“Are you listening to me?”
“I’m listening,” James replied. “I have nothing to say on the issue, however, so there’s no reason to pick an argument.”
“Then you’re obviously not listening to me!” Sami stomped her foot, jolting when Aric cleared his throat to get her attention. She obviously hadn’t heard us enter the room. “I … you’re back.”
“We are,” Aric confirmed, his expression grave as he dropped his keys on the dining table and glanced around. “Where is Kelsey?”
“She went to bed,” James answered, tossing a pointed look at Sami. “She was tired of waiting. I think she might’ve been a little tired of the drama, too.”
“Yeah, what’s the deal with that?” I asked, kicking off my shoes and sinking into one of the comfortable chairs at the edge of the room. “You were fine when we left. Why are you worked up now?”
“More importantly, why are you yelling at your grandfather?” Aric challenged. “He doesn’t deserve that.”
Sami’s expression was haughty as she shook her head. “Oh, no? He’s the one who said I wasn’t as good as a boy at the wolf retreat.”
James’ eyes widened. “I apologized for that! I didn’t mean it.”
“And you forgave him,” I reminded her. “You can’t have it both ways, Sami. You had a right to be angry about what he said, and then you opted to forgive him. You can’t go back on that now because you’re feeling the urge to be dramatic. That’s not fair.”
Aric slid me a sidelong look. “I’m going to remind you of that the next time we get in a fight and you bring up something I did five years ago and throw it in my face.”
Oh, well, crap. That’s what I get for trying to help. “The rules don’t apply to me,” I offered after a moment. “They apply to Sami because she’s a child. I’m immune to such things.”
“Uh-huh.” Aric didn’t look convinced. “Whatever. Sami, you cannot yell at your grandfather like that. You owe him some respect, and right now, well, you’re being mean. That’s not fair to him.”
Sami had the grace to look abashed. “I wasn’t trying to be mean to him.”
“And yet that’s exactly what you were doing.”
Sami chewed her bottom lip as she glanced between faces. Finding no one to side with her, she made a disgusted face. “Where is Rafael? Where is Aunt Paris? They would understand why I’m so upset.”
“Rafael went home to get some rest in his own bed,” I replied. “He’s earned it, and I think he needs to bulk up on blood or something in case we have to fight soon. I’m sure you’d rather not see him eat.”
“I’m okay watching him eat,” Sami countered. “In fact, I’m curious to see how he does it.”
Hmm. Well … I couldn’t argue with that. I was curious, too. I was fairly certain it would gross me out, but just as with a graphic horror movie, I knew I wouldn’t be able to look away. “That’s neither here nor there,” I said. “He needs a break and we gave him one. The same goes for Aunt Paris. She’s exhausted and wanted to go to her room so she could Skype with Heath and Alvis. She’s earned that, too.”
“I take it things didn’t go well,” James said, his eyes bouncing between Aric and me. “Did you find trouble?”
“I think it depends on your definition of the word trouble,” Aric replied, sighing as he sat in the chair next to mine. “We ran into an old friend. Er, well, we ran into an old friend of Zoe’s. I’d never met him before.”
“Who?”
“Bob,” I answered automatically, causing Aric to scowl.
“Who is Bob?” James asked, confused. “I’ve never heard you mention that name before.”
“That’s probably because we never told you about the time Zoe disappeared in the middle of a fairy ring and I thought she’d been taken from this plane of existence for good,” Aric replied, rubbing his forehead.
James was flummoxed. “When did that happen?”
“When we attacked Quinn’s compound to retrieve my parents,” I answered. “Aric is being dramatic, by the way. I was never in danger of being taken from this plane of existence. I don’t ever want to hear you say that Sami gets her dramatic streak from me again. She gets it from you, too.”
“Oh, well, this sounds like a lovely conversation,” James muttered. “Does someone want to explain to me – in English – exactly what is going on here?”
