Shades of Gray: A Jude Magdalyn Novel (29 page)
“I’m sure you will,” I answered dryly, rolling my eyes and making Elizabeth giggle. Rian shut the book and placed it back into the box. He placed the key inside as well, one way to make sure I didn’t lose it. Leaning back, he placed his hands behind his head and gazed off into space.
I waited a moment before prodding him. “What are you studying, Rian?”
“What makes you think I’m looking at anything besides the ornamentation on the ceiling?”
“Because she knows that look on your face by now, and even if she doesn’t, I do.” Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed and I flicked my gaze to the plant in the corner. Any bigger, and we’d own a prop from the Little Shop of Horrors. “What did you see?”
I thought the damn plant would grow legs and walk when Rian answered.
“That’s for me to know and you to find out.”
I concentrated, took
a deep breath in and filled my lungs to capacity. I snapped my finger off the bowstring and watched the arrow fly across the practice field. It hit exactly where I aimed a hundred feet away. A solid bulls-eye.
Not nearly good enough.
Around me, the Silent Ones continued practicing without paying any attention to me. They’d picked up the habit quickly, a good thing because I’m not the most patient teacher. The ones with natural talent tutored the others.
It wasn’t their skill or mine which had me tapping my foot in frustration. It just wasn’t enough.
I called Lies over, still somewhat shocked when she moved without question. Her sister and Christophe continued to look at me like I was demon spawn. They held whispered conversations in corners which I pretended to ignore. Lies, however, kept her head down and did whatever anyone asked of her.
The about-face in her behavior creeped me out.
Lies dropped a slight curtsey, something she’d started doing yesterday at the cemetery. I wanted to blame it on lack of sleep, but she’d done it when I wasn’t dog tired. “Yes, Jude?”
She used my name, in a nice tone of voice. She must be sick. “Sight your arrow and draw for me. I want to try something.”
Without questioning my intentions, Lies fell into position. I’d noticed her left handedness, her sister right handed. Lies’ right hand gripped the bow, knuckles white with tension and I made a mental note to tell her to ease up a little. Too tight a grip would cramp up her hand. Her left hand shook slightly as she notched the arrow.
“Is everything alright, Lies?”
She bit her lip and I noticed her watching Guile and Christophe while they watched us. “Yes. Whenever you’re ready.”
I wouldn’t call her a liar to her face. I’d wait until we were alone. I didn’t want to be a bully, but her nerves couldn’t break in the middle of battle and her arrow wind up impaling one of the good guys. “Whenever you’re ready, Lies.”
Lies took a deep breath and her shoulders relaxed. The bow made the smallest of sounds when she released the arrow before singing across the room. With a flick of my left wrist, I concentrated on the tip of the arrow, imagined flames bursting.
And by God they did. I heard more than one gasp of shock when the flaming arrow connected with the target and instantly set the paper aflame. Nice to know some things were consistent around the house these days.
I took a step back, raising my voice to the room. “Now, everyone together. Let’s see how many vamps we can take down at one time.”
I waited a moment for everyone to get into position, taking notes on who still needed to work on form. Bad form could backfire as much as nerves. I whistled, and the excited murmurs tapered down. “At the ready.”
Only a few sessions and already they moved as a unit. Two dozen arrows notched. “Aim.” Two dozen bows raised and sighted. “Fire.”
It took a little more effort this time. A flick of my wrist and two dozen arrows burst into flames. A cheer went up and down the line but I cut them short with another whistle.
“Again. This time, don’t stop shooting until your quiver is empty.”
By the time we finished, the targets across the room were in ashes. I dripped with sweat; a little from effort, but mostly from the damn fire. A few of the older boys used the ever-present fire extinguishers to put the flames out before I called everyone around me.
I struggled to find the right words. I’m not good at pep talks. Finally, I huffed and went with whatever came out of my mouth.
“You guys did well. We’ll practice again tomorrow. Keep in mind, what we did just now is essentially what we’ll be doing when the real event occurs. We’ll be doing it for a lot longer, so it’s probably a better idea for twelve to shoot a quiver, then the second twelve. Alternate, I guess, so everyone doesn’t tire at the same time.
Now, it’s still early. Late.” I shook my head. One day, or night, or something, I’d get my clock straightened out again. “You guys can either hang out upstairs until your parents get here, or you can crash here tonight. Just don’t mess up the kitchen or you’ll make Elizabeth angry.” They so did not want to make her angry.
