Rituals (Cainsville 5)

I called Gabriel as soon as I got my helmet off. When he didn't answer, I sent a text. Then I walked to his car, where the key fob in my purse automatically unlocked the doors.

"Someone was in the backseat." I held out a wrapper from candies Lydia kept in a jar. Ricky didn't suggest Gabriel had grabbed one and tossed the wrapper in the back. That was about as likely as him putting down the windows and cranking the tunes.

"And if there was a person in the back," Ricky said, "that means someone else occupied the passenger side."

I checked the front passenger side and found a pen wedged behind the cushions.

"A Montblanc refill in a cheap pen," I said.

"Champagne tastes on a Budweiser budget?"

"Not exactly. This particular someone can afford a drawer of Montblancs. He says they write like a dream and feel like a grade-school pencil. He buys more comfortable pens and sticks in the good ink." I looked up at the school. "So Gabriel came here with Patrick, which suggests he got a tip on Seanna and needed backup. He also brought someone else. Meaning he showed up with at least two other people...and then texts me to come help him?"

"Looks like you're getting false messages again. You guys need to come up with a secret code."

"No kidding." I surveyed the building. "But he is here. And he's not answering his phone." I typed in another number and listened while it rang. "Neither is Patrick."

"Whoever sent that message wants you here," he said. "Shall we accept the invitation?"

"We shall."

--

I could see where Gabriel and Patrick had gone in--there were footprints beneath a window. Inside, the dusty floor bore more prints. Gabriel's were obvious, given the size. I could guess at Patrick's by the sneaker tread. There were two other sets, smaller than Patrick's.

Ricky crouched and examined the footprints. When he touched the smallest, he said, "Fae," and then made a face. "Don't ask me how I know that."

"New power. Cool."

"Useful, at least." He rose. "You sent a couple of dryads to find Seanna, right?"

"I wouldn't say sent so much as allowed them to search. But yes, they're small, and they wear Docs, so the sizes and treads are about right. The dryads found Seanna--or told Gabriel they did. He knows it could be a trap. He needs backup. We're busy. Patrick joins Gabriel and the dryads at the office. They come here together and..."

I trailed off, frowning at the doorway leading deeper into the school.

Ricky said, "And the obvious answer is that the dryads sprung a trap, but you didn't get that sense from them."

"Which means nothing. Remember, I trusted Tristan after his partner tried to kill Gabriel and me. And then I trusted Melanie, who tried to kill me herself."

He gave me a hard look. We'd hashed through my guilt trips before. He would point out that Tristan's partner acted without his knowledge and even then, when Tristan lured me to the hospital, I knew it was a trap--I just went to see what he was up to. Melanie hadn't tried to hurt me until I uncovered her scheme. Still, I felt like an idiot--once burned, twice too-stupid-to-learn-her-lesson. Well, third time was the charm. I wasn't trusting the dryads, no matter what my gut said.

We followed the footprints. When we reached what had been a set of stairs, Gabriel's prints paced around it.

"Was he looking for a way up?" Ricky said.

"He was doing what we are--following footprints." I examined the traces more. "Patrick stopped here and scuffed around."

"Waiting for Gabriel to find the trail. So those two were tracking the dryads, who must have taken off on them."

"Which, being dryads, could mean they were fleeing...or just scampered ahead."

We followed the tracks down the hall. When I realized Ricky wasn't right behind me, I stopped to see him shining his light through a doorway.

"The windows are broken," he said. "And yeah, given that it's an abandoned building, that's no big shock, but the windows have been shattered very recently, pieces on the floor, no dust settled on them." He walked to the next door. "Same thing in every room we've passed."

"Olivia!" Gabriel's voice boomed from somewhere below. "Is that you?"

Ricky put his fingers on my arm. He knew I wouldn't run toward Gabriel's voice, but I would be tempted. I locked my knees and called back, "Where are you?"