Page 24 of A Lesson in Deceit (Mystic Riegan Duet #1)

Riley

T raffic was worse than I thought, so instead of an easy thirty minute ride, I’d spent the last forty to fifty minutes in the backseat of my rideshare trying not to fidget.

Corrin couldn’t have all the answers, but she had something, which made me both nervous and giddy all at the same time.

The fact that she’d said so little about this “lab” that she had at her house had me a little on edge, but I had decided to trust her, so I had to deal with what came with that trust.

Corrin lived in a neighborhood in one of the smaller towns called Seiros, closer to the water.

We passed more condos than full blown homes as we drove by but regardless, they were nice, many of them with gardens planted out front or wrap around fences.

We pulled up to her concrete driveway, just as her front door was opening.

Her house was the color of the ocean with shingle roofing and way too many wind chimes out front.

The breeze that the water blew in had them all moving musically.

She was clothed in jean overall shorts and a bralette when she ran over to me barefoot.

Her tight curls were in a multitude of twists on her head, pushed away from her face with a silk headband.

“Finally!” she yelped, grabbing my hand and rushing back inside.

The door slammed behind us and I looked at the shoes next to the front door, taking that as my cue to remove my own.

“What did I tell you about tracking dirt into this house?” A stern voice that made me want to stand up even straighter asked.

“Sorry, sorry, I know, geez.” Corrin turned around and slipped on her flip flops that were sitting by the door. “It’s like she knows everything,” my roommate whispered.

The woman whose voice I’d heard stepped out from around a corner, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. “I do know everything or really it’s that you are oh, so predictable.” She took the towel and lightly smacked Corrin with it.

“Riley, this is my mom.” Corrin pointed her thumb towards the woman, who was beautiful and tall. Her mom mirrored her dark skin and texture of hair. Her hair was also in twists, but they were much longer than her daughters. She had one stud in each nostril and an eyebrow piercing.

I smiled at the woman, who reciprocated. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Corrin! Get this damn cat out of here! He’s trying to eat the food!” A man yelled from what I could only assume was the kitchen.

Corrin rolled her eyes, stifling a laugh.

“Jax! Stop bothering daddy and come here!” The sound of small paws rounding the corner sounded.

An orange tabby circled around Corrin’s feet, rubbing up against her ankles and purring.

His little nose leaned in to sniff me. He looked up at Corrin and gave the cat version of a shrug then went to inspect my shoes.

“He says you’re okay to stay and he trusts you,” Corrin explained.

“Who?”

“The little heathen over there.” Her mom wagged a finger at Jax. The cat turned its head up at us and trotted out of the room.

“Go to my room, Jax!” Corrin yelled, shaking her head. “He doesn’t love being told what to do, so I’ll likely find a tiny pile of shit on my bed.”

Footsteps sounded and a dark-skinned man appeared with the kindest eyes I’d ever seen. His curls were cut close to his head, but you could still see where they made tiny spirals. “I need to go get some basil from out back and the food should be ready soon. Ah, this must be Riley.”

The stunned look on my face at their familiar knowledge of me must have been funny. Corrin’s mom grabbed her daughter’s shoulder and shook it. “This one collects friends like umm, what was that one show, that monster collector thing…”

“It’s called Pokemon, Mom. We had a very long discussion about it where you pretended to listen for the sake of my happiness,” Ike offered, walking through the backdoor. He looked over at his sister expectantly.

Corrin rocked back and forth on her feet. “Okay, well we have to go.” She gripped my forearm. Before she could drag me away, her mom stepped towards me.

“Can I?” She pointed to my necklace.

“S-sure,” I hesitated, but felt no reason to be alarmed.

Her mom gently picked up the ruby gem, carefully not to tug on the chain and ran her thumb over it. “Beautiful craftsmanship.”

I let myself smile a little. “It was a gift from my mom.” I let my eyes look around a little more, noticing the crystals that decorated the house.

It wasn’t an excessive amount, but it was more than I’d ever seen.

They all had different shapes and sizes, some were hanging up, while others adorned tables.

