Discern (Mosaic Chronicles Book 1)

by Andrea Pearson

After several long moments, Hayla left, mumbling something about the dining room table. She probably wanted to escape the awkwardness. Or was it to give the students alone time? Yeah, they didn’t need any of that. Sure, Austin was hot—incredibly hot. But he was arrogant, and Nicole didn’t want to be alone with him.

  Several moments passed. Nicole loaded the dishwasher, then scrubbed furiously at the leftover dishes. Still, Austin didn’t say anything. Was he waiting for her to respond to his earlier comment? She couldn’t even remember what it had been. Could a guy be any more clueless? Was her body language not enough? Go away!

  Austin surprised her by grabbing a towel. He started drying the pile of clean dishes that had accumulated.

  Nicole glanced sidelong at him. He was staring at her. She dropped her eyes.

  Austin cleared his throat, taking a pan from her. She caught a whiff of his aftershave and found herself relaxing in the deep, musky scent. Oh, so that was his plan. Torture girls with amazing cologne and a rude personality. What a waste.

  “Coolidge has been very impressed with you.”

  Nicole raised an eyebrow, surprised at Austin’s choice of conversation and the fact that he finally broke the silence. “With me? Why?”

  Austin shrugged. “He says you have a good work ethic.”

  Nicole scowled, knowing where Austin would take that. Good work ethic in no way equaled talent with Arete abilities.

  “Personally,” Austin continued, “I think he just didn’t want to bring someone who’d invite drama.”

  Okay, that wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

  Austin met eyes with her again, a question there. “He believes you won’t.”

  “I’m not into drama, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

  He nodded. “I didn’t think you would be. Anyway, Coolidge just told everyone—”

  “Ouch!” Nicole jerked her hand out of the water when something sharp pricked her palm. Blood dripped down her fingers.

  “Did you grab a knife?” Austin asked.

  Nicole scowled at him and then turned back to the sink, choosing not to respond to such a ridiculous question. Of course she hadn’t grabbed a knife—she wasn’t stupid enough to put one in the soapy water in the first place.

  She rinsed the blood away and tried to inspect the cut. It kept bleeding, though, preventing her from seeing anything. “Ouch,” she repeated.

  Austin reached for her hand. At first, Nicole resisted. Why would she want his help? He kept challenging her intelligence!

  “Come on—it’s not going to stop until you do something about it.”

  He waved a paper towel at her, and finally, she relented, allowing him to press the towel over the cut.

  “I got it,” Nicole said, trying to take over.

  Instead of letting go, though, Austin enveloped both her hands with his own and raised his eyes to hers.

  Nicole’s heart rate increased and her breaths shortened. Austin’s expression was open, unguarded. His warm brown eyes searched her face, soaking her in.

  Why the sudden intensity? Didn’t he hate her?

  Nicole opened her mouth to speak and noticed his gaze wander there. She licked her lips automatically, hoping they didn’t look rough. Of course, doing so made her feel silly. What an obvious “please kiss me” action. She didn’t want him to kiss her.

  At least, she didn’t think so.

  “Um . . .” she said, searching for something to talk about. “What were you going to say?”

  He blinked. “What?”

  “About Coolidge. He told everyone something?”

  Austin’s hand still pressed against hers, his long fingers wrapped around her own. “He, uh . . . he said there’d been a fifth test—one he hadn’t mentioned in class.”

  Nicole tried to force her breath to return to normal. Should she pull away? Was he waiting for her to do that? Was she making herself look desperate by not pulling away?

  Deciding it was better to take charge of the situation rather than appear too eager for attention, Nicole edged out of his grasp, acting like she needed to shift the position of the paper towel while still maintaining pressure on the cut.

  “Would you look for a first aid kit?” she asked, not wanting him to feel like her action was a rejection.

  Austin stepped back and nodded. “Sure.” He ran a hand through his dark hair and turned to the cupboards over the sink. He stared at them for a moment before opening them, apparently readjusting his thoughts. “Coolidge said that any student who couldn’t get along with the others was eliminated. He said he’ll send people home if they create problems.”

