Darkly Sweet

by Juliann Whicker

  “Did you get the flyers passed out?”

  It took me a minute before I remembered stupidly agreeing to help her with something. I let my eyes go all big. “Oh! I haven’t really had time.”

  She stared at me. I stared back.

  I pressed my lips together tightly before I smiled brightly. “I’ll do it right now.”

  She grunted. “A lot of kids are on the Green right now.”

  I nodded. “Right. I can go to the Green and hand out flyers to all the lovely students at Rosewood. I’ll see you later.”

  She gave me another stern glance before she turned and marched off in her sensible Mary Jane’s. I walked slowly out of class trying to rally my strength. I leaned against a wall and unwrapped a lollipop, Tiramisu with lots of caffeine and sugar in it, which I sucked on until I could bounce and skirt swish with the best of them.

  I pulled the flyers out of my bag where I’d shoved them on Monday, and headed out to the green where I’d first met Drake and the rest of the school. In a half hour I’d been rejected 46 times. I wanted to hurl the flyers into the air, but that wouldn’t be responsible and kind. Someone knocked into me from behind and I fell, the flyers dropping out of my hand. A guy I didn’t know dashed by, grabbing the flyers and running off while I watched him. He ran very fast and headed across the green and into the bushes. I started clapping because he was very fast.

  “He should be on the track team.”

  “Rosewood doesn’t have a track team.”

  I turned to stare up at Jackson who’d crouched down beside me, a ridiculously attractive smile on his extremely puffy lips. “That explains it. I can hardly blame someone for racing off with my papers when he has no other possible outlet.” I stood up and brushed of my knees. Grass stains, but probably not a bruise.

  “So, you threw up on Drake.”

  I froze, hands on my knees. Slowly I stood, staring at Jackson for a long time, the satisfied smirk something I was going to rip off with my perfect nails and stuff up his…

  Bonbons. Macaroons. Cheesecake.

  “What goes down, must come up.” I shook my head. “Are you fascinated with vomit?

  Maybe if you come closer, I can throw up on you too.”

  His smile widened, but he backed away. “Do you need help with your fliers? It’s almost like no one likes you.”

  Who besides Zach or Drake could have told Jackson about me? Why would either of them? Drake wasn’t friends with Jackson, even after he broke his arm, was he? If Zach and Drake were friends, why not Jackson? They could all laugh at me together. I clenched and unclenched my fists while I stared at him.

  “I guess it’s hard to make friends in a new place. I’m sure that eventually…”

  He sneered at me. “You don’t belong here.” He took a step closer and I could smell something revolting rolling off his skin, like nasty socks, garlic and mouse urine. “You belong in a cage where freaks like you can be laughed at from a safe distance.”

  I stared at him. Instead of edging towards the violent, angry abyss, I felt a wave of vague amusement. Did he seriously think that was an insult? I smiled brightly and

  tucked my chin so I could give him my enormous-eyed innocent look. “What kind of cage did you have in mind? Chains? Whips? Leather and steel?” I sounded like Marietta, the most notorious seductress in the history of the telenovela.

  He cleared his throat and the scent of mouse urine faded. “I don’t…” He cleared his throat and his eyes narrowed. “I’m not interested in you like that. You’re disgusting.”

  I cocked my head and reached out to stroke his clammy cheek with my fingers. I’d made him sweat. “Do you know what is disgusting to me? People who make promises of pain and anguish, and never follow through. I thought you were going to really hurt me, Jackson, but the next thing I know, you have a broken arm and don’t seem interested in me at all.”

  Yes, this was sick. Also weird. I clearly shouldn’t have followed the S&M plotline of the cook’s show so closely. On the other hand, Jackson looked ready to faint or throw up, and that was definitely a good thing. He stood there, while I curled my fingers, trying to get the feel of his skin off before I smiled brightly and swished my skirt.

