The Indigo Spell (30 page)

“Because Moroi and humans can’t be together? Because you don’t feel the same way about
me?”

“No,” I said. “Well, not entirely. Adrian . . . Jill saw it all.”

For a moment, he didn’t seem to understand. “What do you—oh. Shit.”

“Exactly.”

“I never even think of that anymore.” He sat down on the couch and stared off into
space. The callistana came scurrying into the room and perched on the arm of the couch.
“I mean, I know it happens. We even talked about it with other girls. She understands.”

“Understands?” I exclaimed. “She’s fifteen! You can’t subject her to that.”

“Maybe you were an innocent at fifteen, but Jill’s not. She knows how the world works.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Well, I’m not one of your other girls! I see
her every day. Do you know how hard it was to face her? Do you know what it feels
like to know she saw me doing that? And, God, what if there’d been more?”

“So, what’s this mean exactly?” he asked. “You finally come around, and now you’re
going to just end things because of her?”

“Kissing you isn’t exactly ‘coming around.’”

He gave me a long, level look. “There was a lot more than kissing, Miss ‘I’m a Quick
Study.’”

I tried not to show how embarrassed I was about that now. “And that’s exactly why
this is all over. I’m not going to let Jill see that again.”

“So you admit it could happen again?”

“Theoretically, yes. But I’m not going to give us the chance.”

“You’re going to avoid ever being alone with me again?”

“I’m going to avoid you, period.” I took a deep breath. “I’m going to go with Marcus
to Mexico.”

“What?” Adrian jumped up and strode over to me. I immediately backed up. “What happened
to you working undercover?”

“That only works if I can stay undercover! You think I can pull that off if I’m sneaking
around with you?”

“You’re with me half the time already!” I couldn’t tell if he was angry or not, but
he was clearly upset. “Nobody notices. We’ll be careful.”

“All it takes is one slipup,” I said. “And I don’t know if I can trust myself anymore.
I can’t risk the Alchemists finding out about you and me. I can’t risk exposing Jill
to what we’d do together. They’ll send another Alchemist to look after her, and hopefully
Stanton will take precautions against the Warriors.”

“Jill knows I can’t put my life on hold.”

“You should,” I snapped.

Now he
was
angry. “Well, you’d know all about that since you’re an expert in denying yourself
the things you want. And now you’re going to leave the country to make sure you can
deprive yourself even more.”

“Yes, exactly.” I walked over to the callistana and spoke the incantation that turned
him back into his inert form. I put the crystal into my purse and summoned all my
will to give Adrian the coldest look I could manage. It must have been a powerful
one because he looked as though I’d slapped him. Seeing that pain on his face made
my heart break. I didn’t want to hurt him. I didn’t want to leave him! But what choice
did I have? There was too much at stake.

“This is done. I’ve made my choice, Adrian,” I said. “I’m leaving this weekend, so
please don’t make it any more difficult than it has to be. I’d like us to be friends.”
The way I spoke made it sound like we were closing a business arrangement.

I walked toward the door, and Adrian hurried after me. I couldn’t bear to face the
agony in his eyes, and it took all my resolve not to avert my gaze. “Sydney, don’t
do this. You know it’s wrong. Deep inside, you know it is.”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t answer. I walked away, forcing myself not to look back.
I was too afraid my resolve would falter—and that was exactly why I needed to leave
Palm Springs. I wasn’t safe around him anymore. No one could be allowed to have that
kind of power over me.

All I wanted to do after that was hide in my room and cry. For a week. But there was
never any rest for me. It was always about others, with my feelings and dreams shoved
off to the side. Consequently, I wasn’t in the best position to give Eddie romantic
advice when we met up that night. Fortunately, he was too caught up in his own emotions
to notice mine.

“I should never have gotten involved with Angeline,” he told me. We were at a coffee
shop across town that was called Bean There, Done That. He’d ordered hot chocolate
and had been stirring it for almost an hour.

“You didn’t know,” I said. It was hard maintaining my half of the conversation when
I kept seeing the pain in Adrian’s eyes. “You couldn’t have known—especially with
her. She’s unpredictable.”

