“Did you hear that?” my boyfriend asked, his voice dripping with panic.
“Yeah. I guess it’s time for me to face the music,” I said grimly. “I’m sure he’s got more to talk to me about than an overdue library fine.”
“Let me come with you,” he insisted.
I laughed. “Like they’ll let you in! They’ll just make you go to class or give you detention for butting in. We’re still just students, remember?”
“I know, but…” He exhaled heavily, glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the office, then took my hand. “I have to. I can’t just let you—”
“Hunter…” I started to say, but my words drifted off as I gazed at the loving, protective hand clutching mine. “Fine.” I sighed at last and allowed him to lead me to the office.
To our mutual surprise and horror, the secretary gave him a wry glance and said, “It was very nice of you to escort the young lady here. The principal was going to ask to see you next.”
That seemed to wilt him. The bravery of a boy protecting his high school sweetheart quickly melted into the dread of a soon-to-be-condemned criminal who had committed no crime he could think of. I tried to give him the most comforting glance possible, but that was hard, because I was hardly any comfort to myself, let alone anyone else.
Finally, after we waited in the lobby for what seemed like an hour, the secretary sent us in to see the principal together.
Mr. Rowens’s office seemed much darker than it was the last time we were in it, but even so, I couldn’t help but notice two distinct details: the pallid skin of his face and the thick red book sitting on the desk before him. I inhaled sharply, then dropped into one of the two seats across from him. I folded my hands in my lap, and my foot touched Hunter’s as he took the seat beside mine.
“I think you know why you’re here, Zoey,” said the principal.
Chapter 11
I shook my head and opted to play dumb. “I’m really not sure.”
“You heard the announcement about this book this morning, didn’t you?” he asked, patting the cover.
I spared it a glance, trying to remain calm, even though I was anything but. “Is that the book you were looking for?”
“It is, and it just so happens that it was found in your bed, young lady. Do you have an explanation for that?”
I wanted to kick myself and wished I’d had the smarts to hide it in Eric’s room, with the medallion and sapphire that no one had yet discovered. It was a stupid mistake to keep it in my room, just so I’d have easy access to it, because that gave the search party easy access too.
“Well?” the principal pushed.
With my mouth working silently, I glanced at the book, then helplessly at Hunter.
Before I could so much as begin to concoct a lie about finding it in the common room and thinking it looked interesting, Hunter sat up straighter. “It was me,” he said firmly. “I took it and hid it in her bed without telling her.”
Shocked, the principal scoffed. “You mean to tell me that you not only stole a book, but you also sneaked into the girls’ dormitory to hide it in your girlfriend’s bed?”
Cringing at the multiple infractions to which he’d just admitted, Hunter lifted his chin nonchalantly and said, “Yes, sir, I did.”
“And why, pray tell, would you do such a thing?”
“I thought it looked interesting,” he said with a dismissive shrug, his eyes falling briefly closed. “I was going to return it, but I wanted to have a chance to look at it first. I guess I hid it in Zoey’s bed because I figured it’s valuable, and I didn’t want anyone to know I took it. I wasn’t going to try to sell it on EBay or anything. I just wanted to check it out,” he said.
“Well,” the principal said, casting a stern glance at me, “I hope this is a valuable lesson to you about the kind of company you keep, Zoey. It does you no good to associate yourself with troublemaking, ornery boys.”
A boy? Really? I wanted to scream at him, to tell him that Hunter was more of a man than he could ever hope to be, but I could not find my voice. All I could do was bite my lip and hold my breath.
The principal went on, this time staring at Hunter. “To be perfectly honest, as close as the two of you are, I suspected you would at least know something about it, but I have to say I’m shocked to discover that you were the ringleader behind it.”
