Revealers (8 page)

“Look!” Margo says. “It’s complicated—and Helena would kill me if I said anything.”

Margo suddenly looks worried. “Don’t tell her I said anything, okay? And if she asks about tonight, make sure you tell her it was me who finished Kelsey off.” She pauses and looks at us one at a time with a steely face. “And I won’t tell her how I found you all standing around not doing your job.”

Margo hands me the flask and mounts her broom. “There is one thing I can tell you, Jules.”

She reaches into her cloak and pulls out the star necklace—the inside of the stone flashes and glimmers with light. “Not showing your loyalty can gel you or your family in a hell of a lot of trouble.” She tips her head toward Michael. “I suggest you keep your mouth shut, too! You coming, Z?”

“Yeah! Um, I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” she says slowly. She gets on her stick and looks back at me. She shrugs and then they both take off in a shimmer as their cloaking spell takes effect.

They vanish into the low clouds, and Michael clears his throat. “Wow. I thought this was going to be a tough one tonight—-but I didn’t think it would be this bad.”

I take a Sascha-sized gulp of brandy and shudder as it burns its way down my throat. “You know what I think? I think I’ll take that ride, Michael.”

So how do you think someone gets on the list? I ask. I clutch the armrest as Michael takes a corner too fast.

“We’re not sure if there really is a list,” Dani says from the backseat.

“Are you kidding? Did you see how scared Margo was when that slipped out? There’s a list! Michael, what do they tell you when you’re on cleanup crew?”

“Just that they’ve tracked someone down, and then they give us the address where they are.

Sometimes they tell Connor and me personal info, like that last guy—the wolf—my mom told us he might be interested in joining me out in the woods behind the bar, if you know what I mean.”

“But how could they know that?” I ask.

“Crystal ball?” Michael says.

Dani leans forward and nods. “Mrs. Keyes has one, she could be using it to track people down, or maybe she uses a spell to locate them.”

“But what about Kelsey? She was supposed to meet Troy and Andrew, so how did they know to send you over there to make sure they didn’t show up and witness the kill? If she was using a crystal ball, shed have to be watching Kelsey 24I7 to happen upon that information.”

“I don’t know. They just told me to have a couple of cases of cold beer in the back of the van, park it by Troy’s house, and loosen a battery cable. I was supposed to convince them partying would be better than being bitten. Not that I mentioned Kelsey or anything, but being underage and unemployed, they were more than happy to accept some free booze in return for tightening up the cable for me. Actually, Andrew seemed pretty relieved they were going to take the beer back to Troy’s. But you know what? Troy’s been bitten before—I could see marks on him.”

“Oh!” Dani says. “That means Kelsey’s probably, you know, snacked on him before.”

I nod. “And it also means vamps don’t always turn their prey—something we were told they do.”

Dani and I exchange looks, and I know we’re both wondering if what she’d read on that message board is true.

“And Kelsey could’ve been telling the truth when she said she wasn’t going to reveal to us,”

Dani says.

“And maybe we didn’t have to dust her,” I add.

Dani shakes her head. “What matters is she wasn’t human anymore. Maybe she wasn’t going to go after us, but she was fully capable of it.”

“Yeah, and Z did say she’d already turned some other people, but still, I don’t think this whole gig is quite what we thought it was. If there’s a list, it means someone—maybe Helena—is making some sort of decision about who we go after and when we do it,” I say.

“Geez, Jules,” Dani says, swatting me on the shoulder. “You’re making it sound like there’s some evil plot. I just figured Helena makes a list of baddies as the coven hears about them, and then someone does research to make our job a little easier.”

My shoulders slump. “Yeah, I guess.” I watch the houses go by as we near my neighborhood. What Dani said makes sense, I think, but it doesn’t explain why Margo was all freaked out—and she was freaked out. “Why all the secrecy, then? Why not tell us exactly what’s going on instead of waiting for the stupid birthday initiation crap?”

Michael laughs. “Because you witches are totally anal about tradition! Margo and Z

wouldn’t even get in the van because you’re supposed to fly home after a kill. Hell, you’re probably breaking all sorts of covenants riding home with me.”

“I know, it’s so stupid—what does it matter if we stick it or get a ride home?” I ask. “And why these capes? Loved getting shit about them from Kelsey tonight. She asked about our lame

‘Little Red Riding Hood’ look.”

