Storm (4 page)

That was counterproductive. Now there’s some girl on the loose who has no idea how to use magic. We have to tell someone. Her Enforcer sister, and the Council. Maybe even the Triad. They’ll need to be told.

The mauve demon’s eyes are on me. “I wouldn’t do that.”

I cock an eyebrow toward the demon. “Do what?”

“Tell people about this. It’s happening because of you,” the mauve demon says, its eyes darkening. “What were you feeling when you were looking at that girl? Not quite yourself?”

“What? Nothing.” But I was angry. How did the demon know what I was thinking? Or that I was feeling unusual? Why was I angry? I shake the thought away. “What’s because of me?”

Carter stands slowly, and then freezes when he sees the demon. The mauve demon looks between us, but I nod toward Ric. Carter goes to his side. I watch him from the corner of my eye, but Ric’s not getting up. Is he dead? I push down my panic as the magic seizes me. The mauve demon stands, silent, and I wonder what its thinking. How is it here? It must know something else.

“Tell me.”

The demon doesn’t respond at first, but Carter gives me a nod that Ric’s not dead. I exhale, and square my focus on the demon as Carter moves from Ric to Maple. The mauve demon looks me up and down, and then nods. Her eyes dart toward Carter as he steps closer to where Maple lies on the ground.

“Magic is a balance, and any tipping of the scale can destroy it all,” Mauve says.

I’ve heard that before. Read it, in fact. The day I got back from De’Intero, that line was written in an open book on Poncho Alistair’s desk in the library. The words are a message. Obviously an important message or this demon wouldn’t be saying it. The same reason Poncho wouldn’t have purposely left them out for me to see. “What does that mean?”

But something in my bones tells me I already know the answer. The demon doesn’t say anything else.

“She’s not breathing!”

I spin around to look and Maple’s still sprawled out on the ground. All four of our phones chime the high note, low note, high note of the WNN. The demon glances among us all at the sound, and then as quickly as it comes, it flickers away. So much for being helpful.

“Call someone, Penelope,” Carter yells.

I pull out my phone and run to Ric’s side. Before I make the call, I glance at the screen.

Static has power unexplained magical burst while driving her kids to camp: four killed.

It’s not only Taylor.

I ignore the message and call the Council. While I wait for someone to answer, my brain races to figure out how this happened, and what exactly it means. If the mauve demon says it’s because of me, then why? What did we really do down there?

Ric coughs and I take his hand, but he doesn’t squeeze it. His eyes flicker open, searching mine frantically. At least he’s alive. That’s what matters. He’s alive.

A voice comes on the line asking me what I’m reporting. “Static attacked with magic—two Enforcers are injured.”

I tell them my location and they say they’re coming. When I hang up, the phone has more messages. One, two, three more incidents of Statics with magic.

Crap on a stick.

Then Ric screams. I cover my ears and he’s sitting straight up, screaming. After a second he stops and falls back to the concrete. I look over at Carter.

What’s happening right now?

But from the look on his face I can tell he’s as freaked out as I am.

Chapter Six

Carter

Pen sits next to me in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs. She turns her salt vial necklace over and over in her fingers. The waiting is the worst part, and there’s nothing I can say to her to make it better.

“When are we going to hear?” she asks. Her nose crinkles up and her eyes get wider as she scrolls through the WNN alerts on her phone with her other hand. I want her to stop looking at that thing.

“Soon,” I say, even though I have no idea.

Pen shakes her head. “There have been seventeen occurrences since we got to the hospital.” An ho
ur ago. “What’s happening to the Statics?” Her voice gets lower. “What did we do in De’Intero?”

What had we done? We were going to die there, and she’d taken my hand so we could share magic. I couldn’t die without kissing her one last time. The rest of what happened was beyond either of us.

“Statics have magic. They have no idea how to use it. How many Statics are going to get it now—everyone? Only some?” Pen asks. Her phone dings the tone of the WNN updates—high note, low note, high note—and this time she ignores it, sliding the phone into her pocket. “This is huge, Carter.”

