The Book of Lost Souls (24 page)

“Looks like you need acidophilus.” Ivy fetched a bottle she kept in her nightstand, just for this purpose. She handed a couple of capsules to Devlin who readily ate them.
 

 
“I don’t care if Phoebe’s been studying black magic or not, she can’t be that much more experienced with spells,” she said. “I mean, she’s my age, right?”
 

Devlin’s eyebrows shifted. “
Nrrrrrgh
.”

“Okay, okay! So she’s seventeen. She’s only a few months older. How good could she be?”

Devlin hiccuped again. This time, only a wisp of smoke came out his nostrils.

“Much better!” she said. “So she’s better at being a dark witch. I’m okay with that.”

Devlin licked her face, then cocked his head toward the doorway.

“Spike? Oh, yeah. Wouldn’t want a repeat of the other night.” Ivy got out of bed and kissed Devlin’s head. “Thanks.”

She walked down the hall and opened the door. Spike was sound asleep. Ivy charmed the window shut in case Spike decided to wander off. After closing the door behind her, Ivy repeated the spell, then added one more—the Quieting spell just in case Spike woke up and went off on another crying jag. She could only imagine the start it’d give her mother in the middle of the night.

Just a couple more nights and Spike would be safely back in his terrarium.
 

Ivy sighed. She only wished that finding out who had
The Book of Lost Souls
could be half as easy.

CHAPTER 27

For the second time in a week, Ivy slept very little. Fortunately, her nerves kept her alert the next morning. She had to admit she was nervous about going without her friends, especially Shayde who was familiar with the woods and had senses to detect things and people that Ivy did not.
 

Before leaving the house that morning, Ivy tried the Quieting spell on her shoes. Sure enough, it worked—even over the squeaky floorboard in the upstairs hallway. She’d have to apply the charm again once she got to the woods just to be on the safe side, but all in all, she couldn’t thank Raven enough for the idea.
 

Ivy spent a few extra minutes with Devlin in the backyard, wondering if she could really go through with burying
The Rise of the Dark Curse
somewhere in the woods. Her choice seemed simple—get rid of the book or tell her mother about it. Her friends weren’t going to let her keep quiet any longer.
 

Then, tell them you buried it. Slide it under the car seat and show them the inside of the book bag...

Ivy tried to ignore the idea. Would they believe her? Could something that simple work?
 

“You sure you’re okay?” her mother asked as Ivy came back inside. “You look a bit tired.”

“Just studying a little too hard I think,” Ivy assured her. Even though it wasn’t a real lie, Ivy felt horrible about it. She told herself it was for her mother’s own good and that she’d worry if she knew what her daughter was really up to. Worry? She’d freak out.

Her mother smiled brightly, “I never thought I’d tell a child of mine that they studied too much.” She shrugged into her jacket and blew a kiss to Ivy as she grabbed her purse and keys from the table in the foyer and headed off to work.

Ivy watched out the window as her mother drove away. Then, she and Devlin raced up the stairs to let Spike out of the guest room. Spike was dressed and waiting for her, looking tired and depressed, but still much better than the distraught Spike from last night.

“Ready to go bee hunting?” she asked.

He shrugged half-heartedly. “I’m not that hungry.”

Ivy sat on the bed next to him. Devlin jumped up and sat on the other side. “Gareth misses you, Spike. Even if the new lizard is everything you say, she’s not a Horned-Toad lizard. I think he’ll be thrilled with two lizards to care for.”

“You think so?” Spike said, sounding slightly happier.
 

“Yeah, I do.”

Spike’s soft brown eyes found hers. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you? You’ve been a good friend. Aside from Gareth, I love you the most.”

Ivy put her other hand on top of Spike’s. “Not this time, Spike. Gareth would kill me.”

Spike nodded. “If it’s all the same to you, then, I’ll just hang around here today. I promise I’ll hide if your Mom comes back. I’ll keep Devlin company.”

Devlin barked happily.
 

“I guess that would be okay,” Ivy said. “But, I have to go. I’ll have Shayde check on you as soon as she gets home from school.”

Spike nodded.
 

Devlin followed her down the steps and sat at her feet. Ivy shrugged into her jacket and knelt down in front of him. His ears were half-mast, as though he was uneasy about being left behind.
 

