Overhead, the sky was completely dark, even though it couldn’t have been nighttime yet. On one side of them, the white paint of the house glowed unnaturally bright. On the other, the lake glittered, the surface of the water still and black. The skin on the back of Mateo’s neck crawled just as his phone buzzed again in his pocket. He pulled it out and thumbed open his texts. They were all from Maria, and they all said the exact same thing.

If you want to know what happened to him, meet me in the stands at Dunsinane.

21

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES

They’d told her not to go outside. So she made sure no one saw her leave.

It was dark. With the power out, it was easy to stick to the shadows.

Being alone out under the sky felt wonderful. It felt right.

Though, of course, she wasn’t really alone. She never would be. The spirits were with her.

She stared down to the bottom of the hill. At the glassy black water below.

She smiled.

Thunder rumbled overhead when Mateo was halfway to the football field. He’d sent Felicia back to the house, but nothing was going to keep him away. If Maria was serious about telling him what happened to Brandon, he’d be there—with his cell phone set to record every word she said.

“Hey, Mateo, man.” A voice came from behind him. Mateo recognized Ross’s outline against the dark sky. “Can we talk for a sec?”

“Actually, I’m kind of in a hurry.” Mateo glanced up again. It looked like it was going to pour at any second.

“Well, it’s important.” Ross jabbed his thumb back in the direction of the house. “Can we go talk in your room?”

Mateo did not have a good feeling about this conversation. “Can’t we talk out here?”

“Well, I think you might prefer to have some privacy—”

“Look, just tell me,” Mateo said. “Whatever it is, I just want to get it over with. It can’t be any worse than what’s already happened.”

Ross glanced back toward the house, where a few people were hanging out near the front doors, then gestured for Mateo to follow him behind a short, bare tree. Mateo rolled his eyes and joined him there.

“Your father’s withdrawn you from Acheron,” Ross said. “I’m so sorry to have to tell you.”

“My—what?” Mateo blinked. The words were so random he couldn’t make sense of them. What did his father have to do with the craziness that had been happening?

“Dean Cumberland can fill you in on the details,” Ross said. “He’s waiting for you in his office.”

“You fill me in on the details,” Mateo said. “Right now.”