  Nicole’s thoughts flew to Judith Ann. So that was what happened with her. She caused too much drama. Nicole agreed—she was grateful she wouldn’t have to deal with the girl while in Arches.

  Hayla returned at that moment, and Austin asked her for a first aid kit. She paled, pointing to a cupboard. “Is everything all right?”

  Nicole nodded. “I cut my hand on something in the sink. Don’t worry—it’s not bad.” She didn’t think so, anyway.

  And it wasn’t—Hayla was able to cover it with a single Band-Aid.

  “But no more washing for you,” Hayla said. She drained the sink, revealing a broken glass at the bottom. “There’s the culprit,” she said.

  Nicole blushed. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t even hear it break.”

  Hayla waved her off. “Don’t worry about it—it was a mismatched set anyway.” She cleaned the shards out of the sink with a damp towel and shook them into the garbage can. “Thanks for your help. You were right—it would’ve taken me hours to get through everything.”

  Coolidge wandered into the room just then and kissed Hayla on the back of the neck. He turned, seeing Austin and Nicole, who now sat at the breakfast table. “There you two are. Nicole, I’ve been meaning to ask if you’ve seen the book recently.”

  She shook her head. “Not since yesterday.”

  “It disappeared after the test. I’ll do another search in my lab, but if my suspicions are correct, it’s with you again.”

  Nicole really, really hoped he was wrong.

  The drive home went quickly as she struggled not to daydream about Austin and his brown eyes and dark hair. She felt his hands around her own again, imagining how it would feel to have those hands in her hair or around her waist as they kissed.

  Nicole shook herself. Forming a crush right before she’d potentially spend a lot of time with him was not what she needed. He’d know right away that she was interested, and it would probably only feed his ego. Except tonight, he hadn’t been as arrogant as usual. He’d been gentle, caring, and warm—and that was confusing.

  “Come on, Nicole, drop it,” she whispered as she pulled into her parking structure. “It’s not like he’s asking you out or getting your number.” She flushed, realizing he hadn’t really done anything to show his interest.

  Time to focus on the expedition, not the hot guy going on it. Drama obviously was the last thing Coolidge wanted, and she couldn’t afford to get sent home for making an idiot of herself around another team member.

  Chapter Eight

  Nicole woke up Tuesday morning to spiders all over her bed. She screamed and flopped onto the floor, immediately feeling things crunching under her. Wet spots began soaking through her pajamas. With one motion, she was up on her feet, still shrieking, flicking on the light. Spiders were everywhere—the ceiling, her bed, the floor, the walls.

  Lizzie burst into the room, spider spray in hand. She glanced at Nicole.

  “Run—go change your clothes,” Lizzie said. “I’ll take care of this.”

  Nicole threw away her pajamas—sections of them were so covered in spider guts that she could barely discern the original color anymore. She jumped into the shower as fast as she could.

  It didn’t surprise her that as she washed her hair, spiders flushed down the drain. She couldn’t help screaming and pounding the shower walls, not caring who heard. Why was this h
appening? Why were they invading her space? Stalking her?

  At least she hadn’t been bitten yet. A miracle, to say the least.

  Nicole didn’t shower long. As soon as she had scrubbed everywhere multiple times, she popped out, dried herself off, and changed into jeans and a tee.

  “I’m not sleeping in that room again,” she said, then paused, tapping her cheek. “I checked the guest bedroom yesterday. The traps were empty. There hasn’t been a single spider there since we moved in, so I’m sleeping there tonight.”

  Lizzie shook her head. “You can’t do that, Nicole. That room was completely overrun when we moved in. I mean, what if they want you there?”

  Nicole chuckled. “Don’t be silly. They’re spiders. They don’t want people anywhere.”

  “But what if they do? It could be dangerous! I mean, they might even bite you!”

  “They haven’t yet.” She held up her hand when Lizzie started arguing again. “If I see any spiders while getting ready for bed, I’ll leave immediately. I promise.”

