Page 11 of Wicked Ends
She sweeps away, Ash trailing behind her. For a second, I just watch them go, marveling at the fact that I managed to avoid getting murdered, thanks to a murdering sociopath. I’m starting to suspect that the rumors about the missing Wickersly sister weren’t far from the mark.
I turn down the hall, listening for the sound of Lucien and Soren. It doesn’t take long. There’s a ruckus coming from the farthest cell that involves a lot of swearing, some thumping, and what might be Soren singing a dirty limerick.
I grin despite myself. “You boys decent in there?”
Lucien’s voice, clipped and furious: “Rose? Are you unharmed?”
Soren’s voice, lazy and delighted: “Is that our little witch? Come to let us out?”
I jiggle the keys. “I figured you two could use a rescue.”
I find the right key, twist it in the lock, and the cell opens with a creak. Lucien is on his feet instantly, blood on his knuckles and his suit a mess, but otherwise he looks like a perfectly aristocratic model. Soren sprawls on the bench, grinning at me.
Lucien grabs me, checks me over from head to toe, then pulls me into a hug so tight I can barely breathe. “You’re safe,” he mutters. “Thank God.”
Soren is next. He stands, dusts himself off, and slings an arm around my shoulders, nuzzling into my hair. “You’re a vision, Rose. A blood-spattered rescue fantasy.”
I snort. “Don’t get too excited. I only did it because the alternative was listening to your singing for another five minutes.”
Lucien glares at Soren, who just laughs.
We stand there for a moment, all three of us battered but alive.
“Come on,” I say, heading for the stairs. “Let’s get out of here before Jasmine changes her mind.”
I hear Soren whistle. “She’s here.” He exchanges a look with Lucien.
“She killed Helena,” I tell them, but they don’t seem surprised by this.
“You wouldn’t be standing here alive if she hadn’t.” Lucien’s hand reaches out and skims my arm.
I nod, acknowledging that the game has changed once again, then turn and head for the stairs. Lucien and Soren follow, matching my stride, with a brand new set of problems waiting upstairs. But for now, I’m calling it a win, because I survived.
Again.
But I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to keep that up. Even a cat only has nine lives.
Five
Rose
We don’t have any time to compare notes on what just happened because immediately the entire school is called for a mandatory assembly. The call is a compulsion, and every witch in the building knows it. Something in the air, under the skin, a vibration through the bones that tells you to show up, or else.
I barely have time to wipe the dried blood from my cheek before Lucien, Soren, and I are funneling ourselves up the stone steps with the rest of the student body, all of us shuffled forward by the movement of the crowd.
“I guess they’re not giving us time for a costume change.” Soren tries to lighten the mood, but even he looks tense.
The Great Hall is even colder than before, if that’s possible, and the hush that falls over the crowd is icy, too. Jasmine stands at the head of the room with Ash at her side. His face gives nothing away, but the mark on my arm feels tight, like he’s clenching every muscle in his body not to break something.
There’s no sign of Helena. I wonder where they put the body. I was no fan, but it all seems so cold.
The entire academy is crammed in here, students, faculty, even the lunch ladies. Everyone is standing around in little clumps, glancing nervously toward the front of the Hall.
I spot Thorne, flanked by her usual crew, all with their best “I’m not scared, you’re scared” faces. Thorne’s mouth is set in this weird half-smirk, half-grimace, and her eyes are glued to the dais at the end of the Hall.
Lucien and Soren stick close to me, one on either side. Lucien’s jaw is so tight I’m surprised it hasn’t cracked. He keeps watching the crowd for threats, but the biggest one is about to stroll right through those doors.
And I’m just trying not to lose my shit. Every time I blink, I see Helena’s body on the floor, her neck bent at that impossible angle. The blood bowl. The knife. The hush right before everything went to hell.
