King Series Box Set Page 24

  “Amber, I’m sorry,” I answered. “I know what you’re saying is true. We believe you. But there’s nothing we can do.”

  I saw the same realization cross Michael’s face. Grimly, reluctantly, he released Nell. She stumbled forward, surprised, and then she righted herself. Her eyes narrowed as her gaze flickered among the three of us. For the briefest moment, I could hear, she considered going ahead with her plan. But Michael’s presence had truly sullied this spot for her. Instead, she spun to face all of us, backing toward the trail.

  “I’ll have to think about what I’m going to do. I might still press charges.” Her voice was smooth, but I could sense it was mostly bravado.

  “Give it up, Nell,” Michael said dismissively. “You don’t have proof any more than we do. Only difference is, we all know what went down here. And we’re not going to forget it.”

  Nell stood there for another silent minute. And then she turned and disappeared into the woods.

  Michael shook his head, looking at Amber. “Amber, I’m sorry we had to let her go. You know you can still press charges—”

  “No!” I nearly shouted. “No, Michael. If Amber pursues this, Nell is going to go after you. And I’m not going to have that. She’s not going to ruin your life.”

  “So we’re just going to let her get away with all of this?” Anger and frustration tinged Michael’s voice, and I could feel the depth of it emanating from him.

  I was suddenly so tired that I could barely stand. “We stopped her from hurting Amber. That was our real goal, right?”

  “We stopped her for tonight. What’s going to stop her next time?”

  I stifled a yawn. “Amber’s not going to put herself into a position to be hurt again by Nell, are you, Amber?”

  Amber was leaning against the tree, looking from Michael to me in bewilderment. I could hear that she was struggling with the same fatigue I was—a reaction to the extreme stress, I imagined.

  She shook her head slowly, in answer to me. “No. I don’t want to have anything to do with Nell, not ever again.” Her head dropped and her voice lowered. “You tried to tell me. You didn’t even really know me, but you were warning me. And I didn’t listen, and it could have cost me my life…” She shuddered, and I began to worry that she was going into shock.

  “Michael, we need to get her out of here,” I said, my voice low but intense. “We all need to get out. Amber, how did you get here? We only saw Nell’s car in the parking lot.”

  She was attempting to keep her focus, but it was getting more difficult. “I—she told me not to park there—she said to leave my car alongside the woods, in a pull-off, and then I walked into the clearing from there.”

  “Okay, you’ll come back to the parking lot with us, then we’ll drive out to your car and Tasmyn can take you home. Let’s go—can you walk it?”

  Amber nodded, and Michael reached out to take my hand, leading us through the trees, onto the trail.

  As we drove into the darkness, Amber began to shiver. Her dress was sleeveless, but the air in the backseat of the car wasn’t that cold. I found a blanket Michael kept on the floor and wrapped it around Amber, rubbing her arms in what I hoped was a soothing way. Her thoughts were running in quick sporadic bursts, followed by long, frightening blanks.

  I leaned forward. “Michael, do you think we should take her to the hospital? What if she’s going into shock?”

  “N-no,” Amber protested. “I just want to go home. If I have to explain to my parents—no. Please just take me home.”

  Michael met my eyes in the mirror. “We could go out to the nursery, try to get her settled down. It’s still early enough, believe it or not. The dance won’t be ending for over an hour. What time were you supposed to be home, Amber?”

  She shook harder. “Not-not tonight. I was supposed to spend the night at Nell’s. She said-she said we would have a slumber party.” Of course. That would have bought her some more time, hours during which no one would miss Amber. I shivered at how close she had come to succeeding.

  “Do you want to go out to Michael’s house, Amber?” I asked her softly. “I promise you, it’s a safe place, and Michael’s parents won’t say anything to anyone. They’ll just help us take care of you. We can all settle down a little bit.”

  She hesitated, and I knew she was overwhelmed. Twenty-four hours before, Michael and I were her enemies—or so she thought. Now she was clinging to us for dear life.

  “Okay,” she finally answered. “But you’ll take me home afterward?”

