Of Breakable Things (32 page)

Alex opened the bag to dispose of a bit of paper but stopped when she noticed the writing scrawled across the top: “Initiation.” Alex scanned the page.

“What are you looking at?”

Alex turned the paper so he could see the checklist. She blinked several times to be sure her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. But she read:

1. Worthiness

2. Notable trickery

3. Battle the insane

4. Harrowing

Alex looked up at Jack. “What is harrowing?”

“I have no idea.”

“Battle the insane,” she read again. Her eyes drifted to the top of the page. “This says
initiation
. What do you think this is?”

Jack sniffed. “Honestly, if it was important, do you really think some idiot would leave it lying around?”

Initiation. There were so many little cliques on campus, and it could be any of them. Alex had even heard that the newburies in Duvall’s ABC club used to haze new members.

“Trickery,” Alex said loudly. “That’s the pranks. And the insane? Does that mean banshees?” A thought occurred to her. “Is that why Duvall’s stock of bladderwort was stolen?”

Jack dropped his bag and trash littered the ground at his feet. “How did you know about that?”

“Skye told me.” She studied Jack skeptically. “How do
you
know about that?”

“Please don’t hate me.” He wrapped his spaghetti arms around his face. “I was partially responsible for that altercation between you and the banshee in Moribund. I didn’t know the flowers would attract banshees when they were concealed.”

“Flowers?”

He peeked through his arms. “Bladderwort flowers. I took them from Duvall.”

“You
stole
them?” Alex pointed to the list. “Are you a part of this?”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “Who would invite a Bond into anything important enough to need initiation requirements? If for some odd reason that”—he pointed to the note—“is not a joke, I have nothing to do with it.”

“Then why would you take Duvall’s flowers?”

He laughed coldly. “Because I hate the woman, Alex. Every spare second of her afterlife, she is either trying to embarrass me or she’s sending me to detention. I knew she was going to need the flowers for an upcoming lesson, so Calla and I stole them to get her back for punishing us all the time.” He glanced at Alex apologetically and then diverted his attention to his toes. “And banshees don’t live around here, so I didn’t think anything bad would happen.”

Alex crossed her arms. “How did you steal the flowers?”

He shrugged. “It was easy. She was always making us clean her classroom. We didn’t know the flowers would be so obvious, though. They aren’t your average flowers. They’re giant and bright yellow. We threw them in a backpack to try to keep them hidden.”

Alex felt her stomach do a swan dive. Bright yellow flowers in a backpack? She’d seen
that
before. No wonder Jonas’s backpack had stunk like a rotten bog that night at the Ex House. It had been filled with swamp flowers.

Initiation
…
initiation
…Was Jonas trying to become a part of some group on campus? It made sense. He would be free of his brothers.

“Should we show that to someone?” Jack offered, pointing to the paper.

“No,” she said firmly. “I’ll hold on to it.” At least until she could speak with Ellington again.

“Are you sure?”

Alex nodded, thinking the note might come in handy if she confronted Jonas. Jonas
and
his backpack of yellow flowers.

Chase continued to avoid Alex during the next few days, and she had no clue why. She searched the campus, the Ex House, and the fields, but they all led to dead ends. She couldn’t hear anything in his head, and if she tried, the fortress around his mind only tightened. After class, she was trudging back to Brigitta when she spotted Gabe sitting at a table in the courtyard, and everything that was bothering her imploded. “Well,
you
are just the guy I needed to see.”

Gabe pretended to look scared, but he didn’t look up from what he was reading. “Uh oh.”

“Would you get your nose out of that book? I know why you’ve been so worried about Jonas,” Alex exclaimed loudly. “And I can’t believe you didn’t tell your brothers what he’s been up to!”

Gabe yanked her down onto the bench beside him. “Geez, Alex, could you be any louder?” He glanced over his shoulder and lowered his voice. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ve known all along that Jonas was up to something. What’s he doing? Is he trying to weasel his way into the legacy group or something? I found the flowers in his backpack. The ones missing from Duvall’s stockroom? The ones that attract banshees! He let us all think he was a hero when really the attack was his fault!”

Suddenly, sunglasses appeared over Gabe’s eyes. Alex felt so angry that he was trying to hide something from her that she snatched them from his face.

“Easy, Alex. He didn’t use the flowers.”

“I know it’s for an
initiation
or whatever, and you’re probably well aware because you always know everything. And you’ve kept such a close eye on Jonas recently.”

“All right, sleuth.”

“This isn’t a joke. Why didn’t you tell your brothers? Why haven’t you told me?”

“Look, you know how badly Jonas wants to make something of himself. If Kaleb knew about it, he’d figure out a way in. And that’s exactly what Jonas doesn’t want.”

“And what about you?”

“You know that Kaleb and I don’t necessarily think the same way.”

“What about Chase?”

“Chase is so close with Kaleb he would probably tell him what’s going on.”

Alex couldn’t argue with that. “Is it the legacies?”

“I don’t know.”

It couldn’t be Duvall’s earthly kids, the way Jonas ridiculed them. He wasn’t a depressed choker or one of the movers. But ancestry and fighting were two things the Darwins favored.

“I’ve checked it out,” Gabe said. “On paper, it seems fine. They’re a bit rebellious but harmless. So do both of us a favor and keep quiet about it for a while. There’s something in it for you, after all.”

“What do you mean?”

“If Jonas is a part of some exclusive group, something that will get him ahead, he won’t care so much about you and Chase.”

Alex slouched in her seat. Why did Gabe have to be so damn smart?

Gabe traced the lettering on his book. “I need you to keep this a secret, Alex. Chase can’t know.”

She couldn’t deny that something about it felt wrong. “You really think the group is fine?”

