“No,” said John. “I don’t want to be demi-head. I don’t want anything Pedro has.”
“See?” said Pedro.
“Hmmm,” I said. “One more question.”
“Fine.”
I turned back to John. “How do you feel about Pedro?” That wasn’t a yes/no question and it wasn’t going to be easy to get out of.
“Pedro is a great demi-head of the clan. He is diligent, thoughtful, generous, and kind,” said John.
It sounded like he was quoting from the Boy Scout oath, but I guess it fit Pedro. “But how do you feel about him?”
“I feel sorry for him, sometimes,” said John. “He works so hard, and for what? For the World Council who care nothing for him.” There was a definite bitter tone in that. But nothing that made John look guilty. If anything, he looked better now than before. More real.
Pedro nudged me. “Satisfied?” he asked.
“I guess,” I said.
“Fine. Then John, you can go home.” He glanced at me. “Is he OK under a truth spell?”
“Doesn’t affect driving skills,” I said.
John left. We all heard his car engine start up, and then drive away.
“Oh, Sarah, Sarah,” moaned Claudio once we were alone again. “I loved you so much. And you were a fraud. You never cared about me.”
“Claudio, don’t give her up so easily,” I said. I still wasn’t convinced about this, though I wasn’t sure if I had any logic behind my belief. Maybe I was just as crazy in love as Claudio was.
“Ben, you have to accept the truth, as horrible as it is. She and Beatrice pretended to fall in love with us. What fools we were to think that it could happen in one night,” said Claudio.
“But we didn’t think that. We thought they had been falling in love with us gradually for a long time. Didn’t we?” I said.
“You gave John a truth spell. What more proof could you want about their betrayal?” asked Pedro.
“I don’t know,” I said. Maybe Beatrice confessing in front of me would do it. Maybe not.
“Listen, right now we have to think about ourselves. We have to get clear of this accusation or the World Council is going to blame us. That means we have to take this evidence to Dogberry,” said Pedro. “It’s our only hope.”
“We avoid punishment by letting Beatrice and Sarah take it instead? No, thanks,” I said.
“But they’re guilty,” said Claudio.
Pedro looked at me. “I’m sorry, but I have to do this, Benedick.”
“You don’t. Trust me.”
“I do trust you, Ben. It’s Beatrice and Sarah I don’t trust anymore. Which is why I’m calling Dogberry now,” said Pedro.
“Then I’m out of here,” I said. “I can’t watch you do this.”
“Fine,” said Pedro. “I’ll call you later, when it’s finished. I’m really sorry, Ben.”
I took one last look at Claudio before I walked out. He was devastated. He had really loved Sarah. But not enough to believe in her.
That’s why I didn’t tell him what I was planning to do. Which was to go straight to Bee and Sarah and tell them what was going on, so they had a chance to figure out a defense before the World Council decided to disappear them forever instead of us.
Chapter 15: Bee
When I saw Benedick knocking on my bedroom window in the dark, I nearly screamed in terror. He looked awful. I hadn’t realized how well the reverse beauty spell had worked until I saw his face up close, smashed against the glass.
When I joined the Hero clan, they had drilled the beauty spell into us and told us it was our duty to use it as often as possible on ourselves. No one said we couldn’t use it on others, and of course there were some jobs that demanded it. But there was always this feeling inside the clan that it was dirty to use the spell that way. The people who made money directly from the spell were lower in clan hierarchy. Although not models and actors, strangely enough.
He knocked on the window again and mouthed “Beatrice. I need to speak to you.”
I considered calling the police, but then I decided that I would get more satisfaction out of dealing with him myself. There is nothing quite like telling someone exactly what your opinion of him is. And if that someone is a Paduan, as well, the truth is doubly sweet.
I opened the window. “Benedick, just the guy I wanted to see,” I said and waved him in.
He hesitated then. “You’re scaring me.”
“Too bad,” I said.
He moved in very slowly, right leg first, then right arm, then the other half of his body, watching me every second. “Are you going to make me uglier?”
“Is that what you want me to do?” I asked. Was this some kind of sick way of trying to win me back? If I hurt him enough, then I would owe him another chance?
“I just want you to know that I’m not here to try to get you to love me again,” he said.
“I’m so relieved,” I said.
He put up his hands. “Don’t misunderstand me. I want you to love me again. A lot. So much—I can’t really talk about it. But that’s not why I’m here.”
“But you thought you would put it in anyway, just in case,” I said.
“No! I mean, I didn’t want you to refuse to speak to me if that’s what you thought. If you’re tired of hearing me talk about it. If you’re not tired, though, I will tell you over and over again how much I love you. I know I haven’t been exactly a model of how to get a girl to fall in love with you.”
“Stop,” I said.
He took a deep breath. “Right. I told you I wouldn’t do that and then I did. It’s hard when I look at you and see—”
“Would it be easier if I put an ugly spell on myself?” I asked.
He considered this as seriously as if he believed I would do it. “I don’t think so,” he said.
“And why is that?”
“Because it wouldn’t matter to me. You are who you are, Beatrice, no matter what you look like.”
