by Elena Lawson
“Me neither,” I said, tugging on a light black cardigan I found in my parent’s old room. It seemed different now. Somehow knowing my mother may not have abandoned me after all—that she wasn’t even human at all…it changed things. A lot more than I could’ve ever imagined it would.
I’d always had this distaste for humans, and I knew deep down it was because of her—because of what she did.
But now I knew that none of that had ever been true, which left me feeling confused and unsure how to feel about anything. Everything I’d told myself about her, about where I came from—and about what I was—they were all lies.
Now I was wearing one of her cardigans. And though it fit a little snuggly across my chest, I found I liked the feel of the material against my skin. It was a chillier day out there today, and we were heading out—back to the academy in time for the last day of classes before term ended and we boarded our flight to Spain.
Spain. I could hardly believe it either. And I bought the tickets. I arranged for the driver to pick us up at the airport in a fancy limo. With my money. It was exciting and super fucking weird all at once.
But I could get used to it.
“Ready?” Adrian asked, jogging down the stairs from the restroom. Cal and I were already waiting by the door. The only reason we hadn’t left yet was because we were waiting for him.
“Are you?” I countered with a raised brow.
He nodded as though he had absolutely no idea I was being sarcastic. Oblivious to the fact we’d been down here for fifteen minutes already. I’d have to make sure La Casa Rosa had at least two bathrooms or I’d be in trouble with these two. “Yup.”
I snorted again, taking one last look around the foyer. The creepy old mansion had grown on me. I could still picture Martin in his tailcoat, mustache pristine. Monocle gleaming. That was how I intended to remember him. Not how I’d last seen him—cold and in disarray.
Cal opened the door for me, and I mentally readied myself to open the portal to the academy once we got far enough down the lane. I remembered Martin saying it was a rule of my father’s not to allow portaling into the house. I didn’t know why he had that rule, but I trusted there was a good reason for it. I would uphold it for as long as I lived here.
“Oh!” The exclamation caught me off guard, and I stumbled back a step, knocking into Adrian who steadied me with his strong hands. His arms like pillars of cement holding me upright.
I froze at what I saw. Afraid to breathe. If I did it might break whatever spell this was.
On the front steps of Rosewood Abbey were two people I once thought I wouldn’t be able to see for another four years. Leo and Lara looked just as shocked to find me behind the large wooden door as I was to see them. Lara’s normally crinkled kind eyes were wide saucers as she took me in. Leo’s looked similar. And Gato, Leo’s familiar, a sleek black cat darted forward to rub himself against the bottom of my pant legs, pausing only to hiss at the two Enduran shifters standing in awkward quiet at my back.
Above, a raven cawed loudly and I found Lara’s familiar circling the Abbey, shouting his hello.
The shock wore off, and I was down the three steps to them in a heartbeat, throwing myself against them, arms wide. Lara and Leo’s arms came around me. Lara combing down my hair with her fingers. Leo rubbing circles into my back.
“It’s alright, my girl. We’re here.”
“We’re here and we’ll stay as long as you need.”
Distantly I realized I was crying—sobbing was more accurate. Their combined scents of incense and soldered metal. Sweet potions and bitter leaves. That mothball smell that always stuck around in the cabin. I’d hated that smell. Now I couldn’t get enough of it.
“You’re really here…” I trailed off, mumbling against Leo’s woolen sweater.
“Yes, hon. We’re here.”
Leo was first to let me go, but Lara wasn’t finished yet. She held tightly to me, her delicate fingers knitted into the back of the cardigan. The way her shoulders shook, I knew she was crying, too. And that only made my own tears fall harder and faster. “I missed you,” I whispered.
“We missed you, too, my girl. So much.”
Her long blond hair brushed against my cheek as she pulled back to look at me, her hand still clasping onto my shoulders, as though she were afraid to let go.
“You’ve changed,” she said, sniffling. “You look so much older already.”
