by Mary Buckham
“We’ll start immediately digging deeper into all the recruit backgrounds,” Ling Mai said, glancing at Stone.
“And then what?” I asked.
“Then we remove the person or persons involved,” Stone said, his voice ice cold and deadly.
But that wasn’t enough. Not for me. Not after what had happened to Serena and Bitsi and Rolf. It felt like the world’s weight pressed against me, but I wasn’t waiting for some silent assassin to strike again.
Vaughn was already rising from the chair as I grabbed her wrist and said, “Wait.”
It was Ling Mai who asked, “Is there something wrong, Ms. Noziak?”
“Yeah, there is.”
Vaughn sat back down.
“Go on.” Ling Mai nodded as if expecting my hesitation.
“I don’t want to sit passively until the computer spits out something useful,” I said, straightening my shoulders. “If we’re wrong or the information isn’t easy to find, or. . .”
“Or if the person here has hidden the connection to the Were,” said Vaughn, following my train of thought.
“Exactly. My brothers are shifters, but I’m not. So if someone was looking for a shifter or part-shifter-”
“They wouldn’t look at you,” Vaughn finished my thought.
“So what are you suggesting?” Ling Mai prompted, like a teacher with a recalcitrant student.
“I suggest we set a trap.”
“What kind of trap?” Stone asked, coming to attention.
“One with me as the bait.”
CHAPTER 17
Training was suspended the day after the slaughter so those of us still ambulatory were hanging out, but not together. It was as if everyone knew there was a snake in our midst, but didn’t know who, or why, so it was easier to be alone; or if an allegiance had already been made, with one other.
It was late afternoon edging into evening as I sat at one of the tables in the canteen, keeping as far from Vaughn as possible in case whoever was targeting me decided to take her out just by association. Earlier I’d told Kelly to get lost rather than risk the same situation with her.
She left, but the slump of her shoulders told me she didn’t like getting her head bitten off, metaphorically, without a reason.
If I lived, and that was a big if, I’d make it up to her later.
Fortunately I was alone in the room when I heard the main doors in front of me swing open. I looked up, wary. Not entirely surprised when I saw Kelly walking toward me, but less than happy when I noticed who followed in her wake.
Chiquita girl, Mandy Reyes, and the Amazon, Jaylene Smart.
What the hell?
I braced myself, not ready to be taken out here, with no protection except for the gemstone bracelet Vaughn had handed me at first light. Agate and amethyst—protection and power—a good start, but if Chiquita and sidekick wanted to take me out, they could use Kelly as a hostage and I’d have my hands tied, even the one already bandaged.
“What do you want?” I snarled, glancing at all three but keeping my eye on the biggest threats, Chiquita and Amazon.
“Told you it was a fool’s mission,” Amazon snapped, pulling herself to a rigid stop about three feet in front of me, tension riding her shoulders. She cut a quick look toward Chiquita who responded with an it’s-your-call shrug.
Before either one of them could do anything though Kelly grabbed Jaylene’s arm and tugged her forward. “You promised me you’d tell her,” she coaxed, as if dealing with one of her kindergarten charges. “Then you can leave.”
“Tell me what?” I asked, a little less snappish but not much.
“What an asshole you are,” Chiquita jumped in. “But you must already know that.”
I kept to my place, hard as it was. Noziaks were not known for our turn-the-other-cheek approach to insults, but for the sake of Kelly, who looked like a kitten holding three snarling Rottweilers at bay, I decided to lighten up.
“You’re right,” I offered, my own shoulders still so tight they wanted to snap. “I was out of line.”
I don’t know who was more shocked by my olive branch, Chiquita or me. Kelly just smiled as if we’d all had a group hug.
Not likely.
It was Jaylene though who broke the impasse. “I don’t have to like you to tell you what I promised Kelly here to tell you.”
I was still unsnarling the train of her comment when Kelly smiled at me. “Jaylene knows something you should know.”
“Like what?” I kept eyeing the door, waiting for more trouble to find me.
