Slayers: Friends and Traitors (35 page)

Flying, Tori knew, had very little to do with concentrating and much more to do with feeling, with wanting to lift yourself through the air. When Tori’s power of flight had kicked in, she had found herself soaring upward without any idea how she was doing it.

“She doesn’t have to be a flyer,” Bess pointed out. “Ryker’s and Willow’s Slayer ancestors could be through their unrelated parents.”

Rosa considered this. “Maybe your power just hasn’t manifested itself yet. Extra talents usually show up when you’re in danger.”

Willow let out a grunt. “Then I ought to have extra talent oozing out of my pores by now. If not from the armed gunmen who broke into my house tonight, then from all of the times Ryker dropped me while we were a few hundred feet up in the air.”

“He dropped you?” Rosa asked, wide-eyed. “On purpose?”

“Yeah, on purpose. He claims he was helping me fly but sometimes Ryker is just a jerk.” She fluttered her hand in Tori’s direction. “That’s another thing you ought to know about him before you become his soul mate.”

“Counterpart,” Tori said.

“Tori can’t be Ryker’s counterpart, too,” Rosa said, leaning forward in exasperation. “That wouldn’t be fair.”

Bess nodded in agreement. She was twisted in her seat so she could see Willow. “Tori has been hogging the counterparts lately.”

Bess meant Dirk and Jesse—technically not even close to
all
the counterparts. “It’s not something anyone has a choice about,” Tori reminded everyone.

Bess looked upward and sighed. “Tori will probably spend all next summer sequestered with Ryker training him.”

Jesse straightened. “We can do a counterpart test right now.” There was a challenge in his voice, as if he thought Tori was campaigning for the position. “We close our eyes, and Dr. B passes Ryker’s truck—or not. When he says, ‘now’ we both point to where we think Ryker is.”

Tori leaned back in her seat. “I doubt I’m Ryker’s counterpart. I don’t mind waiting to find out.”

“Right,” Jesse said. “I remember how you and Dirk figured out you were counterparts. This way is better.”

Tori flushed. She never should have told Jesse about Dirk and her kissing that time.

Bess’ gaze bounced between Jesse and Tori. “Wait, how did Tori and Dirk figure out they were counterparts?”

Tori glared at Jesse and didn’t answer.

“You’re blushing,” Bess said. “So it’s got to be a good story.” She waved a disapproving hand in Tori’s direction. “I can’t believe you never told me.” With an injured air, she turned to Rosa. “Did Tori ever tell you?”

Rosa shook her head. “Nope.”

“Who’s Dirk?” Willow asked.

“Fine,” Tori said, “I’ll do the counterpart test now. Dr. B, you can pass Ryker’s truck whenever you want.” She shut her eyes and hoped this would end the discussion about Dirk. It didn’t. Lilly immediately began telling Willow all about Dirk.

“I’ll do better than pass Ryker,” Dr. B called back to Tori. “We’re pulling into the parking lot now. I’ll drive around and once I stop the van, tell me which direction Ryker is parked.”

Tori kept her eyes shut tight and concentrated, trying to feel Ryker’s presence. Mostly she felt Jesse’s, though. She knew he was sitting across the van, ticked at her because he thought she was hogging counterparts. Okay, it was actually Bess who had said that. Jesse was just ticked at the idea of her being sequestered all summer with Ryker.

Did that mean Jesse still cared about her, that he was jealous? Probably not. He had been the one who told her she should date other guys. Jesse was only mad about her getting together with Dirk because Dirk was Jesse’s friend. Or at least he had been Jesse’s friend.

Tori revised the thought again. Dirk had never been any of the Slayers’ friend. Not Jesse’s, not hers. From the day Dirk enrolled in camp years ago, he planned to learn their secrets and betray them. It was a bitter, bitter thought.

The van stopped. “All right,” Dr. B called. “Where is Ryker?”

Tori reached out with her mind, searching for his presence. It was no good. What had been so effortless with Dirk was absent with Ryker. “I don’t know.” Tori shrugged and pointed to her left.

“Tori isn’t Ryker’s counterpart,” Bess announced, relieved.

Tori opened her eyes. Jesse, his eyes still shut, was pointing at the back of the van, which was where Ryker’s truck was parked—right behind them.

“Jesse might be,” Rosa said. “Or he might just be a better guesser than Tori.”

Jesse kept his eyes closed. He moved his finger from pointing to the back of the van, to pointing to the back-left corner, and then slowly traced his finger along the left side of the van. Which made sense, because Ryker had gotten out of his truck and was walking along that side to talk to Dr. B.

