Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (Dead Things Series Book 1) (14 page)

23

EMBER

E
mber supposed things had been going far too well. Even after the horrible nightmare that woke her, she’d let her easy morning lure her into a false sense of security. Breakfast was nice; she’d never really sat around a table family style and listened to people bicker cheerfully. She managed to avoid another uncomfortable conversation with her uncle, though he still stared at her creepily, like he was trying to send her messages telepathically. Maybe he was. She really had no idea how any of this witchy stuff worked.

Lunch was quiet but still painfully awkward. Kai and Quinn usually ran the conversation. With Kai and Rhys who knows where, Quinn’s conversation attempts were thwarted by Tristin’s pointed stares and glowering. Her cousin really was awful. Neoma was always pleasant but she didn’t talk much.

Things eased up a bit when Donovan slid into the seat next to her and started talking about something ‘the triplets’ did in physical science that may have gotten them suspended.

“The triplets?” Ember asked. Why was everybody in this town related to everybody else? “Who are they?”

Donovan pointed to the witches table where seven kids, including Stella and Astrid were sitting. The three in question, two boys and a girl, stood out for their unnecessary closeness. They were all very…handsy. “Um, if they are related, that’s gross.”

“Naw,” Donovan said around a burger, “We just call them that because they look alike.”

She narrowed her eyes. They did look alike. Platinum hair, pale skin, cheekbones you could etch glass with. “They aren’t related?”

Donovan laughed, “No. You have to wonder if dating somebody, much less two somebodies, who look that much like you isn’t sort of like the height of narcissism.”

Tristin shrugged, bored, “I read an article that said lots of people get involved with people who look like themselves, it’s called the mirror effect or something like that.”

Quinn pushed his glasses up, “Actually, the mirror effect-”

“Don’t care,” Tristin told him, eyes still on the three.

Ember had no idea what was going on with those two but it seemed strangely hostile. As she watched, the female triplet looked up at her and winked before feeding a fry to the guy on the right.

“Okay,” Ember said aloud, though more to herself. The girl laughed as if she heard her. “Is she a witch?” Ember asked.

Tristin rolled her eyes, “They’re all witches,” and that was the last anybody said about the strange triad.

Tristin and Ember both had French for fourth period but Tristin somehow found a way to not walk to class with her. In fact, she took so long the bell was already ringing when Tristin slid into the seat next to her. The teacher, Madame Krug, who was oddly enough a German werewolf not French, glanced sharply at the clock and then pointedly at Tristin. Tristin dropped her eyes, slumping further into her seat. Ember was about to ask her where she’d been when there was a palpable energy shift in the room.

All eyes swung to the door.

Her breath caught, skin tingling. He stood, leaning casually along the doorframe as if waiting for her to notice, his silver eyes cold as he smirked at her. There was a low murmur as students tried to figure out if he was there to cause harm. He didn’t look like he was there to fight. In fact, he looked serene; casual in jeans and a black t-shirt, grey hair messy in a way that made her want to run her fingers through it.

“Mace,” she whispered.

His gaze fell on her. “Hello again, Luv,” he grinned, “It’s nice to know I made an impression.”

“Can I help you,” Madame Krug asked, face pinched in displeasure.

“Absolutely,” he walked towards the teacher, seeming to enjoy the way the students leaned away from him. He produced a square of paper from his pocket. “The rather unpleasant woman at the office said I should give this to you.”

She perused the note, eyebrow cocked, “Well, class, it appears our quiet little town is becoming quite the hotspot, meet our latest new student, Mace.” She looked at him suspiciously, “Do you have a last name?”

He smiled wanly, “Smith.”

The teacher sighed like she was contemplating early retirement. “Have a seat.”

He slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans, sauntering through the aisle. He stopped between her and Tristin. She thought he was going to say something to her but instead, he looked at Tristin. “I can’t be certain, but I am almost positive you are the one who knocked me out in that cemetery.”

“Guilty as charged,” she told him with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

He arched a brow, “I’ll have to return the favor sometime.”

“You can try,” she said, voice saccharine sweet.

He smiled, clearly enjoying how feisty her cousin was. He slung his bag down next to the chair directly behind Tristin, making sure he kicked one booted foot against the bottom of her seat, jostling her.

“Real mature,” she muttered.

Madame Krug started the lesson but Ember wasn’t listening. She could feel his eyes burning into the back of her head. It felt like somebody had switched off the air conditioning. Beads of perspiration formed on her upper lip and slid down her spine. Her skin crawled with energy, slithering through her veins like tiny insects.

“Knock it off,” Tristin whispered, “You can’t use magic on school grounds.”

