Revealers (10 page)

“Hurt Evan? What are you talking about?” I put my hands up and shrug my shoulders.

“They’re studying. Are you worried they may overtax a few synapses?”

Finn sniffs the air and seems to relax a bit. He scans the room and then looks back at me. “I know you’re a witch.”

I take in a ragged breath as a chill passes over me. I think of all the times I’ve run into Finn while I was cloaked and thought he saw me. The way he stares at Sascha. How does he know?

He leans in toward me and sniffs again. I decide he’s got some sort of extrasensory thing going and my mind races trying to figure out what I can say to convince him he’s wrong.

“The question is—are you a good witch or a bad witch?”

“Good!” I blurt out before I can stop myself.

Finn laughs, and I just sit there staring at him open-mouthed, wondering what the hell just happened.

“Yeah, that’s what I figured,” he says. He puts his black boots up on the coffee table separating us and pulls at the knees of his faded jeans. “Evan thought so, too, but I wanted to be sure. He’s not exactly the most socially adept guy. I didn’t want you witches messing with him.”

“How did you know? How did Evan know?” As soon as the words leave my mouth I could kick myself. I should have denied the whole thing—called him crazy—protected our secret.

“Let’s just say I can smell a witch a mile away, but I had to be sure you weren’t the kind of witch who goes around sacrificing puppies under a new moon so you can put your mojo on some poor guy.”

Now I get mad. “You actually think Dani or I would sacrifice puppies?”

Finn puts his feet down and leans in toward me. “Relax. Margo is the only one I could picture doing that.”

“Margo may be a bitch but she wouldn’t…”

“God, you’re easy to bait! This whole thing took a lot less time than I thought it would. I expected you to at least deny it for a while.”

I cover my eyes with my hands and shake my head. I am in such deep shit. The coven has only had to move two times since it was formed, and the last thing I want is to be the cause of the next mass exodus.

“Okay, so you know, what now?” I cock my head and look him up and down, trying very hard to channel Helena. “Do I erase your memory? Turn you into a toad? Make a voodoo doll and walk you into the path of an oncoming truck?”

Finn laughs and I’m guessing I wasn’t too convincing.

“I’ll take option two, but only if you make it a frog— they’re much cooler than toads.”

“Laugh all you want, but there are some witches I know who wouldn’t hesitate going after you if they thought you might talk.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to rat you out—and really, who would believe me if I did? My only purpose here today was to make sure my man, Evan, was going to come out of his first foray into romance unscathed.”

I look at him smiling and all relaxed in his chair. We’ve studied body language to help us know when it’s the right time to throw binders, and everything tells me Finn is being sincere.

“Okay, but you have to tell me how you know about us.”

“If I told you it would take away my air of mystery that you witches all dig.”

“Oh, please.”

“I’m just shitting you,” Finn says. He smiles even wider and takes a pack of gum out of the front pocket of his flannel shirt. He pops a piece in his mouth and then throws one across the table to me. “Maybe if I get to know you better, I’ll let you in on my little secret. But right now I’m gonna give Evan the signal that Dani’s safe to pillage.”

“What!”

“Sorry—guy talk. Safe to date. But I think we can both agree it’s safe to leave them alone now. I have to change the oil in my grandmother’s car, and you can go home and, uh—boil fairies.

Okay?”

I scoff and shake my head. “You do know that boiling even the smallest of pixies would bring the wrath of the fairy court down on you so fast you’d be wishing I had turned you into a toad, right?”

“Well, I guess I better go out and empty that jelly jar I filled last night, before Tinker Bell and her friends start kicking my butt, eh?”

I laugh. “I’d say that would be a good idea.”

“Thanks for the tip!” He gets up and takes his car keys out of his pocket.

“Wait, how do I know Evan is safe for Dani to date? Maybe I should be warning her to stay away from him!”

Finn tilts his head down and gives me an “are you totally without clues” look. “The guy would wear pocket protectors if he didn’t think he’d get beat up for it. He’s got the wild-haired Einstein poster hanging above his headboard, and he’s never looked at porn.

“And no, before you ask, he’s not gay. He’s just the byproduct of overprotective, mega-nerd parents. I’d tell Dani if she wants some action she should make the first, and possibly second and third moves.” He winks and heads toward the ramp into the main library. “See you around, witchy-poo!”

