Deadly Darlings (October Darlings Book 2) Read online

  Deadly Darlings

  Wendolyn Baird

  Published by Wendolyn Baird, 2020.

  Deadly Darlings

  Copyright © 2020 by Wendolyn Baird

  All Rights Reserved.

  No portion of this book may be reproduced or used without written permission of the author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, incidences, and locations are either the products of the author’s imagination, or else used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events are entirely coincidental.

  Cover design and editing by Wendolyn Baird. Original image- L’envant Sauvage by Kevin Laminto [digital image] (March 26, 2018) Retrieved from https://unsplash.com/photos/432HbzkfxCw

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Forever Darlings | Chapter One

  About the Author

  Books by Wendolyn Baird

  Acknowledgements

  Dedication

  For the bookworms, and the misfits, the dreamers, and all October Darlings.

  This is for you.

  Opals, daydreams, visions, and death; these are the things that make a Nix clairvoyant. Scorpions and ghosts are my daily companions, moonlight and gravestones are my nightly comforts, and I am an October Darling.

  Are you one as well?

  ~Adeline

  Chapter One

  YOU’D THINK I’D HAD enough hauntings to last a lifetime, but I can’t shake the feeling that I’m in danger again.

  The quiet courtyard in the center of Blackwood College is filled with murmuring students, their heads bent over textbooks, and I should be relaxed. My classes are done for the day, Sabrina’s set on dragging me to a party tonight, and Ellis should be getting off of work any second now. So why is my heart in my throat as if a dark spirit is lurking nearby?

  “There you are.” Ellis’ voice breaks my thoughts as he slides onto the picnic bench beside me. “I thought you were going to meet me at the bookstore?”

  Blackwood Books. The consistently crowded student store that boasts aisles of dusty texts as well as crates of tee shirts and random dorm accessories. I’d rather skip happily off to Sabrina’s party than step foot into Ellis’ workplace. Too claustrophobic.

  “Uhm, I must have lost track of time.” I smile and shrug my shoulders, surreptitiously trying to warm my arms enough to stop the goosebumps prickling up my limbs.

  Ellis grins back easily, his tousled, light hair falling over his forehead. The faint circles under his eyes speak to the strain of keeping up with his work-study program and honors classes. But no matter how tired he is, he never complains. It’s still a marvel to me that anyone could be so good.

  My stomach swoops as he leans towards me, anxiety gnawing at the back of my mind. Holding myself still, I shut my eyes, intent on the feeling of his lips against mine, but it's no use.

  “What’s wrong?” He murmurs as I pull back, sighing.

  “Nothing,” I lie. Even as he frowns at me, the chill of something ominous is creeping at my back. My spine braces against the sensation, and if I sit here long enough, whispers are sure to make themselves known. “I was just thinking that Sabrina is probably waiting for me. I still need to get ready for tonight.”

  “About that...” Ellis stands, offering me his hand but dodging my gaze.

  “What?” I narrow my eyes at him even as I take his hand and drag my bag off the bench. A few feet away, a mosaic tiled fountain is cheerfully spewing water, and the fixture is starkly at odds with my mood.

  “I’m a little behind in my speech class," Ellis mumbles. "I ought to stay in and catch up on my notes.”

  “Seriously? You’re leaving me alone to crowds and small talk?” I don’t really care, but it’s better if he thinks I’m upset over him cancelling rather than whatever is in this courtyard with us. Nobody else seems to notice the malevolent aura, even as the sky turns pink and the lamplights flicker on beneath the hulking trees.

  He’s sincerely apologetic, and as we pass through the narrow archway towards the dormitories, the cold slips from my skin, leaving me free to wonder for the millionth time how on earth I possibly got so lucky to have him as my boyfriend. But maybe I’m just a sap. It’s not like I had any serious relationships before we met, but dating your best friend? It’s pretty awesome.

  Especially considering all my peculiarities. Between my ability to see the dead and the amount of trouble that seems to follow me, it’s always a surprise that he’s so content to choose to be with me day after day.

  “It’s okay,” I reassure him as we reach my door. Sabrina had covered it with removable vinyl stickers and mounted a sign at eye level with our names on it when we first moved in, and the first of the stickers is beginning to peel. “We’ll just have to make up for it tomorrow. Maybe go to a movie or something?”

  Anything to keep him out of the courtyard until I can investigate it.

  He rests an arm against the wall beside my head, moving his body until he’s blocking me from the rest of the hall, and I can feel the heat off his chest and smell the mint on his breath. Lowering his face to mine, the gold in his eyes knocks any thoughts of ghosts from my mind.

  I drop my bag at my feet and raise my arms to his shoulders, intertwining my hands behind his neck.

  “A movie sounds good,” he whispers. “Pick whatever you want to see, and I’ll buy you as much popcorn as you want.”

  “Promise?” I joke breathlessly. This kiss is turning out to be more promising than the last.

  He waits to answer until his mouth is just brushing against mine, and his hands wrap around my waist. “I promise.”

  I fall into the kiss blissfully... until the door swings open behind me.

  “Argh!” I yell as I topple backwards, Ellis fumbling to save both of us from hitting the floor.

