Authors: Amanda M. Lee
3 Conjuring (24 page)
I pulled myself together as best I could, even though
it was taking all the energy I had not to crumble to the ground in a ball of tears and rage. “It must be frustrating,”
I said finally, turning back to Laura.
“What’s that?” Laura was enjoying herself now.
“To have set all of this up only to have it fail.”
Laura looked surprised. “In case you haven’t noticed, I haven’t failed. I befriended you. I manipulated you into taking my side in that whole Paris debacle. I stole your power. I’m the one who’s won here.”
“You can’t talk sense into her,” Paris whispered. “She’s
too far gone. You can’t reach her. I don’t think you ever could.”
“Yes, Zoe, I’m too far gone – and I’m sick to death of lis
tening to the two of you! This is my party and you’re ruining it. You’re all ruining it!”
Laura raised her hand quickly, sending a wave of black magic in our direction. It w
as too late to move out of the way. It was too late to run and hide. I braced myself instead, expecting death to claim me at any second – wondering briefly whether death wouldn’t be better than the pain ripping through my chest. I was surprised when the magic didn’t hit me straight on, though. Instead, that pain, the anguish that had been building since I realized Aric had betrayed me, exploded out of my chest.
The pain was unbearable. I heard a rushing sound, like
a waterfall of regret, washing over me. Someone was screaming. I didn’t realize that it was me until the force that had been building inside of my chest ripped loose and rushed out of me in the form of a white cloud of furious magic.
The white cloud met the black cloud in a crashing explos
ion, brushing Laura’s magic aside and tearing toward Laura. Laura’s eyes widened. “But how?”
“You didn’t have the right ingredients either,” Paris s
aid. “We switched some of them out weeks ago.”
Laura’s face didn’t have time to register anything – not ev
en the rage she was surely feeling. When the white cloud hit her, Laura opened her mouth to scream, her back tightening into a straight line and her head snapping back toward the sky. The white cloud engulfed Laura, forcing a torrent of black smoke to pour out of her mouth and dissipate under the sheer strength of the white magic.
I dropped to my knees, exhaustion washing over me.
Paris was at my side, concern etched on her face. She helped me back to my feet, not letting go of my arm, and offering her support as I struggled to remain standing.
When I glanced back to where Laura had been standing I found nothing remaining. Well, that’s not exactly true. There was a charred patc
h on the ground. Nothing else, though. Laura was gone.
The wolves growled uneasily as they looked
around the yard. They had been spoiling for a fight, but that fight was already over.
I felt another set of hands on my left arm. I glanced over
to find Aric there, trying to pull me toward him. I ripped away from him angrily. “Don’t touch me!”
Hurt resonated across Aric’s face. “Zoe, you can barely
stand. Let me help you. I told you, I can explain all of this.”
“Help me? Help me?” My voice sounded shrill even to
my own ears. “You lied to me. You used me as bait. I just killed Laura.” I turned to Paris worriedly. “Did that just really happen?”
“She’s in shock,” Paris said in a low voice.
“I’m not in shock.”
“Let me help you get her back to the dorms,” Aric pleaded. “I can make this right.”
“No,” Paris said forcefully. “She may be in shock, but she’s right. You betrayed her. You betrayed us both. You put her in danger. She’s been in imminent danger for months. You knew that and you did nothing.”
A thought occurred to me. “If you knew Laura wa
s the threat, why did you kill Jessica?”
“I told you,” Aric replied quietly. “I couldn’t be su
re. I suspected that Laura was responsible for things, but Jessica was a willing participant and she wouldn’t have stopped.”
“So you killed her? You didn’t even think twice about it.”
“I was hoping that if Jessica fell Laura would let it go. I was hoping that she would realize she was wrong – or at least retreat and regroup. I didn’t know ... I didn’t know what would happen. I certainly didn’t think that you would ... I didn’t think that would happen.”
“You knew there was a chance, though,” I shot back
bitterly. “You could have told me. We could have made a different plan. She didn’t have to die. We could have saved her. You made all of this happen with your silence.”
“I had no choice,” Aric argued. “I can’t go against pack law.”
“Well, your pack law just cost you a girlfriend,” Paris said shortly, anger practically radiating from her body. “I hope it was worth it.”
“So you’re doing Zoe’s talking for her now?” Aric snapped.
“No,” Paris shook her head. “But I know what she’s going to say. You know what she’s going to say. You know what you did was wrong. That’s why you’re so worried.
You’re not doing anyone any favors by pretending otherwise. Let her go.”
“No.” Aric shook his head vehemently. “I love her. I love you.” He reached for me again. His fingers felt desperate on my arm.
I laughed mirthlessly. “You don’t use someone you love as bait.”
“Zoe, just let me explain ... .”
“There’s nothing to explain,” I shot back hollowly, leaning on Paris for support.
“Paris is right. You made your choice. You chose your pack.”
“I didn’t choose the pack!”