“Okay,” Rosa said. “Jesse officially wins. He’s Ryker’s counterpart.”

Jesse opened his eyes, glanced at Ryker, and smiled triumphantly, not at Rosa or Ryker, but at Tori.

Which irked her because she never claimed to be Ryker’s counterpart in the first place.

Tori smiled back at Jesse, amazed at how quickly she could go from gut-wrenching worry about his safety to wanting to throw something at him. “I might be Ryker’s soul mate, though. As you said, the night is still young.”

“Don’t mind them,” Lilly whispered to Willow. “They used to be an item and they haven’t finished breaking up.”

Tori wished she could argue that point, but she couldn’t.

CHAPTER 34

Jesse leaned against the office wall and watched Ryker pace back and forth in front of his parents. It was odd having a counterpart, odd being able to look away and still know where Ryker was. Back at camp, a part of him constantly kept track of Tori. When they were in a group together, he always knew where she was. He thought that awareness was a counterpart sense he shared with her. Now he realized that sort of attention didn’t have anything to do with counterparts. That was love. This knowing where Ryker was—it was like knowing where his arm was.

Kody, Lilly, and Rosa were outside the building, standing watch. Everyone else had gone to the conference room at the back of the office. Willow, Bess, and Tori sat by Ryker’s sister, Jillian, taking turns comforting her. Mr. Davis sat on the edge of the table while Mrs. Davis washed out his wound before she stitched it up. Dr. B stood next to Mrs. Davis, ready to assist her if she needed it.

Dr. B spoke for a few minutes, explaining who Overdrake was, that the dragon eggs had hatched, and that an attack would most likely take place in less than a year. Then the police called Mrs. Davis.

Judging from the things she said to them, the police were puzzled by what they’d found at the house and now had lots of questions, such as: who had shot the people in the backyard, why they were all unconscious, what had the nets been used for, and why did scorch marks run across parts of the grass?

Mrs. Davis worked on stitching her husband’s wound while she spoke. “You know more about what happened in the backyard than I do. I haven’t seen it.” A pause. “I don’t know. Maybe they were going to rob us.” Another pause. “He knows even less than I do. The gunmen knocked him out right away.” A longer pause. “Are you insinuating that our family had dealings with these people? We’re the victims here. Why don’t you ask the gunmen all these questions?”

Ryker sat down next to Willow. He glanced at Jesse. He’d done this off and on since he’d seen Jesse without his helmet. “I know you from someplace, don’t I?”

“No,” Jesse said. The other counterpart abilities were kicking in, he supposed. The ability to read emotions, to understand each other as though they’d grown up together. When Jesse had seen the other counterparts at camp working together, he’d envied their closeness, their support for each other. Now he couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable, transparent. Ryker would be able to read him soon.

“I’m positive I know you.” Ryker tilted his head as he tried to figure it out. “Which high school do you go to? Maybe I’ve played you.”

“No,” Tori said. “Jesse has only played me.”

Jesse raised an eyebrow at her.

“What?” she asked him. “You can throw jibes at me but I can’t throw them back at you?”

Ryker’s gaze went from Jesse to Tori with puzzlement.

“They used to be an item,” Willow stage-whispered to him, “and they’re not through breaking up.”

Dr. B, who had apparently been paying attention to this exchange, let out an unhappy grumbling noise. It was one more broken rule he had just found out about.

Jesse kept his attention on Ryker. “You probably feel like you know me because we’re counterparts.”

Dr. B had explained the concept to Ryker earlier, had even told him that he was Jesse’s counterpart. Ryker didn’t seem to fully understand it was a condition, not an assignment.

“No,” Ryker said, narrowing his eyes in thought. “I know I’ve seen you somewhere. I’m good at remembering faces.”

Willow snorted in disbelief. “Okay, if that were the case, you’d be asking Supergirl who she is.” Willow smiled at Tori. “I just figured out why you look familiar.”

“We don’t divulge each other’s identities,” Dr. B broke in. “Secrecy is needed for safety.”

“Oh,” Willow said, casting another glance in Tori’s direction. “Good luck with that.”

No one else commented. Mrs. Davis had raised her voice, speaking sharply into the phone. “Look, I don’t have time to answer more of your questions. I need to take care of my husband’s wound.” She nearly threw her phone down on the counter. “This is great,” she said, tight-lipped. “The police think we’re involved in organized crime. They can’t imagine why else so many well-armed men would have attacked us.”

