Page 12

VIOLET

“Is he dying?” I ask Rowan.

The thought sends a bolt of panic through me as Leif’s face continues to turn an alarming shade of red, his loud choking drawing the attention of nearby students lounging across the academy lawns.

Rowan thumps Leif hard on the back several times—a rather unkind gesture, considering Leif is already struggling.

Leif manages to draw in a rattling breath. “What did you say?”

“I asked if you were dying.” I smile in relief. “Fortunately, you’re not.”

“No. Before that,” he wheezes.

“Oh. I said we need to retrieve Viktor's body from the human morgue, and we should do so tonight.” Leif stares at me through watering eyes. “Are you alright?” I place a hand on his wide thigh. “What happened?”

“You said you want to steal a dead body. Next time you drop something like that, at least wait until I’m not eating so I don't choke to death.”

Rowan finally breaks his silence. “Violet, this plan involves more than when you took a toe from We—“ He looks around at and lowers his voice. “A cadaver.”

I purse my lips. Wesley . “Yes. But if Dorian discovers that the corpse is Viktor—and that we had a hand in his death—things will become… difficult.”

“And if we're caught carting around a dead body, things will become more than difficult,” Rowan retorts.

“What do you intend to do with the… Viktor?” asks Leif then lifts a hand, palm outwards. “Actually, don’t tell me.”

“Bury him? Incinerate him?” asks Rowan. “The answer is no. Find another plan.”

“I plan to return Viktor to his family.”

Rowan blinks slowly. “What did you say?”

“What is wrong with your hearing today?” I ask them both.

“We can hear, but we want confirmation on your insane words.”

I retrieve my water bottle from Leif and drink. “Cornelius should be informed that his son died.”

“Cornelius already told everybody Viktor died!” says Leif.

“Therefore, Cornelius shares our necessity that nobody learns of his real death.” I frown. “Isn't that obvious?”

“Right. You're going to rock up at Cornelius's house with Viktor's body? And say what? ‘Hello Mr. Whitegrove, I have a gift for you’?” snarks Rowan.

“Viktor's unrecognizable body,” Leif reminds me. “Eloise tore his face off.”

“Excuse me, no, she did not. Eloise merely inflicted major lacerations.”

“Disfiguring ones! The guy might not recognize his son—especially after almost two decades. Bloody hell, Violet.” Rowan sighs and sinks back onto the grass, staring at the cloudy sky instead.

“I don’t believe for a moment that Cornelius hasn’t seen his son since his fake death. The situation is an ideal way to gain Cornelius's cooperation in investigations into Madison’s murder.”

“How so? Do you plan to hold Viktor’s body to ransom?” asks Leif.

“Oh.” I straighten. “That might be a good?—“

“I was kidding!”

“Humans searching for a body's identity take samples, Violet,” Rowan says to the clouds. “Every witch's DNA is recorded.”

“If Cornelius wiped all trace of his son from the world, ensuring nobody identifies his DNA shouldn't be a problem.” I tap the edge of the water bottle. “However, if somebody exposes that Viktor never died, Cornelius has a lot to lose.”

Not as much as us if Dorian discovers his more recent, true death, but it would be pertinent not to mention that.

Rowan props himself up on his elbows. “How exactly do you intend on transporting Viktor's body? We've never visited the Whitegrove estate so blood runes won’t work, and I doubt an Uber driver would happily help move a corpse.”

I withdraw from the conversation, re-entering my thoughts as I consider their opinions. Rowan has a point.

Neither guy speaks, either relieved the conversation is over or wary about what I’ll say next.

I detect Rowan’s jittery energy—in the past I would’ve carried out my plan alone without their assistance.

However, I’ve long since learned that I’m unable to perform certain tasks without help.

What’s logical to me isn’t to everybody else, and I’ll home in on a single-minded solution rather than consider the practicalities.

How would I transport Viktor’s body?

Leif resumes his lunch, and Rowan stays focused on the sky. Time to outline my alternative plan? I wait until Leif swallows his mouthful of wrap before speaking.

“If we cannot take Viktor to Cornelius, then we shall take Cornelius to Viktor.”

Rowan props himself up on his elbows again and blows hair from his face. “How is that a plan? Again, Cornelius maintains that Viktor died.”

“We would do Cornelius a favor by alerting him to his son’s reappearance in the supernatural world.” I wrinkle my nose. “Albeit Viktor’s short emergence with an unfortunate end.”

“How would you prove to Cornelius that the humans have Viktor’s body?” asks Leif.

“I expect Viktor has at least one distinguishing mark.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“We can also acquire police records? Photos of the body?”

Leif half-gags, and Rowan shakes his head. “This would all take too long. The humans will widen their net to identify the body within a day, if they haven’t already.”

“And my vote goes to avoiding the police station and morgue entirely,” adds Leif.

I purse my lips. “Then we must rely on a scenario where, in order to avoid problems for himself, Cornelius accepts evidence that we know his son exists.”

Leif and Rowan exchange one of their looks that infuriate me. “And if we do this, there’s no ‘Invasion of the Bodysnatchers?’” asks Rowan.

“Excuse me?”

Leif huffs. “No taking any part of Viktor’s body to send to his father. We’re not the mafia.”

“You’re confusing me.”

“ The Circle kind of are, Leif,” Rowan says. “And that’s a problem.”

I huff. “ Everything is a problem. We need to decide which one we can solve first. Rowan, can you find a way for me to contact Cornelius? I can’t ask Dorian to help. Obviously.”

Rowan stares. “I don’t know. Visit his business offices for a chat?”

“Excellent idea.”

“That was sarcasm!”

Leif shoves him. “And sarcasm often gives Violet ideas, you idiot.”

“Yes. We let Cornelius know we have information about Madison and Viktor.” I smile. “Cornelius’s response to us connecting the dots could prove very interesting.”

Rowan takes his bag from beside him. “Is this sudden and unhinged plan linked to your chat with Dorian today?”

The water bottle crumples in my hand. “Partially.”

Clearly alarmed by the bottle’s destruction, Rowan bites his lip hard and side-glances at Leif, who nods. Rowan lowers his voice. “You haven’t told us everything. Does Dorian have Grayson?”

Fear bites at me harder than Rowan is chewing on his mouth. “No. But my father is looking for an excuse to harm him, we all know that.”

“And…” Rowan trails off, again looking at Leif and pulling a face.

Leif nods and takes a long breath. “Has Grayson contacted you yet?”

I swallow at the subject that I attempt to keep submerged but that annoyingly buoys up the moment I drift away from my concentration on my plans. “No. But I’m confident that he’s safe. Grayson’s keeping a low profile until we solve the Viktor problem.”

But Rowan’s face tells me what I deny. Grayson would contact me—at least once—to tell me he’s okay. Rowan didn’t react when I told him Grayson will contact me soon, and that maybe his phone ran out of battery life. I know why. Wherever Grayson is, he would find a phone charger or even a new phone.

Unless Grayson is trapped somewhere by Viktor’s accomplices and he’s the one running out of life.

No. That’s a scenario I simply will not allow.