Bait

by Kasi Blake

“Are you ready?” Keisha asked.

  They were in their shared dorm. Bay-Lee lifted the book of spells high enough for her roommate to see it. A pretty snowflake bookmark poked out. It was holding their spot, the spell that would release the wraith and end the nightmare once and for all. Bay-Lee lifted an eyebrow. “Are you?”

  Keisha held a wood bowl between both hands. She tipped it far enough for Bay-Lee to see inside without spilling anything. The ingredients were already assembled, waiting for a few drops of blood. Then someone just needed to speak the spell over it. If it worked, the wraith would be free to hunt down its master and kill them.

  The two girls exited the room together. They took the elevator down and crossed the great expanse of lawn, pebbled path, and rocky stairs between school and castle at a near run. Fury at Nick drove her to keep moving even when her lungs started to burn. She ranted all the way there, more to herself than to Keisha. “I can’t believe he did this! He knew the wraith was coming for him today so he picked a fight with me.”

  Keisha cut in with, “He loves you and wants to protect you.”

  “That’s no excuse. How would he feel if I did it to him, if I broke up with him just so I could get killed?”

  They reached the front door and Keisha asked, “Which of us is going to prick her finger?”

  “I don’t know. You do it, I guess, and I’ll try to keep the wraith away from Nick.”

  There was a short pause. “I think you should donate the blood.” Keisha smiled wanly. “Sorry. I had a tiny bit of wine and the spell might not work with that in my system.”

  Bay-Lee frowned. “I didn’t see you take a drink.”

  “You weren’t in the room.”

  They hurried across the foyer and started checking rooms. No one seemed to be home. If they had to check all of the rooms, Nick would be dead by the time they found him. “There has to be a better way to do this.”

  Keisha froze, a contemplative look on her face as if she was trying to decipher a long math problem. “We have to think like Nick.” She tapped a finger against her jaw. “A wraith is coming after me. Where do I want to be?”

  Bay-Lee considered the question. “As a hunter I would want enough space to fight.”

  “Yes.” Keisha smiled. “And I would want enough room to set a trap.”

  “What’s the biggest room in this place?” Bay-Lee’s eyes went up to the ceiling as if she could see through it. Memories of endless summers spent exploring the castle came swimming back. “The ballroom. I would want to fight the wraith in the ballroom.”

  “Let’s go then. Lead the way.”

  Bay-Lee raced down the hallway to a flight of stone stairs. She traveled up them first with Keisha close behind. They didn’t run because of the bowl in Keisha’s hands. If they lost even a speck of magical ingredients, the spell might not work right, so they moved as fast as they could without risking failure.

  When they reached the double doors leading to the ballroom, Keisha shoved the bowl into Bay-Lee’s hands. “I assume you have a knife on you?”

  “Back pocket. But—”

  Keisha raced through the doors first, leaving Bay-Lee to perform the spell alone. Bay-Lee’s gaze immediately landed on Nick. He was writhing on the wall, three feet off the ground, struggling to get loose. His limbs remained pinned. Reflex had her running to help him.

  “No!” Keisha yelled. “I’ll get him. You do the spell.”

  A ghostly boy turned around, wicked smile on his pale face. Keisha ran straight at him, leaping into the air at the last second to kick him, but she sailed through him. He laughed. She hit the floor with bone-cracking intensity. This wasn’t going to work. If Bay-Lee didn’t finish the spell in the next few seconds, both Nick and Keisha would be dead.

  Bay-Lee didn’t bother to search for a good spot. She dropped to the floor on her knees, set everything down, and used her favorite dagger to cut her thumb open. Blood dripped onto the assembled mess in the bowl. She struck a match and read the incantation aloud. The important part was to keep going no matter what. She couldn’t allow herself to be distracted by anything.

  And the wraith knew it.

  With an eerie scream the wraith ran in circles around her. For some reason it couldn’t touch her, part of the spell protected her perhaps, but it managed to stir up a wicked wind. She kept reading in a loud voice. Doors blew open. Keisha screamed at her to hurry. Bay-Lee’s dark hair whipped around her face, momentarily blocking her vision. She shoved it aside and continued to read.

  Everything went deathly silent.

  Bay-Lee looked up, finished.