“That’s…interesting. Your mother has quite the eye.” Her smile was warm when she let the gem fall back against my chest.

“Ugh mom, lets not weird her out, okay,” Corrin scolded, throwing her brother a menacing look when he cleared his throat as if to tell her to hurry up.

Her mom threw a look to her dad. “I do not weird people out.”

He scrunched up his face in thought. “Only sometimes.”

Corrin pulled me away from them, throwing a lackluster wave over her shoulder. “Oh, um, it was nice to meet you both.” I was able to shout before I was led out the back door and into a shed that was much bigger on the inside than on the outside.

I looked around at the scientific contraptions I was seeing.

There were handcrafted mortar and pestles but also shiny, glass beakers and test tubes.

She had been right when she’d claimed potion chemistry.

I saw my tiny glass shard sitting on a piece of weighing paper and then realized Ike was in the room.

Corrin followed my eyes and flinched a little. “Okay, don’t be mad.”

“Corrin…. why would I be mad?”

“So, Ike doesn’t like to knock or make himself known when he enters my space.

” She threw him a look of annoyance. “I was working and he saw what I was doing, so he asked about it and he likes to blab to our parents when I’m lying, therefore I was forced to tell the truth.

You do not want to see my mom when she’s angry, all the crystals in the house go nuts.

” She took a deep breath when she was finished.

I slowly pressed my lips together, running my hands down my braids and tugging at the ends. “You told him?”

Ike hummed. “Yes, but what she knows isn’t a lot, so really it’s almost like I know nothing at all.”

“As much as I hate to say this, you’ll want him in on it.

Ike is like the best researcher. Future corporate analyst over here, who also happens to be the guy who used his magic to form random metal into armor when he used to LARP at age twelve.

” She stuck her tongue out at him and he blew out an annoyed breath, looking back at me.

“What exactly did she tell you?” I asked, more concerned with that fact more than anything else.

Ike pulled out a chair and sat down. “She told me your dad was the guy that died over the summer, that you don’t think it was an accident and neither does she, and you found this glass piece with magic on it and hope that it will lead you to something that will avenge your dad’s death.”

My mouth dropped open, my eyes flicking over to Corrin who was smiling at me with her lips pressed together. “Oh yeah, she didn’t tell you anything at all.” I made sure the sarcasm was loud and obnoxious.

Corrin sighed, “I’m sorry, Riley. I do promise you can trust me, well, you can now trust us . I should have asked you before I got him involved, but on the upside, he did help me figure out what I asked you over for.” She didn’t make a move to get closer to me, letting me have my space.

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, mulling over my thoughts. I jumped a little when Jax rubbed his body against my ankles. I bent down to pet him, missing my own furry companion. I used my index finger to scratch underneath his chin and his little eyes clearly told me to forgive his mom.

I straightened and walked over to her. “Fine, all is forgiven for now. You’re on friend probation.”

Corrin clapped. “I’ll take it!”

“Now what’s going on? What did you find out?”

Corrin pulled out her stool from underneath the table, taking tweezers and plucking the glass piece up. “I had already told you that there was magical residue on this and what I found confirmed it, but it’s not just one piece of magic.”

“One piece of magic?”

Ike came up behind us. “She means it’s not just one magical skill. The residue has remnants of telekinesis, but the person that used it isn’t simply telekinetic.”

Corrin put the glass piece back on the weighing paper, swiveling on her stool.

Her brown eyes were wide with intrigue. “I will tell you I tried to pull some of the other powers out. There is a method where I drop the glass into a concoction that I created. It would be kind of like water and oil, instantly separating so that I could get a better look, but….”

“It burned her.” Ike finished; his voice was softer.

“What?!” I pressed, reaching for her hands to find where she was hurt.

Corrin slapped my hands away. “I’m a healing witch, I’m totally fine. Shit, hurt like a bitch though. I dropped the glass in there and it flew out landing right back on the table and the boiling water just kind of shot out, landed all over my fucking hand.”

I placed my hand over my heart. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you to do any of this.”