“Don’t be scared. I’ll be fine,” she said, giving him a hug. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

Ivy stood and grabbed her car keys, snatched up her book bag, and rushed outside. As she closed the front door, she heard Devlin barking and scratching against it. The way he always worried about her was so cute.
 

She tossed the book bag into the back seat and slid behind the wheel as the engine cranked to life. As she drove to school, she thought of how pleased Gareth would be to have Spike back. He had to be really missing him by now, even though he knew Spike was okay. At least Spike wasn’t with Tara anymore, which made Ivy feel a lot better. If Spike wasn’t already scared for life, he would have been after a few more days with Tara. She could just see Gareth contacting a pet psychic who could translate Spike’s trauma to a psychiatrist.
 

Shayde met her at her locker first thing. Like Ivy, she seemed a bit tired, and like Devlin, she also looked very worried. “Before you say anything Ives, I’m really sorry.”

Ivy frowned as she opened her locker. “What are you talking about?”

Shayde seemed to consider Ivy for a few minutes. “We were a bit hard on you about the book. You do know it was for your own good, right?”

Leave it to Shayde to worry about their friendship and every little disagreement.
 

“Yeah. I understand,” Ivy said. “And you’ll be happy to know that I didn’t touch the book once last night. I promise, if I don’t get rid of the book by Saturday, I’ll hand it over to mom. It’s just that...it’s just that I know what this is going to do to her.”

Ivy hung up her jacket, aware that Shayde had grown quiet.

“I’ve been thinking,” Shayde said at last. “Give it to Nick. He’ll turn it over to his dad and you’ll be in the clear.”

Ivy closed her locker and leaned against it. If Nick really would give it to his dad, she might consider it. But, Nick would have to tell who he got it from, and she wasn’t ready to trust Mr. Marcelli.
 

Ivy smiled. Yesterday, she wouldn’t have given up the book at all. Today, she felt better about the decision. It still felt uncomfortable, but not like she was giving up an heirloom or her right arm. Although Raven hadn’t realized it when she’d lashed out about Ivy’s slowly growing dependence on the book, a challenge had been laid down. Ivy hadn’t touched the book because Raven had said she couldn’t go a single day without seeing it.

“I’ll think it over. It could work. I just have to deal with the whole trust thing with his dad a little more, okay?”

Shayde gave her an easy grin. “Good to know this means you’re starting to trust Nick.”

“I’m not,” Ivy replied as they walked toward their first class. “What I mean is, what if Nick is back with Phoebe? It wouldn’t be good if Phoebe ended up with
The Rise of the Dark Curse
, would it? Especially if she already has
The Book of Lost Souls
.”
 

The thought of what Phoebe could do with both books made Ivy shudder.

Shayde shook her head. “I don’t think there’s anything between them anymore. He wasn’t real happy with her the first time.

Ivy didn’t feel so sure. “Well,
she
looked happy with him. And, he wasn’t exactly chasing her off. You were there. You heard what he said to Raven.”

“Yeah,” Shayde replied. “I did. So I um, I sort of asked him about all that.”

The hallway spun, and Ivy wanted to crawl somewhere and die of embarrassment. “You asked him? Great! Now I look pathetic.”

“Stop looking at me like that. Just listen, okay? I called him last night.”

Pathetic wasn’t the word. Now, she just looked stupid, desperate. How long before this bit of news got out? “Does Bane or anyone else know about this?”

“Well, yeah. He walked in and heard me talking to him. So, it’s just Bane and me. Unless he told Raven. He probably told Raven. She’s been saying all along that you and Nick—”

“No. No, no, no!” Ivy wheeled around in a state of panic and confusion. She wanted to run down the hallway and out the doors. She’d call her mother at work—tell her she was sick. Maybe she’d say she had some incurable, rare disease and that her dying wish was to never step foot in school again.

“Ives. Get a grip so I can tell you what he said.”

Ivy took a deep breath. “Okay, tell me. He’s seeing her again, isn’t he?”

“No. He’s not. They’ve hung out a few times since you’ve been so stuck on Dean. I think Phoebe just flatters his ego. He wants a chance to talk to you. You’ve got class together after lunch, right? He wants to straighten things out. And, he’s still willing to take the book.
Very
willing. He’s worried that something bad will happen to you if you keep it much longer.”

