attempt to. I did. I felt the blade go in, and I saw you pull it out again. I’m pretty sure there is still some of your blood on my desk.”
My heart rate increased. I’d come here to accuse him, and yet he was making me feel like the guilty one. The trouble was, he didn’t act like a guilty man. In fact, considering he’d attacked me only the previous day, he seemed far too cool and collected, as if he was absolute in his conviction that everything he was doing was right. I wish I had that conviction about myself.
“I should report you for what you did,” I snapped back.
He lifted his eyebrows and folded his arms across his desk. “And what exactly would you say? That I stabbed a letter opener through your hand? Because I’m fairly sure the police would want to see the injury, and where would that leave you?”
My mouth opened and shut, but nothing came out.
He leaned forward. “So what are you, Elizabeth? Because I trust my own eyes, and I know what I saw yesterday. You’re the one who isn’t normal in this situation, and yet you dare to come in here and throw accusations around. Shouldn’t I be the one doing that? After what I saw yesterday, how do I know you’re not the one capable of hurting other students? I should be outing you to all the other lecturers and students, not to mention the cops.”
Blood drained from my face. Somehow this had all gotten twisted around.
“You didn’t see anything,” I managed to blurt.
The faintest smile touched his mouth, but there was no humor in it. “We both know that’s a lie.”
My eyes burned, and I turned and raced from the room. I stumbled down the hall, vision blurring. Would he do it? Would he turn me in? He was a doctor and people would take him seriously. It would be easy enough for some medical doctors to discover he was the one telling the truth. I could end up locked away, the subject of experiments and tests for the rest of my life.
I stumbled my way to the bathrooms, and locked myself into a stall to compose myself. I swiped at my eyes angrily. How had I allowed him to turn that on me? The truth was, Dr. John Spencer had more on me than I did on him.
I’d promised Riley that if I had any problems, I would call him. I wanted him desperately now, someone who was on my side.
I took my cell from my pocket and scrolled down to his name. I hit the call button. He answered within two rings. “Everything okay, Icy?”
“Not really. Can you come and get me?”
“Why, what’s happened?”
“It’s nothing to worry about. I don’t want to talk about it over the phone. Can you come and pick me up?”
“Sure, baby. I’ll be there in fifteen.”
I breathed a sigh of relief and hung up.
Though I felt pathetic, sitting on the lid of a closed toilet, hiding in a bathroom stall, I didn’t want to wander around school and risk bumping into John Spencer or even Dana. To fill a few minutes while I waited, I took out my laptop and did a quick search for the local news. I didn’t understand why the cops hadn’t been around asking about Brooke yet. The web page loaded, and I scanned it quickly. There were no reports of another girl being murdered on the beach. Perhaps the police were trying to keep things quiet to prevent panic, or to lure the killer out somehow?
Enough time had passed for Riley to at least have made it part of the way here. I flushed, trying to make it appear that I had been using the toilet rather than hiding, and then washed my hands. I used my wet hands to wipe my face and push my hair from my face.
I left the bathroom and made my way through the main hall. The next classes were already in session, and the hallway was ghostly quiet, my feet clipping against the floor with a hollow sound. I looked up to find Laurel walking toward me, her eyes locked on mine.
“You need to come with me,” she said.
“What? Where?”
“Down to the beach. I can’t talk about it here, but we need to go now.”
“I can’t. I have to meet Riley.”
“No, now, Elizabeth. It’s important.”
I hesitated. Was this something to do with Brooke? Had Laurel found out about her death?
“Listen,” I told her. “I just need to go and find Riley, and then I’ll meet you down there, okay?”
“No, now, Elizabeth. You need to come now.”
I frowned. “Are you all right?” Something seemed off, though I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
“You need to come, now,” she repeated.
I reached out to her, but she flinched away. “Why don’t you come with me?” I offered. “I’m meeting Riley, but I’m sure he can join us.”
“No, it just has to be us.”
I didn’t know what else to say. I wanted to get out of the school, and standing around arguing in the hallways was the last thing I needed. “I’m sorry Laurel, but I can’t right now. Give me an hour, okay? I’ll meet you there.”
I felt bad leaving her, but something about her didn’t seem right. Had whatever been bothering Dana also caught up with Laurel?
Leaving the building, I was relieved to be in the open air. My conversation with Laurel had delayed me some more, and enough time had passed to allow Riley to reached the campus. His bike idled in the lot and I picked up my pace, hurrying toward him.
“I need to go and meet Laurel down on the beach,” I said as I reached him.
He frowned. “Laurel? But I just saw her. She’s going to get something to eat with Dana. Those two seemed glued to each other’s sides.”
I remembered telling Laurel not to be alone, that it wouldn’t be safe. Yet, I’d just seen her on her own, not with Dana.
“I don’t get it. I just saw her a few minutes ago.”
Riley was looking at me like I was crazy. “Seriously, Icy. You couldn’t have. I just rode past her with Dana. She spoke to me.”
My mind spun. I pulled out my phone and hit Laurel’s number. She answered right away.
“Did you just ask me to meet you at the beach?” I demanded.
“Sorry?”
“Like five minutes ago? Did you ask me to go down to the beach with you? You said it was important.”
“No. I’ve been with Dana all morning. I haven’t even seen you. What’s going on?”
I shook
my head, even though she couldn’t see me. “I have absolutely no idea.”
“Are you okay?” she asked me, gently.
“Yeah, I just …” But I didn’t know how to finish my sentence. I just what? Had an imaginary conversation with someone who looked exactly like you?
I changed the topic. “You and Dana are staying together then?”
“Yeah. We’re going to grab some lunch and then go and see Kayla at the hospital.”
“Okay. Let me know how she is.”
“I called the hospital earlier, and they said she was still unconscious. She probably won’t even know we’re there, but I hate feeling like she’s alone.”
I gave a sad smile. “You’re a good friend, Laurel.”
“Thanks.”
“Speak to you later. If anything weird happens, let me know.”
We hung up and I pressed my lips together, trying to contain the whirlwind of emotion spiraling inside me.
Was this all me? Was it all in my head? I felt like I was going crazy. I covered my face with my hands, wanting to screw myself into a tiny ball and vanish. Why had nothing been said about Brooke? Had I really witnessed her murder in my dream, and then found her body? Or was this another thing I had imagined?
I was exhausted, emotionally and physically. I’d barely slept the night before.
“Take me home,” I told Riley, climbing onto the back of his bike. “I’ve had enough of today already.”
Chapter
18
Craaack … Click-click-click …
I woke with my heart crawling up into my throat, every muscle tense. My breath caught in my lungs and I froze, waiting for the sound that had woken me.
Click-click… Craaaaack….
I reached out and shoved Riley in the arm. We’d come home and made love, before eating a simple pizza dinner, and going back to bed. “It’s back,” I hissed at him.
He groaned in his sleep. “Icy? What’s going on?”
“The fog is back!” I didn’t know this for certain, but I’d learned that wherever the thing that made the noise was, I could pretty much guarantee the fog would follow. “And so is the thing that pushed me off the roof.”
Twisted Magic (The Dhampyre Chronicles Book 2) Page 14
