Broken Spell (13 page)

The collection of potions and other witch stuff Skye left is just lying on Mona’s desk right before me. Since the only other person who enters this room is Pain, she didn’t hide any of the vials, pills, and creams.

I have a decision to make. I need to know more about my mother. Dad won’t open up, and we’re running out of time.

The bottle labeled “Truth” is on the back row. It has the same purplish color of the one Boulder accidentally drank a while ago. Even though it’s not a defensive or harmful potion, Skye left it here, “just in case.” Maybe this is the case.

Still feeling guilty, I reach for the bottle.

When Dad comes home, I rush to the kitchen and act like I had just finished preparing a smoothie.

“Hey, Dad! How was your day?”

He drops the laptop case on the sofa. “Eventful. Bad eventful. I’m glad it’s over.”

“Had dinner yet?”

“No, I’ll just fix myself a sandwich.”

“Here, grab a smoothie.”

Dad looks at the purple-red concoction I’m offering him. “What’s this?”

“A mixed berry smoothie. Or you can have mine.” I show him a kale smoothie. It’s dark green. It looks like I made it out of moss and dirty twigs.

“I’ll have the berry one, thanks.” He reaches out, smells it, and takes a sip. “Not bad.” He takes a full swig and sits at the nook’s table. “How is school?”

“Fremont is okay. At least the gang is all there. We miss Boulder though.”

“How’s he?”

“The same,” I say, sitting at the table opposite him. “I went there after school.”

“A shame, what happened to that boy. I called his father the other day; he is devastated. I wish I could help.” He looks away for a few seconds and shakes his head. “Jeff asked me to tell you that you’re a good friend, buddy.”

“That’s cool.”

“You’re a stand up guy. You go to school, help with the house, keep an eye on Mona…” His weary expression is improving. “I’m proud of you, Drake.”

Uh-oh. The potion is already taking effect. I feel bad, but this is nice to hear.

He goes on. “You should go to college. You have top grades. We can pay for it, you know. Tuition at U-Dub is expensive, but as residents we get a discount. I have a little set aside for that. Maybe a student loan can complement it. We’ll figure it out.” His eyes glaze. “But it’s your decision. I want you to make your own path. I didn’t, and sometimes I regret it a little.” He takes another sip.

I’m ashamed of my behavior, but I want to know more. When am I going to get another chance to have a frank talk with him? “What would you rather have done?”

He chuckles. “That’s the thing. I don’t really know. That’s why I said I regret it a
little
. I just imagine how things could have been. One thing I wouldn’t change is having you and Mona. But the job, the place, and, you know, life… I wonder, ‘what if?’”

Here’s my cue. “Do you wonder ‘what if?’ about Mom?”

Dad looks at me. “Yes. That, most of all.” He finishes his glass.

I almost choke when the words come out, “Why did she leave, Dad?”

His eyes move to outside the kitchen window. “She didn’t love me anymore.”

A pang in my chest almost stops me from asking, “How do you know?”

Dad grits his teeth. “She told me. I was shocked. It was sudden. We were living a happy life, as a family. One day, I noticed her getting restless. Different. Two weeks later, she dropped the bomb.” He rubs his forehead. “I tried to argue. I asked about the kids. She said she did love you, but she needed to leave.” He touches my arm and looks me in the eye. “Never forget this, Drake. She always loved you and Mona.”

When he lets go of my arm, I look away. I don’t want him to see my watering eyes. But I need to press on. “What else did she say?”

“She told me to always keep an eye on you and Mona. She said you two were special and had potential to be great.”

Okay, here’s where I trust that he’ll forget all about it when the potion effects disperse. “Was Mom a witch, Dad?”

He blinks a few times. “Why do you ask?”

“Was she?”

“I don’t know. At times I thought she had a secret. Or maybe a secret life. She always got what she wanted; that part was almost…supernatural. Well, unnatural.”

“Was she also, uh, unnaturally beautiful? Or smart? Or athletic?” From what Skye told me, those are the most common Charms.

My father smiles. “In my eyes, yes. Of course. I was in love with her. But no, not really. The only weird thing was that she could make everyone agree with her and give her what she wanted.” He snorts. “How do you think she convinced me to let her go?”

I don’t know how much longer the potion is going to last. “So do you think she might be a witch?”

“This is ridiculous. But I do. She had something magical about her.”

“Where is she now?”

“I don’t know,” Dad says.

“Guess.”

“She didn’t have a family. Her parents—your grandparents—passed away a long time ago; I’ve never met them.” He sighs. “She always said she wanted to see the world.”

Great. This narrows things down. “Dad. Do you want to see her again?”

He nods. “More than anything.”

I lower my head. I wanted the truth. I just didn’t realize it would hurt so much. This session is taking a heavy toll—on both of us.

