Chapter 40
Forty
Elodie
Monday morning, I step onto Luminary Academy’s main green with a metallic flavor lacing my mouth. Adrenaline thrums through my veins as if I’m about to embark on a perilous operation rather than simply laying the foundation.
Distant thunder warbles through the thick clouds blanketing the sky. The month is almost over, but I suspect we’re going to get some more April showers. The thin, grayish sunlight doesn’t improve my mood.
As I meander across the grass watching for my targets, several classmates whose names I don’t remember—though maybe Other Elodie would have—welcome me back with waves and cautious smiles.
I can’t tell whether they’re nervous that I’ll bite their lowly heads off or that attempted murder is contagious.
If I don’t manage to cross paths with Grady and his friends here, I’ll have more opportunities later. But it’d be nice to get this part of the plan over with.
“Elle!”
I turn at Stella’s voice and force a smile of my own as she walks over to me. She opens her arms in a simple but obvious invitation to a hug, and it feels in character to accept it.
How much longer do I need to keep up this character? Am I really going to maintain the snotty-rich-girl facade even after I’ve exposed my attacker?
As Stella wraps her arms gingerly around me, I remember Dad’s haggard face and Aunt Daphne’s comments about how he fell apart with Mom’s death. Can I really bear to just up and leave him with no explanation?
One step at a time. I’ll figure out those answers once I don’t have to worry about being run down or poisoned anymore.
I return Stella’s hug, pretending I’m taking comfort from it. It’s a strange sensation. Definitely not like hugging Mom or my matches.
For some people—for my doppelganger—it’s normal.
Stella steps back and looks me up and down, the breeze blowing wisps of her light auburn hair loose from her French twist. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I can’t believe—for that to happen right here—”
She pauses, her gaze lingering on my face. “Are you okay? If you’d rather not talk about it…”
The fact that she’s considered my comfort, prioritized it over getting the dirt on my situation, eases a little of my awkwardness. I find myself answering honestly. “Physically, I feel fine. I’m just a little shaken up still.”
Stella frowns, shifting her attention to the field around us. “They haven’t figured out who was responsible yet, have they? You don’t think… Salvatore could have seen it as an easy way to hop up a spot, and I’m sure his family—”
I cut her off with a shake of my head. “No.” Remembering how emphatically my would-be match talked about protecting me makes my stomach flutter. “I’m sure that’s the first lead the police looked into. But I don’t think he cares that much about his ranking anyway.”
“Fair point.” Stella’s brow knits. “I spent all week trying to figure out if there’s anyone we’ve pissed off that much, and I’m coming up empty. But maybe the offense was not paying enough attention? I have no idea how someone who’d stoop to poisoning thinks.”
“That seems like a good thing,” I say wryly, and tip my head toward the doors to Thesan Hall.
“The administration is posting extra security. I should be safer here than anywhere else now. My dad’s sending lunch by private courier for me to eat on my own so no one else has access to the food—so I’ll be abandoning the rest of you at lunchtime. ”
She makes a face. “Can’t blame him for being careful, but that sounds like a drag for you. Why should you be punished because someone who’s clearly unhinged went psycho?” A soft huff escapes her. “I guess we just hope they find the culprit soon.”
“Yep.”
“Well, if I see anything suspicious, I’ll let you know. It’s just so… wrong. We’re lucents. We’re supposed to be stewarding the rest of human society on the right course, not acting like lunatics.”
The frustration in Stella’s voice sounds genuine—like she finds the act horrific in general, not just because it was directed at one of her friends.
Which maybe shouldn’t surprise me, but back in my own reality, I wouldn’t have believed any of the upper-crusters would give a shit if someone beneath their station got offed.
Maybe I should give Stella a little more credit. She did kind of agree with my complaints about the competitiveness at the academy too.
I’m still grappling with that thought when I notice Grady ambling toward the senior building. My pulse hiccups with the worry that he’ll stride straight in, but he stops to join a few of the other 16th years.
Target sighted. If I’m going to relay my message, now’s the perfect time.
Maybe I can get Stella’s help voluntarily rather than dragging her into my ploy unprepared.
Before I can second-guess the impulse, I touch her arm. “Hey. There’s a little charade the police suggested I put on to see if it reveals anything incriminating. It’ll be easier with help. Are you up for playing along?”
Stella raises an eyebrow. “What do I need to do?”
I motion for her to walk with me. “Ask me to come over to your house for dinner tonight, and argue when I say no. Otherwise, just follow my lead.”
Stella’s expression stays bemused, but she joins me in my stroll across the green. She asks the question I prompted gamely enough. “Why don’t you come over to my place for dinner tonight, Elle? My parents would be happy to have you.”
I need to stretch out the conversation until I get closer to Grady. I veer toward his cluster of friends, tucking my fingers around a scrap of paper in my blazer pocket. “I don’t know. It’s a little overwhelming just being back at school.”