“The requirement wasn’t to have the banshee attack someone else. They were supposed to face it themselves. I’ve read plenty about initiations, and their list isn’t anything drastic. A lot of the smaller cities even list requirements or initiate spirits before they can live there. Please just don’t tell Chase.”

“I wouldn’t be able to tell him even if I wanted to. He’s been avoiding me.”

“I figured he was off with you.”

“You haven’t seen him either?”

Gabe shook his head.

“He’s mad about all this, I know it.”

“All the more reason for us to let Jonas do this quietly. Let him have this. One time,” Gabe said softly, “let him actually win.”

***

Lazuli Street was decked out in holiday cheer. Not the kind Alex had been accustomed to in life, however. She had learned in Madame Paleo’s history class that spirits celebrate the winter solstice, the longest night of the year. It was yet another excuse to have a party. Decorated sunstones lined the streets while umbrellas of white lights clustered like clouds overhead. Garland accompanied the ivy on the lampposts, and snow speckled the lollipop trees and shops. It had yet to actually flurry in the city, so Alex questioned how fake snow could feel cold to the touch. “Didn’t you expect it to be cold?” Skye had scoffed when Alex voiced her surprise.

No, she didn’t expect any of this, and so she chose to explore the city alone one afternoon. She still didn’t prefer to be by herself, but at least she was able to absorb the magic of what the imagination could create without being told what to see. She had nearly reached the end of Lazuli Street when warped music flooded her ears. She couldn’t tell if the music leaked from the cracks of the last door on the street with a rickety sign that read
Stauffer’s Pub
, or if the music was indeed spilling into her mind from Chase’s thoughts as she suspected.

The old wooden door swung aside before she could even think to push it open. The first thing Alex noticed was an extremely low ceiling. If she were to stretch her hands above her head, they would graze the boards. It smelled a bit like a basement—the good kind full of old treasures. At the far right corner of the bar, she found Chase.

Alex almost didn’t want to disturb him. She considered turning and running out the door. Even without reading his thoughts, she could feel his dejection. He had his right elbow on the bar, running his fingers through his hair. The other hand was a clutching a drink, which he swirled absently. She came to a stop behind him. “You look like an old man.”

As he turned, his wrinkled brow smoothed and his tightly set lips turned up slightly. “Guess I can’t hide from you, huh?”

“Guess not,” Alex said, pulling up a stool. She leaned in close to him. “How did you get in here?”

He let out a little laugh and his blue eyes twinkled. What was in that drink?

“When are you going to realize we’re dead? Age is irrelevant now. Besides, this is a Cluricaun bar. They
invented
alcohol, and this stuff”—he pointed to his drink—“was made for spirits anyway. It’s more like a stronger version of Ex.”

“How come no one hangs out here?”

“It’s not exactly lively.”

Maybe that’s what she liked about it. Alex followed Chase’s gaze to the man who was haphazardly wiping the bar with a dirty dishrag. He noticed Alex and raised his bushy eyebrows.

“Can I get you anything?”

“Sure.” Alex peered into Chase’s glass. “Whatever he’s having.”

“Deribatine Ale. Coming up.”

Chase leaned his temple against his fist and grinned adoringly at Alex.

“How much have you had?”

“Doesn’t matter. But are you willing to catch up?”

“I never back down from a challenge. You know that.” Alex rubbed her hands together.

Stauffer returned with a coaster and a small glass shaped like a boot. He placed them in front of Alex, and when she took a sniff, she winced at the pungency.

Chase chuckled. “A word of advice? You might want to drink the first one quickly.”

Alex tossed back the glass, allowing the fiery mist to sear through her. After a quick moment of regret, her entire body became warm and reenergized. “Oh,” she murmured in surprise.

Chase nodded. “Good, right?” He ordered another round.

Alex watched the bartender shuffle away. “Why are you here?” She watched Chase toy with his drink and avoid her question. “You were waiting in my room the other night, weren’t you? Why did you leave?”

Chase ran his fingers through his hair again and sighed heavily. “You know why I left.”

So he had heard the conversation. “How did you know Jonas was out there?”

“I could hear him in your mind. He’s right, you know. About what he said. Why should I deserve you now after all this time?”

“That was a decision we both made.”

“I should have fought for it.”

“You can’t listen to Jonas, Chase. You’ll go crazy. I don’t see things the way he does and neither do you. I’m sure it never occurred to him that anything you did or didn’t do was to protect yourself. And me.”

“I didn’t protect anything. What good did it do us?”

“We never could have predicted how our lives would end.”

Chase rubbed his brow. “You’re unsure of me.” The sleeves of his sweater were rolled above his elbows, and while he clasped his hands on the bar, Alex stared and wondered how projections could be so intricate. She saw the scar on his chin from when he tumbled off his bike, the muscular curve of his forearms, and the strength in his hands.

“I’m not,” Alex insisted firmly. “I just don’t understand you.”

“What if,” he sighed, resting his cheek on his hand, “after all my efforts, I haven’t done right by you?”

”How can you say that?”

“You care about him.”

“If that’s what you interpreted from the conversation in my mind, then you read it wrong. Maybe you should ask before you snoop. I’m worried about Jonas, yes, so maybe that’s what you felt. Maybe now I see why Gabe is worried too.”

Chase shook his head, staring down at his drink. “Alex, he’s my brother.”

“And?”

Chase took a sip. “Tell me honestly. Do you think his feelings for you are real?”

If this was why he’d been avoiding her, he should know better. “Jonas’s priority is himself. You know that. So there might be selfish intentions there. Beating out one of his brothers for something.”

“It’s more than that,” Chase argued. “He’s been acting so strangely.”

There was another reason for that. She wished she could tell Chase what she knew, what she’d promised Gabe she wouldn’t share, but she was bound by her word. “I’m sorry.”