Sometimes By Moonlight (12 page)

“Well, you let me know. It fills the emptiness of winter, knitting does.”

“Who is your scarf for?”

Mrs. Lemmon’s cheeks flushed and she gave me a pointed look. “A friend, Locke.”

“Oh.” I got it.
Massimo
.
I let her keep her secret as she knitted away, and turned my attention back to the book in my hands.

I turned page after page, learning about how Duke Steinfelder had persecuted the unsavory folks in foreign lands, killing off diversity. About how he’d died, terrified of retribution from awful creatures. The book had a reproduction of the painting from the hallway, the one of him mounted on the gray horse, ready for battle. Ready to drive people out for a price. Maybe people like Austin and his family. Like me.

With all that had happened lately, I’d almost forgotten I wanted to know how I’d come to be here at Steinfelder. I needed to know.

“Mrs. Lemmon,” I said, “I am worried about my stepmother. You know, with her being on bed rest for the baby. Do you think you might allow me a quick video call? I know it’s not the normal time…”

Mrs. Lemmon set down her knitting needles and consulted her watch. “It’s against rules, Locke.”

I gave her my best puppy eyes. “Please, I’ll be quick.”

“Well, considering what you’ve been through this week, maybe it’d be a good idea,” she said, getting up from the chair. “There’s no one else about. Let me go get the computer from Madame’s office.”

A few short minutes later, I was sitting in front of a laptop screen, looking at a sleepy Honeybun. Mrs. Lemmon, giving me some privacy, retreated to the hallway door and picked up her knitting again.

“Your father’s still sleeping,” Honeybun said, yawning. “I’ve been online for hours looking at cribs. There’s so much to do.”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Everything okay there? Do you want me to wake your father?”

“No, I just wanted to talk to you this time,” I said.

She smiled at me, and I almost felt guilty, seeing how bright and wide her grin was, like she was genuinely happy we were chatting. That I wanted to talk to her alone. “So, what’s up, sweetheart?”

I groaned inwardly at the word “sweetheart” but forged ahead. “So, what I’ve been wondering, because you know, there are lot of girls from lots of different places here at the school, is how did you find out about this place? I mean, why am I here?”

Honeybun’s smile faded into disappointment. “Oh. I thought you wanted to have some kind of a girl chat. You know, about… girl stuff.”

I heard in her hesitation the wish that we were talking about mother-daughter stuff, not just girl stuff. I felt a little punch in the gut. Was Honeybun actually wanting to get along? To be a real parent? It was a little too late for that.

“Well, you know, there’re no boys here, so there’s no girl stuff to talk about, really,” I said.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Honeybun replied. “I should have told you before, but that friend of yours from camp, Austin, he tried to reach you here at the house after you left. Very charming. You father told him where he could write you. I hope he’s been in touch.”

I shrugged. Talking with her about Austin seemed pointless and maybe, with everything going on, dangerous. “Listen, I want to know how you found out about Steinfelder.”

Honeybun tried to frown at my changing the subject. She rubbed at her creaseless forehead as if the effort hurt her. “I don’t see why that’s important.”

“Did you get the brochure from Red Canyon Ranch? From Camp Crescent? From a shrink you know?”

She let out a deep yawn. “Shelby, I still can’t understand why you need to know.”

“Just tell me!”

Mrs. Lemmon poked her head around the corner, a finger to her lips.

“Sorry. I don’t mean to yell. It’s just that things are getting weird here—”

“Oh no, what did you do?”

What did I do?
Nothing yet
, I wanted to say. But I held my tongue. “I’d just like to know where you got the brochure.”

Honeybun cast her gaze to the enormous rock on her wedding finger. “We got a special invitation in the mail.”

“An invitation?”

“Yes. It was invitation from the school, with your name on it, saying you’d been handpicked to attend. It was super fancy, like they’d taken the time to research you, to make sure you were their kind of girl. I’m not sure how we got on the school’s mailing list or who recommended you, but when I read about the tradition and the history, it sounded really great. I thought you might soak up some European culture. California can be so, you know,
California
.”

“Was there a signature on the invitation? A return address?”

“Well, just the school information, I suppose. It wasn’t signed by anyone.”

“Oh.” I felt my shoulders slump. “Okay, great.”

Honeybun’s eyes took on a dreamy look. “You know, I always wanted to see Europe. Back when I was in high school in the Valley, I dreamed of seeing those capitals. I thought maybe you’d get a chance to do the things I never had the chance to do,” she said, her voice softening.

“Really? You weren’t just sending me far, far away?”

