Love Sucks! (13 page)

“Now the artifacts. Move them all to that empty shelf.”

Pottery, jewelry, drawings, and other assorted artifacts just floated over to the shelf and gently landed there. Ryan carefully stepped through the remaining rubble to examine the items.

“Keep an eye out for me,” he said.

“Any luck?” Mrs. Horvath called from her office.

“Not yet,” Rayden answered. “I'm going to check the computer area. I was there for a while yesterday.”

“Hurry, Ryan. I don't think we can buy much more time,” I whispered.

“It's not over here,” he said. “I've touched everything, and nothing is warm. Nothing is humming. It's not here.”

I pulled the first rune from my pocket and concentrated again. “It's here. But it's still somewhere in the rubble. Oz, can you move all the broken wood into a pile and all the glass into another pile?” I asked quietly.

Oz shot me a look that said
duh!
This move seemed to require more effort than the last two. I guess since he was separating two different items, he had to concentrate a little more. He closed his eyes, lifted his hands, and before I could say “Cleanup in aisle nine,” there were two separate piles of rubble. The floor was almost spotless now.

Except for the sand-colored stone sitting on the floor where the broken flowerpot had been.

As soon as Ryan touched the stone, a black etching appeared on the surface.

“Whoa!” Oz said. “Dude, how'd you do that?”

“This magic is way over my head, kid. Let's get out of here.”

“Found it!” Rayden yelled from next to the computer stations once he realized we were leaving. “It must've fallen
out of my pocket over here. Thanks, Mrs. Horvath.”

“You're welcome, guys. My love to your parents.”

The kids loaded up on their bikes and headed straight to the house. Ryan drove me back to my car, which was still parked at Bridget's.

“Now what?” I asked, examining both stones. The rune I had found was an iridescent black, possibly carved from obsidian. Holding both stones was intense. They hummed loudly, and instead of a lingering warmth like before, it was a searing heat that had me sweating.

I focused on the stones to see if they would tell me where the final rune was located.

“All I can see is Mrs. Christopher,” I said.

“Then I think that's where we need to go next.”

“Let's take these home first. I want them to be safe. And if that thing is reading my mind, these aren't safe away from the house.”

“Agreed.”

As Ryan turned onto the old county road toward Bridget's subdivision, the demon smell filled my nose.

“Ryan, the Bborim is here. Somewhere.”

The words were barely out of my mouth when we heard a loud pop and then another one. Ryan tensed his grip on the steering wheel as the Jeep heaved forward. He slammed
his foot on the brakes but nothing seemed to happen.

“Hold on!” he yelled as the Jeep swerved left and he tried to pull it back to the right. I grabbed the “oh shit” handle and did my best not to think,
Oh shit!

There was another loud bang and the Jeep jumped forward like we'd been hit from behind. I glanced backward, but there was nothing there.

Only a gray fog, and the sickly sweet smell left behind by the Bborim.

The tires were thumping now as tread flew off in large chunks. The Jeep didn't seem to slow down at all, even though Ryan was no longer giving it gas.

I heard him murmuring something under his breath and I knew he was working on a spell. I gripped the handle tighter.

The road exploded in front of us, creating a bathtub-sized crater and sending asphalt flying around us. Another explosion behind us sent more asphalt raining down. Panic now owned my body, and my heart was hammering like I'd just taken a hit of speed.

But Ryan never broke his concentration, and just before the Jeep took a nosedive into the crater in front of us, we lurched to a halt.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I was shaken but not hurt. “Yeah. I'm fine.”

“I'll call the sheriff and you call Bridget,” Ryan said. “I'm not sure how I can explain the craters in the street, but I suppose that's really for them to figure out. Get Bridget to take you to your car, and then I'll meet you back home.”

I pulled out my cell to call Bridget and then thought for a second. “Take one of the runes. It's obvious they want them, and they're going to do whatever they can to get them. I shouldn't have them both.”

He nodded, holding out his palm. When I laid the warm stone in his hand, I was almost blinded by the burst of light in my head.