“And that’s
why
I shouldn’t have done it.” He finally set the spoon down on the table. “Relationships
are dangerous enough without getting involved with someone like her. And I don’t have
time for that kind of distraction! I’m here for Jill, not me. I should never have
let myself get caught up in this.”

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be with someone,” I said diplomatically.
Unless that person turns your world upside down and makes you lose all self-control.

“Maybe when I’ve retired, I’ll have the time.” I couldn’t tell if he was serious or
not. “But not right now. Jill’s my priority.”

I had no business playing matchmaker, but I had to try. “Have you ever thought about
seriously being with Jill? I know you used to like her.” And I was absolutely certain
he still did.

“That’s out of the question,” he said fiercely. “And you know it. I can’t think of
her like that.”

“She thinks about you like that.” The words slipped out before I could stop them.
After my own romantic disaster today, a part of me longed for at least someone to
be happy. I didn’t want anyone else hurting the way I did.

He froze. “She . . . no. There’s no way.”

“She does.”

A whole range of emotions played through Eddie’s eyes. Disbelief. Hope. Joy. And then . . .
resignation. He picked up the spoon again and returned to his compulsive stirring.

“Sydney, you know I can’t. You of all people know what it’s like to have to focus
on your work.” This was the second time today someone had said “you of all people”
to me. I guess everyone had a preconceived idea of who I was.

“You should at least think about it,” I said. “Watch her the next time you’re together.
See how she reacts.”

He looked as though he might consider it, which I took as a small victory. Suddenly,
alarm flashed on his face. “Whatever happened with you and Marcus? The St. Louis trip?
Did you find out anything about Jill?”

I chose my next words very carefully, both because I didn’t want to alarm him and
because I didn’t want him taking some drastic action that could accidentally reveal
my dealings with Marcus. “We found some evidence that the Warriors have talked to
the Alchemists, but nothing that shows they’re working together or have actual plans
for her. I’ve also taken some steps to make sure she’s protected.”

I hadn’t heard anything from Stanton today and wasn’t sure if that last part would
actually pan out. Eddie looked relieved, though, and I couldn’t bear to stress him
out any further today. His gaze shifted to something behind me, and he pushed the
untouched hot chocolate away. “Time for us to go.”

I looked back at a clock and saw he was right. We still had a comfortable window before
curfew, but I didn’t want to push it. I finished off the last of my coffee and followed
him out. The sun was sinking into the horizon, coloring the sky red and purple. The
temperature had finally cooled off to normal levels, but it still didn’t feel like
winter to me. There’d been a bunch of badly parked cars in the front of the lot, so
I’d parked Latte in the back in case some careless person opened a door too fast.

“Thanks for the moral support,” Eddie told me. “Sometimes it feels like you really
are a sister—”

That was when my car exploded. Sort of.

I have to admit Eddie’s response time was amazing. He threw me to the ground, shielding
my body with his. The boom had been deafening, and I cried out as some sort of foam
landed on the side of my face.

Foam?

Cautiously, Eddie rose, and I followed. My car hadn’t exploded in flames or anything
like that. Instead, it was filled with some sort of white substance that had blasted
out with such force that it had blown the doors off and broken the windows. We both
approached the mess, and behind us, I heard people coming out of the coffee shop.

“What the hell?” asked Eddie.

I touched some of the foam on my face and rubbed my fingertips together. “It’s sort
of like the stuff you’d find in a fire extinguisher,” I said.

“How did it get in your car?” he asked. “And how did it get there so fast? I glanced
over at it when we first walked out. You’re the chemical expert. Could some reaction
have happened that fast?”

“Maybe,” I admitted. At the moment, I was too shocked to really run any formulas.
I rested a hand against Latte’s hood and wanted to burst into tears. My emotions were
at a breaking point. “My poor car. First Adrian’s, now mine. Why do people do stuff
like this?”

“Vandals don’t care,” said a voice beside me. I glanced over and saw one of the baristas,
an older man who I believed was the owner. “I’ve seen stuff like this before. Damn
kids. I’ll call the police for you.” He took out his cell phone and backed away.