Jaylene cleared her throat. “I had a dream.”
Seriously? My brows rose as I waited for the punch line.
“Don’t look like that,” Chiquita jumped in. “You’re a witch, or bitch, by all accounts. You’re not the only one with abilities. Jaylene here can see things in advance.”
“Then why didn’t she say so,” I shot back, not that I was buying the whole prophetic bit. I’d known my share of psychics and seers and even I, who knew firsthand about the preternatural and non-human world, including magic, thought most of the folks calling themselves future tellers were just bags of air. They might have a little talent, but most was guesswork. It was like calling all Wiccans by the word witch and thinking they were one and the same.
Kelly read the skepticism on my face better than the other two, or she just wanted everyone to play nice as she said, “Give her a chance, Alex. She could make a difference in what’s about to happen.”
I wanted to ask Kelly what she knew, but a quick look at her had me closing my mouth and nodding at Jaylene. The sooner I let her say her piece, the sooner she’d be done, and I could get back to twiddling my one available thumb until zero hour when my whole trap-idea would be sprung.
Jaylene didn’t look at Chiquita before she spoke and my estimation of her rose. She might have joined forces with the Latino girl but probably for mutual protection. A smart move given what had happened yesterday.
“I’ve been having this same dream,” Jaylene started, her voice low enough I didn’t worry that anyone else walking in would overhear her.
When she didn’t continue, I asked, “So? What’s the dream got to do with me?”
“You die in it, bruja,” Chiquita answered with a smile.
Okay, that caught my attention, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It wasn’t that I was superstitious, but my shamanic half tended to be sensitive to death warnings. Especially the second one in two days.
I kept my eyes on Jaylene. “You have any details how?”
“You and Vaughn are in a fight, hand-to-hand combat for the most part, except there looks like some woo-woo stuff involved.” Each word sounded as if it were pulled from her reluctantly.
“Woo-woo?” I wondered if she could be any vaguer?
“You know.” She waved one hand. “Like you did in the gym, making that shifter disappear.”
I could see where someone not familiar with magic could see a banishing spell as woo-woo, so I shrugged. “Got it. So I die as a result of this fight?”
“You and Vaughn,” Kelly clarified, rushing to add, “but there’s good news.”
I bit back my snort. Only Kelly could make a double death prediction sound like it was something positive.
“Okay, I’m not hearing good so far; enlighten me.”
Kelly glanced at Jaylene with an eager look. “Tell her.”
It took a few seconds, a few long seconds until Jaylene started. “Last night the dream changed.”
“And that means?”
She cringed, then straightened. “Meaning I saw the same fight, only this time Mandy and I were with you.”
I looked between her and her friend but neither looked like they were joking. “So four of us now die?”
“No, this time you, or all of us, take down the others,” Chiquita said, her chin notched at the kind of angle you wanted to take a punch at it.
“Any idea who the others are?” I asked. My id
ea was if they had a clue I could share with Vaughn and we might avoid the me-as-bait plan altogether.
“No.” Jaylene looked as frustrated as I felt. “And trust me I tried to get some image, but I’m not meant to see them.”
What kind of gift was that? That she got to see only half the message?
I glanced at Chiquita, looking for an explanation. Instead I got a shrug.
“It is what it is.” She glanced at Jaylene before adding. “But if she says jump I’d ask how high. These dreams or visions of hers can be pretty spooky and spot on.”
“Like what?” At Kelly’s sigh I tried harder not to kick the gift horse, or horses, in the mouth. “I’m not saying Jaylene doesn’t have visions or they aren’t real, I’m just trying to get a little clarification.”
So far they sounded pretty hokey. All of us dreamed, or got bad vibes, it didn’t mean we were clairvoyant. If that’s what she was.
“Tell me how these dreams work?” I asked, struggling damned hard to keep skepticism out of my voice.
“Work?” Jaylene eyed me, obviously used to dealing with non-believers and having a low tolerance for them. “I get a dream. See bits and pieces. It’s not like a DVD running through my head.”
