Grabbing me by the shoulders, she made me sit, then joined me.
“Are you alright?” she asked, smoothing down my hair in a tender gesture that was nothing like Bridget.
I shook my head in response.
“I could tell,” she said. “I saw murder in your eyes, and that’s not the Charlie I know.”
A knot formed in my throat as I fought back tears.
“What is happening, Charlie? You can trust me.”
Could I? In the beginning, I’d decided that the least amount of people who knew about what I was up to, the better. I hadn’t wanted to put anyone else in danger. Moreover, with Bridget, I feared the risk of her volatile personality. Had I been wrong? From the looks of it, maybe I had. It seemed Bridget had figured out a way to skirt the rules. She was already putting herself in the path of danger. What had made me think she would stay out of trouble?
“How did you… ?” I asked, leaving the question open to see what she would decide to share, to see if she would trust me.
“How did I use those spells without getting caught?” she finished for me.
I nodded.
In response, she pulled out something from her pocket and offered it to me on her open palm. I grabbed the little box, realizing it was exactly like the one Fedorov had given me.
“It’s a canceling case,” she said. “It lets you fly under the radar of localized spells, like wards in houses and stuff like that. You can use it to enhance spells, too, but that’s much harder. I still haven’t figured out how to do that.”
“Where did you get it?” I asked.
“My parents have two of them. Yuri Fedorov made them. They pack some powerful magic of his own creation. I think he’s made like four or five of them and only shared them with people he trusts. He would probably be mad if he knew I took one without telling my parents.” She cocked her head to one side, pondering. “Anyway, I’ve been using it to… you know…” She wiggled her red eyebrows.
“Wait… are you the Rogue Witch?” I asked.
“The one and only.”
“I thought it might be you, but couldn’t be sure.”
“I couldn’t be sure you hated the M.L.E. either. I thought you…”
This was it—the moment when I decided whether or not to confide in Bridget. As she glanced at me expectantly, I realized I’d shut her off, pushed her away even. But she was my friend. We’d been through a lot together. And wasn’t it times like this when you relied on the people you cared about while, in turn, they relied on you? She’d found her way into trouble without me all the same.
I made up my mind and said, “You thought I was with Nyquist.”
She put two hands up and mimicked weighing something in them. “I didn’t want to believe it, but the way you’ve been acting, well…”
“I don’t blame you,” I said. “At least that means I’ve been doing a decent job.”
“Not too shabby, to be honest. The only reason I didn’t buy it one-hundred percent was because I know you better than most.”
“Well, I’m actually… a spy.” Out loud, it sounded ridiculous. I sighed. “A mediocre one at best.” I deflated, my shoulders caving in.
“These are hard times, Char. Don’t be so rough on yourself. I got my start vanishing the welcome packets. Amateur hour for sure.” Bridget put a hand on my shoulder and gave me an encouraging shake. I glanced up and found her green eyes were full of sympathy.
That was when the dam broke open, and I told her everything. About the battle to rescue Anama last year, about Lynssa being alive and how she recruited me to be a spy, about Kiana, about Rowan and his disguise, about Tempest and what I’d just done to her.
When I finished, I was exhausted. The magnitude of what I’d already gone through and what was to come fell like bricks on my shoulders and left me feeling utterly hopeless. How could I ever succeed? How could I keep my soul from turning dark?
“Holy shit,” Bridget said when I finished. She had listened without interrupting, not once, not even to disapprove of Rowan. This was also unlike Bridget. Maybe she’d changed in the past few months, and I’d completely missed it. She’d been through a lot, too.
“That’s just…” She seemed to find no words to describe it.
“And they’re still torturing her,” I said. “As we speak. I should do something.” I tried to stand, but Bridget put a hand on my arm.
“It’s okay,” she said. “I saw Nyquist and the others come out of the Administration Building right after you did.”
I exhaled in relief.
