The Nightmare Dilemma (Arkwell Academy) (6 page)

“Eli’s not here anymore.”

“Oh.” I began to twist my fingers through the strands of my hair hanging down over my shoulder. “Did he go back to class?”

The sheriff shook his head. “They’ve taken him over to Lyonshold for the rest of the day. The Magi Senate is very interested in learning how an ordinary suddenly started casting spells.”

I wasn’t sure what to make of this news. On the one hand, it meant they hadn’t yet found Eli guilty of anything to do with Britney. On the other, a trip to the magickind capital city to be interrogated by the Magi Senate spelled big trouble.

“Oh, okay.” I took a step back from the desk, preparing to leave.

“Not so fast,” said Brackenberry. “We planned on waiting until this afternoon, but since you’re here.” He waved at me to follow as he headed back down the hallway and reentered the conference room.

I walked in behind him, each footstep heavier than the last. Brackenberry motioned for me to sit while he pulled a cell phone off the clip on his belt and slid his finger over the touch screen, opening it. The cell must’ve been brand-new because it didn’t give him any trouble as he dialed.

I glanced around the room, taking in the long, glass-topped table and the dozen matching high-backed chairs upholstered in a bright pattern of blue and yellow roses intermixed with sprites—tiny winged creatures with humanoid bodies and chameleon-like skin. A folder sat opened on top of the desk, and I wondered if it was the case file on Britney. I leaned in for a better look, but Brackenberry flipped it closed.

A moment later he said into the receiver, “It’s me. Destiny Everhart is in the administration office right now … she was asking about Eli … yes, I know. Are you on campus yet? I figure it would be better if she heard the news from us. I’m sure some of the senators’ kids already know.” He nodded his head a couple of times. “Uh-huh. Right. See you in a minute.”

Brackenberry ended the call and returned the cell to the holster on his belt. Then he sat down on the opposite side of the table from me and folded his hands across his ample belly. The buttons on his navy blue policeman’s uniform bulged outward, the fabric beneath them strained. “Lady Elaine will be here soon.”

I bit my lip. What could be so bad they would have to tell me about it in person? A thousand possibilities flitted through my mind like a flock of rabid birds, each one pecking away at my ability to sit here in this seat and pretend not to be having a panic attack.

Then the worst possibility occurred to me. It could be about my mom. She’d been in England for the last two months, but was due to come home soon. I didn’t know when exactly, because she kept pushing back the date. But what if something had happened? Cold sweat beaded on my forehead and the back of my neck. I gnawed on the inside of my cheek, bracing for the worst.

But when Lady Elaine arrived some five minutes later, she didn’t bring me bad news about my mother. Even so, what she had to say hit me with the force of a wrecking ball.

“Today,” she said, her voice grave and her frail body rigid as she stared down at me, “the Magi Senate decided to drop all charges against Paul Kirkwood. He has been set free and will be resuming classes here at Arkwell in a few days.”

My heart seemed to freeze up inside my chest and my blood turn to ice water. Paul Kirkwood, free? It had to be a joke. And yet I knew it wasn’t. Lady Elaine wouldn’t lie to me. Not about this.

I swallowed. Paul Kirkwood. Ex-boyfriend. A murderer’s accomplice who tried to bend my will into serving the Red Warlock. The guy I thought I would never see face-to-face again.

He was coming back.

And I knew without a doubt my life was never going to be the same again.

6

Confidential

As if the first bit of news Lady Elaine delivered wasn’t bad enough, she delivered another bomb seconds later.

“We want you to spy on him.”

“What?” I blinked, repeatedly, my brain slipping like an engine stuck in neutral.

“Hold on, please,” Sheriff Brackenberry said to Lady Elaine. He stood up and walked to the door, which Elaine had closed when she arrived. I watched as he ran a hand over the door frame, uttering an incantation.

While he worked, Lady Elaine walked once around the room, trailing her fingers along the wall and speaking the same incantation. Slowly, I felt the atmosphere in the room change. The air seemed to grow denser, the sounds muffled.

“There now,” said Brackenberry, resuming his seat. “That should ensure we aren’t overheard.”

My curiosity piqued, I sat up straighter in my chair. “Who would be listening in?”

