Lux
"Ugh, I have Ms. Byron for Chemistry. Everyone knows that old bat has it out for me because I'm a cheerleader. Some prank they pulled on her when she was a kid."
"It doesn't have anything to do with you starting a fire in the lab freshman year during physical science?"
Lux took a deep swig of her drink as Travis and Sara Elizabeth started the third fight since lunch began. It was just like old times, except now there was a twinkle of affection in their eyes as they tossed insults at one another. Fighting was their love language.
And other things were different. Ruby sat beside Lux, her stubbed nose buried in a book on arcane magic. Her hair was bright pink- a benefit of mastering the glamour spell, and her clothes, while still black, were of a more flattering cut. She said she only changed her style to shut Sara Elizabeth up, but from time to time, Lux would catch her eyeing herself in the mirror, her fingers dancing across the lace edges of her tops and skirts. A quiet confidence had replaced the surliness she'd once worn like a shield.
They wedged Brooke between Travis and Sara Elizabeth, amusement etched across her face as the two grew louder. Every day the hard lines of grief faded. Lux knew they'd never be gone entirely, but getting answers had started the healing process. Corinne's appointment as a guardian of the Grail didn't hurt matters. Brooke spent most weekends on the Godelieve estate visiting her sister.
Audra didn't attend school with them. She'd completed her G.E.D. a year ago and preferred to spend all of her time training in the Craft. It made getting to know her difficult, but her knowledge had saved them on more than one occasion. Lux thought of the ritual they'd performed on Lughnasadh, just two weeks ago. Without Audra's knowledge, they would've failed. The young air witch's training far exceeded anyone in their group- even Memaw, who was self-taught.
"What's on your mind?" Declan slid onto the bench beside her as he pressed a kiss against her cheek. She had to resist pressing her fingers to the place his lips had been. Even after a month of kisses much more heated than that, she couldn't control her body's reaction to his touch. Gideon warned her it would become harder- not easier- as their bond intensified.
"Nothing of much consequence," she answered, forcing her eyes to remain on his face and not dart across the cafeteria. Declan wasn't fooled, and his eyes drifted to the person she wanted to go to so much she ached. It was almost worse than the pain she'd experienced without her stone.
Kitty sat alone. Her once lustrous blonde hair was limp and greasy. She'd gained weight and wore ill-fitting clothes to hide it. Not once did she turn her eyes from her tray, shoveling food in her mouth with methodical movements. Students who wandered by her whispered, their eyes wide with shock after witnessing the changes in the girl once voted "bubbliest personality."
"Stop blaming yourself," Declan demanded. He spoke with more venom than Lux was accustomed to hearing in his rumbling voice, but she knew it stemmed from his protective nature towards her as well as his own wounded feelings. Kitty had hurt them all.
"I don't," Lux said, only lying a little. She knew she couldn't be held responsible for what someone else did. Kitty didn't even have the excuse of being held in Daphne's thrall anymore. The Circle had voted to allow her to remain under supervision, but after assisting with the Rite to close the gateway, the earth witch acted out again. It had forced Lux to bind her powers. That was what broke them both.
"Liar," Travis said. She'd failed to notice they'd stopped arguing. Every girl was staring at her now. "You moped for days after the binding."
"It was the right thing to do, not the easy one," Lux responded, her gray eyes thundering. "I'm allowed to be upset. My best friend believes I'm a danger to the world, and I had to rid her of the thing that made her feel special. That's what I feel guilty about."
Declan squeezed her hand. "It's okay. Leadership is a heavy burden. That it hurts you so much to discipline your Circle means that Kitty's fears are unfounded. Someone evil wouldn't be sad about this."
"Grandpa boy is right," Sara Elizabeth chimed in, her comment teasing smiles to the edges of everyone's lips. "You're a good person, Lux."
"Lux, you helped me find peace for Corinne. Even when you felt powerless, you wanted to help. That's the mark of a good person," Brooke added, her voice soft and kind. The girl didn't hand out praise unless she meant it.
"Thank you," Lux said just as the bell rang. She flipped her planner open, its pages full and bright with plans and colors. Every hour of her day was mapped out. She had just enough time for a stop in the restroom. "I'm going to run to the bathroom before Drama. Save me a seat?"
"You don't even have to ask," Declan said.
"Oh, but I do. Nearly every girl in this school has a crush on you."
"I've only got eyes for you." He didn't finish speaking before they were both pelted with English peas. Their friends were gagging and chucking the vegetables while Lux and Declan laughed and ducked.
"Oh, you're going to pay for this later," Lux shouted, digging green mush from her dark hair. Her outrage just spurred them on, and she pulled on the magic in her veins and watched every single pea turn direction and fly at her friends.
"Lux," Sara Elizabeth hissed, "that's cheating."
"No, that's playing with all the cards in my deck," Lux said, wiggling her brows as she darted out of the cafeteria, her friends hot on her heels. She turned the corner, nearly taking out another student. The shrieks behind her told her not everyone had been as lucky.
"You best get to the bathroom," Declan warned as they caught their breath. "You don't have it scheduled in for the rest of the day."
Lux looked down at her planner, shrugged her shoulders, and tossed it in the trash. Her actions earned a look of astonishment crossing her boyfriend's handsome face. "What the hell. My plans never work out anyway."
"No," Declan agreed, pulling her close. He didn't bother to see if they had an audience, something he would've done when they first met. He captured her lips, sliding his tongue between them and making her lean into him to remain upright. "Sometimes they work out better than you planned."
*************************
Kitty
Kitty watched them leave the cafeteria. A pang of bitterness sparked in her chest. She could return to them. They'd offered, and she knew they would forgive her everything. She'd been under a spell, or at least they all presumed she'd been spelled.
"How absurd," Sara Ashley snapped, coming to stand beside Kitty as she gathered her things. The girl who'd once been a clone of Sara Elizabeth was the only friend she had left- though friend was too strong of a word for what was between them. Allies were more accurate.
"They're children," Kitty agreed, tightening her backpack straps. "Did you get what I asked?"
"Yes, but do you know how hard it was? That store is crawling with different Circles, all investigating how a Bloodborn went so long undetected."
"If you can't handle something so simple, you can't expect to be of any use to me or to her."
Sara Ashley blanched and dug the item from her pocket. "Here. Emerald, right?"
Kitty nodded, looking at the pair of earrings. She'd have to hide the stones or wear her hair down often. The magic surging through the stone was at once familiar and foreign. She could smell the earthy notes- the damp of soil and moss, the coppery taste of metal- but threaded through it was its previous owner's essence. She'd been young- only nineteen when Daphne had murdered her. Kitty's mouth filled with ash at the thought of using such tainted magic, but after the Circle- no, after Lux- had bound her powers, she'd been forced to look for another way to use magic.
"This will do. For now."
The lines in the other girl's face softened with relief. "But when do I get my own? This was the only one left."
"You know what you have to do to get this, right? You're willing to take those steps?"
"Yes. Just tell me how."
Kitty frowned and looked at the students trickling out of the room, headed towards their classes. One small girl caught her eye. With the earrings in her hands, her gift for sensing the magic of others had returned, and this slip of a girl, newly seventeen, had power in spades.
"Her." She pointed and Sara Ashley followed her finger.
"Kana Saito? She's a witch?"
"Yes."
"What do I have to do?"
Kitty stiffened her shoulders with resolve. "Wait for a full moon."
"Then?"
"Then, we will kill her."