Chapter 9

School.

It's where I said I was going, so it seemed as safe a destination as any. To get a stronger feel for the life my sister led, or so I told myself. Now, inside its thick brick walls, amidst the gawking glances, I wasn’t so certain it was the best destination.

Well, what now? I wasn’t ready to go back to Vivienne’s, and there wasn’t anywhere else for me to go. So, school it was.

I lifted my chin, stuck out my chest, and put a little bounce in my step as I walked past the clusters of students turning to gawk at me. Strolling down the hall, I was the center of attention, which ironically, is usually where I like to be. This time I felt exposed. Raw. With every window I passed, I double and triple-checked my reflection, to make sure the glamour held. Last thing I needed was to be here in the thick of it, looking like the girl who’d upended their sleepy little town. Bad enough I was her.

Somewhere in here was someone I could talk to. Someone who might be willing to talk. About Vivienne and Lorelei, about their history, their lives. And possibly mine.

Curious eyes were on me from all directions. But one set of eyes wasn’t curious. Oh, quite the opposite. Those eyes were dark, stormy, and accusing, and heading straight for me.

Abigail's eyes. My lovely twin sister's lovely best friend. Her fledgling witchy powers must have given her the ability to see through the glamour I wore to hide from others. There was no other explanation for the death glare she was giving me. What else could I do but sashay over to her and stop?

Her gaze landed on mine with the weight of a meteor. It was as if a porcupine had raised every thorny quill ready to launch them into her enemy. She didn’t move, not a single muscle. Her eyes didn’t blink, and I swear she’d stopped breathing, too. And so we stood frozen in time, locked in our visual standoff.

Damn. I knew school was a bad call. Her recognizing me could turn catastrophic. I couldn’t have Vivienne learning who I was already. Not before I’d had a chance to find out who she really was.

This girl loathed me. She feared me, and she wanted me dead, again. Understandably. I did possess her boyfriend and turn him into my puppet and leave him for dead. Cringe. Not my best moment.

But a smile tugged at the corners of my lips, and I couldn't hold it back. This little impasse was so dramatic, even by human standards. Something about her reaction pleased me. There is something inherently reassuring about truly being seen, even if it is through the eyes of one who detests everything about you.

“Abigail. You’re looking well.”

I thought for a moment she might slap me. But there were far too many other human adults around for that to happen.

“What the hell are you doing back here?”

I pressed my hand to my chest. “Ouch. Nice to see you, too,” I cooed.

She grabbed my arm and pulled me off to a small corridor, away from the flow of bodies shuffling to and from classes.

“You’re supposed to be back there,” she hissed, still grasping my arm.

“If you’re not careful, honey, your face might actually stay like that.” I gently pulled my arm free.

“Back to finish what you started?” She cocked her head, her brown eyes flaming. “Didn’t do enough damage the first time around? Left a few too many lives and buildings intact?”

Whoa. I think she actually bared her teeth. “Are you sure you’re not a werewolf in hiding?” I raised my hands to ward off any other acts of aggression. “Listen, girlfriend, relax. That’s not what I’m here for.”

She leaned into my face, definitely baring her teeth.

“Well, girlfriend, I don’t care what you’re here for. It’s not happening.”

Facing those I’d wronged not so long ago wasn’t supposed to be on my agenda, so I needed to cut this short. I mean, there was no way to atone for mass destruction now, was there?

“Why don’t you do everyone a favor and go back to whatever sludge pond you crawled out of.”

Sludge pond? Really? I exhaled a long breath. “I can’t leave yet. I found out something when I went home. Something big. Something that made coming here absolutely necessary. Believe me, if that weren’t the case, I’d never set foot back in Dreary Town.”

She glared a few seconds longer, then narrowed her eyes. “Found out what exactly?”

“Well now, that I cannot say. But I will promise you this. I’m not here to cause trouble. This is purely a social visit.”

“A toxic monster like you isn’t capable of not causing trouble. Destruction follows you like a parasitic virus. It seeps through your pores.”

“Wow. Don’t hold back, love, tell me how you really feel.” I sighed and combed my fingers through my hair. “Look. I’m here for two weeks. That’s all. And this—” I held up my arm to show off the Shaqua band, “—is your written guarantee that I won’t do anything witchy.”

She stared at the band on my arm, clearly recognizing it and its function. I think she relaxed a fraction after that. But that cold, hard rage still burned in her espresso gaze.

