Conspiracies (Mercedes Lackey) - By Mercedes Lackey Page 0,97
know anything about them, except that they’re rich and Oakhurst Alumns. But we do know that the people who attacked Spirit and Loch and Addie were Oakhurst Alumns, too.”
“So the Gatekeepers are also the Shadow Knights?” She rolled her eyes. “Oh come on!”
“The point is not that they are, or that only some of them might be, but that we don’t know!” Burke said earnestly. “Do you see the difference?”
“Yeah. I guess,” Muirin replied.
“I need to go lay down,” Loch said, looking a little green. “They said I was going to feel sick and dizzy for a while and … I’m feeling sick and dizzy.” He got up and wobbled out, Burke going with him to give him an arm.
“Me, too,” Addie replied.
“Too sick for chocolate?” Muirin asked, looking oddly hopeful, then crestfallen when Addie nodded. “Spirit?”
Spirit had the oddest feeling that Muirin was … lonely. Maybe she was all BFF with Madison, but maybe that was just on the surface. “I’d rather just hang out with you,” she said. “’Cause right now, you know, I want to hang with a friend.”
Muirin lit up like a Christmas tree. She immediately tried to cover it, but not that successfully. “Let’s get Addie to her room then.”
The two of them helped Addie get into bed, and Spirit got her a glass of water and some pills she said were for pain. “I’ll be glad when this is healed tomorrow,” she said, as she tried without much result to find a position that didn’t hurt. They turned out her light and left her to try and sleep.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Muirin said as they headed for her room.
“Worth that much? Schadenfreude,” Spirit replied. “The kids from Radial. I know I should feel sorry for them, but they showed up and tried to spook our horses. They kind of got what they deserved. Well, not the one that died,” she amended, “but … you know.”
Muirin blinked at her. “Spirit White, I thought I knew you! You have a dark side!” She opened the door and waited for Spirit to go in.
“Everybody does,” Spirit said, shrugging. “I just don’t show mine that often. It’s still there. You just … I don’t know, you have to know it’s there, and not so much fight it, as … learn from it. About it. I guess. I sound like a moron, don’t I?”
“Nah,” Muirin replied. “Well, a little hippie-dippy with a side of Doc Mac, but that’s not bad.” She flipped on the light and, a moment later, placed a small gold box in Spirit’s hands with a triumphant flourish. Even closed, it smelled of chocolate. I bet this didn’t come from Radial, Spirit thought.
When she looked around the room, it was obvious Madison had been “helping” with the smuggling more than a little. There were new items of clothing in Muirin’s closet that stood out because they weren’t in Oakhurst colors. There was a stack of CDs next to the computer that hadn’t been there before, and Spirit had no doubt that if Muirin hadn’t been so careful about getting rid of the evidence, the little box of chocolate truffles would represent only the tip of the pyramid of junk food she’d been getting in. Briefly, for the millionth time, Spirit wondered how on earth Muirin managed to eat all that and still look good.
She started to pick up some papers off the bed, when she realized she was holding the picture of the runes on the oak … and a lot, a lot of notes.
“Aren’t these the oak-runes?” she exclaimed. “Did you finish the translation?”
“Oh, yeah,” Muirin replied dismissively. “But it doesn’t mean anything. I asked Anastus and Madison, and they said so. Anastus thinks it’s fake, like those Viking runes up in Minnesota.”
Spirit was horrified, but she grabbed her reaction with both hands and held it down so it wouldn’t show on her face. Muirin was finally acting like her old self for the first time in … well, since New Year’s Eve. “Muir—look, I know I sound like I’m beating the same dead horse, but this is the second time we’ve been physically attacked by people wearing Oakhurst class rings. And this time … people died. Me, Loch, and Addie were hurt. We know there’s someone on the opposition team here, and there’s the chance it’s the same at Breakthrough.” Then she decided to use a low blow. “Besides … Anastus? Isn’t it kind of creepy, an old guy like him hanging around you?