The Stargazers (30 page)

How was she
supposed to drive all the way to the Tree of Doors
in this demon carriage
when she couldn’t even move
it a few feet
without injuring herself
? Then
, as if the challenge wasn’
t great enough, the skies opened up and fat raindrops
suddenly
obliterated her view of th
e outside. She thought of Bryon’s eyes filling with water,
his blood washing away down the stone steps.

In spite of her best efforts, her tears sprang back up and
she began to sob
.
Shudders rocked her battered body, which made her hurt even more
. “I can’t do this. Does anybody hear me? I can’t do this!”
Some Great Mother she turned out to be. She was more like a Great Coward
.

She looked up and saw something dart into the path of the vehicle’s lights
.
“Move away little rabbit, if you don’t want me to squash you with this thing.”
 

After a few seconds of
the animal not moving, Aster peered closer through the sheeting rain. That was no rabbit. It was Larkspur!
His fur was matted from the rain, but he sat on his h
aunches patiently, waiting for her
. Sh
e got out of the car and was instantly soaked
.

“Oh you big dumb cat!”
She ran to him and picked him up, squeezing big body
c
lose
.
  “
How did you know I was here?
”

“Aster?”

The voice was barely audible over the din of the storm, but Aster
knew it was Ruby. She placed Larkspur into the car and walked toward the shadowed figure standing beneath a nearby tree. The girl shivered as the rain
pelted her bare arms, and her pale face was streaked black with running eye makeup
.

Aster wanted to both strangle her and hug her.
Instead, she held her ground, feet submerged in a forming mud puddle
as rivulets of water spilled down her face. “Bryon’s dead. Y
ou poisoned him
, didn’t you?”

“I…I didn’t know it would kill him!” Ruby cried, falling against the tree
and sagging down to the ground. She plopped right into a pool of muddy water, but didn’t seem to notice or care.

“It didn’t kill him
, Ruby
.
I
did. When he tried to rape me. It turned h
im into a monster.
What did you think would happen?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I just… Ivy, or whoever she is, said
she could help bring us
together, and when we fought… I went to her because
she told me she could help.
Because I wanted us to be together so bad
ly
that I wasn’t thinking of anything else.”

“I
loved
him!” Aster screamed. Her throat felt like shredded ribbons. The admission made her feel a rage that made
her tremble to her bones. She wanted to break something, to transfer all of the hurt and soul-ripping grief to whatever poor object or person was standing by with her fist. She advanced on Ruby, arms raised. “I loved him and you couldn’t handle that! Did you think I would just run to be with you after I killed the man I loved? You’re crazy and desperate and a horrible person! You make me sick! I hate you!” Her first were swinging wildly and she didn’t realize until she heard Ruby’s screams that she was landing punch after punch on the girl’s hunched over back, making wet thumps with every blow.

“I’m sorry! I’m so so sorry. Please… Please st-stop…” Ruby’s body shuddered with her sobs and wails
, but she didn’t once raise her arms to defend herself
. Aster noticed the bony knobs of the girl’s spine poking through
her shirt, her many scars
, and she stop
ped her assault, her rage smothered in pity
.

She fell to her knees next to the broken girl.

Oleander had probably been
counting on something like this happening. That she would drive Ruby away, perhaps even kill her in a rage
when she learned of what Ruby did
.
And then what?

Even though she didn’t think she could ever completely forgive Ruby, Aster mostly felt sorry for
her
.
And tired. So very tired.

“It’s not all your fault
. She’s
my aunt.  She’s always hated me, and she’s used you to get to me. I just never realized how far she would go until now.
I involved you in all of this. If you want, you can hit me back.
”

Ruby blinked at her. “
Ivy
’s
your aunt?”

“Yes and no.
Ivy isn’t Ivy anymore. I’m pretty sure my
aunt
killed her and stole her
form.
”

Ruby closed her eyes and leaned her head back
against the tree
. “Fuck.” She sniffled and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “Who are you people?”

“
I can’t go into that right now. I need to get back to where I came across so I can get to my mother. And I need your help reaching Sheriff Kennedy to tell him about Bryon.”

Ruby’s eyes widened. “Are you crazy? If you call the cops,
they might throw you in jail! Both of u
s!”

“If that’s the
case, so be it. But the he’s
the best friend we
could
have in that situation, don’t you think? He’s a friend of Oasis. I’m sure if we explained everything to him…”

“You haven’t dealt with cops much, have you? Even the good ones can turn on you.”

“I’m not worried about that. We can’t just leave him up there!” She threw
her hand toward the burial mound
. “He didn’t deserve this, and we have to do right by him.”

Ruby sighed. “Okay.
All right.
Let’s check his car for a phone.”

They ducked inside the Oldsmobile and Ruby searched through the little storage area in the middle of the seat for a few seconds before
she pulled out a small black rectangle
. “Found it. Are you sure you want to do this?”

Aster, who couldn’t see any other way that wasn’t filled with cowardice, nodded.

“Just tell him that there was an accident and where he is. Don’t go into too many details. Cops will use anything they can to nail your ass to the wall.”