I was pretty sure we’d never get the cleaning company back if every pot on the main floor exploded.
“Hey, that means you clean up down here too.” There were some groans, but the few who’d headed toward the door turned back around. They joked among themselves, and more than one flirtation blossomed. It meant something, at least to me, how some things continued while the world prepared to end.
Some might say we were whistling in the dark. I preferred to think we were flipping fate the middle finger.
The kids drifted up the stairs in twos and threes, until the only person left below was Lies. I pretended to ignore her presence in the relative certainty she’d speak when ready. If she had even a little bit of teenage girl in her, she wouldn’t keep quiet for long.
The silence stretched on for a good fifteen minutes. I put my energy into pulling out the equipment I’d need for the potion making I planned on doing. Theo, Rian, Elizabeth and I had gone over Gillian’s Book of Shadows with a fine toothed comb, culling potions and spells, adding, modifying and making our own playbook. We’d decided I should be the one to stir the potions. By us, I mean the other three decided and I gave in rather than argue.
Lies eventually broke the silence. “Do you need help with anything?”
I paused in pulling out a mortar and pestle, staring at her for a moment before shaking my head. “Seriously? Lies, you’re not being nice, normal and helpful just because. If you want to talk, that’s fine. But don’t think I can’t notice something’s up.”
I went back to taking out equipment and piling up wooden bowls on the counter. I stooped to heft up the large bag of salt kept in the kitchen island. I grunted and rose, remembering at the last second to use my legs instead of my back. Pulling a muscle would not be good right now.
Thinking about pulling muscles combined with using my leg muscles made me think about the hour or so before I finally fell asleep which turned me ten shades of red. I’d only gotten five hours of sleep, but I’d been in bed more than five hours. Those extra hours were put to good use, and I don’t think Theo would argue with me.
Lies hadn’t moved when I finally wrestled the bag onto the counter. Panting slightly, I wiped the sweat from my face before bracing my hands on the counter. I raised my eyebrows and gave a little headshake, telling her to spit it out or buzz off. I had things to do, lives to change, people to screw. All right, the last one was only important to me.
“If you have to choose between what your family thinks is right and what you know is right, what do you do?”
Not quite the question I anticipated. I started separating the equipment into various piles, trying to go about my preparations in as organized a way as possible. I would still be looking for things halfway through every damn potion we made.
“Well, Lies, I think you need to ask yourself which you can live with. Your family’s disappointment in you or your disappointment in yourself.” I pulled out the list of ingredients I needed and winced. “I can live with other people being disappointed in me, because they’re not going to keep me up at night trying to decide who I really am.”
Lies stared at me and I felt a little tingle deep inside. Her sister still dressed like an ice princess but Lies had been dressing more like a regular teenager the past few days. Well, like a slutty teenager, with super-tight jeans and camisoles without the benefit of a bra underneath, but still pretty normal. Up until Gillian died, the twins were inseparable and totally identical.
Considering the fact Gillian hadn’t been too fond of the twins at least by everything I’d seen, heard, and read, I really couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on. I was damn sure it wasn’t good.
“Don’t trust Guile, or Christophe. They’ll try and trick you because they still don’t think you’re the right leader for the Covenant.” Lies paused again, chewing on her lower lip. The gesture made her seem younger than her age and tugged at my heartstrings. Not a big one, but a tug nonetheless.
“Just, please, if you don’t have to kill Guile, don’t. I don’t care about Christophe, but try not to kill my sister.”
I tucked my tongue in my cheek, nodding slightly. “And if I have to?”
Lies closed her eyes and sighed. She opened her eyes, the look in them tired and old. I bet mine looked like that on some days. “If you have to, you have to.”
I nodded and went back to the list in my hand, trying to figure out the best way to get everything here. Lies cleared her throat and asked, “Can I help you with anything?” You could have knocked me over with a feather.
After a moment, I handed her the list. “I need to get all of that from the storeroom to here. Any suggestions?”
She looked over the list, her eyes growing wide. “Do you have a wheelbarrow down here somewhere?”
I groaned and pulled
a pillow over my head, trying to block out the noise in the room. “I don’t want to wake up. Come back in a few hours.”
“Not an option, Jude. Get out of bed or I’m letting Celia in the room and she won’t care if you’re bare ass naked when she bounces on top of you.”