“What do I do?” I asked after a quiet moment. I didn’t really expect a useful answer from Bridget. I was just at a loss and maybe hoped for the cosmos to send me a solution. “I’ve accomplished nothing.”
“Stop being so hard on yourself, Charlie,” Bridget said again, taking my hand in hers. “Just the fact that you’ve gotten this close to the regents proves that Lynssa picked the right person for the job. You’ve been able to fool them. They’re letting you into their circle. Whatever you’re doing… it’s working.”
“I guess,” I said, trying to get over the fact that I was having this conversation with Bridget. What had happened to her during the time we’d been distanced? She had matured so much.
“And Tempest…” she paused. “I can’t say I don’t like the idea of her paying for what she did to my brother. What I can say is that you made a huge sacrifice. You put aside your convictions and morals for the benefit of others, to save us from whatever Nyquist and the regents are planning. It takes a lot of strength to do that.”
“It takes more strength to stand by what you believe,” I argued.
“Does it?” She let the question hang for a moment, then continued. “It will take more than just one virtuous student to stop Nyquist. He’s powerful, and after what you’ve just told me, I see he’s even more powerful than I realized. It will take a clever plan to defeat him, a trap from which he can’t escape, something he would never see coming.”
A clever plan.
It was what Lynssa and the others were working on, wasn’t it? But could they do that if they were on the run? I’d been unable to get a single word out to them, and I didn’t know if any type of communication would be possible between us at this point.
What if we were it? What if it was up to us and, instead of working together, we were scattered, relying on others, acting rashly, infighting. We had to do better than that. We had to come up with a strategy and bide our time if necessary, even if waiting ate us alive.
And in the meantime, maybe we could do some good and help some people around here, just as Bridget had been doing all along.
I straightened, a new resoluteness bracing my spine. I squeezed my friend’s hand. “Thank you, Bridget.”
I smiled. She smiled back. We stood at the same time, and the tree branch creaked back into place.
“I have to talk to Rowan,” I said. “I have to tell him what I did. He’ll have to understand. I have to convince him to stay put until we make sure everyone Nyquist has taken is safe. Then we can lay out a trap and make sure he pays with his life for all that he’s done.”
Bridget shrugged. “And if that doesn’t work, we can blow some shit up.”
Chapter Twenty
FALL SEMESTER
EARLY OCTOBER
I stood outside Rowan’s door, my heart in my throat. What would I say?
Hey, Rowan. Just wanted to stop by and tell you that I tortured your friend. I made her scream in pain, then I ran away like a coward. Okay, good talk. See ya later.
I ran a trembling hand through my hair.
It was late, long past midnight. Bridget and I had walked through campus under a cloaking spell, talking the whole way. I’d learned about her incarceration with the M.L.E., which was very unpleasant, and the rescue her parents had managed.
Her parents might have a werewolf son and an unruly daughter, but they had provided security for nearly all of the powerful magic families in
the world and they knew incriminating secrets. That gave them enough clout to keep both of their children safe and out of law enforcement’s hands, thank God.
Others were not so lucky.
Bridget had also told me about the intense magical training she’d done prior to returning to campus this summer. Like those badass spells I’d seen her do… she’d learned them on her own, drilling herself during every spare minute, knowing she’d need them when she returned. It made the summer I spent partying and feeling sorry for myself look downright pitiful. What was wrong with me? Did I rely too much on the Aradia cuffs?
I made her promise to start training me immediately. Then we parted ways as I headed to the Senior Dorm.
Rowan/Lawson had managed to procure himself a private lodging off the back of the main building, which had its own independent entrance. Once belonging to faculty, not only was the apartment posh and private, it was easy to sneak in and out of.
Still cloaked, I stood outside the broad oak door as the night wind blew around me and the moon glared down like an accusing eye. The building behind it sat in judgment too, all the windows dark and foreboding.
It was getting late. I couldn’t postpone this any longer.