“I don’t know if we’ll make curfew now,” I told Eddie.

He gave me a sympathetic pat on the back. “I think if you show a police report at
the dorm, they’ll be lenient with you.”

“Yeah, I hope that—ugh. The police.” I hurried over to the passenger side and stared
bleakly at the wall of foam.

“What’s wrong?” Eddie asked. “I mean, aside from the obvious.”

“I have to get to the glove compartment.” I lowered my voice. “There’s a gun in there.”

He did a double take. “A what?”

I said no more, and he helped me dig through the foam. Both of us ended up covered
in it by the time I reached the compartment. Making sure no one was behind us, I quickly
retrieved the gun and slipped it into my messenger bag. I was about to shut the lid
when something shiny caught my eye.

“That’s impossible,” I said.

It was my cross, the gold one I’d lost. I grabbed it and then immediately dropped
it, yelping in pain. The metal had burned me. Considering the foamy substance was
cool, it didn’t seem likely it had heated up the cross. I wrapped my sleeve around
my hand and gingerly picked up the cross again.

Eddie peered over my shoulder. “You wear that all the time.”

I nodded and continued staring at the cross. A terrible feeling began to spread over
me. I found a tissue in my purse and wrapped the cross up before adding it to the
bag. Then I retrieved my cell phone and dialed Ms. Terwilliger. Voice mail. I hung
up without leaving a message.

“What’s going on?” asked Eddie.

“I’m not sure,” I said. “But I think it’s bad.”

I hadn’t yet developed the ability to sense magical residue, but I was almost certain
something had been done to the cross, something that had resulted in Latte’s foamy
demise. Alicia hadn’t been able to find the cross. Had Veronica doubled back and taken
it? If so, how had she located me? I knew personal items could be used to track back
to a person, though the most common ones were hair and nails. As advanced as Veronica
was, it was very likely an object—like this cross—would serve just as well.

Veronica might very well have found me. But if so, why vandalize my car instead of
sucking out my life?

The police came soon thereafter and took our statements. They were followed by a tow
truck. I could tell from the driver’s face that it wasn’t looking good for Latte.
He hauled my poor car away, and then one of the officers was nice enough to return
Eddie and me to Amberwood. Against all odds, we made it back just in time.

As soon as I got to my room, I tried Ms. Terwilliger again. Still no answer.

I emptied out my bag onto my bed and found it had gathered a number of items today.
One of them was a donut I’d picked up at the coffee shop. I put it and the quartz
crystal into the aquarium and summoned the callistana. He immediately went after the
donut.

I found the cross and discovered it was now cool. Whatever spell it had been used
in was gone. The gun was near it, and I quickly hid that back in the bag. That left
Ms. Terwilliger’s envelope, which I’d neglected all day. Maybe if I hadn’t been so
distracted by personal matters, I could have saved Latte.

I pulled the latest spell book out of the envelope and heard something jangle. I removed
the book and then saw another, smaller envelope inside. I pulled it out and read a
message Ms. Terwilliger had written on the side:
Here’s another charm to mask your magical ability, just in case. It’s one of the most
powerful out there and took a lot of work, so be careful with it.

That same guilt I always felt about her helping me returned. I opened the small envelope
and found a silver star pendant set with peridots. I gasped.

I had seen this charm before, this powerful and painstakingly made charm that could
allegedly hide strong magical ability.

I had seen it around Alicia’s neck.

FOR A MOMENT, I THOUGHT
it had to be a coincidence. After all, what was so special about a peridot star?
For all I knew, Alicia might have been born in August and was just sporting her birthstone
among that mess of necklaces she always wore. And yet, if there was one thing I believed
more than ever, it was Sonya’s adage that there were no coincidences in the world
of the supernatural.

I sank to the floor and tried to reason my way through things. If the charm Alicia
had worn was like this one, then it meant she too was a strong magic user trying to
mask her abilities. Did she know about Veronica? Was Alicia trying to protect herself?
If so, then it seemed like she wouldn’t have been so casual about Veronica staying
at the inn. So, that meant either Alicia didn’t know about Veronica’s true nature—again,
a suspicious coincidence—or that Alicia was covering for Veronica.