Brackenberry drummed his fingers on the table. “That’s not your concern.”

I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. “Yeah, sure. Because being asked to spy on my ex-boyfriend doesn’t have anything to do with you sound-proofing the room. So, what, am I here to take meeting minutes?” I motioned toward the conference table.

Lady Elaine sat down next to the sheriff, ignoring my sass for once. Before I could register my disappointment, she said, “First, I must emphasize that what the sheriff and I are asking of you is strictly voluntary. You are not required to participate.” A dark expression crossed Lady Elaine’s thin, ancient face, worry in her eyes. “And no one would think the worst if you refuse. It’s liable to be very dangerous.”

A chill slid over my skin, and I trembled. I tried to think of some wiseass remark—sarcasm was a great avoidance tactic—but nothing came to me. The fear I felt was too real, too present.

Paul was free. Paul would be on campus in a few days. And I would have to face him. I wanted to believe that seeing him again would be easy, that I could use my hatred of him as a shield. Only, I wasn’t sure I did hate him, at least not enough to resist his siren’s charm. I’d never considered the possibility that I would have to deal with his siren magic or my feelings toward him ever again. He was supposed to have remained locked up for a very long time.

I let out a slow breath. “Okay, I’m listening.”

Lady Elaine glanced at Sheriff Brackenberry, and he nodded.

She turned back to me, pulling up the sleeves of the dark green, wool sweater that had fallen over her hands. “The main reason we sealed the room is because this is
not
an official meeting. Neither the sheriff nor I are acting in our normal governmental roles at present, and none of the Magi know what we are instigating here.”

I looked between the two of them, more confused than ever. “Is this some kind of rogue operation?”

Brackenberry snorted. “You watch too many movies.”

“That certainly is true,” said Lady Elaine, a suspicious curve to her lips.

“What this is”—Brackenberry leaned over the table toward me—“is a secret. And before we tell you anything else, you must agree to maintain the same secrecy. So even if you turn us down, you must not speak about it to anyone else. Understood?”

A couple of months ago, I might’ve stood up and left the room right then. Forget this clandestine, liable-to-be-dangerous crap. But the stuff with Marrow had changed me. I wouldn’t say it had made me any braver—even now, I felt like my heart might burst its way out of my chest and go galloping across the table—but it had made me a little wiser. I knew I couldn’t run away from the bad and scary things in my life. Better to face those things head-on then to get caught from behind.

I slowly nodded, although I wasn’t exactly ready to swear an oath of silence. I didn’t plan on blabbing about it, but I wasn’t sure this kind of news was something I could keep from Selene or Eli.

“Good,” said Lady Elaine. “Now, I’m sure you have lots of questions.”

“You can say that again.” Some of the tension left my body now that I’d made up my mind to stay and hear them out. “Why did they let Paul go?”

“Officially,” Sheriff Brackenberry said, “the Magi Court has dropped all charges against him due to his age and the lack of indisputable evidence that he contributed to any of the significant crimes.”

“What?” My fingers clenched into fists. “But what about my testimony? And Selene’s and Eli’s? My mom’s? We spent hours in those deposition meetings telling everybody what went down with Marrow. How is that not evidence?”

Lady Elaine raised both hands. Deep crevices lined her palms and ran down her twig-like fingers. “Calm down, Dusty. It is evidence, but there’s more going on here. For one thing, Paul put on a convincing display. He said he was sorry for the things he’d done and voluntarily shared the password to his administrator account on the reckthaworlde.com website.”

The sheriff growled. “Fat lot of good it did. The blasted thing was already completely offline by the time we got into it. And we’ve had no luck tracking down the host servers. Paul claims he doesn’t know where they are. We’ve checked Marrow’s apartment, Paul’s dorm room, and even his uncle’s house, but no luck.”

I leaned back in my chair, my breath coming in angry gulps. Of course they hadn’t been found. Paul was too clever. I didn’t understand how anybody could let him off. What kind of idiots were running the magickind government, exactly?

“There’s no point in being angry,” Lady Elaine said, addressing Brackenberry as much as me. “The deed is done. Now all that matters is how we handle what comes next.”

I sighed. “I guess you’re right. But what exactly do you want me to do?”