I pressed my hand to the door and pushed magic through it. An awakening spell to drive Rowan out of bed.
It didn’t take long before the knob turned and a disheveled rock star tore out, nearly barreling into me.
He was shirtless and wore only designer boxer briefs that fit him so perfectly I wondered if they’d been specially made for him like some of his other clothing. The magical tattoos were in full view, but they didn’t cavort around his chest or the hard planes of his stomach. They were still. Asleep. Seeing him nearly naked made my mind wander, my thoughts far too naughty for the conversation we were about to have.
“Charlie, is everything okay?” Dark eyes searched my body and then behind me, looking for danger.
“Everything is… We need to talk. Can I come in?”
“Sure. Do you have the box?”
I held up Fedorov’s device.
Wary, he stepped back and let me inside.
A light clicked on and illuminated the apartment. Where Rowan had been clean, Lawson was messy. On top of his expensive furniture, bowls, cups, wrappers, and clothing lay in scattered heaps. An open container of Chinese take-out sat on the acrylic coffee table and a laundry basket spilled its contents on the leather couch. The kitchenette was hidden by shadows and for that I was thankful. Was the food for appearances? Or had he learned to enjoy it again? The fact that I didn’t know the answer to that highlighted how little we still knew about each other. How far apart we still were.
“What? No maid?” I asked, trying to use humor to cut the tension.
Rowan’s eyes darted around at the mess. “My bedroom is cleaner.”
His bedroom? I’d never been in there. I hadn’t been allowed in any boys’ residences, but now, with the cloaking box, things were different.
I followed him down the hall, my body tense. It wasn’t like anything was going to happen. He was likely going to kick me out as soon as he found out what I’d done.
His bedroom was cleaner. The queen-sized bed was rumpled, but he’d likely just bolted out of it when I sent that wake-up spell. Twin end tables topped with lamps stood on either side of the bed frame. They gave a warm glow that I hoped my cloaking spell kept concealed from the outside. We couldn’t risk someone spotting our shadows through the window on the east wall.
Rowan quickly slipped on a pair of jeans he retrieved from the floor, then smoothed the comforter down and sat on the bed, eyes watching me.
“I’m in a bit of a panic, Charlie. Can you tell me now? What happened? Is it Lynssa?”
I shook my head. “It’s… I found Tempest.”
He bolted upright. “Where is she?”
When I didn’t move, his eyes narrowed. “What is it? Is she dead?”
“No.”
“Then, what?”
I swallowed hard. “Nyquist has her.”
“Where?”
I dropped my eyes to the carpet. “Here on campus.”
He started towards the door again. “Then we need to go get her.”
I held a hand out to stop him. “She’s being held captive in the basement of the Administration Building, but there are multiple restraint spells, cloaking spells, alarm spells, and God knows what else. We wouldn’t get far.”
“We need a plan.” He got up and began to pace, but I grabbed his hand.
“Something happened,” I said, though my throat was constricting.
After this, he might not ever want to speak to me again. After all we’d been through, after everything we’d seen and done together, this could be the last moment Rowan looked at me as anything other than a monster.
He put his ringed hand on my shoulder. “What is it, Charlie? Whatever it is, you can tell me.”
I shook my head, biting my lip as tears began to pool in my eyes. Those screams. What I’d done to her.
Rowan drew me in, wrapping strong arms around my body as I silently shuddered. His hand stroked down my hair, soothing the tension.
“Rowan, I’m so sorry.” I curled into him, inhaling his scent, a mix of a spiced cologne and musky maleness that reminded me of times with him back when life was simpler.
He said nothing, stroking my hair. He was waiting for me to confess my sins.
“They… I had to get her to talk. Nyquist and the others told me to, but no one held a gun to my head. I was the one who electrocuted her. Me. I did it. I could’ve said no. I could’ve run.”
His hand stopped stroking my hair. “They’re torturing her?”