“That’s exactly what you did,” I said, letting Paris lead me toward the gate as I shuffled along wearily. “That’s exactly what you did.”
“Zoe, this isn’t over.” Aric’s voice was low and his ey
es were filled with tears. “We need to talk about this. You just need some time.”
I kept walking.
“I’ll call you tomorrow. You’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.”
“Yeah,” I barked out harshly. “Eight hours of sleep and
I’ll forget that I just burned my roommate to a crisp – and that if you had just told the truth, none of this might have happened.”
“I’ll give you a few days.” Aric’s voice cracked.
We were at the gate now, but I didn’t turn to face him. I couldn’t. “Let me go, Aric,” I murmured. “Just let me go.”
And he did.
“Did you know?”
It was a week later, but the memory of the Delta Omicron party was still haunting me. Rafael had agreed to meet me outside of the dorm one night about a week before the semester’s end. I hadn’t ventured outside of its walls except for classes in more than seven days. I was starting to feel like a shut-in.
“Which part?” Rafael asked, his eyes full of worry. He n
eedn’t have felt so fearful. I had looked in a mirror. I knew how bad I looked. Gaunt. Drawn. Tired. Oh, so very tired.
“The part about Laura being the real threat?”
“No,” Rafael said. “That took me by surprise. Had I known, I would have told you. I wasn’t close enough to the situation to know all the intricacies.”
“You told me to ask Aric, though,” I pressed. “You told me he had answers.”
“And I thought those answers revolved around Jessica. I had no idea that he knew about Laura and her real agenda.”
I remained silent, staring up at the night sky. I wante
d to believe him, but I wasn’t sure I could.
“How are things in your room?” Rafael changed the subject.
“It’s just me and Kelsey now,” I said. “Matilda has been staying at the sorority house.
She snuck in while we were at class one day and moved out
all of her stuff. We haven’t seen her since.”
“What about Laura’s stuff?”
“I don’t know what to do with it,” I said. “It’s not like I can report her missing. Paris said she told her mom what happened and she told Laura’s mom. I guess I’m expecting her to show up and pack up her stuff. I’m just not dealing with it.”
“It’s not your problem,” Rafael agreed. “Just leave it when you move out.”
“That’s what I plan to do.”
We lapsed into an uncomfortable silence again. Rafael shuffled his feet awkwardly.
“You’re returning home for the summer?”
“I’m working at the resort again,” I replied. “I’m looking
forward to it. Sun. Water. No supernaturals to muck up my life.”
“Isn’t your town full of werewolves?”
“Okay, no supernaturals from here to muck up my life,” I corrected myself.
“And what about Winters?”
“What about him? We’re done.” Those words had become easier to say – even to myself – over the past week. My heart didn’t feel as though it was cracking in half when I uttered the words now. It felt more as though it was squeezed in a vise. Progress is progress, though.
“And he just let that go?”
“He doesn’t have a choice.”
“He hasn’t tried to call you?”
“He has,” I nodded. “I don’t answer his calls.”
“Has he tried to see you?”
I shook my head.
“I’m surprised. I thought he would try to force the issue.”
I was a little surprised, too. “I think he knows that things can’t be fixed and he has to move on.”
“Well, a summer of distance between the two of you wi
ll make things better,” Rafael said pragmatically.
“That’s what I’m hoping.”
Rafael watched me carefully for a few moments. “You haven’t talked about it.”
“What? Laura dying? What is there to say?”
“While that is traumatic,” Rafael replied casually, “the ‘it’ I was referring to was the magic.”
“I don’t know what to say about that either.”
“Have you tried to call upon your magic again?” Rafael’s tone was light but curious.
“Nope.”
“Are you going to?”
“Nope.”
“You’re being awful blasé about all of this.”
“That’s all I can be right now,” I replied honestly. “I’m still ... digesting everything.”
Rafael looked like he wanted to ask another question.
“Just ask,” I sighed wearily.
“Are you coming back?” he asked, although he looked like he dreaded the answer.
“To college? Or here specifically?”
“I guess both.”
“I’m coming back,” I said. “I don’t have a lot of choic
e in the matter. We’ve already put a down payment on a house off campus for next year.”
“Who?”
“Paris, Kelsey and I,” I answered. “We have two other girls who live down the hall moving in with us, too.”
Rafael looked concerned.
“Don’t worry. They seem harmless. No overt homicidal tendencies.”
The unspoken statement between us was that Laura had seemed innocent, too.
“Well, then,” Rafael said. “I guess I should wish you a good summer.”
“You, too,” I replied, having trouble meeting his worried gaze.
Rafael started to move away and then stopped, turning back to me with a small smile on his face. “You never know,” he said. “I’ve been wanting to check out that part of the state for a while now. Maybe I’ll pay you a visit.”
He was gone into the night before I could answer.
So much for a supernatural free summer.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or de
ad, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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Special thanks go out to Heidi Bitsoli and Philip Van Hulle for proofreading my work.
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Grim Tidings (Coming August/September
2014)