“Oh, come on. It’s been too long since we hung out. You’ll feel better if you let your life get back to normal.”
I restrain a laugh at the idea of anything about my life in this reality being “normal” ever again—and catch a stumble at the sight of Kenneth Hearst wandering our way. Our gazes meet for an instant, and his mouth ticks into a smile.
Shit. Surely he doesn’t expect me to have talked to my dad about a work chat while I was getting over a near-murdering?
Grady sidles closer to the school, and my sense of urgency makes the decision for me. Tamping down a pang of guilt, I change course so I dodge Kenneth and pass my targets on the opposite side.
“I’m sure we can find another time,” I say, recovering the thread of conversation with Stella. “Maybe tomorrow?”
She sighs. “Tomorrow I’m supposed to go to my cousin’s birthday dinner. Is it really that big a deal?”
I thank her silently for the opening and plant myself a few feet beyond Grady and his friends. Spinning toward Stella, I let my satchel thump against my side. Two of the guys glance over at the sound.
I pitch my voice just slightly louder than I need to. “Look, I just—I’ve got something to do tonight. A place I wanted to check out. I’d rather not wait any longer.”
Stella’s eyebrows come up again. “Where are you going?”
“Don’t worry about it.” I produce my best vapid laugh. “I’m going kind of incognito for this—I’ll have to sneak out or my dad will have a fit. If it works out, I’m sure you’ll hear all about it soon.”
I nudge her to keep walking toward the school. As I take out my hand to open my satchel, I surreptitiously “knock” the scrap of paper from my pocket.
The torn paper floats to the ground where anyone who’s curious about what I was saying—and where I might be sneaking out to tonight—can snatch it up. I don’t risk looking back to see if Grady’s group takes the bait.
If they do, they’ll find the address for Groove Garden jotted down on it.
Whoever has it out for me, they shouldn’t know that I’ve already scoped out the dance club recently.
I was there under an illusion. If that place is at all related to whatever put a target on Other Elodie’s back, hearing that I’m going there—for the first time or again, depending on how much they know about my double’s activities—will hopefully push them into action.
At the very least, it’ll suggest that I’ll be out in the city alone and vulnerable tonight, if anyone’s inclined to make another attempt at my life.
Stella opens her mouth to continue the conversation, and I give her a subtle shake of my head. She stays quiet until we’ve reached the front steps. Then she looks over at me. “You’re not really sneaking out of your house tonight, are you?”
I scoff as if the idea is absurd. “Of course not. The police just want to see what’ll happen if word gets out that I might.”
I’m better off with her thinking I was coached by the cops rather than tackling the problem on my own. I don’t want her tattling to my dad.
“Very mysterious.” Stella offers me a crooked smile. “Well, I’m happy I helped. You watch out for yourself, all right.”
“Believe me, I will.”
We part ways before our first class to head to our respective lockers. I’m shaking off the lingering jitters of my gambit, trying not to think ahead to tonight’s more hazardous scheme just yet, when an unexpected presence slinks past me.
Simone Palenti snaps the gum she’s chewing and juts her chin at me, propping herself against the neighboring locker. “You just can’t take a hint, huh?”
I drop my Sensory Magic textbook into my satchel and peer at her. “What?”
I didn’t think we had any issues between us. She didn’t seem hostile when I suggested we partner up for the divination exercise a few weeks ago, and I don’t remember anything going horribly wrong during it. I can’t see her being offended by Professor Raith’s accusations about my lack of commitment.
At the moment, she appears to be testing out whether looks can kill. Her dark eyes sear into mine. “He’s not yours to play around with. Find another boy toy, Devine.”
All I can do is stare back at her. “I—what? I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She scoffs and then jerks her thumb past her neck in a slitting gesture. “You got in Sal’s head somehow, but we both know you’d never go all in on him. So fuck off. Or maybe I’ll help whoever else already wants you gone.”
She shoves herself away from the lockers and saunters off, leaving me staring.
Sal—Salvatore.
Are people starting to notice how he’s fixated on me? Was her threat made out of familial concern… or something more?
A glimmer of recognition lights in my head. The way she was talking—the threatening texts I’ve gotten were from her, weren’t they? That’s the hint she’s saying I haven’t taken.
Not that I’ve been encouraging Salvatore’s obsession, but Simone doesn’t seem interested in hearing my side.
My innards wobble as if Arachne’s woven them into a new configuration.
If the text messages were from Simone… She mentioned “whoever else” wanting me gone, presumably referring to the recent murder attempt, as if she didn’t know who was responsible for that incident.
Why would she lie rather than bragging about just how close she’s already come to ending me?
However much she’s threatening me, it doesn’t sound like she’s behind the poisoning. Which would mean the texts have nothing to do with Other Elodie’s killer.
I swallow hard and push my locker door shut with a clang.
It doesn’t matter what I’ve misjudged. I’ve set the pieces of this plan in motion—I’ll just have to see what my net catches.
And hope I haven’t made some horrible miscalculation along the way.