“They were, have been from the looks of it, but they’ve left her alone for now. Bridget saw Nyquist and the others leave after I did.”
His hands slipped off my body and he took a step back. “You mean you left Ana there with them?”
“I had to. Our mission…” My words choked off. His face had twisted from shock to concern to rage. The black veins appeared around his eyes and his fangs elongated, a sure sign he was about to lose it. And I him.
“Look out!” He moved me out of the way, intent on storming after her.
Waving my hand, I slammed the bedroom door shut and blocked his path. The lamps snuffed out at the same time, plunging us into darkness. Through the curtained window, moonlight barely illuminated his twisted features and heaving chest.
“Rowan, you can’t. Did you hear me? There are too many spells, too much to lose. The M.L.E., Nyquist. They’ll catch you and it will ruin everything. Then they’ll kill you and what good will that do? I know you love her, but this isn’t the way.”
He shouldered around me, gripping the door handle as if he would rip the door away, but then he stopped. “Wait… what did you say?”
“I said there’s too much to lose. There’s no way the two of us can get her out without alerting all of campus.”
“Not that,” his dark eyes searched my face. “The part about me loving her.”
My lips pinched shut. Had I said that? “It’s alright. I understand. She was there for you in a way I couldn’t be.”
Using magic, he lit a lamp again before gripping my arms and staring into my eyes. His vampire passion faded as he looked at me, seeming to understand there was nothing we could do.
“Charlie, Ana is my friend. Maybe we can’t help her right now.” This seemed to pain him, but I could see the acceptance descending on him. “We have to think of something, though, and soon. She was the one who saved me last year. She helped me become who I am, taught me to appreciate being a vampire even if I never will like it. I stopped wanting to kill myself and started living. And it was because of her help.”
I nodded, swallowing his words like barbs, going down hard and sharp. Why couldn’t I have done all those things? Because he wouldn’t let me, that’s why. Or had it been me, pushing him away when he’d needed me most? Here in the dark, it was
so hard to remember.
He gripped my chin and pulled my head up, locking our eyes once more.
“Through all that, I never, ever loved her. Not once. It was you.” His fingers traced the curve of my chin. “Charlie, it’s always been you.”
My body broke out in goosebumps as his words crested over me. “Rowan, I…”
“Did you hear me?” he asked. “I love you, Charlie. I always have.”
It felt like falling, like dropping through the sky into an expanse of stars. If any words could buoy me, those were it. Rowan loved me. My hands tightened around his bare back, dragging him to me. I wanted his skin on my skin, I wanted to feel his heartbeat, feel his breath on my face as he said it again and again.
“I love you, too,” I whispered.
His fingers slipped around, curling into my hair as he took my mouth in his.
The soft brush of his lips curled my toes and warmed my chest. His kiss felt like a vow, something sacred and holy, and I returned it, knowing I would pledge myself to him again and again. This was Rowan, the man I loved, not despite of what he was but because of it.
“Charlie,” he whispered, his lips brushing mine and sending shivers through me.
The sweetness and gentleness of our kisses evaporated by the heat between our bodies. His cool fingers fell from my face, trailing down to my collarbone. My hands clutched his skin as he cupped my head and parted my lips with his.
Where Rowan had tasted of the metallic tang of his new race, Lawson tasted of mint and spring grass, reminding me of the difference. This body I held onto like a lifeline was relatively new to me and needed exploring. I wanted to trace each tattoo with my fingers and take in every new sensation. But now was not the time. Not with all we’d learned and all we had yet to do.
I pulled back, caressing his cheek with my thumb. “I thought you would hate me.”
He pressed his forehead to mine. “Never. Everything you’ve done, you did for all of us. You sacrifice every day because you put everyone’s needs ahead of your own. You’re amazing, Charlie.”
I leaned into his embrace, wishing I could stay here forever, but knowing there was much more we had yet to do.
Senior Witch, Fall Semester Page 14
