Wicked As You Wish (A Hundred Names for Magic #1) - Rin Chupeco Page 0,41

stood between her and the exit, which presented a problem. How fast could it run? Could she outrun it? Every ghost in every horror movie she had ever seen seemed to point to no.

The shuffling noises drew closer. She swallowed hard, pressing her back against a locker. For the first time in her life, she contemplated crawling willingly inside one.

The sudden clang of a locker door slamming shut nearly made her scream. But when she gathered enough courage to peek around the corner toward the noise, she only saw Alex, and relief spread through her. He was frowning at one of the lockers, jiggling at a combination lock. Much to her amazement, Lynn was also there, twiddling her thumbs nervously.

“You really don’t know what his combination is?” Alex asked her.

She shook her head. “I know where his locker is, but not that. I’m sorry…”

“That’s all right.” Alex looked around. “Are you there?” he asked aloud.

Tala started, but it was the firebird who moved, trotting out toward him.

“I’m gonna need a little help with this.”

The firebird complied. A sudden tornado of flame made short work of the lock, and the locker door fell open. Lynn screamed, jumping back. “How did you do that?” She quavered.

“I’ll explain everything later.” Alex reached in, wrinkling his nose, and tossed several pieces of dirty clothes out before finding a cell phone.

He thumbed through the screen, paused, and heaved a sigh of relief. “I don’t think he’s uploaded it yet. Must have been waiting to blackmail me first.”

“I don’t understand. What’s going on? Chris said that you were gay…”

“Lynn.” Alex spun, took her in his arms. “Thank you for everything,” he said gently. “And I’m really sorry. I don’t want you involved in any of this. If I were someone else, I would have asked you out.”

“Alex, what—”

He bent down and kissed her, cutting off her response.

Tala gasped. Alex, you asshole.

The poor girl’s mouth opened and closed like a fish who’d realized too late it was flopping on dry land. And then it firmed and expanded, even as her lips thinned and disappeared completely. Lynn’s skin began to take on greenish hues, her body shrinking until her clothes swallowed her up. The whole process lasted no more than a few seconds, until all Tala could see of Lynn Hughes was her tank top, discarded next to her skirt and underwear. From somewhere inside the strewn clothing something moved feebly and croaked.

“I really am sorry,” Alex told the frog sincerely, fishing it out and setting her gently on a nearby bench. “But I can’t have you remembering any of this.”

“What a wonderful curse, Your Highness.”

Tala stilled. So did Alex. A shape had formed at the opposite end of the room, air steaming around it. Before Alex could react, ice sprung up at his feet. Rapidly, it climbed past his ankles and calves, trapping him in place. Alex swore and struggled, fighting hard to break free. The firebird snarled, but a sudden blast of cold air sent it stumbling out of Tala’s vision.

A figure finally materialized. It had the face of a beautiful woman, with long white hair and pale skin. She wore a mantle made of green-tinged ice, whipped about by unseen winds. It was her feet that Tala had seen earlier, still bare, still that odd blue color. Everything about her looked cold and brittle. Her eyes were of the very lightest blue, devoid of all but the barest mazarine color, with irises so contracted, they were nothing more than small black dots. Her features had a grayish cast to them, and her waxy skin stretched tautly over her face, giving the appearance of an elastic, but still lovely skull. Thick tendrils of cold air floated about her as if she were enveloped in her own personal fog. She resembled the ice-like woman that had attacked her at the bonfire; different enough features, but created in much the same way.

“We’ve been looking for you for so long, Your Highness.” Her voice was harsh, cutting sharply through the air. “An unusual spell, your curse. But such an ingenuous one:

In shifting ice a prince you’ll kiss, and the first shall be forgiven;

The sword rises twice from palace stone, and the second shall be forgiven;

Pledge your love to the blackest flag, and the third shall be forgiven;

And then, my dear—and only then,

Shall you lift that which was forbidden.

“Is that not what the old witch told you?”

“That is none of your business, ice hag,” Alex snapped, though his face was