Redeemed by Heather Fledderus (best novel books to read .txt) 📕

“Well, no one is going to find out anything about what happened on the bus except that there were engine troubles.”

Zen barked a laugh. “Engine troubles. That’s a good one. I’ll have to try to remember that for the future.” She turned thoughtful. “So no one knows that I killed a Reaver, and no one’s going to find out?”

Jamie dropped her book and stared at her in surprise. So did Candace, minus the book dropping since she wasn’t holding one to begin with. “How do you do that?”

“Simple. Actually, I don’t know, which is why I’m asking you.”

Candace shook her head. “Yeah, it works like that. Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with us.”

“The spell’s a nuisance really, considering how easy it would be to get around it. I mean, it’s like playing Pictionary, where people already have a basic idea of what happened. A couple guesses and you know the majority of the story.”

Jamie noticed Candace constantly glancing towards the door. “Hey, we’ve got an hour before lights out,” she said, elbowing her friend. “We can go visit if you want.”

Candace glanced around them, saw that people were settling in, grabbing tooth brushes and headed for the bathroom. She took a deep breath and nodded. She had been simultaneously looking forward to and dreading the visit. Sylvia might have taken a turn for the better, or she might have spiraled further into her coma. Either way, having Jamie there would make it a little easier.

The two were almost out the door when Zen vaulted up and caught up to them, her long strides covering the distance in very little time. “Where we going?” she asked cheerfully.

“There’s a student in the infirmary. We were just going to check up on her,” Jamie answered.

Zen nodded. “I’ll join you.”

Before Candace could dissuade her, Jamie grinned and said “Sure”. Candace’s shoulders slumped as the three of them left the room.

The infirmary was quiet, empty except for its one patient and Madame Kirena, the nurse on staff. Doctors who treated wizards were a rarity. Sylvia’s father was constantly traveling, dealing with the most horrific of illnesses and wounds. Unsurprisingly, the majority of his patients were victims of Grimwore attacks, with wounds so obviously not normal that they weren’t allowed anywhere near a human hospital, even if a wizard specialist worked there.

The infirmary was smallish. One side held windows that looked out at the Seraph statue, which stood directly between the infirmary and the dorms. Beds lined the sides, fifty to a side. At times, hunters from the frontlines would be sent here to recover if the medic tents that they normally went to were overcrowded. Most of the medical instruments were hidden from view. This was the recovery room afterall, not the surgical theater.

Sylvia was in a bed that had been turned different from the rest so that her back wasn’t to the window but was now on her left side. Zen blanched at the door, and had settled with sitting beside it, saying that she probably shouldn’t come in. Her eyes had flicked over the room, resting for the briefest of moments on Sylvia’s comatose body before coming to that declaration.

Candace and Jamie approached Sylvia’s bed quietly, the way one always does when a person is sleeping. After all, that’s what Sylvia made it look like. Her blonde hair was immaculate, as if she had just decided to take a nap after getting ready for classes. Of course, Sylvia would be mortified if she found out that her hair was out of its standard short pig tails that poked out from her head like horns that had been set a little too far back. Her chest rose and fell steadily, her lips parted slightly as she slept. Sylvia never snored, which Candace had been grateful for when they were roommates but now wished Sylvia was a loud sleeper. Even snoring was better than nothing. Her eyelids flickered, but didn’t open as Candace pulled up the chair beside her.

“You know it’s not your fault, right?” Jamie said quietly behind her.

But it was. Not for the reasons that everyone assumed though. It had been her fault. They never would have figured out that last clue if it hadn’t been for her. Heck, they wouldn’t have figured out half those clues if she hadn’t let her head get filled with air at the idea that she was talking with the most popular boy in their year.

Because of her stupidity, Fitz was dead and his sister was in a coma, oblivious to that fact. And no one knew what was wrong with her. What would Candace do when she woke up? If she woke up? She simply sat there, unsure of the answers. The same questions that had haunted her all summer swirling around in her mind as she tried to make sense of it. Even Jamie’s presence didn’t seem to help. Candace felt completely alone. What had the three of them found down there?

After an hour, Madame Kirena came over and told them that it was time to go. Despite being short, Madame Kirena had a no-nonsense attitude about her that even the most brazen of hunters obeyed. Zen was still outside the door, her eyes closed as her head leaned back against the doorframe. Candace kicked her lightly with a boot. Zen’s eyes snapped open and she hauled herself to her feet.

