Avenge (Malice Book 2)

by Amity Hope

  “We’ll have to make it fast. Mom and Magnolia are leaving after dinner. I should spend some time with them before they go.”

  We all agreed and then quickly scattered to get to our classes.

  ~*~*~

  “Did you know about that?” Daphne asked me.

  “What?”

  She nodded toward the window.

  “Is that Caleb?” I asked.

  “Sure is,” she said.

  He had his arm around Riley’s shoulders. They looked awfully cozy. It was obvious that they were chatting while they walked across the parking lot. Caleb held his head inclined toward Riley. She said something that made him smile and shake his head. They stopped at the edge, before crossing the street, apparently needing a few more moments alone together before Riley came inside to meet us.

  “Aww, they’re really cute together,” I said.

  Alex glanced at his watch.

  “We could get started without her,” Daphne suggested.

  Alex nodded. “Sure, okay. I don’t have a lot to say, I just didn’t have any time before the bell rang. Essentially, Lebeau knew I was in the cemetery last night. I didn’t tell her I was going to be there. The fact that she knew I was? I don’t like that one bit.”

  “I don’t, either,” Finola confirmed.

  “Riley suggested we start using a cloaking spell,” Daphne informed Alex.

  “That’s not a bad idea. In fact, it’s pretty smart. We should’ve been doing that all along. I just never thought that The Council would be that interested in me.”

  Finola nudged him. “You’re an incredibly talented Necromancer. You worked a spell on Bree that should’ve been far too complicated for you. Really, it’s no wonder they’re keeping an eye on you.”

  “I don’t like it. They have no right to be in my business,” Alex said. “The last thing we need is for them to keep poking around until they find out Tristan is a Striga.”

  “Tristan is Striga?” Riley flopped down in the booth next to me as Alex’s words flowed across the table.

  I quickly threw a privacy bubble into the air around us. I silently cursed myself for not doing it immediately.

  “It’s not polite to creep up on people!” Daphne griped.

  Riley winced as if Daphne had slapped her. “I wasn’t creeping. I was just…I was invited!” She glanced around the table at our stunned faces.

  Alex leaned back in the booth. He rubbed his hand over his mouth, as if he could rewind the conversation and keep the words inside. His expression was repentant and he looked frustrated with himself.

  He shook his head. “I can’t believe I blurted that out. I know better than that.”

  Finola rubbed his arm consolingly. “It’s okay. It’s just Riley.”

  “Yeah,” Riley said brightly. “It’s just me. You can trust me. Is it true?”

  “Listen, Riley,” I said quietly, “he is. I’m sure you understand why it would be best if you kept this between us.”

  She nodded somberly. “Of course I understand. Associating with a Striga is taboo. Being one? So much worse.”

  “Riley,” Daphne said in a warning tone.

  She shrugged and her chin jutted out. “I’m only stating the facts. And I’m right, aren’t I?”

  She wasn’t exactly wrong but I didn’t want to agree with her. “Tristan isn’t like the others,” I said. “The fact that he’s in the situation he’s in proves that.”

  “Not to mention that he’s half Lamia,” Daphne added on. She kept her voice low despite the fact no sound could get past my shield.

  “He’s of mixed blood?” Riley whispered in awe. “Was his mother Striga? Or his father? Is his grandmother Striga?”

  I shifted uneasily. “Riley…I really don’t feel comfortable talking about this.”

  Even though no one could listen in this was not the place to have this conversation.

  “Got it.” Her usually perky tone turned hard. “I understand. It’s become clear how things are with the three of you. Everything is on a need to know basis. If you aren’t using my services for something, I don’t need to know.”

  She scooted to the edge of the booth, ready to take off. Daphne and I shared an uncomfortable look before I grabbed her and pulled her back in.

  “Riley, listen,” I started. “Tristan kept this from me all of our lives. I only recently found out. I mean, really recently. I didn’t know until the night before he disappeared. Even then, I found out on accident. I don’t know if he would’ve ever told me otherwise. That’s why I don’t feel comfortable talking about it.”