That’s an understatement. Statics aren’t supposed to have magic. Witches are born with magic or they aren’t. No one had ever been an exception until I met Pen. Since her essence was stolen as a kid, she shouldn’t have magic, either. But she does. Now she has even more thanks to the void. That can’t be a coincidence. The mauve demon said magic was a balance. If what we did in De’Intero upset that balance, we need to restore it before anyone, especially the Triad, finds out we’re involved.

“We’ll figure it out,” I say. I pull her close to me and I kiss the top of her head. If this is linked to us like the mauve demon said, then there has to be a reason. Luckily, I’m good at puzzles. I get them. They’re like chess. A strategy, a method. You have to look at the whole board, see the whole picture before you can build it. One rule my dad made sure I memorized: know the moves you want to make before you make them.

Prescott men are always prepared to do whatever necessary to win.

Someone says Pen’s name and we both look up. Connie stands in the doorway, and she is out of my arms and into her sister’s in a second. “What’s happening?” Connie asks, her voice uneasy.

Pen stands beside her, and even though she says reassuring things to her sister, I can see through the mask. I can see through it because I wear the same one. The one that says, “I’m in charge and I can handle it.” Pen wears it almost better than I do, and I’ve been in training since I was a kid.

Prescott men must never show weakness.

I hate that my mind goes to my dad’s voice. To his demand that I be exactly what he expects to me be—and that I always listen to him. How the hell does that happen? Sometimes it feels like I’m destined to be the other thing I hate. That despite the choices I make for myself, I’ll end up exactly like him.

Pen and Connie move back toward the chairs, and a movement behind them catches my eye. A long white beard, like the demon Vassago—the demon of lost things. I take a step toward the hall but there’s no smell of sulfur in the air to alert me that a demon’s near.

I’m losing it.

I hate hospitals. They always smell too clean. Nothing is this clean, or this white.

The last of my coffee drips from a machine.

That’s another reason I hate hospitals: the coffee tastes horrible.

My phone dings. A text from Pen.

Your dad is here.

Dad? I press a lid on the coffee and bolt back up the elevator. Victor Prescott doesn’t go the hospital out of the kindness of his heart. I know the way he works, the way the Triad works, better than that. If he’s here then he’s not here alone and he’s on official business. If Statics are getting magic somehow, then he’s here to do damage control.

Prescott men must never appear out of control. We are aware and involved in every situation.

As soon as the elevator doors open, I see the three of them standing near Pen and Connie. Pen’s hands move around while she talks, a tell that she’s nervous. Rafe Ezrati is talking to her, but I’m still too far to hear what they’re discussing.

Sabrina Stone glances over her shoulder as I approach. When I was younger, I used to think she was the prettiest girl in the world with perfectly straight red hair and marble skin. I was this ten-year-old kid crushing on her. I know better now. There’s a viper under that sparkle.

“William, I wasn’t aware you were here,” Dad says, looking over Sabrina’s shoulder to me. I feel all the tension rise to my shoulders. I hate ‘William’ and that’s why he does it. ‘Carter’ is an act of rebellion, and Victor Prescott doesn’t approve of rebellion. I move to stand by Penelope, and Dad looks between us. I can’t handle him today.

“Where else would I be?” I snap. Just seeing him here makes my blood boil. “I’m surprised to see you here at all.”

Dad stares at me. “Two of our own were injured today. It’s our duty to ensure they are well.”

I scoff. Those badges are the only reason the Triad is here at all. “Because you care so much about them,” I mutter clear enough so Dad can hear me. His jaw stiffens with disapproval. I feel Pen’s eyes on me, but I ignore it. I don’t like her seeing this side of me, but the man irritates me. His smug righteousness, his lies, and the facade that he tries to pass off as genuine. “I understand if you have more pressing matters.”

Sabrina steps forward. She and Rafe always seem to be fighting Dad’s battles for him. “We do need to ensure that our Enforcers are in a stable position.”

Dad keeps looking between me and Penelope and I have no idea why.

“We’re here to find out what happened out there. Miss Grey was explaining to us what occurred with the Static,” Rafe adds. His eyes are softer when he looks at me. He’s always been my favorite, of the three. He used to change my diapers, which is sort of weird to think about now.