Aric related the tale with minimal enthusiasm, starting from the beginning when I first encountered Cernunnos and wrapping up with our conversation tonight. When he was done, James was beyond confused. It was Sami’s reaction that caught me off guard, though.
“So he’s a god but he won’t help?” Sami made a disgusted face. “We don’t need him. He’s an ass.”
“Hey!” Aric extended a warning finger. “Don’t say that. You haven’t met him. You don’t know what rules he has to operate under. Not everything in this world is black and white, Sami.”
“Are you saying you trust him?” Sami’s eyes widened. “You said he wanted to take Mom, and now you trust him?”
“I don’t distrust him,” Aric clarified. “He doesn’t want to take your mother any longer, not this time. He said she made the right choice staying. He said that he was happy with the way we raised you.”
“So some filthy dude in the ground is happy and we’re supposed to throw a party?” Sami crossed her arms over her chest, defiant. “I don’t think so.”
Aric slid a sidelong glance at me. “Do you want to help?”
“I think I’ll only make things worse,” I admitted. “She definitely gets this part of her personality from me.”
“That’s why I want you to help.”
I blew out a sigh as I edged forward on the chair. “He doesn’t think like us,” I explained. “He doesn’t feel emotions like us. He can see multiple big pictures and seems content to let us figure out the right way to do things.
“In truth, I find that ridiculously annoying,” I continued. “I want him to tell me the right and wrong way to do things. I want him to tell me how to keep you safe. He can’t do that. He can’t make decisions for us. We have to do that ourselves.”
“So, you believe him?”
I held my hands palms up and shrugged. “I believe he doesn’t mean us harm. He says he’ll be able to help at some point, although not with the battle.”
“So we’re going to fight?” Sami looked hopeful. “Does that mean we’re going after these people?”
“That means we’re considering our options.”
Sami deflated. “So … we’re doing nothing?”
“Not nothing, Sami,” Aric corrected. “We’re thinking through the best way to approach this situation and then we’re making a decision as a group. You have to understand, kid, that the most important thing to all of us is keeping you safe. We need to make sure that we do that above all else.”
“And what if you can’t do that?” Sami asked. “What if you can’t keep me safe?”
“We’ll keep you safe.”
“You don’t know that.” Sami’s anger bubbled over as she gripped the side of my chair. “You could die trying to keep me safe. You could both die. What happens to me then?”
“Then you go with your grandfather,” Aric replied calmly. “He’ll keep you safe.”
“And spoil you rotten,” I added, mustering a smile.
“I don’t want him to keep me safe,” Sami spat. “I want to go home with you guys. I want to play in the yard with Trouble … and find some friends who don’t want to eat me so they can suck my power … and make grossed-out noises when you two grope each other in public. That’s what I want!”
“That’s what we want, too,” Aric said. “That’s what we’re fighting for here, Sami. Why don’t you understand that?”
“Because she can’t,” I replied, pressing the heel of my hand to my forehead. “She’s too young. She doesn’t understand loss.”
“I understand loss,” Sami shot back. “I don’t want to lose anyth
ing, least of all you and Dad. That doesn’t mean I think that sitting here and talking things to death is the right way to go. I want to end this.”
“I know you do.”
Sami’s eyes filled with tears. I reached for her, but she brushed me off and took a step back.
“I want to go home,” Sami pressed. “I hate it here. I don’t understand why you guys tell such wild stories about this place. It’s gross and stupid. That apartment you had? Yeah, that was a hole.”
I couldn’t stop myself from chuckling. “That is what a college apartment looks like. Believe it or not, that apartment was the nicest one in the area when we were students.”
Sami’s eyes widened. “You mean they get worse?”
“A lot worse,” I answered. “You should’ve seen some of the houses I lived in.”
“Yes, they were delightful.” Aric smiled at the memory before sobering. “Sami, a home is not a house. Home is wherever the people you love are. I’m home right now because you and your mother are with me. Do you understand that?”