Aster’s stomach felt like it was trying to turn itself inside out, but she took the phone after Ruby dialed a number for her. It rang only once before someone picked up.

“Miller’s Glenn police department, how can we assist you?”

It was a man’s voice, but it sounded younger than Sheriff Kennedy’s. “Hi. Um, may I speak with Sheriff Kennedy?”

“Can I tell him who’s calling?”

“I’m the one he drove to Iris’s house this morning.”

“Hold please.” The line went silent for a minute before someone else picked up.

“Aster?
Is everything all right?”

Despite her intention to hold it all together, she immediately dissolved into
tears upon hearing his big but friendly
voice
in her ear
.
The
words
fell out of her mouth in a panicky glut
.

“Something happened at Indian Hills Park. My boyfriend tried to attack me, but he didn’t mean to because he was poisoned but he tried to hurt me and I used the pepper spray, only when he was stumbling around he accidentally fell down the stairs and now he’s… he’s…dead.”

“Aster, you need to calm down right now and stay there. I’ll be right over.”

“But I can’t stay. I have to go get my aunt because she’s the one who poisoned him, and she’s too dangerous. If I don’t die, I’ll be at Oasis house later in the morning and you can come by then. But please tell Bryon’s dad how sorry I am. It was an accident and I loved Bryon so much. And he never would have hurt me on purpose. This is all my fault and I’ll even go to jail if I have to. But I have to go now, or my aunt will do terrible things to more people. Bye.”

She handed the phone back to Ruby, who disconnected the call for her and then looked over at her with wide eyes. “So much for not telling him too much over the phone.”

Aster wiped her eyes. “I couldn’t help it. I’m upset.”

“It’s okay. He probably only got about one word in five. I know I did. We’d better go before he gets here. Where to?”

“The Tree of Doors. It’s in the woods at a place with tr
ails and such to the north of here. Ivy said thirty miles.
”

Ruby frowned. “That sounds like
Trotwood Preserve, but I don’t ever remember hearing about a Tree of Doors or whatever that is.”

“That’s because you wouldn’t know about it from this side. Now go.” 

She didn’t start the car right away. “I’m sorry, Aster. I’m so damn sorry.”

Aster felt too cold
and hollow inside to feel any of it right now
.
She turned to Ruby and fixed her in a firm gaze.
“If you say you’re sorry to me one more time, I’m going to snap. Sorry won’t bring him back to me or his poor father. Believe me, I tried. You might not have killed him, but your weakness and your selfishness and your jealousy made you the perfect pawn for the person who did, and it’s too late to be sorry. He’s dead. Do you get that?”

Ruby swallowed
hard, and tears spilled down her face, but she didn’t look away
. “
Yes. I do
.”

“Now can you drive this thing or not?”

She nodded and wiped her eyes. “Yeah. I don’t have a license, but I boosted my first car when I was twelve, and Onyx used to let me drive his car around sometimes.”

“Good enough for me. Let’s go.”

Ruby didn’t say another word as she guided Bryon’s big car out of the park and then sped off toward the place where one world opened up into another.

-27-

The numbn
ess in Oleander’s legs began
to fa
de a few minutes after Iris
dragged her into the red vehicle’s
c
argo area
.
If the ignorant bitch had known anything about plants, she would
have known
that sickle venom was one of the more quickly metabolized plant poisons, at least once the vines were detached from the host.

Iris
was at least smart enough to bind her wrists and ankles with a little r
ope first, but Oleander thought she might be able to undo them with a few minutes’ work.
The only good thing that had come with the ruination of her body was the growth of long, thick fingernails, whi
ch she used to pick at the knots
as the Iris sped up the road.

“Y’know, I was thinkin’ of what they do to traitors in Ellemire,” Iris said from the front seat. “They cut out their tongues so they
can never speak their lies or perform spells again
. I think that’d be about perfect, don’t you?”

The car came to a sudden and jarring halt, and Oleander crashed into the back of the seats and then rolled into the door, banging her knee. She cried out in pain and was relieved to find her vocal cords were working again.

“Sorry. I thought
I saw a skunk in the road.”

Oleander sawed harder at the ropes around her wrist. They would be there soon, and she could feel her feet tingling. 

“I spoke to Lily a lot over the years. W
e didn’t have much in common, but we still loved each other. It’s how most sister
ly relationships work, but you probably wouldn’t understand any of that. Sh
e used to tell me you were the most talented witch she’d ever known. But you scared her because she knew from the time you were a baby that you didn’t have a real soul.”

The car veered right
and the ride suddenly became bumpy as the
truck bounced uphill. They must have been
in the woods now.

The last of the rope around her wrist finally gave way. Oleander loosened the knot around her ankles j
ust as the truck came to a halt,
and
then she
tore the tape off her m
outh, suppressing a scream as the strong glue
took some hairs and skin with it.

Oleander could feel the power in the area. It was something she wouldn’t have noticed coming through, she definitely did after being away from it for a
short
s
pell. Iris turned off the truck and go out
. Oleander
could hear the crunch of footsteps coming around the side and back, and she
remained in her fetal position as if still bound.