Love Spell: Book 2 of The Grimm Laws (10 page)

“Where is he?”

Millicent shook her head and stood. Before she could walk away, Cinderella grabbed her arm. “I asked thee a question! Where is he?” She was yelling, but she was beyond caring what anyone thought.

“Princess, please. Thou art hurting my arm.”

Cinderella got up in her face. “I will hurt more than thine arm if ye do not tell me where he is!”

Millicent’s eyes darted back and forth like she was trying to find a way to escape. Cinderella dug her fingernails into Millicent’s arm. “Tell me!”

“In the dungeon.”

The words knocked Cinderella back. Tears sprang to her eyes. “I have to go to him. I have to—” A wave of dizziness enveloped her, and she clutched the bed for support. The room started to spin and bright lights exploded around her.

Millicent started speaking, but the words sounded garbled to Cinderella, like they were coming out in slow motion. “The Tea!” She staggered. “Ye put something in the tea!” She fell into Millicent, clutching at her frock for support. Then she toppled backwards onto the bed and went unconscious.

E
lle and Rae
were in Elle’s room, listening to music and munching on Cheetos and drinking root beer. It was nice to be able to veg after school. Adele had given her the evening off, and she was planning on meeting Rush at 5:00 to work on the English essay. Afterwards, the band members were going to The Chocolate Fountain to practice for the upcoming gig at Wisteria’s nightclub. Rae was lying on her stomach across the bed, her legs going back and forth in the air as she thumbed through a
People Magazine
. Elle was sitting in the hot pink, overstuffed chair with black roses. She was angled so that her legs were propped up on the arm of the chair.

“I still don’t see what Rush sees in Lynessa,” Elle said sourly, picking up the topic she’d begun when she saw Rush and Lynessa sitting together at lunch. It was all she could do to sit there and watch Lynessa laughing and leaning into him when what she really wanted to do was to march over, grab her perfect hair, and drag her as far away from Rush as she could.

Rae rolled her eyes and blew out a breath. “Geez! Give it a rest, would ya? You’ve been talking about this for hours.”

Elle thrust out her lower lip in a pout. “Fine! I won’t mention it again.”

Rae glanced at her crestfallen expression, rose up off of her stomach, and sat Indian style on the bed. “Look, you obviously still have feelings for Rush, or you wouldn’t be so bent out of shape about him and Lynessa.”

“That’s Ridiculous!” she scoffed. “He’s an immature moron who thinks he’s God’s gift to women!” She crossed her arms tightly over her chest. “I detest him.”

Rae chuckled. “Case in point.”

Elle’s jaw dropped but then she clamped her lips shut. There was no sense pretending when Rae could see straight through her. She ran a hand through her hair. “I just don’t get Rush. One minute he’s hot and the next he’s cold.”

“You’re calling him hot and cold?” She arched an eyebrow. “Really?”

“What are you getting at?” Heat went up Elle’s neck as she started straightening her shirt.

“Anyone with eyes can see that Rush is crazy about you, but you keep waffling back and forth between him and Edward. I’m sure the poor guy got tired of waiting for you to make up your mind.”

A hot anger seared its way over Elle. “That’s not fair! I’ve had a lot to deal with! Under the circumstances, I think I’ve done pretty well. I’m only trying to be honest about my feelings,” she finished, remembering the compliment Adele had given her.

Rae shook her head. “I know you’ve been through a lot, and I’m not trying to get all preachy on you, I’m just saying that Rush is a guy—a guy that has a lot going for him. He’s not going to wait around forever.”

“Obviously,” Elle muttered darkly.

“What’s up with you and Edward?” Gingerly, she reached into the open bag of Cheetos and selected two before placing them in her mouth. “I can’t believe you went out with him!” She rolled her eyes. “I thought that ship had sailed.”

“Yeah …” Elle began chewing on the inside of her lip. Hearing Rae put it so bluntly made her feel like a heel. She hadn’t meant to keep waffling back and forth between Rush and Edward, but it was all a jumbled mess, and there seemed to be no easy solution. She pushed her hair behind her ear. “I’m not sure what to do about Edward.”

“If you’re as crazy about Rush as I think you are then the kind thing to do would be to turn Edward loose … put him out of his misery so he can move on. You know, a fresh start sort of thing.”

Elle made a face as irritation squelched over her. The last thing she needed was a lecture from Rae. “You make it sound so cut and dry, but it’s not!”

Rae looked doubtful. “I think you’re making it much more complicated than it has to be.”

“It is complicated. There’s that whole mess about the letter!” She made a face. “And for your information, I thought I had made a choice, but then Rush threw it back in my face! It took him about two seconds to move on to Lynessa!” Her eyes flashed with anger.