Our hands were connected and we couldn't let go. It was like the rune was supergluing us together. I looked at our hands, then up at Ryan's face. His pupils were dilated, making his dark brown eyes seem almost black. I couldn't break away from his gaze.

The seconds felt like hours and the air grew thicker. Slowly Ryan pulled me to him. When his lips touched mine, it was like a secret passed between us.

No, not a secret—a truth.

The kiss was warm and electric and everything a girl dreamed a kiss should be. It was more than just heat; it
was filled with whispers of destiny that had my skin tingling and my head spinning.

And ringing. No. Wait. That was my phone.

I broke the kiss in a haze and answered my phone.

“Um, hello,” I said. My voice was gravelly.

“Did I wake you?” Lex asked.

Guilt coursed through me when I heard Lex's voice. “No. I'm awake. What's up?”

“Your mum's not doing so well. I'm sorry, love. The transfusion of the Serpentine blood wasn't enough. They need more, but I'm afraid it's not looking very promising.”

Worry and dread sat in my belly like an anvil. “I'm on my way.”

I clicked my phone shut and looked at Ryan. Tears burned my eyes; I tried to blink them away, but one escaped. Ryan caressed my face and brushed the tear away with his thumb.

“I've got to go,” I said. “It isn't looking good for Mom right now.”

“I'll come with you,” he said.

“No. Go to Mrs. Christopher's house and see if you can find the third rune. I'll call you if it gets worse.”

B
ridget picked me up and drove me to my car. She told me she'd been up to visit my mom a couple of times, which really touched me. We admitted we'd been missing each other like crazy and that life without your bestie was no life at all. But it was still a little tense between us. We promised that once everything settled down we'd try to get back to being us.

My life was a full bucket of hurt and confusion. My mom was dying. I could save her if I asked my dad for help, but it felt risky. Would he help? He said he wanted to be back in our lives; would he donate blood to my mother to prove it to us?

I knew I had no choice. I would beg him if I had to.
Either way, the man who had abandoned his family eight years before was my only chance at keeping the family together now.

Then there was the torn-between-two-lovers aspect of my life. Lex was everything a fantasy was made of. He was sexy, and fun, and made my toes curl every time he looked at me. And underneath his bad-boy persona was a really good guy.

But he wasn't Ryan. Which, when it came right down to it, was the most important ingredient.

Lex was a physical pull; Ryan tugged at my soul.

I guess I wasn't really so torn at all.

When I parked in my driveway, my heart jumped into my throat. Leaning against a carport post was my father.

He looked relaxed, like he was supposed to be there. Dread traced my spine, and I shuddered. He knew I needed him.

He approached as I closed the car door. “What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I think you know.”

My throat was scratchy and my mouth dry. “You're Mom's only chance. Are you going to help her?”

“What's my incentive?” he asked.

“Your daughters,” I answered, walking past him. He
made me nervous. I didn't want him near me. I didn't trust him. “I thought you wanted to make things right between us. Make up for abandoning us. Has that changed?”

Clive Ashe's smile was anything but friendly. “You're smarter than that, AJ. You called my bluff the moment I showed up. You know exactly why I'm here. You've known all along, haven't you?”

I couldn't hide my disgust.

“You're here for me,” I said. “Mr. Charles was right last year—you sent him for me. You're the guy in the cloak, the guy in my dreams. You've been trying to manipulate me for months. And now you're using my mom to get to me. You're the reason she's in the hospital, aren't you? You did this to her—to us. Because you need me for something.”

A wave of nausea hit me when he laughed. “You're a smart girl. A lot smarter than your old man, that's for sure. I moved the family here specifically to find those damn runes. I searched everywhere. My gut told me at least one would be hidden at the church, but I couldn't find any clues. Nothing. We had no idea who the key holders were. I could've been one just as easily as you. But I still disappointed everyone in the clan when I came home empty-handed.

“Now, if I would've taken you with me when I left,
I'd have been a hero. But hindsight is twenty-twenty,” he said. “Yes. I do need you, and now, coincidentally enough, you need me. I'll give your mother the blood she needs, but you have to do something for me first.”

