Slayers: Friends and Traitors (12 page)

You would think the leader of the free world would get over an insult from a ten-year-old, even if it had made the news when it happened. But no. He always found some subtle way to remind her about it. Last year he asked her if she was taking geometry in school. When she told him she was, he said, “I’m sure you’ll do well. You’ve got your shapes down pat.”

The president’s son, Clint, made the whole thing more awkward. He was Tori’s age and always went to the same private schools. When she and Clint were thrown together, he usually found some way to give her grief. He had been the catalyst of the whole Easter egg–throwing spree. Of course, he didn’t admit it when a herd of angry secret servicemen descended on them, weapons at the ready. No. He was just an innocent bystander and not the boy who bet her twenty dollars she couldn’t hit the presidential seal on the balcony. And he never paid up, either. The deadbeat.

Tori was probably the only child in the history of White House Easter egg hunts to be publicly chastised by the Easter Bunny.

She glanced around the room. Clint stood by Penny, a senator’s daughter, who went to their high school. Tori usually hung out with her at these functions, but if Penny was going to stand around flirting with Clint, Tori would find someone else.

Maybe Clint was kind of good looking if you were into skinny guys with hawkish features, but really, the way he acted you would think he was the president and not his father.

The chatter in the room seemed especially noisy and intense. Tori wished she could put in some earbuds and listen to music instead. Her parents probably wouldn’t consider that respectful behavior while waiting to greet the president.

Tori had always had good hearing. It was, she realized now, part of her Slayer abilities. She not only heard what the dragon heard, she heard everything better. The skill came in handy if she wanted to eavesdrop, but being in noisy crowds like this could be overwhelming. She had to concentrate in order to follow one conversation and keep the rest from twisting into her attention. The fact that she also had to deal with Overdrake’s playlist going in her mind didn’t help matters.

As she looked around for someone to hang out with, she heard a song she liked. That was a nice change. Someone in Overdrake’s compound had brought in music from this decade.

Tori liked the song, so she let the music grow louder in her mind. She still didn’t see anyone in the room she wanted to hang out with. These events crawled by when she had no one to talk to but her parents. Her mom and dad were always too busy working the floor to pay attention to her.

“Why are you humming?” Aprilynne asked.

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize I was.”

Aprilynne regarded her suspiciously. “You don’t have some sort of wireless earbuds, do you?”

“No. I just … feel like humming sometimes.”

Aprilynne leaned in toward Tori and lowered her voice. “If you have earbuds, I want some, too. I swear, if I have to listen to the president give one more speech about bipartisanship…”

“I don’t,” Tori said.

“Right. You’re tapping your foot.”

Before Tori knew what she was doing, Aprilynne reached out and snatched Tori’s purse from her hand. “Are there more in here?”

Aprilynne turned away so Tori couldn’t grab her purse back without making a scene. Tori was tempted to grab it anyway. She eyed her parents ahead of them in the line. They weren’t paying attention. Neither was the president. The secret servicemen scattered around the room, however, all seemed to be watching her.

Tori patiently held out her hand to her sister. “Give me my purse back.”

Aprilynne pulled out the black plastic watch from Tori’s purse and held it up. She shook her head sadly. “I can’t believe you brought this thing with you tonight. It’s clearly time for a fashion intervention.”

Aprilynne was right about the watch. It was too big, too clunky, and the tiny pink crystals Theo had glued around the face didn’t do much to make it look like a woman’s watch. Pretty much it looked like a man’s watch in drag. Which was why techno geeks shouldn’t design watches.

Tori kept her hand stretched out. “I’m not wearing it. I just put it in my purse and forgot it was in there. Give it back.”

Dr. B insisted on phones that doubled as watches because he thought Overdrake wouldn’t know they were phones and therefore wouldn’t try to bug them. Which might be the case unless Overdrake had seen enough pictures of Tori in the media to wonder why she’d stopped wearing her Rolex in favor of something that was made of gaudy black plastic. Then he might suspect something.

Aprilynne turned the watch over in her hand. “A guy must have given this to you. Was it that hot guy at your dragon geek camp?” She meant Jesse. Aprilynne had met him at the beginning of camp.