  “Definitely,” Michael affirmed.

  We found Amber’s car where she had left it, and I got into the driver’s seat, bundling Amber into the seat next to me, still wrapped in the blanket. We followed Michael through the dark roads until I saw the familiar nursery sign.

  The red taillights led me through the deserted nursery back to the cabin. Amber looked around as we climbed out of the car. She shot me a look of terror, and it struck me that coming back into the woods might not have been such a great idea for Amber. I patted her shoulder comfortingly.

  “It’s really okay. Look, there’s Marly and Luke at the door.”

  It was impossible to be with the Sawyers and feel ill at ease. Marly took over instantly, pulling Amber into the warm living room and putting a mug of hot tea into her hands. The lights were low, and a fire in the corner fireplace gave off a comforting glow.

  I culled from Marly’s thoughts that when we had stopped at Amber’s car, Michael had called ahead to warn his parents that we were coming. Nobody brought up anything beyond the ordinary during the first half hour; Marly guided the conversation deftly, asking us about the dance, the decorations and fussing over both my dress and Amber’s.

  “You girls are beautiful,” she smiled. “What a treat to be able to see you all dressed up after all. I thought I would have to wait for pictures.”

  Michael shook his head with a smile. “That’s my mom, always looking for the bright side.”

  We were quiet for a time, watching the dancing flames and each keeping our own counsel. My mind was exhausted, but I still picked up the occasional thought floating about. Michael was thinking very specifically, so that I knew he was actually speaking to me in his head.

  I didn’t tell my parents any more than what they needed to know. I told them Nell had caused trouble, Amber needed to get some place safe to recover and that we were all pretty shaken up. What we choose to tell them now is entirely up to you.

  I caught his eye and nodded to indicate I’d heard him and understood. Marly and Luke were controlling their curiosity, but I heard the questions that kept ringing in their minds. Amber was still trying to process everything.

  “Amber,” I began softly, “I think we need to talk a little about what happened tonight.”

  She looked at me dully. “You saved my life tonight, you and Michael. I still don’t get how you knew what was going to happen. Did the other girls tell you?”

  “No,” Michael said. “I think Nell’s friends were out of the loop on this one.” He glanced at me. “Or they made a good show of it, anyway.”

  “They didn’t know,” I answered with certainty. “They suspected, maybe, that Nell was up to something she hadn’t shared with them, but I don’t think any of them knew what it was. Or even guessed at what she really had in mind.”

  Marly looked from Michael to me. “Which was…?”

  Michael shot me a questioning glance before I answered his mother. “Nell was planning to kill Amber tonight.”

  The room became completely still. Luke was the first one to speak.

  “That’s a very serious accusation, Tasmyn. I know you wouldn’t make it lightly. What exactly happened?”

  This was the trickiest part. “I can tell you our part, but Amber knows more than we do,” I replied. “Michael and I suspected that Nell intended to do something to Amber, but we didn’t know it was going to be tonight. Then they both disappeared from the dance, and we got anxious. We convince
d Liza to tell us where they usually met, and somehow we got there in time. Nell had attacked Amber. She had a knife with her—” this news elicited a gasp from Marly, “—but we don’t know where it went in the confusion of getting her under control.”

  “Michael, why didn’t you call for help? You could have both—all—been badly hurt, if Nell was as out of control as you say.” Luke’s voice was rough with anxious concern.

  “There wasn’t time, Dad. And in the beginning we didn’t have any proof. Turns out we still don’t. We had to just let Nell leave and get Amber out of there.”

  “You did the right thing,” Marly interjected. “We can always call the police now.”

  “And tell them what?” Michael asked. “Nell threatened to turn it all on us, and she’s right. We know her friends will back her up on anything she says. Unless we find that knife, there’s nothing we can do.”

  “I’m a little confused about one thing,” Marly said slowly, and my heartbeat quickened. I knew what she was going to say, because it had been rolling around her head all during this conversation. I had a decision to make.

