"No I haven't," said Chase. At least, not much, he thought.
"Yes, you have, and I've had it!" she snapped. "We need to clear the air." She waited for a moment for Chase to answer, but he continued to avoid looking at her while he straightened the room. Persephone heaved a deep sigh. "Do you think I believe what Janie said about you? I'm smart enough to figure out she and Ethan were here to cause trouble, and to drive a wedge between us."
"Is that what you think?" asked Chase as he bent over to plug in the lamps.
She rolled her eyes. "Sometimes you are such a dork. Of course it's what I think!" she answered impatiently. "She's an evil witch troublemaker now. We can't let her ruin our friendship. And we can't get anything done by ignoring each other. We need to stick together now more than ever!"
Chase fiddled with a crooked lamp shade. Does she seriously think Janie lied about how much I like her, he thought, just to make a mess of things? If so, it sure would make his life easier. Feeling at least a little better, Chase turned to face her. "I take it you won't be snogging Ethan then?" he teased.
Persephone shuddered. "Ick! I'd rather snog a slug."
Chase sent her a small half-hearted smile. "So, are you finished yelling at me?"
"It wasn't really…yelling," she said as she picked up a painting and hung it back on the wall. "I was setting you straight. But I also need to talk to you about Alex. We have to find out what, if anything, he knows about the attack the Marlowes are planning, and I think I have the perfect idea."
Chase flung the pillows back onto the sofa. "What's the point? They're probably going to win no matter what we do. In case you haven't noticed, it looks like there are more of them than there are of us. And if Janie and Ethan are anything to go by, their magic has gotten even more powerful than before."
"But it doesn't mean we roll over and play dead!" said Persephone. She crossed her arms. "All right. Now what's wrong? You're not sounding like yourself."
"I dunno. Just tired, I guess." He leaned against the back of the couch and rubbed his forehead. "And depressed about this crappy Marlowe attack coming up. Aren't you feeling at least a little discouraged about it, too?"
"I'm trying my hardest not to be," she answered. "It sucks, but we still have to work on finding a way to defeat them, don't we? And we're starting with Alex."
"Okay," he said, frowning. "What do you have in mind?"
"One word? Cuddleupus."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Party in the Greenhouse
"Are you sure we're doing the right thing?" Chase asked as he glared at the cuddleupus. Spending Saturday dealing with the tree-sized hugging plant was not his idea of fun. "My dad's gonna kill me if he finds out about this."
"We're just going to have to chance it," said Persephone. "The cuddleupus is the best way to keep Alex trapped while we interrogate him."
Chase jumped back when the plant's long, snapping tendrils came a little too close for his comfort. "Can't we tie him up with some rope?"
"Wouldn't you be more scared of a gigantic, animated plant than a few measly pieces of twine?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right. And it's not like I have any better ideas." Besides, he thought, if I can prove Alex is here to help destroy us, I might feel more worthy of being the next Keeper. If Nori was going to hook up with a Marlowe, then she definitely didn't deserve the position. He raised his hand. "Okay, here goes." Using his telekinesis, he lifted the plant and whisked it to a far corner of the room.
It shook in its container as it whipped its tendrils through the air. Luckily, Chase had already rearranged the other plants so nothing was in danger of being hurled across the room.
"Good job," said Persephone. "Now we have to get Alex in its clutches."
"Getting his powers bound so he can't morph before that is going to be tricky. And those energy beams? I don't ever want to get hit by them again." He rubbed his chest where he still carried the scars from his fight with Janie in Blackshire. "I hope that goofy plant is still in love with Andy, since it should help our plan go smoother."
"What did he say when you told him we were all getting together in the greenhouse?"
Chase rolled his eyes. "First he yelled he was never going near that insane plant again. But when I told him I'd make sure he didn't have to deal with it, he calmed down enough to ask what kind of food we were having."
"Typical Andy," she said, grinning. "You didn't tell him about our plan, did you?"
He shook his head. "But it's not Andy who worries me. It's Nori."
"She's never been in here, so she won't suspect anything," said Persephone. "But if she gives us any trouble, we might have to trap her, too."
