I shake my head in consternation. This guy is crazy. And what’s up with all the ‘Luna Moya’ stuff? What does that even mean? I give up trying to figure him out, busying myself with the papers in my hand instead.
I flip through a couple of the pages, skimming here and there to make sure that there are no nasty surprises in it. It all looks legit. He wrote me five pages on the importance of individualism, and the courage it takes to go against the flow and not succumb to the pressure of others.
Skimming through it again, I’m shocked to realize it’s actually a pretty good essay. Sure, he probably downloaded it off the internet, but still, it’s better than what I have, which is nada. Unless, of course, Mr. Bayne fails me for plagiarism... Oh well, no time to worry about that. I grab the rest of my books and head into lunch.
The first thing I notice is Grayson sitting across the room at Sebastian and Olivia’s table. Wtf? Shadier and shadier...
As I’m looking at them, the room wavers and that same dizziness from last week grabs hold of me. The air begins to shimmer, those strange colored auras appearing around everyone’s heads.
Olivia’s orange and purple clashes with Sebastian’s murky forest green and Kayla’s muddied scarlet. Next to Kayla, a riot of bold colors surround Gray: deep red weaving with onyx, rich, earthy brown speckled with bright orange, all tied together with a thin white band on the outside, encircling it all. The same type of band that surrounds Olivia’s aura.
Looking up and down the lunch table, I notice that a few of the others have this white band as well. I’ll have to remember to ask Arianna what it means.
Then my head gives a particularly nasty throb, and my vision snaps back to normal, the colors disappearing before my eyes.
That’s when I notice Grayson staring at me, a smirk on his handsome face. He winks at me again and turns back to Kayla, who’s talking up a storm, flipping her blonde and pink hair flirtatiously.
I guess it didn’t work out between her and Seb, I think spitefully before walking over to Caiden’s table.
When I get close, I realize no one is talking, the air thick with tension. Plucking up my courage, I take my usual seat next to Caiden. His arm goes automatically around my shoulders.
Right. Gotta keep up appearances. I stare down at the salad I packed, my appetite forgotten.
“So why wasn’t I invited?” Arianna breaks the silence.
I look up at her, startled. So that’s what her coldness in class was about. Lydia must have filled her in on our little field trip yesterday and Arianna’s mad that I didn’t ask her along too.
I knew she’d be upset when she heard about it. I should have told her last night, but I was afraid she’d insist on coming with Caiden and I when we visit the witnesses today, and I didn’t want to drag her into anything that will make Ethan even more pissed at me. I should have known Lydia would tell her. Another bad call on my part.
I surreptitiously glance around the room to see if anyone is in hearing distance.
“I really don’t think we should talk about this here,” I say quietly, meeting her eyes again. “Now is not really the time–”
“Now is the perfect time,” she hisses back, lowering her voice. “I thought we were friends, Em. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Lydia looks away, pretending not to be part of this. Caiden is doing what I was a moment ago, scanning the people around us to make sure no one can hear our heated argument. Ethan looks between me and Arianna, his eyebrows raised in confusion.
It looks like we’re doing this here...
“We are friends Arianna, which is why I didn’t want to drag you into this if I didn’t have to. It was too dangerous.”
“Not too dangerous for Lydia, though. You let her help you,” she accuses.
Ethan’s eyes sharpen as they fix on me. Great. I knew he would be mad if I got Arianna involved, but I forgot that Lydia is his cousin, and he’s likely to be just as protective of her. Stupid, stupid. I can’t afford anymore enemies.
“Without Lydia’s help, we wouldn’t have been able to do it,” I whisper firmly, hoping to end this conversation quickly. “Believe me, if we could have done it without dragging her into it, we would have.”
“What, exactly, are you ‘dragging’ everyone into?” Ethan asks, eyes narrowed.
All four of us look at each other hesitantly.
“Somebody had better start talking,” he threatens.
Lydia looks at each of us, then shrugs her shoulders. “We broke into the sheriff’s office to get some records,” she tells him coolly.
