“That’s very kind,” he interrupted. “But I can’t ask any more of you. I’m sure your father will be wondering where you are.”
“Oh, it’s okay. He’s on a work trip anyway. I’ve, er, been driving the car kinda illegally.” Her face got even redder. “But it’s for schoolwork tonight! I’m going to the mall with Mr. Slider.”
“Mr. Slider?” Jennifer wrinkled her nose. “What does he have to do with anything?”
“He decided on a field trip tonight with our geometry class. At the Mall of America. He says there are lots of geometric puzzles we can create and solve there. Not to mention fabulous shopping.”
“Huh. Well, yeah, Susan, you should go. Dad and I will stay with Mom for the night.”
“Actually,” Jonathan cut in, “you both should go.”
Jennifer felt the blood drain from her face. “Dad, I’m not leaving Mom! I’m not leaving you!”
“Ace, I’m not going to say you have to go—”
“Good!”
“But I’m asking. Please.”
“Why?” She looked around, confused. “What if Evangelos comes back?”
“Exactly. Jennifer, we don’t know what his next move will be. He could come for you…or he could come back here to finish the job with your mother. If you stay here, he’ll definitely show up here, and all three of us are in danger. If you go, he’ll probably leave you alone, especially in a crowded place like a mall.”
“But that just means he’ll come here!”
“Yes.” His expression did not waver. “And I’ll be waiting for him.”
“You can’t face him alone! I should stay here to help!”
“Jennifer.” He advanced, but she backed away so he couldn’t touch her. “If we’re all together, we could all die. If he comes here and finishes the job, and you’re somewhere else…maybe he’ll leave you alone. Maybe he’ll decide I’m enough, finally. He showed your mother mercy. He might show you some, too.”
Panic welled up in Jennifer’s throat. “You’re sending me away. Just like you did the night Grandpa died!”
He closed his eyes. “I’m sorry, ace. I’m out of options.”
Susan tried to take Jennifer’s hand, but Jennifer shook her friend off. “Dad. Come on. How will you fight him if he comes?”
“Maybe I won’t have to,” he said softly, looking at his wife. “Maybe her being here will help. Just seeing her, maybe Evangelos will remember some mercy. Maybe she’ll protect me, one more time.”
“And if she doesn’t?” The words almost didn’t come out.
He stepped forward quickly enough to swing one wing behind her and grab her by the back of the neck. His head close, he whispered in her ear, “It may come to that. But I am not completely helpless, Jennifer. I am an elder.”
His scaly back straightened, and his silver eyes gleamed with pride. Jennifer saw some of the strength and resolve that Evangelos had inherited. Perhaps her father was not so foolish after all.
He leaned in close. “If the worst happens, make for Crescent Valley. Winona Brandfire will know what to do.”
“I won’t.” She wrenched herself out of his embrace and stared at the clean linoleum floor. “I won’t know what to do.”
“Don’t sell yourself short.”
He let her go and turned back to the bed where Elizabeth lay. “You’ve heard my wish, ace. Like I said, I can’t make you do it. But I hope you will.”
Her lips trembled as she tried to look up again. He didn’t say any more, but set about smoothing his wife’s hair with a wing claw.
“Okay, Dad. For a few hours, we’ll try your plan. But I’m coming back tonight to talk about this some more.”
His reptilian head gave a slight nod.
Susan took her hand successfully this time. “Come on, Jennifer. We’ll do this, and we’ll come right back.”
They took a few steps toward the door before Jennifer stopped. “Dad.”
“Yes.”
“Mayor Seabright said Mrs. Blacktooth is right down the hall. Eddie or his dad may be around. You might…if Evangelos comes, I mean…you might ask them for help.”
“Good idea, ace. Keep your eyes open out there.”
“I love you, Dad.”
“I love you, too, Jennifer Caroline.”
She squeezed Susan’s hand, and they left together.
Leaving Winoka, Jennifer gazed out the passenger seat window at the early sunset—a dazzling array of orange and pink clouds suspended in a violet sky. Movement against the easterly clouds caught her attention, and she turned slightly to view the darker, wispy shapes beneath them. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of birds in the sky. Jennifer recognized their shapes immediately, but Susan gawked at them for a while.
“Wow, a lot of geese up there today.”
“They’re not geese. They’re birds of prey. Eagles, hawks, falcons—probably owls, too.” Jennifer rubbed her temples and thought of her mother, and the pygmy owls they had argued over two short months ago.
