The Villain Keeper (19 page)

Wait? What? Caden was speechless for a second. That was not the outcome he expected. He clenched his fists. “I'm not apologizing. I'm not sorry.”

He was playing on her temper, but antagonizing her would not get him anywhere. He took a calming breath and smiled.

Rath Dunn was right about one thing—the gift of speech was a blade Caden had yet to sharpen. He needed to practice with persuasion like he now practiced with his fighting stances, like he'd once had to concentrate really hard when speaking other tongues. If Caden was to direct her away from such foolishness, he would need to work at it.

Before he could speak, she held up her hand. “That's enough. If you wanted to talk your way out of this, you should have done it before you threw the food.”

Suddenly, her demeanor felt familiar. She'd learned he was clever of word, so she was refusing to listen to him. It wasn't the first time a shrewd person had used this approach. He felt his charming smile falter.

“I'd like to explain—”

She held up her hand. “The discussion's over. You're apologizing.”

Whether Caden said what he said next because he was frustrated or because it was true, his hands shook as he said it. “My father never lets me explain either.”

Officer Levine and Tito came back at that moment. Obviously, they'd also had a frustrating conversation. Officer Levine patted Tito's shoulder, but Tito shrugged him off. Rosa walked out with Officer Levine to his patrol car.

Tito spun on Caden as soon as they were out the door. “What's your problem? My issues with Derek are none of Rosa's business, and definitely none of Officer Levine's.
Don't go telling them. Not cool, man. Not cool at all.” He pointed at the door. “And what's with the matchmaking?”

“One,” Caden said, serious and irritated. He raised a finger. “If Rosa knows the details of our interaction with Derek, she will understand my actions.”

Suddenly, Tito seemed to be having a hard time staying angry. His twisted expression twitched and a laugh burst out.

Anger wasn't useful, but laughter wasn't appropriate either. “This conversation doesn't require giggling.”

Finally, Tito calmed. He reached out and pushed Caden's finger down. “Don't use the middle one, bro.”

Caden ignored him and pulled away. “Two,” he continued and raised the middle finger plus one. “He's agreed to investigate the school.”

“He didn't agree to investigate,” Tito said.

“He'll investigate,” Caden said. He tried to think back to the phrase Jenkins had used in the park. “No stone unturned.”

“He won't tell us what he finds out.”

“True,” Caden said, “but he might rattle whoever is involved. If nothing else, Brynne with all her wicked ways makes for an excellent spy. We can ask her to snoop about. She would be thrilled to do so.”

At her mention, Tito glanced around the room. “Where is Brynne?” he said.

Caden heard knocking upstairs, as if someone was
tapping their foot against the floor. He headed for the stairs and toward the direction of the sound, toward where he suspected he'd find Brynne. “Up to no good, no doubt,” he said.

T
he girls' bedroom was now unlocked, and Brynne was staying in it. The walls were sunny yellow, the ceiling was high, and the large window was framed with billowy curtains. A bunk bed was pushed against the side wall, and both the top and bottom beds were covered in pink and white quilts.

Brynne was hunched over a small desk. Her long dark hair hid the top. She turned when they walked in. “Did you discover anything about Jane?” she said.

She still looked like a sorceress, although her clothes were Ashevillian—dark jeans and a long silvery sweater. She'd thrown a steel-gray coat over the armchair. Surrounded by the rustic charm of the room she looked like a sleek dagger lost among the kitchen knives.

Suddenly, Caden's moss-green shirt felt scratchy. His
jeans seemed thin. He was certain Brynne's expensive-looking clothes came from the same market as his colorful yet cheap ones. “You've magicked yourself,” he said.

Beside him, Tito was frowning, but he wasn't looking at Brynne and her magically enhanced clothing. He was staring at the walls like he expected to see another person in the room. Quietly, he said, “Mr. Rathis says Jane will be dead by the new moon.”

Brynne looked alarmed. “So it is Rath Dunn who took her?”

Caden shook his head. “He claims he only knows something about who did.” He inspected the room more closely. There wasn't much in it other than the furniture and Brynne's things. He ran his hand along the bed frame. There, carved in the wood, was another tree. Truly, it looked like the Walking Oak; and the room had a comforting feel. He pointed it out to Brynne.

“I saw it,” she said. “And she is an enchantress. For answers, we need to find her.”

Caden nodded. “There's more,” he said. “Rath Dunn called Asheville the Land of Shadow and said the other twenty-four teachers are those banished like him.”

Brynne drew her brows together and frowned. “This is no realm of eternal torture and death.”

“Yet Rath Dunn is here.” Caden continued and explained the events of the day—the encounter with Ms. Primrose and later with Rath Dunn. “Ms. Primrose controls
him, and the other teachers, too, I think.”

Brynne turned to Tito. “Could
she
have taken your Jane?” she said.

It was a good question, and Caden didn't know the answer. What type of being would make Rath Dunn teach children math? His reputation for malice was unequaled. Caden sat on the bottom bunk and sighed. The same type of being that would put witches in charge of school lunch, he supposed.

“She didn't seem interested in Jane's disappearance. I'd have thought a kidnapper would have behaved differently, but I don't know.” Caden smoothed the pink quilt. “I don't know what she even is.”

Brynne scrunched up her face. “Maybe she's a sorceress?”

“I don't think so.” Caden shook his head. “You're a sorceress, and it's clear you do magic all the time. I didn't get that from her.” Caden thought hard. “When she got irritated the room turned cold. She felt bigger than she looked. I don't think she's human.”

Brynne stood and walked over to him. “But she looks human? She can take human form?” Her eyes grew wide with worry. “Maybe she's a swamp doppelgänger? Or a fright demon. Cold follows them.”

