Conspiracies (Mercedes Lackey) - By Mercedes Lackey Page 0,84
marked Tithed, about what we’ve seen written on the Oak, about what Elizabeth told Spirit. All of it. We’re just kids, this isn’t what we should be doing.”
“But Addie—” Spirit began.
“Enough, Spirit.” Addie’s expression hardened. “Look, I understand that figuring all this out is partly your way of handling that your family is gone. I get that. I get that since your magic hasn’t bubbled up yet, this is your way of feeling effective. But it’s gone way beyond what we can do now. We need to stop, let someone else take over, and do what they tell us to do.”
She looked around at the others; all of them were nodding, even Loch. Her heart sank. Could they be right? Could she be trying to keep them involved in solving the problem, rather than turning it over to more competent people, just because she couldn’t bear to come to terms with her family’s death?
I need to talk to Doc Mac, she thought—but then she’d have to tell him everything. Could she trust him? She tried to remember. Did he wear one of the pins with the black snake on it?
And did that black snake even mean anything? Was Muirin right about that, too?
“Look,” she said desperately. “There is something we need to keep looking at! They keep telling us we’re all Legacies here, right? No one just pulled in off the street to go to Oakhurst. One or both of our parents had to be Oakhurst grads, even though they never told us about it. Which could make sense since Oakhurst is kind of secret, and for all we know, the other kids’ parents told them, and ours were just keeping things back.”
Addie nodded, but there was a look of faint impatience on her face. “Yes. So?”
“And have you seen anyone around here who didn’t have magic?” Other than me.
They all shook their heads.
“I know for a fact my parents didn’t have a smidge of magic. And they weren’t hooked up like the Riders are.” She ran her hands through her hair nervously. “OK, maybe they chose to give up the magic and the perks, like being in a witness protection program so they could just bail.” Like Burke wants to, she thought, and a shadow of guilt passed over Burke’s face, confirming her thought. “And maybe the kids that didn’t get Tithed to the Hunt but actually do leave are doing that. But we’re orphans, and underage, and we can’t just leave and get jobs or inherit anything without a guardian and not everybody has Trust Funds to do that. So our parents being Oakhurst grads and us not knowing that, and—well, everything—it only makes sense if there’s another Oakhurst somewhere. One where no one has magic, or at least, no one uses it, ever.” She turned to Muirin. “Remember what Madison Lane-Rider told you about magic not being the only way you get noticed? So if you wanted, you could get all hooked up and get rich and all that without having and using magic at this other place. But unless it exists none of this makes sense—”
“Spirit, you’re starting to sound like Elizabeth,” Burke said, quietly. “Come to the point, will you?”
Now even Burke …
“We need to find out if there are any kids here who aren’t Legacies. We need to find out if there’s anyone here who is not an orphan—”
Muirin raised her hand. “Duh. Me.”
“Your stepmother doesn’t count,” Addie and Loch chorused. They looked at each other. Loch shrugged. “She doesn’t,” Addie continued. “She doesn’t want you, she’s been trying to dump you anywhere but with her, and besides, she doesn’t control your money, your Trust does.”
“And the third thing is—” Spirit rubbed her aching temples. “We need to find out if any of the Alumns have kids, if the kids are magicians, and if so, why they aren’t here.”
“And what will all this prove?” Muirin demanded.
“If we find out that we’ve been lied to about any of that, which is, like, pretty basic and important—what else did they lie to us about?” Spirit replied, feeling a horrible headache coming on. “I mean look, maybe it means what happened to our parents wasn’t—”
“What? You’re trying to say that what happened to our parents was murder, is that it?” Addie said, her tone icy. “And then what? If we’ve been lied to, maybe it was Oakhurst that killed them, or someone inside Oakhurst? More Shadow Knights? More conspiracy?”