  “How did you two know what Nell was going to do? If someone told you, that person could be a witness. Or if you overheard Nell telling someone else…”

  Michael didn’t answer; he simply looked toward me. And I knew what I had to say. It was awkward with Amber here too, but I decided that after all we had been through, she deserved to know as well.

  “Nell’s been planning this for a long time. She’s been thinking about it. And—” I took a deep breath. “I could hear her. I could hear her planning to do something horrible to Amber.”

  Again the room was quiet. “What do you mean, you could hear her?” Marly queried.

  “I mean, I could hear her thoughts. I can do that. I can hear what people are thinking. I try not to, most of the time, but sometimes I can’t help it.” I looked at both Luke and Marly, pleadingly. They were staring at me, blankly. In her chair in the corner, Amber looked bewildered.

  “Mom, Dad, this doesn’t change who Tasmyn is. She just has a talent you didn’t know about. She’s still the same person you know and—”

  “Michael, don’t be stupid.” Marly’s voice was impatient. “We know that. Just because we’re a little surprised doesn’t mean it changes how we love Tasmyn, not one iota.”

  Relief flooded my heart. I hadn’t realized how much it mattered to me, what Luke and Marly thought.

  “So…” Luke spoke. “You… heard… what Nell was planning, and you decided to try to stop her yourselves?”

  Apparently we weren’t going to deal with my rather unusual gift just at this moment. Actually, I was kind of grateful that they seemed to be taking it so matter-of-factly.

  “We didn’t know what else to do,” Michael answered his father. “We handled it the best way we could.”

  “Tasmyn, do your parents know about this?” Marly wanted to know.

  I hesitated, not sure of what she meant at first. Luckily I was still picking up thoughts, and I realized that she was referring to the Nell situation.

  “No,” I replied. “My parents—well, I know Michael told you how protective they are. Now you know the biggest reason. They worry about people finding out about my gift and taking advantage of me.” I made a wry face. “If they find out about tonight, they won’t let me out of the house for the next century.”

  Michael reached across the space between our chairs and took my hand. His parents exchanged glances.

  “We can discuss that later,” Luke said. “What I’m more concerned with right now is where Nell went after she left you. And Amber, how are you doing?”

  Amber hadn’t said a word during the entire conversation. Her eyes had widened at my revelation, and she had let the blanket fall from around her shoulders. Now, in response to Luke’s question, she nodded slowly. “I’m not so cold and shaky anymore. Thanks.” She turned to Michael and me. “I didn’t say this before, but thank you for being there tonight. It sounds so silly and stupid, but you saved my life, I know you did. Even if the knife wasn’t there—I swear she had it. It was the same athame that she used each time before, but she only drew the sacred circle with it then.”

  “You used that word before—athame? What’s that?”

  Amber closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. “It’s a knife. A-a witch’s knife. But we never used it for anything —Marica said we had to—” She flushed red and dropped her chin.

  “I think, if you feel up to it, you should probably start from the beginning and tell us everything, Amber. Tas and I only know what she’s heard from you and Nell, and that’s pretty sketchy,” Michael said.

  Amber drew in a deep breath. “I can tell you what’s happened since Nell started talking to me. That was right after school began this year. But she and the other girls…” she trailed off, and then she squared her shoulders.

  “Okay. I’ll tell you what I know.”

  Amber swallowed hard as she met my eyes.

  “I’m sorry, it’s just that they told me so many times how important it was to keep everything quiet. Marica—that’s Ms. Lacusta—she said it was very dangerous to tell anyone what happened when we met.”

  “Wait.” Marly held up one finger, her eyebrows pulled together over astounded eyes. “Ms. Lacusta—a teacher is involved in this?”

  Amber’s eyes slid to me. “I thought you would know that.”

  “I suspected. Nell seems to be a little, um, obsessed with our Chemistry teacher,” I explained to Luke and Marly.

  “Okay. Hmm. Go on, Amber,” Marly nodded.

  I could tell that it was extremely difficult for Amber to share all of this with us. The rule of secrecy must have been pounded into all of them, both by Nell and Ms. Lacusta. But Amber was beginning to trust us—that much I could feel—and trusting us made it all easier.

