The Enchanter Heir

. maybe I should stay a little longer,” she said. “As long as Emma’s still taking medication, I don’t—”

“I know you must be getting behind in your classes,” Rowan said. “It’s great that you were able to spend so much time here, but I think we can manage on our own now. If Emma takes a turn for the worse, I’ll call.”

Natalie licked her lips. “Look, you don’t need to drive me back. I’ll just call one of my friends from school. I know he’ll be glad to—”

“No need for anyone to drive here and back. I’m heading downtown anyway.” Rowan paused, as if waiting for further protest. Natalie said nothing, but stood, face pale, fists clenched, looking desperate to escape.

Natalie’s words came back to Emma. They’ll say I left here to return to the Anchorage, and something must have happened to me on the way.

And something would happen.

Emma faced Rowan. “What do you plan to do to her?” Rowan scowled. “What makes you think I’m planning to do something to her?”

“Are you or aren’t you?”

“Can you just give it a rest?” Rowan said, his body rigid with anger. “If you’re asking me to trust you, the answer is no,” Emma said, folding her arms. “If you don’t mean her any harm, then let her get home any way she wants.”

“Look, I need to make sure she doesn’t tell anyone about you,” he said. “That’s all.”

“So you’re going to kill her.”

“No. I’m not.” Turning, he struck like a snake, gripping both of Natalie’s hands. He spoke a charm, and she froze in place, staring blankly into the distance.

“Natalie!” Emma cried. Putting her fingers under the healer’s chin, she lifted her head. Natalie stared glassy-eyed at Emma. “What did you do?”

“I just immobilized her, all right?” Rowan said. “And now I’m going to wipe her memory. And then I’m going to take her back to the Anchorage.” He paused. “The only way this works is if she doesn’t remember anything. Otherwise, I can’t let her go. Do you understand, Emma?”

Emma nodded her understanding. She was not to give Natalie any take-away message. There would be no plea for rescue. Otherwise, he’d kill her.

Resting his hand on Natalie’s head, Rowan murmured words that sounded like Latin. “Ana memorare.”

A shudder ran through Natalie. And then another.

Rowan spoke another charm and stepped back. Shooting a warning look at Emma, he said, “Natalie? What’s the matter? Are you okay?”

She flinched, as if startled. She blinked at him, then rubbed both her hands over her face. “What happened? Where am I?”

“I’m Rowan DeVries, remember? You’re here to treat my cousin.”

“Your cousin?” Natalie said thickly, looking around, as if for clues.

“Here.” Rowan rested his hot hand on Emma’s shoulder.

“She’s doing much better, as you can see. We were just about to take you back to the Anchorage, when you had some sort of spell.”

It was a spell, all right, Emma thought.

Something must have shown in her expression, because Rowan’s fingers dug into her shoulder in warning. Natalie’s expression cleared. “Oh. Right. And, so . . .”

Her eyes lit on the suitcase. “And so I was just about to leave?”

“Right. I’m going to take you back to the Anchorage now.”

Natalie took a step, and faltered. “Wow, this isn’t like me.”

“I’m sure you’ll be more comfortable at home,” Rowan said, letting go of Emma and moving swiftly to take Natalie’s arm. “We’ve taken too much of your time already. I can help you to the car if you’d like.”

Natalie looked at Emma. “You’re sure you’ll be all right?”

Emma nodded. “I’m fine,” she whispered.

“You call me if you need any more medicine. Or anything at all.”

Then Natalie turned away, toward the door. “If you can . . . just get my bags,” she said to Rowan, “I’ll walk out on my own.”

Rowan picked up her bags and followed her out. He paused in the doorway and turned back toward Emma. “Don’t worry. You’ll be perfectly safe while I’m gone. I’ve instructed security not to let anyone in or out.” When they were gone, Emma sank down onto the bench in the foyer and put her head in her hands. Once again, she was on her own.

Chapter Thirty-two

Do-Over

“Jonah! Wake up!” Jake’s voice broke into Jonah’s seething thoughts.

Jonah looked down, balancing himself on the edge of the platform. Four stories below, his gymnastics coach was a tiny speck against the polished wood floor.

That’s what they called him, anyway—a gymnastics coach. He was more like a martial-arts instructor.

“You need to be over there.” Jake pointed to the far end of the gym, to the platform under the rafters. “Get there without touching down. The timer starts NOW!”

Jonah pulled the grappling hook from his pocket, clipped it to his line, and sent it flying across the room to find a home over one of the crossbeams at the peak of the roof. After yanking back a bit to anchor it, he launched himself from the edge of the platform. At first he was falling, nearly to the gym floor, and then arcing up, up, up. At the peak of the arc, he released himself from the line and grabbed on to the metal framework that supported the lighting system. Swinging back, he launched himself again, this time ropeless. But when he arrived at where the platform should have been, it was gone.

Jake was up to his old tricks again. Testing Jonah’s ability to improvise on the fly.

Just before Jonah slammed into the wall, he twisted so that he hit feetfirst, meanwhile scanning the gym for the new target. Throwing out another line, he anchored near center to give himself a little time and pushed off again.

There. Just above the floor, near the door.

Midswoop, he launched another line, at an angle so he could change direction. Folding his body so he didn’t hit the floor, he dropped lightly onto the platform, turned, and assumed his ready stance.

Jake examined the screen on his phone. “Time’s not bad. But you’ve got to keep your eye on the prize, remember.”

One of Jake’s cardinal rules.

“Eyes on the prize,” Jonah repeated dutifully.

“Before you shower, spend an hour with the weights,” Jake advised. “Work on the abdominals. Are you keeping up with your running?”

“Well,” Jonah said, “I have this calculus test—”

“Calculus!” Jake shook his head. “When you going to use that? Prioritize, man! What I teach you will keep you alive.”

So Jake hadn’t gotten the memo. The one that said that Jonah was out of Nightshade. “Weights. Running. Got it,” Jonah said, eager to end the conversation. Because he’d spotted Natalie standing in the doorway to the gym, seething with tension, giving him a look that said, We need to talk. Natalie had been working off-site for nearly a week, and all of his phone calls and texts had gone unanswered. She probably wants to schedule a practice for the band, Jonah thought. Something he wasn’t sure he’d ever be ready for.

He crossed the polished gym floor to where she stood.

“Glad you’re back. Gabriel said that you were completing an off-campus assignment. Were you back in Trinity again?” She shook her head. “Something’s come up. I need your help.”

“Sure,” Jonah said, thinking, Natalie never needs help with anything. “You know all you have to do is ask.”