Adopted by The Owl: The Owl Shifter Chronicles Book One Page 6

  “Yeah, that doesn’t make any sense.”

  Emily left the classroom. The corridor was filled with students. She kept her head low and walked around, looking for Michael. She had to deal with him once and for all. She had to know if he sent the message or not.

  She found Michael near the library. She saw him before he saw her, so she snuck up on him, throwing caution to the wind. By the time he noticed her, she had grabbed him and slammed him into the wall. So much for not doing anything to attract attention. Her fury had gotten the best of her.

  His eyes widened in surprise. Then he recognized her, and they sparked with outrage. “What do you think you’re doing?” he boomed.

  Emily had him pinned to the wall. He could easily outmaneuver her and overpower her, but he seemed hesitant to touch her. So he was stuck.

  “Your dad told me everything,” Emily snarled.

  “Well, he shouldn’t have,” Michael replied.

  “You’re a douchebag, you know that?”

  “I’ve been called worse.”

  “What were you hoping to achieve by screwing me over, huh? Make Daddy happy?”

  Michael’s face contorted into a frown. He said nothing.

  “Failed woefully,” Emily said finally. “That should teach you not to try and gain a leg up by screwing up another person’s life.”

  Michael tossed his head back with a mild growl. “What do you want?”

  “Why did you send the message?” Emily got to the point. “Was it a last-ditch attempt to uncover something when there’s nothing?”

  Her question seemed to throw him off. He looked confused for a moment. “What?”

  “Don’t play dumb, Michael!” Emily was furious. “The message you sent me last night! Why did you send it?” She was on the verge of screaming.

  “What the heck are you talking about? I didn’t send you any message.”

  “Stop lying to me!”

  A teacher burst out of the library and looked at them. “Is everything all right here?”

  Emily snapped away from the boy.

  “All right, Ma’am,” Michael replied politely.

  “You sure?” the woman asked Emily.

  Emily nodded.

  “Then keep it down.” The teacher returned to the library.

  Michael straightened his shirt. “I don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself mixed up in, Emily, but I didn’t send you any message last night.” With that, he stomped into the library in a huff.

  It was The Owl who vocalized her quandary: If he didn’t send the message, then who did?

  11

  Emily went to the cafeteria next. She kept to herself, lost in her thoughts about her predicament. There was lots of noise around her in the open field and on her way to the building where the cafeteria was. But none of it distracted her from her deep thoughts. Not even The Owl could get her attention.

  The day had been more than she expected. First it was Mr. Winter. She had been pretty sure he had come to split her in two and carry her entrails away. Then they had the riveting discussion about the morality of the vigilantes’ work.

  Was it right? Was it immoral?

  Rina had spoken up against the vigilantism in words that Emily couldn’t have articulated herself. She’d spoken with so much passion it made Emily wonder if Rina had a past with the vigilantes or something. Or was she secretly a supernatural, too?

  Then she’d had the conversation with Jamie, who revealed things about her life even she didn’t know. The vigilantes had spied on her via her friends. Even her closest friends had been in on it, and no one had bothered to tell her.

  Sure, she understood why they’d done it in the first place. It was to clear her name. They were so sure she wasn’t like her mother and wanted to go the extra mile to prove to the vigilantes it was true—simply because Emily, all her life, had told them she was normal. Yeah, Emily got why they did it. What she didn’t get, however, was why they’d kept it a secret from her even after the fact.

  Then to find out that Joanna had been the one to suggest spying on her in the first place? If Emily wasn’t so shocked by her near miss with Mr. Winter, she would be vengefully outraged.

  She and Joanna were supposed to go shopping that afternoon for the party they had planned at Emily’s house. But with what Emily had learned about herself and her friends, especially Joanna, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be a party hostess that evening.

  At least she got one thing right, The Owl said as Emily came into the rowdy and steamy cafeteria.

  “What’s that?” Emily could mutter to herself without arousing suspicion. There was that much noise in the cafeteria.

