Awry

62

Nate’s mouth fell open the moment he saw the picture of the yellow flower. “Laura has this?”

Scarlet stood with Heather, Tristan and Gabriel in Nate’s bedroom, everyone trying to peer over Nate’s shoulder at the picture on Scarlet’s phone.

“Yes,” Scarlet said. “Do you know what it is?”

Nate nodded and quickly uploaded the picture to one of the computers in his room so everyone could see. “It’s called Liferoot.”

Heather moved her eyes from the computer screen and took in the many video game controllers, superhero posters and figurines. “Wow,” Heather raised her eyebrows, “I feel like I’m in my little brother’s room. Except my little brother doesn’t have as many toys.”

“Collector’s items,” Nate corrected, blowing up a picture of the flower on his computer screen.

Gabriel eyed the hammer in the corner. “I’m glad you used the Zelda sword instead of the Thor hammer the other night. Trying to kill an Ashman with a plastic hammer would have been exhausting.”

“It’s not made of plastic, it’s…never mind.” Nate shook his head. He squinted at the screen and everyone stared at the picture of the yellow flower over his shoulder.

Scarlet leaned in. “You’ve seen this flower before?”

“Yeah. But not for a long…time….” He zoomed in on the roots. “I can’t believe Laura has Liferoot. It’s supposedly been extinct for centuries.”

Scarlet furrowed her brow. “Why do you think she has it?”

“Magic.”

“What?”

Nate looked at her seriously. “The root of this flower is used in very old, very dangerous spells.”

“Spells, hmm.” Tristan slanted his eyes at Gabriel. “That sounds like something a witch would do.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“What kind of magic does Liferoot do?” Scarlet stepped closer to the computer.

Nate studied the flower. “I don’t remember. But it’s definitely used for dark magic.” He looked at Scarlet and bit his lip. “And Raven used to use dark magic. A lot of dark magic.”

Scarlet blinked. “So you think Laura is Raven?”

“I think it’s a strong possibility.”

“O-M-G,” Heather said. “Does that mean Laura is a witch?” She nodded. “Because I can see Laura as a sexy red-headed witch wearing a pointy black hat while stirring a caldron.”

Nate nodded. “This plant is extremely rare and the fact that she has the whole thing, including the roots is textbook witchcraft.”

Heather wrinkled her face. “How would you know?”

Nate shrugged. “Because I’m from a family of dark magic.”

“You’re what?” Scarlet’s mouth fell open.

Nate looked at her in confusion for a moment, and then he nodded in understanding. “Oh, right. You don’t remember.” He clasped his hands together and cleared his throat. “I’m Nathaniel Fletcher. In the 1500s, my family practiced dark magic outside of Gabriel and Tristan’s village.”

Scarlet was so confused. “Like Raven’s family?”

He nodded. “Yeah.” He looked back at the flower and casually said, “Raven was my cousin.”

Scarlet’s mouth fell even further. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“You’re related to the psycho Scarlet-killer?” Heather’s eyes were on him like a hawk.

“Yes,” Nate nodded, and turned to face them. Upon seeing their accusing expressions, he hurriedly added, “But it’s not like I conspired to kill Scarlet or anything. I didn’t even know Scarlet back then. Raven and I were cousins, not partners in crime.”

Scarlet shook her head. “This is all so crazy.”

“So what are you, like some kind of witch?” Heather eyed him up and down.

Nate said, “Well, technically I would be a wizard, but it’s not like that. I don’t practice magic. I find it weird. And scary. And I was never really good at it anyway.”

Scarlet scrunched her nose. “But your family is full of witches?”

“My family members were not immortal, so they’re all dead. But yes, when they were alive pretty much everyone practiced magic.”

“So wait,” Heather said, holding up a hand. “You’re telling us you were a wizard? But not a good wizard? You were like a misfit wizard?”

Nate rolled his eyes. “It’s not like I sucked or anything. I just never got into it.”

“This is just so weird.” Scarlet stared at the computer screen. “I can’t believe you’re Raven’s cousin. And I can’t believe Laura is Raven.”

“Maybe,” Tristan interjected. “Laura may be Raven.”

Scarlet looked at Tristan and for a brief moment their eyes met, and her heart kicked in response.

“Well, either way,” Gabriel said, “Laura is up to something involving magic and it’s probably not for the good of mankind. So let’s just assume, for the time being, that Laura is evil. What should we do about the flower?” He directed his question at Nate.

“I wish I remembered what spell that flower was used for.” Nate looked at the computer screen and frowned.

Me too, Scarlet thought.

Her head was spinning.