The two investigators had looked at each other before they asked me, “We’d like for you to take a truth serum.”
I stared for a long moment. I could hardly believe that I was hearing them ask me to take one. I despised truth serum. I despised being on it. I hated the very control it gave others over you. I wanted to shout no at them. I wanted to scream at them and stomp my feet, and I wanted to run away because that sense of doom had not gone away.
But I could do none of those things.
They weren't asking me to take a truth serum because they thought I might fib a little. They were asking me to take it because I--Holy Hecate--must be their best guess at the murderer. I considered this in a flash of a second and then realized the only option to end their focus on me and get back my life was to take the truth serum.
“All right,” I said, sniffling.
When they pulled out the vial and I felt that familiar rush of fury at being asked to take it, I reminded myself that I had a skill set that few could duplicate when it came to this serum. Again, I could thank my mother. I had been truth serumed so often, I almost craved that soothing liquid.
Instead, I took it and asked, “Does it need to be added to something?”
It didn’t. But they didn’t need to know how well I knew that.
“Here’s an orange juice,” Jefferson Maxwell said, giving me a consoling grin. This isn't so bad, it seemed to say.
I barely prevented myself from telling him what I thought of their methods. But as I gazed at the orange juice I remembered my last glass of it. The citrus in the orange juice upped the abilities of the truth serum. The jerks. Maxwell, the shark, had said it so nicely and considerately.
Then he added, “Some people don’t care for the taste of the serum.”
Some people, I thought, didn’t care for everything. That statement was a generalization entirely without value since it was so damn general. Which meant, they’d get the obvious truth serum trick.
You don’t have to lie, I told myself. You didn’t kill her.
I let them put the serum in the orange juice, and they gave me a hefty dose. I felt the instant soothing lull of it as I drank it down. This stuff was more potent than my mom’s. The shark jerks.
And then that familiar rush of TRUTH hit me. The need to tell them everything.
“So, let’s just get started again,” April, the female, shark said. “Would you state your name for the record?”
“Veruca Jones,” I said.
Though the recording was already running, she said, “It’s okay if we record you isn’t it?”
My eyes would have narrowed, but I didn't want them to know what I was thinking. My first inclined answer was to scream, "No!" at them.
But...
Also yes. I needed to think.
“I’m sorry,” I sniffled. “This is awful.”
They nodded sympathetically. With a sympathy that did not go to their eyes.
And then I looked at the female shark and said, “You can record me.”
Truth. Not a statement of my feelings however.
“So, how did you know Chrysanthemum Porter-Hallow?”
“I met her today,” I said, letting the truth rush out in the way that truth serums liked to yank it from you. “She was my roommate. I helped her find the Quietus Building for her advising appointment, and then I saw her after for a minute when Felix and I were talking.”
“You didn’t know her before school?”
I shook my head.
"Out loud," male shark said with a quick smile. He was still playing the good cop. “For the record, please."
“No.” A clear statement of fact. What were they getting at?
“You didn’t request to be roommates with her?”
I shook my head and then said again, “No. I didn’t request to be roommates with anyone. No one I know is going here. There was only one other girl from Sage Island who graduated school and was a witch. She didn’t go to college. I think she’s like—tattooing people.” I let the truth that didn’t worry me rush out as I thought. This…wasn’t normal. These questions didn’t make any sense and since I couldn’t bite my lip, I had to rely on self-control and experience to not start asking why. Questions on the part of the interviewee are just as telling in their way. It was better to look innocent and quiet and as freaked out and terrified as I was.
I let another tear slip down my face. It wasn’t a lie. I was sad that my roommate was dead. How could I not be? Then I realized that someone else had died. Sweet Hecate, what was happening? The first victim was someone unknown. This one…this one I knew. I had a face for. I knew, at least, some of her fears. I had an idea about her. Oh, Hecate. Chrysie didn’t need to worry about flunking out anymore.
And then…
Then….
There was that black flame.
“She was so scared,” I said. “She was worried she’d get kicked out because she didn’t do well on the placement tests. Felix said something about her family, but it didn’t comfort her at all.”
“The Hallow family?”
I paused for a second like I was thinking, and then nodded. “Yes, them.”
A borderline untruth that was technically no such thing. Waiting to answer wasn't a lie. Knowing it could be construed as consideration was, at best, a semi-deception. Truth serums made no such prevarication.
The two looked at each other and then back at me. “What do you know about the Hallow family?”
I answered honestly, letting the words rush out. “That Chrysie was one.”
And other things. The unexpected truth I had gotten so recently. You are a representative of the newest generation of the great Hallow family. Your family has been and are masters of death magic.
Oh, Hecate. Was I related to Chrysie? I must be. That was why they were so confused. Oh, Mother, I thought. What have your lies and evasions gotten me into?
One of them pulled up a photo on their phone and placed it in front of me.
“That’s my mom,” I said. Her black hair was pulled back into a sensible ponytail—no bow. I felt a sudden desire to cut off my own ponytail. Her white shirt was starched, and the collar seemed to be extra pointed. “Autumn Jones. Why are you showing me pictures of my mom?”