“What's that?” I asked, even though I knew the answer already.

“The runes, my dear. You give me the runes, and I'll save your mother.”

“Runes? I don't know what you're talking about.” Maybe I could play dumb.

His ice-cold stare saw right through me. Unlike Ryan, I must have the world's worst poker face.

“You're a smart girl and a bad liar. Give me the runes or your mother dies.”

Like I had a choice.

“Fine. Here.” My hand shook as I took the stone from my pocket and handed it to him. Maybe the one would satisfy him.

He closed his eyes as he ran his fingers over the shiny sand-colored rune, then smiled. “I need the other one, too. The one you just found at the library.”

Had he gotten into my head? Had he followed me? How did he know? “I don't have it. I purposefully didn't bring it with me just in case something like this happened.”

I walked past him and unlocked the carport door. “You are
not
invited or welcome in this house. Let me make that very clear.”

“I never thought I was,” he answered, holding his hands up. “Let's talk about getting me that second rune.”

Anger and shame boiled in my belly, but I had no choice but to follow his demands. I had just earned Ryan's trust. We were on the same path to protect our family. And now I was about to betray him to save my mother.

Ryan would never forgive me for this.

I just made a bargain with the devil and sealed myself a new fate.

I
left Daddy Dearest and drove straight to Mrs. Christopher's.

“AJ! I'm so happy to see you! I'm terribly sorry about your parents. Al is working overtime to find the other vehicle involved. How's your mom?” Mrs. Christopher asked when she opened the door.

“She's not doing so well. Needs more blood.”

“I'm a universal donor; I'll be sure to donate for her this afternoon.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Christopher. Is Ryan still here?”

“He's actually upstairs in the library doing some research. Before you go up there, could I grab you for a minute? I'd love for you to help pick out some artifacts
that the Art Department will be using as inspiration for the prom decorations. I've had the worst time narrowing them down.”

Mrs. Christopher led me down the hallway. “We're going to the second room on the left. It should be the spare bedroom, but it's turned into my own personal Valley Springs Museum. Al finally broke down and removed the bed for me. It was just in the way.”

She opened the door to the bedroom, and immediately I felt like I had stepped into a museum vault. The room was full of pottery, jewelry, old furniture, drawings, and paintings.

“Wow. This is amazing.”

“It really is. I still marvel at what great condition some of this stuff is in. If I hadn't had these checked out for authenticity myself, I wouldn't believe they were hundreds of years old.”

Magic
is
pretty amazing,
I thought.

“So I was thinking we could just go through some of these things and pull some pieces that had detailed etchings on them so the art guys could copy them for the murals. What do you think?”

“Sounds great to me. Where do we start?”

Her phone rang. “Let me go get that. Just start pulling
anything out that you think would make a good decoration. I'll be right back.”

Where to begin? Hmm.

I glanced around the room and decided maybe I should begin with the pottery section. Maybe the rune was hidden in a bowl or something.

The collection of pottery was extensive. Probably a hundred pieces, most of them in almost pristine condition. I picked through the assortment, checking the inside of every piece that had a lid. No rune. I pulled out a few items that had some very distinct etchings on them. Thought they would make some pretty cool decorations.

I had probably been on my own for about fifteen minutes when Mrs. Christopher returned. Her usually chipper demeanor had been replaced with a much more somber look.

“I've got some bad news. It seems like our prom theme may be getting nixed because of ‘parental concerns.' I've got to go meet with the principal and the parent who filed the complaint now.”

“I bet it's Mrs. Ledbetter. Cathy has been going on and on about witches being all about the devil. She's so stupid. I've been tempted to just hit her in the head with a skillet.”

Mrs. Christopher laughed. “I think we should make a list of people who deserve a skillet to the head. Like people who do self-checkout at the grocery store with a basketful of stuff.”

“Oh my God, yes! Or people who let their dogs crap in your yard and then don't clean up.”

“And clowns. All clowns should be hit with skillets,” Mrs. Christopher added.

