by W. J. May
“To be fair...we did beautifully except for that one last detail.”
Lily rolled her eyes, little drips of smoothie still falling from her hair. “Oh yeah? Well, while you guys were busy congratulating each other for having a simple conversation, I was busy collecting evidence from Oliver’s car.”
Aria’s eyes lit up as she stepped closer. “Did you find something?”
Lily held up a crumpled receipt. “Sure did.”
The other two huddled excitedly, passing it back and forth before coming up blank.
“I don’t get it,” Aria exclaimed as she shook her head. “So Oliver got himself a slice of pizza. Why did you even take this, Lily? It’s covered in grease.”
“Pizza sounds amazing right now,” Benji murmured.
“You guys are impossible.” Lily snatched the receipt, jabbing a finger at the bottom. “It isn’t about the pizza, it’s when he got it. Look at the time stamp.”
10:40 p.m.
“Well, that’s impossible,” Aria murmured. “That’s just a few minutes before we saw him, which would have to mean—”
“—that he drove up exactly when he said he did,” Benji finished. “He’d only just gotten back to school, he wouldn’t have had any time to commit a murder.”
Oliver Jack—scratched off the list.
“Nice work.” Aria clapped Lily on the shoulder, fighting back a grimace as her hand pulled away sticky with fruit. “You should...maybe take a quick shower before class starts.”
Lily gave her an icy look, turning on her heel and heading back to the dorms. “Next time, you take off your shirt.”
WITH OLIVER SAFELY—IF inexplicably—accounted for, the list of suspects just got one name shorter. Of course, the list itself was about to expand.
Phase two: get a copy of the tatù registry.
“Okay, so here’s what we know,” Aria recapped. The five friends were lounging on the grass during their lunch hour, enjoying the season’s final rays of sun. “Albert Hidgens has a cottage and an office on campus. While it doesn’t seem likely that he’d keep such an important document in his private residence, the office is a good place to start.”
“Except that the office is in PC headquarters,” Benji inserted. “According to the blueprints I stole last summer from my dad, it’s just a few doors down from Carter’s private study. The place is swarming with agents day and night. How the hell are we supposed to get in there undetected?”
They fell quiet for a moment, each of them lost in thought.
“We can’t,” Jason said suddenly. “We can’t get in undetected, so we’ll walk straight through the front door. You say the office is near to Carter’s—that’s perfect.” His eyes flickered to Aria as he flashed a wicked smile. “I think it’s high time you paid your grandfather a visit.”
She smiled without meaning to, then shook her head. “How? Even I don’t just walk into the Oratory uninvited. I’m usually sent down against my will as some sort of psychological punishment every time I get into a...”
Suddenly, it clicked.
“Oh no,” she said warningly, shaking her head back and forth, “I am not getting into another fight. No more fighting for me until this murder investigation is officially over.”
“Aw, come on,” Jason teased. “They don’t send just anyone to the headmaster’s office. You could fight me. I’d even let you get in a couple good hits before kicking your ass.”
She laughed aloud, throwing a crisp at his face.
“This is serious, Jason. I can’t go starting any more fights. If Carter didn’t flay me alive, then my own mother would be first in line—”
“I could do it.”
The four friends turned to stare at the youngest member of their group. It didn’t help that he was sitting with a juice box in hand, those blue eyes taking up almost half his face.
“I’m serious. I could do it,” James insisted. “If they send Aria to see Carter for fighting, then it makes sense they’d send me there as well.”
Lily raised her eyebrows speculatively, but Aria was quick to shut him down.
“No one would believe it,” she said shortly. “You’re a model student.”
“I am not,” he protested defiantly. “I’ve broken rules you don’t even know about.” The others pursed their lips and he hurried back on point. “I could get into a fight if I wanted.”
“Oh yeah?” Benji teased. “With who? Present company not included.”
James pushed bravely to his feet, glancing around at the students milling about on the lawn, before marching straight up to the nearest guy and shoving him into a tree.
Holy crap.
Unfortunately, the nearest guy happened to be Craig Larson—an eighteen-year-old goliath whose tatù gave him super-strength. The others stood up slowly, watching with wide eyes.
Benji grimaced preemptively, shaking his head. “Not who I would have chosen...”
“He’s either completely crazy,” Lily whispered, “or braver than us all.”
“Or stupid,” Aria added under her breath. “Really, really stupid.”
It wasn’t a fight so much as a slaughter. While Craig didn’t understand why the little upstart had shoved him, the challenge was too direct to ignore. James was out in a single punch, lying flat on the ground, as Craig and his friends gathered their belongings and went inside for the bell.
“Sorry, Aria,” he called over his shoulder. “The kid had it coming.”
She winced apologetically, waving over her head.
When the rest of them were gone, she and her friends made their way slowly across the grass. James hadn’t moved since he’d fallen, but his eyes were fluttering open and shut. They focused a second later to see four faces staring down at him with concern.
“Did I do it?” he asked in a daze. “Did I get into a fight?”
The others shared a look, then Aria knelt beside him with a smile.
