Chapter Twenty-Two
Apparently, all you need to do in order to light a fire under someone’s butt is land your friends in the hospital. Because once the violence gets real, people tend to come around to doing whatever it takes to survive.
The next day when everyone had woken up by 8 a.m., gotten fed and dressed, and assembled in the living room all ready to go, I knew that what I’d said the night before had really sunk in. It was also proof that all had been forgiven, which made me happier than I could describe.
But when I strutted into the living room, pulling on the jacket of my magical designer knockoff track suit (bright red, of course), I saw that everyone was already there, waiting for me. Considering how late we’d all been up the night before, I figured I’d be dealing with a bunch of cranky kids, all more interested in going back to sleep than doing work.
That wasn’t the case, though. I think this was partly because after my big speech the night before, we’d spent another hour ironing out the details of how to prepare for our inevitable battle with the Parrishables. This included a serious powwow about each of our biggest secrets.
We went around the room as people recalled everything that could possibly give us an advantage over the Parrishables. Besides Emory’s ability to talk to the dead and Sascha’s talent for transferring her power to others in order to help them heal, we were all a little surprised to find out that still more had their own gifts to contribute. For instance, Jasmine was like a human mood ring and could see others’ auras, which would be helpful in foretelling people’s intentions. Fallon was somehow able to pick things up really quickly. Like someone who had a photographic memory, he could try a spell once and would never forget it. Like magic memory or something. Of course, just because he knew how to do the magic didn’t mean he could always execute it correctly. That was all dependent on the strength of the caster and the time they put into working on the spells.
After going through all this, we began to work out how we could use these things to our advantage. Those who didn’t have special powers contributed in other ways, like by sharing their favorite family spells. It turned out that even the most tight-knit coven kept some things from each other.
“Whoa, Hadley, cute outfit!” Sascha said as I walked into the room. “You always have such cute clothes! I’m totally jealous.”
I looked at her choice of sweatpants and a tank top. She saw me taking in her outfit and then made a face. “I didn’t know we’d be training when we went shopping before,” she said, sounding slightly ashamed.
I looked around the room and saw that she wasn’t alone. No one was quite as fashionable as I was, but then again, that was usually the case no matter the situation. And of course, I’d had a little help.
I thought it was time for me to give them a little help too.
“Actually, if you like it so much . . . you can have it,” I said, deciding that I knew which spell I was going to teach the group first.
For a minute, she looked like she didn’t know whether or not I was kidding. Once she realized I was being serious, her eyes grew wide and she shook her head. “No, I couldn’t take your outfit, Hadley. It looks crazy expensive, and besides, I’m pretty sure we’re not the same size.”
I gave her a sly smile. This was going to be fun. “I didn’t mean you should actually take mine,” I said, turning to look at everyone else around the room. “Listen up, guys, I’ve got your first lesson of the day right here.”
I proceeded to teach everyone my glamour spell. I had no idea how this was going to help us win the war against the Parrishables, but who was to say we wouldn’t need it for something? At the very least, we’d all look good in the heat of battle. After all, outfits really did make a difference. Why do you think sports teams wear uniforms? Fashion is something that unifies people.
Plus there’s just no excuse for a bad outfit. If I was going out, I was doing it in style.
“That is the coolest spell ever!” Sascha exclaimed when she finally managed to replicate the dress that Taylor Swift had worn to her last awards show.
“Not bad, Had. I just figured you stole all your clothes,” Jasmine said. She may have been playing it cool, but I’d already seen her switch from one black getup to another, trying hard not to smile the whole time.
“Okay, who’s next? I know you’ve all got something up your sleeves that you didn’t show us last night, so step up and share it now,” I said. “Even if you think it’s insignificant or that we can’t possibly use it against the Parrishables, we want to hear it. Because the truth is, you never know what will come in handy, and the more prepared we are the better.”
A few seconds passed before anyone said anything. Finally, Jasmine rolled her eyes and joined me at the front of the room.
“Fine. I guess there’s one spell I can teach you all. It’s not a big deal or anything, just something I’ve done on occasion. You know, when I’m hanging out by myself and I’m bored,” Jasmine said. She walked over to the couch and picked up a cushion. Then she threw it straight at Peter. He caught it just before it hit him in the face. “Do me a favor, kid, and hold the pillow.”
