The Legend of the Eight: The Twisted (Book 3)

6: Ordinary People

SIX: ORDINARY PEOPLE
APRIL 8
NICOLE BRADLEY

NICOLE WAS FINALLY IN HER element again. After a brief adjustment period, she was able to move beyond that uneasy feeling from before and allow herself to get comfortable in the Mortal World. It was her home, after all.

After a full week at the new school, she was relieved when Friday came. It wasn't that any of her classes were particularly overwhelming. Rather, it was the week as a whole. Once again, she found herself in the role of the new girl and yet it felt like she'd only just shed that title. Luckily, that time around, she had a group of friends going through the same thing and together, they were like a support system for each other.

After school on Friday, Nicole hopped behind the wheel and drove the girls home. Along the way, the girls sang along (poorly) to songs which Phoebe selected from her new iPhone (courtesy of Walter and Clarion). The girls laughed as they talked about everything from their new classmates to the news that Clarion and Walter were heading back to the Armory that weekend, despite just returning from there days earlier.

"Damon's going with them too," Wil reveled from the middle seat where her eyes were glued to her phone. "I guess it's big this time. Whatever it is. I'm surprised your parents haven't reached out to you yet."

"My parents?" Nicole asked, eyeing Wil through the rearview mirror. Wil nodded and Nicole made a face. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Wil said like it was probably obvious and Nicole was just missing it. "They work at the Armory, right? So they probably saw my parents there a few days ago. And they have to know about what's going on in the World of Magic right now so they probably know we're here too. I'm just shocked they haven't reached out to you yet. Almost makes them look like they're hiding something."

Nicole slowed to a stop behind the boys' Jeep at a red light and she chewed the inside of her cheek anxiously. Since moving, she'd been so caught up with everything else, the thought of calling her parents must have slipped her mind. Maybe she was a bad daughter but it was probably for the best. Contacting her parents risked the wrong people pinpointing the Eight in the safe house. Maybe that's why her parents hadn't yet checked in.

After the light flicked green and the boys began to move forward, Nicole switched her foot back to the gas.

"I guess I didn't think about it like that," she admitted, staring ahead at the road which was lined with manicured lawns and cobblestone drives. "All my life, they've been keeping this whole other world and life a secret. Maybe it's about time I stop expecting them to be these honest, upstanding people and accepting them for what they are. The fact that they haven't called only makes me more certain that they know more than they're willing to share."

"Like how we got our magic," said Kate from the seat behind Nicole's.

Nicole focused on her driving so that she didn't say something she'd regret. Kate had been on a witch hunt to uncover the truth about the Eight for weeks now. And Nicole couldn't think of anything she would rather do less. Especially if that witch hunt led to her parents. Maybe it was selfish, but she took this strange comfort in the fact that it was always the Diamonds keeping the secrets. Always the Diamonds hiding the truth and covering up the scandals. It was easier that way. She liked that she could keep her own hands clean.

Minutes of driving later, the cars pulled into a long driveway which ended in a roundabout in front of the large house. There was a town car parked there with a driver packing bags into the trunk and Nicole assumed that Walter, Clarion, and Damon were about to head off to the airport.