“Clowns deserve a skillet to the head, then Tasering,” I said with a laugh. “Good luck with your meeting. I wasn't the biggest fan of this prom theme, but now that we're doing it, I'm kinda into it. Plus, it's really too late to plan anything new. The prom is next week!”

Mrs. Christopher nodded in agreement. “You and Ryan are welcome to stay. Mr. Christopher will probably be home in an hour or so. I'll call and let him know y'all are here. And if you're gone when I get back, I'll call you and let you know where we stand on a prom theme. We may have to have an emergency prom committee meeting if things don't go my way.”

“You sure it's okay if we stay?” I asked.

“AJ, what are you guys going to do? Steal from the town sheriff? I don't think so.” She winked. “Just keep pulling out stuff you think the art guys can use and
hopefully things will go as planned.”

As soon as Mrs. Christopher left the house, I ran up the stairs to the library and explained the situation.

“Hey. I heard you downstairs. So we have free rein right now?” he asked.

“Yup. For at least an hour. So we need to get busy.”

We decided to focus most of our attention in the museum room instead of the library. It didn't make much sense to us that the rune would be hanging out among a bunch of books.

Ryan picked up a necklace and examined it. “I know the rune is here. It's weird. The moment it was in my hand, I just kept seeing Mrs. Christopher, and instinctively I knew that meant she had the third rune.”

“Well, I suppose it makes sense that she'd have it, since she is a descendant of one of the original families. Is she Frieceadan as well?”

“No, she's all human. She might have some latent abilities, but her bloodline is pretty much all human now.”

“Does she know about you?” I asked, opening a wooden box with some pretty amazing etchings on it. I felt around the bottom and discovered a hidden compartment holding some old recipes, but no stones.

“No. Because she's such a scholar in all things Valley Springs, she knows my family tree goes all the way back to
the first settlers as well. But I get the feeling she thinks the magic was more exaggeration than actual magic. Which works for us.”

My cell phone buzzed in my pocket, and I flipped it open to see a text from an unknown number:

I'm waiting.

Guilt coiled in my gut as I tried to figure out how to get the second rune without making Ryan suspicious.

“I've been thinking,” I said. “Do you think it's such a good idea to have the stone here? In an unprotected house?”

“Oh, good call,” he said, sounding a bit surprised. “Wow, that thought never occurred to me. Man, I'm gonna make a great warlock one day with this awesome brain of mine.”

“Shut up. Anyway, I need to go back to the hospital and check on Mom. Why don't you keep looking for the third rune and I'll take the second one back to the house for safekeeping.”

“Sounds good to me.” He pulled the black stone from his pocket and without hesitation gave it to me.

He completely trusted me.

And I was about to betray him, just like he suspected I would a few days ago.

“Take it.”

He sealed his trust with a kiss, and my heart was lost.

The man formerly known as Daddy was waiting for me in my car. I didn't say a word, just pulled out the rune and handed it to him.

“We're going to the hospital now,” I said. “We're still looking for the third rune, so until we find it, you're going to keep up your end of the bargain.”

 

The rest of the weekend was fairly uneventful. Ryan never found the third rune, but as long as I made an effort to keep looking, my father kept supplying my mother with blood. He and I met with Dr. Douglas privately to make arrangements for the donation. I knew I couldn't tell Auntie Tave about where the blood came from. Dr. Douglas agreed to say he had found an anonymous donor on his own so she wouldn't ask questions.

Guilt ate at me like an ulcer, but every day that Mom improved, I told myself I had done the right thing.

Besides, my dad had only two of the runes. My one consolation in this whole thing was that if Ryan and I couldn't find the third rune, then chances were Clive Ashe wouldn't be able to find it either.

As long as I looked for the third rune, he would
continue to go to the hospital and donate blood. If I refused, so would he. Dr. Douglas said Mom needed four or five days of the pure-blood transfusions, but it looked like they were working.

So every day I went to Mrs. Christopher's house under the ruse of prom decorations and searched for the third and final rune.

I didn't search very hard, but I
did
search.