Could Alicia be in league with Veronica?

That seemed the likeliest answer to me. Although Veronica apparently sought out young,
powerful magic users, it was totally possible that she’d seen the advantage of having
one as an assistant. And, as we’d observed, Veronica had plenty of other victims to
choose from. Alicia could therefore help and cover up Veronica’s nefarious plans—like
when a curious couple came asking questions.

I groaned. Alicia had been playing us from the beginning. From the instant we’d stepped
through her door with stories about our anniversary and “friend” Veronica, she’d known
we were lying. She’d known we weren’t actually friends with Veronica, and she might
have been strong enough to fight Adrian’s compulsion a little. She’d gone along with
everything—even being so helpful as to call me when Veronica had shown up again. I
had no idea now what was true, if Veronica had ever left in the first place or returned
from being gone. I did, however, have a sinking suspicion that my car wasn’t the only
one she’d incapacitated.

I could understand if she’d used the cross to find me, but how had she initially located
the Mustang? I racked my brain for any identifying information. Adrian’s spirit magic
should have muddled our appearances, covering up any connection to us. Then I knew.
Alicia had walked us out and admired the Mustang. A clever person—someone who was
already on high alert because of our visit—could’ve made note of the license plate
and used it to track down where Adrian lived.

But why slash the tires?
To delay us
, I realized. That was the night Lynne had been attacked. And we had arrived too late
to warn her.

The more I began to sift through the events of the last few weeks, the more I began
to think we had been very, very careless. We’d thought we were being so cautious about
concealing ourselves from Veronica. No one, not even Ms. Terwilliger, had considered
that she might have an accomplice we also had to watch out for. And the dreams . . .
those had started the day Adrian and I had been on the velvet bed. The day my garnet
had slipped and had possibly been enough for Alicia to sense a magic user in the inn.

Which brought me back to the present. Ms. Terwilliger. I had to tell her what I’d
found. I called for a third time. Still no answer. Although I often had images of
Ms. Terwilliger conducting late-night rituals, it was entirely reasonable that she’d
be in bed right now. Was this the kind of thing that could wait until morning?

No, I decided on the spot. No, it wasn’t. We were dealing with dangerous, violent
magic users—and my car had just been attacked. Something might be happening as I stood
there, trying to decide. I would have to wake her up . . . provided I could get to
her.

It took only a moment to make my next decision. I called Adrian.

He answered on the first ring but sounded wary, which I couldn’t blame him for after
what I’d done earlier. “Hello?”

I prayed he was the noble guy I thought he was. “Adrian, I know things are bad between
us, and maybe I have no right to ask, but I need a favor. It’s about Veronica.”

There was no hesitation. “What do you need?”

“Can you come over to Amberwood? I need you to help me break curfew and escape my
dorm.”

There were a few moments of silence. “Sage, I’ve been waiting two months to hear you
say those words. You want me to bring a ladder?”

The plan was already unfolding in my head. The security guards that patrolled at night
would have eyes on the student parking lot, but the back property would be relatively
unguarded.

“I’ll get myself out of the building. If you come up the main road that leads to Amberwood
and then go past the driveway, you’ll see a little service road that runs up a hill
and goes behind my dorm. Park there near the utility shed, and I’ll meet you as soon
as I get out.”

When he spoke again, his earlier levity was gone. “I’d really like to believe this
is some awesome midnight adventure, but it’s not, is it? Something’s gone really wrong.”

“Very wrong,” I agreed. “I’ll explain in the car.”

I quickly changed into clean jeans and a T-shirt, adding a light suede jacket against
the evening chill. To be safe, I also decided to pack my bag with a few supplies and
bring it along. If all went well, I’d simply be warning Ms. Terwilliger tonight. But
with the way things had been going lately, I couldn’t presume anything would be simple.
Bringing the suitcase this time would be unwieldy, so I had to make a few quick decisions
about chemicals and magical components. I tossed some in the bag and stuffed others
in my jeans and coat pockets.

