“How did you hold on for so long?” Gabe asked. “Darby told our class it was impossible.”
Chase glanced at Alex and the ferocity of it caused the lamp above them to flicker like a strobe. He’d hated that he’d been so helpless that night. He’d seen the image of the banshee in her head like watching the scene through a one-way mirror, pounding his fists uselessly against the barrier.
Alex’s dark eyes flashed in his direction. “He told my class that the banshee was really, really weakened. Dead on its feet. We got lucky.”
“Jonas was lucky you threw him out of the way.” Kaleb chuckled. “What a knight in shining armor.”
Poor Jonas. Chase opened his mouth to defend his brother, but Alex beat him to it. “He ran at it! If Jonas hadn’t been there, I don’t know what would have happened. I didn’t even know what the thing was.”
“I don’t need you to defend me,” Jonas snapped. “You were stupid to provoke it.”
Alex pulled back from the sting of his verbal slap.
Chase watched his brother’s eyes sweep back to Alex to observe the effect of his words. In Jonas’s mind, if Alex allowed his words to harm her, it meant she cared. This pleased Jonas. It was written on his face like a confession.
Chase decided to pay him back. He inched his fingers closer to Alex’s on the table and intertwined his pinky with hers, an action that was as personal to Jonas as Chase kissing Alex square on the mouth. Consequently, the air around Jonas began to pop.
“Calm down, Jo,” Gabe said under his breath.
Skye Gossamer floated gracefully down the aisle and dropped her books next to Alex. She was oblivious to the eyes in the room that followed her like gravity. Her looks excused her peculiarity. “What are you guys talking about?”
“Banshees,” Alex replied.
Kaleb scooted closer to Skye. “What could possibly be bringing these suckers to California? There aren’t any swamps around here.”
Skye scrutinized the small space Kaleb had left between them. “Do you need more room?” She asked innocently.
Bewilderment struck his handsome face. He wasn’t used to such a reaction from the opposite sex. “No. Sorry.”
“Maybe there are secret stashes of bladderwort growing in the river,” Jonas joked.
Skye shook her head vigilantly. “Nope. It can be grown many places, but this climate doesn’t produce sufficient amounts.”
“Why not?”
“Duh, the plant is a carnivore. It needs those swamp bugs to survive.”
Jonas snorted. “There are bugs everywhere! And who asked you to sit at our table?”
“Who asked you?” Kaleb said, glaring at his brother.
Skye lifted her chin. “The average temperature here is about sixty degrees. There are not that many bugs,” she replied, flipping her silky, red blanket of hair over her shoulder. “And do you think the bog plants could survive the snow we get here sometimes? Probably not.”
“Okay, think about it. The banshees barely have brains!” Jonas insisted. “They can’t tell the difference between bog plants and pine trees!”
“Sounds like someone we know.” Kaleb elbowed Chase and directed a smirk at Jonas.
Chase didn’t reciprocate the thought. He was too busy watching the array of colors swarming his brother. Jonas had been so wound up recently that the air ticked around him, a bomb ready to detonate.
“What are we doing in this climate if it’s so hard to function?” Jonas spread his arms wide in emphasis.
“We sleep,” Alex reminded him.
“And we need the protection,” Gabe added. “We can’t exactly hang out in the south with the banshees, but we needed some sort of consistent warmth and seclusion, hence the massive trees.”
Kaleb was suddenly serious. “Reverting back to the subject of bog plants, I don’t buy that ‘out of stock’ ploy. I bet they just don’t want someone to pocket the plant and lure out a banshee.”
Gabe shut his book with a bang. “No one would be that dumb.”
Skye raised her eyebrows. “The school had plenty a month ago.”
“What?” Jonas’ eyes were huge. “How do you know that?”
“I’m in Duvall’s ABC Circle.”
“Like a club?” Alex asked. “Ellington keeps urging me to join an organization. I wonder if that would work.”
“Why do you think I know so much about plants and stones?”
Jonas keeled over, clutching his stomach.
“What’s wrong?”
Jonas’ body was shaking, but Chase knew his brother too well. He was laughing hysterically.
“A club for alchemy?” He snorted. “And botany and chemistry? I’d rather cut off my arm.”
“Oh leave her alone, Jonas,” Kaleb said.
“You said yourself that teacher’s pets are eff—”
Kaleb cut him off. “We don’t know him, Skye, I swear.”
But he didn’t stop. “So, you’re one of the earthly, huh?”
Skye gathered her hair to one side and braided it into a pretty, red coil. “The earthly? Please. Aren’t we past all these group stereotypes?”
They would never grow past them. Stereotypes existed for a reason. Besides, Skye called herself a legacy, so she had little room to judge. Chase’s mind conjured images of glass houses and stones.
Jonas grinned snidely, resting his chin on his fist. “Tell me, did you pre-order your Wicca for Dummies book?”
Chase bit his lip to keep from smiling. Jonas could be obnoxious, sure, but Chase had always thought him to be the most entertaining of his brothers. He had admitted this to Jonas once, just once, because immediately following the compliment Jonas had snapped at Chase and insisted he was being ridiculed. Too many seeds of scorn had been planted within Jonas to make him ignore the bitterness that rooted him to his unhappiness.
“When did they disappear?” Kaleb asked, trying to get back on track, or perhaps trying to turn Skye’s attention back to him. “The bladderwort flowers?”
Skye shrugged. “All I know is that the shelves were stocked when Duvall did her intake in October. She did everything early to get ready for the haunted house.”
Van Hanlin entered, pushing his arms to send an invisible jolt throughout the room. It was his way of telling them to end all conversation during study hall hours.
Kaleb lowered his voice to a whisper. “So someone stole it,” he mused. “Who would want bait for banshees?”
Who indeed. Chase only hoped that whoever it might be was finished with their experimentation.
24
January 1867
Dear Sephi,
Though I do not regret what I did, I am severely sorry for disappointing you. I was able to convince the Patrol that the incident this morning was a misunderstanding that spiraled absurdly out of hand, but you and I both know differently. I’ve warned Paul Bond on numerous occasions to stay the hell away from you, and yet he refuses to obey. With hunters in the area, I can only imagine the Bonds are the family with which they’ve been communicating.
It sounds like an excuse, but I do not remember anything after I lost control. It’s like a hole in my mind.
A message reached me that Paul Bond will be released from the medical center today. Bully for him.
I am afraid I’ll be held here in solitary for some time because I refuse to show off what I can really do. I won’t do what they ask. I won’t help them, not unless it will get me into the Ardor Service. I’ve had difficulty controlling myself. My thoughts explode only to burn more holes in my head. Where there are flames, however, there is power. I need to remind myself of this. I promise I will learn to channel the energy into use.