Winging It (22 page)

We were both sure who was at the door, but we were both wrong.

It was Derek.

Dressed as he usually was for school.

‘Hey,’ he said, nodded at both of us and shoved his hands in his pockets. He looked uncomfortable.

I was ridiculously glad to see him and it probably showed. Meagan was looking between us (Einstein all the way) and started to smile when Derek didn’t say anything more. I didn’t say anything either, because everything I wanted to tell him couldn’t be shared in front of Meagan.

‘You two probably have lots to talk about,’ Meagan said, flashing a smile. ‘I’ll just go back inside.’

Before she could do that, we heard the roar of a car engine. The MG peeled around the corner, going way too fast, and squealed to a halt in front of the house. The top was up, but Jessica was waving out the window and calling Meagan’s name.

Trevor honked the horn.

I wanted to shout, but Derek gave me a look and shook his head. I decided to trust his view of the future.

Meagan scooped up her miles of yarn hair, and ran to the sidewalk. Jessica got out of the front seat and they hugged. My eyes nearly fell out of my head. Jessica was wearing a superhero costume, all form fitting spandex that could have been painted on. She was far more curvy than I’d ever imagined. She turned so I could see her face and my mouth fell open in shock. She had ditched her baseball cap. And she did have one whopper of a secret – she was so gorgeous that she could have been a pin-up girl.

Was this Trevor’s influence?

Then Meagan piled into the backseat and all my fears returned with force.

‘Hey, Zoë!’ Trevor shouted. ‘If you’re ready, why don’t you come, too?’

‘No,’ Derek said, fast and low.

‘Not quite ready, thanks,’ I shouted. ‘I’ll see you later.’

I heard Meagan say something to Jessica about me and Derek and hoped wolves didn’t have as sharp hearing as dragons do. Jessica giggled and Trevor squealed the tires as he pulled away.

‘You’re sure?’ I asked Derek.

He inhaled deeply. ‘There’s nothing good ahead, but it’s still brewing. I don’t think anything bad will happen before you get to the party.’

‘But she’s a spellsinger and doesn’t know it.’

He looked at me in shock. I realized I’d never surprised him before. ‘So that’s it.’

‘What?’

‘A scent I didn’t know.’ He nodded and I watched him add that information to his knowledge. ‘Okay. That makes sense.’

‘Are you still sure she’s okay?’

Derek shot me a look. There was just a glimmer of doubt in his eyes, and only for a second, but I saw it.

‘The guys are coming soon to pick me up. I’ll be okay.’

He stepped back then. ‘See you there,’ he murmured and disappeared into the shadows. I saw the blue shimmer of light only because I was watching closely.

I had to watch even more closely to see the silhouette of a wolf slipping through the darkness, heading toward Riverside Drive.

Almost a whole hour to wait.

It was going to kill me.

Almost exactly an hour later, Nick parked down the street from Trevor’s house.

We could hear the music clearly, even a block away. There was the sound of laughter as well, and, courtesy of my ring, I could see those Mage spells spinning in the air over the house. A spiral of orange Mage spell light surrounded the house, as if it stood at the center of a vortex.

Or a hurricane.

‘I’ll bet his parents are gone,’ Nick said. ‘It sounds like a good party.’

‘That’s because they’re spellcasting already, just as we thought.’

‘Shit,’ said Liam.

‘Look, just so you know, there’s something different about this spell,’ I said. ‘It’s not a net, like last time, that’s closing around the perimeter. It’s more like a vortex. It seems to be drawing in, kind of the way water goes down a drain.’

‘Shit again,’ Liam said, eyeing the house. ‘I don’t like that they’re learning new tricks.’

‘Or maybe trying out different ones,’ I said.

‘I think it sounds like a great party,’ Nick said and reached for the door handle. ‘We might have fun.’

I grabbed his arm in sudden understanding. ‘You’re
supposed
to think it sounds like a great party. You’re supposed to want to go in. It’s a lure.’

‘The spell’s already working on you,’ Liam said. I wasn’t the only one remembering that Nick had been susceptible to Adrian’s spell in April.

‘A trap,’ Nick said with a nod, his gaze locked on the house. I could almost feel him fighting the spell.

Liam leaned forward, his tone urgent. ‘Remember that they can make you think whatever they want. That’s what they did before, Nick. We’ve got to listen to Zoë.’

