Chapter 4

4

VIOLET

The day's lessons yield nothing but headaches from boredom. By dinner, I've concluded there're no further clues to be found inside classrooms, merely Holly's empty seat as a poke in the eye to remind me she's absent. Oddly, Marci doesn't speak again after class—I thoroughly expected a further interrogation on Holly's absence, and disbelief at her sickness. Nobody else asks about Holly, but that could be people's usual dislike of talking to me.

Some subtle stalking of Marci and her coven leads us to the café, where we pause to plan our next move. I'm awaiting Dorian's call to update me on the search for Viktor, and each time this enters my mind, my pulse speeds.

Viktor must have Holly. Am I using the possibility that Marci's involved to convince myself there's an alternative explanation? After all, as I tell myself, Viktor would've struggled to walk on campus unnoticed. Yet he may have constructs created from witches as well as shifters—he originally planned to reanimate Madison and control her. Witch constructs— possibly students? That opens up a whole other issue and headache.

The room echoes with voices despite the number present, and Marci sits at one of the dark wooden tables across from me, eating salad beside her two friends, alongside the human guy I met at the bowling alley. Two human girls sit at the same table with their backs to me, including Isabella, the head girl.

I haven't spoken to Isabella since Kai's fateful house party where she told me about Grayson's problematic self-control around witches. And told me to smile if I wanted male attention. Ugh. I've seen Isabella around since, but rarely, as I'm not often involved with humans—or the academy at all. Isabella did attend the spring ball, but again, I never bothered speaking with her. At least she's not amongst the group who believe in haunted tiaras.

But as an ex-friend of ex-Wesley, her decision to interact closely with witches stands out. Didn't all Wesley's acquaintances dislike the supes?

"Violet, stop staring at Marci," whispers Rowan.

"I'm observing her."

"Yes, but your glowering. That's confrontational."

"My face always looks like this." Grayson makes a soft, amused sound. "Does Marci still harbor romantic feelings for you, Rowan?" I ask.

Leif splutters soda across the table, and his eyes water as he glances at Rowan, who stares at me. "No. Why?" asks Rowan.

I sink back against my chair and purse my lips. "Marci's endearment to you could assist us in gaining information. She's suspicious about Holly's whereabouts. We're suspicious about her activities, and the possibility Holly's disappearance may be linked to those. We must rule out Marci as a suspect."

"Marci does speak to you too, Violet," he says.

"Yes. But she often insists on referencing your past romance. That suggests Marci may still hold you dear."

"'Hold you dear'." Leif snickers at the phrase. "Violet, Marci mentions Rowan to wind you up. Annoy you."

"And fails." I huff. "The other reason would be preferable."

"You want Marci to want Rowan?" asks Grayson.

"No, I want Rowan to use any affection Marci holds towards him in order to help us. Aren't you listening?"

"Marci spoke to me about this at Kai's birthday." All three of us look at Grayson in horror. " Before my alleged attack on her, Marci cornered me and talked about you two. She isn't jealous, but Marci thinks you're dangerous together."

"Oh. Good." I smile and pick up my coffee. "Then Marci's fear of our potential danger could aid in her admitting the truth."

"You'll threaten Marci?" asks Leif.

"No. But Marci is intelligent. She'd understand the repercussions if people discovered she's involved in illicit practices occurring inside the academy."

"And do you believe Marci is involved in Holly's disappearance?" Leif frowns. "That seems unlikely based on how worried Marci sounds in her messages."

"The alternative is that I meet up with Marci for a one on one," I say, and Rowan throws me a warning look. "Yes, I mean mind reading."

"Apart from Marci reporting you for the crime, the witch would mentally block you," says Rowan. "I've told you before: she's powerful."

"And does she desire more power, as you do?" I suggest.

"Marci?" Rowan shakes his head. "She has her future planned out. Academic excellence. University. High powered position on the council. Marci doesn't mess with illegal magic or her prospects."

"But Marci did create the pendant for Rory, and defaced library books in the process." I grimace.

"That wasn't illegal," says Rowan, inclining his head to where Marci sits. He meets her frosty expression. Hmm. Not warm feelings towards him. "We can talk to Marci, but keep out of her mind."

"Very well. Direct and pertinent questions it is."

Grayson chuckles. "Marci and her friends would never tell you anything. You'll only find answers by watching the group and keeping an eye on academy life."

"A task we'd normally request of Holly." I drain my coffee. "Could you discover more about the brooches and state of human affairs on campus, Leif, or are you ostracized from human social circles since becoming a close companion of mine?"

Grayson laughs again. "'Close companion'"

"Leif would rather I not use the word ‘consort,'" I inform him, rather annoyed at his insensitivity.

"I'll ask someone about the brooches later," says Leif. "Since the incident with Sienna and the tiara, some humans are paranoid. You heard—they believe Holly's disappearance has a supernatural connection. Darwin kids are worried who might be next, and now this mysterious wolf has added more evidence."

"Hmm." I stand. "It's pointless asking you to infiltrate the witch social scene, Rowan. Grayson, perhaps use your stalking skills to listen out for anything amongst Sheridan and Pendle houses?"

