Deceitful Circle (Silent Circle Book 2)

by Cassandra Larsen

  “What was that?” I ask as soon as we get to the hall.

  Arianna stops and stares at me, her eyes wide. She looks freaked out. “Lydia is from the Messenger Class.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means she gets messengers, like visions and stuff. That’s how she knew you guys were at the fair. But what she just said... That was a full blown prophecy....” She sounds awed, but her eyes are creased with tension.

  “Is that bad?”

  “Not bad, just... strange. Caroline said she wouldn’t have to deal with those for a long time yet... And that prophecy, it didn’t sound very good...” She trails off, biting her lip.

  I don’t know what to say to that, so I turn and focus on the task at hand. I get a cloth from the bathroom and wet it a little.

  “Here, bring this to her. I’ll get some food.”

  I microwave some hot chocolate and put a few Oreos and some of my dad’s favorite Tasty Cakes on a plate. As I walk down the hallway, I can hear Ethan whispering.

  “...the Great War has been renewed? Does this have something to do with Emerson? Lydia was talking about her right before the prophecy. Do you think–”

  As I enter the living room again, Ethan stops talking, looking up guiltily.

  “Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out,” Caiden answers, watching me.

  “I brought some food.” I hand the plate over to Caiden.

  Lydia is still out cold. Arianna is sitting next to her, dabbing her forehead with the damp wash cloth. Finally, Lydia starts to stir. Her eyes flutter open and she tries to sit up.

  “Just lay still for a minute,” Caiden tells her, putting a hand on her shoulder to keep her from moving. “How do you feel?”

  “What happened?” She asks groggily.

  “You don’t remember?” Ethan hovers protectively near his cousin’s head.

  “I…” She turns her hazy blue eyes on me and they widen in horror. “Oh, God!” She whispers, covering her mouth. She begins trembling, her face draining of any remaining color.

  “What is it? Lydia, what’s the matter?” Ethan asks.

  “N-nothing.” She lowers her eyes and takes a deep breath. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

  She tries to sit up again and this time Caiden lets her. She swings her legs over the couch and rests her elbows on her knees, cradling her head in her hands.

  “How’re you feeling?” Ethan sits next to her, rubbing her back gently.

  “Tired. My head hurts.”

  “Do you remember what happened?” Caiden squats down in front of her.

  “I – Emerson asked what her bloodlines are, and I had a vision of Odin and Morrigan. Then I woke up on the couch. Did I pass out?”

  “You had a prophecy,” Arianna whispers reverently.

  “But I –” Her blue eyes cloud with confusion. “What did I say?”

  All three of them look at each other before turning their eyes on me.

  “Maybe we should discuss that with Caroline.” Caiden glances at me, a crease between his brows.

  “No, we should discuss it now,” Ethan demands, glaring at Caiden. “What was Emerson talking about earlier, about Silver Lake? If there is another war brewing, as Lydia said, then we have a right to know. A right to protect ourselves.” His square jaw is clenched, his normally kind eyes hard as stone.

  “Is that what I said?” Lydia looks up in shock.

  “Among other things.” He doesn’t take his eyes off Caiden.

  Caiden and I share a look. “Ethan’s right,” I say. “They should know.”

  He studies me for a few heartbeats before turning to the group at large. “Fine. But this doesn’t go any further than you three. Caroline doesn’t want the coven panicking.”

  All three faces show varying signs of worry. Arianna is biting her lip again and Lydia’s brow is creased. Ethan’s face is grim, pale lines showing around his eyes and mouth.

  Caiden leans forward and heaves a deep sigh. “I’m not even really sure where to begin.” He looks over at me, and I hear his voice in my head. *How much do you want them to know?*

  I’m pretty sure he’s asking whether or not I want them to know about my theories on my mom’s death.

  *Tell them everything.* I’m sick of all the half-truths and full lies.

  So Caiden starts from the beginning, laying out the whole story. He tells them about my original suspicions about my mom’s suicide, our trip out to Ashwood Creek, and how we broke into my grandmother Madelyn’s house. When he describes the fight with the two werewolves, Arianna’s eyes glow with feral delight.