On Monday morning, I was getting ready to leave early for school to help Mrs. Christopher when I saw Ainsley making her way toward the tree house all alone.

“Hey,” I said. “What ya doing?”

“Nothing. I've just really wanted some alone time lately, and this is the only place I can get it,” she said, not looking at me.

“This whole thing has really freaked you out, huh?” I asked, putting my arm around her. “It's okay. It's all going to be okay.” I wasn't sure I actually believed that, but I had to do my best to convince my baby sister that I did.

“Thanks. It's just been weird. All this stuff with Mom and Rick, and then doing cheer without Ana. I hate watching her sit on the sidelines and wait for me. It sucks, but she has to come with me because of that stupid demon. I'm just tired of always having someone with me.”

“Is that really it?” I asked. “Because you and Ana go everywhere together anyway, so that doesn't seem like something you'd really be bothered with.”

She shrugged. “Wayne likes her. He comes to cheer practice with her. And they sit on the sidelines and laugh and giggle the entire time.”

“That must be the boy who helped her with her crutches the other day. I guess you always had a thing for Wayne?”

“Maybe,” she said, looking like she'd just lost her puppy.

“I'm sorry, Ainsley. This really does suck. You know it will get better, though,” I said reassuringly.

“No, it won't. Not anytime soon. Although I guess it helps that she's blocking me from her thoughts almost all the time now. At least I don't have to listen to her endless chatter about him now.”

“C'mon, I'll take you to school a little early. She can ride with Ryan today. And if you want, I can ask Oz to zap Ana with some green boils like he did Mr. Charles. They're only temporary.”

“Maybe Oz could do something to Wayne—you know, since he deserves to be punished for picking the wrong twin.”

“Good call. We'll plot in the car.”

After the incident in the Jeep (which was ruled a freak underground pipe explosion), Aunt D had supersized the protection spells on all the cars. We were all carrying bouquets of protective herbs in our backpacks, and she added protective crystals to our jewelry.

This danger was stronger than she'd ever encountered before, so she was struggling with trying to find the right approach on how to keep us safe.

I dropped Ainsley off at school, drove to our local Starbucks knockoff, picked up two iced coffees, and headed to school.

I arrived at school early so I could help Mrs. Christopher carry the collection of artifacts and books to the art room. She was already in her classroom, but she was in a meeting with Mrs. Grimm. The look on Mrs. Christopher's face told me this was not just a “good Monday morning” visit.

I stood away from the door, queued up my super-duper hearing, and listened in.

“Sarah, I'm sorry, but Mrs. Ledbetter has filed a formal complaint, so we're meeting with her today to try to convince her that this is not the best course of action to take.”

“Mrs. Grimm, I really think the Ledbetters are just blowing this out of proportion.”

“I agree, but if she pursues this, then you'll need to be prepared to go a different route for the theme. I'm telling you now so you can be prepared. You might want to have a couple of backup ideas in mind, just to be safe. The meeting is in an hour. I think you should join us.”

“Good morning, AJ,” Mrs. Grimm said as she left the classroom. “I'm glad to hear your parents are doing better. And congratulations on your baby sister. Does she have a name yet?”

“No, ma'am, not yet. We're just calling her Baby F right now.”

I walked into the room. Mrs. Christopher was picking through the boxes of artifacts and sighing.

“Mrs. Christopher, you ready to take those down to the art room?”

“I'm afraid we may have to put a hold on this for a while. There's a complication.”

Mrs. Christopher explained the situation and told me about Mrs. Grimm's “intervention” with Cathy Ledbetter's mom.

“Do you think we're going to be forced to change the theme?”

“I don't know. I hope not. The students are really looking forward to dressing up and having a nontraditional
prom. And we're getting some regional exposure from a Memphis paper that called me for an interview. So this could really drive up tourism for the town. The meeting is in an hour, so we'll know by fourth period.”

And the movie guy's voice rang in my head: “Stay tuned for the dramatic conclusion of
Vampire Wars: The Battle for Prom
after these messages.”