“Well, look at the time!” Dad says in an upbeat voice. “I didn’t realize it was so late.”

He smiles at me and gets up. “Thanks for the drink, Drake. But it tasted bitter.”

Yes, it did.

For some reason, Liam’s car doesn’t match the owner. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t a black Lexus sedan with tinted windows. He parks by the curb, and the passenger’s window slides down.

“Taxi for one?” He is showing his winning smile.

“Thanks for picking me up,” I say, getting into the car. It’s the first time I see his aura; Mona had borrowed my glasses when I went to the club. His aura looks dark. Maybe it’s the dim lights on the car.

“My pleasure,” he says. “Fasten your seatbelt.” He presses a button; my window closes.

“Concerned about my safety?” I giggle.

“No,” he says. “Quite the opposite.”

I look at him, puzzled.

A piece of cloth covers my face. I struggle and try to get away, but Liam holds my arms in a strong grip while the person behind me presses the cloth against my mouth and nose. I fade into oblivion.

***

My disorientation is a familiar one. Thanks to Jane, I know how waking up from a Sleep potion feels.

The True Sight tingling is abuzz, as if a low electrical current permeates my body.

The intense magical energy and the aftereffects of the Sleep Potion and of whatever Yara drugged me with make me dizzy and confused. I need to focus. I try to recognize the place.

The absence of windows tells me I’m in a basement. It’s not a rundown house, but an
eerily
normal one. Except for the metal pole against my back. When I try to get in a better position, the pain in my wrists hints at handcuffs. I don’t feel the cold touch of steel handcuffs, though. I use my fingers to find out what is holding me: hard plastic strips.

My heart beats faster. I’ve been kidnapped. Where’s Liam?

“She’s awake,” says a voice behind me. The noise alerted my captors.

Liam comes into my field of vision, followed by a short, mid-twenties
, red-haired woman. He has a bored expression, but she is downright pissed. The magical energy comes from her.

This is not good. My heartbeat is out of control.

My cell was inside my jacket, and I’m not wearing it.

The woman kneels in front of me. “Hello, princess. Yes, you’re sensing it right. I’m a Sister too.”

“Are you insane? This is a crime. Let me go right now!”

“Of course no one can hear you, so please stop screaming. It’s really annoying.”

I clench my teeth, trying to take calmer breaths. “Who are you?”

Instead of answering, she turns to Liam. “Get the Truth potion, will you, dear?”

He goes to a table to my left and collects a vial.

“I won’t drink it.”

The woman turns to me and smiles. She’s beautiful. Allure. “You won’t need to. You will tell me all I want to know, won’t you, princess?”

I feel an urge to tell her anything she asks. Trust. She has a Trust Charm. She must be a Night Witch.

Liam is coming with a vial and a syringe. This must be about the Search.

Yara’s tattoo. I can’t see what I’m doing, but I make my spine straight to bring my lower back close to the pipe I’m handcuffed to. Without moving my arms, I scratch myself madly on the small of my back over and over again, hoping to break through the tattoo’s film.

The pain is almost imperceptible, lost amidst the dull throb of the handcuffs on my wrists and the strong True Sight buzz from having a witch so close. But a warm liquid trickles down my back. The scratches drew blood. The Dispel potion laced into the tattoo should have mixed with my blood. Goddess, please make it so.

Just in time. Liam kneels downs by my side and without uttering a word, plunges the needle into my arm.

I grunt. The room swirls around me. The woman’s black-and-white power suit blurs for a second. Oh, Goddess, the tattoo didn’t work.

But soon my vision straightens. A light dizziness is still there, though. The Dispel didn’t cancel the potion completely.

Liam scoots over in front of me and puts his hand on my face, pulling the skin underneath my eye down. “Her pupils are dilated. She’s ready. Remember, start slow.”

She kisses him on the cheek. “I’ve done this before, my sweet little Knowing. And my potion is strong.” She switches position and sits cross-legged in front of me. “Are you Skye, daughter of Dame Katherine?”

I nod.

She slaps me.

My face burns, and my heartbeat goes up again. Only I can’t show it. She must believe I’m under her potion.

“Why did you do that for?” Liam asks. “She will tell you everything anyway.”

“I just felt like it,” she snarls. Then she adds with a sweeter voice, “Go make us some coffee, will you, sugar?”

I need to fake it better. I’m glad Liam distracted the woman, giving me time to recover. But now he’s gone, and I’m at her mercy.

“I’m Skye,” I say meekly.

“Where’s Jane?”

I almost betray my surprise. “I don’t know.”

“What did you do to her?”

“Nothing.”

“Is she dead?”

I know what I should say, but I almost blurt out, “No.” The potion is strong. The Dispel doesn’t work on her Trust Charm. Her Charm and the residual Truth potion make a compelling case for telling her all my secrets. I can’t rely on the Dispel alone. I must fight.

