Snakes and Shadows Read online

  Penny leaned back against the glass, relief flooding her bones. Red wrapped Amelia in his arms again, holding her tightly.

  “Just don’t say I never took one for the team,” Amelia said quietly. “Next time, Cisco gets to fall for Mr. Tall, Dark, and Deadly.”

  Cisco laughed. “Ok, it’s a deal.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Agent Crenel tapped the paper in front of him. “So let me get this straight. You stole Academy property, almost lost a student to a Cupid spell, gave away your only lead into an organization working against all of society, and let them leave not only with unknown numbers of Book of Thoth copies, but also a Cupid’s arrow in the hands of a cult leader?”

  Penny shrank down in her seat even farther, face burning. “Not how I’d sell it, but yeah. That.”

  Though Cisco, Amelia, and Red were all crammed onto seats next to her, Crenel’s tirade was addressed directly to her.

  “Now, Stuart.” Dean March looked at Agent Crenel over her glasses. “I wouldn’t call neglecting to fill out requisition paperwork stealing. And you yourself said these children haven’t yet been proven to be a credible threat. Surely if they were that dangerous, your operatives would have been able to move on them by now?”

  Crenel’s jaw pulsed. “We got word yesterday—yes, while you were in there putting lives at risk—that your group of ‘children’ has been in contact with a terrorist organization.” Crenel threw his hands up. “So, yes, I would say my organization is about ready to move in.”

  “No!” Penny sat bolt upright, blood draining from her face. “You can’t! That bastard Tobias has those girls under a spell, and they don’t know what they’re doing!”

  Crenel took a slow, painful breath and let it out the same way. He ran a hand through his hair, something he seemed to do a lot in Penny’s presence. “This group they’ve made contact with...they’re no amateurs.” He avoided Penny’s eyes. “We may have no choice.”

  “Oh, bullshit,” Penny spat. “First you said you couldn’t go in because they might be innocent. Now that you know they probably are, you’re gonna lock them up? Shoot them?”

  Crenel lifted his hands in defeat. “What would you have me do? Let them summon Dracula and set him loose on the people of Portland? Let hundreds of innocent people die instead?”

  “No!” Penny clenched her fists and slammed them on the dean’s desk. The dean raised an eyebrow but didn’t otherwise comment. “I don’t know! You’re the professional—you figure it out.”

  “I thought I had figured out something,” Crenel snapped. “I thought I’d figured out I could trust you to come to me first.”

  Suddenly realizing the source of his ire, Penny deflated. “Oh. That. Sorry.”

  “Sorry?” Incredulous, Crenel turned to Dean March. “She’s sorry?”

  “She did say that she was,” the dean replied smoothly.

  Penny swore she saw a hint of laughter in the dean’s eyes. Surely not.

  “I really am,” she said, injecting a note of sincerity into her words. She did mean it. “I just got caught up with everything. I forgot.”

  Slack-jawed, Crenel stared at her for a minute. “That’s it. It’s official. I’m too old for this!” He stood and walked out of the room.

  Penny dropped her head into her hands. “I really screwed this up, didn’t I?”

  “Hey, it wasn’t just you,” Cisco pointed out.

  Penny shook her head. “It was. I promised him I’d keep him in the loop. And…” She didn’t want to say the rest. “And I think I disappointed him.”

  “What, because you didn’t ask his permission to go to dinner?” Amelia asked, skeptical.

  “No.” Penny looked down at her hands. “Because he knows I’m leaving.”

  “What?” Amelia screeched. “You’re leaving?”

  “Come on, Penny. You can’t still be planning to quit! Not now.” Cisco looked as surprised as Amelia. “Not after all we’ve been through.”

  Amelia turned on Cisco. “You knew?” She turned toward Penny, eyes glittering. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. I thought we were friends.”

  Penny reached out and tried to say something, but Amelia was gone.

  “Fuck.” Penny realized the dean was still watching them. “Uh, I mean fudge. Sorry.”

  “Boys, I think Penny and I need to have a little chat.” The dean shot a daggered glance at Cisco and Red, who quickly excused themselves.

  “Do you think Agent Crenel will ever forgive me?” Penny asked in a small voice.