Ember couldn’t use magic anywhere; she had no idea what she was doing. She clenched her fists, letting her nails dig into the tender flesh of her palm. She was positive this was Mace’s fault. She had been okay the last couple of days.

“It’s not like I can control it,” she shot back.

Tristin handed her a bottle of water. “Here, drink this and calm down, before you get us both in trouble.”

Ember didn’t know how this could negatively affect her cousin but she took the offering anyway, drinking down the whole thing. It didn’t help. If anything, the energy licking along her skin seemed to be taking root, moving from her arms to her torso, even her toes tingled.

Dread sat heavy against her chest, she couldn’t start vomiting up black goop again; the witches would never let her live it down. She had to get out of there before she humiliated herself.

Just as she was about to ask to use the restroom, she felt it. Tendrils of cold pooling into her bloodstream, soothing the fire licking through her veins. She slumped lower in her chair, letting her head fall forward in her hands as she bit her lip, biting back a groan. There was a low chuckle from behind but she couldn’t care about him, not right now. The feeling was too good, her toes curled in her shoes, as a full body shiver rolled along her skin. She needed to control herself or this was going to get embarrassing for an entirely different reason.

The cold leeched out of her system as slowly as it came in but took the fire with it. Ember sighed in relief. She looked at Tristin, “Thanks,” she told her.

The girl looked at her, confused eyes staring at the empty water bottle, “You’re welcome?”

Nobody noticed her little episode. Mace’s presence seemed to be overwhelming everybody’s senses, like a supernatural signal jammer.

When the bell rang, she headed for the hall, relieved her next class was across campus. She walked away from Mace as fast as her legs would carry her. She should text Kai or Isa about Mace, though Tristin was probably all over it. What would she even tell them? He wasn’t doing anything really. He wasn’t actually hurting anyone. She just needed to get through the day and she’d tell Isa tonight.

She’d really believed it was him standing outside her window that second night, but after three days passed without another sighting, she’d just assumed it was her mind playing tricks on her. She sighed as she took her seat for fifth period. She just needed to pull it together.

She felt his presence before she actually saw him. He slipped right into the chair behind her. “So we meet again.”

She tried to look bored as her heartbeat tripped over itself, “Stalking is illegal, you know.”

He just laughed; that same smug chuckle from earlier, as if she amused him. It made her want to punch him in the face. He leaned back, lacing his hands behind his head. This was the only class she didn’t share with a single member of the pack. She took a deep breath, trying to channel some inner peace. It was just fifty minutes. She could survive that.

It was not just fifty minutes. He’d somehow maneuvered his way into every one of her classes, forcing her to endure his presence for the rest of the day. He was a menace. He caused mayhem wherever he went, students and teachers giving him a wide berth.

He enjoyed the chaos he caused, knocking her book off her desk, so he could brush his hand against hers; letting his arm bump against hers in the hallway, casually brushing his hand against her hair, saying he thought he saw something in it.

It was making her crazy, these shadowy touches, this subtle invasion of her senses. She should be repulsed, her cousins said he was a demon, something evil, but her body wouldn’t get the message. When he touched her, she fought the urge to lean into it. His presence made her jittery in the weirdest way. Every time she looked at him, he grinned at her like he knew a secret; like he knew her secret, like he knew she wanted him to touch her.

By seventh period, she was climbing out of her skin. Her leg jittered and she tapped her nails on her desk just to try to find a way to keep herself in one piece. She couldn’t catch her breath, lungs burning like she was breathing in some kind of noxious chemical. She had to get out of there.

When the teacher finally dismissed them, she bolted, almost knocking over one of the triplets in her wake.

“Sorry,” She mumbled, as the taller of the two boys stared her down. When she saw the others waiting at the lockers she called over her shoulder, “I’ll meet you at home.”

Four confused faces stared back at her.

“But you rode with us,” Neoma said.

She didn’t stop to explain, making her way around the side of the main building and collapsing on the bench under the huge cypress tree. The air outside was oppressively hot but she sucked in grateful breaths anyway. How was she going to do this? She couldn’t spend every day like this.

“There you are, Luv.”

She scrunched her eyes closed for a moment before turning her eyes towards him. “What are you doing here? How did you even find me?”

“I missed you,” He deadpanned.

She looked around, realizing they were alone, “How did you find me?” she asked again.

He arched one thick brow, “That is a long and boring story. The good news is, I’m here now.”

Her forehead furrowed. “Back to try to kill me again?”

“I’m hurt you think that I would travel all this way just to kill you.”

“I’m terribly sorry if I’ve hurt your feelings. You didn’t strike me as the sensitive type when you were threatening my life.”