“Your Mother attended St. Angelus as you know.”
“I didn’t,” I inserted. “Until today when Professor Lechner told me. I didn’t even know about Necromancy being in our family until last year when it became a thing on the island.”
The tumble of my words out of my mouth was perfect. They were all true, but I don’t think they realized the amount of control I had over myself with the truth serum. Who did? Normal people’s parents didn’t truth serum them at all. Let alone so often their children would have control over their truths as part of arming their “arsenal.” For most people, who have never experienced truth serum, it will make you vomit up your thoughts. I jiggled my leg—a common side effect of the serum—and watched them glance back and forth between each other.
“At this time, her name was Autumn Hallow.”
“What?” My shock was evident. My mom’s maiden name—I thought—had been Huckleby. “I mean, I’ve never met my grandparents. I always figured it was because my mom burned a huge bridge with them like she does with everyone.”
Again those glances back and forth.
“Your grandparents died when your mother was a teenager. She lived with a cousin until she was an adult. Those cousins included Elspeth Hallow.”
Irritation flashed on my face, and it was possible I’d given myself away. “Am I supposed to know who that is? I feel like you’re talking about someone else’s family.”
“Elspeth Hallow is Chrysanthemum’s mother.”
“Wait. What?” Shock was flowing over me in a flood. “The cousin my mom lived with? Did Chrysie know we were cousins or whatever?”
“We assumed you both did.”
“How do you know all this anyway? I mean…you just got here.�
��
“Well,” the weighted shark glances were tossed back and forth before they said, “The kid who died earlier this week was another Hallow. And when your mom attended school here—similar crimes were happening.”
“And my mom was an almost victim? That’s why she switched to Grace?”
“Your mom was the main suspect.”
* * * * * * * *
Of course, Mother had been the main suspect.
Control yourself, Rue.
“So you think I’m doing this?”
“It is, of course, a possibility.”
Red film seemed to cover my gaze. How dare they? How dare they think I would have killed my poor, excited, naive roommate? How dare they think that even my morally challenged self wouldn't know the level of wrongness murder was and do it anyway?! I was barely an adult. I wanted to travel and study! I wanted to dance on a beach during spring break. I did not want to murder some random relative I had never even met.
None of that showed on my face. I cleared my throat and said, carefully, “It’s also a possibility that you did it, and that you’re framing me.”
The shark’s gazes met and I realized that they were starting to figure me out. But they were the ones who had truth serumed me. I smiled my wicked smile. The one that looked like my sister. And I said clearly and distinctly. “I did not kill either Chrysanthemum Porter-Hallow or the other Hallow person.”
“Your mother was very good under truth serum as well.”
My head cocked as I examined them and perhaps my internal shark came out as I stared them down. “You’re Presidium and I’m barely an adult. I want my advisor and a Presidium lawyer.”
I stood and walked towards the door. “It turns out that Mother prepared me for a lot of things. How to draw a pentacle. How to fight off an attacker. How to control myself under truth serum. But she also taught me enough to know that you CAN NOT lie under truth serum. So you know that I just told the truth. You are not pinning this crime on me.”
The sharks gazes were cold as they stood and said, “You told the truth you know.”
A chill flowed over me. If I were being used to kill someone, I wouldn’t necessarily know it. And that would probably help me avoid a Presidium slaying or imprisonment. But it wouldn’t prevent my life from being ruined. I’d never lead a coven. I’d never be accepted into another magic school. I’d be the lone witch without coven or friends. Oh, Hecate. They would ruin my life so hard.
“I told the flat truth,” I said. “You can be sure of another thing. My mother would never have let me come here if she believed I’d be in danger.”
“Your mother might not be the person you think,” the female shark replied.
“That sounds like you think you know her. So, let’s be clear. She’s mean. Nasty. Cold. Controlling. Vindictive. She’s a lot of bad things. But she’s also my mother. And she loves me and my sister with every bit of her frigid, hard heart. You clearly didn’t win against her when she was my age. You aren’t going to like dealing with her now.”
And then, I did something I never thought I’d do. I pulled out my phone and called my mother for help.
“Veruca,” she said as she answered. No hello.
“I’m sorry I hung up on you,” I said immediately. “I need your help. Apparently Elspeth’s kid is dead and another Hallow kid and they think I did it.”
I knew the sharks were listening, and I knew that they would be interested in the answer. So I put the phone on speaker. Her voice was cooler than theirs, and I knew her eyes were colder. She didn’t go shark—she wasn’t like these Presidium investigators. She went…alien. It seemed at times there was nothing of mother or human in her. “I’ll be there in the morning. I assume you’ve asked for a Presidium lawyer.”
“Yes.”
“Ask for a Presidium Protector as well.”
“I want that,” I told the sharks. They weren’t pleased but their heads nodded, and they took note.
“Did they truth serum you?”
“Yes.”
“Then…” And she said words that I couldn’t understand. But when she was done, I wasn’t able to speak.
I gaped, attempted to say something, anything and then tried again.
“Well,” the female shark said.
Hecate's eyes, I thought. Isn't this typical?