  The dean smiled. “What for? You made your plans clear from the beginning. Stuart just...well, sometimes his expectations exceed reality.”

  “He plucked me from my home,” Penny said, urgency tightening her voice. She had to make someone understood. “I never asked for that scholarship. I was happy in Larrabee, just me and Boots.”

  “You were happy, but were you content?” The dean watched Penny. Once sure she wouldn’t get an answer from the girl, she sighed. “It’s nobody’s decision but yours, Penny. We can’t force you to stay.”

  “I know.” Of course, Penny knew. So why does it feel like I’m betraying my friends?

  The dean slid a drawer open and plucked a sheet of paper off the top. She slid it across to Penny without speaking.

  Penny scanned it quickly. Please be aware that after the agreement is in effect, all students will need to re-sign admittance paperwork and accept the new terms. “I don’t understand.” She handed the paper back. “What is this for?”

  “Something I have been working against for some time, but I’m beginning to realize is necessary for the Academy and for the country.” Dean March carefully put it away. “Mr. Blaisey and I have signed a formal agreement to become an official FBI training organization. I’m sure it won’t change your mind, but I wanted to tell you just in case. Have a nice day, Penny.”

  Penny stood, taking the dismissal for what it was. “Thank you, Dean March.”

  Three weeks passed. Penny had repaired her friendship with Amelia by…. Well, by covering the elephant in the room with an invisibility cloak and feeding it cookies until it dropped into a food coma, too tired to knock anything over.

  Both girls stepped carefully around the subject of the end of the semester. They discussed exams, but not vacation plans; they talked about the change of seasons, but not the return to the Academy.

  Despite the fragile truce, a pit of sadness had opened inside of Penny. She would miss Amelia, and that didn’t begin to describe how she felt about leaving Cisco behind.

  Cisco wasn’t as willing to let the matter drop as Amelia was. Every time he managed to corner Penny, he peppered her with questions. What would she do back in Australia? What would Boots do if Mythers were outlawed? As more people gained the ability to see the supernatural, how would she keep the serpent safe?

  Penny responded by shutting down and refusing to answer. I have a plan, she told herself over and over.

  But did she?

  Of course, I bloody do, she reassured herself. Take Boots home, move out to the bush, and turn into a miserly old spinster, alone in my misery. Penny groaned and pulled the blanket over her head. “Amelia?” she called.

  Instead of answering, Amelia yanked Penny’s blanket away. “You aren’t ready? Penny, we’ll be late!”

  Penny took in Amelia’s padded coat and knitted scarf. “Oh, hell. Tell me it’s not Thursday?”

  “It’s Thursday.” Amelia turned and grabbed a pile of clothes off the floor. She tossed them on the bed. “You dress, I’ll go sneak some breakfast out of the dining hall. Hurry!”

  Penny leaped up and quickly threw on a shirt and jeans. She tossed on her leather jacket and snatched a scarf from Amelia’s bed.

  The door opened just as she was sliding on her good boots.

  “Coffee and a croissant.” Amelia held out a coffee thermos and a wrapped parcel. “You done?”

  Penny nodded, stamping her second boot on before taking the pro
ffered gifts. She flicked the paper napkin to one side and sank her teeth into the pastry.

  “Mmm, yum!” She looked back at the lumpy bedspread. “You coming, Boots, or are you sleeping in?”

  The lump wriggled, and Boots peeked out of a fold in the blanket. She tasted the air, then quickly slithered into the knapsack she had claimed as her own. Penny laughed and hefted it over her shoulder.

  The two girls trotted downstairs. Instead of turning toward the classrooms, they headed toward the back of the school. Professor Marcus was already waiting, and most of the class was with her, hands shoved in pockets as they breathed mist into the air.

  “Everyone here?” Professor Marcus called.

  “Still waiting for Red,” Cisco said. “He overslept.”

  “And Clive.” Mara shook her head. “That boy would sleep through an earthquake. I bet his alarm is screaming in his ear, and he’s totally oblivious.”

  “I’m not going to ask you how you know about his sleeping habits, Mara,” Marcus gently admonished. “But I will remind you that the campus sickbay has contraceptive products free of charge for the safety of our students.”

