3 Conjuring (18 page)

I had a lot to think about. Sure, spending the entire day in bed with Aric was a nice distraction, but that didn’t mean everything that had been eating at me – my whole world really – had suddenly ceased to be a problem.

I spent the next week running through a bevy of
scenarios in my head, each one more ludicrous than the previous. I even wondered if they planned on cutting me up to make a potion to give them long life and special powers. I didn’t say they were realistic scenarios. Or maybe I just hoped that?

The situation in the dorm room was frosty – and t
hat’s putting it mildly. Laura hadn’t said a word to me since the fight and Matilda was playing both sides against the middle. She was cordial, but not quite friendly, when Laura wasn’t there. But when Laura was present, she pretended that Kelsey and I weren’t even in the room.

I didn’t blame her; she was protecting herself fr
om what was sure to be an ugly reckoning.

Finally, I came up with my own plan: I was going to
pretend everything was fine. I know what you’re thinking, and that is so a plan. It might not be a good one, but it’s all I could come up with. Basically, I figured if I lied and said I was over things then maybe Matilda and Laura would relax enough to start talking to me again. And, if they started talking, maybe they’d let something slip.

But Laura and Matilda weren’t my only problem. The
y were my biggest – to be sure – but I also had Aric’s increased sneakiness to focus on. It’s not as though he was overtly underhanded and diabolical. He was attending more and more secret fraternity meetings, though, and his demeanor was constantly shifting. When we were together, he was relaxed and attentive – but there was always something coiling just beneath the surface. I caught him watching me sometimes – mostly when he thought I wouldn’t notice – as though he was waiting for something to happen. Whatever that something was, it terrified him.

Paris pumped Mark for information every chance she
got, but either he didn’t know anything or he was hiding what he did know very well. I was leaning toward the former. Mark was many things, but ambivalent and evil were not on that list. If he knew anything that could help, he would tell us.

I didn’t have a lot of options, so I decided to go to t
he only one who could possibly offer me any help. I finally called Rafael.

If he was surprised to hear that I wanted to meet with
him, he didn’t let on. He told me to sit tight and he would meet me in the lobby after dark. It was only then that I realized it was still sunny out.

“Are you sleeping in a coffin?”

“Why would you ask me that?” Rafael sounded bemused.

“It’s the middle of the day. I didn’t think about that when I called you. Don’t you have to sleep in a coffin?”

“I don’t think I’d get very good cell reception in a coffin. Do you?”

“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “I’m not up on how cell
phones work when they’re buried in concrete. Or wood. Is your coffin made of wood? And do you have one of those little satin pillows in there when you sleep?”

“I’ll see you in a couple of hours.” I heard Rafael’
s distinct sigh just before he disconnected. Oh, right, like those were unreasonable questions.

Rafael appeared between the glass doors at the entran
ce to the dorm lobby at 6 p.m. exactly. I realized that I had been holding my breath in anticipation of his arrival when the sight of him caused me to exhale sharply.

Rafael glanced around the lobby for a second and t
hen motioned for me to come to him. I considered standing my ground and making him come to me, but now didn’t seem like a particularly good time to exert my female dominance. He was the one doing me a favor, after all.

“Let’s go outside,” Rafael said, his voice low.

I mutely started to follow him outside, noticing that a few of the students milling about the lobby were curious enough about Rafael to openly stare. The fact that most of those staring happened to be girls didn’t escape me.

“Who is that?” One of the girls stopped me just before I exited the building.

“Just a student,” I lied. “He’s my lab partner.”

“What class are you taking together? Biology?” She had a wistful glint in her eyes.

I rolled my eyes. “He’s a drama major,” I replied, an evil grin playing at the corner of my mouth.

“Oh,” the girl wrinkled her nose sadly. “That’s too bad.”

Once I got outside, Rafael noticed the grin that I couldn’t quite wipe from my face.

“Why are you smiling?”

“No reason.”

“What did that girl say to you?”

“She wanted to know who you were,” I replied.

“And what did you tell her?”

“That you were my lab partner.”

Rafael cocked his head to the side. “I guess that was as good a lie as anything I
could have come up with.”

“I also told her you were a drama major.”

Rafael frowned. “I’m sure I’m missing something here, but I’m going to let it go.”

“That’s probably good,” I agreed. “Explaining why it’s funny would only confuse you.”

Rafael tucked a strand of his black hair behind his ear and fixed his gaze on me. “What’s wrong?”

“What makes you think anything is wrong?”

“Answering a question with a question means that something is really wrong,” Rafael pressed.

I blew out a tired sigh, letting my gaze wander up to
the night sky as I gathered my thoughts. Rafael watched me, but he didn’t prod further. When I opened my mouth, everything poured out.

It took me fifteen minutes to unload. I had weeks of
pent up anger, frustration and fear that needed to be expressed. And, unfortunately for Rafael, he was the only sounding board I had right now.

When I was done, Rafael just stood there. Finally, afte
r a minute of awkward silence, he spoke. “Is that all?”

“You need more?”

Rafael chuckled throatily. “It sounds like you’ve had a busy couple of months.”

“You don’t seem surprised by any of this.”

“I already knew most of it.”

“How? Do you have a bat signal in your coffin or something?”

“A what?”

“Never mind. I can never explain that.”