Of all the crazy ideas Shayde ever had, calling Nick had to be the dumbest. “
Talk
to him? No. I can’t. I won’t be in class.”

“You’re still going to the river this afternoon, aren’t you? You’re actually going to cut class?” Shayde wanted to know.

Ivy sucked in a great gulp of air. “Yep. I’ll be
fine
, Shayde.” She glanced at her watch. If they ran, they’d each make it to their classes. “So, that talk with Nick is going to have to wait. Gotta go.” With that, Ivy turned and ran down the hallway to her first period class.
 

If she hadn’t been cutting class before, she sure was now. The trick would be to not even return to her locker today—just in case Nick was waiting for her there.
 

Now what? She couldn’t manage to talk to Nick much less give him the book. And, if he and Phoebe were getting all buddy-like, she couldn’t risk it anyway. Not until she could prove to Nick that Phoebe had
The Book of Lost Souls
. Unless he already knew. What then?

Like she had most of the morning, Ivy kept checking out the hallways to make sure Nick wasn’t anywhere around. She made her way through the lunch line, expecting Nick to walk up any minute. What would she say? Sorry my friend decided to try matchmaking? I didn’t really put her up to it? He wouldn’t believe that.
She
wouldn’t believe that. Even so, where did that leave them with the books? She’d only sound worse if she asked Nick to stop hanging around Phoebe.
 

Someone slammed into the back of her and Ivy nearly dumped her tray onto the kid standing in front of her.
 

She steadied herself and turned to see who had been so rude. She should have known. Speak of the devil and there she was. Phoebe looked less than happy, which brightened Ivy’s mood considerably.

“Good timing,” Ivy said, taking a fork and pushing aside something brown and gelatinous on her tray. “I was just thinking of something revolting and here you are.”

Phoebe clearly wasn’t amused. She stood with her hands firmly on her hips, teeth clenched. And that expression! Nothing said,
if looks could kill
more than that scrunched up face and fire-rimmed eyes. As pretty as Phoebe normally was, her current look was far from attractive. A grin tugged at the corners of Ivy’s mouth.
 

“You have something I want,” Phoebe spat. A lone vein stood out on her forehead. For a moment, Ivy was sure Phoebe’s head would explode.
 

Phoebe jabbed a finger at her. “Don’t mess with me, MacTavish. In the end, I
always
get what I’m after.” Without waiting for a reply, Phoebe stormed off.

The kid behind her smiled sheepishly. “Man, that was some face, huh? What do you have that she needs that much?”

Ivy shrugged. “I took something from her gym locker this morning. It was just a joke, but apparently she really needs them.” As she left the line, she looked over her shoulder and replied, “Laxatives. Who knew, right?”

 
She scanned the cafeteria, finding her friends sitting at a nearby table. Thankfully, Nick was not with them. She wasn’t sure if Nick told Phoebe about Shayde’s phone call, but Ivy felt certain of one thing—Phoebe knew she had
The Rise of the Dark Curse
. Nick was now the last person she’d give the book to.

After a Phoebe and Nick-free lunch, Ivy made a beeline for the principal’s office. She pulled out her forged note, holding it in shaking hands. Hopefully, her mother wouldn’t find out. So far, she’d been able to hide a lot of things, why not one more?
 

Why? Because one of them was bound to catch up with her.
Funny how one lie, one secret kept spiraling into the next. If she could just go back in time to one week ago, she’d have listened to Shayde and just gone out with Nick instead of changing Spike into her date. Then, she never would have found those books and wouldn’t be caught up in the middle of this.
 

And Nick wouldn’t be so close to Phoebe. Why had he told Phoebe she had one of the books?
 

Ivy opened the door to the main office and stepped inside. Mr. Evans was rifling through a filing cabinet and talking to Mrs. Olsen, the school receptionist. Mrs. Olsen sat behind her desk typing away on her keyboard, pausing every once in a while to peer at the computer screen. She was a thin woman with thin lips and a wide face.
 

“Well, anyone who’s anyone and lived in this town long enough knows that the Harrisons have visited that old gravesite every month, good weather and now good health permitting. They weren’t up to anything, and
certainly
not desecrating any of the old Kindred graves, Gerald. Why would they?” Mrs. Olsen said.