Likely due to everything I’d experienced since stepping foot into the academy. I don’t think council member whatshisface realized just how punished I would be because of his merciful decision to send me there.
I fully expected to have bunions and gray hair by the time I was thirty at this point.
“You didn’t tell me you were on your way,” I said, accusing. I’d spoken to them briefly only a few days before. They hadn’t said anything about coming. I’d told them about Martin—leaving out the gruesome details of his demise and the dangerous situation I’d gotten myself into yet again. Though by now I was sure they’d put the pieces together. They were smart like that.
Even though Granger managed to keep my name out of the Chronicle, it wasn’t hard to assume. And I was sure most people already had. Rumors seemed to spread like wildfire in the witching community. No one could keep their mouth shut about these things.
I didn’t think I wanted to know what they were saying about me now.
“We had been trying to make it in time for your party,” Leo said. “We received an invitation from… Elias, was it?”
I grinned. How he’d managed to track them down I didn’t know. But the simple fact he’d tried warmed my heart more than I could say. Though I was also immeasurably grateful that they weren’t able to make it—no matter the reason.
If they had…I shuddered to think what might’ve happened. It could have been one or both of them buried in the yard instead of Martin.
My stomach lurched.
“No!” I almost shouted and then stepped back to recover my wits. “I mean—you’re here now,” I said, checking myself. “That’s what matters.”
I pulled them both back in for another hug, Leo grunting at my forcefulness. One hug from him was pushing it. Two was crossing the line. Showing sentiment wasn’t his strongest suit. But he relented and hugged me back again after I squeezed his middle tightly, letting him know I wasn’t going to let go until he returned it.
“We’re being horribly rude,” Lara said, stiffening before she disentangled herself from me. Leo cleared his throat.
I realized what she was referring to with a start. Duh. “Oh, shit—I mean, crap,” I said correcting the curse. Lara hated it when I cursed. “These are…my familiars,” I said at last, and swept an arm over the muscled works of art still standing patiently in the doorframe of the Abbey, waiting. “That’s Cal,” I said. “And Adrian.”
“Guys, these are my…foster parents—sort of…well, they’re my family.”
They were kind of hard to explain. Sort of like how Cal and Adrian were hard to explain.
It didn’t surprise me at all when Lara gave me one appraising look, brows raised and then, without missing a beat, stepped up the last few stairs with her arms open, giving the guys no choice but to accept her warm hugs. “I’m so happy to meet you,” she said, and the words were genuine. A little shocked, for certain. But genuine, nonetheless.
Leo stepped up next and extended his hand for them each to shake. “A pleasure,” he said, looking between them and me. The question plain on his face. I hadn’t told them about Cal and Adrian yet.
I figured they may have heard by now—but judging by the looks on their faces, I guessed not. They must have left that part out of the Chronicle…
“I know,” I said in answer to their awe and unasked questions. “Crazy, right?”
Leo shook his head, unable to conceal the prideful smile on his face. “I don’t think I’m nearly as surprised as I should be,” he said. “You were always far from normal, kitten.
I mean—I thought you might bond with something weird. I don’t know, like an octopus or a great white or somethin’. This…” he trailed off, giving the guys a once over. “Well it just makes sense.”
Thinking of my mother’s true heritage I thought to myself, you don’t even know the half of it.
It made more sense now than it ever had before.
After a moment of tepid silence, with Cal and Adrian looking more uncomfortable by the second, Leo clapped his hands together, breaking the silence. “So, aren’t you going to show us inside this beast of a house? The thing looks haunted—is it haunted?”
I knew he was joking, but if he knew just how haunted I’d been for the last several weeks, he wouldn’t be making jokes about it. At least it was only Rose I had to contend with now. The others were all but gone. I barely even heard their whispers anymore—and when I did, they were so quiet, low, and only there when it was completely silent.
I hoped it stayed that way.
“Unless you were on your way out?” Lara added a beat after Leo had finished. “We don’t want to keep you?”