My roommate giggled. “Seriously calm down. As much as it hurt, it was fascinating. If this magic is angry, I would kill to see who its owner is. Magic is a bond and the more emotions you put into it, the more it grows, shapes and forms.”

I tried to laugh with her, but a realization stopped me. “So telekinesis would likely mean my dad was pushed…”

Corrin’s voice got small. “Seems that way.”

I sent a half-hearted smile in her direction, happy that at least I was getting some truth from this.

“We can knock out shifters as your list of suspects. Their ability to change takes over way too much of their DNA, they wouldn’t be able to take on any other powers,” Ike explained, when I’m sure my face was confused.

“I’m guessing it couldn’t be a student either. I mean, if it holds more powers than any normal magic wielder has, no student could do something like that. Isn’t that the whole reason they come to Mystic Riegan, to enhance and learn?” I offered, chewing on the inside of my cheek.

Corrin tapped her fingernails on the table.

“Sort of. Not all on their own. If you have a teacher that’s willing to help you, mold you and pretty much manipulate you then sure it can happen.

You are usually learning your inherent skill and maybe something additional that offsets what you already have, but not an entire array of powers.

No one wants to entrust that much power to a fucking twenty-year-old.

Highly unlikely, but sure, why not. I will say my guess isn’t a student, but faculty or even higher. ”

My mind went back to River’s dad being named as a witness on the police report. I hated thinking the worst, but I had to look at all the options.

“I wouldn’t completely say they are out of the equation in some way, Corrin. Tell her.” Ike nudged his sister’s shoulder.

Corrin played with her earlobe as if she was trying to decide how to say what she wanted. “A few witches are missing.”

“Missing?” I noticed another stool underneath the table, so I pulled that out and sat down.

“Yeah, we don’t know if it’s super serious or something; I mean it’s college, people go off and do whatever they want, but it’s a little alarming.” She tried to laugh it off, but I could tell she was concerned.

“What’s a few?”

Ike blew out a breath. “Two so far. Not enough to make the coven on high alert, but two too many to not go out with a buddy at night kind of thing.”

“And is the school doing anything?”

Ike and Corrin both rolled their eyes. “The school doesn’t want to cause a fuss about it. We just know because people talk, especially witches and since it’s my own coven, well, I’m kind of privy to that information.”

I reached for the weighing paper, sliding it and the glass shard over to me, prepared to put it in my bag. “Okay, you’ve done enough. I didn’t want to put anyone at risk of something and this just solidified that.”

Corrin pressed her fingers to the other side of the paper, sliding it back over. “I want to help. If it isn’t a little scary then it’s not worth the risk.” She took her glasses off, handing them to her brother for him to use his shirt to clean them for her.

“What my sister is saying is that you’re stuck with her.” Ike laughed, shaking his head as he lifted his shirt and cleaned each lens. “Which means I guess you’re stuck with both of us.” Corrin snatched her glasses from him, smiling.

A knock sounded at the door and Jax jumped into Corrin’s lap. Her mom peeked her head in. “Food’s ready. Are you staying for dinner, Riley?”

I scratched my head but heard my stomach grumble. “Um, yeah. I would like that.”

Corrin lifted her cat up and made a pspsps sound. “Are you ready for dinner, baby Jax?”

I followed them out of the shed, stopping when a spotted bird came flying at us, landing on Ike’s shoulder. Ike looked at the bird and smiled. “This is Ted.”

Corrin cackled. “Only you would name your familiar Ted.” Ted made a noise at her and flew into the house when she opened the door. It smelled like a dream when I stepped inside.

“You said on the day we met that your dad wasn’t a witch, right?” I knew she had mentioned a long line of witches in her family.

Ike answered, “Dad is a shifter.”

“Hence why he and Mateo get along so well. Well, he tolerates them. My dad isn’t thrilled they work in a bar.” Corrin placed Jax down, rubbing her hands together as cat fur floated off them. “Mom’s witch bloodline is super strong, so it pushed Dad’s shifter lineage right out the way.”

Ike let me go ahead of him so we could wash our hands and head into the dining room. “What kind of witch is your mom?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Corrin laughed, waving her hand around the room. “She’s a crystal witch.”