  You guys are going to have a long talk.

  “Ugh,” Emily grunted as she went to get her food. She looked around for a place to sit. She found Jamie, Joanna, and a couple of their mutual friends sitting in the corner by large windows. It was their normal location, and she saw that they had reserved a space for her.

  She saw Joanna look up and catch sight of her. Joanna waved for her to come over. The gesture caught Jamie’s attention, and he, too, looked at Emily. Jamie grinned and waved for her to join him.

  She abruptly turned away from them. She was in no mood to be in the midst of people who’d lied to her face. She couldn’t believe the moral compromises it must have taken for them to smile and laugh with her, knowing that they’d betrayed her trust.

  Get over that, The Owl scolded her. They did it to protect you.

  “Really?” Emily muttered. “And you, why were you afraid of the Nadarog Maragog thingy?”

  At the mention of the word, Emily felt a panic attack smash into her lungs. It was so strong and so real that she staggered backward into someone.

  “Hey, watch it!” It was Rina. Great.

  “Sorry—” Emily sputtered. “I—”

  “You know what? Never mind,” the short, spunky girl said and walked to an empty seat by the door. She sat alone, earbuds in her ears, and started to eat.

  “What the hell was that?” Emily’s heart was still pounding from The Owl’s reaction.

  Don’t ask me about you-know-what. Follow her, instructed The Owl.

  Emily glanced back at Rina. She was the only one left. Jamie had denied sending the message and had shown her semi-satisfying proof. Michael had admitted to following her, but not to sending the message. And he had no reason to lie.

  The only one left was Rina.

  Rina was a smart young woman with incredible oratory skills. She also had this fantasy that she was the next Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and so took her journalistic work for the school’s newspaper a little too seriously, in Emily’s opinion.

  She was a risk-taker. She was gritty. She didn’t react in fear or back down from a challenge. Emily had known Rina for long enough to know she was like a bloodhound when she got the scent of a good story. She hunted that story down until the story was dead in the water (in print in her paper) or she was dead under the ground.

  Yeah, she took her work that seriously.

  And Rina wasn’t beyond underhand tactics. She was as cruel as she was beautiful. She was definitely someone who would send Emily a message in a bid to provoke her. The question was, how was Emily going to get the truth from her?

  Start by walking over to her and asking to join her at her table. The Owl used a patronizing tone.

  Emily rolled her eyes but did as she was told. She first stood by the table, her shadow falling over Rina. Rina neither flinched nor reacted to Emily’s presence. She continued to eat her soup while staring at her phone.

  The sound blaring through the earbuds was so loud that Emily heard Taylor Swift’s voice and the words to her song.

  Taylor Swift? Rina? Really?

  Emily cleared her throat.

  No response.

  This was getting uncomfortable. Emily wasn’t used to having to seek someone’s attention. She was used to her attention being sought. This was definitely new to her. She even thought about
walking away.

  Don’t you dare! The Owl growled in her mind.

  Ugh. That damn bird always knew what she was thinking.

  Emily knocked on the table twice.

  Rina only hissed once. She didn’t even spare Emily a glance. The little brunette acted as though the pretty blonde didn’t even exist.

  Hurts, doesn’t it? The Owl goaded.

  “Not helping,” Emily muttered.

  Try removing the earbuds, The Owl suggested. That’ll definitely get her attention.

  Well, that was definitely true. Emily shrugged, reached for Rina’s left ear, and pulled out the earbud. Rina’s finger paused over her phone. For a moment, she did nothing. Then slowly, she looked up at Emily, shooting her a very nasty look.

  Emily wanted to flee from the unpleasant girl’s sight. Instead, she cleared her throat and composed herself. “May I join you?” she asked sweetly.

  Rina gave her a terrible sneer. “I don’t really care.” She took her left earpiece back. She was about to put it back in her ear when Emily spoke again.

