Moonset

I tried to sit up, but there was a problem. I could feel all my limbs, but I wasn’t having much luck moving them. My head wouldn’t even lift off the pillow. The next thing I knew, there were footsteps coming down the stairs. Even though I couldn’t see who it was that descended, I saw the way the new person’s arrival stiffened Quinn’s spine and caused Meghan to suck in a nervous breath. It had to be Illana.

“How is he?” Illana asked.

“The boy is stable,” Meghan said crisply. “He doesn’t seem to have a concussion, and there aren’t any lingering side effects from his episode. Psychological deviations have yet to be determined.”

“Deviations?” Jenna said, making it sound like something vulgar. “You’re the last person to talk about being deviated.”

I could hear it in her voice—she was getting close to losing it. I tried to force my arms to move again, to prop me up. I could barely twitch on command.

“Relax, young one,” Illana murmured, sweeping down next to me. She dabbed a towel against my forehead. “The darkness can act like a paralytic.”

“What?”

“She means it can paralyze you,” Quinn said. “Like getting hit with a taser. So don’t panic.”

“Someone … used Maleficia?”

“Yes,” Meghan said, her voice heavy and dramatic. “A warlock right under our noses. Quelle surprise. ”

“You’re not helping,” Quinn said under his breath.

“Meghan.” Quinn’s grandmother called out her name and waited. The room grew silent as everyone waited to see what she’d say. “Next time let’s try for an evaluation that is actually comprehensive. The boy can’t move. I’d qualify that as a side effect.”

“Yes, Mrs. Bryer.”

I opened my eyes to see Meghan hovering on the stairs, her eyes wide. She kept doing some sort of twitch, like she couldn’t decide if she was going up the stairs or coming down them.

“That will be all,” Illana said coolly. A moment later, the girl vanished up the stairway.

“Honestly,” the older woman exhaled.

I laughed weakly. “She’s that girl. ”

“What girl?” Quinn asked. Even Illana was looking down at me with curiosity. Only Jenna knew what I meant. We shared a private grin.

“The girl whose father has to make a phone call to get her into college,” Jenna explained.

“Never quite measures up, and has to kiss ass and beg favors to get ahead.”

“Meghan was top of her class,” Illana chided, although she did so absently, proving how little she cared about the girl.

“Meghan was second,” Quinn corrected smugly. He came down quite clearly on the “Meghan is a raving beyotch” side of the argument.

“Yes, yes,” Illana murmured. “We all know you were precocious. Don’t gloat; it’s a sign of poor breeding. Now then. Justin? What do you remember?”

Even blinking my eyes felt like it was some sort of process. “There were voices,” I rasped.

“Yes,” Illana drawled, sounding like she was humoring me and nothing more. “I’m sure there were.”

“They said, ‘They’re here.’” I looked to Quinn, who grimaced but didn’t immediately reply.

“What’s here? Is something coming?”

“You’re here, Justin,” he said, his tone growing softer. “The five children of Moonset.”

“Do you remember anything else?” Quinn asked, staring down at me.

“They were talking to someone,” I said slowly, thinking back to the voices and the cold that had slipped inside me. Just remembering it was enough to make me start shivering again. “It was a conversation.”

“Did you get a name?” Quinn pushed. “Hear his voice? Anything?”

“Hey, lay off him. He’s not-—” Jenna said, before cutting off abruptly. “Did you l e t this happen? Did you know something was going to happen to Justin?”

“Oh, do be serious,” Illana muttered with irritation. “How would Quinn have known that Justin would leave the house? Don’t be foolish. He thought the two of you smarter than you obviously were.”

“Why did you leave, Justin?” Quinn asked, leaning in. “I told Jenna you needed to stay inside.

This is exactly the kind of thing we’ve been trying to protect you from.”

“Great job there,” Jenna said. “A rousing success.”

We only need one. “I thought the warlock wanted us here?”

“He does.” Quinn narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

Because they don’t need all of us. I looked over his shoulder, at the woman who’d moved us here like a bold chess move. I couldn’t speak freely in front of Illana. Even if I really trusted

Quinn, I still didn’t trust his grandmother. She looked like she could garrote any one of us and not lose a night’s sleep over it.

“Because I’m still alive. I thought you said Maleficia liked to destroy things.” I looked down at my body. “It looks like I’m still in one piece.”

Quinn shifted, a guilty look in his eyes. “That’s be-cause—”

“Quinn!” I couldn’t see Illana anymore, but the whip crack demand in her voice left no doubt.

She didn’t want him answering.

“The warlock tried to kill him tonight,” Quinn said, getting heated. “They need to know.”

“I’m not so certain that they did,” Illana replied. “It’s entirely possible that they wanted something else from him.”

I couldn’t feel a lot, but there was a sudden pressure on my leg. Right by where Jenna was standing. “I don’t like what you’re implying about my brother,” she said tightly.

Implying? It took my brain a second to put things in perspective. What else would a warlock want from me? Recruitment. Moonset 2.0. A new generation of darkness. But had Illana implied it? Or was Jenna jumping ahead like she always did, reading people too well and determining the undercurrent?

Illana huffed out a breath. “Relax, child. It isn’t like this is a formal accusation.”

“Then there’s no reason to continue keeping secrets from them,” Quinn announced. “If you’re convinced they’re not part of the problem, then they need to know.”

I heard a sigh, and then caught a glimpse of Illana and her flowing skirt heading for the stairs.

“Then do as you think is best, Quinn,” she said. “I’m going to look in on the other children. I dare to hope they are better mannered.”

“Everyone’s okay?” I asked, my voice still a groan. Quinn nodded.

Tingles started running up my hands. Just little bursts, running down my fingers, then up the wrist, and then again at the elbow. Everything in between was still numb and senseless.

Once Illana was gone, the front door slamming ominously behind her, Quinn started helping me back upstairs. Except when he tried to sit me up, my body was still foreign and wasted.I can still feel shame at least, as the rash of heat crept up my body. My face was about a thousand degrees.

Quinn had to carry me up the stairs, and even though he tried to make light of the situation, no one laughed. I kept my eyes closed, not wanting to see either of their looks of pity. I was supposed to take care of them. Not the other way around.

He set me down on the living room couch. Jenna hovered at the edge of the room. I looked around Quinn and listened. “Are we the only ones here?”

He looked curious, but nodded.

I settled my hands into my lap. I still couldn’t bend my fingers properly, but at least I could move my arms around. “Is anyone listening?”

Quinn stared at me for a moment, chewing on his lower lip.

“What’s going on, Justin?”

“One second, Jenna,” Quinn said. He pulled the athame out of a holster that I hadn’t noticed before, tucked against the side of his jeans. As quickly as he had earlier, he slashed at the air.

But this time, it wasn’t the simple astral ward he’d showed me. It was spell after spell, almost a dozen of