Faetality |✓|

Chapter Fourteen, Part Three - Blown Away

“Duncan stop!”

            Lana’s voice cut into the dark, and awareness returned. I blinked, confused, and this time I did step away from Duncan. He grinned and retracted his fangs.

            “He was trying to use Glamour to Compel you,” Lana said in a small, weak voice. But even though I was a little angry that Lana had told them what I was, I was still glad to see that she had my back, even against The Society.

            “Well, thanks for making it known that I can’t trust you,” I said quietly, daring to look Duncan in the eye again simply because I knew he wouldn’t try it again. Not for a while anyway.

            “He wasn’t going to hurt you – I wouldn’t have let him,” said Juliette. “It was only a test.”

            “You’re worried about a little Compulsion?” Riley broke in with a sneer, lifting up the hood of the sweater he wore beneath his jacket. “Well, lemme tell you – that should be the least of your concerns.” I watched as his gaze traveled to Lana. “So… are you ready to tell her what we found?”

            Silence reigned as only the crackle of the flames was to be heard through the pale, orange light that was cast from the fire. We all stared at Lana. Three of us were indifferent, one was palpably angry.

            “Lana?” I urged through suddenly gritted teeth.

            Lana was staring at the ground.

            “I – I told you that I didn’t know much about the Sorcerer, but that I would find out…” she replied in a voice that was still soft. “And I did – but The Society didn’t want me to say anything. Not until they were sure…”

            “Sure. About. What?”

            “The Sorcerer Deceit,” Duncan calmly interjected and once again I found my gaze swiftly re-drawn to his. “Riley’s had visions of him too. And we know he works at the school. Which is a problem for us.”

            “No, he isn’t,” I insisted. “He’s not evil. I mean, I thought he was but I was wrong. He’s –”

            “A Sorcerer,” Riley cut in as the orange and red flames of the fire temporarily shot upwards a good two or three feet. Something about the look of disgust on Riley’s face told me that if I once again aligned myself to Westley I would certainly find myself with yet another enemy. “Did you know Sorcerers are different from Witches and Warlocks?  They are. Sorcerers deal in heavy Black Arts – we don’t.”

            “So,” I replied, but even so my throat and mouth had gone awfully dry. “That doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t make him a bad person.”

            Riley blatantly rolled his eyes as Duncan used his Vampire skills to speed around the fire and return to Juliette’s side. He whispered something in her ear and when he pulled away she smiled and kissed him. If I had liked them more I would’ve admired them for their tenderness towards one another. After all, in my mind’s eye I had always pictured Vampires to be so much more fictional and less… normal. Their love was almost refreshing.

            “Go ahead, Lana Banana,” Riley urged. “Tell your friend what you know.”

            With a hangdog look of shame did Lana look me in the face.

            “Riley was the friend –”

            Riley issued a loud snort, which Lana painfully ignored.

            “Riley was the one who I said could help us find out who The Sorcerer really was… and he did. I just didn’t tell you.”

            I wanted to ask why, but I pushed aside this question for later, sacrificing my emotions for practicality instead.

            “What did you find out?” I quietly asked.

            “Tamsyn, the Sorcerer – he’s not who you think,” said Lana, quickly, and looking worried.  “The Sorcerer Deceit isn’t exactly a person – it’s actually more of a title. Usually it’s bestowed to Knights within the Fae. It’s been handed down from person to person for centuries. It’s a gift… and a curse.”

            “Ooh don’t stop there, Lana. You’re getting to the good part.” Riley said, eyes flashing as he strode forward. “Did the Sorcerer tell you what he had to do to become the Sorcerer Deceit?” he demanded, but didn’t bother waiting for my reply. “He made a deal with the Fae and became not only the first Human Sorcerer, but the first Human to ditch his own Humanity without having to become a Vampire. Doesn’t sound so charming now, does he?”

            This last part was a whisper in my ear that he left in parting before making his way from me to Lana. My heart-rate doubled with anger as I watched him raise his hands to cup Lana’s chin a tender hold. But his eyes were still hard.

            “I couldn’t believe it when Lana first told me there was an actual Sorcerer Deceit here in Harbor Village,” he continued, still looking down on my friend with all the adoration in the world. With a heavy feeling of foreboding, I watched as Lana fell further into his embrace, closing her eyes and brushing her cheek against his palm. “But with Lana Banana’s help, I confirmed that it was true. Your friend’s been telling me everything.”

            So Lana had been spying for The Society all along, I realized, feeling more betrayed than if Lana had placed a knife directly into my back.

            “Veni foras,” said Riley in a sudden, harsh voice. Stunned, I watched as something small and dark wriggled its way from Lana’s ear. I gasped and stepped back in horror, watching as Riley let go of Lana to scoop up the brown slug that turned in the dirt. With loving eyes did Riley stare down at the thing in his hands. He wrapped his fingers around the thing and when his hand opened a small, black butterfly sat in the center of his palm. It flapped its wings and I watched it fly upwards into the night before pulling a swan’s dive high above the fire to plummet into the flames and erupt into green sparks.

            The sound of a thud was heard and I turned to see Lana slumped on the ground. Even with the firelight reflected upon her face, she still looked deadly pale.

            “Lana!” I ran to her side and dropped to my knees, brushing aside her hair to double check that she was still breathing. “Riley what did you do to her?”

            “Nothing she didn’t ask for,” he replied with a pleasant smirk.

            Still kneeling, I raised a steady hand and silently called to the wind. Immediately it rose in a strong gale that extinguished the bonfire’s flames and tossed Riley high into the air.

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