“And there was no foul play?” Dad asks, eyes on me.

“Aside from a
Static
with
magic
?” Pen snaps. The Triad, Connie, and I all look at her and she stands. She’s fearless. “No. None. Taylor Plum is still out there, confused and alone.”

Rafe nods at her. “You make a valid point, Miss Grey. Many of the Statics are out there alone, afraid, and we should go see to them properly.”

I meet my Dad’s gaze as he leaves with the Triad. I don’t like the look in his eye, the suspicion that’s only there because I told him what happened last week after De’Interno. Most of what happened, anyway. I had to in order to explain it to keep the Triad from asking too many questions that day. That look makes me feel like he’s not saying everything he knows. Or worse, plotting his next move. He’s always one step ahead, always working his own agenda.

I hope I don’t regret trusting Victor Prescott last week.

Chapter Seven

Penelope

After the Triad leaves, Carter is tense. He barely talks—which is fine because Connie does enough for all of us—but he seems distracted. I take his hand, but leave him alone otherwise. He’s not like me. He’ll want to think through whatever’s going on, instead of word vomiting it out for the whole world to see.

Maple’s family came an hour ago and the Lins sit on the other side of the waiting room, whispering in Chinese. I look over at the Lins, and Maple’s sister sends me a soft smile, but no one else looks my way. How is she now? When they brought her in, she wasn’t breathing on her own. I can still see her
lying there, eyes closed, blood on the ground…

“Ric Norris.” Carter, Connie, and I jump up in unison. The balding doctor with thick-rimmed glasses walks in our direction. “You’re his partner?” This whole floor of the hospital is the magical level. To the Nons, it’s a regular floor with nothing exciting, but only witches come here. All the doctors who work on this floor are witches. Another way we stay cloaked in the Non world.

“Family friends,” I say. But Carter steps forward.

“William Prescott, and you are?”

“I’m Dr. McGervey,” he says.

Carter holds out his hand, and the doctor takes it. I stare between them and watch as Carter uses his name to get something else done that they’d never let us do normally. “Mrs. Norris is on a flight in from Seattle. It will be another hour, at least, and we’re really the only people here for him.”

Dr. McGervey nods slowly and flips open Ric’s file. Apparently his Prescott charm works on everyone. There’s nothing readable from the stony expression on his face. “Once he was stabilized, we were able to do a CT scan. He suffered a mild concussion, and we had to do emergency surgery on a ruptured spleen. He has a few broken ribs and some bruising, but he should recover fully. He’ll have to take it easy for a couple weeks.”

Ric doesn’t do that. Rest and relaxation are not in his vocabulary.

“Can we see him?” Connie asks. Her voice is practically dancing with excitement. Ric is my best friend, but he’s like a brother to her. He’s always been around us, eating dinner with us, scolding boys who looked at Connie too long. Ric is family for both of us.

“One at a time,” he says.

“And what about Maple—Che Lin?” I ask, looking toward the family on the other side of the room. Dr. McGervey follows my gaze, then lowers his voice.

“She’s still in surgery, as far as I’m aware.”

“Thank you,” Carter says. “Your service is impeccable.”

As soon as the doctor walks away, Connie throws her hands around my neck. I stand there as she hugs me, and close my eyes. What a relief. I could’ve lost Ric today. I could’ve lost someone else who I love.

“You can go to him first,” I tell Connie.

She looks surprised and shakes her head. “He’s your best friend, he’ll need to see you.”

As much as I want to go, the ground feels shaky. Carter’s hand rests on my back without me saying anything else. “I need a second,” I say. “Go, please. I don’t want him to think he’s here all alone.”

Connie nods and heads down the hall to find Ric. Carter’s hand rubs against my back and I turn to face him. Ric could’ve died. I could’ve lost my best friend and it would’ve all been my fault. A week ago, I was so determined to save Carter from the demons I thought took him that I caused people to die. Statics have magic now and have killed people. Their blood is on my hands, and I’m horrible for being thankful that it’s not Ric’s.

“He’s all right,” Carter says, pulling me into his arms. He holds me against his chest, and I breath in the familiar scent of him. It’s crazy how much of my life Carter has become. Sometimes I feel like I didn’t have anything good before him, and that’s a scary and strange feeling. I’m only seventeen. How can I need someone so badly?