‘Right,’ Nick said, but he couldn’t seem to look away from the house.

This was not good. And we hadn’t even entered the house yet. ‘Maybe you should wait for us,’ I suggested. ‘Hang with the car in case we need to make a quick getaway.’

‘Are you kidding?’ His confident grin flashed. ‘I’m not going to miss a great party.’

Liam and I exchanged a look as Nick got out of the car with purpose.

‘I’ll stick with him,’ Liam said. ‘You have other things to worry about.’

‘Right.’

We looked funny gathering on the sidewalk in our costumes. Nick was dressed as a football player, his shoulder pads so huge that I had barely fit in the car beside him. Liam had made a Viking costume for himself out of some furry fabric. He had a blond wig and fake beard, an axe and big mukluks. I was a gunslinger.

I reached for Nick, but he was already striding toward the house, his cleats tapping on the sidewalk. Liam swore and went after him.

Just what I needed – someone else to guard.

The orange spell net swirled with greater speed as I watched. The sight made me dizzy, a carousel of throbbing light that almost obscured the house. I thought I might puke. I took off the ring and shoved it into my pocket, unable to deal with the eye candy and think straight at the same time. I had let Meagan go in there, with a bunch of Mages and who knew what else.

They knew that she was a spellsinger, and one way or another, they intended to recruit her.

They’d have to get past me first.

A shadow separated itself from the landscaping as I marched down the sidewalk. I glanced sideways to find a wolf loping beside me, his head down and his ears folded back.

‘Derek?’ I asked and the wolf glanced me a look that was filled with disdain.

Right. Who else could it have been? He didn’t have to talk for me to understand what he meant.

‘Liam, Nick, this is Derek.’ It was a bit strange to be making introductions to a wolf, but the situation demanded it. Derek regarded them steadily, as if assessing their power.

‘You told us about him,’ Liam said.

‘Hey, Derek,’ Nick said and reached to scratch his ears.

Derek backed away, lifting his lip to display a large sharp fang.

‘He’s a wolf, not a poodle,’ I said and thought his eyes glinted with humor.

‘Right,’ Nick said. ‘Glad to have you with us either way.’

‘In which form are you going in?’ I asked Derek.

Again, I got the unblinking stare.

‘Going with the element of surprise. Okay.’ I considered our costumes and made a choice. ‘You’d better stay with Liam, since you two look as if you might belong together.’

‘You can help me remind Nick to not listen,’ Liam said to Derek.

‘No leash?’ Nick teased and got a growl from Derek for that.

‘Wolves don’t wear leashes and collars,’ Liam said. ‘They need their autonomy.’

Derek matched his pace to Liam then, and I knew they’d get along just fine.

‘Well, you’d better tell them he’s your dog and just  looks like a wolf,’ Nick said and Liam nodded.

‘I’ll beguile to get him in, if I have to,’ Liam said. ‘We’re going to need him.’

Jessica seemed to be waiting just inside the house for us. She watched us come closer, that coy smile playing over her lips. She checked out Nick and her smile broadened.

He grinned right back at her. ‘Who’s that? The cute girl with Meagan?’

Before I could answer, Jessica looked straight at me. I could see the glint of her eyes in the darkness as they narrowed.

Then she bared her teeth and hissed at me.

I put on the ring again and nearly fell over in shock. When I looked at her with my enhanced vision, it was clear that she was a jaguar, tawny, spotted, and powerful. With the same long-lashed amber eyes as she had in human form.

Shifter type number four, present and accounted for.

Open your eyes
, Unktehila.

How could I have missed this? I felt more stupid than I ever had in my life – which was saying something. Derek had even warned me. There
were
jaguar shifters and evidently at least one of them went to our school.

Was that why Trevor was dating her?

What else hadn’t I noticed?

Meanwhile, Jessica’s tail lashed the way a cat’s does when it’s playing with a mouse. I saw her dig her claws into Meagan’s shoulder.

And push her deeper into Trevor’s house.

Was she helping the Mages?

Then she beckoned to Nick.

He moved at light speed, apparently forgetting all about us.

‘Wait!’ I cried, but he was already heading up the steps. He disappeared into the house, surrounded immediately by the golden spell light of the Mages. He was laughing, making friends with his usual easy charm, shaking hands with Jessica.