  “I’d better go find that extremely fast runner. Wish me luck.” I twirled away and fluttered off after the flyers like I ever wanted to see them again. I left the green and found myself in the garden. It was very formal, all box hedges and rose arbors with fountains and benches here and there. It was nice, lovely, but I had a headache and my fingers still felt icky from touching Jackson. The nice thing about someone like him was

  that he could tell everyone I was a crazy S&M girl and people would believe it the same whether it was a truth or a lie. That is to say, he was a liar, and a cruel idiot who would say things just to hurt someone. Even I could see that and I’d only talked to him twice.

  Three times. Whatever.

  I walked further and further from the school towards the woods. The birds called louder and freer the closer I got. As I approached the dark and deep greenery, I stopped and stared at a four-story tower, slender gray stone like an oversize tombstone. A trail of fliers led to the base of the tower and the ladder propped against the side.

  This was quite the elaborate prank. So, I was supposed to stupidly climb the ladder to get my precious fliers, which no one would take from me even if I got them, and then someone would take the ladder away leaving me stuck up there, definitely overnight, possibly through classes the next day which would break rules and maybe even get me expelled. I should know the rules a little bit better.

  I shrugged and walked towards the ladder, spreading my arms and swaying so the wind could blow through my hair. It seemed to whisper to me, “you’ll be hungry if you miss dinner,” and I whispered back, “If I don’t spend some time in isolation I’m going to eat one of the lovely students here instead.”

  I danced up the ladder all dainty and carefree then swung over the stone lip at the top. “There you are, cheeky fliers. And all covered in bird poop. I will have much more fun handing out bird crap coated fliers to the immaculate students of Rosewood.”

  I heard the slight rustle as someone pulled down the ladder, but I didn’t bother getting up to see it happen. If worst came to worst, as in, if I got tired of being up on the tower, alone, I could always make a rope out of fliers and bungee down. No, I’d get paper cuts. Much better to train the birds to carry me away. I could make tethers with woven strands of my hair.

  I folded a sheet of paper in half absently. I felt weird. Ever since I’d woken up I’d felt different, a little less gloomy and a little more energetic. This is how I felt before I came up with a brilliant scheme. My schemes always ended disastrously, but the important thing was that they weren’t boring. The last scheme I’d had was probably starting my business, because I’d thought that if great grandmother could start a global beauty corporation, how hard could it be? She was dead, after all, and I was not.

  I threw my excellently folded airplane and watched it soar and swoop around, caught in the breeze until it stuck into a fuzzy bush. What I really wanted to do was sing, like I’d used to sing with Poppy, up in the top of trees while we drank tea and juggled whatever we had on hand, spoons, teacups, sugar cubes, all very polite things. No knives until after the singing. Would Drake like that kind of tea party? Could he juggle?

  I grabbed a flyer and scraped an area along one side of the wall then spread out more papers so I could lay down inside the small balcony. The sun shone down and the leaves rustled all around while birds twittered happily. The sun slanted over my legs, warm and golden. I wanted to scoop up the sunshine and drink it until I felt golden, happy, okay. Sometimes it was so hard to be okay.

  I hummed the tune of a song we’d used to sing at the top of our lungs. ‘I’m bad, I’m bad, you know it, you know…” I only whispered the tune at first, but when the birds continued twittering and the wind kept whispering I took that as encouragement and sang a little
louder. I wasn’t a particularly good singer, in fact, I was probably completely tone deaf, but that had never stopped me or Poppy from filling the world with our song.

  I sang louder, trying to drown out the memories of her, wrinkling her nose before she shoved me over, trying to knock me off my branch, or when she made me a lumpy lotion for a bruise she’d given me.

  I was singing really, really, really loud by the time a head appeared over the edge, green eyes staring at me beneath his tousled red hair.

  I stopped singing and sat up, smoothing down my skirt while Drake swung over the edge of the platform then hesitated when he saw all the bird crap.

  “Penny, can you fly or are you an excellent climber?”

  I stared at him before I shook my head. “What are you doing here?”

