“Yikes,” said a boy with brown hair and frighteningly tight jeans. “Let’s get out of here, Landon. This girl’s a bitch.”
“No, I’m a witch, and I’ll be happy to poison every last one of you if you ever mess with this boy—”
“Get help,” the blond, Landon, broke in, rolling his eyes. But his smile was a little watery. His army looked a little shaken. After a minute, he snapped his fingers, waving his boys off the field.
Belle let go of the boy with ebony curls. “Well, that was unexpected. I know they get cranky when they don’t get their naps—”
“You shouldn’t have done that.” Clipped voice. Tight jaw. The boy smoothed his black fitted jacket, stepping away from her. “Now they’re going to come after you.”
“They won’t. I’ll leave a couple of petals in their lockers tomorrow. Nonpoisonous petals,” she went on before he could interrupt, “but they won’t know that. They’ll think it’s a warning.” She grinned, plucking his backpack from the ground. “I’m Belladonna, by the way.”
“Raven.”
“Oh, the rich boy? I heard you buy your lunch with fifty-dollar bills.” A pause, followed by a lift of her eyebrow. “That true?”
“Come over sometime. I’ll show you the bathtub filled with hundreds.” When he smiled, it was mischievous. There was a dimple in his left cheek, and Belle found her eyes drawn to it. She’d never wanted to go to a boy’s house before. Not alone. Not accompanied by an adult.
But suddenly her grand library felt small. Suddenly her bedroom felt like a prison, with its locked door and nailed windows. Her heart sank at the thought of returning there, alone, for one more night. “I can’t come over,” she said. “My dad’s really strict.”
“I could sneak you out.”
“I promise, you couldn’t.” She looked down. She was never supposed to break eye contact with a boy. Never supposed to show submission. But she couldn’t look into those wide brown eyes anymore, because she couldn’t understand how they could be so dark and so bright at the same time. Raven Holloway was like the night sky lit up by stars.
“I should go,” Belle said, turning to leave. When he caught her arm, she remembered Edwin’s instructions. She wasn’t supposed to lash out. She was supposed to slip out of his grip and run as far away as possible. Tell an adult. Ask for help.
Belle didn’t run. Instead, she turned to find Raven standing right in front of her. “Are you afraid of me?” he asked, and his question felt loaded. There were kids at school who would judge Raven simply because his mom was black and his dad was white, but Belle would sooner threaten those people with poison than stand next to them.
Still, she was scared of getting close to him. She was scared of getting close to anyone, and before this moment, she hadn’t wanted to. “I told you, my dad’s really strict,” she said, hoping he wouldn’t push her to say more. “He nailed my windows shut when I first moved in.”
“Wait. He what?” Raven’s brow furrowed, and his voice was sharp. Angry, even. “Did he think you were going to fall out?”
“I… maybe. Just forget I said anything.”
“No, I’m not going to forget.” He was still touching her arm, just barely. Skin brushing her skin. “This witchy, weird, terrifying girl appears in my life. I want to know more about her. About you.”
A twitch in her lips. “Didn’t your mother warn you about witches?”
This time he full-on grinned and it was beautiful. It was the moon slipping out from behind the clouds. Bright and enchanting. Belle’s chest flushed, and her heart felt like it was on a rickety roller coaster. Was the ground sloping beneath her? “My mother doesn’t talk about witches,” Raven said. “But I have this friend, and I think you’d really like her. Her name is Poppy, and she’s been looking for a witch. We’ve been looking for a witch since we were little kids, and it started as a game but… I think we’ve been looking for you.”
Oh, that was it. The exact worst thing to say to her, because now she was swooning, and swooning led to danger. It led to hundred-year curses and girls falling asleep while boys crawled over them, stealing kisses. Sometimes, when she finished her homework early, Belle slipped into the library and pored over the fairy tales Edwin had bought for her, seeking unusual details. How many princes had kissed Sleeping Beauty without waking her? How many lips pressed against hers without her knowing? And since she didn’t know, would all of them stop at kissing? It was the kind of question Edwin would be able to answer, but she didn’t want to ask him.