  Mara mumbled something, her face red.

  “I see those two made up after that paintball debacle,” Penny murmured. Just then, the two missing boys appeared on the verandah.

  “We’re here!” Red grinned and tried to smooth down the hair that he clearly hadn’t combed before leaving his room. “Sorry I was late. I had to drag old Clive here out of his bed. He sleeps like a dead horse!”

  “Mmph.” Clive was dressed, but only just. His belt hung loose, and the buttons on his shirt were crooked. He rubbed his eyes, then breathed on his hand and sniffed it. “Close enough.”

  “Ew.” Mara turned her back on him, shuffling closer to Kathy.

  “Ahem.” Professor Marcus turned and gestured to the students. “Come on, before we miss it.”

  “Miss what?” Kathy asked. “Breakfast?”

  The professor hushed her, and they walked silently down the length of the Academy lawn. When they reached the pine trees, she held up a hand.

  “We must be quiet and move carefully, or we will scare them off.” Ignoring the whispered questions, she moved farther into the dappled shadows.

  Not long after, she stopped again, dropping to a kneel and waving at the students to gather around. She pointed into a tiny clearing, where sunlight streamed through a break in the trees and sparkled on dewy cobwebs.

  Penny crept closer, heart in her mouth. She put her bag down, and as if understanding the need for subtlety, Boots carefully nosed her way out. She could see the circle of tiny red mushrooms that enclosed the surreal sunbeam.

  “Softly, now,” the professor whispered.

  Penny glanced over to her. The childlike wonder on the young teacher's face was touching. When Penny looked back, she realized why Katie Marcus was so enamored.

  Two feet off the ground, flitting amongst the light and shadows, three fairies danced. Their tiny feet moved as though they stood on clouds while their wings fluttered in a quick blur. One held a yellow feather the same color as her dress and twirled it like a parasol.

  As Penny’s breath caught in her throat, Boots silently made her way to the middle of the circle. The fairies swooped down, seemingly delighted by their visitor. One alighted on Boot’s head, twirling a pirouette, while another sat on her tail, clinging to it as it undulated through the grass. Their dresses sparkled, their colors softly echoing Boots’ rainbow patterns.

  The third fairy—the one with the feather—fluttered over to a spiderweb. She looped the web around and fastened it into a circle, then attached the feather. Wings slowing, she drifted down to drop the makeshift necklace around Boots’ head.

  “That’s so beautiful.” Kathy’s voice broke the spell, and Penny looked at her. When she looked back the fairies were gone, the only evidence a satisfied snake wearing a feather necklace.

  “Aww, Kathy!” Heddy admonished.

  “It’s ok,” Professor Marcus said softly. “They only ever stay for a few moments.”

  “How did you find them?” Penny asked. She kept her voice hushed. Something about the atmosphere in the familiar Academy grounds had changed.

  Marcus smiled. “I called them.” She pointed to the ring of toadstools. “Some spores were shipped to me by a friend. I sprinkled them here last week, and they grew in a day. The fairies appeared in three. If you come down before the dew evaporates, you can see them; but never for long. They will give you a glimpse and then disappear.”

  The professor pointed to a branch overhead. Squinting up, Penny saw a camera nestled in a fork. “The cameras show they only reveal themselves if someone is watching.”

  “The Cottingley fairies only showed up when no one was looking,” Jason said.

  “What, you’re a fairy expert?” Corey snorted.

  Jason didn’t rise to the bait. “You slept through Craster’s class again?”

  Professor Marcus stood. “It’s true, the girls claimed that. But how would they have seen them? And why did their fairies never appear without them?”

  “Because they were a hoax.” Kathy brushed off her dress. “They admitted it.”

  “Ah, but it was a successful hoax.” Marcus helped Heddy to her feet. “Real or not, people believed those photographs for years, which is why they exist today. Our task is to discover how their reality matches the beliefs and how it contradicts the perceptions at the time.”

  The class trudged back to the Academy, and Professor Marcus dismissed them. “Go and eat some breakfast. We will start class half an hour late to allow for that. Our topic will be classic fairies versus the Cottingley hoax, and comparing both to what we saw today.”