A wise smile broke across Rae’s face. “He’s playing you good.”

A furrow appeared between Elle’s brows. “What do you mean? Are you saying this thing with Lynessa is some sort of twisted attempt to make me jealous?” An ember of hope kindled in her breast. If that were the case, then that meant she still had a chance of winning him back.

She spread her hands. “You are jealous, aren’t you?”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” she said defensively.

A sparkle of amusement lit Rae’s eyes. “Really?”

“Okay, smarty pants. Since you’re such an expert on me and Rush, why don’t we talk about you and Jack?” She paused and let the silence do its trick. It was fun to watch Rae’s face turn the shade of her hair.

Her mouth formed a large O. “There is no me and Jack,” she protested.

Elle laughed. “Obviously.”

“Jack is an imbecile! And he drives me crazy!” She fluffed her short hair.

A smile played on Elle’s lips. “Uh-huh, sounds about right. It’s those imbeciles you have to look out for. Believe me, I know,” she finished dryly.

Rae cut her eyes at Rush’s house. “Yep, that’s right.” They both laughed, breaking the tension.

“So,” Elle prompted. “You and Jack?”

“Don’t even go there,” Rae smirked. She waved a hand in the air. “Jack and I are just friends.”

Elle arched an eyebrow.

“We are … for now.” A crafty smile curved her lips. “Although he is rather cute when he does that thing with his head.”

“Yeah, when he tries to flip his hair back into place?” Elle started jerking her head erratically, causing her hair to go flying.

Rae laughed. “It looks a little better when Jack does it.” She sighed. “I dunno, Jack has his moments.” The corners of her lips turned down in a frown. “When he’s not annoying the heck out of me!”

“Yep, it’s those imbeciles that you have to look out for.”

Rae shook her head. “Exactly.” Then she looked thoughtful. “You mentioned a letter. What were you talking about?”

“Oh, that.” She blew out a breath. “Right after our performance at the Castle High Formal, Edward pulled me into the hall and showed me this letter I wrote him before the accident.” She wrinkled her nose. “It was really something. I poured my heart out to him in a major way.” A shadow crossed her features. “I was obviously madly in love with him. He keeps hoping that some of those feelings will come back to me.”

Rae frowned. “Really? That’s not the vibe I got.”

A tug of apprehension clutched Elle. “What do you mean?”

She shrugged. “You and Edward were always
the couple
.” She made air quotes. “But I always got the feeling that you were only going through the motions—that there was someone else.”

“Rush.” It took her a moment to realize she’d spoken his name out loud.

Rae nodded.

“Then why did I write that letter to Edward?”

“Beats me. I guess you’ll have to figure that out on your own.” She shrugged. “You’re a very different person now than before the accident. Maybe …” She started fidgeting with her fingernails, something Rae often did when she was hedging.

“What?” Elle prompted.

Rae gave her a tentative look. “I don’t mean to open old wounds, but is it possible you were playing Edward? Maybe you wrote him things that he wanted to hear?”

A sick feeling came over Elle. Her first inclination was to vehemently deny it, but before the accident, she’d supposedly been a Class A Wench, so there was no telling what she’d done. “Do you really think I would’ve been that heartless?”

She saw the answer in Rae’s uncomfortable expression. What kind of monster had she been? No wonder Rush was frustrated with her. He probably thought she was playing him when she admitted her feelings for him. Her eyes met Rae’s—the one person that had stood by her through thick and thin. “If I was so terrible, then why did you keep being my friend?” She hated how small and vulnerable her voice sounded, but she had to know.

Rae’s eyes met hers. “You know, I’ve asked myself that same question a thousand times.”

Elle’s heart clutched, and she couldn’t stop the shocked expression from forming on her face. Even though she suspected as much, it was a blow to hear it out loud.

Rae offered Elle a kind smile. “I suppose I always knew that deep down, there was good in you. No matter how mean and hateful you were to other people, you’ve always been great to me. I figured that counted for something.”

She nodded. At least she could take a small measure of comfort in knowing that she’d been good to at least one person.

“And it sort of feels like we’ve always been friends,” Rae added.

Elle instantly caught hold of the peculiar meaning of the words. “What do you mean?”

Rae pulled the magazine in front of her and began absently leafing through it. “I dunno, you’ve heard the phrase
kindred spirits
? That’s what it feels like we are.”

“Like we’ve known each other before?”

“Yeah.”