She was afraid of what he’d tell her.
“Speaking of fairy tales, what do you think of ‘Sleeping Beauty’?” Belle asked Raven, a quick test. An easy one. Raven would say the wrong thing, and all these soft, sweet feelings would be replaced with anger. Then she would be safe again. “It’s so romantic, isn’t it? Waking your true love with a kiss?”
“I think kissing unconscious girls is demented. So is trapping them in a castle until they fall in love. And what’s with all these princesses just sitting around, waiting to be rescued? Tie your sheets together, girls. Rescue yourselves.”
A laugh burst from Belle’s lips. It was so unexpected, so joyful, she couldn’t do anything to tamp it down. Within seconds they were both laughing under the bleachers, and they might’ve stayed there forever if the bell hadn’t rung, lancing through their gaiety like a blade through skin.
“Lunch is over,” Raven said, shaking his head in chagrin. “Too bad. I kind of wanted to see Landon and his friends checking their sandwiches for poison.” He guided Belle from the darkness. When they stepped into the light, he let go of her arm. “Stay here a minute. Do you mind?”
“Being late for math? Gee, no, I couldn’t.” A pause. “Take your time.”
Raven wasn’t gone long. He slipped through the northern entrance of the school, and Belle, being the mischievous rogue that she was, raced toward the door to spy on him. She cracked it open just in time to see him slip into the wood shop, and when he returned a moment later, she was holding the door for him, not even trying to hide the fact that she’d been snooping.
“Well? Did you rig a machine to cut off Landon’s finger? Because I’d like to be there when it happens.” She grinned, but it fell away as he dug around in his backpack, then pulled out an eerily familiar object. A hammer. “What is this? What are you going to—”
“I’m not going to do anything. If you want to sneak over to my place and hang out in the orchard with me and Poppy…” He placed the hammer in her hand. “You’re going to have to rescue yourself.”
12
Every Tool Is a Weapon
When Lily left the detention center, she thought she was being followed. Her body tensed at every rustling of leaves. She’d spent the past hour whispering with Belladonna, trying to keep anyone from hearing their plans, so she told herself she was just being paranoid as she rode her bike out of the parking lot and onto the street. There was no rush of sound behind her, no blur of movement when she turned her head.
She was alone.
Still, she stopped on Main Street, beneath the white columns of the justice building, pretending she needed to tie her shoe. She stopped again beside the rose gardens in the center of town. There were a couple of stragglers in the garden, but spring hadn’t teased open most of the blossoms yet, so it was easy to see the emptiness between the bushes. No one was hiding there. No one was following her.
She couldn’t shake the feeling, though. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she pedaled through the east side of town, toward a little blue house with white shutters. She pulled her bike around the back of the house. Her purse was resting in the basket, and she slid the strap over her shoulder before heading for the kitchen. It wasn’t until she was safely inside the house that Lily began to relax.
“I’m home,” she called, because she knew he was waiting for her. He worked the night shift at a local plant nursery, unloading flowers from truck beds as the sun went down. This time of day, h
e’d be home. He’d be anxious to see her.
Lily strode past the kitchen table, where a pair of gardening shears sat beside a bouquet of freshly cut lilies. She could see her father sitting in the living room beyond. He was slumped over in his favorite beat-up chair, watching a game show on TV.
He looked up as she entered the room. “Lil. You’re back.”
“I wanted to check on you. I promised Raven’s dad I’d spend the week at the Holloways’, to help with the funeral planning, but—”
Her father choked out a sob. “Lily, I’m so sorry.”
“Stop. You didn’t do anything wrong.” She crouched in front of him. His shaggy brown hair was sticking up every which way, his five-o’clock shadow darkening into a beard. She pushed the hair back from his face, forcing him to meet her gaze. “Everything’s going to be fine. I got your file from Mom’s office, and I’m going to destroy it in my stepdad’s shredder. Then I’m going to clear Belle’s name.”