  He shrugged and squatted down, kind of careful to keep his clothes from coming in contact with the sparrow guano. He hadn’t even said hi to me in Business class. I pushed him over before I could rethink it and he fell backwards, sitting down in the goop. He narrowed his eyes before he shrugged and leaned back, apparently giving up on keeping his clothes clean.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to push you over.”

  He smiled slightly. “No, I could tell it was an accident. How did you get up here, Penny, and what was that noise?”

  “Noise? Nothing. I may have been singing a little bit to keep myself company. I didn’t think anyone would climb over the wall. I don’t know why you would come all this way just to see who was stuck in the tower.” No. It was the story, the one I’d told the girls about my prince scaling the tower. I stood up hurriedly and peered down, but there was no ladder. I whirled around at Drake.

  “Did you climb up here?”

  He shrugged. “I like to live on the edge. I’m so irrational and inconsistent, like bullying you into coming with me last night, and then not even saying hello to you in class today. You looked like you were getting some good reading done.”

  I nodded. “It was good. I think I learned a few things that I can use.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “You sound like you’re actually interested in business.”

  I shrugged. “Crazy rich people have money or they’ll just be crazy people, and that’s not nearly as fun.”

  He pulled out his phone and nodded to me while he pushed a button and talked into the speaker. “Hi. Would you mind bringing a ladder to the tower? I thought her hair would be long enough, but I was woefully wrong. That’s right. Take your time; it’s quite cozy up here.”

  He put away his phone and frowned at me. “Weren’t you singing this?” He proceeded to howl in the loudest and most discordant way, but somehow in that awful sound, I could make out the words and maybe something like the tune I’d been singing.

  I nodded and with a sigh joined in, closing my eyes and singing loudly, but still drowned out by Drake’s voice. I was giggling by the last verse, and he stopped singing to frown at me.

  “What are you laughing at? I may not be the best singer, but I make up for it in enthusiasm. Do you know this song?”

  He launched into another song I knew, which was amazing because I only knew a dozen or so. We were singing when I heard a vague holler from below. I started to get up, but Drake grabbed my wrist, the sudden silence stretching taut between us, his hand

  warm on my skin, reminding me of the night before, of the fear he’d pushed back with his simple presence.

  “I had fun last night.”

  I inhaled sharply while my stomach twisted. “I really liked the little kids. They were sweet.”

  He smiled slightly and let go of my wrist. “You’re sweet, Penny. So sweet and delicious, starting with your lollipops and ending with your weasel.”

  I blushed and scrambled to my feet. I looked over the edge and saw a stranger at the bottom of the ladder, not smiling when he saw me. Would he hold it still or knock it down? I looked over at Drake where he watched me with those sharp white teeth and that soft smooth mouth. My fingers tingled and I scrambled over the side, down the ladder so quickly, the guy barely had time to get out of the way.

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  I nodded while he pulled down the ladder, shortened it, and put it on his shoulder.

  “What are you doing? Doesn’t Drake…” I glanced back and saw Drake scaling down the wall, his movements sure and easy, like he climbed it every day. I watched him until I realized what I was doing and turned to smile at the stranger. “Thanks for the ladder. I’m sorry Drake had to bother you.”

  He shrugged. “It was worth it hearing him sing. You have to admit that he’s very loud.”

  I shook my head and glanced back, hesitating for a moment when Drake caught my eye at the base of the tower, something wild and untamed that made me want to run in the woods with him. Fun. I’d had genuine fun with him at the top, forgetting who I was supposed to be for at least fifteen minutes, but I shouldn’t forget, couldn’t ever forget.

  Chapter 14

  Mage

  I bent over the mould while I shaped it carefully with the chisel. I’d never attempted Selenium conductors in a tourney, but I wanted more than a simple image in the air, a flash of light. Selenium would hold the image as long as the static particles stayed aloft.

  I wanted something like Blackheart would do. Since they were coming for the winter break, we all had to push ourselves if we didn’t want to be humiliated.

  “Drake, do you have a minute?”