  “Please, no,” she said, slipping into a seat opposite from Rina. “I need to talk to you.”

  Rina gave no response. However, did not put her earpiece back into her ear. Rather, she stared morosely at Emily, which Emily took as acquiescence.

  “How’s The Keaton Chronicles coming?” Emily muttered.

  Rina rolled her eyes and moved to put her earpiece back into her ear. Emily had to reach out and hold her hand.

  “Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Emily said, frantic.

  Rina hissed again and yanked her hand away from Emily’s.

  “Please, I just need five minutes of your time,” Emily said. “I won’t waste it. Please.”

  “What do you want, Emily?” Rina snarled.

  “I need to know what story you’re currently working on.”

  “Why would I tell you?” Rina looked her up and down, brazenly sizing her up with a distinct venom in her eyes.

  “I just need to know,” Emily said. She wondered how she was going to reveal the real reason for speaking to her in the first place.

  “No, you don’t need to know,” Rina replied.

  “Does it have to do with supernaturals?”

  Rina sneered. “I don’t have time for this.”

  “Please, Rina!” Emily snapped, her fuse already short. “Will you stop acting like a bitch and see that I’m serious?”

  That got Rina’s attention. Maybe even respect. Rina placed her phone down. She removed the other earpiece out of her right ear and placed it right next to her phone. She then moved her unfinished soup to the side and placed both hands on the table. Finally, she fixed Emily with a stare.

  “Yes, I’m working on doing a story about supernaturals,” Rina admitted.

  Emily let out a soft sigh. Now, all that remained was to get Rina to tell her what the story was all about.

  Good luck with that, The Owl said with a chuckle.

  12

  “I don’t suppose you can tell me what your story for the paper is about, really?” Emily asked.

  Rina looked at Emily with curiosity. She looked like she was putting together some kind of puzzle in her mind. It translated into an intensity in Rina’s eyes that Emily found just plain unnerving.

  “Why is this so important to you?” Rina furrowed her brow. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

  Emily reared in surprise. “What?”

  Play it cool, The Owl warned. Don’t be too obvious.

  Emily almost shouted to The Owl that she was not being obvious, but that would have been more than counterproductive . . . and, well, obvious.

  Rina smiled. “Why did Mr. Winter come to see us?”

  Well, that was out of the blue.

  Emily began to think maybe coming directly to Rina was a bad idea.

  “Why did Michael look at you like that? So hateful?” Rina continued.

  Emily cleared her throat. “I don’t know what you’re getting at,” she said. “I just—”

  “Oh, I think you do,” Rina cut her off with a wave of her hand. A tight-lipped smile cut across her mouth.

  She leaned in on the table and brought down her tone to a conspiratorial level. “Tell me, is it you? Your secret is safe with me.”

  Emily was stunned by the prodigiousness of the claim. That was what precipitated her sudden frown. There was no way in hell any kind of secret was safe with Rina. Believing that Rina could keep a secret was like believing an alligator could keep a child safe. It just didn’t make sense.

  It wasn’t until Emily saw that Rina was waiting for her response that she realized Rina had asked a question.

  “Is it you?”

  Emily’s frown deepened. “Is it me?” Emily repeated.

  Rina nodded. “So it is you?”

  Emily shook her head. “No. I don’t think I understand what you’re talking about.”

  Rina growled in impatience. “The ‘dangerous’ truth Michael believes about you.”

  It dawned on Emily what Rina was talking about. The fact that she knew of Michael’s little investigation further aroused Emily’s suspicion. It also made her feel more unsettled. Her brilliant plan to accost Rina and grill out the truth from her was not going according to plan at all.

  Not going according to plan? The Owl sounded incredulous. She’s grilling you!

  Emily tried to ignore The Owl’s taunt.

  “What do you have to say in response to his allegations?” Rina’s tone became very reporter-like.

  Emily looked to the side for help. Her friends were very far away. She caught Joanna sneaking glances at her, which she tried to hide when Emily looked in her direction. Emily now felt stupid for even coming to Rina.