“Why, what are you going to—”
He hadn’t even finished his sentence before Jasmine yelled, “Exbiliby totalitum!” and pointed in Peter’s direction. There was a loud pop and then it was as if it were snowing indoors. I reached out my hand to try to catch some of the white stuff. It was soft and cushy. Then I noticed the gaping hole that was now in the pillow Peter was holding in his trembling hands.
“Seriously?” I asked incredulously.
“Oh. Sorry about your pillow,” she answered nonchalantly as a big puff of stuffing landed on her shoulder.
“Forget the pillow—how could you think that wasn’t a big deal?”
She made a face. “I don’t know. I did it a few times as a kid and then my parents forbade me to do it anymore. So after that I could only do it when I was sure they wouldn’t find out about it. Besides, when is blowing stuff up ever considered a good thing? I mean, that’s why kids go to juvie.”
Jasmine showed us how to do her spell and we spent an hour or so practicing it. Not on any more of my mom’s pillows, mind you. I felt it was important to have some fun with our training this time, so we took a stash of balloons that I found in an old dresser drawer of mine and filled them up with water. Placing them on various spots around the property, we made a game out of watching them explode into showers of glistening droplets. A few of us got so good at it that we even took turns holding the targets in the air and being soaked while standing beneath them. It was like our own version of a dunking booth.
After that we made it a point to turn every lesson into a game of some sort. And as the days went on, the others became more vocal about the spells they’d discovered on their own. It had been naive of me to think I was the only one who’d expanded upon our mandatory lessons with Jackson.
And the creativity in our group! June showed us how she’d discovered the right words to extend her time in the air when she jumped; it wasn’t quite flying, but she did defy gravity a bit. A guy named Brick, one of Fallon’s buddies, taught us how to conjure up a hologram. Of course, he’d only ever used it to scare his younger female neighbors, but I could see how this particular spell could come in handy. We learned how to write words in the sky (Peter), how to make it snow in small amounts—like a personal snowstorm—(Josephine), make a person literally tongue-tied (Emory), and give someone a nosebleed that wouldn’t stop (Fallon).
By the end of each day, we were all exhausted but happy with our accomplishments. We never would’ve had the chance to do spells this potentially dangerous had it been up to Jackson and the other adults. They would’ve argued that we were too young to take on that kind of responsibility. Well, seeing as we didn’t exactly have a choice about it now, I figured the more we knew, the better.
“Great job today, everyone. Really good!” I said.
The sun was going down in the distance and the sky was giving way to brighter shades of blue, pink, and orange. Temperatures were higher than usual and I’d been forced to shed my jacket early on. I think I’d even managed to get a tan while we were outside. But now with the sun dissolving and the breeze kicking up, my bare arms began to grow chilly. I snatched my jacket from its spot on the porch and tugged it over my body, covering the rising goose bumps.
I was about to head inside to get something to eat when I heard someone clear her throat behind me.
“Um, Hadley?”
I turned around to see Emory standing with her arms behind her back, looking a bit flushed. She’d been with the rest of us for the beginning of the day, learning all the same spells we had, but then those with special skills were given some time to work on their own. While this was going on, I sent the others to start working on the physical side of combat. This was one of the only things Asher could get involved in, since it didn’t require magic. Just stamina and strength.
Because of the way we were breaking up our training format, I hadn’t seen Emory in a few hours by this point and was interested in hearing how things had gone.
“Hey, Emory. What’s up?” I asked, walking back over to her. “How was your private session?”
“It was good. Really good, actually. At first I was kind of nervous about giving all the spirits access to me, but after I started to let go, things became clearer, if that makes any sense,” she said. Emory began to play with the bracelet around her wrist. This one was a chain of real violets. “Hadley, when I was channeling, your mom came through again. There was some stuff she wanted me to tell you.”
I raised an eyebrow, my heartbeat quickening at the thought of communicating with my mom again. But I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to react to the news that she was trying to reach me from beyond the grave. As amazing as it was to talk to her, it was also a reminder of what had happened. That I couldn’t see her or talk to her anytime I wanted. In that respect, it was almost more difficult than not having her around at all.
“My mom never was one to hold back from telling me what to do,” I said, laughing nervously. “What did she have to say?”