"Oh, yeah. Just what I need. Stalking accusations." He scowls at me.

Annoyed, I grab my bag. "Do none of you understand the seriousness of this? Whatever Marci asked Holly to help with, she refused, and silencing Holly is a motive if she ‘knows too much' as they say in human circles. Alternatively, if Viktor somehow found his way on campus, and is responsible for the disappearance, I need to know. Discovering the truth from Marci, and hopefully eliminating her, will help us."

Leif shovels the remainder of his sandwich into his mouth. "I hope Marci is the reason—or is at least involved." I grimace as he talks through the mouthful. "Rather than Viktor."

I chew on my lip and don't respond. Viktor's taunting the other night constantly echoes in my mind. He knew who Holly was. What she looked like. What better way to halt my investigations into him than to misdirect me into searching for a missing friend? One who's under threat from a powerful necromancer.

"Check if Holly posted anything more on Instagram," I say to Rowan.

"Um. I meant to talk to you about that."

"What?" I ask sharply.

"I checked Instagram before, and Holly posted a photo." He swipes his phone and I stare.

The photo uploaded to Instagram depicts a bunch of violets in a vase, with no person in the shot.

Thank you for the flowers they cheered me up. Hope to be back soon! #violets #thornwoodacademy #sickofbeingsick #wishyouwerehere

"Can you look at Holly's account and deduce who posted this?" I say curtly.

"Already did. Checked her laptop before lunch. I'm locked out of Holly's Instagram now," Rowan says. "Every time I log in, I'm kicked out again as if someone is constantly changing the password."

"What does all this mean?" I ask stiffly.

"I've explained Instagram and hashtags before, Violet."

"Who uploaded the picture? Holly?"

"Unlikely."

"Send her a message," I say.

"I'm blocked."

"What?"

"I can't send messages to Holly's account either. You send her a message."

"I don't have an account." He arches a brow, and horror pours into me. "You want me to create one? And do what? Share photos of us holding hands?"

"Or our graveyard visits?" suggests Grayson, and Leif smirks.

Rowan slices the pair a look. "Use the account to send Holly a message."

"And what do I post on my account?"

"Anything you want. Nothing."

"I'll go with the latter."

There's something in Leif's grin when Rowan installs the app on my phone that irks me. I don't miss the irony here—when Holly nagged me to create an account, I refused, and now I'm doing so to communicate with a possibly fake Holly.

Definitely fake. There's no possibility that she'd stay away this long and lie to everybody. Even if Holly didn't want to communicate with me, she would at least contact a friend at the academy.

"What name should I use for your Instagram profile?" Rowan asks me.

"Not sweet Violet," I warn him.

He clamps his lips together and nods, but I swear he's fighting amusement.

"Profile picture?" asks Rowan, and my disgust grows. "Fine. Just you're name. You can always add something later."

"Not happening." I take the phone. "What do I do now?"

With a sigh, Leif leans over and takes hold, swiftly navigating through the app. "I sent a follow request from you to Holly. Type her a message here. I expect whoever is impersonating Holly will respond to both."

"Very well."

I type and send:

This is Violet. Who are you? You are not Holly. I will find you, and you will regret your actions.

"Hmm. Subtle," says Rowan with a sigh.

"And now?" I ask.

"Now we wait," says Leif and takes the phone back from me.

"How long for?" I demand.

"However long this person decides to leave you in suspense," says Rowan cautiously.

I stand, violently scraping back the chair, and people's heads turn in alarm at the noise. "I am wasting time."

"Shush," says Rowan. "Don't say anything people can hear."

My teeth grind. "I need to go over my notes and plan my next move. I'm not waiting for Viktor or whoever to contact me."

Grayson straightens and Leif stands too. "You need a break to get your head straight. Violet, you've done nothing but gather information since yesterday. I bet you didn't sleep."

With an exasperated noise, I stomp from the café, and Leif catches up with me. "I need to get out there and find Holly!"

"Violet." He motions his hand to quieten me. "I'll ask around about the brooches, okay? You look over everything you've discovered so far, and then follow Grayson's advice. Take a break."

I nod, and Leif swipes a hand across the top of his head, his brow lowering as a thought flickers across his face. "Are you okay?" I ask.

He smiles weakly. "Yeah. Still worried about that Viktor thing."

"Oh. We should talk about that too," I suggest. "Dorian promised to update me about a solution later, although he's still mad that I won't return to Scotland until we find Holly."

"Sure." He wrinkles his nose. "I'd like to get away from all this shit for a while too, Violet, but that won't happen."

He holds my head and presses a kiss to my forehead then pokes my nose. "I'll ask about the brooches, and if you're really lucky, I'll bring you one as a gift later."

"Thank you, Leif," I say quietly.

Leif is not coping, and I'd lost sight of that with Holly's disappearance dominating my mind. Leif needs my help, too. I've asked Dorian to counter the spell Viktor used, or to find somebody who can, and he's bringing witches in. But part of the old Violet lingers in my thoughts—what if there're clues in Leif's mind that would disappear once the spell does?