  “I wish I was there. I would have fried their asses!”

  I smile at Arianna’s enthusiasm. After her small display of power today, I have no doubt that she could have taken them down.

  Caiden finishes the story by detailing what Caroline last told us: That the Silver Lake Pack was hunting my mother, and she killed herself to hide me.

  Ethan’s anger seems to fade, pity replacing it. I look away.

  “I’m so sorry, Emerson.” Arianna reaches over to take my hand.

  I try to keep the anger off my face. I’m not mad at Arianna. It’s Caroline I’m angry with, for getting Caiden to believe her biased story of my mom’s death. For propagating the same terrible lies as the rest of this narrow-minded town.

  My mother wasn’t crazy. She wasn’t suicidal. She didn’t kill herself.

  But I can’t say that to them. Why would they believe me over Caroline? I’m on my own in this now, so I just nod.

  When I look back at Caiden, I see that he’s scrutinizing me. Crap. He can sense my emotions; he knows how furious I am. I breathe deeply and try to mask the rage boiling inside of me. I can’t let him know what I’m up to. He went along with the Ashwood scheme because he believed there was a possibility that I was right. After talking to Caroline, however, all his doubts have been removed.

  So I calm my racing heart and push away the anger, for now at least, and meet Caiden’s eyes squarely. After another moment, he looks away and continues to the group.

  “I think we should all begin helping with her training sessions. There are things she needs to learn that I can’t teach her. I figure, between the four of us, we’ll have a better chance at getting her ready. She needs to be able to protect herself before the Silver Lake Pack makes their move. We should all meet up at my house in the morning to start her lessons.”

  “Definitely!” Arianna grins, her hazel eyes shining with excitement.

  “That’s a good idea,” Ethan agrees, nodding his head. His face has smoothed out, but the way he keeps stealing sideways glances at me makes me think he’s still wary.

  Lydia doesn’t say anything, just stares down at the carpet fixedly.

  “Oh,” I say, wanting to come clean about everything. “And Caiden and I aren’t actually dating.”

  Arianna looks shocked, and slightly disappointed, but Lydia’s eyes light up as she finally meets my eyes.

  “Caroline wanted us to pretend,” I continue. “She didn’t want it to look suspicious, since we’re gonna have to spend so much time together.”

  “For training?” Ethan asks, his eyes darting toward Lydia.

  “Not just that. It’s also for her protection. With the weres on her trail, I’ve become her...”

  “Bodyguard?” I interject. “Babysitter?”

  He huffs a laugh. “Yeah, what she said.”

  Arianna jumps up in excitement. “I can take a guard shift too! You can stay close to her during the day — at school and stuff — and I can take nights!” She bounces around excitedly, like this is the best idea ever.

  Caiden and Ethan look at each other in trepidation.

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Caiden begins.

  Her expression turns fierce and she glares at him. “I’m just as good at offensive magick as you — if not more so! I am taking a guard shift!”

  “This isn’t a game.” Ethan looks at her seriously.
“You could get hurt. I can’t let anything happen to you.”

  “I know this isn’t a game! There are werewolves after her! You heard what Lydia said — another war is coming! None of us are safe. I love you Ethan, but I’m going to do what I can to help. Emerson needs protection, and Caiden can’t be on guard all the time.” She glares at him, crossing her arms in front of her.

  Ethan groans. “Never argue with the Sky God Witches, especially when it comes to protecting someone they care about. You’d think I’d have learned that by now.” Seeing my confusion, he explains. “Not only are they short tempered, but fiercely protective. No one will be able to talk her out of this now, so you’d better prepare yourself for an extended house guest.”

  Chapter 10

  “Did you tell your dad that I’m staying over tonight?” Arianna’s sitting on my bed flipping through the newest issue of Cosmo.

  I glance at my alarm clock; it’s almost nine. The group spent hours analyzing the whole ‘being hunted by a pack of crazy werewolves’ thing to death, then Caiden and Ethan spent the rest of the afternoon lecturing Arianna and me about how dangerous this pack is and how we have to be careful and not make rash decisions.