“I would never. I only eat to survive,” he told her.

“So you were going to…eat me?” she asked. “Are you some kind of cannibal? Oh, God, is that a real thing? Cannibalistic demons? Wait, don’t tell me.”

“I just said I wasn’t trying to harm you. This is how misunderstandings happen. Lack of communication. We should work on that.”

She ignored that. “Seriously, what are you? I know you aren’t human. Kai says you’re a demon.”

He dropped down beside her on the narrow bench. She swallowed hard. His eyes were spectacular in the sunlight, liquid pools of mercury, with flecks of black. She flushed.

“That’s a very personal question. I didn’t realize we’d reached that level of…intimacy…so quickly.” He slid an arm around her shoulders, his voice a low murmur, making her shiver, “Very well, Luv. I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours.”

She fought the urge to run her hand along his leg. What was wrong with her? She shook her head.

“Stop calling me that,” she told him, dropping out from under his arm and moving to stand a safe distance away. She crossed her arms, glaring. “I’m not telling you anything.”

He smiled then, that slick predatory grin, “You don’t know what you are, do you?”

She slid her eyes to the ground.

“That’s alright, Lu-”she shot him a dirty look.

He held his hands up in mock surrender, “Sorry. November.”

“Ember,” she mumbled automatically.

“Appropriate.”

“Ember!” she turned to find Tristen staring them down, Donovan, Neoma and Quinn at her back. “We need to go.”

“Don’t let me keep you,” he told her, standing and bowing with a flourish, “I’ll be around.”

Her body’s traitorous reaction scared her more than the intended threat of his words. She watched him leave, that energy pooling inside her sad to see him go. Maybe she was sad to see him go too, just a little.

24

KAI

K
ai came awake with a squawk, face to face with glowing eyes and fangs. His fist flew, connecting with its target. Rhys’ grunted at the impact, rubbing his jaw and glaring.

“Dude, what did you expect was going to happen. You could have just called my name. No need to Edward Cullen me. What kind of creeper gets that close to somebody’s face?”

“I did call your name,” Rhys griped, “About ten times. You didn’t even flinch. I was checking to make sure you were still alive. You
sleep
like Edward Cullen.”

“Clearly you never read the books because the vamps didn’t sleep in those books.”

“Literally nobody cares,” Rhys said.

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, cracking his neck, “Why are you all wolfed out?” he asked.

“We’re here. They have this place warded. Can’t you feel it?”

Kai went still, pushing out with his senses. Yeah, he could feel it. Somebody had set up an elaborate barrier spell. They had just tripped a mystical alarm. He wondered if it was the wolves at the receiving end of the signal or if there was anything else lurking out there. He wasn’t sure which was worse.

They exited the car, closing the door softly, Rhys scenting the air. He growled low as ten or so fully shifted wolves broke through the tree line, eyes glowing and teeth snapping. Rhys was right about the Glades wolves being anti-social. They advanced, watching Kai with intent. So much for attempting to play nice first. The sound of cracking bones and slick skin made him ill as Rhys went full wolf. He shuddered. He’d never get used to that sound, not ever. Kai let his hand run over the fur on Rhys’ side.

If Rhys was intimidating as a human, he was terrifying as a wolf. He stalked forward, positioning himself between Kai and the Glades wolves, crouching low and returning the snarls, eyes flashing in warning. Rhys crowded Kai back against the passenger side door, his message clear. He wanted him in the car so Rhys could fight ten savage wolves by himself.

He allowed himself a moment to bask in the heroic stupidity of the wolf. It was somewhat hot that Rhys was willing to be torn apart for him, even if it was just so he didn’t have to face the wrath of his sister.

The wolves advanced, spreading out to surround them. Rhys snarled; jaws snapping ferociously, saliva flying everywhere. Rhys pressed against him again making his intentions clear but Kai knew if he got in the car, Rhys wasn’t coming home. He couldn’t let him die while he just stood by and watched.

Rhys made to leap into the fray so he did the only thing he could think to do. He took a deep breath and stepped between Rhys and ten undomesticated werewolves. He dropped to his knees, baring his throat, eyes fixed to the ground.

God, he hoped this worked.

Everything stilled. The wolves froze, whining their confusion looking to the wolf standing before them for their queues. Kai tried to keep his trembling under control but this was, by far, the stupidest thing he’d ever done.