  “She doesn’t like talking about it,” Daphne agreed. “I keep pushing even though I know she doesn’t know anything more than she’s already told us.”

  I let my gaze drop to the table. I hoped that neither of them noticed the way I’d cringed. Her words weren’t exactly true. I knew more than I’d led them to believe.

  I was afraid they’d take a look at me and see that I was keeping a secret. Not that any of them would ever guess that Tristan was a Jaeger.

  I thought, yet again, how badly I wished I could talk to Tristan. I had so many questions.

  “Oh, sorry,” Riley said. Her gaze shifted between Daphne and me. “I didn’t mean to have a temper tantrum. It’s just—”

  “What?” Daphne demanded.

  “Nothing.”

  “Riley,” Finola pressed. “What is it?”

  “It’s just that I feel left out most of the time.” She looked around the table, taking in each of our expressions. She nodded to herself. “You have been keeping something from me. This was it, wasn’t it?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “It was. Hopefully you can understand why?”

  She thought it over for a few moments. “Yes, I get it. But no more secrets? Is that too much to ask? If you want my help, it’s not fair that you are constantly keeping me in the dark.”

  “No more secrets,” Finola agreed.

  “Right. No more secrets. Even though you’ve been holding out on us,” Daphne said. I knew she was teasing though her tone was serious.

  “What?” Riley looked alarmed.

  “You’re busted,” Daphne said.

  Riley frowned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You and Caleb?” Daphne drummed her fingers across the table top.

  Riley paled.

  Daphne glanced at me. I shook my head in confusion. This wasn’t the reaction we’d expected.

  “I’m kidding,” Daphne said. “I didn’t realize it was a big deal. Are you two lovebirds trying to keep things quiet?”

  “Oh!” Riley exclaimed. “You think we’re dating.” She laughed but it sounded forced.

  “What did you think we were talking about?” I wondered.

  “What? Hmmm? Nothing, just nothing.” She shook her head and made an apologetic face. “I was just confused.”

  “Right,” Daphne said suspiciously, “and now I’m confused.”

  “Wait,” I interjected, “are you dating or not?”

  She scrunched up her face in embarrassment. “Not. Our families are friends. Close friends. That’s all. He’s like a brother to me.”

  “Bummer. I’d hate to have a brother that was that hot. What a waste,” Daphne murmured.

  Riley giggled. “Uh, Daphne, Xavier is like the most drooled over boy in the senior class.”

  Daphne wrinkled up her nose at the mention of her twin. “Ugh. Don’t remind me. But I don’t think he’s hot at all.”

  “I would hope not. He is your brother,” Finola pointed out.

  Daphne ignored her. “Caleb on the other hand…”

  “Yeah…can we get back to business?” Alex asked.

  “Good idea,” I agreed.

  “Now…moving on,” Alex pressed.

  “Wait, what did I miss? Sorry I was a few minutes late,” Riley interrupted.

  “Start at the beginning,” Riley suggested.

  Alex nodded. “I got a call early this morni
ng from Lebeau. She wanted to see me before school. When I got there, she asked what I’d been up to the night before. I’ll be honest, I was tempted to lie. But I also had a hunch that she already knew, so I told her the truth. She more or less treated me like a two-year old. She told me that I shouldn’t have been out at the cemetery last night. That’s laughable. I am a Necromancer. It’s kind of what we do.”

  “Did she know I was there?” Finola asked.

  “Probably,” Alex said. “She didn’t bring you up. I didn’t ask. I’d prefer to leave you out of it if possible. Anyhow, she was majorly peeved that I captured Tristan’s spirit last night.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Don’t know,” he answered. “She said that it was Council business. That they were taking care of it. She said that I had no business meddling in Council affairs. And that if she caught me meddling again, she’d see to it that I faced consequences for it.”