Carter’s phone buzzes in his pocket. He pulls it out between us and makes a face. Probably his father. “Take it,” I say.

He looks conflicted, but says, “I’ll be right back.”

While he’s gone, I sit again and fiddle with my salt necklace so my fingers and brain have a distraction from this whole mess. I scroll through my phone and stare blankly at the seventy alerts. All of them related to Statics. How do I stop this?

A blond woman with an oddly disproportionate body and a large red hat lowers herself into the chair beside me. She smiles at me, but I can’t focus on anything but that hat. She could seriously injure someone with it. I slide my phone back in my pocket—I can’t read any more of this—and stare out into the space of the hallway. The woman clears her throat and rests her hand on my forearm.

“I’m Lindley Arthur. I notice you’re an Enforcer,” she says, eyes moving to the gold triangles on my shirt. Right. I’m still in uniform. I nod toward her and she clasps her hands together. “Quite a lot of ruckus going on these last couple days. My friend said her second cousin manifested yesterday.” Taylor Plum said it was two days for her, too, but she was the first report. How is spreading around our area so quickly?

“I love your hat,” I say, changing the subject.

“I am quite fond of it,” Lindley Arthur says with a smile. “Anyway, we are all hoping that the Triad has a plan in place for all of this. Is there any clue about which Statics are going to get magic? Or why? Or when?” Her voice drops into a whisper. “As one myself, I’m quite interested in obtaining some magic.”

There’s no response to that. Magic isn’t acquired—you have it or you don’t. At least, that’s how it used to be. Now? Who knows. She’s staring at me like I have some secret answer to change her life. What does she expect me to say? I have no answers to any of this. “Well,” I start.

Right on cue, Carter appears with his million-dollar smile that’s oh-so better than mine. “Hello, Mrs. Arthur,” Carter says. The woman turns to look at him and he rests a hand on her shoulder. She practically melts because he can do that to people. Even fifty-year old women. “I’m William Prescott—”

She nods, huge smile on her face. “Victor’s boy. Your father has a dangerous situation on his hands, young man. I sure hope he can handle it.”

He gets this reaction a lot from the women. I’d be a little offended if I didn’t completely understand it.

“These are dangerous times even before the Statics, Mrs. Arthur. I can assure you that my father and the Triad will make the best of an unusual situation. You know what his number one priority is?”

“The Nons,” she whispers. Her eyes are serious and glassy. I hadn’t even thought about how much danger the Nons are in.

Carter shakes his head. “You. The Statics. He told me personally that someone such as yourself—best-selling author of some most beloved children books—is required to be under the protection of the Triad, in case the magic comes your way as well.”

I blink. How does he know that she’s a ‘beloved’ author’? Surely he hasn’t memorized every single person around.

Lindley Arthur gasps. “He said that?”

“Directly to me a moment ago,” Carter says. He’s such a good liar. Or is he lying? He did have a phone call. “The Enforcers have a meeting to discuss all this. But I promise that once we have information, we will share it with everyone in the community.”

“Even Statics?”

Carter smiles that Prescott winning smile. “Especially Statics. Until then, let’s focus on more exciting things. Like the Observance. You’ll be attending the party, won’t you?”

Of course she will. Everyone, witch and Static, come. It’s the one time we’re given an exception to the separation in our community, even if it is for show. Lindley Arthur’s face lights up. “I wouldn’t miss it.”

“Excuse me, Mrs. Arthur, but we have to attend to some official business,” he says. Carter grabs my hand and pulls me from my seat.

“You’re going to make a great leader, Mr. Prescott.” Lindley Arthur calls as Carter and I leave the lobby. He doesn’t look back toward her, but by the way he squeezes my hand tighter, it’s the worst thing she could ever say to him. Ever. Not just the idea of leading of the Triad, but calling him ‘Mr. Prescott.’

We’re down the hall across from Ric’s room before he lets go of my hand. I explore his face. “You all right?”

“Yeah,” he says. “Never better.”

I scoff. “You’re a horrible liar.”