  “It was right after school began. Maybe the second or third week—I don’t know. It was just the same for me—I hated school, I hated being there. And then one day I was at my locker, and Nell came over to talk with me. I was—shocked, and kind of suspicious. She’d been leaving me alone since we left junior high. I really just wanted to get through the rest of high school without more problems. You remember how it used to be.” Amber pointed at Michael.

  He nodded at her. “I do. Nell made your life miserable.”

  “Yeah. And so I didn’t really trust anything she said or did. Even though she was very nice to me that day at my locker—and she kept on being nice, I didn’t want anything to do with her. She invited me to eat with her friends at lunch, but I figured that was the trap—you know, I’d go there, and then they’d all pretend Nell hasn’t asked me and use it to make fun of me.

  “So then one day, Nell showed up at my house after school. She was standing there on the porch, and when I answered the door, she said she needed to talk to me. I still didn’t trust her, especially because my mom wasn’t home, and I didn’t want her in the house with me alone. So I went out onto the porch and just stood there, and Nell—she apologized. For everything. She told me that when she was younger, she never knew how much her actions had hurt other people. And she said she wanted to be my friend.”

  Amber paused, lost in thought. “I didn’t want to believe her. It was easier to go on hating her. But she said that she’d really changed, that she had—I remember clearly how she put it, she’d found a new way. And it required her to make amends where she had left hurt. I thought she meant she’d found religion, and when I asked her, she laughed. Not a mean laugh, like before, but real, genuine. She said, no, it wasn’t precisely religion. She’d tell me more about it later, but she wanted to make sure we could be friends.

  “So that’s when I started hanging around with her at school, eating lunch with her friends—and we’d even do things after school. It was—” she drew in a deep breath, and even now, after all that had happened tonight, her eyes were bright, remembering, “—the best time. For the first time in so long, I h
ad friends.”

  She turned pleading eyes on me. “So you understand, Tasmyn, right? You know what it’s like to be lonely. We talked that day in English, and you said you knew what it was like. And then to suddenly have friends—the world opened up to me. I didn’t hate school anymore. I started to do better in my classes. It was what I dreamed high school could be.

  “I knew that they were all involved in some kind of club. There were days when they met after school, and I knew there were things they weren’t telling me. But they weren’t mean about it.

  “Then one day Nell asked me if I wanted to join their chemistry club. She said Ms. Lacusta had started it up last spring, when she first got here, and they were learning so much. I wasn’t much into Chemistry; I barely passed the class freshman year. But Nell said it wasn’t like that. She convinced me to try it, and she was right. It wasn’t like any class I’d ever taken.”

  Amber stopped again. We were getting into the more intense part of her story, and I knew it would be difficult for her.

  “Ms. Lacusta—she told us that Chemistry was so much more than just formulas and test tubes. She told us there was real power in it. I remember that. Real power. And the other girls, they were so enthusiastic about it all. It was easy to get caught up.

  “Nell told me that they were meeting one night. She told me that Casey would pick me up, because she had to go early to talk with Marica—outside school, Ms. Lacusta wanted us to call her by her first name—and we were meeting in the woods. I was a little spooked, but more than that, I needed to keep these friends.

  “So Casey and I got there—it was where we were tonight, the clearing near Lake Rosu. And I saw that the girls were different. Everyone was in a circle, and they were wearing dark robes. Nell gave me one, and I joined the circle. I was scared, sure, but I was also kind of excited.

  “Nell drew the circle—that was the first time I saw her with the athame. And then they all started chanting—not in English, and I didn’t know what it was at first, but Nell told me later it was Romanian. She said it was something Marica had taught them. After the chant, in the middle of the circle, Nell started a fire. I don’t know how she did it—I didn’t see matches or anything—but suddenly there was a fire there. And Marica handed her a pot that she hung over the fire. They chanted some more, then Marica stood up. She told us that what was in the pot was what we’d been working on in Chem. club that week, and that it was a potion that would make us more powerful.