It would be so easy to head home and take a shot despite the fact that I had no one to bring me back. There wasn’t a snowball’s chance that Dec would stick around for it again and less of one that I’d trust Alex a second time.
Perhaps it was possible that Ian, once summoned, could do it, but that solution was too convoluted, and even if I could find him, there was nothing safe about Ian Mackenzie. Which was actually the point. Ian, it seemed, existed simply to be dangerous. To be an option. Death hadn’t changed that, but at least Ian was a temptation I knew and one I vaguely understood.
The vials were in my backpack, only inches away from my fingers. Man, how I want another hit. Perhaps the effects of the drugs were cumulative. The more you had, the more you craved.
That would be a problem eventually.
“Ian,” I called out into the square. Maybe, like Tristan, I didn’t need the shots to see him. But there was no response and while my brain was hungry for company, my arm wanted the serum.
Instead of heading home alone, I stumbled up and forced myself toward Eaton Hall. Like every high school student, I had a key to the town’s archives, and there was always the chance that I could distract myself with knowledge.
Books had gotten me through worse than this. My mother disappearing, moving to St. Hilaire, the realization that no matter what I did, Dec was going to leave and I was going to stay, and that would be that. Books would get me through this.
I needed to research curses, anyhow. Needed to figure out a way to redeem myself and do what I could for Tristan.
I pulled out my skeleton key and opened the rusty door. Like a lot of St. Hilaire, the door was run-down, with wood that used to be beautifully decorated with metal filigree, but was now flaking with abandonment. These days, money for upkeep was diverted to tourist spots. When I was a member of the Guild, I’d change that. History needed to be treasured.
I headed to the archives and breathed in the glorious smell of the books. There was no specific section on curses. St. Hilaire was all about guiding the living through contact with the dead. We weren’t witches. St. Hilaire High wasn’t Hogwarts. I couldn’t count the number of times those edicts had been drummed into us. We didn’t cast spells, place curses, or otherwise overtly change the course of someone’s life. We simply relayed the words of the dead to those who needed to hear them. What the living did with those words was their choice.
But somewhere in this vast array of pages, there had to be an answer for Tristan. And a way to corral Alex.
Something clacked behind me, and I ducked into a section on psychometric sciences.
“Just because they’re all obsessed with talking to spirits doesn’t mean the rest of us should have to take this stupid class, does it, David?”
I knew the voice all too well. I recognized the sound of a hundred-plus-pound dog slumping to the floor. I was familiar with the fear in David Sheridan’s eyes as he came around the corner lit up by the glow from Alex Mackenzie’s flashlight.
“Oh, look. It’s Russ Griffin,” Alex said.
I grabbed the first book I saw, one that sat on the bottom shelf under at least a decade’s worth of dust. “Funny running into you in a library, Alex. I didn’t think studying was your cup of tea.” I was surprised to see David Sheridan in Alex’s company again. Rumor had it, he’d been interviewed by the Guild for a full day about the poker game. David had never admitted anything and didn’t implicate Alex, and now he was stuck doing eight hours a day of community service until school began.
Garmer sauntered over, and I rubbed him between his massive ears. The dog groaned and rolled onto his back. “Your dog is upside down,” I said.
“Look, asshole. I’m running out of time. Did you get the wire or not?” Alex asked and pulled on the dog’s leash. The dog looked at Alex, irritated, and then begrudgingly flipped over onto its belly.
Interesting that Alex was talking about this in front of David. I wondered how much he knew. And if that even mattered. “Getting that wire might be more difficult than I previously thought,” I said. “The piano still seems to be using it.”
Sheridan shifted uneasily. “I told you, Alex. What made you think it was just going to give up after all of this?”
Mackenzie kicked a stack of books in front of him. I winced. My mother had taught me that books were sacred. I could barely tolerate people who bent down page corners.
When Alex didn’t answer, David Sheridan shifted and said, “We should go.”
“Look,” I said. “I know what you need the piano string for and how to use it.”
Alex narrowed his eyes. “How?”
I looked from him to David and back again. As much as I wanted the Guild to know that I was in touch with Ian, this didn’t seem to be the right way of getting the word out. “I just do, okay? But there’s a problem.”
The dog whined, and Alex’s face animated. “You talked to him again. You talked to Ian, didn’t you?”
Before I could respond, a voice behind me said, “Why would you do that? My brother was a dick.”
I hadn’t heard Colin come in and suddenly felt like the stacks were too small to hold this conversation and both Mackenzie brothers.
“Stay out of this, Colin,” Alex said.
“Stop worshiping him and grow the fuck up,” he said to Alex before turning to me. “Ian was a jerk. He used to rat me out to Dad every chance he got. ‘Colin cheated on the algebra test.’ ‘Colin has the hots for Maria Foster.’ He was in my business all the time. I think he bugged my room. And Dad would kick my ass while Ian just stood there grinning like the freaking Cheshire cat.”
Yes, that sounded like Ian. I stifled a laugh.
“Ian was better than any of you,” Alex sneered.
I stood by and watched Colin grab Alex by the shirt. “Your Saint Ian was a narcissistic ass, Alex. You think he wasn’t, but you’re lying to yourself. He went away. He left you. He cared about sex and the limelight and his parties and his fucking car more than he cared about you.”
Alex went pale.
“Colin. Enough,” I said. I didn’t know if my words would hold any weight with Colin, but I put everything I had into them.
“Oh, please,” Colin said, pushing his brother into a shelf. “It’s about time he wised up.”
For years, I’d wanted a brother or sister. But every minute I spent in the company of the Mackenzies made me grateful my parents never granted my request.
Colin shook his head and linked his thumbs into the front pockets of his jeans. The gold Guild pin gleamed on his collar. “Whatever. Listen, Griffin. I’m glad you’re here. I have news for you. You’re being summoned to try out for Student Leader.”