“It was hardly some criminal scheme,” Hunter said with a scoff. He glanced over at the sunlight streaming in through the window blinds. “I’m just impulsive, I guess. I thought it looked like a good book, and—”
“Yes, well,” Mr. Rowens said, cutting him off, “impulsive behavior has been the root of many poor choices in judgment. I’m afraid I have no choice but to expel you for this.”
We both all but leapt from our seats, exchanging a panicked glance.
“What!? How can you?” I shouted.
“It’s hardly any of your business, Zoey. If your boyfriend wasn’t so earnest about his guilt, I would have had to punish you. Frankly, I’m skeptical. Surely you felt it beneath you as you slept. Still, I prefer to avoid expelling two students in one day, unless I absolutely have to.”
There it is, the twist of the knife! Of course he couldn’t expel me, not after all the effort he’d exerted to lure me there from the States as a sacrifice in his sick ritual. I trembled, nauseous with anger, and spat, “You can’t expel Hunter. He just wanted to read a book. This is a school, right? You oughtta be thankful he likes to read!”
“He stole the book, and it is a written rule that boys are not allowed in the girls’ dormitory, especially unsupervised. Breaking either rule would justify expulsion, and he broke them both.”
I realized then that Hunter’s exit from the school was probably inevitable. If I had admitted to taking the book, the principal would not have expelled me, but I was sure he’d been looking for a way to get rid of Hunter from the start. Of course Hunter had not been trespassing in the girls’ dorms for any suspicious reason, but there was no way to argue that now without looking like liars and getting into even deeper trouble. I couldn’t go with Hunter if he got kicked out, because I’d made a promise to free the ghosts, and I didn’t want to go back on that contract. Pathetically, helplessly, and already on the verge of tears, I squeezed Hunter’s hand and watched as my pale-faced boyfriend was led out by the principal on a tirade. Overcome with resentment and wrath, I fell in behind them and listened as the man continued to berate Hunter while the secretary looked up the phone number of his family.
“You’d better keep your nose clean, Zoey,” Mr. Rowens barked. “Now get out of here. No pass either. I’m counting this as tardy, and that’s on you.”
“No! I’m not leaving without Hunter,” I wailed, trying to call his bluff.
“You’ll leave right now, young lady.”
Scowling, I turned from him and felt my eyes mist over as I clutched Hunter’s hand. “Will you please come find me when’s done talking to you?”
“I promise,” he said. He tried to sound courageous, but in his shock, he seemed to be a mere shadow of himself.
I felt sick with guilt and could hardly look at him, and I could manage only a peck on his cheek before I darted out into the hall, gasping for air like a drowning fish. I couldn’t possibly go to class, couldn’t even fathom the idea of returning to my normal routine. Hunter was leaving, and I would no longer have him to keep me safe. I only had Shantal, Pam, and Eric, and I wasn’t sure how much help Pam would be. As much as I loved her, and as grateful as I was to have an extra set of eyes to watch my back, none of them were as comforting as Hunter. She was often just as scared as I was, if not more, and I couldn’t imagine what she could do for me outside of a little moral support.
Suddenly, as I was pondering all the danger the book had brought to me and the horrible outcome for Hunter, William appeared next to me.
I jumped into his arms, and he hugged me as I let out a long sob. “They’re making Hunter leave!” I cried
. “I want to help you. I really do, but I-I don’t want to be stuck here without him.”
“You mustn’t leave us, Zoey. We need you. As I’ve said many times, you are our only hope.”
“But how? How can I do this without him?”
“You won’t have to. We will stop this idiocy, my dear, and you will be reunited safely with your lover.”
“But how? They already called his family.”
He gazed down at my tear-shaped pendant. “Have you forgotten the power of the necklace?”
“How can it possibly help me?”
“You can go back in time. You’re not strong enough to make a monumental leap, but you can travel back a few hours, just long enough to correct your error and take the blame. If the principal is in on this, which I believe he is, he will not expel you. If he tells you to leave, that will absolve him of guilt.” “And what if I’m expelled? If that happens, how will I ever be able to help you?”
