Miss Mayhem (Rebel Belle #2)(67)

There was a pause, and I could see Ryan catching Bee’s eye in the rearview mirror. “Four days ago,” he said, and I racked my brain, trying to remember what had happened four days ago.

We’ll think of something, David had said, and I guess he had. Too bad he’d never thought to let me in on this.

“So he comes to you, says he wants your help leaving town,” I clarified, and Bee leaned forward, sticking her head between our shoulders.

“Yes. He chose the night of the pageant because he’d thought you’d be distracted, and he’d hoped that it wouldn’t . . . I don’t know, trigger your Paladin senses or whatever.”

She looked at me, and I could see the whites of her eyes around her dark irises. “He didn’t think it would be dangerous.”

The car rounded the square just as Adolphus Bridgeforth exploded in a shower of sparks and stonework.

All three of us instinctively ducked, and when a large piece of marble bounced against the hood of Ryan’s car, denting it, he gave a groan.

I wanted to remind him that this was all his fault, his and Bee’s for deciding to handle this without me, but then I remembered how much Ryan loved his SUV, and decided that would be adding insult to injury.

“Well, clearly it is,” I said through clenched teeth, and Ryan took his eyes off the road long enough to flash me a panicked glance.

“What’s happening?”

“Those wards Alexander had you put up, genius. Either David did some kind of crazy spell himself to get rid of them, or this is what they do when they’re broken.” Either option seemed possible at this point, and then something occurred to me.

My hand flew to my mouth, stomach clenching. “You put the wards where we’d put the other ones.” I looked at Ryan and saw the same realization dawning on his face.

“We put hundreds of wards on Magnolia House.”

I turned my head east, in the direction of the huge mansion where we’d had Cotillion, and saw a faint orange glow in the sky.

Without a word, Ryan turned the car that way.

Magnolia House was on fire. Cotillion hadn’t destroyed it—although it had come pretty freaking close—but this . . . this had finally done it.

We sat in the car for a while, watching flames lick out of the windows, racing along the white wood, wrapping the huge pillars out front in fire.

“How?” Bee asked, and the words almost stuck in my throat.

“Alexander put up different wards,” I told her. “To keep David here. But they . . . they didn’t work.” One of the upstairs windows suddenly burst outward in a spray of glass. That was the bedroom where I had kissed David for the first time, finally understanding what had been between us for all those years.

“We need to get to him,” I said, even though I hated to do this. “Alexander. Maybe he can stop David.”

I didn’t think that would actually work. I could actually feel David getting farther away from me, a steady pulse beating behind my ribs like a second heartbeat.

I’d failed.

The one job I’d had was to keep him safe, and I hadn’t been able to do that. Saylor had told me that one day, I might have to protect David from himself, but I’d never thought it would be like this. I’d imagined him having too many prophecies, burning up his mind. Never running from town—from me—and leaving this kind of destruction in his wake.

Silently, we drove out of town and onto the dirt road where Alexander had set up headquarters.

I waited for the house to loom out of the darkness, its windows glowing, but the closer we got, the darker it seemed to get. Frowning, I sat forward in the seat, squinting into the inky blackness.

“Where is it?” I said, then glanced over at Ryan. His hands were so tight on the steering wheel, it looked like he could snap it right off, and from the back, I heard Bee take in a sudden sharp breath.

“Harper,” she said softly. “Look.”





Chapter 35


THERE WAS no house left.

It was like Ryan had described that first night, just a charred and broken chimney rising from tall grass, a few stray cinder blocks littering what appeared to be an empty field.

Alexander sat on one of those blocks, his head in his hands. His hair was a mess, his tie dangling limply from his fingers, and it looked like one sleeve of his jacket was singed.

“Holy crap,” Ryan murmured as he stopped the car, and I laid a hand on his sleeve.

“Let me go by myself, okay?” I wasn’t sure why, but this seemed like something that should be between me and Alexander.

I thought both Bee and Ryan would argue that, but neither said a word, and I opened the car door, stepping out on shaking legs.

I took a few steps forward, my high heels crunching on stones and broken glass. My dress snagged on a tall weed, but I kept walking. Overhead, there was no moon, but the sky was full of stars.

And smoke. Not much of it—we were still a few miles outside of town—but I could see the bright glow in the distance and took in a deep breath at the thought of Magnolia House burning.

At the knowledge that my parents were probably frantic and looking for me.

Alexander only lifted his head when I was a foot or so away, and when he did, his face looked . . . broken. His eyes were bloodshot, circled in lines, and when he smiled at me, it was one of the scariest expressions I’d ever seen.