  I continued smoothing down the side until it was good enough to hold a bond then straightened up. Not a lot of witches visited the workshop, but Viney went where she liked. I turned to Viney with a smile as I grabbed a rag to wipe off my hands.

  “What can I do for you?”

  She went pale as she stared back, her dark eyes getting larger and larger until she looked away and started breathing again. The effect I had on most females still seemed strange, particularly after I spent time in a tower with Penny Lane, or in a parking lot with Penny Lane, or anywhere doing anything with Penny Lane. She wanted me or she wouldn’t like how I smelled, but she wasn’t like Viney and the rest of the females who could barely bask in my presence without becoming stunned and dazed. It was hard not to take personally, but I knew that Ian and Theodore had the exact same effect. It had to do with what we were, not who we were, or some other distinction.

  “Zach is acting strange. You said you wanted me to tell you if I noticed any changes.”

  I nodded and smiled. The smile made her stop breathing again. I sighed instead and spoke in an intentionally harsh tone. “What changes?”

  She licked her lips and frowned fiercely. She didn’t like being an idiot about me any more than I did. “He’s smiling.”

  “I’m shocked. Is that all the sordid gossip you have for me?”

  She shook her head. “He’s taken over Penny’s riding instruction. He goes every day to teach her one-on-one.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “He didn’t tell me about it, but since he’s my responsibility, one of the girls saw them in the pasture, her riding, him walking beside her, and reported to me.”

  I raised an eyebrow as I walked from the table which held my two-by-two-foot mould to the sink and started scrubbing my hands, front and back, methodically. “I heard about poor Henrietta. No doubt Zach is protecting the horse. Not to be disparaging, but Miss Lane can be accident prone.”

  She ran her knuckles over her navy pants, the spikes on her wrists glinting in the fluorescent lighting. “If he hurt her things would go badly for him. I know that you’re used to having your way with any female, but the law still applies. You can’t force a witch, hurt her without serious repercussions, even if you’re a Huntsman.”

  “I thought we were talking about Stoneburrow.”

  She glanced away, shifting uneasily. “I don’t know if the two of you are playing a game with her, seeing which of you can crush her first, but you should know that whatever my personal feelings towards her, she’s still a witch, and you’re still
a mage.”

  I smiled blandly. “Drawing battle lines, Viney?”

  “I saw the footage of the laundry room.”

  “I did nothing to her.”

  She glanced up with a glare. “Just because I couldn’t see what you did, doesn’t mean you didn’t do anything.”

  I smiled broadly and stepped towards her. She held her ground even though her eyes widened and she stopped breathing. “I didn’t hurt her. I’ve just never seen a sleeping witch before.”

  She swallowed hard while she clenched her fists, struggling against the ridiculous pull I had on her. “And the spell you used on Tuesday? You were muttering to her in a foreign language. Don’t tell me you were practicing German conjugations.”

  Hm. Penny had told her about that? Were they actually on speaking terms? I wouldn’t think so, no, but if Zach was seeing Penny every day while bonding over horses, she probably had mentioned it to him, and of course Zach would tell Viney anything about me. “She didn’t feel very well. I was soothing her nausea.”

  “Without her permission?” Her eyebrows rose alarmingly.

  “If you are looking for technical request and assent, she requested assistance and I gave it to her. Doesn’t it seem strange that she didn’t go to you with a complaint? It’s almost as if she doesn’t mind whatever I do to her.”

  Her face tightened. “I’m not going to overlook the law, even for you.”

  I cocked my head. “Really?” I stared at her until she looked away.

  She’d ignored the law enough times for me without my asking, what bothered her was not that part, not really. It should bother her. Someone should try and protect Penny Lane. Maybe I felt inclined to step between her and Jackson, or her and her terror, but who was going to save her from me? And Zach, of course.

  “She’s different.” Viney’s voice was low, angry. “She completely terrified Jackson. I don’t know what she said to him, what she did, but there’s something not right about her. You should stay away and let me handle it.”