“Who told you to say that?” I asked sharply, suddenly suspicious.
“Who told me? What makes you think someone told me?” said Benedick.
“Did Sarah tell Claudio about me when she still thought he was in love with her?”
Benedick shook his head. “He is still in love with her. At least, I think he is, underneath everything.”
There was something going on here. Last time, I heard, everything was still fine between Claudio and Sarah. Clearly I was out of the loop and Benedick was in.
“Fine. Just tell me what you came to say,” I said.
He looked around me, as if expecting someone there. “Where is Sarah?”
“At her house, I would think. Why?”
“You’re going to need to go find her.”
“What? Why?” And why would he think I would do that just on his say so.
“I’m not supposed to be here,” Benedick added.
“Oh, really? And why is that? Because you have other people to lie to and manipulate waiting for you somewhere else?”
Benedick blinked at me. There was a tear in one eye. I wondered if that was something that Paduans learned how to do. If you weren’t going to tell the truth yourself, you figured out the ways to make it look like you were. You watched how other people did it.
“I came here despite everything because she’s in danger and so are you,” said Benedick.
“In danger? Are you threatening me?” I demanded. That seemed a change. Did he think if he showed me how powerful he was, I’d swoon all over him again?
“Not me. Bee, there are rumors about you and Sarah. More than rumors, really.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
He glanced out the window again. I was pretty sure he wasn’t faking it now. He really was nervous.
“Is someone after you? The World Council? The police? I heard about the stolen money spell at the dance, you know. We all did.”
He waved a hand. “I think the whole world knows a
bout that by now. But the part they don’t know about, Bee, is that you and Sarah are the ones guilty of taking Pedro’s money spell.”
“Yeah, right,” I said, laughing.
“Look, I need to use a truth spell on you. To prove that you’re innocent. You and Sarah both.”
“Now you really are insane,” I said. “You used a truth spell on me once before. Do you think I will let you do it again?” Although he could use it without telling me if he wanted to.
Why hadn’t I thought about that when he came to the window? He could have started saying it as soon as he saw me. He had to be next to me to do it, unlike me with the beauty spell.
“I don’t mean here. Some place public. It will have to be recorded and witnessed by some Paduan clan officials.”
“That is not going to happen.” I stared at him. There was something urgent about his manner and it made me feel a little sorry for him. He was going a little freaky around the gills.
“I’m explaining this all wrong. Listen, John brought us the video of you and Sarah. In the mall this evening.”
“So what?” It was strange how much I was still attracted to him. Just being next to him, I felt it. Even with his face gone wrong. I guess I wasn’t the type to fall in love with someone with a pretty face. You get inured to that with the Hero clan. But was this just a bad boy thing? I wanted him because he was bad for me?
“You had tons of money. You were waving it all around. Money that had to have come from a money spell. Pedro’s spell.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. We hadn’t bought much of anything. A few trinkets just to cheer up Sarah, but we certainly hadn’t been throwing cash around.
“Look, the video isn’t real. I don’t know how it was faked, but it has to have been. Only we need to prove it. That’s the reason I need to talk to you and Sarah, using a truth spell. If we don’t do this fast, you and Sarah are going to be disappeared if you don’t prove yourselves innocent,” said Benedick desperately.
I gaped at him. The pity I felt for him flew away and it was replaced with a black rage. “You’re going to try to blame us?” I backed away from him, thinking that he would have some way to reverse the truth spell the way I had reversed the beauty spell. There were rumors that certain confessions in history had been rigged, that the Paduans weren’t letting on how often the truth spell could be turned into pure manipulation.
“I’m going to call the police,” I said. “So you should get out of here.”
“Don’t call the police,” he said. “I swear to you, I’m telling the truth.”
“Oh? And I should believe that why? Because you’re a Paduan?” I laughed harshly.
“I’ll do the spell on myself if I have to.”
“And how will I know it’s genuine and not you putting on an act? I don’t know what the real truth spell is, after all.”
He paused, as if he hadn’t considered that.
“It’s obvious you think I’m an idiot,” I said. “I am so glad that I never went out with you. I had one night of insanity, and I suppose every girl has that. But if I had been stuck with you for months on end—” I made a face.
“Or years,” said Benedick, smiling.
I smacked him. I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t stand that smug smile on his face.
He grabbed my hand and I thought how well he had played me, to make me touch him like that. He had me where he wanted me now. I expected him to start chanting the truth spell any second while I was struggling to run away. But I didn’t give up easy.
I kicked him in the shin and he kept hold of me. I twisted around and tried to elbow him in the stomach, but he pulled away and let me go. He held his hands up. He didn’t chant anything like a spell.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said.
“Then you should figure out a spell to go back in time about seventeen years and make sure you were never born. That would keep me safe, I think.”
He winced. What did he think? That I could still be in love with him, after all this?
“You know, if I could do that, I would, Bee. I really would,” he said in a hoarse whisper.
Like I was going to fall for that. “Yeah?” I said, and got close enough to him to make him think I was going to kiss him. He fell for it, his eyes flickering closed and his lips puckering.