Elle’s heart began to pound as she remembered the sensation of having been in that castle, and Adele admitted as much. Had Rae also been there? Silence settled between them as Elle tried to figure out how to tell Rae about the shadow crawler and the other unbelievable things that kept happening with Adele. Rae would think she was crazy for sure, but maybe if she approached it from the angle of them having known each other before …

Rae’s phone buzzed. She retrieved it from her pocket. “Great! I’ve gotta get home. My mom needs the van to run to the grocery store.” She closed the magazine and hopped off the bed.

Disappointment settled over Elle. She would have to wait until another time to talk to Rae about the shadow crawlers and Adele.

“Alridy then, I’ll see you tonight at practice.” She cut her eyes towards Rush’s house as a wicked smile played on her lips. “Good luck with your English essay.”

Elle rolled her eyes. “Thanks, I’ll need all the help I can get with the imbecile.”

E
lle was powdering
her face and applying lipstick when Josselyn barged into the room. She made a face. “Don’t you ever knock? I would appreciate it if you could respect my privacy.”

Josselyn ignored the comment. She sat down on the bed. “Going somewhere?”

“Nope.” Elle deliberately kept her answer short. The less Josselyn knew about the details of her life, the better. Elle tried her best to stay out of Sera and Josselyn’s path as often as humanly possible. Of course that was hard to do considering they lived in the same house. Her dad was always working and was rarely ever home, so he couldn’t act as a buffer between Elle and her devil stepmother. Nor could he save her from her annoying stepsister that was helping herself to the rest of Rae’s Cheetos. She glared at Josselyn. “What do you want?”

“Can’t I even come in and say hello?” Josselyn said innocently.

“No, you can’t.” She crossed her arms tightly over her chest, waiting to see what Josselyn had up her sleeve this time.

Josselyn cocked her head. “How’s Rae?”

“Fine.”

They sat there, sizing one another up, until Josselyn finally spoke. “You know, you really should learn to keep your door shut. I heard everything the two of you were saying.”

Elle’s blood began pumping faster and her eyes narrowed, but she managed to keep her voice even as she spoke. “You were eavesdropping.”

“I wouldn’t call it eavesdropping,
exactly
.” A malicious light settled into her eyes.

“Then what would you call it?” Elle’s voice cracked like a whip through the stuffy room. “Is your life that boring? Do you really have nothing better to do than to sit around and catch crumbs of my conversations? Pathetic,” she muttered.

Josselyn chuckled lightly, but her lips twisted into a cruel smile. “I couldn’t help but overhear the part about that sweet letter you wrote to Edward—the one that has you all confused about your feelings for him.”

The hair on Elle’s neck stood on ends. “How dare you!”

“How dare me?” She leaned forward. “How dare you!” Her lips curled into a snarl, reminding Elle of a dog about to attack.

Elle met her gaze full on, not backing down an inch.

“I wrote that letter to Edward!” She pointed to her chest. “Me!” She was near yelling, and there was a crazed look in her eyes.

Hesitancy crept over Elle. “What do you mean?”

Josselyn shot her a look filled with pure hatred. It jolted Elle, but she tried hard not to show it. “You don’t care a hoot for Edward. You never did! You don’t have the capacity to feel those things that I expressed in that letter. So what did you do? You snuck into my room and copied it. Then you turned around and wrote them to Edward, pretending that they were your thoughts and feelings.”

The accusations were pummeling her faster than she could field them, stripping away her defenses. A silent scream started in her throat and exploded in her head. She closed her eyes in an attempt to block it out.

“You are a horrible person! Horrible!” she screamed. “I hate you!”

Elle opened her eyes, trying to sort through it all. She looked directly at Josselyn, trying to figure out if she was speaking the truth. “So, you’re saying that I stole that letter from you?”

A harsh laugh forced its way out of Josselyn’s throat. “Oh, yeah, that’s right. You can’t remember anything. How convenient.”

“I’m not the person I was before,” Elle shot back. “You know that I don’t remember anything! You could accuse me of stealing the moon, and I wouldn’t know the difference!” Tears formed in her eyes, but she rapidly blinked them away.

“Well, you did this! I promise you that! You said yourself that you couldn’t believe you wrote those things to Edward. It’s because you didn’t!”

Elle sat there, stupefied, looking at the expression of rage on Josselyn’s round face. Apologizing wouldn’t do an ounce of good because Josselyn would only deem it as a weakness. There was nothing she could do to undo the wrong. She’d spent all of this time worrying about that stupid letter—trying to figure out how she could’ve felt those things before the accident when she didn’t feel them now. The irony of it was suddenly too much, causing something to break loose, and she started laughing at the ridiculousness of the entire situation. She doubled over and laughed until tears were streaming down her face.