I held my non-bandaged palm up. “No, I mean, how often do they come true? Do they happen just like you see them?” Why in this vision couldn’t she see who I was up against?
As if I’d spoken the last thought aloud she said, “The future is always fluid, but when I get these kinds of advance warnings they’re about ninety percent accurate. Meaning they go down the way I see them. And the reason I can’t see who you’re fighting with is it’s outside, dark, and they’re in shadow.”
I glanced at the window where darkness was already descending.
How convenient. But I didn’t say that, mostly because the plan I’d hatched with Vaughn, Stone, and Ling Mai, we’d decided to have go down outside where there was less chance for others to get hurt.
Chiquita stepped into the silence. “Jaylene saw meeting me before we connected here, as well as the fight with the shifters happening before it happened.”
“And you didn’t stop it?” I blurted out, thinking about the senseless deaths.
“I didn’t see the shit hit the fan, if that’s what you mean,” Jaylene replied, staring me down. “I’d have gone to Stone if I had. I just saw who we’d be fighting. That’s all.”
That was better than seeing a slaughter and doing nothing.
“Sorry I snapped.” My words took Jaylene’s frown down a notch as I grappled with the repercussions of her ability. “So you’re saying if you and . . .” I stumbled a bit. “If you and Mandy here to join Vaughn and me in this fight that’s supposed to happen, neither Vaughn or I will die. That about it?”
“Yeah.” Jaylene nodded. “Sucks doesn’t it?”
Before I could ask why Chiquita aka Mandy spoke. “Sucks more if Jaylene and I sit this one out and let you two gringas go it alone.”
CHAPTER 18
As if all the air in the room disappeared, the four of us there; Mandy with an I-dare-ya slant to her brow; Jaylene with her chin tucked but her gaze lasered in on mine; Kelly, wide-eyed with her gaze darting back and forth; and me, slowly rising to my feet before I spoke.
“So you came here to tell me I’m going to die without your help and you’re withholding that help. Why?”
“Cuz there’s no love lost between us?” Chiquita posed the comment as a question but I didn’t bite. If I did there wouldn’t be much of me left to fight later.
“Not a problem.” I kept my tone on a more even keel than my pulse rate as I leaned forward across the table, planting one palm on it, my gaze dead-center on Chiquita. “I might be dead, but I’ll take that over living with the knowledge I let others die because I was a chicken shit.”
Kelly jumped between Mandy and me, so fast on her feet she surprised me. But it was the same rose-colored glasses Kelly who raised her hands and said, “Let’s not jump to the wrong conclusions here.”
“Wrong?” I pressed, hating to spoil the kindergarten teacher’s Peaceable Kingdom attitude. “There’s no wrong conclusion. You two act.” I cut my stare between Chiquita and Jaylene. “And Vaughn and I live. Keep your heads in the sand and we die.” I paused, then added. “And after we’re gone, you’re next on the list.”
That last part was a flat out assumption, but I was pissed.
Kelly again interceded. “Mandy didn’t say they weren’t going to help.”
“Sounded that way to me.”
“For love of mice.” Kelly threw her hands in the air, her voice rising in tone. “Quit acting like a bunch of kids. Someone’s hurting people here.” She glared at Mandy before doing the same to me. “Killing them.” A last look at Jaylene. “And you three can stop it if you quit posturing.”
Did she just tell me I was a poser?
Mandy and Jaylene’s expressions betrayed similar responses.
Did Kelly have any self-preservation genes? She was like a Chihuahua standing between snarling Pit Bulls, at least for the other two. I was more like a Doberman, bite first and bark later.
It was Jaylene who lowered the tension by several degrees. “You’re right.” She looked at me. “As much as I don’t like to risk my skin for total strangers, I also know better than to ignore the dreams.”
“You mean if you do there’s a boomerang effect on you?” I was thinking of the way magic could backfire.