I twisted his extra-large nose instead. “I should have known you were a liar from the first. To believe that you’d fall in love with me when I hadn’t used the beauty spell for months. What kind of high school guy does that?”
With a hand on his nose and a few feet away from me, he said, “Bee, the video is pretty clear. You and Sarah used the money spell at the mall. A lot of money. In a lot of different stores. There’s no doubt about it.”
“Uh-huh.” Was I supposed to be trembling so he could hold me tight?
“I’m serious. The world court is going to be down on you two within the hour. You’ve got to figure out who set you up.”
“Who set us up? I think that would be pretty obvious. The only question I have is why you came to warn me in advance. So that you could gloat in person, I suppose.”
“I’m not gloating,” said Benedick. “Bee, I know it wasn’t you. I know you wouldn’t do that, you or Sarah. But Claudio and Pedro believe John. They’re going to give you up to the police, to the World Council. I don’t know what will happen to you.”
“Don’t you?” I asked. I think he did. Once Sarah and I were gone, he and Claudio and Pedro could go on doing whatever they had done before we got in their way.
All these years, I had believed that the people who disappeared after misusing spells were really guilty. But now I was more skeptical. The real villains always get away, don’t they?
“A guy like you never falls in love with a girl like me, does he?” I said bitterly. “That should have been the first clue. How long have you been setting this up for? Since before you used the truth spell on me, I bet.
“I was in love with Pedro and that must have made it so easy for you. I was vulnerable and everyone was laughing at me. So easy to make me question my own feelings, begin to wonder if it had been you I was in love with all along, but afraid to admit it to myself because you were a lot more dangerous to my heart than Pedro was.”
“All along?” whispered Benedick.
“You were the one person who wasn’t afraid to talk back to me. The one person who was as smart as I was and gave as good as he got. For a moment, I thought that must mean something. That we were meant to be. And I guess we were. Meant to be enemies, that is,” I said.
“But don’t think that you’ve won. I might disappear, but I won’t stop fighting. And if I ever have a chance to escape, you can be sure that I will come after you.” I was breathing hard and even though Benedick still held me tightly, I could lean forward and brush my lips against his.
He just let me do it.
I bit down hard on his lip and blood spurted.
Then I laughed.
Benedick let me go and swore at me. “I’m trying to help you here, you idiot!” he shouted, and put a hand to his mouth.
He looked better bloody, I thought. It fit his whole new look, and made the desperation really stand out.
“I mean—not idiot,” he said. “I mean—yes, you are an idiot. But not that kind of idiot. Oh, what am I supposed to do to get you to believe me?”
“Poor little Paduan,” I said. “Can make anyone say the truth, but can’t make us believe he is saying it, too.”
“Bee, it’s not a joke. This is real.” He was breathing hard and it made his chest stand out. I thought how nice his chest was, strong, but not super muscular like the Florentines could be. I know that Sarah thought Claudio was gorgeous, but to me, he was a little much.
Ben was more sleek and understated. Physically, that is. In every other way, he had to show off. Loud, obnoxious, and now traitorous.
It would have been good between us if he hadn’t had to sabotage it with
his plans for power and more spells that he should have.
What was I saying? I put my hands on his chest and shoved back.
He stumbled into the window, but not hard enough to break it.
“Are you sure your proof is going to stand up in court? You have to have done something pretty tricky with the videos to make it look like Sarah and I used the money spell.”
“Bee, I saw them. They’re not faked. At least—I don’t think they are. If they were, no one will figure it out. You’ve got to think about who would want to do this to you. Who hates you that much?”
“There’s only one person I think hates me that much,” I said, looking straight at him.
“You are impossible. I don’t know what I ever saw in you,” said Benedick, twisting his hands into tight fists. “It’s not me. It’s someone else. Who hates you? Someone in your clan, maybe?”
“Hmm,” I said, as if considering this. And then, a finger to the air. “I know. Maybe it’s some girl who is in love with you, Benedick, and is jealous of me. But on the other hand, there must be thousands of those, right? It would be so hard to limit the pool.”
“Bee, you’re a hard girl to love, do you know that?”
I laughed then. Somehow, after all that he had done, he still knew how to say just the right thing to make me see the absurdity of love.
Chapter 16: Ben
Who knew arguing could be such a turn on? I didn’t really want Bee to stop talking, and I certainly didn’t want to do a truth spell on her. There would be no coming back from that a second time.
“Why would I come here if I was trying to frame you and Sarah for this?” I asked her. “Think, Bee. If you’re so smart, think this all the way through.”
“I told you, you did it because you wanted to laugh at me.”
“So much that I took the chance you might get out of it and I’d have to face the consequences?” I asked. I loved how her lips moved when she talked. I could watch her all day long, the way she spoke, even if the sound was turned off. Her eyes were so bright and she didn’t talk only with her mouth and lips. She used her whole body. It was like I was watching a play and she was cast in all the parts. That was why the beauty spell didn’t matter as much for her. It wasn’t her features that made her beautiful at all. It was her expression, her passion, her life itself.
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