Once I was ready, I headed down to Julia and Kristin’s room. They were dressed for
bed but not asleep yet. When Julia saw me with my coat and bag, her eyes went wide.

“Sweet,” she said.

“I know you’ve gotten out before,” I said. “How’d you do it?”

Julia’s many dates often occurred outside of sanctioned school hours, and both she
and Kristin had bragged about Julia’s exploits in the past. I’d hoped perhaps Julia
knew about a secret tunnel out of the school and that I wouldn’t have to attempt some
crazy feat of acrobatics. Unfortunately, that was exactly what I had to do. She and
Kristin walked me to their window and pointed at a large tree growing outside it.

“This room has a view and easy access,” said Kristin proudly.

I eyed the gnarled tree warily. “That’s easy?”

“Half the dorm’s used it,” she said. “So can you.”

“We should be charging people,” mused Julia. She flashed me a smile. “Don’t worry.
We’ll give you a freebie tonight. Just start on that big limb there, swing over there,
and then use those branches for handholds.”

I found it amazing that someone who’d claimed badminton in PE was too “dangerous”
would have no qualms about scaling a tree from her third-floor room. Of course, Marcus’s
apartment had been on the fourth floor, and that fire escape had been a million times
more unsafe than this tree. Thoughts of Alicia and Ms. Terwilliger snapped me back
to the importance of my mission, and I gave Julia and Kristin a decisive nod.

“Let’s do this,” I said.

Julia cheered and opened the window for me. Kristin watched just as eagerly. “Please
tell me you’re running off to meet some breathtakingly handsome guy,” she said.

I paused, just as I was about to climb out. “Yes, actually. But not in the way you’re
thinking.”

Once I made it to the limb Julia had indicated, I discovered she was right. It was
pretty simple—so simple, in fact, that I was surprised no school official had noticed
this easy access escape route and chopped it down. Well, so much the better for those
of us with late-night errands. I made it to the ground and waved goodbye to my watching
friends.

The dorm’s back property had some lights on it, exactly for the reason of deterring
wayward students like me. It was also along the patrol route of one of the security
guards but wasn’t a spot he stayed regularly stationed at. He wasn’t in sight, so
I crossed my fingers that he was busy with another part of his beat. There were enough
shadows on the lawn that I was able to stay within them the whole way—until I reached
the back fence. It was lit up pretty well, and really, the only assets I had were
that I was a fast climber and that the guard hadn’t surfaced yet. Falling back on
that hope that the universe owed me some favors—especially after tricking me about
Alicia—I gulped and scrambled over. No one shouted at me when I landed on the other
side, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I’d made it out. Getting back in would be harder,
but that was a problem for later, hopefully one Ms. Terwilliger could help out with.

I found Adrian waiting for me in the Mustang, exactly where I’d indicated. He gave
me a sidelong glance as he drove us away. “No black catsuit?”

“It’s in the laundry.”

He smiled. “Of course it is. Now, where are we going, and what’s going on?”

“We’re going to Ms. Terwilliger’s,” I said. “And what’s going on is that we’ve been
walking around in front of the enemy this entire time without even realizing it.”

I watched Adrian as I related my revelations and saw his face go from disbelieving
to dismayed the more I spoke. “Her aura was too perfect,” he said once I finished.
“Perfectly neutral, perfectly average. No one’s is like that. I brushed it off, though.
Figured maybe it was just a weird human one.”

“Can someone influence how their aura looks?” I asked.

“Not to that extent,” he said. “I don’t know enough about these charms you guys use,
but I’m guessing it was one of those that skewed the way her colors looked.”

I slumped into the seat, still angry at not having figured this out sooner. “On the
bright side, she doesn’t know we’re on to her and Veronica. That could give us an
advantage.”

When we reached Ms. Terwilliger’s house, we found all the lights on, which was a surprise.
I’d assumed she was in bed, though this certainly wouldn’t be the first time she’d
missed a phone call. Only, when we reached the house and knocked on the door, there
was no answer. Adrian and I exchanged looks.