I watch him swagger down, his boots clomping, and know I should tell my mom about this.

But there’d be too many questions I don’t want to answer. That Dani wouldn’t want to answer, too.

And who knows, maybe Helena would do something to Evan and Finn. My stomach rolls nervously.

Or me.

What would she do if she found out I’d just been chatting about fairies with a mere mortal?

I chew on my thumbnail and think maybe she’d decide that the idiot who didn’t deny being a witch could never be with Connor no matter what changes the coven makes.

I pick up the book lying next to me and gently tap it on my forehead. “I-am-such-an-idiot,”

I whisper between thwonks.

As long as Finn keeps it quiet I should be okay. I think.

I get up and walk toward the stacks. Just concentrate on things changing—and Connors house next week, I tell myself.

Just the thought of us alone—in his room with no chance of interruption—makes me feel warm all over. A happy shiver runs down my spine as I put the book back on the shelf. I lick my lips and wish Connor were with me right now.

I head out to the main part of the library and catch Dani’s eye. She beams at me. I point toward the door and wave. She nods and I wonder how she’s going to take the news that her would-be boyfriend knows she’s a witch.

I smile. Maybe her fantasy wasn’t too far off.

“My mom bought this great long underwear for flying. It’s really warm, but it’s not the ultra-thick bulky kind,” Dani yells.

Dani keeps talking, but the wind is whipping around so much it’s hard to hear her, and really all I can think about is Sascha filling us in on the supersecret ceremony tonight after her initiation is over.

“Are you listening?” Dani calls out.

“What?” I say.

“I said, at first I was mad—like she thought the bulky stuff would just make me look fatter, but then I figured I was being paranoid and she probably thought I’d just like some newer stuff, you know?”

I’m about to tell Dani to just concentrate on not getting knocked off her broom instead of rambling on about long underwear, but we’re already heading lower toward the meeting spot and the wind is easing up.

I tilt my broom down, careful to clear the tall pines surrounding the opening in the woods.

“Shit!” Dani yells.

I look back and see her foot tangled briefly in a treetop. She tugs it out and her broom lurches forward. I stifle a laugh as she lands ahead of me missing a shoe.

“Crap! Mud! My foot is soaked.” She points her hand toward the base of the trees we just cleared. “Return!”

“Geez,” she says when the shoe doesn’t return. She points up higher in the trees. “Return!”

she says louder.

I hear branches breaking, and then a clog comes flying toward us, just missing my head before hitting the ground behind us.

“You’re wearing clogs on a broomstick?” I ask incredulously. I pick it up, careful to avoid the mud covering it, and hand it to her.

“Sorry, I wasn’t exactly thinking straight at one o’clock in the morning. My mother was at me to get going so I just grabbed these.”

She slips it on her foot and we walk over to some benches surrounding a stone fire-pit, a short distance from a lean-to. Empty beer bottles litter the ground, and I’m guessing the last people here were partying rather than camping.

“We’re the first ones,” I say, scanning the sky for anyone else.

“I hope they get here soon—it feels like winter already,” Dani says. “What do you think it’ll be tonight, vamp or wolf? I hope it’s not a demon. What with that ring Connor gave you and that stupid vest you reminded me of, I don’t feel like dealing with them tonight.”

“How about a ghost? We haven’t done one of those in ages.

Dani looks around the campsite and shakes her head. “I doubt there’s any ghosts here, but we don’t usually have to hunt them because they don’t typically kill people. We just go after them when …”

“Dani.”

“I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”

I nod. “Yeah. I know why we don’t usually go after ghosts.”

“Well, I thought we’d have a hunt tonight. Look.” Dani pulls her necklace out and holds up the star, its center swirling with light. “It started just before I got to the coven house for Sascha’s initiation. But then we went home, and my mom came home, so I thought I could actually get a decent night’s sleep before my quiz tomorrow.” Dani rubs her hands together, and then pulls them under her cape. “I’m beginning to think our birthdays are bringing us bad luck,” Dani adds.

“Maybe it’s your chem quizzes. But my necklace didn’t do anything tonight—maybe it needs a recharge. Did you notice Margo hasn’t been wearing hers? I guess we are oh-for-three on her birthday presents.”

“Yeah,” Dani says. “I can’t believe she couldn’t at least pretend to like the lavender stuff. I mean, it’s totally rude to tell people the stuff they gave you smells like crappy, old-lady perfume.”

