The Ravens (The Ravens #1) - Kass Morgan Page 0,53
Betas said, the orange flames reflecting in her dark eyes. She reached for her cell.
“We don’t want to get another house in trouble, even if they deserve it,” Scarlett said, trying to defuse the situation. She threw Dahlia a panicked look. Dahlia whispered something under her breath and Scarlett felt the telltale hum of magic. Immediately, the Tri Beta’s eyes glazed over, and the entire crowd became subdued. The Tri Beta turned on her heel and walked back to her house; the rest of the students scattered as well, returning to the bikes they’d let fall on the grass or wandering back into their houses.
“Holy shit,” Scarlett breathed shakily as soon as everyone had dispersed. Then, without a moment’s hesitation, she summoned her magic. Electricity crackled in her veins; her fingertips burned. She reached out, pushing wider and wider until it felt like every drop of water in the atmosphere was singing to her, caught in her expanding web. She knit the molecules together tighter and tighter and then, with a final burst, released them. Immediately a soaking rain began to fall. The flames hissed and sputtered before finally going out. Scarlett fell to her knees, spent.
The charred husks leered at them until Mei cast a spell that caused them to crumble to dust, then she glamoured away the scorch marks in the grass. “That could have been really bad,” Mei said, breathing hard from her efforts.
“Understatement.” Scarlett shook her head as she got back to her feet. “Dahlia, something is really wrong here,” she said, putting words to the mounting feeling of unease that had gripped her body ever since she’d seen the first lick of flame. “First the tarot cards, now this. I don’t think they’re coincidences or harmless pranks. Someone is gunning for us, and they’re getting more daring.”
Scarlett expected Dahlia to argue with her, but the older girl just nodded. “This doesn’t feel like a random coincidence. Someone wants to hurt us—or expose us.”
“Then we have to protect ourselves,” Tiffany said firmly. “We’re witches. We’re powerful. It’s our duty to keep our sisters—and our secret—safe.”
“What about the Hell Week task tomorrow night at the graveyard?” Scarlett asked Dahlia. “Maybe we do something else? We could have the sophomores whip up a graveyard in the backyard tout de suite.”
Dahlia thought about it for a moment, tapping her magically flawless manicured nails against her palm. “No, it stays on. It’s tradition. And we are not going to be scared off by some maniac. Tiffany, Mei, and I will come with you to help monitor.” When Scarlett nodded, Dahlia went on. “Mei, come back into the house with me. I want to check our protective spells. Tiff, Scarlett, please tell the others to be on alert.”
As Mei and Dahlia walked back toward Kappa House, Scarlett turned to Tiffany. “I can send a house-wide text to stay on alert—” She broke off. She’d just seen a flash of black hair beneath a streetlamp at the end of the road.
Gwen.
The girl’s eyes were narrowed, her mouth an angry red slash. As soon as Scarlett caught her eye, she stepped away from the light and disappeared into the darkness.
“Tiff.” Scarlett grabbed Tiffany’s arm.
“I know, I saw her too,” Tiffany said grimly.
A chill traveled down Scarlett’s spine. “You have to admit it’s weird timing. Gwen shows up, back on campus after all these months, right when strange stuff starts happening.”
Tiffany raised her eyebrows. “What are you implying? You think she’s behind it all?”
“Is it really so hard to believe?” Scarlett asked.
“But we cast a protection spell on the house; she can’t step foot on the property without feeling like she’s walking on coals or whatever torture Dahlia added to that spell . . .”
Scarlett knew what Tiffany was doing—she was trying to deny the only explanation that made sense. The only explanation that made this their fault. But Scarlett knew in her heart that somehow Gwen had gotten around the spell and done this.
“I did a spell last night looking for bad intentions on campus.”
Tiffany inhaled sharply and a shadow fell over her face. “What did it tell you?”
“Well, nothing specific,” Scarlett admitted. “The spell kind of exploded, but I know what I felt. It was really . . . dark.”
There was another type of magic, one that was darker and more dangerous than what the Ravens practiced. The kind of magic that involved death and pain.
The kind of magic that could get people killed.
But instead of reflecting Scarlett’s own mounting terror, Tiffany’s