“Something like that.” She shrugged, looking toward Mandy. “I’m not speaking for you, but I was given this ability for a reason. I ignore the warnings and worse crap happens.” Then she turned back to me. “If you need my help to stop whatever is coming down the pike, I’m here.”
I could tell Mandy didn’t like being odd person out so I straightened and crossed my arms, waiting her out.
“What?” She snapped. “I go with my friend. If she’s ready to rumble, so am I.”
What a rousing endorsement.
“Good,” Kelly piped up. “That’s settled then. Five against whoever is causing the problem.” She glanced at me, a smile wreathing her face, making her freckles stand out all that more. “So what do we do next?”
“Nothing,” came my flat reply. “Not a damned thing.”
CHAPTER 19
Mandy recovered quickest. “What do you mean we can’t do anything?”
“Not that I don’t appreciate your offer,” I said, though my tone implied otherwise. “But nothing is going down.”
Yeah, another lie, but the whole intention of the plan Vaughn, Stone, Ling Mai, and I hatched last night was to minimize the risk, not have a free for all because Jaylene got heartburn and dreamed up some Four Musketeer scenario. As soon as I met with Vaughn I’d tell her about the vision, then we’d take steps to avoid having only the two of us face any threat. The fewer involved in the trap, the more likely to take out the spell caster. We’d discussed last night that none of other of the recruits were ready to fight magic. Not fight and live.
Jaylene and Mandy were shooting glances back and forth, Gatling gun style, but it was Kelly who spoke. “But you need their help.”
“I might,” I said, “If there was anything I was planning to do. But there isn’t. End of story.”
I shuffled the book I’d been reading, a primer on magic use I hoped gave me some insights into magic used by non-witches, as I straightened my shoulders. “Gotta go now. Been nice chatting with you.”
I was trying my damnedest to get rid of them. It was getting darker outside and I had things to do before I faced black magic.
If I thought that leaving was going to be the end of things, I was wrong. Chiquita and Amazon stuck with me like the Pit Bulls I’d thought they were following close but not too close as I headed toward the doors. I wanted to return to the dorm where I was supposed to meet Vaughn before we made final preparations for our trap.
I had two options: chase away my new shadows, or ignore them. I did the latter as
I slammed through the door, talking to Kelly but meaning my words for everyone. “Why don’t you wait behind and I’ll join you in a few minutes?”
“Where are you going now?” she asked, hesitating but still dogging my footsteps.
“Putting my book away.”
Yup, that was me, all calm and cool, whistling in the dark against the bogeyman. And man was it dark. The overhead vapor lights seemed to be out or hadn’t flipped on yet, so walking the gravel trail was way harder than it should be. No moon showing, the crisp night air giving me goose bumps. Maybe I’d grab a warmer jacket when I met Vaughn.
I was so focused on ignoring my entourage that I almost missed the first wave of black magic washing over me. A subtle testing probe, as if someone had been waiting and wanted to make sure she had the right target.
Only I wasn’t alone. Not anymore.
I halted, fear licking up my spine, my throat dry as I turned to the three behind me, working hard to appear calm. I lowered my voice, hoping that kept the panic at bay. “Why don’t you guys go ahead; I forgot something in the canteen.”
“Liar,” Chiquita mumbled, then paused as if scenting the air. She lowered her voice before asking, “They’re here aren’t they?”
Last thing I wanted was the magic caster or casters, to know I was onto them. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go down. I didn’t have any of my tools and my protection bracelet wasn’t going to stop anyone serious about killing me. Or anyone around me.
“You need to leave,” I whispered, then increased my tone so anyone listening in could hear easily. “I know Stone’s looking for you. Instead of waiting for him here why don’t you meet him in the dorm?”
My message, as desperate as it was, was that back up could be just around the corner. As if Stone were the ultimate threat. To a human, oh yeah—to a non-human, particularly whoever was hiding in the shadows, not so much.
I stepped closer to Jaylene as I just realized something. “If Vaughn isn’t here, will your vision go down as you saw it?”
Jaylene glanced around then shook her head. “Can’t promise that.”
