“I can see that. How’s it goin’, Short Straw?” Ridley smiled her sickly sweet smile. It made me want to simultaneously smile back and throw up.
I walked over to the doors slowly, afraid he might not be out there. But he was. Standing on the narrow ledge, on the wrong side of railing, in his flannel pajamas and bare feet. “Dad! Don’t move.”
Ducks. There were mallard ducks on his pajamas, which seemed out of place, considering he might be about to jump off of a building.
“Don’t come any closer, Ethan. Or I’ll jump.” He sounded lucid, determined, and clearer than he had in months. He almost sounded like my dad again. That’s how I knew it wasn’t really him talking, at least, not on his own. This was all Ridley, the Power of Persuasion in overdrive.
“Dad, you don’t want to do that. Let me help you.” I took a few steps toward him.
“Stop right there!” he shouted, holding his hand out in front of him to make his point.
“You don’t want his help, do you, Mitchell? You just want some peace. You just want to see Lila again.” Ridley was leaning against the wall, her lollipop poised and ready.
“Don’t you say my mother’s name, witch!”
“Rid, what are you doin’?” Link was standing in the doorway.
“Stay out of this, Shrinky Dink. You’re way out of your league here.”
I stepped in front of Ridley, putting myself between her and my dad as if my body could somehow deflect her power. “Ridley, why are you doing this? He has nothing to do with Lena or me. If you want to hurt me, hurt me. Just leave my dad out of it.”
She threw her head back and laughed, a sultry and wicked sound. “I could care less about hurting you, Short Straw. I’m just doing my job. It’s nothing personal.”
My blood ran cold.
Her job.
“You’re doing this for Sarafine.”
“Come on, Short Straw, what did you expect? You saw how my uncle treats me. The whole family thing, not really an option for me right now.”
“Rid, what are you talkin’ about? Who’s Sarafine?” Link walked toward her. She looked at him. For a second, I thought I saw something pass across Ridley’s face, just a flicker, but something real. Something that looked almost like genuine emotion.
But Ridley shook it off, and as quickly as it came, it was gone. “I think you want to go back to the party, don’t you, Shrinky Dink? The band is warming up for the second set. Remember, we’re recording this show for your new demo. I’m going to take it around to some of the labels in New York myself,” she purred, staring intently at him. Link looked uncertain, like maybe he did want to go back to the party, but he wasn’t sure.
“Dad, listen to me. You don’t want to do this. She’s controlling you. She can influence people, it’s what she does. Mom would never want you to do this.” I watched for some sign that my words were registering, that he was listening. But there was nothing. He just stared into the darkness. You could hear the sound of bayonets clashing and the battle cries of middle-aged men in the distance.
“Mitchell, you have nothing to live for anymore. You’ve lost your wife, you can’t write anymore, and Ethan will be going to college in a few years. Why don’t you ask him about the shoebox full of college brochures under his bed? You’ll be all alone.”
“Shut up!”
Ridley turned to face me, unwrapping a cherry lollipop. “I’m sorry about this, Short Straw. I really am. But everyone has a part to play, and this is mine. Your dad is going to have a little accident tonight. Just like your mom did.”
“What did you say?” I knew Link was talking, but I couldn’t hear his voice. I couldn’t hear anything but what she had just said, replaying over and over in my head.
Just like your mom did.
“Did you kill my mother?” I started advancing. I didn’t care what kind of powers she had. If she killed my mother…
“Settle down, big boy. It wasn’t me. That was a little before my time.”
“Ethan, what the hell’s goin’ on?” Link was beside me.
“She’s not what she seems, man. She’s…” I didn’t know how to explain it so Link would understand. “She’s a Siren. It’s like a witch. And she’s been controlling you just like she’s controlling my dad right now.”
Link started to laugh. “A witch. You’re losin’ it, man.”
I didn’t take my eyes off Ridley. She smiled and ran her fingers through Link’s hair. “Come on baby, you know you love a bad girl.”
I had no idea what she was capable of, but after her little demonstration at Ravenwood, I knew she could kill any one of us. I should never have treated her like she was just some harmless party girl. I was in over my head. I was only just beginning to realize how far.
Link looked from her to me. He didn’t know what to believe.
“I’m not kidding, Link. I should have told you sooner, but I swear I’m telling the truth. Why else would she be trying to kill my father?”
Link started to pace. He didn’t believe me. He probably thought I was going crazy. It sounded crazy to me, even as I was saying it. “Ridley, is that true? Have you been usin’ some kinda power on me this whole time?”
“If you want to split hairs.”
My dad let go of the railing with one hand. He extended his arm like he was trying to balance on a tightrope.
“Dad, don’t do it!”
“Rid, don’t do this.” Link was walking toward her, slowly. I could hear the chain from his wallet jingling.
“Didn’t you hear what your friend said? I’m a witch. A bad one.” She took off her shades, revealing those golden feline eyes. I could hear Link’s breath catch in his throat, as if he was really seeing her for the first time. But only for a second.
“Maybe you are, but you aren’t all bad. I know that. We’ve spent time together. We’ve shared things.”
“That was part of the plan, Hot Rod. I needed an in, so I could stay close to Lena.”
Link’s face dropped. Whatever Ridley had done to him, whatever she had Cast, his feelings for her were bigger than that. “So it was all crap? I don’t believe you.”
“Believe what you want, it’s the truth. As close to the truth as I’m capable of, anyway.”
I watched my dad shift his weight, his free arm still stretched outward, swaying up and down. It seemed like he was trying to test his wings, to see if he could fly. A few feet away, an artillery shell hit the ground outside and a spray of dirt burst into the air.
“What about everything you told me about you and Lena growin’ up together? How you two were like sisters? Why would you want to hurt her?” Something passed across her face. I wasn’t sure, but it almost looked like regret. Was that possible?
“It’s not up to me. I’m not the one calling the shots. Like I said, this is my job. Get Ethan away from Lena. I’ve got nothing against this old guy, but his mind is weak. You know, one biscuit short of a picnic.” She licked her lollipop. “He was just an easy target.”
Get Ethan away from Lena.
This whole thing was a diversion to separate us. I could hear Arelia’s voice as clearly as if she was still kneeling over me.
It’s not the house that protects her. No Caster can come between them.
How could I have been so stupid? It wasn’t a question of whether or not I had some kind of power. It was never about me. It was about us.
The power was what was between us, what had always been between us. Finding each other on Route 9 in the rain. Turning the same way at the fork in the road. It didn’t take a Binding Cast to keep us together. Now that they had managed to separate us, I was powerless. And Lena was alone, on the night she needed me with her the most.