“I know who Batman is,” Rafael answered dryly. “It was just a weird reference.”

“Especially because you sleep in a coffin,” I grumbled.

“I don’t sleep in a coffin.”

“You don’t? What do you sleep in?”

“A bed.”

“Do you sleep all day?”

“Why are you asking these questions now?”

“I just realized I don’t know a heck of a lot about you,” I
replied honestly, “like if you sleep all day and party all night?”

“I do not sleep all day,” Rafael answered.

“Do you party all night?”

Rafael ignored the question.

I tried another tack. “Can you go out during the day?”

“As long as it’s not sunny, yes. Why do you think I live in Michigan?”

“Wouldn’t you be better off in Alaska or some place like that?”

“Have you ever been to Alaska?”

“No.”

“There’s even less to do there than there is here.”

“You’ve been there?”

“I’ve been everywhere.”

“Have you ever been to Coachella?”

“What?”

“Never mind. I’m just all over the place right now,” I grumbled, sinking down on the bench near the dorm entrance.

“It sounds like you have a right to be,” Rafael said sympatheti
cally. “It’s a lot for anyone to take on.”

“How do you know about all this?”

“I have my ear to the ground.”

“Yeah, you’ve got that whole supernatural network t
o tell you things. The one you won’t talk about.”

“It wouldn’t be a secret network if I talked about it.”
Rafael smiled softly, but the expression didn’t do much to make me feel any better.

“Yeah, I know all about secret networks,” I shot back. “Everyone seems to have one.”

“This is ultimately about Winters, isn’t it?”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because he’s the one you’re most concerned with.”

“I didn’t say that,” I scoffed.

“You didn’t have to,” Rafael countered. “Sometimes the way you go about telling a story is a hint to the important part of the story.”

“Something is up with that frat.” I was back on my feet
pacing before I even realized it. “Whatever it is, it’s bad. He’s watching me and waiting. I don’t know what he’s waiting for. I don’t know if he’s waiting for me to do something stupid or if he’s waiting for Laura and Matilda to do something stupid that somehow endangers me.”

The only part of his body that moved were Rafael’
s eyes as he watched me stride back and forth on the sidewalk in front of him.

“I think he’s got a plan in place, though,” I admitted.
“He’s going to do something. I just don’t know what. Or when.”

“You think he’s going to do something about you?” Raf
ael asked, confusion etched on his handsome face.

“No, not me. At least I don’t think.”

“You think he’s going to move on the sorority?” Realization dawned in his dark eyes.

“Don’t you?”

“I hadn’t really considered it,” Rafael said. “It makes sense, though. Everyone is preparing to mobilize on the sorority. They’re too much of a risk to ignore.”

“Who is everyone? And how do you know that the
y’re dangerous? I mean, how do you really know?”

“The wolves aren’t the only ones worried about
the situation brewing at Delta Omicron. There are whispers, hints of what might come.”

“What kind of whispers?”

“Bad ones,” Rafael acknowledged. “Whatever they’re doing can’t be good. They’re purposely consolidating a power base. Did you know that their recruitment numbers are double what they have been in recent years?”

“How do you know that?”

Rafael didn’t answer the question. “We know that they’re doing some sort of ritual every week. People have been watching the house and all the reports say that they’re performing regular rituals. My guess would be that they’re draining the recruits of any power they might have.”

“How are they even ensuring that they’re getting w
itches? Do they have a box for that on the recruitment forms?”

“You’re asking the wrong question,” Rafael replied
tensely. “Every person on this campus, whether magical or not, has life energy. Jessica doesn’t care if she’s recruiting witches. She only cares that the people she’s recruiting believe in the occult.”

I thought about what he was saying. “Because, if the
y believe they can get them to participate in these rituals even if they don’t know what’s really going on.”

“Pretty much. The less actual knowledge they have, the b
etter for Jessica. It makes it easier to fool them.”

“So you think they’re setting up these fancy rituals as a way to keep the
recruits happy, like they’re really dabbling in witchcraft and growing a power base,” I continued. “But the rituals are just a cover so Jessica can suck energy from them.”

“You’re smarter than you look,” Rafael nodded.

Another thought occurred to me. “Can they drain them completely? Could it kill the recruits?”

“I don’t know,” Rafael admitted. “I don’t know enou
gh about what they’re doing to comment on that. Why do you ask?”

I explained about the drained auras and saw Ra
fael’s face go from neutral to concerned. “You didn’t tell me you could see auras.”

“It’s only happened twice.”

Rafael shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat. I could see his mind working.

“Maybe you saw it when you did because you were supposed to.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“We still have no idea what your true gifts are,” Raf
ael replied. “We know you have strength – and that strength appears to be growing – but maybe your gifts are only appearing when they’re important to you.”

“How would that happen?”

“My guess is that you’re somehow controlling it.”

“Trust me. I’m not.”

“Not consciously, no,” Rafael agreed. “You could be doing it unconsciously, though.”

“How would I know that?”

“You can’t,” Rafael mused. “It’s just something to watch. Just for curiosity’s sake, though, you haven’t run across any other ghosts have you?”

That was an odd question. “No. I just figured there aren’t any around.”

“On a campus this size? In an area that boasts this big of a supernatural population? This place has to be crawling with ghosts. There’s a reason you saw the one you did and there’s a reason you saw her when you did.”