“Looks that way.”
There was a sudden clamoring of footsteps as Mr. Lawson, the physics teacher, swept towards them. He’d seen the whole thing from his office and was rushing across the lawn.
“Mr. Wardell...I’m sorry about your face, but you’ll have to come with me.”
Aria shook her head with an incredulous smile as her brother was hoisted to his feet. Just judging by the swelling and discoloration, the kid was going to have a wicked black eye. But in all their years, she’d never seen him look so proud.
“I’m going with him,” she said suddenly, seizing the opportunity. “I’m his sister.” When the teacher still looked doubtful, she lowered her voice. “My mother will want a full report.”
The man crumbled instantly and she followed behind them with a smug smile.
Threats of Rae Kerrigan rarely failed to work.
“I’ll see you guys after class,” she called over her shoulder. “Right here, okay?”
The rest of them nodded slowly, watching the siblings until they disappeared beneath the trees. With any luck, they’d get the registry. With any luck, they wouldn’t get detention as well.
CARTER WAS WRITING when they came in, hunched over his desk with a bucket of coffee and a stress ball both within reach. They could barely see him over the mountain of papers stacked in front, but judging by the grooves in his forehead he’d been sitting there for quite some time.
“Let me guess...this week’s debriefings?”
He looked up in surprise, too absorbed to have heard them open the door.
“James, Arie!” He set down the pen immediately, smiling with equal parts delight and relief. “Yes, it is the debriefings, and I’m more than ready for a break. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
For the first time, Aria looked at his desk curiously—wondering if her own case report was buried somewhere in the pile. The Privy Council instilled a ferocious work habit, and she assumed her father had submitted it not long after they got back.
She wanted to ask. But they’d come regarding other matters.
>
“Well, it’s not entirely a social visit...”
The glasses came off as he pushed to his feet in disbelief. “Again?!”
She raised her hands quickly. “It wasn’t me this time.”
With a scarcely concealed smile, she nudged James forward.
Carter stared blankly, then blinked. “You’re kidding.”
“No, she’s not kidding.” James folded his arms in a huff. “Why does everyone keep saying that? You think Aria’s the only one who knows how to throw a punch?”
Not that he threw one...
Aria fought back a smile, easing slowly out the door.
“I’ll just give you guys some time to talk...”
The second she was in the hallway, she glanced both ways then turned invisible.
There was a little known fact about the PC’s underground headquarters: getting in was a nightmare, but once you were actually inside everyone automatically assumed you belonged. There were no cameras, no armed guards. The invisibility might not have even been necessary but Aria did it anyway, creeping along the very edge of the walkway as she continued silently down the hall.
Every now and then someone would pass her—so close they could have touched her with a swipe of their hands. Every now and then she could have sworn that someone turned around to listen, staring blindly in her direction with a faint frown.
The second they passed, she’d pick up the pace. There was only so long she could keep something like this up. There was only so long before she crossed paths with someone equipped with heightened senses and super hearing. After that, the jig would be up.
Almost there...
Hidgens didn’t have a permanent office at Guilder. He spent most of his time in a luxury cottage in Oxfordshire, and only came to the school to record a new set of ink when a student turned sixteen. Fortunately, there were two birthdays close together that month. Lily’s came first, and a boy named Seth was just few days after. Instead of going back home, Hidgens had decided to stay in one of the apartments on campus reserved for visitors and long-term staff. Since he kept the tatù directory on him, it was going to be their only chance for a glimpse at the book.
Bingo.
Aria came to a sudden stop in front of a pair of freshly-painted doors. There was nothing particularly telling about the office she’d chosen, other than the fact that it wasn’t labeled like the rest. The old name had actually been removed, leaving it temporarily vacant.
But it doesn’t look vacant...
Through the frosted glass she saw an active computer, along with a briefcase sitting upright on the desk. A lamp was lit and an old mug of coffee was sitting there as well.
This has to be it. It’s the only unclaimed office on the floor.
Standing on her tiptoes she cupped her hands against the window, staring as hard as she could through the glass. There wasn’t much there. Just an overcoat and a pair of riding gloves sitting on an empty file cabinet. But there was something else on the desk. She could have sworn...
That’s it! That’s the registry!
She clapped her hands over her mouth, almost crying out in glee. A part of her didn’t think she was going to find it. It had seemed like such a long shot at the time.
The door was locked, but it wouldn’t be a problem. There was no one in sight; she could quickly switch between tatùs to crack it open with some strength. The second she was inside she’d grab the ledger, duplicate it, then race invisibly again back up the hall. With any luck, she’d be back so soon that Carter would never even know she was gone—
SON OF A—
A tiny shriek of pain escaped her lips as a torrent of scalding coffee splashed down her back. Her only saving grace was that the man who’d poured it let out a croaking profanity at the same time, masking the sound with his own voice.
She staggered backwards, pulling the steaming fabric away from her skin, before lifting her eyes to see Albert Hidgens himself standing in the middle of the hall.