“What!?” He hisses. “Are you out of your mind? Why the hell would you do something so reckless?” He’s beyond livid, angry red splotches appearing on his cheeks. He turns his narrowed eyes on Caiden. “Never mind, I already know why. How could you talk her into this?” He asks Caiden, outraged.
I look across the table at him, ready to defend Caiden and place the blame where it belongs — on me — but then I see both Olivia and Grayson staring at us from over Ethan’s shoulder. I know they can’t hear any of this from across the room, but I’m sure our expressions are giving them more than enough to speculate over.
“Later,” I say harshly. “There’s a lot going on that you don’t know about yet. We can meet up after school and talk about it, but we can’t say any more about it here.”
Ethan continues to fume, but when Arianna opens her mouth to protest, he stops her.
“She’s right, Ari. Whatever it is she has to say, I’d rather hear it someplace where I’ll be free to express my full opinion on it.”
Well, if that doesn’t sound threatening...
Next to me, Caiden stiffens. “We did what we had to. Wait until you hear her explanation before you go making judgments,” Caiden tells him coldly.
I sigh, already dreading the coming confrontation.
The bell rings and Caiden and I leave for class.
He wraps one arm around me and briefly squeezes my shoulder, but I don’t look over at him.
“So how’s your day been?” He asks me quietly.
“Pretty shitty,” I say truthfully. “How about yours?”
“Pretty shitty,” he echoes.
We walk down the hallway in silence, neither knowing what to say to the other.
“Did you finish your essay for class?” He finally asks, attempting normal conversation for the first time today.
“Kinda...” I trail off. “Remind me to tell you about it later.”
Chapter 20
The tension from the day seems to fade, at least with Caiden. He begins to loosen up and talk normally. Before class begins, Caiden asks me if my car is out of the shop yet.
“My dad is picking it up today,” I tell him. “Why?”
“I have work tomorrow afternoon. Since we have detention, I’ll have to leave straight from school to make it on time, which means you’ll either have to get a ride home from Arianna or Lydia or drive yourself to school.”
“Work? Since when do you have a job?”
“Since today.” One half of his mouth quirks up in a smile and he pulls me in a little closer.
“Really? Doing what?” I consciously loosen my tense muscles, relieved that Caiden is thawing a bit, acting more like the guy I’ve come to like and enjoy being around.
A playful grimace crosses his face when he answers. “Waiting tables...”
“Ha,” I can’t help a small laugh at the thought of Caiden dressed up in some cheesy uniform. “Where at?”
“Just some restaurant in town...” he hedges.
“What? You don’t want me to know which one?”
He glowers at that. “Definitely not.”
“Afraid I’ll show up after school and gawk over you trying to play nice with a bunch of obnoxious customers?” I tease.
“Exactly. I’d really rather not be distracted on my first day.”
“What if I promise not to distract you? Me and Ari will just sit quietly and get something to eat. We won�
��t even sit in your section. Scouts honor.”
“Yeah,” he laughs. “Like you were ever a girl scout.” He gives me a bemused smile. “And it wouldn’t matter where you sat — if you were anywhere around, I would be distracted.”
I feel a goofy grin cross my face. “I’ll find out eventually,” I threaten.
“Good luck with that,” he says, smiling again. “But you’ll have your car back tomorrow? You’ll be alright driving yourself in?”
“Yeah, it should be back today. I’ve been jonesing to get back in my own car anyway. No offense to your Toyota, but...”
“It’s no Lexus,” he agrees, rolling his eyes. “No problem. Just promise you’ll go straight home after school, no pit stops. Arianna will be waiting at your house. I know you don’t like the whole babysitting routine but–”
“It’s for my own protection,” I grumble.
He smirks at my tone. “And it’s only for a few more days, until we can take care of the pack.”
I smile at that, already envisioning the freedom. Not that I don’t like hanging out with Caiden and Arianna, but having people around you 24/7 really begins to wear on you.