  “And let me know—I’ll help you set up in the living room.”

  Nicole sighed. “You know, after everything we’ve had to deal with, I honestly don’t care how great a bargain Sam is giving us. If we can’t figure out what’s going on, we need to find somewhere else to live. Even if that means having to ask my parents for help.”

  Lizzie looked surprised. “Wow. You’re that serious?”

  “Of course.”

  “Well, I agree. This is insane.”

  The girls spent the next hour setting out spider traps and throwing the sticky things away when they got full. The lighter it got outside, the more scarce the spiders became until the girls couldn’t find anything anymore.

  Nicole turned to her queen-size bed, hands on hips. Several carcasses were on the sheets, and she’d bet there were plenty of living creatures buried beneath the blankets. She yanked off the bedding and at least a hundred spiders fell out, scurrying into the crevices of the room. Others rolled to the ground, already dead.

  But something else dropped to the wooden floor with a thud. Something that upset Nicole even more than the spiders.

  The leather book.

  “Oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh!” She flipped the blanket away from herself and jumped up and down, screaming, shaking her hands. “It was in my bed. In my bed!”

  Lizzie stared at the book in shock.

  “Oh, I can’t believe it. The spiders were bad enough. But this?” She flung her hand toward the book. “I’m positive it’s been here the whole time it was missing from Coolidge’s lab! Argh!” She sat down, staring at Lizzie.

  “Call Coolidge. He’ll want to know you found it.”

  “And where has the shadow been this whole time?” Nicole jumped to her feet. “No wonder I’ve felt someone watching when I’m in here!” She kicked the book out into the hall. “Pervert!”

  Nicole slammed the door and slumped back onto the mattress. It took her five minutes to calm down enough to contact Professor Coolidge. She was devastated to learn that he wouldn’t be able to come until that evening.

  “Can I meet you somewhere?” Nicole asked. “I can’t handle having it around me for longer than necessary.”

  “If you’d like, you can bring it to my office now. I’m packing up some last-minute things for the trip. Besides, I think you’d enjoy seeing where the book is going to be held.”

  Nicole agreed to meet him, ended the call, and shoved the book into her backpack.

  When she arrived at Coolidge’s office, he took the book from her and set it on his desk, then pointed to a large cabinet.

  “It’s beautiful,” Nicole said, admiring the red finish.

  “It’s made of mopane—a very tough wood from Africa. It spent a couple of centuries in Zimbabwe, where it was used by some very impressive Aretes. Eventually, it was bought by a Chinese emperor who commissioned a powerful Arete to enchant it with a spell strong enough to prevent unlawful entry or exit.” He glanced at her, his eyes gleaming with excitement. “Rumor has it that the emperor stashed people in here until they suffocated to death.”

  Nicole raised her eyebrows. The cabinet was big enough to hold two or three adults. “It couldn’t have been cheap. How much did it cost?”

  “Nothing. I traded for it. The Chinese government has been unwilling to let it out of their sight for over a hundred years. You can imagine why—it’s quite amazing. Anyway, when I told them of your situation . . . and mentioned a few artifacts of mine they’ve had their eyes on for several years . . . we struck a bargain. They want to hear how well it operates with the book.”

  “Speaking of which.” Nicole motioned to it on his desk. “Can we take care of it? I can feel it wanting me to pick it up.”

  Coolidge nodded and grabbed it. He set it on the middle shelf of the cabinet and shut the door.

  “What about the shadow that follows me around?”

  “It’s bound to the book. As long as that stays here—and the magic keeps it put—the shadow will have to stay as well.”

  Coolidge put his hand over the lock and muttered a few words. Nicole heard a series of clicks and shifting gears on the inside of the cabinet. She raised her eyebrow.

  “Locks haven’t worked so well to keep the book contained before.”

  He grinned. “Ah, but watch.”

  Coolidge set both hands on the front of the cabinet and again muttered words. This time, instead of clicks, the wood vibrated. A powerful magical pulse burst from the cabinet, causing the air to furrow visibly, nearly knocking Nicole down. She grabbed Coolidge’s desk to hold herself up.