Keep me? I shook my head at Lara. Hell, if it were up to me, I’d stay here with them and never go back to the academy. But unfortunately, I had a sentence to serve. I promised the council member who’d let me off that day after the French Quarter that I would do my very best. He said he would hold me to completing the full four-year term, and I believed it.
I hated to think what would happen to me if I didn’t hold up my end, especially with all the corruption I suspected was running rampant through the Arcane Council, the higher-ups, and much of the witching community in general.
It was just one more day before break began. Granger wanted me there to accept my grades and to sign-off on everything she would be sending back to the council as proof I was doing as I was told to the best of my ability. Hell, I’d already missed so much of the term…I really hoped I was able to move on to the next grade level with Bianca. It would suck to have to do the same classes all over again.
“Are you kidding?” I replied to the pair of them, a hand on my hip, feeling lighter and happier than I had since before Martin. “You aren’t keeping me at all.” With a sweep of my arm, I grandly announced in a horrible Irish accent, “Welcome to Rosewood Abbey, haunted house, museum, and overdone mansion extraordinaire. I’ll be your tour guide this morning.”
Lara giggled, following me up the steps.
“An odd one through and through…” Leo said under his breath.
I didn’t miss Cal and Adrian’s brilliant smiles as we passed them on our way inside. “I won’t be long,” I whispered to them, though I wouldn’t make any promises and certainly wouldn’t be rushing. I’d been waiting to see them for far too long.
Adrian held up his hands to stop me and Cal gave his head one shake, a half a smile tugging up one corner of his mouth. “Don’t rush, kitten,” he said. “Take all the time you need. We’ll be here when you’re ready.”
Adrian stretched out his back, his vertebra cracking all the way up. “I could use a run anyway,” he said, his voice strained from the force of his stretch. “First one to the shore?”
Adrian was already down the steps and shifted, his clothes shredded to ribbons on the lawn as he took off like a silvery gray arrow in the trees, towards where the smell of the ocean drifted on a gentle breeze toward the Abbey.
“Aren’t you gonna…?” I said to Cal, gesturing to where Adrian had disappeared into the copse of trees.
Cal shrugged, tipping his head to the side to crack his neck. “He’ll need the head start,” he said with a wink and then launched himself from the steps in a movement similar to a front flip, shifting in midair to land on all fours in the grass. With one more glance my way, and a wolfish grin, tongue lolling out to one side, he was off, too. Chasing his brother to the ocean’s edge.
I laughed to myself. Not having seen them so happy in too long. I had to get past this. To find some inner calm. Some peace. If not for myself then for them. I wouldn’t drag them both down into the dark with me. They deserved better than that. They deserved to be happy.
Then and there I decided to tuck Martin away safely in my heart. File his memory away in my mind. I would never forget him. But I needed to stop mourning him. He’d said he had a wonderful life. A full life. No one could ask for more in this world.
“Quite the pair you have there,” Lara said, with a little bit of suggestion in her voice that made me blush.
I swallowed. “Yeah. Quite the pair.”
4
I could just see the side of the statue from my window. It was Martin alright. The carvers had done a wonderful job. They even got his monocle just right. It made me so proud to see it there. He’d gone out a hero—and after having lived for over three hundred years. I was sure he had to be close to breaking the record for oldest living witch in history.
“Hey,” Bianca said, coming into our dorm room with a towel still in her hair.
I mumbled a hello, still lost in the trenches of my thoughts. Leo and Lara were staying at the Abbey—at least until we left late tomorrow night. They weren’t fond of the idea of sleeping there, but I promised the scary ghosties of Rosewood Abbey didn’t bite. I’d see them right after classes ended tomorrow. We’d have dinner before Cal, Adrian and I left for the airport.
Turned out Leo and Lara had already been to Spain before—to Barcelona and to Madrid. They could have portaled us, but I already booked three first-class tickets, and it seemed a waste not to use them. Besides, if I was being honest, I was a little excited about it. Nervous, but excited, too. I’d never been on a plane before.