When it’s time to turn in our essays, I hand Mr. Bayne Grayson’s paper, an uneasy knot in my chest. He raises one eyebrow at me skeptically, like he expected me to flake out on this the way I have with the last few assignments. I hope he isn’t suspicious enough to check my paper against all those plagiarism detection databases out there…
* * *
When the bell rings at the end of the day, I head to my locker and see Grayson, my new personal plague, leaning up against the wall as if he’s been waiting for me.
“Boyfriend not with you?”
“Nope, not yet.” I avoid looking at him, not wanting to get caught up in another of his bizarre conversations.
“Pity, I’d really like to meet him.”
“I can’t imagine why,” I say nonchalantly. Yup, this guy is definitely trouble.
“So how’d you like my essay?”
“Not bad. How much did you pay for it?” I finally look up at him as I close my locker.
“Pay? Nope, that’s all original content, pulled straight from here.” He taps his forehead with one long finger.
“Uh huh, sure. I just want to know if I’m going to get called out for plagiarism. You know, so I’m prepared and all.”
He barks out a laugh. “You don’t think I’m capable of writing an essay on my own?”
“Not one like that,” I answer truthfully.
“You know, you really shouldn’t stereotype people,” he smirks. “It’s rude. Just because I’m beautiful doesn't mean I don’t have brains. Have a good night, Volka.”
“What language is that?” I ask before he can walk away again.
“It’s Russian.”
“You’re from Russia?”
“My grandfather is. I visit him a few times a year.”
“What do those words mean? The things you keep calling me?”
He grins. “Maybe I’ll tell you one day. I’ll see you later.” He turns and heads toward the parking lot.
I stare after him, more than a little frustrated.
“Ready to go?” Caiden asks from behind me a moment later.
“Most definitely,” I answer.
I wait until I’m safely enclosed in Caiden’s car before I tell him about Grayson and his bizarre behavior today. His face gets tight as I detail the strange conversations we had.
“Now do you believe me that something’s going on?”
Even though I can clearly see the tension in his eyes, he forces a laugh. “Like what, exactly?”
“I think he’s from Silver Lake. Or has something to do with them. Why else would he be nosing around? He even asked about you – said it was a shame my boyfriend wasn’t with me because he’d like to meet you. He’s spying for them or something, trying to ferret out who’s in the coven, I’ll bet anything.”
Caiden just shakes his head, some of his tension fading. “I can think of plenty of reasons why he’d be prowling around you...” he mumbles.
“Yeah, like what?”
He pulls up in front of my house and turns to look at me. “Really, Em, I think it’d be perfectly obvious, especially to you.” He shakes his head again. “You’ve had guys fawning over you for years.”
“You think he’s hitting on me?”
“Of course.”
I shake my head vehemently. “No, that’s not it. I mean, he is, but not because he likes me or anything. He’s trying to catch me off guard. It’s like a game to him. And he keeps calling me all these strange Russian words... He’s up to something, I’m telling you.”
“What’s he calling you?” Caiden asks curiously.
“Um, Luna Moya, or something. There was another one, but I don’t remember it.”
Caiden laughs as he climbs out of the car. I hurry to join him.
“What? Do you know what it means?”
“I took Russian last year, before I switched back to Spanish. Tough language — I only remember a little bit, but I’m pretty sure ‘luna moya’ means ‘my moon’. I told you he was hitting on you.”
Caiden walks up to me and wraps his arm around my waist, throwing me for a minute. There’s no one around to pretend for... But I move closer to him anyway, not about to object.
“If he makes you uncomfortable, then try to avoid him, but it sounds like he’s harmless. I wouldn’t worry about him too much; we have enough on our plates right now.”
“Isn’t that the understatement of the year.” I roll my eyes. “Hopefully we can get this little powwow over with quickly so we’ll have time to visit Deborah and Michael.”
Caiden’s muscles tense just a bit when I mention the witnesses, but he doesn’t comment. We both turn to look as Ethan’s car turns onto my street.