  “I don’t have anything to say,” Emily said. “I was cleared by the vigilantes.”

  Bad move!

  Emily didn’t see it until Rina’s eyes brightened. There was her answer, but it also put Emily in another level of trouble.

  “You were cleared . . . ,” Rina muttered. “Curious choice of words.”

  The allegations had been that she was harboring an Owl. Maybe they thought it was Mom’s long-lost sister, or some distant relative—who knew? The allegation was not that she was The Owl. By telling Rina she was cleared, she’d inadvertently brought Rina’s attention from the imaginary shifter to Emily.

  Rina’s surprise also revealed to Emily that she couldn’t have been the one to send the text. If she was, she wouldn’t be surprised that Emily would think they thought Emily was The Owl.

  Well done, The Owl said. Your deductive reasoning is on its A-game today.

  Emily would have chuckled at The Owl’s sarcasm if she wasn’t so rattled by Rina’s scrutinizing glare.

  “Since when?” Rina asked, not stopping to give Emily a chance to form a rebuttal. She was taking her silence as tacit approval and forged ahead. Every second that passed made it more difficult for Emily to rebuff her belief, even if it was wrong.

  “You’re being crazy, Rina,” Emily said. “Maybe crazy enough to send me a message in the middle of the night.”

  Rina laughed out loud. “Now who’s being crazy?” she asked. “Or should I say delusional.”

  “Why did you send me the message?” Emily folded her arms and stuck out her chin to prove she wasn’t backing down.

  “What message?” Rina replied smartly.

  There was a silence.

  Emily and Rina held each other’s gaze.

  “The one that—” Emily paused. She wasn’t sure if she should tell Rina anything about the content of the message. She already supposed Rina was not the culprit after all. And knowing Rina and her ability to ingratiate herself into the heart of a situation to find out the truth, she’d only claim to have sent the message to see if the whole situation was worth reporting.

  And knowing what the situation was, Rina would definitely want to report it. If the story went to print, new pairs of eyes would be turned on her. Wit
h the way The Owl was getting stronger within her, Emily might not be able to withstand the potential accusations.

  She’d have to leave the town if she was going to live. If she did that, her picture-perfect life would end. Her high school career would be over. Her friends would never trust and believe in her. She’d be ruined forever. The perfect life she’d worked so hard to create would vanish into thin air.

  Okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, The Owl stopped Emily’s downward spiral of thoughts. You’ve said nothing to Rina. She knows nothing, and she knows that she knows nothing.

  “Fine, don’t tell me. I don’t care anyway,” Rina huffed. “I didn’t send you any message at any time. Why would I? I loathe you.”

  “You loathe me?” Emily parroted, surprised anew. “Why would anyone loathe me?”

  “Because you’re so perfect and prim and proper.” Rina rolled her eyes. “Sometimes I think you try too hard. You try to be a good girl. You try to make everyone like you. And they all do . . .”

  “Except you,” Emily pointed out.

  Rina gave her a sardonic smile. “Yeah. I loathe you.”

  “Because I try to make people like me?” Emily asked, trying to understand what Rina was fetching at.

  “Precisely because of that.”

  Emily looked at the girl again. “Weird.”

  Rina shrugged. “Yeah, well, whatever. I mean, not that I like loathing you. I just don’t like the feeling that I’m being misled into feeling something I’ll naturally not feel if I really got to know you.”

  Emily blinked a couple times at Rina’s confusing statement. “Then why don’t you really get to know me, instead of loathing me outright? You might be surprised. I’m not deceptive.”

  “If you’re not, why have you been acting like you’re hiding something all day?” Rina asked nonchalantly.

  “Have I?”

  “Yeah,” Rina replied. “The text? It’s really bothering you, isn’t it?”

  Emily wondered if there wasn’t a bond beginning to form between herself and this sassy girl. She decided to let Rina in on a part of her problem.