The enormous brown and white wolf at the front skulked forward. Fetid breath huffed against his neck, saliva dripping on his t-shirt. He swallowed, feeling like he had a baseball lodged in his throat as an icy sliver of terror stuck in his ribcage, constricting his lungs. He was so stupid. He was so, so stupid. This was the worst idea he’d ever had. Canines closed around the thick tendon of his neck. He scrunched his eyes shut tight, waiting for the wolf to tear out his throat. Rhys rumbled, inching forward to his side. The wolves growled back, moving back into a defensive stance.

“Shut. Up.” Kai managed through clenched teeth.

From the corner of his eye, he watched as Rhys bent low on his paws, lowering his eyes. The pressure at his throat ceased and Kai looked around in confusion. The wolf before him shifted and suddenly there was a naked man standing before him. Kai bolted to his feet, shifting his eyes anywhere but forward. Wolf nudity was always awkward.

“Who are you?” the older man grumbled, “You’re trespassing.”

Kai stuffed his hands into his pockets, “We are here on behalf of the Belladonna pack. Isa McGowan sent us. We were hoping you’d allow us to speak to your witch, Ms. Josephine.”

The alpha eyed Rhys warily. Kai elbowed him in the flank and he whined before shifting back into human form. The two men stared each other down, the alpha looking back and forth between Rhys and Kai, puzzled.

When the alpha took a step forward, he felt Rhys’ large hand wrap around his bicep, pulling him back towards him. Kai kept his eyes forward, much more at ease with the idea of seeing a random stranger naked than feeling a naked Rhys behind him. Nope. That was a thing that was definitely not okay.

The alpha tipped his nose into the air, leaning in to smell him. Rhys’ hand tightened and loosened spastically and the alpha arched a brow at Rhys. Kai looked between the two, watching them somehow have an entire conversation with only their eyebrows. Finally, the alpha came to some conclusion, nodding at Rhys. Wolves were weird, Kai decided.

“Ms. Josephine doesn’t take kindly to strangers, especially reapers,” the alpha told him.

“Oh pipe down, Edgar.”

Kai and Rhys looked to the sound of the new voice. A tiny, dark skinned woman with shock white hair, hobbled her way towards them from the woods. She wore a flowery housecoat and clutched an intricate wooden cane. She looked to be in her late seventies but witches didn’t age like others so she could have been well past a hundred. There was just no way of knowing.

“Ms. Josephine, we don’t know these people.” Edgar objected, “We don’t know their intentions.”

She waved her hand, “Please, they are children.”

Kai bristled at that. She wasn’t wrong but he had seen some stuff. He’d almost died more than once.

“Oh, don’t get your knickers in a twist, young’un,” she told him, “I don’t mean no disrespect but you truly are no risk to me.” He didn’t miss the threat in her tone, “So if you’re here, the little alpha must have sent you.”

Kai looked to Rhys, who nodded, “Yes, Maam.”

After a minute she said, “You can ask your questions but that don’t mean I’m gonna answer, understand?”

“Yes, Maam,” Kai told her.

She patted his cheek and another growl rumbled from Rhys. Kai swiped backwards at him without looking. What was wrong with him?

She laughed at Rhys’ bizarre behavior, tickled by the wolf. Now that she was close enough to touch him, he could see the deeply wrinkled skin, a lifetime of experience road mapped across her face. Just how old was she?

She moved to stand before the wolf. “Relax, child, I’m not gonna hurt him.” She crooked her finger, forcing the wolf to stoop deeply so they were close to eye level. She placed her hand on his cheek, eyes closing, deep in concentration. After a moment, she opened her eyes and smiled. She ran her hand through Rhys’ hair and his eyes fluttered closed in what appeared to be ecstasy. Kai shook his head. It took everything in his power not to laugh, the dog jokes practically wrote themselves. He was so using this as blackmail later.

“I like this one,” she announced.

“Edgar, bring the boy some clothes. I know y’all don’t mind being naked but I can’t concentrate.” Kai gawked at the old lady as her eyes roamed Rhys’ naked form before winking at Kai.

They walked back through the woods to their camp. Two wolves left to find clothes for Rhys. Kai scanned his surroundings, distracting himself from the naked wolf to his left. Twenty or so mobile homes sat in a circle around a manmade lake. A fire pit sat crumbling in a ring of dead grass surrounded by logs and folding chairs. Children ran wild everywhere, ranging in age from toddler to teen, all in various stages of undress.

When he finally turned around Rhys was clothed. The sweatpants were baggy but the t-shirt was clearly a size too small, stretching too tight across the shoulders. That suited Kai just fine. They sat on the porch of Ms. Josephine’s old trailer, crowded together with barely enough room for her rocker and two folding chairs. The wolves hovered on the stairs and around the railing, insisting on protecting their witch.