Bess shook her head. “It’s not true. Our crime isn’t organized at all.”

Dr. B ignored his daughter. “It isn’t safe for you to live in Rutland anymore. Let us help you find somewhere else.”

Mrs. Davis went back to her husband, cutting the thread on his last stitches. “And in return, you’ll take my children? No thanks. I want them to live. We can disappear on our own.”

Jesse inwardly groaned and fought the urge to grind his teeth. Was running away her answer to everything?

Ryker leaned forward in his chair. “That didn’t work out so well last time, did it?”

Mrs. Davis spun on him. “We were fine until you and Willow started sneaking around using your powers. I bet that’s how Overdrake found us. Someone saw you flying around the ridge. We all could have been killed because the two of you couldn’t resist playing superhero.”

Dr. B raised his hand in a calming gesture. “Nothing your children did brought Overdrake’s men here. On the contrary, Willow’s powers most likely saved your lives. Overdrake’s men weren’t expecting them. You should be glad she’s been practicing.”

Mr. Davis gingerly felt his wound. “How did they find us then? How did you know where we were?” He still sat on the edge of the table and hadn’t said much since they’d come to the office. Jesse wasn’t sure whether Mr. Davis was still groggy from his injury or whether he was entertaining the idea of letting Dr. B train Willow and Ryker.

Across the room, Tori tensed. She looked down at the floor.

“A fair question,” Dr. B said. “Unfortunately, I can’t divulge our sources.”

“Well,” Mrs. Davis said, folding her arms. “I guess you’re entitled to your privacy and we’re entitled to ours. We’ll be more careful when we disappear this time. Please don’t try to find us again. Don’t contact Willow or—”

“Stop it, Mom.” Ryker stood from his chair, a bundle of tension. “Overdrake’s men broke into our home, clubbed Dad, and held the rest of our family at gunpoint in order to get to me. I’m not going to let him get away with that.”

Mrs. Davis strode toward him. “This isn’t a game. Do you really think a handful of teenagers can stop armed men, let alone dragons? You’ll all be killed. It’s the military’s job to fight him, not yours.”

Ryker folded his arms and used his height to look down at his mother—to send a message that she couldn’t stop him. “I’m not running from Overdrake. Willow can go with you if she wants, but I’m going to D.C. to train with the Slayers.”

Willow raised her hand. “If Ryker goes, so do I.”

“You’re both underage,” Mrs. Davis said firmly. “And until you’re eighteen, you will go where I go and do what I say. No arguments.”

Ryker didn’t move. Jesse could sense his frustration churning to a boiling point, perhaps Willow could, too. She let out an overly dramatic sigh. “Aunt Harriet, you’re embarrassing us in front of the other superheroes.” She turned to Bess who sat by her side. “I bet Batgirl’s aunt never did this to her.”

Bess nodded sympathetically. “You should see what my father does to embarrass me.”

Mrs. Davis flushed with anger. It was clear she wasn’t used to having Willow talk to her that way.

Ryker kept his arms folded. “You can’t stop me. I’ll find a way to go.”

“If you think—” Mrs. Davis started.

“Ryker is right.” Mr. Davis stood up and made his way over to his wife. “He and Willow need to train.” The words were heavy somehow, weighted with a finality of what they meant.

Mrs. Davis stared at him openmouthed. Her insistence seemed punctured now and deflating while they all watched.

“We just had a taste of how Overdrake works,” Mr. Davis said. “I don’t want him ruling this country. We’ve got to try and stop him, even if that means letting Willow and Ryker go.” He turned to Dr. B. “I’ll sign any paperwork you need. You have my permission to train them.”

Dr. B smiled and nodded at him. “Thank you.”

Mrs. Davis kept staring at her husband. Her head made little shakes like trembles. “Ryker will die. You know that. And what will we tell your sister about Willow?”

For an answer, Mr. Davis stepped closer to his wife and gathered her into his arms. He held her that way, trying to ease her trembling. “Overdrake will come after Ryker and Willow either way. It’s better to die fighting than to die running.”

Willow let out another sigh, a real one this time. She whispered to Bess, “Their faith in me is touching. Hello, I just saved them from armed intruders.”

Jesse smiled, relieved. He didn’t care what the Davises thought about the Slayers’ chances. Finally, Ryker would join their group. A flyer. His counterpart. They would be able to fight so much more effectively with three flyers. And the Slayers would have Willow, too. That was especially important since their numbers kept shrinking.