"Aw, man! Why did she have to fall for the guy? I hate feeling like we're on opposite sides now." Chase slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out Andy's plastic spider, which was enchanted with the conjuring power, and passed it to Persephone. "Okay, conjure what we need."
She waved her hand. "I need a tall platform with a decorated gazebo and stairs leading up to it." A gazebo covered in balloons and twinkling lights swirled into existence.
"Nice," said Chase, nodding.
"Since we've been using my necklace to siphon Mika's magic, my ability to perform spells has gotten stronger." She waved her hand. "Cheeseburgers, fries, asparagus, and chocolate cake." Sparkling magic swirled from her fingertips.
"Asparagus?" exclaimed Chase. "You're kidding, right?"
"We need veggies, too, you know."
"What's he doing here?" snapped Nori's voice from the doorway.
Chase and Persephone swung around. "Hey, you guys!" said Persephone, smiling widely.
"He better not attack Alex again," said Nori, crossing her arms, "or he'll have to deal with me."
"What? Your boyfriend too much of a wimp to fight his own battles?" Chase shot back.
"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself," said Alex, standing up straighter.
Persephone elbowed Chase in the side. "Knock it off!" she whispered before turning back to the others. "No fighting, okay, you guys? We have to find a way to be friends. After all, we're all in the same house most of the time."
"But it's an enormous house," said Nori. "We could go days without seeing each other."
"Do it for me, please?" said Persephone, taking Nori's arm and pulling her into the room.
Chase and Alex eyed each other as Alex shuffled in after Nori. Right then, a glob of green goo splatted on the top of Alex's sneaker. He jumped back, shaking his foot. "Blimey! Where did this come from?"
Another large glob sailed through the air and plopped onto Nori's shoulder. It dribbled down her shirt. "What the heck?" she exclaimed as she scraped off the gunk. "Ugh! What is this goop?"
"I guess I didn't move those darn spitting snapdragons far enough away," Chase said, barely holding back his smile.
"Are these plants magical?" asked Nori, frowning.
"Oh, um, they're just enchanted," said Persephone airily. "No big deal. And I'm sure that slimy goop will wash right out with a little spot remover."
"Hey, you moved the crazy cuddleupus," said Andy as he slunk into the room and looked around. "Cool!"
"Cuddle…upus?" asked Alex. "What's a cuddleupus?"
Dodging another glob of gunk, Persephone herded everyone up the stairs. "You can see all the plants from the gazebo while we eat the delicious lunch I conjured for Nori's birthday."
Andy sniffed the air. "Pizza?" he said, looking hopeful.
Persephone laughed. "Now, Andy, you have to branch out. Learn to eat other things."
"Like what?" asked Andy. "It's not some fishy suchy stuff, is it? Now that's gross!"
"Sushi! Not suchy," said Chase, elbowing Andy in the shoulder.
"Doesn't matter," grumbled Andy. "Still gross."
No one said a word as they all crowded around the table and dug into the food.
After five minutes of just the sounds of chewing ec
hoing through his head, Chase was about ready to run screaming from the room. He wasn't used to so much silence when they were all together like this.
"Oh yeah!" said Andy at last. He jumped up and pulled a crumpled package from his back pocket. "Here's your birthday present, Nori."
Nori smiled. "You didn't have to get me anything." She ripped the wrapping off and pulled out two shiny, silver bracelets. "Nice!" She slipped them on and shook her arm. The now eight total bracelets jingled merrily. "Thanks, Andy!"
"They have magic in them, like your other ones," said Andy.
"They do?" said Chase and Nori together. Great! thought Chase. That's all she needs is more magic if she decides to go all evil with Alex.
"Grandfather enchanted one with the tele-projection power," said Andy, grinning. "You can be one place and project yourself someplace else, so there's, like, two of you. It's nothing like replicating, because the other you can do magic, too. The second bracelet has the shielding power, to keep you safer."
"Cool!" she exclaimed. "I'll try them out later."
"That's brilliant you can put magic into objects," said Alex, "and then perform it whenever you wish."
"Don't go thinking we're going to do it for you!" snapped Chase.
