by Amity Hope
“It is!” I assured her.
“Then trust me when I say my time is better spent working on something else.” Her tone was quiet and apologetic. Yet firm.
I nodded and forced a smile when really, I felt like crying.
“We need to step things up,” I said. “I can’t wait around for Lebeau to find Tristan. I know that’s what my mom told me to do. I know that’s what Lebeau insisted on. But I just can’t do it.”
“Can’t do what?” Daphne asked.
“Can’t sit around waiting anymore!”
My tone had shot up several notches. Clusters of students nearby turned to look at us. I clamped my lips shut and hung my head.
Daphne gently squeezed my shoulder. “Just take a deep breath.”
“I don’t want to take a deep breath. I want to do something!” I grated out.
“Rough morning?” Riley asked as she joined us.
I nodded.
“What happened?” Riley demanded.
“Nothing. Nothing happened. Nothing keeps happening and Tristan is still just out there somewhere. I’m here. And I feel like I’m not doing anything and he needs me!”
“I think she’s finally cracking.” Daphne said this to Riley as if I wasn’t standing right there listening in.
I let out a huff of frustration.
The warning bell rang.
“Let’s all meet at The Bella Luna today. We can brainstorm?” Riley suggested.
“I’ll let Alex know,” Finola said.
“Sounds like a plan,” Daphne added.
“Not much of one,” I muttered. My negativity earned me three disapproving looks. “Sorry,” I grumbled. “That sounds good. We’ll meet at my house.”
~*~*~
“Feeling better?” Riley asked. She took a sip of the iced tea Cecily had placed on the coffee table for us.
“Not even a little,” I admitted grumpily.
We were the only two here, so far. The others would be along momentarily.
“For what it’s worth, I agree with you. I think we need to step things up. The longer Jude and Tristan are out there…Well, I don’t like it either,” she said.
“That reminds me. I found out you’ve been keeping a secret from us.” I put on a stern face and crossed my arms over my chest. I slouched back in my chair and waited her out.
Riley blanched as she looked at me, wide-eyed.
“Oh, come on. You really thought you could keep it from us?” My tone was light, teasing. I was trying desperately to pull us both out of the wretched mood we were in.
Her eyes darted around the parlor, as if afraid of being overheard. “Sam…”
“Don’t worry. I didn’t tell Daphne,” I said.
She grimaced. “You told Fin?”
I shook my head. “I didn’t tell anyone.”
She looked visibly relieved.
“I wish you would’ve told me. This has to be hard on you, too. Since you and Jude are so close,” I said quietly.
She narrowed her eyes at me but didn’t respond.
“That’s how you knew to take the shrunken head, right?” I prodded.
Her worried expression evened out. She drummed her fingers against her knee. “That’s what you’re talking about?”
“Yes. Did you think I was talking about something else?”
She shook her head quickly. “No. Of course not. I was just really confused for a minute.”
“So there is something going on between you and Jude?” I pressed.
She shook her head again. “No, not really.”
“Oh. I’ll admit I thought maybe that’s why you’ve been so willing to help.”
“It is,” she said. “But it isn’t. It’s kind of messy. Mostly I just want to help because I feel like it’s the right thing to do. To clarify, there is nothing going on with Jude and me.” She hesitated, scrunching up her face in an apologetic fashion. “It’s just that I know he likes me. The last time we talked, I wasn’t very nice to him. Now I feel terrible about it. I want to make it up to him.”
“By saving his life,” I said slowly. “You’re going to a pretty extreme measure to make it up to him. Must’ve been a really bad conversation.”
She smiled faintly. “He told me he has feelings for me. I told him I wasn’t interested and that I would never be interested.”
“But you really are interested?” I guessed.
“No. Maybe.” She hesitated. “Okay, probably. But it’s not that simple.”
“What’s the problem? He likes you. You like him. Problem solved.” Well, it would be solved once we dealt with the not-so-small issue of his body being missing. I thought about Tristan and me. That probably seemed like a no-brainer to most people too. And yet, we had a big sloppy mess to deal with before we could even think about dating. I realized I shouldn’t judge Riley when I really didn’t know what she was dealing with. “Sorry, I said. I shouldn’t stick my nose into your business. But after all of this, I think it’s pretty clear that you can’t take anyone for granted. If we get him back, tell him how you feel.”
“What about Daphne?” she asked.
I waved away her concern with my hand. “Don’t worry about Daphne. She falls in love every other month. She’ll be fine.”
The doorbell rang as the door creaked open.
“We’re here!” Daphne called.
Riley gave me a pleading look.
“I won’t say anything,” I promised.
Finola, Alex and Daphne spilled into the room. They each found a seat. Finola and Alex on the sofa next to Riley, Daphne in a chair next to mine.
“First things first,” Finola said. “I know you feel like we’re not doing anything. I want to assure you that we are. I’ve been working on a few potions to use when we find our boys.”
“What kind of potions?”
“I have one that will knock them out completely. That one was easy. I’m working on another one that won’t knock them out but that will make them…compliant.”
