Bitter Demons

32. They Can't Keep Us Apart

School on Monday was a nuisance. All I wanted to do was figure out who this crow witch was, but instead, I was forced to endure things like poetry and calculus. The only good thing about being back in school was that I could at least see Jackson and ask him why he agreed that we shouldn't see each other. The Order couldn't possibly be watching us at all times, and I figured school was a safe place to try to talk to him. Besides, he needed to know about the black roses.

I missed riding to school with him. The Shadowford van was more than quiet this morning. Courtney was reading a book, and Mary Anne was even more sullen than usual. I was happy to finally get to school and find Lark and Allison waiting for me by the statue. Unfortunately, Brooke was there, too. I hadn't talked to her at all since the party Friday night, and frankly I didn't really have anything to say to her. As far as I was concerned, she was just another member of the Order now.

"You've got to tell us all about it," Allison said, grabbing my arm. "Did you really find Caroline all by yourself?"

"My mom said you single-handedly broke a spell that no one in the Order knew could be broken," Lark said.

"It wasn't that big a deal," I said with a shrug.

"See?" Brooke said. "I told you it wasn't that exciting."

She turned and started walking toward the building. I stuck my tongue out at her and Lark laughed. I was tired of Brooke's attitude. She was obviously jealous of the attention I was getting for being the future. Well, if she wanted my power, she could have it.

The thought stopped me dead in my tracks.

Brooke wasn't on my list of possible suspects, but I suddenly realized she had a clear motive. I didn't know how she might have access to dark magic or the ability to shape-shift, but she definitely had a reason for wanting to steal my power.

Then, I realized that the first time I ever saw the crow was after I heard Brooke talking about me behind my back. She couldn't be the crow unless there were two of them, and I highly doubted that. I'd only ever seen one, and it couldn't have been Brooke.

I guess I was relieved to find that it wasn't yet another one of my supposedly best friends trying to kill me. On the other hand, I was no closer to solving this mystery.

"See you guys at practice this afternoon?" Allison said.

Brooke gave a half-hearted wave and disappeared into her homeroom class. The rest of us parted ways and headed to our own classes.

I had to stop by my locker really quick to drop off some of the heavy books I'd brought home and hadn't opened. When I opened the door to my locker, a small white piece of paper fluttered onto the floor. My stomach did a little back-flip as I leaned over to pick it up.

I looked around to make sure no one was watching me, then opened the note.

Lunch. Meet me where we first talked.

A secret note from Jackson! I had to stop myself from jumping up and down and squealing with joy. Was it possible he wanted to see me as badly as I wanted to see him?

The rest of the morning passed by so slowly. It seemed like every teacher wanted to drone on and on about the most boring topic all year just to make time move slower. When the bell rang for lunch, I bolted from my desk and headed to the spot behind the cafeteria where Jackson sometimes liked to hang out.

Lark raised her hand in a wave as I walked out the double doors. I just waved back and kept moving. The wind blew my hair all around, and I pulled my jacket tighter to my body. I stood in the courtyard for a moment just to be sure I wasn't followed, then slipped behind the building.