Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles 1)

Everyone started talking at once.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please.” Principal Harper tried to calm everyone down, but it was like taking a match to dry brush. Once the fire got started, there was no stopping it.

It took ten minutes for the gym to settle back down again, but Lena never did. I could feel her heart racing like it was my own, and the knot in her throat from choking back her tears. Although judging by the downpour outside, she was having a tough time with that. I was surprised she hadn’t run out of the gym already, but she was either too brave or too stunned to move.

I knew Mrs. Lincoln was lying. I didn’t believe Lena had been in an institution any more than I believed the Angels wanted to protect the students at Jackson. What I didn’t know was if Mrs. Lincoln was lying about the rest, the part about Lena’s mother murdering her father.

But I knew I wanted to kill Mrs. Lincoln. I’d known Link’s mom my whole life, but lately I hadn’t even been able to think of her like that anymore. She didn’t seem like the woman who ripped the cable box out of the wall or lectured us for hours on the virtues of abstinence. This didn’t seem like one of her annoying, yet ultimately innocent causes. This seemed more vindictive and more personal. I just couldn’t figure out why she hated Lena so much.

Mr. Hollingsworth tried to regain control. “All right, everyone, let’s settle down. Mrs. Lincoln, thank you for takin’ the time to be here tonight. I’d like to review those documents, if you don’t mind.”

I stood up again. “This whole thing is ridiculous. Why don’t you just set her on fire and see if she burns?”

Mr. Hollingsworth tried to gain control of the meeting, which was bordering on becoming an episode of Jerry Springer. “Mr. Wate, have a seat or you will be asked to leave. There will be no more outbursts during this meetin’. I have reviewed the witnesses’ written accounts a what happened, and it seems this matter is quite straightforward and there is only one sensible thing to do.”

There was a crash, and the huge metal doors in the back of the room flew open. A gust of wind blew in, along with sheets of rain.

And something else.

Macon Ravenwood strode casually into the gym, dressed in a black cashmere overcoat and sharp-looking gray pinstripe suit, with Marian Ashcroft on his arm. Marian was carrying a small, checkered umbrella just large enough to shield her from the downpour. Macon didn’t have an umbrella, but he was still bone-dry. Boo lumbered in behind them, his black hair wet and standing on end, making it obvious he was more wolf than dog.

Lena turned around in her orange plastic chair, and for a second she looked as vulnerable as she felt. I could see the relief in her eyes, and I could see how hard she was trying to stay in her seat, to keep from throwing herself, sobbing, into his arms.

Macon’s eyes flickered in her direction, and she settled back in her chair. He walked down the aisle toward the members of the School Board. “I’m so sorry we are late. The weather is just treacherous out there tonight. Don’t let me interrupt. You were just about to do something sensible if I heard correctly.”

Mr. Hollingsworth looked confused. Actually, most of the people in the gym looked confused. None of them had ever seen Macon Ravenwood in the flesh. “Excuse me, sir. I don’t know who you think you are, but we are in the middle of proceedin’s. And you can’t bring that… that dog in here. Only service animals are permitted on school grounds.”

“I understand completely. It just so happens that Boo Radley is my Seeing-Eye dog.” I couldn’t help but smile. I guess technically, that was true. Boo shook his huge body, water from his soaking wet fur showering everyone sitting close to the aisle.

“Well, Mister…?”

“Ravenwood. Macon Ravenwood.”

There was another audible gasp from the bleachers, followed by the buzz of whispering moving down the rows. The whole town had been waiting for this day since before I was born. You could feel the energy in the room pick up, from the sheer spectacle of it all. There was nothing, nothing, Gatlin loved better than a spectacle.

“Ladies and gentlemen of Gatlin. How nice to finally meet you all. I trust you know my dear friend, the beautiful Dr. Ashcroft. She has been kind enough to escort me this evening, as I don’t quite know my way around our fair town.”

Marian waved.

“Let me apologize once again for being late; please do continue. I’m sure you were just about to explain that the accusations against my niece are completely unfounded and encourage these children to go home and get a good night’s sleep for school tomorrow.”

For a minute, Mr. Hollingsworth looked like he might be convinced to do just that, and I wondered if maybe Uncle Macon had the same Power of Persuasion Ridley possessed. A woman with a beehive whispered something to Mr. Hollingsworth and he seemed to remember his original train of thought. “No, sir, that’s not what I was about to do, not at all. In fact, the accusations against your niece are quite serious. It seems there are several witnesses to the events that transpired. Based on the written accounts and the information presented at this meetin’, I’m afraid we are faced with no choice but to expel her.”

Macon waved his hand toward Emily, Savannah, Charlotte, and Eden. “Are these your witnesses? An imaginative band of little girls suffering from a bad case of sour grapes.”

Mrs. Snow leapt to her feet. “Are you insinuatin’ that my daughter is lyin’?”

Macon smiled his movie star smile. “Not at all, my dear. I’m saying that your daughter is lying. I’m sure you can appreciate the difference.”

“How dare you!” Link’s mother pounced like a wildcat. “You have no right to be here, railroadin’ these proceedin’s.”

Marian smiled and stepped forward. “As the great man said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to Justice everywhere.’ And I see no justice in this room, Mrs. Lincoln.”

“Don’t you talk your Harvard talk around here.”

Marian snapped her umbrella shut. “I don’t believe Martin Luther King Jr. went to Harvard.”

Mr. Hollingsworth spoke up authoritatively. “The fact remains that accordin’ to witnesses, Miss Duchannes pulled the fire alarm, resultin’ in thousands a dollars in damages to Jackson High School property, and pushed Miss Asher off the stage, resultin’ in injuries to Miss Asher. Based on these events alone, we have grounds to expel her.”