Michael laughs as he slows the van to a stop in front of my house. “Yeah, the capes are a little retro.”

“Hey, keep going,” Dani says. “I saw the kitchen lights on—maybe you should let us out down the street, I’ll fly home and it will look like you did, too. I don’t want any of us to get in trouble.”

He accelerates and pulls over farther down the block by the woods.

“Viva la revolution!” I say.

“I’m just feeling a little spooked, all right? I mean all this talk about lists and traditions, well—remember the time Mrs. Keyes reamed me out because I hadn’t made the binders tight enough and they fell apart before they hit the ground?”

“She was mad the vamp got away,” I say. “This is just a ride.”

“Well, you never know what’s gonna make her go nuts,” Dani says. “She came down on Z

that time for showing up on a hunt without a stake even though we were going after a wolf!”

“Okay, fine,” I say, opening the door. “But I plan on asking my mom a few things when I get in. Thanks for the ride, Michael. It was really nice not having to fly home in the cold even if we get in trouble!”

Dani gets out and shakes her head. “I can’t help it if Mrs. Keyes scares the crap out of me!”

“Mrs. Keyes scares the crap out of everyone!” Michael says. “But I’ll keep this illicit ride home under wraps. If you guys don’t have another hunt tomorrow, I’ll see you in school.”

Michael drives off, and Dani turns to me.

“Are you really going to ask your mom about the list?” she asks, mounting her broom.

“Margo said not to.”

“Damn straight I am. Just because you’re too chicken to buck tradition, doesn’t mean I am.”

“Too chicken to buck tradition? Oh, please. I rode in the van same as you. I just like to keep my rebellion under the radar. Let me know if your mom says anything interesting.”

“Will do.”

Dani says the cloaking spell and takes off.” I walk toward my house. As I pass the side garden, I’m tempted to sneak out to Mom’s workshop to make sure Connor cleaned up, but I want to catch her before she heads to bed.

I open the kitchen door and smell mint hot chocolate. I walk in and see two mugs out on the counter and a pot steaming on the stovetop next to the cauldron.

“I’m home!”

Mom comes in tying her blue bathrobe sash tight. “I got home just a bit ago and thought I’d wait up in case you wanted to talk. I know that girl went to school with you all. Did you know her well?”

“We had a couple of classes together and we worked on a group project once, but Sascha was the only one that was kind of friends with her.” I decide to not mention Michael. I throw my cape over a chair, and spot the Ouroboros ring. Does my mom know about it? I get up and turn the burner off, and then I pull my sweater sleeves over my hands so just my fingertips are showing. “Brrrr, I’m still cold. This will warm me up, though.” I fill up the mugs and bring them over to the table, wondering how long I can hide the stupid ring. “It was a tough kill, though.”

Mom blows across the top of the milk. “Did she attack before you bound her?”

“No! That’s what made it so hard. She just wanted to hang out with us.”

“Well,” Mom says with a little laugh, “that’s not likely, but who ended up staking her?”

I take a sip and burn my tongue. “Ow! Margo did it. She showed up late, but once she saw Kelsey bound by home plate, she staked her without blinking an eye.”

The corners of Mom’s lips curl up and I wonder why this news makes her smile.

“So now that Kelsey’s taken care of, who’s next on the list? Anyone I know?”

Mom’s smile dissolves in a flash. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s okay, Mom. Margo let it slip out that there’s a list of creatures we have to hunt. It’s not like it’s a big deal.”

She smiles again, but I can tell it’s forced. She takes a sip of chocolate, obviously weighing her response carefully. “What else did Margo say?”

“Nothing much, but I figured since I knew, we didn’t have to wait until my birthday for you to tell me the ins and outs of who gets knocked off the secret list next.”

She takes another sip and nods her head. “Well,” she says slowly, “there is a list—I’m not sure I would use the word secret, though.”

I stifle my desire to yell I knew it and keep my poker face going. “It was a secret to me, but how does someone get on the not so secret list?”

“We simply note the names of creatures we find out are in the area. When we get more information and pin down a location, we send you girls after them. The end.”

“But how do you get the information?” I ask, thinking she’s purposefully trying to sound very casual about this.

“Let’s save some surprises for your initiation, shall we?” She gets up from the table and pours the rest of her hot chocolate into the sink.