Sami refused to back down. “Trouble isn’t with us.”
“Yes, well … .” Aric glanced at me. “I’m so tired.”
He wasn’t the only one. “Sami, we’re going to figure this out,” I promised. “I think we’ll put an end to this relatively soon if we’re lucky. We’re doing the very best that we can. I swear to you. We just need a bit more time.”
“Oh, well, fine.” Sami turned on her heel and stomped toward the second bedroom. “If you don’t fix this soon I’ll do it myself. I’m pretty sure I could’ve solved everything by now if you didn’t cut me out of the decisions.”
“Okay, well … .” Aric looked unsure how to answer. “We’ll keep that in mind.”
“You do that.” Sami disappeared into her bedroom, slamming the door to let us know she wasn’t happy. I could tell that before she added additional noise, but I wasn’t in the mood to chase her and make things worse.
“She gets that from you,” Aric and I said in unison, breaking into chuckles when the angry atmosphere in the room lessened.
“I’m sorry about that, James.” I offered my father-in-law a rueful smile. “She doesn’t understand how the world works, and she lets her emotions overwhelm her at times. She doesn’t mean what she says.”
“She means it at the time she says it,” James corrected. “I’m fine with her ire. I still feel a little guilty about what happened at the retreat – whether she says something or not – and she can yell at me if she wants to.”
“No, she can’t,” I argued. “It’s not respectful. We’re going to have a talk about it … after we figure out what to do about this place.”
“What do you want to do about this place?”
The question caught me off guard. “Honestly? I’d like to get all of the students out of the dorms and burn the entire thing to the ground. I think that’s the only way to ensure that we won’t be back here in twenty years trying to put an end to The Academy again.”
“Just burn the place? No killing?” James’ expression was hard to read.
I shrugged. “There will have to be some killing,” I acknowledged. We don’t have a choice. Martin at the very least has to go. I’m thinking some of his students are beyond saving, too.”
“Yes, well … .” James rubbed his chin as he rocked back and forth on the couch.
Aric tilted his head to the side as he regarded his father, the man’s actions clearly confusing him. “You know something, don’t you?”
“I found out something while you were visiting the north side of the campus,” James replied. “I wanted to call you, but I was afraid Sami would overhear me. She’s very big on eavesdropping right now.”
“And you didn’t think she should hear this?” I couldn’t help but be surprised. “Why?”
James shrugged. “Because I think what I’m about to tell you will push you over a very high emotional ledge, Zoe. Sami doesn’t react well when you melt down.”
Oh, well, that was interesting. “She’s not here now. Lay it on me.”
“I’m mildly afraid what you’ll do,” James admitted. “I need you to promise that you’ll give what I’m about to tell you a decent amount of thought before you storm out of this room and go on a rampage.”
That sounded nothing like me. “I … um … sure.”
“Forgive me if I have my doubts that you meant that promise,” James said dryly.
I blew out a sigh and glanced at Aric. His face was blank, so I couldn’t read his reaction. “Fine,” I said finally. “I’m dying to know what you’ve got. I promise not to storm out of here until I’ve given a lot of thought to the proper way to react to whatever you’re going to tell me.”
“I guess that’s good enough.” James gripped his hands together as he shifted on the couch. “Well, as you know, we’ve been watching Martin to see who he meets with.”
“Yeah.” I bobbed my head. “Did he meet with someone good? I knew he was partnering with someone. Who is it? Is it someone I can enjoy killing?”
“I’m not sure.” James chose his words carefully as he continued. “Martin spent most of the day hiding in his house. Then he tried to sneak out over the back fence. He didn’t realize we were watching him. He walked a full mile to a coffee shop, where he met another man. They had a long discussion.”
“Do you know what they talked about?” Aric asked.
“Forget that,” I interrupted. “Who did he meet?”
“I’m getting to it,” James cautioned. “We couldn’t hear most of the conversation due to background noise, but we did pick up snippets. As for who he met, well, the man’s name is Roger West.”
