Part 29
Celeste wasn't sure she was seeing right. Twice in the
last two days she had seen Erica dragged out of class
by Scarlet's people. First Joab, then Kimmy on an
errand.
From her seat in the art room she could see Erica
sitting on the picnic benches - *snuggling* *with*
*Scarlet*. Li was there as well, looking somewhere
between aghast and afraid.
What was going on with *that*? The other day Erica was
willing to agree with Tatania's plan to get rid of
Scarlet for good. Now they were getting snugly - *and*
*smoochy!*
Celeste quickly averted her eyes. Triana had told her
Joab had said to Erica something was wrong with
Scarlet and Erica had run off like she was being
chased by the devil.
She looked around the art class, trying to get Adia's
attention. Maybe Adia, being one of their spies, might
have an idea of what the hell was going on. Cole was
behaving oddly too. She'd seen him with Dathan Redfern
a lot that week.
Class seemed to drag on forever. It was always that
way when there were more important things than school
work to focus on. She almost wished she was a vampire,
so she could at least talk telepathically to someone.
Finally the bell rang. She caught Adia's arm on the
way out. "Did you see - "
"I saw," Adia said. "Half the school probably saw."
She shook her dark head. "And before you ask I *don't*
have any idea what's going on."
Celeste sighed. She might have figured that one. "Can
you find out? The last thing we need is another
innocent person dead."
Adia nodded. "I'll see what I can do?"
"And see if you can find out what's going on with
Dathan and Cole while you're at it," Celeste added
absently. Adia nodded and disappeared into the sea of
students.
"What's going on?"
Celeste almost shuddered as she felt Tatania's hand
closing on her shoulder. "Our link is making out with
the target."
Celeste sighed. "I know, I saw them. They need a
lesson in subtlety, big time."
Tatania was silent for a few minutes. The halls were
emptying around them. "That doesn't work well with our
plan."
"I know. Adia's a spy of ours, she's going to find out
what's happening."
Tatania snorted. "That'll take too much time."
Celeste looked at her suspiciously. She could
understand Tatania's intense hated of Scarlet after
what Scarlet had done. She didn't understand why
Tatania hadn't killed the bitch the first time round.
The torture hadn't exactly done much to change
Scarlet's personality. But Celeste was worried that
*because* Tatania hated Scarlet so much, she now,
would just jump at any opportunity to kill her, and
something would fuck up.
"What'd you mean?"
"The longer we let this linger, the more risks. It
needs to be dealt with *now*."
Celeste frowned. "Okay. So we'll get a message to
Scarlet to meet us somewhere, then we can - "
"Oh no." Tatania waved dismissively. "That's *so*
overdone. I have a better idea." She smiled and walked
away.
* * *
Celeste wasn't sure she was seeing right. Twice in the
last two days she had seen Erica dragged out of class
by Scarlet's people. First Joab, then Kimmy on an
errand.
From her seat in the art room she could see Erica
sitting on the picnic benches - *snuggling* *with*
*Scarlet*. Li was there as well, looking somewhere
between aghast and afraid.
What was going on with *that*? The other day Erica was
willing to agree with Tatania's plan to get rid of
Scarlet for good. Now they were getting snugly - *and*
*smoochy!*
Celeste quickly averted her eyes. Triana had told her
Joab had said to Erica something was wrong with
Scarlet and Erica had run off like she was being
chased by the devil.
She looked around the art class, trying to get Adia's
attention. Maybe Adia, being one of their spies, might
have an idea of what the hell was going on. Cole was
behaving oddly too. She'd seen him with Dathan Redfern
a lot that week.
Class seemed to drag on forever. It was always that
way when there were more important things than school
work to focus on. She almost wished she was a vampire,
so she could at least talk telepathically to someone.
Finally the bell rang. She caught Adia's arm on the
way out. "Did you see - "
"I saw," Adia said. "Half the school probably saw."
She shook her dark head. "And before you ask I *don't*
have any idea what's going on."
Celeste sighed. She might have figured that one. "Can
you find out? The last thing we need is another
innocent person dead."
Adia nodded. "I'll see what I can do?"
"And see if you can find out what's going on with
Dathan and Cole while you're at it," Celeste added
absently. Adia nodded and disappeared into the sea of
students.
"What's going on?"
Celeste almost shuddered as she felt Tatania's hand
closing on her shoulder. "Our link is making out with
the target."
Celeste sighed. "I know, I saw them. They need a
lesson in subtlety, big time."
Tatania was silent for a few minutes. The halls were
emptying around them. "That doesn't work well with our
plan."
"I know. Adia's a spy of ours, she's going to find out
what's happening."
Tatania snorted. "That'll take too much time."
Celeste looked at her suspiciously. She could
understand Tatania's intense hated of Scarlet after
what Scarlet had done. She didn't understand why
Tatania hadn't killed the bitch the first time round.
The torture hadn't exactly done much to change
Scarlet's personality. But Celeste was worried that
*because* Tatania hated Scarlet so much, she now,
would just jump at any opportunity to kill her, and
something would fuck up.
"What'd you mean?"
"The longer we let this linger, the more risks. It
needs to be dealt with *now*."
Celeste frowned. "Okay. So we'll get a message to
Scarlet to meet us somewhere, then we can - "
"Oh no." Tatania waved dismissively. "That's *so*
overdone. I have a better idea." She smiled and walked
away.
* * *