“She smells of roses, not sulfur. She's not a swamp doppelgänger. And fright demons don't talk. She talks like a stern old lady and collects trinkets.” He paused.
“Sometimes, I think she has silver and blue scales.”

Brynne frowned. “So, maybe she's one of the lizard people?”

“The lizard people look like people-sized lizards. And they live near fire and flatlands.”

Tito had been quiet, solemnly lurking around the room and staring at the bed, then the window, then the desk. Suddenly, he froze.

“Have you found something?” Caden said, and stood up.

Tito nodded. He reached behind the desk lamp and reverently pulled out a blue device Caden recognized as a cell phone.

“Oh,” Brynne said, and she sounded proud. “That's mine.”

Tito gaped. “Rosa let you get a phone?”

“Not exactly.” Brynne picked up her coat and reached into pockets hidden within and pulled out two more cell phones. “I got three.”

“Rosa let you get three?” Tito seemed to be growing rightly suspicious.

“Isn't it obvious?” Caden said with a sigh. “She stole them.”

Brynne beamed and looked from Caden to Tito. “Indeed, and it was no easy feat. Your guardian is of strong mind and sharp eye. I swiped them from the market while she spoke to the shopkeeper.”

Tito went still like he awaited a lashing. “Did you cast a spell on her?”

“I wouldn't do that to Rosa.”

Tito motioned at Caden. “You did it to him.”

She looked away for a second as if hit with a wave of guilt, but when she turned back she said, “He deserved it.”

Tito looked pensive. “Yeah,” he said, “I can see that.”

Did they not understand what such a curse meant to someone like Caden? It could ruin his life. It could end it. He felt his face flush, and his musings on lizard people and powerful old women faded away. He clenched his fist at his side so as not to hit either of them.

With much control, he stood and turned to Tito. “Perhaps I should have pulled Brynne from the trap sooner, but I deserved no such curse. If Rath Dunn finds out . . .”

Caden shook the words away. Rath Dunn wouldn't find out. Then something else occurred to him that made his stomach churn and his heart sink. If the teachers were all villains, what would happen if any of them found out? Or Ms. Primrose? She seemed to like to keep villains as schoolteachers, and that didn't bode well for her morals.

He jabbed Brynne's shoulder. “You will find a way to break the curse.”

For a moment, he thought she would again say it was impossible, or tell him she was about to break his jabbing finger. Instead, she held out one of the phones—the pink one—like a peace offering. “Of course, I will,” she said with
a dazzling smile. “Besides, I brought you a phone, prince. It's like a communication spell without all the blood and phoenix feathers.” She pointed to one of the buttons. “Hit this one and you and I can talk.”

Instead of taking the phone, he stepped back. “I know what it does.”

“Take it,” she said.

“It's stolen,” he said.

Tito held up the blue phone and peered at it. “You have to pay to activate and use these.”

“They're prepaid, peasant,” she said.

Caden could stand no more. What did Brynne mean by “prepaid”? He waved his hands around the room to capture the extent of the strange land, strange people, and strange tech, to emphasize that Brynne was as much a foreigner as him. “What do you know of prepaid phones?”

“Bro, relax,” Tito said. “You look like a helicopter.”

Caden didn't know what a helicopter was but he was certain he looked nothing but regal and appropriate. Also, he would not relax. “No,” he said, and pointed to Brynne. “Tell me how you know about these things.”

She put her hand on her hip like she actually found him frustrating. “I'm starting to regret stealing you a phone, Caden.” She attached her phone to a white cord and plugged it into the wall. “Listen,” she said. “Sorcery takes study and training; understanding the tech of this world takes study and training. Sorcery takes inner power.” She motioned to
the wall outlet. “This technology requires outer power.”

Caden saw little resemblance between the sorceress and the square phone. “You claim this tech is similar to your magic?”

“The tech is the magic of Asheville, and I'm good at magic.” With a snotty tone, she added, “If you had any magic at all, you'd understand.”

Caden couldn't do magic, but he had studied it. “I understand that magic drains, and you've cast a lot of spells lately.”

Even the most practiced sorcerer or sorceress would fall if he or she used too much magic at once or without proper rest. He peered at his wicked friend for a moment. She'd set the mountain ablaze the night prior. Her spells to understand seemed to work well, but they weren't curses. He had no idea how often she had to cast them. Weekly? Daily? More than that? Under the beauty and attitude, she looked a bit thin, a bit frailer than usual.

“Don't overdo it,” he ordered with all the authority that came with his birthright.

The words seemed to echo in the tall room. Her silvery eyes shone with outrage, but she said nothing. It was possible magic overuse already affected her.

“I mean it,” Caden said. “You'll make yourself ill.”

She looked down, tapped on her phone, and smoothed her sweater. When she finally finished fixing her perfect clothing—and she certainly should not be using magic
to enhance her appearance—she'd mustered up enough indignation to project only that.

“If you don't want the phone, don't take it,” she said. “If I need to contact you at school, I'll text Tito.” With a shrug, she added, “You wouldn't be able to read it anyway.”

Tito glanced between them, then at the phone in his hand. “You know, Brynne,” he said, “Rosa's going to make you go to school, too.”

“No one's going to make me do anything,” she said, and gave Caden a piercing look to make sure he understood that included him.

Tito looked doubtful and stuck the stolen phone in his back pocket. “We'll be able to communicate better this way. The phones aren't ideal, bro, but they might help.”

Caden did not take a phone. An Elite Paladin shouldn't condone stealing. An Elite Paladin's allies shouldn't include thieves. Above all else, Elite Paladins were honorable. He stomped out, slammed the door, and tried not to think about how disappointed his father would be with his choice of friends.