Page 103 of Bound By Fury

“Is she always like this?” Lucas leans against my shoulder, whispering through the side of his mouth.

I nod.

Sam’s head is buried in their phone, finger obsessively refreshing news sites for updates about Fiona. We all know it’s pointless, but I don’t have the energy to stop them.

Daisy’s voice rings out against the silence. “I think we should do a séance.”

“I’m sorry?” I say, coughing as I choke on a tapioca ball from Beantown’s new foray into bubble tea.

Lucas slaps me on the back. “A séance?”

Morning dew dampens the bleachers, and Daisy almost slips as she turns to face me, hands on her hips.

She nods firmly. “A séance.”

I lift my hand, shielding my eyes from the light as I consider her.

“Explain.”

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, trying to expand my repertoire of spiritual abilities, but ever since Fiona… I just think… maybe we should try to contact her. See what she has to say about what happened.”

Lucas kicks his feet up on the row below us and leans his elbows on the one above.

“But you don’t think that would actually work, right?”

Daisy side-eyes him, and I can tell from the stubborn set of her jaw that there’s not going to be any arguing about this.

“We could maybe invite Missy to join us. Four people is a nice, round number,” she says. I gesture around at the four of us on the bleachers, but Daisy shakes her head. “Sorry, Lucas, but your energy isn’t really a good fit for this kind of… activity.”

I bristle. I don’t know if she’s just stressed or what, but Daisy has been more irritated lately, especially with Lucas around. She says absorbing too much masculine energy is draining.

“No problem,” Lucas says, as breezy as ever. “I’d rather not participate anyway. Seems kinda like you’re going to conjure a demon or something.”

Daisy rolls her eyes.

“Sam?”

Their eyes are blown wide. “Don’t you think that might be a little…” They tap their chin as though they’re thinking of a nice way to put it. “Unhinged?”

“No! A girl’s body was found in the woods, and they’re calling it an animal attack? And we’re supposed to just believe it? After what we found in the—” Daisy cuts herself off, remembering who I’m sitting next to. “Haven’t you seen any paranormal media ever? It’s literally never an animal attack.”

“Paranormal?” I ask, my voice pitched higher than I want. “Whatever happened to good old-fashioned murder?”

“But what did we find, really?” Sam wonders. “Some genealogical research for the school’s history? It’s hardly evidence of foul play. Besides, don’t you think the police are investigating the administrators anyway?”

“Wait, what are you guys talking about?” Lucas finally asks, our ability to keep the heist under wraps apparently nonexistent.

“There’s something weird going on at this school, and we think it has something to do with what happened to Fiona, so we broke into your dad’s office and found this paper that had these weird names and lines on them, and Fiona’s name was on there, so maybe they know what happened to her and they’re covering it up and this séance will give us answers since no one seems to care that there’s a dead girl!” Daisy spits all in one breath, her chest heaving up and down.

I groan, putting my head in my hands, and Sam stands and stalks to the end of the row.

Lucas hums, his shoulders tensing. “Okay.”

I slide away from him and turn to study his face. It’s relaxed except for the corners of his eyes.

“Okay?”

He shrugs. “Just wish you’d told me sooner. Might have been able to help.”