I sucked in a breath as the news washed over me. Of course.
“I conducted some research on this Roger West, and as it turns out, he’s married to your freshman roommate Brittany,” James continued. “As I recall, you didn’t have the easiest of relationships with her. It’s very possible that she’s working against you now.”
“Son of a … !” I savagely kicked the footstool away as I got to my feet. “I always knew she was evil. Paris pooh-poohed me and told me I was making things up. Who’s making things up in her head now?”
I strode toward the door with purpose.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Aric called to my back.
“I’m going to rip out Brittany’s hair and feed it to her while I’m torturing her for information,” I answered.
Aric seemed blasé as he leaned back in his chair. “Oh, well, as long as you have a plan.”
James looked panicked as he hopped to his feet. “Are you crazy? Don’t encourage her. Now is not the time to go off half-cocked.”
Now it was Aric’s turn to sigh. “Zoe, you did promise to think this through.”
“I have thought it through,” I shot back, scanning the knife block on the small kitchen counter. “Do we have access to a machete?”
“Oh, well, this will be a nightmare,” James muttered, smacking his hand against his forehead. “She’ll end up in prison.”
Aric shrugged. “At least we’ll get conjugal visits.”
Now he was thinking.
Twenty-Eight
Aric managed to talk me off a ledge thanks to his father’s whining, dragging me into our bedroom so we could retire for the night. I thought my adrenalin was pumping far too much to sleep, but exhaustion overwhelmed me quickly, and I slept.
The next morning we filled in Kelsey and Paris on the latest developments over breakfast, making sure James took Sami to the dining room so she wouldn’t overhear and ultimately overreact. Them we left for the campus.
I refused to put off talking to Brittany. I was done messing around with the woman. I never liked her. Pretending otherwise was a labor of loathing, and I was ready to put the fear of the mage in her. I was almost looking forward to it.
“Did she say anything when you called and asked to meet for coffee?” Aric asked, glancing around the patio spread at
the University Center restaurant shortly before nine. “Did she act suspicious?”
Paris shook her head, her eyes thoughtful as they rested on me. “She seemed excited to meet up with us again. She said she was under the impression we’d already left town.”
“She knew we were still here,” I argued, annoyed. “She knew we talked to Martin. She knew about the apartment. She knew about the attack at the frat house.”
“How can you be sure of that?” Paris pressed. “She didn’t know Mark was working against us all of those years ago. She didn’t know what Will was planning. She was a pawn in both of those scenarios.”
I didn’t bother to hide my incredulity. “Do you seriously believe that?”
“You were there when we removed the memory spell. She had no idea what Mark was up to. She didn’t even remember what happened at Covenant College because we modified her memory. You cannot blame her for the Mark stuff.”
She had a point. Crud. “Fine. I can’t blame her for the Mark stuff.”
“And she helped us when we removed the spell and she realized what was going on,” Paris added. She seemed desperate to rein me in. I loved her dearly – she was my oldest friend, after all – but I had no intention of giving in regarding Brittany this time.
“She did help us,” I conceded. “She also had thirteen years to think about what happened. Don’t you see? She blames us. Her life is nothing like she imagined, so she blames us because she ran off the rails before she could land in Happy Town.
“I never bought her reason for staying at Covenant College,” I continued. “She didn’t want to be a victim, so she somehow got victimized by a megalomaniac mate for a third time? What are the odds of that? They must be astronomical.”
“Yes, but that’s precisely why she makes an inviting mark,” Paris argued. “Once people find out she has ties to us they work hard to ingratiate themselves in her life. They think she’ll lead them to us.”
“How?” Aric challenged. He’d been largely silent for most of the discussion, but I could feel the anger vibrating off of him. “How do they think she’ll lead them to us? My father erased any records that Zoe ever went here.”
Dying Covenant: The Complete Series Page 77