“Whoever summoned you here, you were brought for a reason. Whoever it was who called you, they will step in to help you. One does not go to such great trouble to bring you only to see you escorted out over a misdemeanor.”
I nodded. “True.”
“Just close your eyes and think about where you were a couple hours ago. Focus on that and slowly whisper, asking to be taken back to that very moment.”
“I want to go back to before the principal ever found the book,” I said.
“You’re not that strong. Not yet. But you can try.”
I closed my eyes and concentrated. “Take me back to that moment,” I said, then repeated, “to that moment.” I kept focusing and repeating that request again and again.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and when my eyes fluttered open, I was in the secretary’s office.
Darn! I was hoping to go back more in time. I guess I just wasn’t strong enough yet.
After the secretary’s wry glance and words that wilted Hunter, I pulled him back outside the office. “You’re not gonna believe this,” I whispered, “but I just came back in time to this moment.”
He cocked a brow. “What?”
“I traveled back here, to this moment, with the necklace, because I already know what was going to happen. We’re being blamed for the book being stolen. Mr. Rowens found it in my room, but you’re about to take the blame, and he’ll expel you if you do.”
He gasped. “What?”
“It’s pretty serious, and they’ll even call your parents. When it all happened like that, William showed me how to use the necklace to warn you. Just let me take the blame this time.”
“What? Are you crazy? Then he’ll just expel you. What good will that do?”
“That won’t happen. Somebody went to a lot of trouble to bring me here. Let’s see how it plays out. My guess is that he won’t kick me out because he needs me. It will prove he’s guilty.”
“Can’t you just go further back in time and keep him from ever finding the book?”
I shook my head. “Nope. William said I’m not strong enough yet.”
He hugged me, and I held him tight. The thought of having him ripped away from me was gut-wrenching, and I wasn’t about to let it happen again.
Finally, we were again sent into the principal’s office together.
“I think you know why you’re here, Zoey,” said the principal
I shook my head, feigning innocence yet again. “I’m really not sure.”
The conversation carried on just as before, until he asked for an explanation.
“Simple,” I said. “I took it and hid it under my mattress.”
As if my calm confession appalled him, he scowled at me and asked, “How did you find the library? It’s in a well-hidden location.”
“If we’re being honest here, a ghost led me to it.”
“A ghost?”
“Isabella. Something awful is playing out here, Mr. Rowens. Someone is possibly planning to sacrifice me.”
“Zoey, are you on drugs?” he asked.
“I wish it was as simple as detox,” I said.
“Why would anyone want to sacrifice you?”
“Hmm. I’m not sure. Why don’t you tell me? My guess is immortality, since the book was opened to that spell. To spark up that little fountain of youth, royal blood is needed, and we both know I come from Isabella’s royal bloodline.”
He looked at me in stunned amazement, totally thrown off guard because I’d so easily laid all my cards on the table. “If this is true, then why haven’t you tried to leave? Any sane person in such danger would have hightailed it out of here.”
“With all due respect, Mr. Rowens, I am not sure you should be talking to me about sanity. You’re the one who wants to have some murderous moonlight ceremony to try to save himself. I stayed because, unlike you, I’m not selfish, and the spirits need me to free them.”
His gaze narrowed, but he had no retort.
I glared directly into his eyes. “I stole something, right? So expel me,” I challenged. “Maybe I’m getting a little tired of all this ghost grief. Maybe I just wanna go back home to New Orleans.”
“No, no, you’re, uh… You’re both free to go,” he stuttered. “I got the book back, and that is the most important thing. There is no proof you took it, and I am sure you have some ulterior motive for trying to take the blame. You’re speaking of ghosts and ceremonies, as if you’ve had some sort of mental breakdown, young lady. For all I know, it could be planted evidence. Perhaps you should see the nurse to have your head checked out.”