“What?” Her father pulled away from her, pushing to his feet. “You broke into your mother’s office? Why would you—”
“Because of what you did for me. You protected me when the police came to question us. All I’m doing is returning the favor.”
“You need to stay out of trouble.” He pulled her into his arms, clinging tightly. His flannel shirt smelled of old milk and sweat. “I can’t lose you, Lily. I’ve been trying to get you back for so long. And everything that happened the other night… it’s my fault. I should’ve known you would—”
There was a sharp intake of breath on the other side of the window, and Lily slapped a hand over his mouth. She hadn’t realized the window was cracked. “I didn’t do anything,” she whispered to her dad. “You didn’t do anything. There’s nothing left to talk about, all right?”
He nodded, and Lily strained to hear movement outside the house. There came a slight rustling, like someone backing away from the window in sneakers. The grass would muffle their movements. If Lily didn’t act fast, they’d be gone before she could catch them.
“You know what?” she said suddenly, allowing her voice to carry out the window. “There is one more loose end I need to discuss with you. Something the police might figure out, if we’re not careful. I left it in the kitchen.”
Loudly, Lily plodded toward the kitchen, plucking the gardening shears from the table. But instead of returning to her father’s side, she slipped out the back door, creeping around the side of the house. She was the hunter now. She refused to keep up the role of the wounded animal, constantly looking over her shoulder. Waiting to be caught. When she saw the couple crouching in front of the living room window, their bodies half-obscured by a hedge, she tightened her grip on the gardening shears, creeping up behind them. “Hear anything interesting?”
Raven spun around first, his eyes dropping immediately to the dull, rusted shears in her hand. But Jack, well. She didn’t even bat an eye at the sight of them. She simply brushed past Raven, placing her body between him and any hint of danger.
Just like usual.
“Hey, Lil,” Jack said, using the nickname Lily’s father had spoken moments earlier.
Great. They’d probably heard everything. Lily would need to be smart if she wanted to turn things around.
“I can explain,” she started, shifting into the defensive. Her eyes went wide, her hands shaking a little, like she hadn’t even considered using the shears against them. “I asked Raven’s dad not to say anything, because Raven just got home, but after the funeral I’m moving out of the Holloway estate. I reconnected with my biological father when I was staying at the facility. Now that my mom’s not around to stop us, we’re going to be a family.”
Shit. She shouldn’t have put it like that. Now that my mom’s not around made her sound guilty, but she’d meant what she’d said to her dad. Once his file was destroyed, there wouldn’t be anything linking him to her mother’s murder. “The night my mother died, my dad was visiting me at the facility, and we were going over all the paperwork he’d need to get full custody.”
“You were together that night?” Jack narrowed her eyes. “At the facility?”
“Yeah. He was there the whole night, which they don’t usually allow, but I’m friends with the guy who was working the front desk and… he let it slide. I hope he doesn’t get in trouble now that the police are sniffing around. He had to tell them he bent the rules for me.”
“So the police know everything.” Jack looked defeated, or maybe disappointed. Had she been building a case against Lily? Trying to throw her under the bus? Lily bristled, her gaze shifting to Raven, but he was staring at the house.
He looked unwell. He looked the way he had after Lily and her mom had moved into his house. “That’s your dad?” he murmured, his eyes never leaving the window. “You just met him and you’re going to live together?”
“We’ve been talking for more than two years. He came to visit me a lot, and I know it sounds sudden to you, but I’ve been wanting to know him my whole life.” Lily stepped up to Raven, taking his hands. But he pulled away from her and he was shaking. She didn’t understand it. “I promise, Raven, I was going to tell you. It just doesn’t feel right for me to stay with you, now that my mom’s…” She trailed off, letting the rest hang in the air. Her mother was dead. Her stepdad had never officially adopted her, and Raven had been away for three years. Once upon a time, Lily had wanted them to be a family, but they weren’t a family.