“Actually, no.”

Aprilynne smiled knowingly. “Right. I bet there was a tender exchange when he gave it to you.”

Theo had given Tori the watch and the exchange had been:

Tori:
This is a prank, right? You and Bess came up with this together, didn’t you?

Theo:
Don’t wave it around like that. It’s expensive.

Tori:
People at my school will openly mock me if I wear this.

Theo:
Stop whining. I put crystals on yours so it would look all bling.

Tori
(
trying to flick off one of the crystals
): What if this watch accidently fell underneath the wheels of a moving car? Would you make me a different one?

Instead of an actual answer, Theo had let out a stream of threats about what would happen to her should any harm come to her watch-phone.

As if. Even without her extra powers, Tori could have taken Theo out with one well-delivered kick.

Aprilynne held the watch between her thumb and finger as though it were a small animal that had suddenly died. Pathetic and probably germ ridden. “I’m all for romantic tokens,” she said, handing it back to Tori, “but couldn’t he have given you something with more … I don’t know … class … elegance … basic fashion sense? It makes you wonder about his taste.”

Tori snatched her watch back, then took her purse as well. She shoved the watch inside and snapped the clasp shut. “Jesse didn’t give it to me.” It shouldn’t have bothered her to say this. She felt a sting, though. Her mind said the words she hadn’t. Jesse hadn’t given her anything.

The line moved forward, taking Aprilynne’s attention away from Tori. They were almost to the president. A new song came on in her mind. Taylor Swift’s “Picture to Burn.” An angry breakup song. For once Overdrake had matched his music to her mood. As Tori concentrated on the words, the music automatically grew louder.

Tori’s father shook hands with the president. Both men were all smiles. Tori’s mother was next in line.

Aprilynne nudged Tori and gave her a warning look. “What are you muttering? ‘Burn, baby, burn’? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Oops. It meant she’d been singing out loud. “Nothing,” Tori said.

Aprilynne didn’t comment. It was her turn to greet the president. Aprilynne shook his hand, then turned and posed for the photo. After that, she glided down the line to the vice president.

Tori stepped over to shake the president’s hand. He smiled at her, all teeth and polish, then called to her father, “Your girls just get prettier every time I see them.” The president put his other hand on top of Tori’s so her hand was sandwiched in his grip. Leaning toward her confidentially, he said, “You have a beautiful face, which is a good thing because, unlike some of us, you only have one, eh?” He laughed at his joke, but there was an edge to it.

“Yeah. Again, sorry about that.” Again, not really.

“Don’t get me wrong,” the president said, prolonging her turn with him, “I admire a person who speaks their mind.” At least until it went viral. Then he was considerably less admiring. “Once you’re educated about the issues, you’ll be able to do some good in the world.” Implying, of course, if she didn’t agree with him she was ignorant and worthless.

She smiled at him anyway. And that’s when Tori heard it. A sound that wasn’t part of Taylor Swift’s song, but had come from the same location. A screech. High pitched like wheels squealing. But longer, animal like. Dragon like.

Tori let out a gasp. Her eyes flew wide open and her heart slammed into her chest. Had an egg hatched?

The president jerked his hand away from her. He looked behind him to see what she was staring at. The motion caused a ripple of movement among the secret servicemen. They were on alert, scanning the room, hands on their weapons.

“What’s wrong?” the president asked her.

“Nothing.” Tori strained to hear other noises among the chorus of the song. Had it been a dragon, or something else? “I just remembered I hadn’t done my calculus homework.”

The president relaxed. “That’s what you think about while you’re talking to the leader of the free world—your homework?” He let out a sound that was nearly a chuckle, although less amused.

She nodded, barely hearing his words. The noise couldn’t have been a dragon. Not yet. It was something else. A cart moving near the eggs maybe. She took a deep breath. Everything would be okay.

And then Tori heard a second screech. An angry, rumbling sound that was immediately joined by another screech—two dragons. They’d both hatched. Tori stiffened, horrified. This couldn’t happen yet. If the dragons had hatched, they would be mature within a year. She wasn’t ready to fight them. She only had one summer of training.