  “You see!” Sabrina scolds us. “This is why y’all shouldn’t be making out in front of doorways. It’s a total fire hazard, and you know it.”

  “Sabrina!” I swat at my roommate as soon as I get my balance back, and Ellis grimaces as he brings my backpack into the room for me.

  “I warned you!” She squeals, darting away from me and laughing. Always exuberant, and completely sure of herself, I don’t think I’ve ever had such a persistent friend.

  “And that’s my cue to leave,” Ellis announces. He presses his lips to my forehead before I can protest and sidles out of the room without another word.

  “Sabrina! You scared him off!” I complain as I shut our door and kick my backpack under the miniscule desk lodged beneath my loft bed.

  “I did not,” she argues. “He’s known me since we were five. I can’t scare him anymore. He probably just wanted to go get the stench of the store off him before the party.”

  “You’re only half right there.” Although Blackwood Books does indeed have an overwhelming smell of concrete and plastic (since they insist on wrapping every last book in plastic
until it’s actually been purchased), Ellis does his best to avoid it clinging to him by carrying around an extra tee shirt. “He’s bailing on us again. Speech class is kicking his butt, apparently.”

  The smile slides off Sabrina’s face as I speak, and she slumps into her computer chair, shoulders dropping, and eyebrows pulled down. “Again? You’re still going with me though, right?”

  “Yeah, sure. Of course, I will.”

  Crowds, noises, awkward small talk with strangers, and then you know, the added bonus of the entire event taking place in a basement under renovation. Nothing like dark, dusty rooms and a hell of a lot of change to stir up old spirits. There’s no way in hell I’m letting her go alone.

  I go through the movements of getting ready without really listening to Sabrina’s excited plans. The the window between our beds is already fogged over and cool to the touch, and I watch condensation drip down it as I pull my jacket closed. My black nails glint in the orange light of streetlamps outside, and at my wrist, the familiar weight of my bracelet— an iron scorpion— soothes the fatigue pulling at my soles like rubber against hot tar.

  “—course we’ll never really know whatever the real story was. Anyway, have you seen a mosaic outside anywhere? Near a back stairwell?”

  “I’m sorry, what?” I snap back to attention just as we step out into the snapping wind that rushes through the parking lot.

  Sabrina stares at me as though I have two heads, or maybe three. “A mosaic?” she repeats. “The entrance to the party is supposed to be to the left of the moon, whatever that means. This girl told me to look for the mosaic on the grounds. Like there aren’t like, a billion places to look.”

  “Great, you’ve got me on scavenger hunt! You better be buying me a coffee, now.” Tucking my hands into my pockets, I stomp across the sidewalk.

  “Stop being in such a bad mood, you love stuff like this.”

  “No,” I correct her. “I loved stuff like this until it nearly got us killed last year.”

  “It’s just a little party, Addie. Not a creepy, old church. What could possibly go wrong?”

  Before I can answer, a girl bursts out of the student center, knocking me into a row of hedges just as I’m reaching for the door. My arms fly out behind me, crashing against coarse branches as my keys slide out of my jacket and slide across the pavement. My assailant is nothing more than a flash of an upset face and a tangle of hair whipping through the breeze as she runs off.

  “Are you okay?” Sabrina yelps, darting to grab my keys before a passerby can kick them into the gutter.

  “Yeah.” I groan, struggling to my feet, but my palm scratches against a snapped branch that slices at my flesh. Hissing, I fall back against the leaves and hug my hand to my chest.

  “I am so sorry,” a deep voice interrupts. “My sister doesn’t always look where she’s going. She also doesn’t care what havoc she leaves behind. Really, my parents should have named her Eris.”

  High cheekbones, a shadow of stubble, and a sharp nose are the first impressions I get of the newcomer. I can only assume his sister is halfway across the lot by now. With pain radiating up my forearm, it takes me a second to place his reference.

  “Eris? What, like the goddess of chaos?” I ask as he sets a warm hand on the back of my shoulder and guides me into a standing position again.

  He flicks his gaze in my direction and his stare is so magnetic, it draws the breath from my lungs.

  “Yeah,” he murmurs. “That’s the one. I’m Tomas. Are you sure you’re okay? You’re bleeding.”

  “Seriously? She hurt you?” Sabrina steps forward, fury in her eyes and concern in her words.

  “I’m fine,” I insist. Truth is, my hand hurts like hell and my eyes are burning so badly, I’m afraid to blink and let tears go flowing down my face. It’s too damn cold outside for that. “Do you know where we can find a mosaic on campus?”

  Dodge, deflect, and disappear. Tried and true methods to get rid of pity, and if this guy’s like any of the rest on campus, he’ll point us in the right direction and forget all about us.

  His lips curl into a smug smirk at my question, and instead of releasing me, he steps closer to pick a spare twig from my hair. Chills race up my arms despite the burning at my hand, and I clear my throat uncomfortably. Raising my chin, I meet his stare unabashedly, ready to tell him to back up.

  “Freshmen, right? Whoever gave you those directions sent you on a fool’s errand because that staircase has been blocked off for a month.”

