Page 86 of A Lesson in Deceit
I gave Grayson a look of confusion, swinging my head back to the Chancellor.
“Oh, don’t be upset with him. Anyone in his position would have likely done the same thing. I don’t like threatening my student’s college careers, but when push comes to shove and all that.” The Chancellor walked over to Grayson, patting his shoulder. My shadow wielder tensed, his brown eyes finding mine, pleading with me as if I understood any of this.
River’s dad cleared his throat. “I can take the boy back. He served his purpose.”
Chancellor Fowler thought this over, nodding. “Right. Have him release the new girls while he’s at it.”
New girls? What the fuck was going on?
“Girls? Wait…the witches…” I shook my head at Grayson. “The ones that went missing and then they came back. They said they got whisked away but don’t remember anything…” I thought back to how we even got here. It was like being in a silent black tunnel. It was soothing but only because I knew it was Grayson. The feeling wouldn’t be the same for someone who has no idea it’s him. I looked down at his hands, seeing that his dampener ring was missing. “It was you.”
Grayson closed his eyes. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t have a choice.”
“You always have a fucking choice! Why did you do it?”
Mr. St. James laughed darkly. “Because we told him to. Unless he wanted to explain to his parents why his scholarship money just went away and why his senior year would be an entire fucking waste.”
“I never hurt them, Riley. I just took them to a location and I would bring them back when I was told. Please, you have to believe me,” Grayson begged.
I ignored him, tuning him out and looked at Chancellor Fowler. “Why am I here? All those girls you took were witches. I’m not a witch.”
Chancellor Fowler held his stomach as he laughed, looking at me almost fondly. “Of course you are. Everything you did back at the school, the little mess I just cleaned up. Undisciplined telekinesis.”
“I—I, but….” I stepped away from him, my eyes narrowed. “You have…you…. all the other witches…” My mouth moved but I couldn’t seem to finish any sentence I started. I swallowed as he raised his eyebrows expectantly. “You killed my dad.”
Grayson’s brows turned down. “You did what?”
Chancellor Fowler raised his hand up, silencing Grayson and stalked towards me. “I killed a man that was getting in my way.”
“He knew you were siphoning magic from the Celica coven witches, so you killed him,” I accused.
His lips tipped up in a smile, as if what I said was funny. “While I did do those things, Thomas didn’t know about it. There is nothing wrong with gaining a little more power from the witches that serve you.”
“Witches that…you aren’t making any sense!” I yelled, moving my hands and two vases flew off the mantle and crashed against the wall.
“Thomas wanted to claim something that wasn’t his and I was going to get it back. With the help of your dear Grayson, I was able to weed through the wrong ones and finally find the right one.” He reached out his hand, dragging his knuckles along my jaw. I flinched, stepping back.
He sighed, walking over to one of the velvet couches and sat down. He motioned towards the couch across from him.“Sit down, Riley, and let’s talk this through. Like adults. Clearly your mother did not teach you how to speak to your superiors.” He casually moved his hand toward the large fireplace and flames shot out of his fingertips. The flames jolted towards the wood and took hold, creating a luminous fire. Corrin had said the murderer had natural born elemental magic and telekinesis powers.
I stood my ground. “No.”
“Riley.”
“No.”
Chancellor Fowler nodded at River’s dad, who looked over at Grayson. The Chancellor leaned back, putting one of his feet up on the coffee table. “Grayson, why don’t you grab me my little surprise for our guest? It’s where we kept the girls. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you see it.”
Grayson let air out through his nose but shadowed himself away. After a moment he was back with someone in tow. I pressed my hand to my mouth when I saw Marianne with him. She looked scared. Her voice shook. “Riley…what’s going on?”
“I swear I didn’t know I was going to get her. I didn’t think she was even a part of this!” Grayson yelled, trying to get my attention, but I paid him no mind.
“Of course you didn’t, dear boy. Do you really think you’re the only shadow wielder that works for me?” Chancellor Fowler shook his head. “Now that you have support here, will you please sit down?”
I ran over to Marianne, who grabbed me as if her life depended on it. “No, you’re a monster.”
“You and your mother, both so difficult. That’s what I loved about her. So damn stubborn.” He slung his arm over the back of the couch, getting more comfortable. “Be reasonable and listen.”
I groaned, stomping my foot in frustration and the coffee table flipped up, falling against the ground with a bang. “Stoptalking about my mother like you know her!” Marianne held onto me tighter. She looked as if she had been ready for a night out, ill-prepared to get whisked away for an unknown reason.