  “I don’t understand. Why was she okay with you capturing Jude’s spirit?” I wondered.

  His cheeks reddened. “She wasn’t exactly. She may have mentioned then that I should back off. I didn’t realize how serious she was about it until this morning. I had thought it was just a request, not a demand.”

  “You would think she’d be thanking you for helping The Council. I mean, they don’t seem to be making any headway,” Finola grumped.

  “See,” Alex said, “that’s the thing. She told me I should let The Council deal with it. Yet, only a Necromancer can cast this particular spell. I know that my Dad hasn’t been asked to be involved. So…what? They’re calling another Necromancer in? When both Dad and I are here? And we’re both capable? It doesn’t make sense.”

  “No,” I agreed, “it doesn’t.”

  “So I asked my dad about it. He made some calls. Necromancers are a tight group. No one has been called in on the case,” Alex said with a frown.

  “Do they not want this case solved?” Daphne asked.

  “Initially, they requested my Dad to be on standby. That’s when it was just Bree and Jude floating around out there. That was before I realized that I could do the spell myself.”

  “Before Tristan was involved,” Riley said softly. We turned to look at her. “Oh, come on. We all know that’s what this is really about. They don’t want to help Tristan because they’ve figured out what he is.”

  We were all silent for a few moments, thinking that over. She was probably right.

  I didn’t want her to be right.

  “That sounds likely,” Alex said.

  “How would they know?” I wondered.

  “I think The Council knows a lot more than they let on. I asked my parents about the list I found. They weren’t at all surprised that there were sixty-seven Striga in the area. They knew that The Council keeps track,” he explained. “Apparently they’ve checked into my family a few times. With the reputation Necromancers have, they check in periodically to make sure we ‘don’t go dark’.” He accentuated the last bit with sarcasm and air quotes to let us know what he thought of that.

  “That’s ridiculous,” I muttered. I was all too aware in that moment how closely my thinking had aligned to that of The Council not that long ago. When Finola first became interested in Alex, I had been concerned. I didn’t hold Necromancers in very high regard. Now? Now I held the utmost respect for Alex.

  “Tristan was so careful,” Finola said. “I can’t imagine how The Council found out.”

  “If Tristan ever used his magic, The Council would know. They trace magical residue,” Riley said. “It’s their method of looking for Striga, tracking them, really.”

  We all turned to look at her.

  She shrugged. “I heard my parents talking about it.”

  “I think she’s right,” Alex agreed. “I’ve heard that as well.”

  “Tristan practiced with Cecily,” I admitted. “She must not have known that.”

  “Well, it’s not like they advertise it,” Alex pointed out.

  “They’re sneaky that way,” Riley agreed. She leaned in, taking charge. “From here on out, we fly under the radar. I’ll do some research on cloaking spells. At the very least,” she motioned to the glimmering air around us, the shield I’d created, “we need to be sure we have absolute privacy at all times.”

  “Agreed,” Finola said.

  Riley peered around Daphne and me so she could glance out the window.

  I hadn’t realized that Caleb was still out there. He was leaning against her car.

  “I should probably go,” Riley said.

  “Wait,” Alex said, “Riley, you haven’t been telling Caleb about what’s going on, have you?”

  She’d been about to stand but she settled back onto the edge of the booth seat. “No. But I promise, if I did, our secrets would be safe with him.”

  “Riley, we had a hard enough time trusting you,” Daphne pointed out. “We didn’t know you. We kind of took a leap of faith. But asking us to trust Caleb, too? That’s a lot to ask.”

  Riley forced a smile. “I know. That’s why I’ve been lying to him. To keep your secrets. I’ve told him that we ran into each other at the beach one day. That we all hit it off and that after all these years in school, you finally think I’m good enough to be your friend. Surprisingly, he believed me.”

  With those words she stood, snapped the privacy bubble away with her fingertip, and headed out of The Rush.