“Let’s go get this over with,” I mumble, walking into the house to wait for the others.
As they file in, Arianna seems much calmer than she did at lunch, taking a seat on the pristine loveseat, but the extra time to think has clearly had the opposite effect on Ethan; with more time to stew he’s just wound himself up further. He doesn’t sit down, instead standing protectively next to Ari, his body rigid with tension.
Lydia seems thoughtful, sitting on the loveseat as well, and I wonder how much she has already figured out from our conversation yesterday, not to mention her own impressive abilities.
Caiden and I sit side by side on the sofa before beginning.
“Emerson and I went to Caroline’s on Sunday to discuss Lydia’s prophecy,” Caiden begins, calmly meeting everyone’s eyes. “And you were right, Ethan. Another war is starting.”
Ethan takes a sharp breath, turning his piercing gaze on me.
“No,” Caiden tells him firmly, reading the accusation in his eyes as clearly as I do. “It is not her fault. She’s not the cause of it. Not really. But she is the end to it.”
“What does that mean?” He makes an attempt to sound calm, but it comes out strangled.
“It means she’s from the warrior class, and with her power, we’ll be able to destroy the Silver Lake Pack.”
Arianna’s mouth drops open. “She’s powerful enough to take out the whole pack?”
“Caroline believes she is,” Caiden answers.
Ethan makes a dismissive sound in his throat. “Whether she has the power or not doesn't change the fact that she’s a novice. Even if she had years to train, she still wouldn’t have the skill to defeat them.”
“She’s the Changeling. The one mentioned in Lydia’s prophecy. She is the only one who can end this,” Caiden responds, anger creeping into his voice.
“Then we’re all doomed.” Ethan breaks his stiff pose and begins pacing fitfully around the room. “We need to leave. Get out of here before they come.” Then he stops, his eyes narrowing to slits.
“You’re why they’re attacking, aren’t you? The pack found out about you on that little joyride in
to Ashwood Creek, and now they're going to kill us all.” Ethan glares at me coldly, his face unforgiving.
“No, they are not going to kill us,” Caiden answers, a hard glint in his eyes. “Ethan, this is what we’ve been waiting for — a chance to finally eliminate the pack! Caroline has a plan–”
“A plan that involves us all throwing ourselves in the line of fire to protect her!” Ethan bursts out, gesturing at me.
“No, Caroline is going to destroy the wolves herself,” Lydia interrupts. Her eyes have that faraway look she gets during a vision. “She plans to form a blood bond with Emerson.”
Lydia’s quiet answer grabs Ethan’s attention and he looks at me sharply.
“You’re going to blood bond yourself to Caroline?”
“Umm...” I stall. I haven’t yet made up my mind, but I can tell that any answer other than ‘yes’, will start Ethan on another round of recriminations.
“Yes, she is,” Caiden answers for me. “As soon as we prove to her that Silver Lake was responsible for her mom’s death, whether advertently or inadvertently,” he gives me a sharp look at that. “Then she’ll agree to the ritual.”
Ethan calms down a fraction, taking his place standing guard next to Arianna again. “And how are you going to prove that?”
“We have a copy of the witness list from the night Elizabeth died. Em and I are going out now to interview them, see if anyone saw something suspicious.”
Ethan glowers at me, his fury returning. “And that’s what you broke into the station for? You’ve got to be kidding me. You put my cousin at risk for some stupid witness list, so you can question these people about your mom’s suicide?” He looks at me in disgust. “What happens if no one saw anything? What if there is no ‘big conspiracy’ and you guys come back empty handed?”
I don’t know how to answer that question. What will I do if these witnesses turn out to be dead ends? Where else can I go to find the truth?
But Caiden has an answer for this as well. “Then we’ll have no choice but to accept Caroline’s version of events, that Elizabeth was being hunted by the pack and killed herself to save Emerson.”
I gasp, meeting Caiden’s icy stare.
Deceitful Circle (Silent Circle Book 2) Page 14