The president looked nervously around again. The chatter in the room lessened. People noticed his reaction, noticed Tori. In another moment, her parents would come over to see what was wrong.

“What?” the president asked, all the humor gone.

She knew her eyes were still wide, staring at him in shock. She couldn’t help herself. “Um…” She gulped hard. “I’ve got a French essay, too.”

“Well,” the president said, clearly offended, “I won’t take any more of your time then.” He turned his attention to the next person in line, dismissing her.

The security agents nearest the president glared at her, as if she were trying to create a scene. She walked woodenly over to where her parents stood waiting for her. Aprilynne had already gone off to find friends, or cute guys, or both.

The music was so loud in Tori’s mind that she barely heard her father’s voice. “What was that all about?”

“Nothing,” she said.

Tori’s mother brushed a piece of lint off Tori’s shoulder, giving her an excuse to stand closer. She had a rigid smile, the kind ventriloquists wore. “It didn’t look like nothing. It looked like you did something to upset the president.”

“No,” Tori said. “Not really.” She didn’t hear any other sounds in her mind. Just the music. But then, she shouldn’t expect dragons to cry for food like baby birds. When dragons hatched they were the size of lions and could hunt just as well.

“Not really?” Her mom’s eyebrows arched. “I had to keep your father from marching over there to see what was wrong.” Her voice took on a staccato rhythm. “That’s not the sort of scene we want to make here, is it?”

“Sorry,” Tori said. Really, all she’d done was gasp and stare. You wouldn’t think a guy with dozens of security guards would startle so easily.

“You look pale,” her father said. “Are you feeling all right?”

“No,” Tori said. “I mean, no, I’m fine.” If her parents thought she was sick enough to leave the president’s dinner party, her mother would take her home and hover around her for who knew how long. She needed to go someplace where she could call Dr. B.

Tori’s mother kept talking, but Tori only half listened. She opened her purse and dug through it. If the eggs had hatched, Dirk would have seen it. Maybe he already called Dr. B. Maybe Dr. B sent out a message to the Slayers and Tori hadn’t gotten it because she wasn’t wearing her watch.

“What are you doing?” her mother asked in exasperation.

Tori found the watch and pulled it out. The face wasn’t lit up. That meant she didn’t have any messages. At least not yet. Tori slipped the watch onto her wrist. “I don’t want to lose track of the time.”

Tori’s mother let out a frustrated sigh. “Fine,” she said, clearly abandoning whatever point she’d been trying to make. “Go find your friends.” She turned and looked around the room locating the people she wanted to talk to.

Tori’s father studied her for another moment. “Our table is near the podium.”

Tori wasn’t sure whether he was telling her this so she could find them at dinner or whether he was warning her she would be in the president’s line of sight.

Her parents turned and walked toward the middle of the room. Her mother’s dress swished elegantly behind her, every movement calm and regal. Her father was already smiling at someone, heading toward him with an outstretched hand. Tori strode out of the East Ballroom, looking for a private place. There weren’t as many of those as you would expect in the White House. Not with secret servicemen and marines stationed everywhere.

She headed to the ladies’ restroom. As soon as she stepped inside, she knew she couldn’t make a private call from here. Even the restrooms in the White House were tourist locations. The room was decorated with portraits of the first ladies, and several women were perched on the chaise lounge in the sitting area, snapping pictures of themselves with the paintings in the background. A line of women waited for their turn in the stalls. Someone was bound to notice if Tori went into one and started a conversation with herself about dragon hatchlings.

Tori went back out to the Cross Hall. The large hallway connected the East Ballroom and the State Dining Room, and also gave people access to the Blue, Green, and Red Rooms. It had chairs along the walls and large columns that a person could stand behind. A few scattered secret servicemen were around, making sure guests didn’t wander off where they weren’t supposed to.

As Tori strolled over to the closest column, she took off her watch and pretended to reset the time. Three buttons curved around each side of the watch. She pushed the first one once, the second twice. Dr. B’s call code.