He flashes that smile. The public one, not the real one. “I’m a great liar. I’m a Prescott.”

“Well, I can tell when you’re lying so you’re not that good,” I say. He smile fades and looks at me with those green eyes. With eyes like that, I’m not sure how I didn’t know he was a demon. “You’re good at it.”

“What?”

I sit next to him and inhale. He’s not going to like this speech, but as his loving girlfriend it’s my duty to tell him what he doesn’t like to hear. “You could lead the Triad. You would be a better leader than your dad.”

“I don’t want it,” he snaps. I take his hand quickly, before he can pull it away. I need him to hear me out.

“Yeah, but you could do it better. You’re already twice the man he is. And you’re great with people,” Carter finally meets my gaze. I keep talking since I have his attention. “Leading people, convincing them that everything will be work out, keeping them all calm, even joyful. You do it for me every day. You care about people, not their social status.”

A silence spreads between us, but I can tell he’s thinking from the way his cute little eyebrows furrow together. “There are too many things I hate about the Triad.”

There are things I hate about the Triad, too. The way they force some into marriage, test us all for Enforcer duty, and keep the Statics away from the witches, like they have some disease we could all catch. The way they focus on purebloods, don’t equip witches to protect themselves without Enforcers, and what they would do if they knew we were halflings is deplorable. Since he’s got more direct access to them, I’m sure Carter has more on his list than I’m aware of.

“Maybe you could change some of those things,” I say. I lean into him. “I’m not saying you have to do it and I will stand by you whatever you choose. But if you change the way our whole society works, then that could be a great thing.” I almost see it as I talk. A better way for Enforcers to get hired. Stopping those arranged marriages, a removal of emphasis on status in the community, a re-integration and acceptance of Statics. All of it could be better.

He pulls his hand away. “I don’t want to talk about this right now.”

I sigh and lean back in the chair. “Please think about that before you write it all off.”

He looks at me, surprise and anger flitting across his face, but nods.

Connie bounces out of Ric’s room. Her face is bright, which is a good sign.

“He’s making jokes, so I guess he’s almost normal,” Connie says. She tilts her head to the door. “You ready now?”

I nod, but jokes aren’t an indication of normal. More like a hiding place. “Stay out here in case his mom shows up?” I ask. Carter nods my way and I leave him and my sister to go see Ric.

Ric doesn’t look so good. His face is really pale and his eyes are bloodshot, but he smiles slightly when he sees me. I refuse to look upset or guilty or anything but positive right now. “Hey, buddy.”

“Buddy?” he repeats.

I shrug. “Would you prefer hot stuff?”

“You’re not my type,” he says.

“I won’t be offended.” I force a smile and sit next to his bed.

“Don’t look at me that way,” he says, his eyes on me. “I’m not dead.”

“You could be.” The words are barely a whisper. Saying it is all too real, and if he’d died then it’d be on me. Ric squeezes my hand.

“I’m
not
. Any word on Maple?”

I shake my head. Silence fills the small room, and I wonder if he feels as vulnerable as he looks.

“So, this Static stuff is crazy. Any idea what’s happening?”

“Not yet. The Triad is working on it.” The words are supposed to be some kind of comfort, but they aren’t. “Your mom should be here soon. Your dad called me twice.”

“Nothing like an injury to reunite a family.” The bitterness is not missed on me. I get how he feels about his dad. Not only the anger that he’s gone, but the sadness, too. “I have a bad feeling…”

I shake my head. “Don’t. Don’t focus on that.”

Ric’s eyes are a little glassy. He cannot cry right now. I can’t handle that.

“Not for me, for Maple. It’s strange but it’s almost like I can feel how hard she’s fighting. Maybe it’s part of the pairing ceremony, of the magic and the vows, but they definitely never tell us about that being a thing,” he says. His voice is like a whisper.

I lock my jaw, and try to be positive. To be strong. He needs me, and I have to be the one he can depend on right now. “The Triad is going to figure this out. The Statics will be fixed. The doctors will save Maple. You’ll heal. Everything is going to be fine.”

But even as I say it, I don’t fully have faith that all of those things can work out, even if I want them, too.