Her family was here, inside this house.
“So,” she went on, swinging the shears casually now. Drawing attention to them as if by accident. “I’ve told you my secret. Want to tell me why you’re huddled outside my window? How did you even find me here?”
Jack blushed and it looked genuine. Like she was embarrassed rather than guilty. “I went to see Belle this morning,” she began, and Lily’s head snapped up. Her fingers tightened on her weapon. “But when I got to the detention center, I saw you leaving in a hurry. I thought it might be better to talk to you before I interrogated Belle, so I followed you, assuming you were going home. When I realized you weren’t, I texted Raven to come meet me. He took driving lessons at the academy, and his dad didn’t even notice that he borrowed the car.”
“And then you crept up to the window instead of knocking on the door?”
Jack ran a hand through her auburn hair, smiling ruefully. “Okay, not my finest hour. But we’ve hardly seen each other in years, and I figured you’d do the same with me. Gather intel and then ask your questions.”
They stared at each other a minute, Jack reading Lily. Lily reading Jack. Finally, Lily’s lips curved into a smile, her grip loosening on the shears. “So we’ve all been sneaking around, spying on each other.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “It probably did look sinister to see me walking into a strange house and whispering with a strange man. But he’s my dad, and he’s a really good guy.”
“Are you sure?” Raven asked, toying with a thread on his jeans. He couldn’t stop fidgeting. Couldn’t stop looking at the house.
“Am I sure he’s my father, or that he’s a good person?”
“Either. Both. I just…” He swallowed, chewing on his bottom lip. “I don’t get a good feeling from him. I think he might be dangerous.”
“You don’t know anything about him!” Lily’s cheeks flushed with heat, and she told herself to calm down. Raven had been through hell. His mom had been shot in cold blood and a strange woman had moved into his house, torturing him in a way he still couldn’t explain. He had good reason to be distrustful of strangers. “After we’ve laid my mother to rest, I’ll have you and your dad over, okay? You can both meet him, and make sure I’m being taken care of. Right now, we need to find my mother’s killer.”
“She’s right,” Jack said, touching Raven’s arm. “Why don’t you come over to my house and we can talk in private? Go over what we’ve learned?”
Here, Jack’s gaze flicked to Lily, and Lily heard everything she wasn’t
saying. They both had files to go over. Suspects to discover. And Lily in particular had one file to dispose of, especially now that Raven was getting suspicious of her dad.
She pulled out her phone and texted her dad rather than returning to the house: Need to go back to Raven’s for a bit. Forgot something. See you at dinner? She knew if she went back inside the house, he would pull her into his arms again and start crying, and she’d have to explain things she didn’t know how to explain.
This was better.
“Let me know if you think of anything important,” Lily said, as Raven and Jack headed off the grounds, Jack’s fingers still brushing Raven’s arm. His gaze still darting to the house. “We need to clear Belle’s name, and that means giving the police another suspect. A better suspect.”
She let the comment hang. It sounded perfectly innocent, but clearly, Jack sensed the threat underneath. Her head snapped toward Lily, and they held each other’s eyes for a minute.
Then Jack turned away, wrapping an arm around Raven’s shoulder.
It took a couple of minutes for them to reach the end of the street, where Raven had parked his father’s car. Once they’d driven off, Lily looped around the house, retrieving her bike. She guided it to the sidewalk. It wasn’t until she’d swung onto the seat that she remembered she was still holding the rusty gardening shears. She slid them into her purse, then set the purse in the bike’s basket.
She had a feeling she would need them.
* * *
Three hours later, Lily was pacing in her bedroom, angry enough to slide those dull, rusted shears over someone’s skin. She should’ve looked for her father’s file the second she’d gotten home. Instead, she’d wasted the afternoon poring over the files Jack had copied at her mother’s office. She’d found nothing suspicious, until she’d gone to retrieve Andrew Kane’s file from her bedside table.
Lies Like Poison Page 10