“Ms. Josephine,” Kai began, “our alpha says you once lived in Belle Haven. Do you know what happened there twelve years ago?”

The old woman’s brown eyes closed and for a moment, Kai feared she’d dozed off. He looked at Rhys, brows raised. Rhys gave him the ‘what do you want me to do’ eyebrows back. He was about to gently nudge her when she opened them again and said, “A lot of things happened in that town,” she snorted, “You’ll have to be more specific.”

“My cousin, November, died. Do you know anything about it?”

“So many people died that day. You would have been what, five years old?” she asked, “The better question is why don’t you remember what happened?”

Kai stopped, dumbstruck. It wasn’t that he didn’t know what happened…except that he didn’t, not really. He knew he’d had an Aunt Sera and a cousin, November. He knew they’d died. He just had no recollection of how. It was like he’d told November, he had no real recollection of them at all. No family dinners. No holidays. No play dates. Why would that be? The witches knowing look told him she thought it was strange as well.

She seemed to sense his shifting mood as much as the wolves surrounding them. She reached out and snagged his hand, clutching it tight enough Rhys tensed beside him. He used his other hand to keep the wolf from acting like…well, a wolf. Her brown eyes bleached white and a string of Latin poured from her lips. Kai shuddered. Witches were freaky.

When her eyes came back to brown she looked at him hard, “There is some very powerful magic at play here, boy.” She snatched Rhys’ hand and repeated the whole little ritual. “You both been hexed. I’d venture to say you ain’t the only ones. I can feel the link, like plinking on a string on a spider’s web. When I push on your strings, I can hear the echo of the spell on the others.”

Kai looked at Rhys, bewildered. “So you don’t know anything about how my cousin died?”

She gave him a measuring look, “I don’t
know
anything,” Kai felt his heart squeeze; they’d come for nothing, “But I can tell you the rumors.”

Kai nodded. He’d take any information. Something to indicate what was happening to Ember. “If your cousin was November, you must be Christopher and your sister, Tristin.” He again looked to Rhys, startled that anybody would know who he was, “Yes, I know you, child.”

“My dad was Christopher, I go by Kai.” Kai told her.

“You look like your daddy. I was there when you were born.”

He felt like he was visiting an old neighbor, not really sure where she was going with her train of thought, if anywhere at all.

“Did you know all three of you were born with the mark of a reaper?”

His heart stuttered. Rhys glanced at him sharply, hearing the uptick of his heart. Sometimes the mark came early but nobody was born with the mark. “What?”

“Mm, all three of you came into this world with a mark meant for just one,” her fingers fiddled with the end of her cane. “That fear your feeling, imagine how the town felt? Three children, born to one family, possessing the potential for soul magic. Some folks thought it was a dark omen, given the town’s history with death magic and the curse.”

“What history? Death magic?”

“That’s a story for another time, child. Just know that your birth was significant enough to make a great deal of very powerful people nervous.” She looked to the sleeve of his t-shirt, the names of his collected peaking from underneath his sleeve. “You’re a collector. It seems fitting. You had a sweet disposition as a child, perfect for helping folks cross over.” Kai just shrugged but she continued, “Isa tells me your sister is a banshee.”

“Well, kind of. Until the other day, she hadn’t screamed in…”

“Twelve years?” she asked.

“Yeah, Allister says she screamed the day our mom died.”

She nodded.

“So Em-November, she’s-she would have been a reaper? Like us?” Kai prompted.

She smiled sadly, “No, child, she was nothing like you.”

Kai grunted in frustration, agitating the wolves. “Ms. Josephine what happened to our parents? What happened to my cousin? What happened to the town?”

She held up a hand. “It started with a meeting. Your Aunt Sera was the head of the council then but your mama worked with her. That was when the council had more than just witches. But it was the witches of the Red Oak coven who put forth the petition to preemptively bind your magic. They were spooked. They said Sera wasn’t taking the threat of three active reapers in one family serious; that she was too reckless with her authority on account you was her kin. They said she needed to let the coven bind your powers before she got herself killed and you three came to power all at once.”

Dread pooled in his stomach, thick and heavy but he said nothing, letting the witch tell her story; their story, “Your mama and your aunt Sera were livid. They knew binding your powers was only the first step in the coven’s plan. She coulda rejected the idea outright but she didn’t. She listened. She put it to a vote. She sent everybody home and said the council would meet the next day for the vote. Your aunt was a good girl, always fair.”

The old woman squinted, “Here’s where things get…muddy. I got a visitor that night. They told me Sera needed me to leave. Said he couldn’t say why but she needed me to come back here and stay put until she sent for me.”