“I’m sure my head is just fine, Mr. Rowens,” I said. “As for the book, I’m sure the owner is very happy to have it back, so he can work out that little immortality spell of his.”
Mr. Rowens’s face reddened to the shade of a summer-ripe tomato, and he pounded his fist on his desk. “That’s it! I tried to let you go peacefully, but you insist on being mouthy and insubordinate. Both of you will report to detention for a week!”
I stood and grinned. “We’ll be there.”
“And you’ll be seeing the counselor to discuss these severe emotional problems you’re having. I do not know where you are getting these delusions of ghosts and goblins, young lady, but you definitely need help. Maybe your parents let you watch one too many of those slasher films you kids love so much, or maybe it’s all those blood-and-gore videogames. Either way, you’re dismissed!”
I held back a scowl. “Thank you.”
Hunter and I walked out and headed straight to the garden. I hugged him as emotion flooded out of me, and he stroked my hair, making me feel like the luckiest girl in the world, even if I was on a ghost king’s hit list.
“When they kicked you out, I was devastated,” I said.
“Zoey, I’d never leave you.”
“I know you wouldn’t willingly. They were making you go,” I said.
“You know I would’ve come back to get you.”
“And you know I wouldn’t have been able to leave, not until Isabella and all the others are free.”
“Is there anything that necklace can’t do?” he said.
“Ya know, I’ve been wondering that myself.”
His lips brushed across mine, and then we both smiled at each other. With Hunter by my side, I could do anything, and I had plenty to do before I could leave that old castle.
Chapter 12
When Mr. Rowens sent more teachers and staff members around to search our rooms, I knew exactly what he was after: the blue stone and medallion. We came so close to getting caught it wasn’t funny. Eric and Pam thought we needed inside help, and they wanted us to confide in Mr. Geo so he could hide the precious items somewhere else. I wasn’t so sure we should show him just yet, but they insisted. When Hunter agreed with them, I finally gave in, and I took the items to him for safekeeping. It didn’t really look suspicious, since I was signed up for independent study with him anyway.
I slipped inside Mr. Geo’s office between classes and waited for him to return fr
om his sixth-period lecture to take his break before the last class of the day. I sat behind his desk and waited, weakly slumped in the chair, staring at the clock and the door.
“Zoey? What are you doing here?” he asked.
Without a word, I slipped the artifacts from my pocket and placed them on his desk.
Shock and amazement flooded through him. He quickly shut the door behind him, snatched the items up, and examined them in the light. “Debra told me she was sure you had the medallion and sapphire stashed away somewhere,” he said. “We decided not to pry, assuming you would come to us when you were ready.”
“Well, we’re ready now.”
“I see that.”
“Where did you find this?” he asked, looking at the sapphire in awe.
“Funny you should ask,” I said. “Hunter and I found it months ago, in a sewer. We hid it in a friend’s room, but the principal’s been snooping around, so we had to move it.”
“We were sure you had them hidden. I wish you would have trusted us sooner, Zoey. I certainly hope you trust us now.”
I nodded. My mouth was suddenly dry, and I was overcome by that fuzzy feeling I always had when I first woke up.
After a moment, my teacher released a sigh. First came the click of the gemstone being set back down on the desk, and then came the warmth of his hand on my shoulder. I glanced up and saw him frowning down at me as he asked, “Are you all right, Zoey?”
That was all it took to crack the dam on my wellspring of tears. Sobbing, I leaned my head against him. When he crouched down, my face disappeared into his shoulder. I told him the story of Hunter’s expulsion and how I’d traveled back in time to correct it. “I’m so sorry we didn’t trust you right away,” I said, “but it’s hard to know who to trust anymore. I just want to free those spirits, graduate, and go home. I’m just so scared, Mr. Geo,” I said. “Somebody wants me dead, and we have no idea who it really is, even though Mr. Rowens seems to be part of it.”
Ablaze - Book 4 (The Enchanted Castle Series) Page 7