“How did Kelsey get to be tonight’s hunt?” I ask, not letting it go. “How did you know to send Michael after Troy and Andrew?”

“Word gets around,” she says stiffly.

I raise my eyebrows. “What, do we have an 800 number so people can call in with anonymous tips?” I pretend to flip open my cell phone. “Hello, I overheard some people planning a vampire orgy—you should show up at the baseball dugout at eleven o’clock.”

Mom looks at me with raised eyebrows. “I’m a bit surprised you’re being so cavalier about this after tonight’s hunt.”

“And I think you’re trying to change the subject.”

Mom stares at me, and then shakes her head with an exasperated huff. “Honey, it’s been a long day.”

“You always say that when you don’t want to talk!”

“It was a long day! The initiation was draining, and I have a lot of work to do in the shop tomorrow. Let’s call it a night. We can talk more after I get these new witch balls done.” She gives me that forced smile again, and starts to walk toward the stairs.

I get up and stand in front of her, blocking the way. “Did you know vamps don’t turn everyone they bite? Kelsey bit Troy but she didn’t turn him. And she didn’t attack us—she didn’t even show her fangs until we tried to bind her.”

Mom squeezes her eyes shut for a few seconds and sighs. “Yes, occasionally a vampire won’t turn someone, and maybe Kelsey was feeling the loss of her old life and wanted to reconnect by talking with you. But at the end of the day—or night, I should say—vampires are soulless monsters capable of murder. And just because Kelsey hadn’t turned that young man, doesn’t mean she wasn’t going to. You don’t know what twisted game she was playing with him.”

“But you told us they always turn their victims… .”

“Into new vampires. Yes. I suppose we didn’t feel it necessary to point out that there are always exceptions, but I thought at seventeen years of age you might have figured that out!”

Mom glares at me with wide eyes, and I start feeling really stupid. Of course, they’d be keeping a list—how else would they keep track of sightings? And can I really say Kelsey wouldn’t have attacked us?

No.

But why was Margo so upset, then? Was she just being her usual anal self?

“I’m sorry,” I say, and step aside. “I don’t know why I got it in my head there was some deep, dark conspiracy. But if you’d just tell us everything up front, my mind wouldn’t go wild trying to fill in the blanks.”

Mom reaches out and squeezes my hand, but her face looks pinched and worried, and not at all like she’s happy she’s won this argument. “Maybe it is time to look into how we’re doing things—the world is changing so very rapidly and perhaps we finally need to address the fact you girls are not at all like the past generations of hunters.

“I’ll talk to the inner circle—Margo included—and see if we can start a dialogue about looking toward a more modern future. Knowing you girls, I can’t imagine your children will be any easier to deal with! I can’t promise any rapid reforms, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks, Mom,” I say hugging her—hardly believing I’ve finally convinced her to talk to Helena and everyone else. “I’ll clean up the dishes.”

“Okay, and then off to bed.”

I bring my cup to the sink and fill the pot with warm soapy water. I pour some of the dish soap on my hand and soap up my ring finger. I try to pull off the Ouroboros, but it hisses at me and gulps down its tail until I feel like it’s going to cut off the circulation in my finger. “Fine!” I hiss back at it quietly. I rinse the soap off, and the snake relaxes its grip and returns to its hard metallic state.

In my room, I see Connor’s put the white pumpkin with the heart carved in it on my bedside table. I point my palm toward the candle. “Light,” I whisper, thinking that’s exactly how I feel—light and happy. The pumpkin glows and I love that Connor left it here.

And I love that Connor and I will be out in the open soon, that I’ll be able to skip the broom rides in the winter, and maybe we can even burn the stupid capes in a bonfire!

I pull my sweater off and throw it to the floor on top of my jeans. I sigh and pick them up and put them in the laundry basket. I grab all the other clothes and throw them in, too. This will show Mom I’m maturing into a responsible witch, I think.

I take my nightshirt off the bed and pull it on—but it snags on one of the points of my star necklace. I reach up and grab the turquoise center and pull the tip out of the fabric. The Ouroboros hisses, opens its mouth, and falls off my finger. I jump back as it twists and wiggles near my feet—snapping at the air with its tiny fanged mouth. It finally finds its tail, takes two quick swallows, and reforms into a solid circle.