I told Isaac my suspicions about Caden on the way to school the next morning.
“He’s not a faerie,” he said flatly.
His lack of faith in my sixth sense was starting to wear on me. “Really? The guy shows up
“He’s friends with Ben.”
I waved off the comment and went on. “He was everywhere Natalie was, and he just so happened to apply for the same job as Reed. I’m telling you, he’s hiding something.”
“You have serious trust issues. You know that?” Isaac parked and turned off the engine. “Look, because he gives you the creeps, I asked Ben about him. Caden used to work with his brother. Ben said he stops by every few weeks, hangs out awhile, and leaves. He’s been doing it since Dan left for college. The guy’s as normal as Sarah.”
I got out, slung my backpack over my shoulder, and grabbed the tray with our coffees. “You’re going to be eating those words, wait and see.”
As I expected, Caden was leaning against the red brick pillar near the student entrance. He nodded hello when he saw Isaac.
“Hi,” I said, stopping when I was a foot away from him.
“Madison.” For once, Caden wasn’t smoking a cigarette.
“Man, when I graduate I hope I have better things to do than hang out at a high school,” Isaac said.
Caden laughed. “It is sort of pathetic, but I was up and still haven’t run into my friend. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was avoiding me.”
“Who’s your friend?” Isaac asked.
Caden kicked the toe of his boot against the sidewalk. With a slight shrug, he said, “Emma Scott. She’s a junior.”
Isaac and I exchanged a glance.
“You know her?” Caden asked.
“We had history together,” I said. “But she’s been out.”
Caden’s shoulders stiffened. “Why?”
“Not sure,” I lied.
The reason behind Emma’s sudden absence from class wasn’t common knowledge. Most people didn’t know she had been admitted to the psych ward because the dark spells she’d cast on others had come back to haunt her.
“How do you know Emma?” Isaac asked Caden, his face looking guarded.
“I met her at Dan’s house. She was hanging out with Ben and his friends. I promised her I’d stop by before Christmas, and I always keep my promises.”
A soft
“Sorry,” I said, but I wasn’t really. It gave me an excuse to brush my chain-link bracelet against his hand when we both went to grab the backpack. Not sure what should happen when iron touches the skin of a faerie, I waited for him to wince or his flesh to blister, but all he did was loop his fingers around the strap of the backpack and hold it out for me to take.
“Are you sure you don’t know where I can find her?” he asked.
“We weren’t exactly friends,” Isaac replied, taking the backpack and placing a hand on the small of my back. “We’d better get to class.”
I let him steer us away from Caden.
“He’s not a faerie,” I whispered after we were out of earshot.
Isaac glanced over his shoulder as he held the door open. “And he doesn’t possess the powers.”
“Do you think he actually likes Emma?” I asked. It was possible. If you looked past the psychotic bitch, she was pretty.
“Either that or he wants to join her coven.”
I hadn’t thought about that. “Do you think she gave him powers, but he used them up? You know, like a battery?”
Isaac rubbed the back of his neck as he considered this a moment. “I suppose so if he used every chance he got, but I think there’d be a lingering residue that you and I would be able to feel.”
“So he’s either into evil bitches or hoping Emma will share her powers with him.”
“That’d be my guess.”
“Well, he’ll have to find someone else to stalk now that she’s gone.”
“You’re not volunteering, are you?” Isaac asked, one eyebrow raised.
“Definitely not.” We stopped a few feet from Kaylee’s locker. Sarah and Mark had their backs to us as they finished putting up the decorations. I held the tray with our coffees out to the side and, with my free hand, entwined my finger through Isaac’s. “But I’m starting to realize you have a bit of a jealous side to you.”
He leaned in to kiss me, his tongue brushing mine ever so briefly. He left just enough of his powers alive to wrap me in a satiny cocoon. A few seconds later, we joined Sarah and Mark.
Blue and purple streamers along with matching balloons had been taped to Kaylee’s locker. In the middle was an equally bright sign that read, “Happy Birthday, Kaylee!” Sarah held a small gift bag in her hand.
“It looks amazing,” I told her.
“Thanks,” Sarah said, beaming.
Isaac bent close to me and whispered, “I’m going to try to catch Caden before he leaves.”
My fingers tightened around his. “What are you going to say?”
“Don’t know yet, but it’s going to bug me if I don’t find out why he’s looking for Emma.”
He handed me my backpack and hurried away before I could protest. I got the distinct impression he had purposely waited until I was with Sarah to say he was going to question Caden more, knowing I wouldn’t be able to go with him.
“I have to grab my books from my locker,” Mark said and gave Sarah a quick kiss. “You girls have fun.”
Sarah and I didn’t have to wait long for Kaylee to arrive. As soon as she saw us, her eyes lit up.
“Happy birthday!” Sarah and I sang out.
“You remembered!”
I gave her a hug. “Of course we remembered.”
“Have we ever forgotten?” Sarah made it a group hug.
“Look what Josh got me.” Kaylee held out her arm to reveal a shiny silver bracelet. I had a sneaking suspicion it was iron coated with sterling, but since this was her birthday, there was no way I was going to ask and have her suspect Josh’s gift had a hidden faerie-repelling agenda.
“It’s beautiful,” I said instead, and it was. “Where is he?”
“Oh, we ran into Isaac on the way in. Josh said he’d catch up with me later.”
After admiring the gift from him, I took the small wrapped box out of my backpack. “Open mine.”
Kaylee reached for her present, but instead of taking it, she ran a finger over the chain around my wrist. “Looks like I’m not the only one with a new bracelet. What’s with this?”
I hadn’t talked to Kaylee since finding out about Reed, and standing in a busy hallway at school with Sarah listening was not the time to catch her up. I also couldn’t say that Isaac insisted I wear it without provoking a double-teamed inquisition from my friends.
“Chase gave it to me,” I finally replied, hoping they’d think I was being nice to my little brother and wearing the chain to make him feel good. It wasn’t too farfetched. I had worn the macaroni necklace he’d given me for my birthday last year tucked under my sweaters for a few weeks.
“Chase is lucky to have you,” Kaylee commented as she took her gift. “And you didn’t have to get me anything.” She ripped off the blue paper, lifted the top, and paused. “I love it.” But her reply fell short of enthusiastic, and her hand went to Josh’s dark metal cross.
“I got it at a little shop in Salem. It brings the wearer luck, and I showed it to Josh to make sure it was okay to switch.” I hoped she’d get the hidden meaning behind my words that Josh had already cast the same curse-