Lady Elaine dropped her gaze from my face and began to pick at a fingernail. “We want you to resume your relationship with Paul.”

I stood up so hard, I banged my knee against the table, sending a sharp stab of pain down my leg. “No way. Ew … and …
gross
. There’s no way I’m going to pretend to be that creep’s girlfriend.”

Sheriff Brackenberry tsked. “I told you she wouldn’t go for it. These kids are all the same. Only concerned about themselves.”

My skin prickled. It was so unfair, so insane. How could they ask me to do it?

And then the more obvious truth occurred to me.

Gritting my teeth, I said, “Even if I was willing, it wouldn’t work. Paul doesn’t like me. He never did. He just pretended to date me because Marrow told him to.” My voice broke as I finished speaking, and unexpected tears stung my eyes. I opened them wide, trying to hold them back.

Sympathy filled Lady Elaine’s gaze as she looked at me. “I know you feel that way, but I’ve spoken to Paul several times and have kept an eye on his behavior. I do not believe that all of his feelings for you were on account of Marrow.”

At once, those stupid tears burned my eyes again, and a bubble of emotions rose up my chest into my throat. I swallowed it down, unable to deal with it. Especially not in present company. “That’s impossible. He’s just fooling you the way he fooled me. It’s what he does.”

Lady Elaine nodded. “Maybe, but if so, then he must have an ulterior motive for putting on such an act. In either case, I believe he will be receptive toward any advances you might make.”

I sat down, my stomach roiling.

“We’re not asking you to resume any kind of sexual relationship with the suspect,” Sheriff Brackenberry said.

I flushed. “I never … I didn’t … I mean…”

Lady Elaine cleared her throat. “We just want you to spend some time with him. Get him to trust you if possible. Just enough that you can keep a lookout for any suspicious behavior.”

Like luring girls to their deaths?

I tried to picture myself spending time with Paul again, pretending to like him. I couldn’t do it. I was the wrong person for a job like this. They needed someone like … like … Katarina, a siren full of confidence and staggering beauty. Not someone like me.

Then the absurdity of the entire situation occurred to me. I shook my head and started smiling. “You guys don’t need me to spy on him. I mean, come on. You’re the freakin’ government. Don’t you have professionals for this sort of thing? Won’t you be keeping tabs on him all the time already?”

Sheriff Brackenberry sighed. “Well, that took less time than I thought.”

Lady Elaine shot him a look. “I
told
you she’s far cleverer than you give her credit for.”

“Hey.” I stomped my foot, annoyed at the implied insult. Not that Brackenberry’s doubt about my intelligence came as a surprise. “I’m sitting right here, you know. And I
can
hear you.”

That got their attention.

“Why do you need me?”

“Because we don’t have anyone else we can trust,” said Lady Elaine.

I shook my head. “Not buying it.”

“It’s true,” she insisted. “Under normal circumstances, the government
would
keep close tabs on Paul, but nothing about this situation is normal.”

I scooted to the edge of my seat, intrigued again despite my disbelief. “What do you mean?”

Brackenberry brushed a hand through his long, shaggy brown hair, a strange look on his face. I couldn’t decide if it was worry or skepticism. Maybe both. “It seems that somebody has been pulling strings concerning Paul. There are some worrisome signs that someone inside the senate has orchestrated his release.”

“Yes,” Lady Elaine said. “Not only is Paul being released after providing such a small amount of information, but it appears that no plans are being made to have him regularly monitored beyond the absolute minimum. All we’ve been able to confirm they’ve done is to confiscate his personal computers and place heavy restrictions on his student account.”

A sound close to a growl escaped the sheriff’s throat. “That’s right. My department hasn’t received any orders, and every time I try to figure out which department
is
taking responsibility for it, I’m given the runaround.”

I frowned, a little intimidated by the scope of this thing. My dealings with magickind law enforcement had only been with the sheriff’s department, but there were others out there, including the magickind equivalent of the CIA and the Secret Service.

“Given that,” said Brackenberry, “we’ve decided to take matters into our own hands until we can uncover who’s behind Paul’s release and what that person hopes to gain from it. The answers lie with Paul, but he’s clever. We believe that
you
are the best way to get the truth from him.”