Alex shook his head. "I wasn't—"
"So! Who wants dessert?" said Persephone loudly. She grabbed the knife and began slicing pieces of cake. "Chocolate with gooey caramel inside. Nori's favorite."
"You were going to tell us about the plants," said Nori. She pointed to a bunch of rainbow-striped flowers that were as big as beach balls. Their bright petals cast shimmering reflections on everything. "I've never seen anything like those ones."
"They were all enchanted by our Great-Great-Grandfather Fergus," Andy piped in as he licked frosting off his fingers. "Grandfather says he was a nincompoop."
"He must've enchanted those singing ones I've seen around the house, too," said Nori. "I didn't know there were a lot more weird plants."
"I guess no one thought to show you because I don't like the greenhouse. The weirdest, scariest plant—the cuddleupus—is in love with me," said Andy, shuddering.
"It is?" said Nori, raising her eyebrows. "Can we see it?"
"It's over in the corner," said Persephone, pointing. Her eyes met Chase's as Nori, Alex, and Andy walked over to the railing and peered over. Persephone gave her head a small swirl to indicate it was a good time for Chase to start the charm.
Still angry at being shoved into the corner, the cuddleupus flung its long tendrils back and forth as it searched for something to grab and hug.
"Hey, cuddly!" hollered Andy bravely. "How's it going?"
The plant froze. A moment later, a high-pitched, girlish giggle came from it as it stretched one of its long tendrils up toward the gazebo.
"Is it…giggling?" said Nori. "How strange."
"Told ya," said Andy. "She likes me."
While the other kids ogled the plant, Chase spun in place three times. Before the others saw him, he dashed across the gazebo and, with his pinkie finger stuck in his ear, touched Alex's elbow. "Constringo Magicus," murmured Chase.
Alex swung around. "What are you doing?"
"Getting to the bottom of things," Chase said as, using his mind, he flipped Alex over the side of the railing.
"Aaahhh!" yelled Alex as Chase dangled him above the cuddleupus. The plant quickly curled its tendrils around Alex's chest and legs and pulled him close to its tree-trunk-sized stem.
"Alex!" screamed Nori.
"Oh no!" cried Andy. "What do we do?"
"Interrogate him," said Chase grimly, glaring down at Alex, who struggled to get loose from the tight grip of the thick tendrils.
"What?" Nori turned to goggle at Chase. "You threw him over on purpose?"
"We need to find out about the Marlowes! We're running out of time!"
Nori swiveled her head to look at Persephone. "And you're in on this, too?"
Persephone nodded. "Chase and I just want to protect all of us."
"I can't believe you let Chase drag you into one of his idiotic schemes," said Nori, shaking her head. "I thought you were beginning to like Alex."
"But Chase didn't—"
"He may act like a nice guy," Chase cut in. "But Marlowes can't be trusted. Being evil jerks just comes natural to them."
"Alex doesn't want to hurt us!" said Nori between clenched teeth. "How many times do you have to hear it?" She narrowed her eyes and looked Chase and Persephone up and down as if she thought they were more repulsive than Roland Marlowe could ever be. "And you know what else makes this suck? This whole let's-throw-Nori-a-happy-birthday-party was all fake!"
"Look, Nori, we're—" began Persephone.
"Get me out of here!" yelled Alex as the cuddleupus rolled him up and down like a yoyo before pulling him close again. "Please believe me. I don't want to cause any sort of trouble."
"Are you going to leave him there forever?" asked Andy.
"Tell us what you know about your family's coming attack and we'll let you go!" Chase hollered to Alex.
"I don't know anything!"
Nori stormed across the gazebo and down the stairs. "Looks like I'll have to use some of my own magic to save him," she snarled.
"Oh no you won't," Chase growled back. He flung up his hand.
"Oh my gosh!" screamed Nori as a strong blast of air swept her off her feet. The wind swooshed her across the room and out into the hallway. "I can't believe you're doing this!"
The double doors slammed shut.
"I don't think you should've done that," said Andy, twisting his fingers together.
"Do you want the Marlowes to get our magic and our house?" snapped Chase.
"Of course not!" said Andy. "But you shouldn't treat Nori like she's one of the bad guys."