“That’s impossible! There are too many.”
“Not for this town. The beaststalkers use them.”
“For what?”
She shrugged. “Hunting Evangelos, I expect.” Maybe they’ll do me and Dad a favor and kill the thug now, she thought to herself. The thought gave her a sort of nasty pleasure, which she no longer tried to suppress. It also gave her a more wholesome feeling of relief—her mom and dad really might be safe.
Susan squinted at the birds. “I bet Eddie and his dad have a bird up there, somewhere.” She sighed. “I so want to get out of this town.”
Jennifer wrinkled her nose. “Badly enough to break the traffic laws, I can see. I didn’t realize you were driving around alone with your learner’s permit!”
Her friend blushed. “I can’t help it if my dad isn’t in town, and I need a vehicle for emergencies. Like getting to school. And the mall tonight,” she added defensively.
“Yes, the mall. A true emergency. Even the most heartless police officer will understand.”
That got them smiling, and then Susan turned on the radio.
“Ugh! That song again!”
It was the same tune they had heard in Jennifer’s room on her birthday—the one they had both loved over the summer, but gotten tired of so long ago.
Jennifer stopped Susan’s hand from switching the station. “Just leave it here, will you?”
“Hmmph. Yeah, okay, I guess. Didn’t you get sick of it, too?”
“I did.”
Jennifer closed her eyes, leaned against the window, and dreamt of an early birthday party at her grandfather’s cabin, when she was an only child surrounded by family.
An airplane screamed not far overhead as Susan fussed about which level of the parking ramp would be the best option. California level? Or the Texas level? Or perhaps on the other side of the enormous Mall of America, where states like Maine and Pennsylvania were stacked upon each other?
“God, I hate highways,” Susan muttered, taking the mall exit that headed for the western states parking ramp. “I can’t believe all the cars on it.”
“Oh, well, you know,” Jennifer replied vaguely. “Traffic.” She eyed Macy’s as they passed and wondered for the hundredth time whose dumb idea it was to replace the apostrophe with a star. “Maybe we should check out some three-hundred-dollar raincoats while we’re here.”
“Well, I don’t have that much money to throw away,” Susan said with a sniff, pulling into Colorado.
“So where’s the class meeting?”
“Mr. Slider told us on the west side, second floor, by Tiger Sushi. He said he had a hankering for their spring rolls.”
“Huh. He’s a weird one.”
“Yeah.” Susan’s face suddenly lit up. “You know, I’ve seen him outside school a few times. He hangs around with this strange, thin woman—and I found out later it’s Skip’s aunt! Can you believe it?”
Jennifer thought of Mr. Slider’s unexpected visit to Skip and Tavia’s house. “Huh. Yeah, I guess so.”
“I wonder what that’s about. Oh, which spot? I haven’t practiced parking much. It looks a lot easier when my dad does it.”
After some hunting and a few valiant maneuvers, Susan managed to fit the car across two spaces in a remote corner of the yellow level (Hawaii, with pineapple reminder signs), far away from anyone else’s vehicle.
“You have a bright future as a valet, Elmsmith.”
“Stuff it, Scales.”
They were giggling again as their shoes clicked against the parking lot pavement. Jennifer had almost set aside the image of her parents in the hospital when a tall shape advanced toward them from behind a cement pillar. Instinctively, she pushed Susan back and reached under her skirt for a blade.
“Oh, it’s you.” She relaxed, but then tensed again when she saw how he was dressed. “What?”
Eddie Blacktooth wore a white robe with black accents, not unlike what his father had worn at the beaststalker trial. His close-cropped brown hair was matted down with sweat, and his face was fixed in determination.
Susan stepped out from behind Jennifer. “You’re not in our geometry class,” she snapped. “Why are you here? Why are you dressed like that? Are you following us?”
He nodded. “Since the hospital. Sorry about your mom, Jennifer.”
“Sorry about yours.” What’s he up to? “So you drove? You’re not old enough to have a license.”
A smile almost forced itself across his sparrowlike features. “Neither is Susan.”
“My dad’s out of town,” Susan said with such righteousness, Jennifer almost believed she hadn’t broken the law regardless. “What’s your excuse?”
“Well, my dad was okay with this. After all, he sent me here. He thinks Evangelos is following you, so I don’t have much time.”
His right hand came out from behind his robes and Jennifer instinctively reached for her blades again.