Honeybun chewed her lower, plumped up lip. “Shelby—”

“It’s okay,” I said. “I know it hasn’t been easy.”

“For either one of us,” she said with a nod.

“Okay, well, if you find that invitation, save it for me,” I told her. And then we clicked off, neither one of us saying goodbye.

Mrs. Lemmon came back into the room with her knitting bag. “Well? How did it go?”

“It’s never quite what you expect,” I said.

“Now that’s the truth right there,” she replied. “It never is, indeed.”

***

I chewed my gummy worm slowly. It was a red one, my favorite, but actually any flavor tastes good when you haven’t had a gummy in months. I checked my watch again—ten minutes to eleven. I dressed quickly, retrieving the snow clothes and boots I’d left in the bathroom’s linen closet after dinner. It seemed quieter and quicker to dress in the girls’ loo then in our room, especially since Marie-Rose had been my shadow again, all night. I zipped up my jacket, fully prepared to head out into the snow, and crept down the back staircase to the kitchen, where the exit closest to the path to the old carriage house was located.

As I was about to open the kitchen’s back door, I heard the staccato sound of heels on wooden floors. I slid into the pantry to wait until the noise passed. Peeking out, I saw the reflection of candlelight flickering on the glass windows above the sink, and I heard a cough. I ducked back inside my hiding place as the back door opened and whoever it was went out onto the porch. A second later, I smelled tobacco burning. Someone was outside for a forbidden late night smoke, blocking my exit in the process.

Since I was in the pantry already, I grabbed a couple of gingersnaps and put them in my coat pocket. Then, I got down low and made my way out into the kitchen. I snuck a glance out the window. Miss Kovac was smoking and whispering in a foreign language into her cell phone

I was about to make my move out of the kitchen when she suddenly clicked the phone shut and stubbed out her cigarette. There was no time to go anywhere, so I climbed underneath one of the metal worktables and held my breath. She closed the back door behind her as she entered the kitchen. Then she stopped, candlestick holder in her hand, and sniffed the air. As she circled the table I was under, I was sure she could hear my heart beating. I willed myself to be still, not to move a millimeter in my noisy snow pants.

Miss Kovac raised her nose to the air again and then walked quickly over to the pantry. A second later she emerged with three cookies in her hands and hustled out the kitchen door. So, I wasn’t the only one raiding the cook’s secret stash.

I exhaled with relief as I unfolded myself from under the table. Then, realizing it was after eleven and I was late, I zipped out the back door. I ran as fast as I could while keeping to the shadows of the neglected garden. When I reached the carriage house, I slid along the side wall, searching for the door. It was heavy and creaky, but I got it open and stepped into the inky darkness.

“Austin?” I called.

A flashlight switched on over in the corner. I half expected to see my shadow, Marie-Rose, or some other unwelcome figure step out of the gloom, but it was just your average werewolf hottie. “Good evening,” he said, jumping over a rusted out car with ease.  “I’d about given up.”

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

Austin set the flashlight on a wooden crate and gave me a half smile, the little dimples at the side of his face creasing. Seeing Austin’s silvery Lycan eyes, I felt a familiar rush of fear, but now it was tempered by the knowledge that my own eyes had that same quality, or at least the beginning of it.

“I missed you.” Austin wrapped me in his arms, and it suddenly didn’t matter that it was freezing in the carriage house or that things were crappy, or that I was going furry. It only mattered that he was here with me. “It’s so hard to be away from you,” he added, making my heart flip in my chest.

I fell deeper into his embrace.  “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Did anyone follow you?” Austin whispered as he stroked my hair.

“I don’t think so.”

He gazed into my eyes, and then he lowered his lips to mine, until we almost touched. He hovered there for a few seconds, in the place where I could feel the heat from his lips, his soft breath. I wanted him to close the distance so badly. 

And when he finally kissed me, I forgot about Steinfelder. I forgot about my Lycan woes. I forgot everything. When people say that you can lose yourself in a kiss, they aren’t lying. And for that moment, I was completely, happily lost.

It’s just a shame you can’t stay lost. You can’t stay outside reality forever. No matter how hard you might try.

Chapter Nine

I checked my watch again. Eleven-twenty. Most of the last few minutes we’d spent kissing, which is never a bad thing, but I felt the urgency to return to my room.

“Love, I know we’ve got to get you back,” Austin said, like he was reading my mind. “It was hard enough for me to plant the candy last night. Even without locks, that place is formidable.” He dipped his head to kiss me again.

“Well, there is an armed guard.”

“Very true,” he said, planting another kiss on me. “So, now on to business.”

I covered my tingly mouth and giggled. “This wasn’t business?”