“Ha!” I say. “Maybe she figured out we only got it for her because she’s such a bitch, and lavender is supposed to calm you down.”

“Maybe she likes being a bitch.”

“Look, here comes someone,” I say, pointing up. As the figure comes closer, I see it’s Z.

Suddenly Margo comes streaking past her and lands on her feet running. “I win!”

Zahara lands and walks toward us. “I wasn’t racing you, Margo,” she says, sounding pissed.

I can hear her stud clicking against her teeth in a steady rhythm.

Margo smiles. “I still win.” She blows out a thin line of breath that freezes and then breaks up over her head. “No birthday girl yet?”

“I’m here,” Sascha says behind us and we all jump.

“God,” Dani says. “Have you been here the whole time?”

Sascha walks out into the clearing, taking a long swig from the flask. “Wolf tonight,” she says. “Gotta be quick about it,” she says in a singsong voice. “She’s supposed to meet here for a payoff.” She takes another long drink. “Oops,” she says, giggling. “I don’t think I was supposed to tell you uninitiated people that!” She throws an arm around Margo and hiccups. “But you can know!”

Margo pushes her away and Sascha falls to the ground.

“Hey!” she giggles. “That wasn’t nice. Are you afraid someone’s going to get—”

“Shut the hell up!” Margo yells. “Are you insane?”

Dani, Z, and I exchange looks. Frosty breath puffs out from our open mouths.

“Are you okay?” I ask as I help Sascha up.

“I’m fine,” she says, brushing mud and leaves off her hands. “Just a happy hunter.”

“Will someone tell us what’s going on?” Z says. “All this cryptic shit is totally getting on my nerves.”

Sascha laughs. “Isn’t it annoying? But guess what? Our mothers weren’t just being tools about all the cryptic shit— there really is a good reason why they wait until our birthdays to dump a shitload of shit on us.”

She raises the flask to her lips again, and Margo snatches it away. “Just shut up, okay? Just shut up and I won’t tell anyone what you just did.”

“Did they tell you what happened to my dad, Margo?” Sascha whispers.

“Just stop,” Margo pleads.

“Why? My big mouth doesn’t affect you!”

“It might! You don’t know.”

“Guys!” I interrupt. “Cut the crap and tell us what’s going on.”

Sascha tilts her head at Margo and sways a bit. “We can word it carefully. You don’t honestly believe we can’t—”

“Look,” Dani says, “someone’s coming.”

Headlights work their way up through the trees along the dirt road.

“Shit,” I say. “She’s here—what are we doing?”

“Wonder drunk is supposed to have all the details,” Margo hisses as we slowly retreat toward the forest’s edge.

Sascha giggles again, and Z grabs her cape. “Get it together and tell us what the deal with the wolf is,” she says through clenched teeth. “Is it just one?”

Sascha pushes Z off her. “Yeah. It’s just one lone wolf, and she’s expecting to meet someone for a payoff. We get her, and then Connor cleans up.”

My heart skips a beat.

“What about Michael—won’t he be here, too?” Dani asks.

“Tonight it’s just Connor.” Sascha points toward a lean-to just off the dirt road. “He’s already over there waiting.”

I see the van parked. As the other car—some sort of sports coupe—pulls up toward it, Connor flashes his lights a few times. Connor is the person she’s meeting?

“Is there anything else we need to know?” Margo asks.

Sascha heads over to the car. “Nope—just some little detail I need to take care of—I’m sure they’re testing me.” She looks back and gives Margo a big, cheesy smile. “And don’t worry, Margo, I’ll make the inner circle proud.”

Margo rushes up to Sascha. I strain to hear what she’s saying, but the wind roars past carrying her words away.

Sascha pulls out her star necklace, and wraps her hand around it. Her whole body goes rigid for a second and then she breaks into a run.

” What is going on?” Dani whispers to me as we hurry after her.

“I don’t know.”

Connor gets out of the van and holds up a white envelope. “All set for you, Diane.”

A tall woman with long, white hair opens the car door. “Great,” she says. “And you tell your mom it’s been a pleasure doing …”

“Silence!” Sascha screams, running at her. A bolt of white light streaks from her palm and hits the woman in the head knocking her down. “We bind you to the earth!” Sascha throws a binder, and the mud and debris on the ground coil up and pin her down on her back.