  “Nuh-uh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Sabrina snaps. “I am not starting the next four years of my life here as a loser.” Crossing her arms, she raises her eyebrows at Tomas and purses her lips. “I’m just not.”

  “Calm down,” Tomas grins. “Nobody said you were a loser. If you really want to go, I’ll show you the way myself. It’s the least I can do to make up for my unfortunate relative.”

  “No, that’s okay,” I start to object, just as Sabrina nods at him.

  “Sounds great!”

  With the bleeding slowing at my palm, and Tomas swinging his head bemusedly between us, Sabrina widens her eyes at me while I grimace back. Oh yeah, just a tiny party. And a hurt hand, and a weird guy, and no Ellis.

  Clenching my teeth, I slip my hands back into my pockets and try to arrange my expression into something neutral. “Thanks, that would be great,” I tell him. If only for Sabrina’s sake.

  By the time I wash my hand off and bandage it the best I can with the tiny band-aid Sabrina had floating around in her purse, she’s deep in conversation with Tomas. For what it’s worth, there isn’t a hint of flirting in his tone, and his eyes remain steadily on her face. Pretty rare with random guys on their way to a party. Maybe he isn’t awful after all.

  Tucking my hair behind my ears, I adjust the collar of my jacket again, and clear my throat.

  “Awesome, you’re just in time. Tom here was just telling me all about this creepy ghost story. I told him you’re all about that kind of stuff.” Behind Tomas’ back, she widens her eyes meaningfully, and the anxious shake to her shoulders tips me off to her worry it’s real.

  Sabrina may be okay with the ghosts at my house, but if there’s anyone who’s seen how deadly spirits can be around me, it’s her. Could this be the thing hovering around the courtyard?

  “Uhm, yeah! Yeah, I’m all about ghost stories,” I nod. “Can’t get enough of them.”

  Tomas looks suspicious, as though being so overly excited about a dumb urban legend is a ploy to get away with something else. What does he think we’re going to do? Pick his pockets?

  “Cool. But we’re kind of losing our window of opportunity here. Campus security makes their rounds soon, and if we want to make it to the stairwell without getting caught, I suggest we leave now.”

  My breath hitches as I falter between blowing off the party... and blowing my cover. It’s not that being a clairvoyant is a bad thing. It’s just that most people think that you’re either A. insane when you tell them you can talk to the dead, or B. that you’re some kind of dark witch. And while I’m completely sane, and my bracelet is technically a charmed object called a sentinel, I really don’t consider myself a witch. That was my mother... and she died before she could even tell me, leaving my knowledge of spellwork to practically nothing. So, keeping my powers a secret is the easiest way to go.

  Sabrina looks ready to argue as well, but I smoothly quiet her while encouraging Tomas to lead the way. No reason to raise any alarm if I don’t have to.

  Sabrina glares at me as we walk, motioning something with her hands and chin any time Tomas looks ahead. Whatever she’s trying to convey looks more ludicrous than frightening, though, and I can’t figure out what she’s trying to say, so whoever my courtyard stalker is, they’ll have to wait.

  “Here’s the thing about these buildings,” Tomas says as we file into a darkened classroom building. “These three, in this row, are all connected on the first and second floors. At one point,
the basement beyond the archives led into a fourth building, but people kept sneaking in and out of the dorms and they sealed it up.”

  “Right, I remember them telling us during orientation,” Sabrina nods between making faces at me. “The RAs were like, really annoyed by that.”

  “Yeah, sure. I mean it was a decade’s worth of student pranks that led to the harsh rules we still have today. You’d think Blackwood would lighten up after half a century, but I guess they’re still scared.”

  “Scared of what?” I ask, but he doesn’t hear me.

  We’ve reached a low door in the wall, only waist high and it looks like it might have been used as a dumbwaiter at one point. The surrounding doors appear to be locked right, and somewhere on the second floor, I can hear the heavy steps and jingling keys of the security guards.

  “Okay ladies,” Tomas smirks. “After you.”

  He peels the door open with the tips of his fingers, because instead of a traditional latch, there’s only a slightly raised metal tab at the corner of the wood. Exchanging a wary glance with Sabrina, I squat down first, peering behind the brick wall doubtfully.

  “What the hell?” Instead of a small cupboard I’d expect for a dumbwaiter, the space is open, and a few feet behind the wall, is a steep staircase that leads into the dark below.

  “Cool, isn’t it?”

  “More like freaky,” Sabrina retorts. “Addie, it’s kind of like your aunt’s place.”

  “Yeah,” I breathe. “Tell me about it.”

  Nix House is crawling with secret rooms and passages, and I’ve only frequented one of them, but this? This is a much bigger scale than the crawl spaces hidden in the walls at home.

  Before I step through, I take a moment to reexamine Tomas again. He’s sturdily built, with broad shoulders and long legs, but his eyes appear kind enough. And there’s two of us against one of him. Besides, if this was a trap, my gut would have told me by now, and if my gut failed, Frank definitely wouldn’t.

  Brushing my hand against the still, iron scorpion at my wrist, I take a breath to reassure myself, and then back up through the small door. The air is musty and as of yet, I can’t hear any music. Either Tomas is lying, or the party is far off down those steps and behind a few more walls.