  They laid out a whole list of rules: no opening the front door, no going out, no drinking, no ostentatious magick. I had to stop myself several times from rolling my eyes at how paranoid they sounded. It was like listening to two old women preach about the dangers of premarital sex.

  Finally, after their exhausting lecture, everyone but Arianna has left. It chafes that they all insist I need a babysitter 24/7, but if I’m forced to have someone around all night, every night, I’m glad it’s Arianna. At least she knows how to joke around and have a little fun.

  “No, I haven’t told my dad yet, but don’t worry; he won’t care. And besides, he won’t even be home tonight. He has some meeting in Rhode Island. Won’t be home till late tomorrow.”

  “Your dad leaves you home alone? Overnight? That’s awesome! I wish my parents would leave town for a night or two. They never leave me home alone. They don’t even let me close the door all the way when Ethan is over! You have no idea how annoying it is,” she grumbles, flipping through the pages with a little more force than necessary.

  “Yeah, well, I wish my dad didn’t leave me home alone as much as he does... I mean, it’s great having the freedom and all, but it gets pretty lonely around here with only me in the house...” I look up to see Arianna watching me and I immediately wish I had kept that to myself. It sounds way too self-pitying.

  “Oooh,” she bursts out. “Here’s an article you can use: ‘Ten Ways to Get Back at Your Ex. Number 10 – Get a haircut’. Well, that’s boring. Maybe you should dye your hair instead. Ever wonder how you’ll look as a blonde?” She wiggles her eyebrows at me.

  “No, thank you.” I laugh. “Olivia dyed my hair once in middle school. It was terrible. We forgot to bleach it first. Do you know what happens when you dye black hair blonde, without bleaching it? It turns orange.” I crinkle my face in disgust, remembering. “And not a pretty orange like Olivia’s hair. It was a dirty, rust color.” I shudder.

  Arianna laughs. “That must have sucked. Funny, I don’t remember you in school with orange hair...”

  “That’s because I forced my dad to take me to the nearest salon and dye it back immediately. No way was I going to school like that!” I laugh.

  She’s quiet for a moment, thinking. “So what’s going on between you and Olivia? I mean, you two were practically inseparable. But ever since you and Sebastian broke up, it seems like you and Olivia broke up too.”

  I shrug, trying to pretend I’m not upset about it, but deep down I’m furious. And hurt. Arianna’s right. I feel like Olivia abandoned me right when I needed her the most. I may have kept some things from her, but I never outright lied. I think back to last week in lunch, when Josh just attacked me over and over again. Sebastian wasn’t the only one sitting there watching. Not once did Olivia step up to defend me. She’s never one to hold back what she feels, but when it came to Josh, she couldn’t be bothered to say a word.

  And then there’s Arianna. I only really met her last night at the circle, but today at the festival she leapt right to my defense, telling off both Sebastian and Kayla. Not to mention the fact that she’s sitting here on my bed right now, essentially putting her life on the line in order to protect me. I’ve never done a thing to earn that kind of loyalty from her.

  “Oh, here’s a good one: ‘Post photos of you and another guy on Facebook’. You should definitely do that! We could go out to the mall and I’ll take pictures of you with random dudes and post them all over your wall. He’ll go nuts!”

  “Two things wrong with that. One, we’re not supposed to leave the house. And two, I’m supposed to be dating Caiden. If I put up all those pics, it would just give everyone another reason to call me a slut.”

  “That sucks... It would've been so much fun. But at least you can do this one: ‘Show up at a party with a new guy’. He seemed pretty freaked when he saw you and Caiden at lunch on Friday, and you weren’t even pretending to date then! Imagine if he saw you two making out at a party! It would so pay him back for all that crap he’s pulling with Kayla.” She closes the magazine and sighs. “It’s such a shame that you and Caiden aren’t actually dating. I think you’re good for him.”

  “Good for him? I got him beat up on Friday, remember? Plus, my snarkiness annoys the hell out of him; we fight all the time.”