  Once in the dining room, Penny shed her coat and scarf, handing the latter to Amelia. “Thanks for the loaner. It was glass-cutting weather out there!”

  Amelia waved it away. “Keep it. It looks way better on you.”

  Penny hesitated, then bundled the scarf up with her coat. She’d get Amelia a new one for Christmas. Except I won’t be here to give it to her.

  She hadn’t booked a flight home yet, but school would break up just a few days before Christmas. As an un-enrolled student, Penny would no longer be welcome to stay in the Academy dorms.

  Guilt tickled her, but she shook it off.

  “You’re thinking too hard,” Amelia said. “I smell hot chocolate. You want one?”

  “Oh, perfect. You sit, I’ll grab it.” Penny headed over to the counter.

  “Still hungry?” Cook grabbed two plates. “I’ll dish plates up for both of you.”

  Penny grinned. “Thanks, Cook. And two hot chocolates, please?”

  Balancing the hot, marshmallow-laden drinks and four pastries on a tray, Penny turned to head back to her table.

  Agent Crenel was in her seat, blithely ignoring Amelia’s angry scowl. Boots curled on the table between them, her tail twitching nervously as her head swung between the two of them.

  Penny sighed. What now? She looked around for Cisco and found him chatting with Jason and Heddy.

  She detoured to their table. “There’s a fox in the henhouse,” she muttered to Cisco.

  He looked up, confused. “A what in the who?”

  Penny rolled her eyes. “A dingo in the chook house? There’s a special-bloody-agent at our table, you dork.”

  Cisco flicked his eyes toward their usual spot in the dining hall. “Oh! Right.” He tossed a quick apology at Heddy and Jason and followed Penny over to the FBI agent and his surly observer.

  “Hey, Agent Crenel.” Cisco threw himself into a chair next to Amelia, folding his arms. “‘Sup?”

  “Cisco. Penny.” Crenel nodded at each of them.

  “Agent Crenel.” Penny greeted the agent cautiously, eyeing her friends.

  Boots, unsure of the student tension in the air, gave a low hiss.

  Silence dropped over the group. Penny tried to wait it out, carefully sipping her chocolate
but leaving the pastries untouched. She soon broke, the scent of flaky pastry forcing her to surrender.

  “All right. What the hell, you guys?” She eyeballed Cisco and Amelia.

  Amelia turned her head just slightly so that she didn’t have to meet Penny’s eyes. “He should have told us you weren’t staying.”

  “What? That was none of his business to start with.” Penny held up a warning finger. “And if anyone should have told you, it was me.” She dropped the hand and pushed her plate away, her appetite suddenly gone.

  “Yeah.” Amelia kept her stony glare on the table. “You should have.”

  “Look, guys, I’m sorry.” Penny met Amelia’s eyes. “I should have come clean from the beginning. It’s just...I’ve never had a friend like you. You took me under your wing so quickly. I didn’t want you to start pulling away.”

  Amelia’s mouth twitched downward and her chin trembled. “Oh, you big goose.” She threw her arms around Penny. “I wouldn’t have, you know that!”

  Blinking away the burn in her eyes, Penny hugged her back, then extricated herself, reluctantly meeting Cisco’s eyes. “Can we talk later?” She silently begged him to say yes, knowing that if she had to, she would pour her heart out while Crenel, Amelia, and half the bloody dining room watched.

  “Sure.” Cisco coughed to clear the sudden huskiness in his voice. “But we still don’t know why he’s here.” He jabbed a thumb at the agent.

  Crenel cleared his throat, looking awfully uncomfortable. “Right. Well, something has come up. It’s...not pretty.”

  Penny leaned over to look at the folder he slapped on the table. Crenel glanced around to make sure no one was close. He tapped it and leaned closer, keeping his voice low.

  “Your kids are wrapped up in something too big for them to handle,” he said. “And it’s about to blow up in their faces.

  “What do you mean?” Penny eyed the folder, but it stayed closed.

  “That East Coast group? Contact with them has made them persons of interest.” Crenel pressed his lips together. “I shouldn’t even be telling you this. They’ll rake my ass over the coals, and Jessica… Well.”