She mistakes my hesitation and looks at the vial. She gets the syringe, refills it with the last drops from the vial, and stabs me with the needle again. Lying will be even harder now. She looks at her watch, and then she repeats, “Is Jane dead?”

“I don’t know.”

“When did you last see her?”

Not in the gym, Skye. Tell her
part
of the truth. “At the hospital. She was unconscious.”

“When did you arrive in Seattle?”

“October 21st.”

“When did you find the Singularity?”

“November 17th.”

“Who is the Singularity?”

Mona! Mona is! No, no. What’s her name again? “Brianna.”

“How do you know?”

How indeed? Nobody has asked me this before, so I don’t have a prepared lie. “The gym. She set the gym on fire.”

She leans over, studying my face. “But how
can
you know?”

Think fast, Skye. “I was there.”

She’s taken aback. “I didn’t know that.”

Liam comes with two mugs of coffee and gives one to the woman. “Miranda, why don’t you try being more conversational? It looks like an interrogation.”

She rises, still holding the mug, and puts her hand on his abdomen. “Liam, sugar, I love you very much, but you need to let me do this my way. Okay?” Her hand goes to his back and she pulls him into a kiss. “Would you do that for me?”

He smiles. “Of course.”

“Thanks. You can sit in, but let me do the talking.” She takes up her position in front of me.

The interruption allowed me to clear my head, calm down, and come up with a story. I’m ready now.

She sips her coffee. “What were you doing at the school?”

“I felt Brianna’s energy during the earthquake.”

“We all felt the energy then. How could you pinpoint Brianna’s location?”

“She lives close to school and to Aunt
Gemma’s house.” My lies need to sound truthful, so I try to sprinkle a few real facts into my story. “There was residual energy after the quake.”

She turns to Liam. “I’ve never heard of ‘
residual energy’.”

Liam shrugs. “You told me the Singularity’s energy didn’t follow the usual patterns.”

Miranda considers this carefully.

During that stoppage, I realize that Jane has never told them about Mona. It’s been weeks now, and they don’t know. They don’t even know that Jane was there. Or that she’s still alive. Why? Why hadn’t she told them? Maybe she’s dead. Or hurt.

Or maybe Jane wants the Singularity’s power to herself.

Miranda addresses me again. “Then what?”

“We followed her to school, and maybe she saw us. Drake and I.”

The worst part is having to make a benign face while she interrogates me. I can’t show my contempt, my fear, or my discomfort with the handcuffs. The Truth potion drinker is docile and malleable.

“Is Drake your boyfriend?”

“Yes.” I show her a puppy-love smile to sell my acting.

“Is he a Knowing?”

Crap. “Y-yes.”

Her eyes narrow. “Why did you hesitate?”

“Because… Because… I broke the Veil!”

She relaxes and smirks. “Yes, you did. So you followed Brianna, and…?”

“And she saw us. I was looking for the Singularity. I couldn’t just let her go. So we chased her into the gym. She was terrified. She had just caused the earthquake. She freaked out and set the place on fire. We rescued her and called 911.”

“The call came from
her
cell.”

How do they know that? “Yes. We got it from her. I didn’t want to be involved with the fire and the investigation.”

Miranda’s fingers drum on the floor. She gets up and approaches Liam. “This was useless.” She drinks more coffee and rests the mug on the table.

“Something’s wrong about Brianna being the Singularity.” He faces me and asks, “How could Jane be so close and not know?”

I lied about that before, so I do have an answer. “I think Brianna wanted to get close to a Sister so she could learn how to control her magic. She doesn’t come from a coven family. When Jane came to Greenwood, Brianna sensed a Sister’s energy and got attached to Jane.”

Liam nods. “It makes sense.”

Miranda snorts. “Yeah, the princess is smart. I just can’t believe Jane got played.”

He points his mug at her. “Well, she did get played by your coven.”

“Did she? Then why hasn’t she come back?” She turns to me. “Why, princess?”

“I don’t know.”

“Guess!” Miranda commands.

“She wanted to steal the Singularity’s power for herself?” I hope they buy it.

Liam is surprised. “How do you know about Jane’s Charm?”

“She tried to kill me. She tried to steal my Allure.” My hatred is genuine.

Liam raises his eyebrows. “That sounds like Jane.”

“If Jane had stolen the princess’ Allure, maybe it had fixed her horse face. So maybe Jane was playing
us
, huh?”

“Come on, we knew she could try that.”

Miranda nods. “Yep. Now we have to kill Jason.”

Liam makes a face. “Do we? It’s always a hassle. And a mess. Let’s keep him until Jane resurfaces. We can still use him.”

“What difference does it make? We need to get rid of her too.”
Her
, I realize with terror, is me. Miranda is pointing at me.