Emory looked around as the rest of the coven made their way either inside or to relax in the setting sun. She lowered her voice. “She’s actually here right now. Is there somewhere we can go that’s a little more . . . private?”
“Sure,” I said, butterflies fluttering around my stomach. I had no idea what to expect, but I motioned for Emory to follow me anyway. “Let’s go for a walk.”
We turned away from the house, heading toward the woods and the growing darkness. The farther we walked the quieter it got; pretty soon all I could hear was the sound of our feet walking over leaves and sticks. Whenever a branch would crackle, I worried that it was coming from behind us or off to the side. Logically I knew I was the one making the noise, but knowing what our enemies were capable of, I couldn’t help but be on edge. If I wasn’t so worried about the others hearing what she was about to say, I wouldn’t have been venturing from the safety of the house at all. But I reminded myself that the invisibility spells that covered the house also extended to the land around it.
When I was sure we were far enough away from the others to talk openly, I slowed my pace and turned to face Emory. “She’s here?” I asked. The longing came through in my voice even as I tried not to let it. I reminded myself that this was Emory I was talking to and didn’t have to be worried about losing control in front of her. Sure, I was the leader of our group now and it was important for me to stay strong, but Emory wouldn’t judge me. She wasn’t like that.
“Yes. She’s been here the whole time, actually. Sometimes she just comes through louder than others. Today she was particularly vocal.”
“That’s my mom,” I said jokingly.
“She says she understands why you went off on your own,” Emory said. She paused then, and looked down at the ground nervously.
Why was she nervous? I was the one getting the lecture.
“She says it’s not going to be enough. If you try to defeat the Parrishables you will lose. We will lose.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I muttered, my heart sinking over what my mom was telling me. The last thing I wanted to do was disappoint her. Especially after all that had happened. And my biggest fear was that I would lead the others to their deaths. Hearing that it might actually happen deflated all the confidence I’d had before.
Emory took a step toward me and lightly placed her hand on my arm. “She says that a great leader knows when to admit defeat. She feels really strongly that you need to put the lives of the coven ahead of your own.”
I nodded, because at this point there wasn’t much else for me to say. She was right and deep down I’d known it. Nearly losing the fights at the mall and my house had proven that much. I just hadn’t been strong enough to do what needed to be done. I’d been too weak to truly offer myself up in place of the others.
“There’s something else. She says you know who the traitor is among you.”
I blinked. “I do?” I asked, still distracted by my thoughts.
Since my mom had first told me that I couldn’t trust someone in the coven, I hadn’t gotten any closer to figuring out who it was. But if I was truly being honest with myself, I’d always had my suspicions about one specific member. Had I been right the whole time?
Emory paused and looked at the space over my right shoulder. She squinted and after a few seconds, turned her attention back to me. “Yes. She says you know who it is and you must send them away. Now.”
“I don’t have any proof, though,” I said. Thinking someone was bad at his core was one thing, but actually banishing him from our coven . . . that would be much more difficult. At least if I had evidence, I wouldn’t feel bad about it. Still, this was coming from my mom and she’d never steered me wrong before.
Emory shook her head. “She says you don’t need it. She’s insisting that you’re right. She says you need to do it now, before it’s too late. This person’s intention is to turn you over to the Parrishables.”
My head started to spin. Could he really help the Parrishables destroy us? The truth was, I just wasn’t sure. I tried to push the thought way down and bring my focus back to what Emory was saying.
“And that’s it?” I asked, hoping she might have better news for me. So far, it had all been a bust.
“Sorry, Hadley. That’s all she’s telling me,” she said.
I sighed. It was so like my mom to be totally cryptic about something this important. “It’s all right, I’m used to it by now,” I said.
So once again, I’m doing everything wrong. Fantastic. At least I’m consistent.
“Maybe she’s wrong, Had,” Emory said supportively. “Or confused.”
“You didn’t know my mom,” I said, like this explained everything. I began to walk back to the house and Emory fell into step beside me.
She was quiet for a few moments as we both tried to take in what had just happened. I could feel the redhead’s eyes fixed on me, although I wouldn’t return her look. Finally she spoke up. “So what are you going to do next?”
That was the million-dollar question, wasn’t it? Everything was always so complicated. I couldn’t help but long for the days when I just had to worry about homework and disagreements with my mom.
“What I have to do.”