Page 49 of A Lesson in Deceit (Mystic Riegan Duet #1)

Riley

I felt my body shake as if someone was pulling me back and forth.

The world I’d seen felt distorted now and everything was out of order.

Time moved forward and I tried to find purchase on anything I could get my hands on to stop it.

Then my mind stalled like it had found its place to stop and I was back in my father’s office, in the present.

I slammed my hand against my head, feeling like my entire brain had been heaved right off my spinal cord.

Corrin was at my side, taking my face in her hands and forcing me to look at her.

We weren’t alone though. I ripped her hands from my face and saw one security officer and Oliver St. James in the doorway.

River’s dad had Ike by the arm, giving each one of us a skeptical expression.

“You were supposed to keep watch, Ike,” Corrin hissed, pressing her lips together when the security officer gave her a menacing look.

“I was! They came out of—” He was cut off when River’s dad started speaking.

“What the hell are you doing in here?” He reached back and cut the light on; the room now shrouded in a bright overhead light.

“We were just leaving…” Corrin started, trying to sound nonchalant.

“What happened in here?” I asked, looking back at the window.

Oliver quirked a brow. “Whatever do you mean?”

“You know exactly what I mean!”

He stared at me, his gaze one of uninterested coldness.

“I have no idea and you really shouldn’t concern yourself with things that don’t involve you.

” He huffed out a breath when I started to argue, looking over at the security officer before throwing Ike towards Corrin.

“Do it and we’ll deal with it in the morning. ”

The security officer reached into his pocket, pulling out a tiny tube of silver dust. I watched River’s dad walk out as the officer removed the cap, flinging his arm out and let the dust wash over us.

I had no idea what it was meant to do, but I started to lose all feeling in my limbs and my head felt foggy again.

This time was different. My vision wasn’t turning into anything; it was simply going black.

I’d woken up in a less than comfortable bed at the city hospital.

I didn’t remember getting there, but the image of my mom’s face would always be ingrained in my brain.

It was one of the worst things to wake up to.

The look of fear and confused anger, because your mom has no idea if you were hurt or if you brought this upon yourself, is something you can’t easily remove from your memory.

My mom had spoken to the doctors and River was at my side, trying not to question me during the two hours I was there until they released me.

All my scans came back clean, there were no signs of drugs or alcohol, which I knew there wouldn’t be.

Any traces of what Corrin had me drink were gone as if once it had done what was required of it, it just vanished from my system.

Grayson had run through the doors with Asher strolling in behind him.

Asher looked like he could snap the neck of the next person that pissed him off and I wondered if that rage was because of me.

River had assured me Corrin and Ike were fine.

I wondered what that word even meant… fine .

I couldn’t tell my boyfriend that his father had put me to sleep after I snuck into my dad’s office and became a dupe of a memory witch.

My head pounded just thinking about the massive amounts of questions I would get after that.

I still held my secrets, and all Oliver St. James suspected was that I was just a nosey student. Nothing more.

I hadn’t wanted to go home, but my mom demanded that I get in the car in that voice that she hadn’t used on me since I was twelve.

She’d driven in silence, her hands gripping the steering wheel with a deathly hold.

I had planned to bolt to my room when I got inside, let Beau follow me and snuggle with him until I was whisked back to school, but I wasn’t so lucky.

“Living room. Now.” My mom didn’t look in my direction, she just walked past me to the couch.

I heard Beau sigh as he sat down at my feet.

His tail wasn’t doing its happy wag and his ears were back.

It was almost as if he was in trouble as well.

I reached down and slid my hand over his head, trying to reassure him that everything would be okay.

I made my way into the living room, sitting on the opposite end of the couch.

My mom rubbed the place between her eyebrows, her eyes closed as she took deep breaths. “You can start explaining at any time now?”

Beau walked in front of the couch, laying down in front of my feet. I smacked my lips together, hoping that at any moment the words would just come to me. “I’m sorry, Mom.”

“Riley, I’m sorry is no good at the moment. I have no idea what you are even sorry for, that’s my point.”

My mouth opened and closed but nothing seemed good enough.

“River’s dad said that you were a bit erratic and so were your friends, which is why they decided to put you to sleep. Honey, what were you doing in your dad’s office? I told you that if you needed to talk to me about something then you could…you promised me you would.”

I reared my head back, waving my hands. “Wait, erratic ?”

She nodded. “I’m not completely okay with their methods, but if you were in danger of hurting yourself I would rather them use something on you to keep you from harm.”

“Mom, I wasn’t…. erratic is not the word I’d use. I was…” I trailed off, groaning.

“You were what? What could you have possibly been doing in your dad’s office so late at night, hmm?

” She tapped one of the couch cushions, waiting for my response.

She had this way about her that made you nervous to answer, but also afraid that if you took too long she might bite your head off.

“Not to mention Beau was having a field day last night. He barked for hours on end and nearly broke down the front door.”

Beau peeked up at me, huffing.

“I hadn’t ever been in there and I knew I would get looked at and questioned if I asked to see it myself.

Dad never got to take me in there as a kid, just the campus.

I guess I wanted to feel close in some way…

” It wasn’t a lie. Not completely. My reasoning for going there behind people’s backs was valid, so it could all make very logical sense.

I didn’t have the answer to who had jolted my dad out a window, so allowing my mom into the fold wasn’t an option just yet.

“Riley…”

“I wasn’t erratic though. That’s a lie.” I might not be so open when it came to certain truths, but I wasn’t going to have someone say something so blatantly false.

“Why would he say that then?” My mom scooted closer to me, placing her hand on my leg. Her skin was smooth like velvet when I placed my hand over hers.

“I don’t know, but if I’m honest about anything, Mom, it’s that I was completely sane before I got dusted with magic.”

She nodded, taking in my words and considering them. “And you being in your dad’s office, did it help you at all? I’m still highly upset by your choices, but I guess I understand feeling the things you do. Did being there give you any clarity or maybe even some closure?”

I squeezed her hand. “No, but I’m working on it.”

Her eyebrows furrowed with alarm. I stopped her before she could start yelling at me. “I’ll find a less invasive way to do it that doesn’t involve school property or trespassing.”

She placed a hand over her heart, letting out a breath. “Good. You have a meeting with the Dean of Students anyway, so if you were even considering another stunt then I’m sure that would have you thinking twice.”

“The Dean of Students?” I smacked my palm against my forehead. “But…”

My mom pointed her finger at me. “It’s still misconduct.

You violated school rules and a little thing called breaking and entering.

They aren’t pressing charges on that front thankfully, but you and your friends are having a meeting to discuss potential punishment, if there is any.

Hopefully it will just go on your record and get removed in a year. ”

I sucked in a breath, exhaling when I leaned back against the couch. Beau jumped on me as if he was small enough to be a lap dog and snuggled into my lap. “Just perfect.”