“Maybe she had to leave abruptly,” he said. The tone of his voice conveyed what his
words didn’t. What if Ms. Terwilliger had already found out what we had and had taken
off to fight Alicia and Veronica? I had no idea how powerful Alicia was, but the odds
didn’t seem promising.

When no answer came from my second knock, I nearly kicked the door in frustration.
“Now what?”

Adrian turned the doorknob, and the door opened right up. “How about we wait for her?”
he suggested.

I grimaced. “I don’t know if I’m comfortable breaking into her place.”

“She left the door unlocked. She’s practically inviting us in.” He pushed the door
open farther and looked at me expectantly.

I didn’t want to go back to Amberwood without speaking to her tonight, nor did I want
to sit on her doorstep. Hoping she wouldn’t mind us making ourselves at home, I gave
a nod of resignation and followed Adrian inside. Her house was the same as ever, cluttered
and redolent with the scent of incense. Suddenly, I came to a standstill.

“Wait. Something’s different.” It took me a moment to figure it out, and when I did,
I couldn’t believe I hadn’t realized it immediately. “The cats are gone.”

“Holy shit,” said Adrian. “You’re right.”

At least one of them always came to greet visitors, and others were usually visible
on furniture, under tables, or simply occupying the middle of the floor. But now,
there were no cats in sight.

I stared around in disbelief. “What in the world could—”

An earsplitting shriek made me jump. I looked down toward my hip and found the dragon
sticking his head out of my satchel and trying to claw his way up my side. Belatedly,
I realized I’d forgotten to cover the aquarium. He’d apparently slipped inside the
bag back in my room. The sound he was making now was similar to his hunger cry—except
even more annoying. Then, impossibly, he nipped my leg. I bent over and tried to pull
him off me.

“I don’t have any pie! What are you trying to—ahh!”

Something zoomed over my head and smashed into the wall behind me with a loud splat.
A couple wet drops of something landed on my cheek and began to burn. It was a wonder
I didn’t hear a sizzling sound.

“Sydney!” Adrian cried.

I turned toward where he was looking and saw Alicia standing in the doorway between
the living room and the kitchen. Her palm was raised toward us, a shimmery and gooey
substance cupped in it. Presumably it was the same substance that currently seared
my skin. I almost wiped it away but feared I’d simply be spreading it to my fingers.
I winced and tried to ignore it.

“Sydney,” said Alicia pleasantly. “Or should I say, Taylor? I figured I’d be seeing
you two again. Just not so soon. I guess your car trouble didn’t delay you tonight.”

“We know everything,” I told her, keeping on an eye on that goo. “We know you’re working
for Veronica.”

The smug look on her face momentarily shifted, overcome by surprise. “Working
for her
? I got rid of her ages ago.”

“Got rid of. . . .” For a few seconds, I was at a loss. Then the rest of the puzzle
pieces fell together. “
You’re
the one who’s been absorbing those girls. And that witch in San Diego. And . . .
Veronica Terwilliger.”

I’d been able to track Veronica back to the inn with the scrying spell. When Ms. Terwilliger
had attempted a different locating spell, she’d come up blank. She’d assumed it was
because Veronica had some sort of shielding. But the truth, I was suddenly certain,
was that Veronica was already comatose. There was no active mind for Ms. Terwilliger
to reach because Alicia had consumed Veronica.

Ms. Terwilliger . . .

“You’re here for her,” I said. “Ms. Terwilliger. Not me.”

“The untrained do make easy targets,” conceded Alicia. “But they don’t have the same
power as full-fledged witches, who can be just as easy to absorb if you break them
down first. I don’t need the youth like Veronica did, just the power. Once she showed
me how the spell works, I was able to catch her in a weak moment. That other college
girl tided me over until I wore down Alana Kale.” Where had I heard that name? Alana . . .
she was Ms. Terwilliger’s comatose coven sister. “And finally I can take out the big
hit: Jaclyn Terwilliger. I actually wasn’t sure if I’d be able to break her, but it
turns out she’s done an awesome job of wearing herself out these last few weeks, all
in the service of protecting her sweet little apprentice.”