I lifted the pillow from my face to glare at Elizabeth. “You’ve gotten very nasty the last couple of days. Is it that time of the month, or are you just in a really bad mood?”
“Boys are so fucking stupid.” Elizabeth yanked off the sheets and threw a robe at me before turning away. I thought about ignoring her not so subtle hint to get my ass out of bed, but considered her mood and decided against it. The door opened as I slid my arms into the sleeves and Theo stepped inside.
“Really, don’t get dressed on my account. I’m willing to strip down so you don’t feel underdressed.” Theo hadn’t pulled his shirt an inch over his head before Elizabeth popped out of the closet. He dropped his shirt back into place after one look at her face. “Or maybe you should get dressed.”
“I told you. Boys are stupid.” Elizabeth tossed what looked like a pair of jeans and a tank top on the bed before dropping down into a chair. She crossed her arms over her chest, one leg over the other, and scowled. I understood Celia’s amazingly good behavior. At times Elizabeth scared me more than the nuns did.
“If you’re talking about Rian, technically, he’s a man.” Theo flopped down on the bed, running the silk sash of my robe through his fingers. He risked a glance at Elizabeth’s face and quickly changed his tune. “But if you say he’s a boy, I completely agree. My mother said never to argue with an angry woman.”
I elbowed Theo in the ribs. “What Theo meant to say was, what has Rian done now? Because I’m going to agree with Theo that whatever’s got you so pissed off, is probably got something to do with Rian?”
Elizabeth stewed in silence for a few more minutes, which I spent trying to stop Theo from getting me naked. Not like I didn’t want to get naked on a bed with Theo, but no way in hell was it happening with Elizabeth in the room. “Jackson and I were just talking in a room full of other people.” Elizabeth uncrossed her legs and surged up, apparently too angry to sit still. Since I’d seen her sit still for hours on end, she was pretty pissed. “I mean, you’d think I did a bump and grind on his lap the way Rian reacted.”
Theo started to laugh, but another elbow to the ribs switched it to a gasping cough. I smiled at Elizabeth, pretending nothing about this conversation was weird at all. “Elizabeth, sweetie, were you laughing with Jackson?”
She gave me a strange look but answered the question. “He’s a funny guy.”
I nodded and considered elbowing Theo again just to make sure he got the message. “Did you smile, and maybe touch his arm, or stand a little close?”
Elizabeth gave me another look. Planting her hands on her hips, she tapped her foot. “Am I missing the point here?”
I cocked my head to look at Theo, who raised his eyes to the ceiling feigning total innocence. Yeah, right. “This, Theo, is why children should go to school with other children.”
“New Orleans is lousy with Catholic schools. Although we should start narrowing our choices down, so we can get on a waiting list.” Theo rolled out of the way of my elbow and I fell over on the bed. I remembered to keep the robe closed, although Theo still did his damnedest to get inside.
“Hello, can we focus here?” Elizabeth threw her hands in the air. I struggled to sit back up and put a few inches between me and Theo’s wandering hands. “What’s the big deal?”
I pursed my lips, screwing my face up in concentration. “How best to say this?” Theo finally decided to join the conversation, and chose that moment to say something appropriate.
“Elizabeth, Jackson’s flirting with you. You, not knowing any better, were flirting back. Rian got a little pissy and handled it, although apparently not in the best way.”
“So, Rian’s allowed to get pissy if I flirt with someone, but if he looks down Margot’s shirt, I’m supposed to smile and ask if he wants another cup of tea?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that exactly.” If Theo was smart, he wouldn’t say anything even close, but he’d probably keep talking and stick his foot in his mouth. “I would say perhaps you and Rian should sit down and talk things out.”
Yep, he went there. I would have felt bad for him, but he should’ve known better.
“Right, because he’s been so reasonable the past few days. Never mind everybody else is under a tremendous amount of stress as well, or I can’t have a mood change without wondering if I’m going to be cleaning up potting soil.” Elizabeth probably would have ranted for a good half hour or so if I hadn’t stood up and started getting dressed, and talking.
“Elizabeth, don’t listen to Theo. He’s a great guy, but he’s a guy.” I looked over my shoulder at him where he lay sprawled on the bed. “Sorry, but it’s true.”
“Thanks for pointing out the obvious, do continue.”