  The wood turned to golden liquid. The surface rippled like waves on a lake, and a strong turpentine and resin smell filled the office. Nicole’s nose stung, but the aroma wasn’t unpleasant.

  After several seconds, the cabinet glowed red for a brief moment, then the pulsing stopped and the wood solidified again.

  Coolidge stepped back, wiping his brow. “That’s harder than it looks, trust me.” He motioned to the cabinet. “Go ahead. Check it out.”

  Nicole touched the wood, noticing that the seams had disappeared. In fact, instead of two doors, there was now a solid piece of wood with a chunk of metal for the lock on the front. She inspected the sides and found that the same was true there—each seam had melded together. It was a perfect box now, with no way in or out.

  “That’s really awesome.” She looked at Coolidge. “How’d you do it?”

  “I control molecules. I commanded the sections of the cabinet to become one. Because of the power the previous Arete put in the cabinet, until I release the molecules, anything inside will stay there forever.”

  He pushed his hair back from his forehead. “You should be free from it in Arches.”

  She nodded, feeling the stress the book had caused melt away. “Thank you.”

  Nicole left campus in high spirits. Her apartment was overrun with spiders, tomorrow she’d be leaving on a scary and dangerous trip, but she was free from the book.

  And yes—she could sense a difference. The drain on her energy must have been gradual for her not to notice it earlier.

  How long had the shadow been doing that? Probably since she’d awakened it. Weird how she didn’t notice the drain until it was gone.

  After lunch, Nicole headed home, where she practiced for a while, then crashed on the couch with her favorite movie-watching blanket.

  ***

  Nicole and Lizzie carefully inspected every inch of the guest bedroom. Thankfully, it was clean. The girls said good night, and Nicole got ready for bed.

  Sleep came quickly, but sometime later, the sound of the wind rattling the building awakened her. She grabbed her phone to check the time. It was midnight. She groaned, rolling to her back and putting her pillow over her eyes, begging her brain to relax and go to sleep. It refused to obey, so she flipped the pillow under her head again and stared outside.

  The old apartment building shuddered more as the wind
picked up. The vines growing on the ash tree just outside the window started drifting across the glass pane, occasionally smacking it hard enough to make her jump.

  The tree was magnificent—it was Sam’s pride and joy. He said that in the next month, the leaves would turn a brilliant red, and Nicole couldn’t wait to see that. Her favorite season had always been fall. She looked forward to the crunch of leaves underfoot, the cool breeze, the crispness in the air.

  Of course, she was in Seattle and had no idea if fall would even be the same. It was probably too humid for anything to get crunchy.

  Nicole watched for several moments, letting her body relax to the sound of the wind. The motion of the vines was mesmerizing, and she couldn’t seem to pry her eyes away.

  After watching for a couple of minutes, though, she tilted her head. The vines—still moving at the window and illuminated by the street lights—caught her attention.

  A few of them weren’t moving the same as the others.

  In fact, it was almost as if they acted with a purpose. She sat on the edge of her mattress, gripping her phone, staring.

  It wasn’t possible.

  Was the plant trying to open the window? No way. She laughed out loud at the thought, then jumped at the abrupt sound.

  Suddenly, the lock on the window shifted and moved to the unlocked position. She gasped.

  Nothing had touched it, Nicole was sure. How had it popped over?

  The vines pushed the window open an inch, then two.

  Spiders started entering—a trickle at first.

  Nicole jumped to her feet on top of the bed, balancing on the squishy mattress.

  Bigger spiders followed the little ones. They came in faster and faster, thicker and thicker.

  The trickle swelled until pretty soon, a river of spiders was pouring in through the slit of the window, creeping across the walls, the ceiling, and the floor toward her.

  And then the bed was surrounded.

  Spiders crawled up the outsides of the cans Nicole had set up earlier and fell into the water.

  The window creaked, screeching the rest of the way open. Not good. Nicole started dialing her landlord. Would he be up still?