“I’ve been doing some research,” Alex admitted. “I was able to reunite Bree’s spirit and body fairly easy. She’s Lamia, so it makes sense there was no problem. With the help of my dad we’ve contacted a few people. They’ve assured us that because Tristan is part Lamia, I should be able to perform the spell just as easily on him.” He hesitated as if weighing his words. “Well, maybe not just as easily. But overall, I should be able to handle it.”
“And I,” Daphne said dramatically, “have also been planning.” She flipped her long locks over her shoulder.
“Planning what?” I suspiciously wondered.
“We know that Levi was collecting vessels to sell to elderly Striga. Correct?”
I wrinkled my nose and nodded. I didn’t agree with Levi’s word choice. Calling the bodies he’d commandeered “vessels” was his way of impersonalizing what he’d done.
“So it’s probably safe to guess that whoever is in possession of Jude and Tristan’s bodies are male. Probably old. Probably longing to relive their youth. It’s probably been decades since a pretty little thing paid them any attention.” Daphne batted her eyelashes dramatically.
“I think I’m probably going to be sick,” I muttered when I realized what she was getting at. My stomach twisted at the notion. I couldn’t help but wonder what Tristan’s body had been up to, where he’d been. It made me nauseous to think someone was wearing his body like a rented tuxedo.
I pushed the thought away.
“I’m willing to bet that with a bit of flirting they’ll be putty in my hands,” Daphne confidently announced.
“I tried a locator spell the other night,” Riley admitted sheepishly.
I raised my eyebrows at her.
She shrugged, her expression apologetic. “I was pretty sure it wouldn’t work. Locator spells are tricky like that. The person has to be at least somewhere in the vicinity. Within a few hundred miles are so.”
“That’s still helpful,” Alex said. “At least we know
that they aren’t right under our noses. Even if it would be really nice if they were.”
“It makes sense they’d keep their distance from here,” I added on. “They wouldn’t want to risk running into anyone they know.”
“How were you able to do the spell?” I asked.
“With a few strands of hair,” Riley said.
I figured as much and nodded. Cecily had given me a few strands of hair plucked out of Tristan’s brush. Riley had managed to pluck a few strands of hair out of Jude’s brush during a recent visit. She’d gone under the guise of checking in on his family. They hadn’t questioned it.
My heart clenched as I remembered the way Levi had used the same spell to track down Mom and Magnolia. If it worked for him, it should work for us.
“Oh, good! You’re all here!” Cecily exclaimed as she bustled into the room.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as I shot to my feet.
“Nothing. Nothing is wrong. In fact, finally something is going right. They’ve caught Levi,” Cecily said.
My hand flew to my mouth, sealing in my gasp of disbelief. “Really?” I asked between my fingers.
“That’s what I’ve been told. I received a call from Councilwoman Lebeau myself,” Cecily explained.
My hand dropped to my side. “You don’t look as happy as I thought you’d be.”
She shook her head. “They’ve already questioned him in regard to the whereabouts of Jude and Tristan. He claims he has no idea.”
“He’s lying,” Alex said decisively.
“I don’t think he is,” Cecily said softly. “He delivered on his end of the deal. He got his money. They went their separate ways. That’s what he’s claiming and frankly, that’s what I’ve been afraid of.”
I let her words sink in. “So Levi is a dead end.”
“I’m afraid so. I’m sure they’ll continue to question him. Now that they have him in custody, he won’t be going anywhere. The Councilwoman assured me that she’d let me know if any more information became available. In the meantime, they’re keeping a lookout for the boys.”
It wasn’t the news that I wanted, but it was better than no news at all.
“Have you let Mom know?” I asked.
“I haven’t,” Cecily said. “I just found out a few minutes ago. I thought I’d tell all of you first. I plan to call her next. Hopefully the news will relieve little Magnolia’s nerves some. Unless you want to call her?”
I glanced at my friends. I knew we had more to discuss. “If you don’t mind calling her, I’d appreciate it.”
“I don’t mind at all,” she assured me.
“I don’t believe that.” Alex had waited until Cecily had padded up the stairs before speaking. “I wouldn’t trust a word out of that guy’s mouth. He has to know more than he’s letting on. He would’ve had to have contact information. Names. Something.”
Daphne nodded. “I agree. I think either Levi is lying, or Lebeau.”
“I wouldn’t trust anything that The Council has to say.”
We all turned to Riley. She shrugged unapologetically.
“It’s true. I wouldn’t.”
“I think you’re right. I don’t believe it either. I think they have information and they just don’t want to share,” I said.
“Or course they don’t want to share. The Council always keeps people in the dark,” Riley said decisively. “That’s just what they do.”
“Then we need to figure out a way to shed some light on this,” Daphne pointed out.
“How?” I wondered.
“I’m not sure yet. But I’ll think of something,” she assured me.
Chapter 8
“You don’t have any idea what they were up to?” Riley asked.
Finola frowned as her gaze flitted around the cemetery. “I know as much as you do. I got the same text from Daphne. She said that she was with Alex and we should meet at the cemetery in half an hour.”
“It’s been forty minutes,” Riley helpfully supplied.
“We know,” I said as Finola shot a glare of irritation her way. I was pretty sure she wasn’t really upset with Riley. She was just flustered. We all were. None of us had any idea what Daphne and Alex had been up to.