Chase gulped down his guilty feelings as he and Persephone glanced at each other. "We did what we had to do," he said.
Alex had stopped struggling, and the cuddleupus was a lot happier now that it had someone to hug, but Chase didn't want the plant to be calm. He wanted it to be its usual wild self. He squinted at a round hydrangea bush with its dozens of clusters of bluish-purple flowers. It flew into the air and zipped around the cuddleupus.
"Yippee! Yippee!" squealed the hydrangea's flowers.
The cuddleupus flailed and whipped its tendrils, filling the air with angry shrieks when it wasn't able to catch the annoying shrub. Unrolling Alex, the crazy plant swung him as if he were a baseball bat every time the hydrangea soared past.
"Tell us what you know," said Chase. "Or we'll torture you 'til you do."
Alex laughed as the plant flipped him upside down and caught him around the waist again. "You think this rubbish is torturing?" he gasped out.
"Well, yeah," said Chase, scrunching his eyebrows together.
"You know," hollered Alex, "you are a determined bloke, aren't you, Chase? All right then, give it a go. Do your worst. I can assure you, it won't matter."
Chase looked at Persephone again. This definitely was not going as planned. If Alex wasn't frightened enough to spill his secrets, did Chase have it in him to be as cruel as the Marlowes were? He ran his hands through his hair. No. He wasn't that type of person. He'd have to use more scare tactics. He lowered the hydrangea bush to the floor as he remembered how he'd thought the cuddleupus was going to eat him when he'd first encountered the psychotic plant last summer.
"Well, here's something," said Chase, feeling a little more confident. "If we wait too long, the cuddleupus will get awfully hungry. You'll make a great meal for it."
"It, er, eats p-people?" said Alex, nervously eyeballing his captor.
"No, it doesn't!" yelled Andy. "Don't listen to him, Alex!"
"Shh!" hissed Chase. "I need to scare him into telling us what he knows."
Alex heaved a deep sigh. "Thanks, Andy."
"This sucks! Why the heck are you helping him? Are your loyal
ties with him? Or us?" Chase crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Andy. "Stupid me for thinking you'd be on my side, your only brother," he said, his voice filled with bitterness.
"I'm not doing it for him," said Andy. "I'm doing it for Nori. She likes him. A lot."
"We can't let her be with a Marlowe!" snapped Chase. "It's just plain wrong!"
"It isn't up to us to decide," said Andy, sounding a lot older than his eleven years. "Maybe she's following her destiny. Did you guys ever think of that?"
"Do you know something?" asked Chase quickly. "Did Nori share some destinies with you?"
Andy rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you sometimes." He flicked his hand. Instantly, both Chase and Persephone were frozen in place, like pasty, waxen statues. "Sorry, you guys, but I have to go see if Nori's okay."
He was at bottom of the stairs when the greenhouse's doors swung open. Nori dashed in, followed by Benjamin.
"Andy!" she cried. "What's going on?"
"I was coming to get you. I froze Chase and Persephone."
"You did?" said Ben. He looked up to where the two kids stood, unmoving. "Good job. I can't believe Chase convinced Persephone to go along with his nutty idea."
Nori pointed to the cuddleupus. It had Alex wrapped tightly against its stem. "We have to save him!" As she ran across the greenhouse, she slipped in a pile of green goop, tripped over some wriggling, snake-like roots, and was pinched on the butt by a frisky fern. "Ugh! I hate this place," she grumbled.
"Don't startle the cuddleupus. It'll grab you, too," said Andy, hurrying after her. "You have to sneak up and tickle it under its arm thingies to make it let go."
The two kids tip-toed to the gigantic plant, reached under its appendages and ran their fingertips up and down them. It purred and sighed as it relaxed its hold on Alex.
"Ow!" he yelled as he flopped to the floor. "This place is completely mental!"
"Come on!" said Andy. He and Nori hauled Alex to his feet. "Let's get the heck out of this crazy room."
Nori glanced over her shoulder as she, Andy, Alex, and Benjamin hurried into the hallway. "Do you think we should unfreeze those two?" she asked.
Chase Tinker and the HOUSE OF DESTINY Page 11