  “But that just proves how much you both want each other! Ethan and I bicker all the time too.” She smiles when she mentions Ethan. “And yes, you are good for Caiden. I’ve noticed a huge change in him this last week. He takes himself way too seriously. I’ve seen him laugh more this past week than in the last three years. You’ve taught him to relax, have a little fun. And trust me, after the hell he’s been through, he needs that.”

  “You mean what he did to his mom’s boyfriend?”

  “He told you about that?” Her mouth drops open in shock.

  “Yeah, he mentioned it. Is that why his mom’s so jumpy all the time? Is she afraid of Caiden?”

  “Yeah, I think so. Ever since then, she’s hardly ever home. Doesn’t speak to him if she can avoid it. He doesn’t say anything, but I know it upsets him. And I still can’t believe he told you what happened. He never talks about it. And I mean, never. I only know about it through coven gossip. I asked him about it once, and he just shut down. Completely froze me out. I never had the courage to bring it up again.” She looks at me appraisingly. “Whatever you’re doing to him, keep it up. He needs it.”

  I just shake my head in response. I know how it feels to be neglected by a parent. To hardly ever see them or talk to them. But at least my dad isn’t terrified of me. I can only imagine how much that must hurt. If my dad knew I was a witch, if he knew what I did to Sarah, would he be afraid of me then?

  “Alright.” Arianna springs off my bed. “If your dad isn’t gonna be home tonight, then it’s time to have a little fun!”

  “What, like throw a party? I’m pretty sure we’d have to open the door to let people in, and that is strictly against the rules, remember?” I say in my best prissy, goody-two-shoes voice.

  “Yeah,” Arianna laughs. “Maybe we could open a window or something for them to climb through. We wouldn’t be breaking any rules then! But no, I have a much better idea than a party – I bet Caiden hasn’t taught you any fun magick yet, has he?”

  “If you call tossing people around and almost killing them fun, then sure. Although, to be fair, he didn’t actually teach me that. I learned it all on my own.”

  “God, you’re as pessimistic as Caiden! No, Negative Nancy, that isn’t what I’m talking about. Has he taught you to read auras? Or use a glamour?”

  “I’ve seen auras before, but I didn’t do it on purpose. It just happened. And a glamour? What’s that, like a love potion?”

  I think back to all the shows and movies I’ve seen
about witches. Old hags flying around on brooms, sucking the life out of children to look younger, and concocting potions to make men fall in love with them. Well, at least I haven't seen any brooms yet...

  “Oh, no.” Arianna interrupts my thoughts. “You should never cast a love spell.”

  “Why not? ‘Be careful what you wish for’? Will the guy start stalking you and go crazy like in ‘The Craft’?”

  “It goes against our code. Magick isn’t supposed to be used to take away someone’s free will. It’s not even supposed to be used on someone without their permission, even if it’s to help them. Sometimes, of course, we have to break this rule, like when Caiden healed Sarah. But even then, he was only correcting a mistake you made in the first place. When it comes to our safety, we do what’s necessary to survive. But other than that, we don’t abuse our powers or use them to hurt people.” She scrunches up her nose, and I have a feeling she’s thinking about the storm she called up earlier. “Well, not unless they really deserve it.”

  “Okay,” I laugh. “So what’s this glamour thing then?”

  She grins like a Cheshire cat. “Well, you said you wanted to see how you’d look as a blonde...”

  “Wait, I can change my hair color? Without actually dying it?”

  “Yup. Of course, since you’ll know it’s a glamour, it’ll look all blurry to you. But someone who doesn’t know you will see you however you want. You just project the image you want to give off, and that’s how people will see you. But it takes a ton of energy to do it, so keeping it up for long periods of time is really difficult. And it doesn’t work very well on other witches. They can usually sense that you’re manipulating your energy.”

  “Is it kind of like how Caiden can make himself invisible when he wants?”

  “Exactly! But he doesn't really make himself invisible; he just distorts his energy enough that it makes him blurry and kind of blend in with the background. People don’t want to look too closely because it strains their eyes, so they end up overlooking him. But the glamour I’ll teach you isn’t just blurring yourself. It’s actually changing your physical appearance. Like making yourself taller, or making your hair blonde instead of black.”