There usually wasn’t all that much reason for a witch to go on one. What with being able to use portals and all. A phone call to someone who’s been where you’re trying to go and then boom, you had your way to get there.
They had stationary portals at the Department of Arcane Inquiry, too, I’d learned. They cost a small fee to use and go all sorts of places. But fuck if I wanted to go back to that place after the origin spell. The thought alone elicited a shiver down my spine.
But…it would have saved me a pretty penny, I bet. Since the tickets from Dublin to Valencia cost me more than I’d ever earned in my entire life and then some. I couldn’t imagine dropping that kind of money on the regular. In fact, it made me cringe.
“Are we talking yet?”
“Hmmm?” I said, trying to focus on Bianca where she was coming out from behind the little privacy screen in the corner—dressed in her pajamas now—her hair damp and wavy in its natural state.
Looking more than a bit uncomfortable, she sat down hard on the edge of her bed. “Are you ever going to forgive me?” she said finally, her voice strained and exasperated at the same time.
I sighed and forced myself to look her in the eyes. I was still upset, but it was unfair of me to take it out on her. My brief reunion with Leo and Lara had given me a new perspective and made it easier to push away the negative emotions in favor of the good. “I’m sorry,” I said by way of reply. “I never should have shut you out, I was just…”
What was I? How could I explain?
“Upset?”
I nodded. I was more than just upset, but that didn’t matter anymore. “Anyway, I just couldn’t process it all right away. I guess I sort of needed someone to blame. It wasn’t fair of me to do that.”
“Forgiven,” she stated without a moment’s hesitation, relief evident in her eyes as they brightened, going wide with shock. She clearly wasn’t expecting me to be the one to apologize. To be honest, I was a little surprised, too.
“Forgiven,” I repeated back to her.
She rose to give me a light hug. “I’m really sorry about Martin. I wish I could—”
“No,” I said. “He wouldn’t have wanted that. He wouldn’t have wanted anyone to blame themselves.”
…not even me, I tried to remind myself. It’s not my fault, either.
She nodded against my collarbon
e and then let go, stepping back again, leaving the smell of her strawberry shampoo on my cardigan. Damn, that stuff was strong. I wrinkled my nose.
“So,” I said, noticing the little designer duffle bag she had half-packed in front of her closet. “Any plans for the break?”
Bianca shrugged. “Going home. Was thinking of taking the boys someplace. Maybe camping or something.”
“You? Camping?”
She pursed her lips. “Okay, well maybe not camping, but, like, to a cabin or something. The kind that have electricity and running water. And Wi-Fi.”
I stifled a laugh. “More like a hotel, then?”
She tilted her head back and forth, pretending to consider. “Fine. Yes. A hotel. A pool is pretty much the same thing as a lake, right?”
How had I managed to stay mad at her this long? Looking at my golden-haired friend, I saw how much she’d changed—grown since her uncle’s passing. But I also saw the ways in which she’d stayed the same. Remained the Bianca that I first met.
She would always be a rich kid, but she wasn’t standoffish anymore. Not as tense. She was laid-back rich. “Have you heard anything at all about Kendra?”
After what happened with Donovan, she’d been portaled out for medical attention with Marcus. Marcus had returned only a couple days later, looking pale, but otherwise fine. Kendra, though, still had yet to return to the academy as far as I knew. I hadn’t seen her, and when I asked around—they said she hadn’t come back yet.
Bianca moved to her vanity, beginning to brush her hair. “Nothing,” she said. “I’m pretty sure she’s been released from medical at the Department, but I think her parents are keeping her home.”
That seemed to be becoming more and more common lately. I overheard Granger just earlier today when I went to tell her I’d returned—she was speaking to someone through a communication mirror, telling whoever it was that they had half the enrollments they usually had for the upcoming term, and more than thirty percent of the student body had either dropped out or were being kept home by their parents.
