“He only wants to guide you to the van that will see you back to your grandmother’s. We’re quite sure she’ll be worried if you are not present come morning.” She waves her hand toward the middle van.
I jerk free of the guy’s hold. For a moment, the world spins, and I readjust my footing. “How do I know I can trust you with me, my friends, my brother?”
“We have had several years to hurt your brother if that was our intention. Instead, we fostered him, helped him to grow. Why would we want anything different now?” She shrugs her hands out to the side.
“Words,” I say. “I don’t know that you have that great of a relationship. I didn’t get that vibe the other night.”
“Because he knew what he was doing went against suggested behavior.” She crosses her arms. “But do you honestly believe he would have continued to stay on with us at the school if he felt at all threatened?” I frown. Glance at the ground. “If you take a moment to clear the clouds from your mind, you’ll come to realize that he belongs with us. We have the best resources to help him reach his potential.”
“Really? How could I possibly know that? Who is Saddler, and what does he want with my brother?”
Bianca glances at the front of the building we exited a few minutes earlier. “Take her,” she says.
Hands grab my arms and pull me toward the van.
“I’m sorry to end our talk so abruptly, Mirabelle, but this is no place to chat for long periods of time.” She closes the doors to the van holding my brother. “Michael will call you in the morning, after he has recovered, to put your mind at ease.”
I struggle against the hold at my sides, but I can’t break free. I can’t even move my hands to call upon the aid of my herbs… my magick.
“Stop fighting.” She opens the passenger door to the back van. “You’ve been through a lot this night. You should calm yourself and allow your body to rest, heal, and restore.” She jumps into the seat and closes the door. Engines on both sides of me crank to life.
“Wait.” I lurch forward, toward Bianca, but am held in place. She narrows her gaze on me. “How is it that Michael’s scar is so similar to yours? That’s not a coincidence, is it?”
Bianca smirks. “Hasn’t he told you?” Her face widens, a clear element of surprise mixing into her features. “He borrowed my magick, blended it with his own, those many nights ago. Used the combination to protect himself against the falling brick and mortar. He got more than he bargained for.” She traces the scar running down the side of her face.
I suck back a breath, and my throat closes.
“Come on. Let’s go,” a voice inside the middle van says.
“Sleep.” A girl pushes her palm against my forehead, and a heavy weight drops over my everything. My muscles, my thoughts, my eyelids. I’m shoved inside the van, the door slams shut, and the engine ignites. All three vans take off, destined for different locations.
“What, what, what,” I hear myself saying. Fighting against the enchantment. I will not allow them to knock me out. The world goes grey, dark, grey.
Blurry.
I’m being dragged to Grandma’s front door. The girl unlocks the front door, and the guy leads me inside. Drops me on the sofa and sets my keys on the floor at my feet. I fall asleep.
I awake with a start, jumping to a sit. The world spinning, my head pounding. There’s a shrill rattling through my brain. It’s ringing and ringing and won’t stop. It’s the phone.
My hand finds the side of my head. Ouch. I pull back. Touch again, this time with great care. A nasty lump resides behind my ear. I press against the fuzz in my brain to remember.
The sugarcane. The zombie workers… Luna’s father. The fire. The bokor’s men. The smack to my head.
Luna! She ran ahead of us. Did she get out alright?
Michael!
“Belle, dear,” Grandma calls from upstairs. “The call is for you.”
I leap from the sofa and dash to the phone. I need to hear from everyone. Talk to everyone. I need to know that each of them is alright.
I pick up the receiver and brace myself against the wall. “Hello?”
“Belle?” Luna’s voice comes over the line, and I release the tension wrangling my neck and shoulders. “I was so worried. You didn’t show up at the car, and we had to leave. I’ve been freaking out all night.”
“Yeah, it was crazy, but I’m alright… I think,” I say. “How is…”
“Not over the phone,” she interrupts. “Can I come over?”
“Of course. When?”
“Now. I’ll see you in a few.” She hangs up the phone.
I pull the receiver away from my ear and stare at it, then glance at the clock. It’s pretty early, but… I punch in the school’s number, ask for Michael. He comes to the phone fairly quickly, considering the condition he was in when last I saw him.
“Hey, I’m okay. They’re taking good care of me, and I should be back to my old self soon,” he says to me. “I’ll come visit you, and mom, then. But Belle…” I make a tiny noise to let him know he has my attention. “We pretty much got our asses handed to us last night. Let’s play it smart from now on and avoid any more foolishness.” He ends the call telling me he’ll see me soon.
He’s not wrong. The bokor made us look like toddlers in a game of high-stakes poker. Lost and stupid. I sigh, take a couple of aspirin, drink a lot of water, brush my teeth, and wait for Luna’s arrival. Grandma comes downstairs and starts rummaging through the kitchen.
“I’m going to fry up some eggs. Are you and Luna hungry for breakfast?” she asks, unaware that Luna didn’t return to the house with me last night.
“I’ll take some eggs, thanks.” Luna