  Chapter 6

  It hadn’t been that long ago that Mom and Magnolia had set out for her friend’s house with the intent to strip my sister of her magic. Ridding her of her power of persuasion had held the utmost importance at the time.

  This time their leaving was under much calmer circumstances. They both just seemed to need some downtime. A quiet visit to Mom’s sister’s house seemed like a good idea. She’d attempted to persuade me to join them up until the moment her car was rolling away.

  I had declined. There was no way I could leave now.

  When Cecily arrived with her suitcase I greeted her at the door. She got herself settled into the Briar Suite where she normally stayed. Then she returned to the parlor where she didn’t realize I was impatiently waiting for her.

  “And they are off again,” she said with a sad smile.

  “Hopefully by the time they come home, everything will be back to normal,” I said.

  “One does hope,” Cecily agreed.

  I leaned forward in my chair. “Cecily, do you think The Council can track magical residue?”

  She cocked her head to the side. Her bright blue eyes sparkled in her wrinkled face. “Why do you ask?”

  “We were discussing it after school today. Riley thinks they can. We all think that The Council might know what Tristan is.” I filled her in on the rest of the conversation, including our fear that they might not be willing to help Tristan.

  She nodded somberly. “I always knew that was a possibility. That they would be able to track him. It was a risk I felt I had to take. I felt very strongly that he needed to use his magic. He needed to learn to control it. That much power…” she shook her head, “if it had been unleashed and he wasn’t prepared for it, it would’ve been disastrous. We took precautions, but over the years, I suppose we failed a time or two.”

  My heart sank. “I was hoping you’d tell me that I was wrong. That there was no way that The Council could know.”

  “I think it’s more likely that they do know.”

  “I wonder what that will mean for him, when he comes back.”

  “Samara, don’t fret about that. There’s no need to be borrowing trouble. We need to concentrate on one problem at a time.”

  She was right. One thing at a time. Otherwise the situation seemed too overwhelming.

  “I have to admit, I’m not too happy with how they’re treating your friend, Alex. That boy has been nothing but a help,” she said. I nodded my agreement. “I also hate to say that I’m not too happy that The Council seems indifferent when it comes to helping T
ristan.”

  “That’s why we’re not really counting on The Council,” I said.

  Cecily smiled at me. “You’re not planning on making trouble, are you? I told your mother I’d keep an eye on you.”

  I smiled back. “Of course I don’t plan on making trouble.” But that wasn’t to say that we might not accidentally stumble into it.

  The doorbell chimed through the house, startling us both.

  “I’m not used to that sound,” I said as I got to my feet. Now that we’d stopped taking guests at The Bella Luna, the doorbell rarely sounded.

  I glanced out of the parlor window. “It’s Fin,” I told Cecily.

  She got to her feet as well. “I think I’ll just head up to my room for the night. I’m sure you two would like your privacy. Feel free to poke your head in if you need anything.”

  “Thanks, Cecily.”

  She headed for the staircase and I headed to the front door.

  “Hey, Fin,” I said as I let her in. “Is everything okay?”

  “I think so. I just talked to Daphne. She went over to Riley’s to try to smooth things over. I felt kind of strange with how she left things today,” Finola said.

  “I did too. I don’t want her to think we’re just using her. I guess at first that’s what it was. We had to go to her because we needed her help. Now that I’ve gotten to know her I consider her a friend,” I said.

  “So do Daphne and I. So that’s what Daphne told her. I think the conversation went well,” Finola said. She wandered into the parlor and I followed. When she dropped down on the sofa I took the seat next to her.

  “Is that why you stopped by? To discuss Riley?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “I have something for you.”

  I waited patiently as she set her messenger bag down on her lap. She unzipped it and carefully pulled something out of an inner, side pocket. It was a vial, the type that I’d seen her use many times for potions. A silvery liquid swirled inside. She handled it with the utmost care.

  “What is that?” I asked.

  “It’s a potion. For you.” She held it in her hand as if it was fragile and she gave it a speculative look. “It was kind of tricky to make.”