The Blacktooth blade reflected the dying light of the sunset behind him. “My father sent me on my rite of passage,” he explained with almost touching formality. “He says I must fulfill my quest or die trying.”
Susan’s voice wavered. “You must be after Evangelos, too, after what he did to your mother. You’re here to help her, right?”
Jennifer smiled grimly. “No, Susan. He’s not here to kill my brother. He’s here to kill me.”
CHAPTER 15
Evangelos Exposed
“Susan, you’d better get out of here.”
“I’m not going anywhere! You’re my friend, and I’m going to help you.”
Jennifer straightened up and looked at her. “Susan, Eddie’s not himself.”
“Try a new one!”
“I mean, he might hurt you. You should go.”
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here!” A ruddy hue came to the boy’s pale cheeks. “Susan, get out of here. You’re a civilian. It’s not safe to be with Jennifer. She’s dangerous—a monster.”
“No, you’re the monster.” Susan spat. “You and your horrible father. You should know better than him. You should be better than him.”
Eddie’s face twisted in anger, but Susan went on more gently. “Don’t you remember, Eddie? You and Jenny and I used to joke about him and your mom all the time. We used to joke about all of our parents. They’re all crazy, in one way or another. We all swore years ago we’d never let them come between us. But you were especially disgusted with your dad. Since when did you turn your back on us, for him?”
“Since I grew up,” Eddie said through gritted teeth, glaring at Jennifer. “Since my best friend in the world lied to me, and my parents started telling me the truth. Since the girl I’ve loved since first grade betrayed me!”
Jennifer felt herself start to shake. She couldn’t take her eyes off of his, even with his sword raised between them. What did he just say?
“Wow.” Susan turned to Jennifer. “There’s a lot of information right there.”
“I never lied to you, Eddie.” Jennifer sheathed her blades and took a couple of steps toward him. “I was just trying to figure out who I was. I needed time.”
His voice trembled. Moisture welled around his eyes. “We never kept secrets from each other! Not like you did!”
“Didn’t we?” She said it as softly as she could. “Eddie, when exactly did you come to tell me what you and your parents were?”
He looked from Jennifer to Susan to Jennifer. “My parents swore me to secrecy.”
“You think mine didn’t?”
“They told me even in a town like Winoka, there are always spies.”
“And was I one of those spies? Was my mother?”
“You lied to me!” The point of the Blacktooth blade, which had been drooping steadily for the past few seconds, jerked back up between them.
“Eddie, this is insane!” Susan nervously ran her hand through her dark hair. “You’re pointing a sword at your two best friends. Stop and think about what you’re doing!”
“Thinking,” Jennifer said with a thin voice, “appears to be in short supply in the Blacktooth family nowadays.”
He didn’t reply. Instead, he shook his head and fixed his gaze back on Jennifer. With tight lips and a determined stance, he leaned forward with the blade.
She needed to get her friend out of here. “Susan, go.”
“Jennifer—”
“Now, Susan! Drive back to the hospital, get my dad—”
There was no more time to talk. Eddie lunged forward and Jennifer flicked her left dagger out of its sheath just in time to deflect the blow away from her head. As she staggered back in surprise—he had actually tried to stab her!—she heard Susan’s footsteps racing back toward the car.
“Eddie, what’re you—”
“Ready your weapon!” It was a demand and a plea at the same time.
“Eddie, I’m not going to fight—”
“Ready yourself or ready your soul!” The Blacktooth blade surged forward a second time. Again, her own dagger came up to block it.
Jennifer felt tears rising. She turned briefly at the sound of Susan’s car screeching on its way out of the parking garage. No one else was around. “Eddie, please! I can’t. Not like this. Not with you. Can’t we just—”
“My father told me you’d beg.” His words were cold, but Jennifer saw the single tear draining down his cheek. “He told me you would refuse to fight. He told me you were weak. Just like your mother.”
For the third time, he thrust the blade at her.
You shouldn’t have talked about my mother like that.
This time, she trapped the blow between dragon’s jaws. The point stuck out the other side of her teeth. In a red fury, she clamped down hard on the blade. Eddie pulled back, but the sword did not budge. He pulled again, until she twisted her head and yanked the weapon from his hands. Drawing herself to full height, she let the steam pour from her nostrils and squeezed her jaws until she felt the dark steel bite into her gums. Then she squeezed even tighter, and she felt the sword fail.