‘What’s wrong?’ Liam said, but I just ran for the door.

Derek snarled and bounded after me. There was no time to consider our options or make a better plan. Nick and Meagan were in there already, so we had to follow.

I couldn’t help thinking that this was exactly what the Mages had hoped would happen. And we hadn’t been able to do anything about it.

‘Zoë!’ Trevor cried at the door as if I were the homecoming queen. I wondered just how drunk he would need to be to actually be so glad to see me. Obviously he was just gleeful that his plan was coming together so well.

The music poured into the street, pulsing with energy. The orange spell light was so bright that I had to keep my eyes narrowed. I didn’t dare take off the ring, though. I needed all the information I could get.

Of course, I would never let Trevor know what I could see. Dumb ol’ dragon, that was me.

‘I can only stop in for a few minutes,’ I said with a smile. ‘We’re just on our way to a party at the college.’

Trevor’s eyes glittered. ‘No problem. Come on in.’ His gaze fell on Derek and I wondered how much he knew. ‘Is your dog trained?’ he asked Liam.

‘Absolutely,’ Liam said. He buried his fingers in the scruff of Derek’s neck, as if they were old allies. ‘I can count on him anywhere.’

Trevor looked from one to the other for a moment, then smiled as he stepped back. I guessed that if he knew what – if not who – Derek was, then he hadn’t counted on his presence tonight. That smile, though, made me wonder. Was he glad to have more hunted shifters present?

I was afraid that we weren’t just contributing to the success of the Mage plan for the evening, but unwittingly improving upon it.

We had to lift our collective game.

I recognized a bunch of people from school, although the costumes made it tricky. Cleopatra was there, a caveman, a Martian, at least four vampires, Julius Caesar, the president, Cinderella (she was wearing one clear shoe, which was the clue), an Amazon tribesman with a bone through his nose, Dorothy in her gingham dress and ruby slippers, a zombie, and a mummy with bandages unraveling all over the carpet.

Worse, the room was thick with Mages. Thanks to my ring, I could see them, their forms flickering. They slipped from form to form in rapid succession, their edges blurring with the transformations. I’m not sure whether they do it on purpose, or whether I was seeing their truth. Either way, the cycling between forms – minotaur, unicorn, snake, eagle, centaur, griffin, etc., etc., etc. – was a shocking display of all the shape shifter species they’d eliminated. As before, it blew me away to see how many kinds of shifters there had once been. I wondered whether every kind of creature had once had a partner species: one kind shifted and one kind didn’t. The Mages were cleaning up the shifter varieties, leaving just the unshifters.

And themselves, with all shifting powers.

The sight was a telling reminder of their plans for us.

The orange spell light wound all around them, a glowing ribbon that bound everyone more closely together. When I could stand to look at it, I could see its path – it led straight to the basement. I could hear people laughing down there and I truly didn’t want to go down those stairs. I took off the ring for a moment to give myself a break from the visuals, and shoved it into my pocket.

There was also a lot of smoke in the house. Pot, incense, and cigarettes. The combination was overwhelming. I saw a couple of bottles of Jim Beam making the rounds and some huge jugs of cheap wine. There was a lot of giggling and a good number of fondling couples. Someone pinched my butt as I moved through the crowd, looking for Meagan.

There was no sign of her, which worried me.

How could she have already disappeared?

I headed toward the kitchen, as if looking for a drink. Artificial stimulus was the last thing I needed. Meagan was there, much to my relief. She was standing against the counter, looking a bit lost. She was explaining her costume to someone, with enough exasperation that I knew it wasn’t the first time she’d been asked.

Jessica was beside her, in her superhero costume.

Standing guard, was my first impression.

Claws sharp.

Anyone else I knew would have been self-conscious – okay, except maybe Suzanne – but Jessica was working that costume. Guys were clustered around her, salivating. It seemed that the bookworm had shed her chrysalis, thanks to Trevor’s attention.

Just like a twisted fairy tale.

Suzanne sulked by the fridge. I almost hadn’t recognized her, because of her dark wig. She was yet another vampire, a line of blood painted down her chin, with plastic fangs and tons of eyeliner. She looked fit to kill when Trevor charged into the kitchen and flung his arm around Jessica. Jessica purred and ran one long-nailed finger down his chest and then they kissed with enthusiasm. The guys hooted and Jessica smiled as she nestled against his side.