  The wraith glowed for a second, and gossamer chains of blue light fell to the floor, releasing it from a strong magical bond. Nick also hit the floor. The wraith disappeared. On his knees, Nick looked at her, obviously worried. “It’s going after its master. If we don’t stop it, it will kill the idiot before we can get our hands on him.”

  Keisha shrugged. “So? They deserve it.”

  Instinctively knowing what he was thinking, Bay-Lee said, “It might be someone we care about.”

  Nick swallowed, not saying a word in his brother’s defense. He got up and raced to the door. Bay-Lee ran after him. She wanted to ask about the weird looking sword in his hand but didn’t get the chance. Even if Alec was doing evil stuff, he was still Nick’s family. She understood Nick’s need to save him.

  By the time they reached the school, students were spilling from the building in a panicked flood. Nick pushed past them to get inside. Bay-Lee grabbed hold of one of his jean pockets so they wouldn’t get separated. They cut a path through the crowd to the elevator. As soon as another wave of students stampeded off the thing, Nick jumped inside with Bay-Lee and Keisha behind him.

  The look of fear on his face spoke louder than words. He was afraid his brother was dead. Nick didn’t bother to give the elevator a destination, choosing to take it to whichever floor it stopped on instead. With students trying to escape it was obvious it would go to the right place. Bay-Lee held her breath. Although she despised Alec, she didn’t want Nick to go through the loss of a relative.

  The elevator stopped on a residential floor instead of the higher floor where the teachers had their offices. Students piled into the glass tube while pushing Bay-Lee, Nick, and Keisha out. Pieces of burned wood were scattered across the floor.

  Bay-Lee latched onto Jonah as he tried to get on the elevator. “What happened? Was someone hurt?”

  “A wraith,” Jonah panted, trying to catch his breath. A film of perspiration covered his face and neck. “The thing just blasted in here, tore off my door, and blew into my room. I thought it was going to kill me, but it killed him instead. Then it disappeared.”

  “Who?” Nick questioned. “Who did it kill?”

  “Gavin Murdoch.”

  A wave of dizziness smashed into Bay-Lee’s face. “Gavin? But it can’t be… he wouldn’t...” She denied the truth even though deep down she’d suspected him since pulling her necklace from his pocket. She’d wanted him to be innocent despite the evidence.

  Nick didn’t allow her to finish. He raced to the open dorm room and disappeared inside while Bay-Lee stood frozen to the floor. She wanted to follow him, but she couldn’t make her legs move. Poor Gavin. Sorrow turned to guilt. If it was true and he’d been killed, it was her fault at least in part. She was the one who’d sent the wraith after its master.

  Nick returned to her side.

  “Did it get him?” she asked. “Is Gavin dead?”

  Nick nodded. “If it helps, I don’t think he suffered. His neck was broken.”

  “Gavin was not behind the wraiths. No way.”

  “Then why did he have this in his room?” Nick showed her a ruby red lighter. “This is mine, and he had it tucked away in a box under his bed. I also found a bowl of ashes where he burned names and birthdays.”

  “There’s go
t to be another explanation.”

  Keisha had gone inside the room while they were discussing Gavin’s death. She returned with a piece of paper. Showing it to them, she said, “He was definitely behind the wraiths. Look at this. It’s the spell used to create them.” Her lips twisted in disgust. “You just never know about people.”

  “He couldn’t have done it,” Bay-Lee repeated in stunned disbelief. Her mind raced for an explanation, something to clear his name. “Maybe someone broke in and planted the stuff, or it could have been Jonah. He’s new and Gavin had to share the room with him so the stuff could have belonged to him.”

  Keisha reminded her, “Gavin had your necklace in his pocket. What do you think he was going to do with it?”

  She felt the color drain from her face. Gavin had been planning to send a wraith after her. It didn’t seem possible. The Gavin she knew was sweet and gentle. Okay, she’d broken up with him and dented his heart, but killing her for it seemed a bit much.

  Nick put his arm around her, his fingers wrapping around her upper arm. “I’m sorry Gavin died, and I know you don’t want to think of him as a bad guy, but you have to look at the evidence. He sent the wraith that killed Tessa and the one that killed Serena. He sent the one that tried to kill me.”

  Bay-Lee buried her face in his shirt for a moment. The most important person in her life was Nick and she’d almost lost him. Since Gavin was responsible, he deserved to die. Didn’t he?

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  HUNTER