* * * * * * * *
I left the workroom. They didn’t have any use for me if they couldn’t manipulate me before my protector arrived.
“Hey,” Felix said. He was in the hallway waiting for me.
I waved.
“You all right?”
I shook my head.
He looked at me carefully and then said, “Why don’t you come to my room? You can hang out on the couch while they do their thing.”
I followed him and curled up on the corner of the couch. I laid my head down on my arms and wondered when my mother’s spell would wear off.
“Veruca,” my advisor, Professor Lechner, said a few minutes later, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I hadn’t heard her come in.
I raised my brows at her.
“Are you well?”
I shook my head. I was still under the influence of the truth serum, or I would have nodded. I frowned at her and then nestled into my arms.
“I realize that you’ve had a shock,” she said, “but I still expect some common courtesy.”
The sharks must have also entered because the man-shark said, “Autumn Hallow spelled her not to speak.”
“What? Who called her mom?”
“She did. She doesn’t seem to like being our main suspect.”
“Rue didn’t kill Chrysie.” Felix said shocked. “Why would Rue kill Chrysie? That’s crazy.”
“That is a kind sentiment. And I appreciate that you want to believe it.” The man shark said. “Veruca was certainly an instrument of the murder. Her magic is all over that dorm room.”
“It’s her room. My magic is all over this room.” Felix’s anger made me feel better. “I spelled spells with Rue in there. I watched her do other spells.”
“Both of the dead girls are Hallow.”
“So?” Felix shot back.
“She’s a Hallow.”
Felix looked me over, and the expression in his face had changed but he still stuck up for me as he said, “That sounds to me like a reason to protect her not victimize her.”
But I’d seen the shock in his eyes. He didn’t feel the same way about me as he had before. He'd actually taken a step away from her. HIs glance darted to the side.
“Her mother told her to request a Presidium Protector," the male shark told my advisor, but I could see Felix's gaze widen.
“And she did?” Lechner sounded…not disgusted.
“She did,” female shark replied, clearly disgusted.
“Do you realize what that means?” Lechner asked with a quizzical look at me.
I shook my head.
“It means you’ve accepted Presidium justice. If they prove you did it, you could be executed.”
I had an immediate thrill of horror. But, it was followed by an entirely unexpected warmth. That meant I knew without question, that my mother had not killed her peers when she was a kid and that she believed I hadn’t killed mine. Sure, it’s a little broken when you bond over not being murderers together. But, our relationship was broken. Our entirely family was dysfunctional. That just didn’t mean we didn’t love each other. We loved each other fiercely.
We just didn’t like each other very often. Or at least—something like that.
It’s complicated.
But, after that first thrill of horror, I was certain my mother wouldn’t let me be executed. I don’t know how she would avoid it. But she was scary sometimes. And she’d pull out all of her scary for me. Of course, she’s also going to remind me of it every single time I see her for the rest of my life.
“No one asks for a Presidium Protector,” Lechner said. “It’s archaic.”
“It
is still valid law,” male shark said. What had his name been? Something Maxwell? Jackson? Jefferson? Something rich people named their kids. I couldn't see anything other than sharks after they'd decided so quickly to pin this murder on my mother and me. He didn’t sound happy about the law being valid. I hid my smile at his irritation.
“Unfortunately,” female shark added.
“Are you afraid?” Felix asked me quietly, but everyone paused to listen.
I shook my head.
“Foolishness, you should be terrified.” It was Lechner who had spoken, but I could see that the sharks, at least, agreed.
But I don’t think that Lechner understood what I had done. I had called my mother. Yes, she’s a total cow. Yes, she’s controlling. Yes, she’s cruel. But also yes, she’s my MOM. My mother wasn’t going to let me be executed. She wouldn’t let my dreams be ruined either. She wanted me to lead a coven. She wanted me to be powerful and noteworthy. If my dream was Bran’s—being in a band—my mother would do her best to squash the crap out of it. But my dream wasn’t. I loved magic.
My mother loved magic.
I loved the intricacies of spells.
My mother did too. She had spent my entire childhood training me. It was why I was so good now. She wouldn’t let all that work go to waste. Especially when her alternative heir was Bran.
“Have they sent someone yet,” Lechner’s voice was disgusted. “We’re going to have total anarchy on our hands as the parents realize what is happening. We need to do something to show we're being proactive. If we don't, we're going to lose all of our most talented students."
I wanted to be disgusted with her, but then she added, "And rightfully so. This is...unacceptable."
It was a weak word, but even I could see the emotion behind it was not weak.
“They would send someone right away,” the male shark said. “But we’re paused for now. We’ve overtaken the crime scene of course. And the girl’s workroom.”
My eyes widened. That was every single thing that I had. What was I going to do?
“Classes start in two days,” Lechner said. “We need the funding from the Hallow's families, so we’ll need to see things like…progress. Immediately.”
The sharks didn’t look pleased as my professor bossed them around. But I could also see that her orders—welcome or not—were not going to be disregarded. Maybe they cared about the other Hallow kids. Maybe they didn’t.
Hallow Graves: A Rue Hallow Mystery Page 7