It was ten minutes past lights out by the time they made it back to the common room, but they didn’t run into any of the teachers who were supposed to be making their rounds. The few lights still on in the room were kept as dim as possible, and the noise level had settled down to a whisper. But something was definitely wrong.

Her first clue was the smirk that played on Rhilla’s lips when she saw them enter, along with the other satisfied, knowing looks that her two minions had. The way that the others looked at her as she walked past them only added to the sinking feeling in her stomach. Then she saw her bags.

Someone had dumped all of her things on the floor, laying out for the whole world to see what she had packed, including the stuffed bear that Fitz had won for her at the carnival last year. What was left of it. She stared at the shredded fur, a bit of stuffing coming loose and falling to the floor where other pieces lay. One of its eyes was missing. After seeing Sylvia, she felt nothing.

Beside her, Zen swore loudly and turned on the rest of the room. “Where is it!” she roared even as she stormed back to the center of the room.

Rhilla played innocent. “Where’s what?” Candace could see in her eyes though that she knew exactly what Zen wanted.

Zen glared at her, her rage glowing about her with a faint red hue. It swirled around her like smoke, and Candace couldn’t help but stare. Since when had she been able to see people actually call on their magic?

Zen lowered her voice back to normal. “I will give you three seconds to give it back.” Her voice sounded calm, but the red around her glowed brighter.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Rhilla said, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder.

“If you make me find it myself, it will be on your own head.”

There was absolute silence in the room for a moment. “Curveen dach,” Zen hissed, her eyes never leaving Rhilla’s as her hand struck out to the side. Her sheathed sword shot towards her from where it lay under Andrea’s things and slapped into her open palm, the gem in the hilt glowing bright blue. Zen drew it free of its scabbard with her right hand, inspecting the blade.

“What? Are you going to fight me now?”

Zen stared at her, the aura still palpable, but dimming. After letting the silence drag on for a while longer, she straightened and sheathed the sword. “You are not worthy,” she said dismissively, turning her back on the rest of the students and walking to the door. She hesitated in the doorway, as if a thought had just struck her. She turned and looked to where Candace and Jamie were. She raised her free hand and muttered something, her palm glowing blue with the spell. Everyone watched as Candace’s things were whisked neatly back into her bags and the bags zipped themselves shut. The stuffed bear re-stuffed itself and became whole once more, minus the one button.

Zen gave her a quick smile while everyone was distracted. “I strongly suggest that you all ask Brielle, that snooty little second year about the consequences of the spell I cast on her. That same spell is now guarding Candace and Jamie’s things as well as my own so that only we may touch them and not activate the latent spell.”

“Those are illegal,” Andrea sputtered.

Zen tipped her head at her, a thoughtful look crossing her face as she considered Andrea’s words. She nodded as if she understood the meaning of what Andrea had just said, a crestfallen look falling on her features. She sighed loudly. “I suppose you’re right. Latent spells would be illegal here, wouldn’t they?” Candace saw more than felt the latent spell be lifted from her bags.

Zen snapped her fingers. “Latent spells are illegal, but apparently pranks aren’t.” With a wolfish smile, she flung her hands out to both sides and a giant gust of wind swept into the room, catching anything that was remotely light and tossing it about, whipping into walls. Girls screamed as they ducked. None of it came near Candace or Jamie, and their things were the only things untouched.

When the spell finally disintegrated, the room was absolute chaos, with girls huddled behind anything solid that might protect them. Candace and Jamie were left standing. Zen was gone.

Jamie laughed and dangled an arm from Candace’s shoulder. “You sure know how to pick ‘em.”

Zen still wasn’t back the next morning, but her things were gone when Candace woke up. Something told her that no one in the room would have dared to touch it after last night’s excitement. Nobody looked her in the eye as she and Jamie headed for the showers. No one stole her towel either, and their things were exactly where they had left them when they got back to the common room. They took their time while the rest of the girls escaped as soon as they could. Already, teams were being formed. And after last night, there was no way that she was going to be able to convince even one other person to join their team.

The week was a lazy one, with more and more of the girls claiming teams, and the rest of the students arriving, including the sixth years who had spent the last three days in the Forest of Mysteries, checking traps and doing all the fun stuff that senior students do. The first years had their initial evaluation for their magic abilities. August was in the bottom third of the class. But she was a lot more cheerful about it than Candace had expected her to be. Not that she