“So clumsy,” he was muttering, shaking drops of coffee from his coat. “Must have knocked it right into the frame...”
It was only then she realized what he was doing. Why he’d come back to the office.
No!
She wanted to stop him, but it was too late. The door opened and he swept inside, grabbing the ledger off his desk and slipping it into his briefcase. As if to spite her, he locked both of the brass handles before making his way back outside.
The key twirled in the lock behind him. The man disappeared down the hall.
And just like that...the tatù directory was gone.
ARIA STOOD THERE FOR a long time, staring down the empty hallway, replaying every moment in her mind. There had been a moment—just a fleeting moment—where she’d had enough time to get the thing herself. No one would have been the wiser. But now?
Then the sound of distant laughter caught her attention and she snapped back to the present, checking to make sure she was invisible before flat-out sprinting down the hall.
She got back to the office just as James and Carter were leaving. Whatever ‘disciplinary discussion’ they’d been having had apparently ended well. Both were beaming, prattling on about some book she’d never heard of. It took them a second to realize she was there.
“What happened to you?” Carter asked in surprise.
Aria froze where she stood, convinced the word ‘guilty’ was stamped on her forehead.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re a mess.” James crinkled his nose in disgust, as if his sister’s lack of hygiene took a personal toll. “Do you really think it’s acceptable to be walking around like that?”
She rolled her eyes, fighting the urge to clap him upside the head. “I went to get some coffee, spilled it on the way back. Just clumsy, I guess.”
James flashed his grandfather a knowing look. “Future of your agency—right there. You might want to rethink some things...”
Carter lifted his fingers to his temples, like he was warding off the world’s biggest headache. “Why don’t the two of you get back to class? You still might make the last few minutes.”
James saluted as Aria jumped up to kiss Carter on the cheek. The headmaster smiled in spite of himself and watched as they left a moment later, strolling side by side down the hall.
“YOU DIDN’T GET IT?!” James exclaimed.
Due to some deliberate dawdling in the Oratory, the siblings conveniently missed those last few minutes of class. Instead, they headed outside just in time to meet their friends by the benches.
“I couldn’t,” Aria said apologetically. “I was about to break in and grab it, then I guess Hidgens realized he’d left it behind and came to get it himself. I’m afraid Benji was right. We’ll have to pry the thing off his person.”
James shook his head, slumping lower on the bench. “So I got a black eye for nothing.”
“Nah, man.” Benji nudged him with a grin. “You wear that thing with pride.”
A trio of freshman girls shot them a sideways look, giggling as they walked past.
‘See, it’s already working.”
James blushed, sitting up a little straighter.
Ew.
“At any rate, you did better than your sister.” Benji looked her up and down, fighting back a grin as she tried to dry out the giant coffee stain—flapping it uselessly against her skin. “Why is it every time I see you lately, you’re trying to take off your shirt?”
“I was about to ask the same question.”
The conversation came to an abrupt halt as three people made their way out of the trees, walking with unnatural synchronicity, as if they were all cogs in the same machine.
Alexander look just as cocky as usual, while Eric looked as surly and imposing as ever. But Sofia looked almost sick. There were dark circles under her eyes, like she hadn’t been sleeping, and she kept shooting nervous looks at her brother, flinching each time he opened his mouth to speak.
Aria shot a glance at B
enji—who was staring intently between brother and sister, making note of every detail. The more he looked, the more he didn’t like what there was to see. A strange expression clouded his handsome face. His lips thinned with the hint of a frown.
“It was such a beautiful day,” Alexander continued, “we thought we’d take the long way back from class. Then we saw Miss Murderer here putting on another show.” His eyes danced with mischief as he gave her a wink. “Thought we’d catch the second act.”
“Miss Murderer?” Lily repeated, missing the humor.
Alexander flashed a smile. “Or Aria...whichever she prefers.”
Aria (which she did prefer) had landed boys in the infirmary for less. But instead of snapping back with her usual venom, a chilling silence fell over the little clearing. There was a reason the gang had saved investigating Alexander for last—even at the risk of breaking into the PC headquarters to steal the registry. While none of them wanted to admit it, the guy set their teeth on edge. There was nothing specific, nothing they could put their finger on, but they felt it all the same.
The less interaction the better. The less conversation the better.
“I think she actually prefers you not to speak to her at all,” Jason inserted smoothly, stepping between them with a cold smile. “Probably why she didn’t return your text.”
Aria flushed, staring at the back of his head. She and Jason hadn’t discussed the text. He must have just been hedging his bets that she wouldn’t reply.
The smile hardened on Alexander’s face.
“Funny you should mention that...the real reason we came over is that we just learned this school of yours puts on a fall dance. I wanted to ask her to go with me.”
Jason went rigid as Aria’s mouth fell open in surprise.
Not only was the dance nowhere on her radar, but she couldn’t believe he’d be so bold as to ask her right in front of her friends. Then again, everything about the guy defied convention.
...which made the invitation all the more confusing.
Instead of saying no directly, she blurted the first thing that came to her mind.