“Who put that on—”

Her voice was washed away by the shrill of a bell ringing overhead.

I jammed my fingers into my ears as I hollered, “How do you people live like this?”

A group of girls jogged past us, since the bell clearly meant something to everyone, except for Abby. She folded her arms, waited for the racket to stop, then bit into me once more.

“Why is this so secretive? If you’re not causing trouble, then why not just fess up to what you’re doing here?”

“Listen, I’m under strict orders from an icy soul we both know and love. Limit my time with the humans as much as possible. You know, urban footprints and all that.”

“Zanthiel sent you here? Figures. He never did have the best judgment.” She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know why you’re here, but I can tell you this— If you harm one cell on anyone here, I will see to it that you burn. Got it?”

I forced a smile. “Got it.” I backed away from her and headed for the main hall. Flurries of tardy students raced past us, books and bags in tow, leaving the waft of greasy food, cigarettes, and cheap cologne in their wake. I wrinkled my nose but kept all commentary to myself. Abby stalked after me.

“I mean it, Venus. If you’re even rumored to be responsible for someone breaking a nail—”

I raised my hand to cut her off. “I said, got it. And I also said that’s not what I’m here for.” I lifted my wrist, again showing off my ornate band. “Whether or not you believe my intentions, Abigail, here’s your insurance. I’m not here to harm anyone. I just need answers. Will you let me find them?” I backed up a step. “A couple of weeks. What is that, fourteen days in your time? And then I’m gone. I swear an oath on my mother’s life—”

“You mean the mother who already lost her life?” she snapped.

That wasn’t actually my mother. I stiffened then shook it off. “I swear that I will not cause anyone any harm. The darkness staining my soul from the necromancer magic has been lifted. The binding curse that tied me to Adrius was also broken. I’ve been freed from the monster I was.”

Abby leaned in, lowering her voice and sharpening her tongue. “You will always be the monster you were. You may have fooled them, but you will never fool me.”

She remained unconvinced. As would I, in her place. Too bad. I was short on time and earning her trust was not on my to-do list. Vivienne, my true mother, needed my company, according to Mrs. Busybody Neighbor. She’d been sequestered away after the... fire. I shuddered. The fire I’d created. A force of mass destruction—that was what Zanthiel had called me. Unfair, but also very true. Would I truly do things differently now?

“Listen, I would love to stay and play twenty questions with you, but I need to go. If you intend to stop me, then I suggest you do your worst right here, right now, or else let me pass. I have nothing left to offer you, outside of my vow. What’s it going to be little witch?”

A man wearing a suit, tie, and a bad hairstyle came brusquely down the hall. He paused next to us to tap on his watch. Saved. If she scurried off to her classes, I could get out of here.

Abby flashed him a quick grin, and muttered, “Spare period, Mr. Fordham.”

Whatever that meant, it sent him on his way. Then her gaze immediately hardened as it turned back on me. Her hands twitched at her sides.

I knew the look in her eye. The itch for vengeance. To even the score and punish me for my many sins. But then I noticed something else. Pity. It made me recoil in shock. She pitied me? No one had ever pitied me before. I’d been feared, revered, and coveted. Never pitied. I didn’t like it, but her hands stopped twitching, so apparently pity had its uses.

“Well, I should run.” I tried to move around her, but she stepped into my path. She wasn’t about to let this go.

“Problem is, I won’t be able to sleep tonight knowing you’re here if I don’t know why. Tell me what you’ve come for, Venus.”

She didn’t really leave me much choice in the matter. If I was going to get past the little guard-witch, I’d have to come clean.

“I’m here to see my mother.”

Her face twisted in disgust. “That’s sick. Do you have any idea how sick? Your mother is dead.”

I twisted a chunk of hair around my finger and then let it all out. “The woman who raised me is dead. My real mother is alive and well and, as it happens, living in this dreary little town.” I waved my hand toward the window.

Abby’s voice pitched an octave higher, and I could see the panic in the center of her eyes.

“What are you talking about?”

Part of me enjoyed the seismic shock waves this was detonating in her world. Part of me just wanted to forget the matter entirely.

“I’m talking about family, Abigail. My family. I’m here to get to know my birth mother, Vivienne Alundra.”

Her mouth fell open. First a little. Then a lot.

I grinned and dipped my head to the side. This was too much fun, so much that I couldn’t resist adding one more detail.

“Oh, and of course, my twin sister, Lorelei.”