Together.
“Here they come,” Finola breathed a sigh of relief.
Daphne was half running, half skipping. Alex trotted along behind her.
“Well, she’s smiling,” Finola grumbled. “I guess that means they have good news.”
“I hope so,” I said.
“What’s up you two?” Riley asked.
“Fin, your boyfriend is amazing!” Daphne said as she clutched Alex’s arm.
He grinned at Daphne before shaking her off.
“What,” Finola demanded, “is going on?”
“I think we finally found out something that will help us,” Alex said.
“We have names!” Daphne squealed in excitement. “And a place. Crescent City.”
“I’m not following. Names…?”
“We have the names of the leeches that are possessing Tristan and Jude!” Daphne looked at us with a huge smile. Her eyes were sparkling in excitement.
My knees went weak. “What? How? Are you sure?”
Alex nodded. “Pretty sure.”
“Very sure,” Daphne tacked on. She glanced at our confused faces. “Okay, tell them!” She nudged Alex. He gave her an exasperated look. “Go on!” she urged, ignoring him.
“You know I had another meeting with The Councilwoman today,” Alex said. We all nodded. “We were halfway through our meeting and we got interrupted.”
“By a very disgruntled teenage girl who refused to leave the premises until she had a few words with Mrs. Lebeau,” Daphne said with a grin.
“Daphne, you didn’t,” Finola said.
“Oh,” Daphne said, “I so did. I told them I was not going to leave the building until I received an update on my friend, Tristan. I quite loudly let them know that I thought it was horrible, the way they’ve covered up what happened. I told them I thought the entire town should know. That way more people would be on the lookout for my dear friends, Tristan and Jude.”
“As soon as we heard her say that she thought it would be a good idea to announce it over the PA system at school, she flew out of her chair,” Alex said. He grinned at the memory. “Daphne managed to create quite the commotion in the hallway.”
“No one paid any attention to Alex at all,” Daphne smugly informed us. “A hysterically crying girl can be very distracting. We made a great team.”
“We kind of did,” Alex agreed. “Daphne kept them busy for at least five minutes. It was enough time for me to rifle through her desk and a few files. I knew that they were supposed to question Levi again today.”
“And the little weasel cracked?” Riley wondered.
“I have a feeling that their method of questioning was kind of…unorthodox.” Alex grimaced.
“Whatever they did to him, he deserved,” I said.
“You have names?” Finola reminded.
“Yes, Calvin and Everett Julene,” Daphne said. “The file had a note stating they’re brothers. Striga. Sixty-seven and seventy-two years old.”
I groaned. I had known that the likelihood of Tristan’s body being inhabited by an aging Striga was a strong possibility. But the reality of it was beyond troubling.
“Everett,” I said with a scowl. “He must be the one possessing Tristan.” Hazel had mentioned Calvin to me. He’d taken over Jude.
“Now that they know where they are, they’re going to go find them, right?” I asked.
Daphne and Alex shared a look.
It wasn’t a good look.
“What?” I demanded.
“I didn’t admit that I’d seen her notes,” Alex said. “But I did ask her what the next step was, now that Levi was caught.”
“And?” Finola asked.
“She said that they had obtained enough information to turn the case over to The C
ouncil in another city,” he explained.
“Meaning she’s done dealing with it?” Riley sounded affronted.
“She said something about it no longer being in her jurisdiction,” Alex explained.
“I think finding Levi was her priority,” Daphne said. “He was the dangerous one. And now they have him.”
“So they’re just going to forget about Tristan and Jude?” I asked in disbelief.
“I don’t think that’s the way she sees it,” Alex gently said. “She said she’d be turning the case over.”
“Which basically means she’s forgetting about it,” I corrected.
Alex sighed. “I don’t really know what it means. But Crescent City is a long ways away. It would be hard for her to oversee the search for them from here.”
“It’s such a big city,” Riley said with a frown. “I hope that their Council gives the case the proper amount of attention.”
“If our little town has nearly a hundred Striga, I would imagine a place like Crescent City is crawling with them. Their Council probably has their hands full dealing with the riffraff,” Daphne said.
Riley shook her head at Daphne’s proclamation.
Finola smacked Alex’s arm. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to do this?!”
“Don’t be mad at him,” Daphne said. “It was my fault. To be honest, I was afraid if I suggested it you would say no. You’re always so by the book. And this was the best idea we’ve had so far.” Finola frowned at her. “Hey, it worked!” Daphne reminded.
“Also,” Alex said, “when Daphne brought it up, I thought the less people involved, the better.”
Daphne pretended to scowl at him before turning to Finola. “What he’s saying is that he was willing to let me pay the price if Lebeau got too mad. But he didn’t want you involved.”
“Where do we go from here?” I asked.
“We find them!” Daphne pointed out, as if the question were absurd.
“But…Crescent City?” Finola frowned. “That’s on the other side of the country.” It was disheartening news.
“We’ll just create a portal,” Riley said.
“Sure, right. We’ll just create a portal,” Daphne muttered. Her gaze snapped back to Riley. “Hold up! Can you do that?”
