Authors: Kelley Armstrong
W
E RETURNED TO WHERE
Derek left his clothes before his first Change. As he dressed, I checked Liam’s cell phone. Derek walked up behind me and looked over my shoulder.
“He used initials for the name. RRB. But it’s a 212 area code. That’s New York City, so it could still be the Edison Group, using a local contact for the job.”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t sound so sure.”
He looked in the direction of the house.
“You think it’s one of them?” I said. “But we met Liam on the way
to
Andrew’s place.”
“They could have known I was on my way, sent Liam to stake out the bus route.”
“How? At the time, Andrew was being held by the Edison
Group. He didn’t know we were coming, meaning no one in his group did either.”
“They could have been watching his house, seen Simon and Tori, figured out we were on our way, made a few calls to the bus companies, found out two kids got off in Albany the night before. It’s a stretch. But…” He shrugged.
“It’s a possibility.” I checked the initials again. “Did you catch Russell’s last name? Ramon said the contact was a healer. Russell’s a shaman. Unless Ramon meant a sorcerer.”
“Sorcerers aren’t healers. Witches are, kind of, but if it’s a guy, he’s a shaman.”
“We need proof. And I know how to get it.” I raised the cell phone.
Derek shook his head. “Too risky. I’m no good at imitating voices.”
“You won’t have to. Liam said if the guy wanted anything else, he should text him. So, presumably Liam might also text
him
.”
“Good idea.” Derek reached for the cell phone. “I’ll tell him—”
I pulled the phone out of his reach, and I looked at him. He got the message, rubbing his chin and nodding.
“Go ahead.”
As I typed, he stepped back and tried not to watch over my shoulder. It wasn’t easy—he kept rocking forward to peek. But he managed to resist the urge to take over, and I
appreciated that. Afterward I let him read what I’d typed and he approved.
According to the message, Liam had Derek and the girl cornered. He might be able to take them alive, but if he tried, he could lose them again. What did the boss want Liam and Ramon to do?
Whoever was on the other end must have been poised over his cell phone, waiting, because the reply came back in seconds. Five words.
Just take care of them.
I sent back another, to be absolutely clear, saying if he wanted us to dispose of the bodies, that’d cost an extra 10 percent. Again, a quick response, one word this time.
Fine
.
I looked over to see Derek staring at the message. Just staring, like he still believed Liam and Ramon had only been trying to scare us and their orders were to leave me alone and deliver him to the Pack.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He nodded. But he didn’t look okay, face pale, eyes fixed on the screen.
“Derek?”
The phone vibrated. Another message, from the same sender, wanting to clarify that the extra 10 percent covered disposal of
both
bodies. And if they did take Derek alive, I had to disappear.
“Because if I go back, I can tell Andrew what happened,” I said. “It’s better if we both vanish, and it looks like we ran off together.”
I glanced at Derek. He’d gone an odd greenish shade, like he was going to be sick.
“I’m so sorry,” he said finally, the words little more than a whisper. “They were going to kill you because you came out here with me. To help me. I asked you to come.”
“And how’s that your fault?” I didn’t mean to snap, but I was mad. Not at Derek, but at
them
—everyone who made him feel like this. Before I could apologize, he blinked hard, the shock falling away, and I knew my anger had worked better than any words of reassurance.
“They targeted you because you’re a werewolf,” I said. “That’s it. It’s nothing you did, and nothing you can change. It’s their problem.”
“But if I know it’s a problem, I shouldn’t endanger anyone else.”
“So you should have come out here alone? That’s—”
“Not just that. I put you and Simon in danger just by…”
“By being here? And what’s the alternative? Take off? Give up on finding your dad? Leave Simon behind?”
He blinked. “No, I wouldn’t leave…but I feel like…”
“Feel like what?”
He shook his head, looking away. I walked around in front of him.
“Feel like
what
, Derek? Like you should leave? Like we’d be better off if you did?”
He rolled his shoulders in a half shrug, then looked away
again. I was right. He just didn’t like hearing the thought voiced; it sounded too close to self-pity.
“No one is better off if you leave,” I said.
“Yeah.” He mumbled the word, unconvinced.
“Simon needs you.”
He nodded and stared into the forest.
I need you
. I didn’t say that, of course. How could I, without it sounding weird? But I felt it, heart hammering against my ribs, and it wasn’t some romantic
I can’t bear to be without you
nonsense. It was something deeper, more desperate.
When I thought of Derek leaving, the ground seemed to slide under my feet. I needed something to hold on to, something solid and real when everything around me was changing so fast. Even if there were times I thought it would be easier without Derek there, ready to tear a strip off me at my every misstep, in some ways I relied on that—someone to keep me thinking, keep me striving to do better, keep me from burying my head and praying it all worked out.
When he turned my way, he must have seen it on my face. As fast as I tried to cover it up, it wasn’t fast enough, and when he looked at me, the
way
he looked at me…
Panic. I felt panic, like I suddenly wanted to be anywhere but here, and nowhere but here, and I wanted, I wanted…
I tore my gaze away and opened my mouth to say something, anything, but he beat me to it.
“I’m not going anywhere, Chloe.” He rubbed the back of one shoulder, scowling, like he was working out a knot.
“I don’t mean to get all…”
“Angsty?”
A short, sharp laugh. “Yeah, I guess. Way too much call for angst lately. I’m really better with action.”
“I hear you.” I lifted the cell phone. “And maybe with this, we can kick-start that action. Ready to go talk to Andrew?”
He nodded and we headed for the house.
It wasn’t until we got back that the full impact of the night hit. Someone wanted Derek dead. That same someone had been willing to let me die because…well, I guess just because it didn’t matter.
I
didn’t matter. I was just an obstacle to the goal.
How could someone look at kids who’d never done anything wrong and see only a threat best eliminated with murder? Whoever did this was no better than the Edison Group.
Someone wanted Derek dead because he was a monster. But when he’d accidentally killed Liam, Derek had suffered and he’d continue to suffer, however justifiable the act.
So who was the real monster?
The house was quiet. That was weird. It was like we’d woken from a nightmare and could just crawl back into bed as if nothing had happened.
I let Derek get Andrew.
They found me at the kitchen table. Derek said, “There’s something we need to tell you,” and from the look on Andrew’s
face, I think he expected Derek to say he’d gotten me pregnant. It seemed to come as something of a relief to discover we’d only been hunted by killer werewolves—or at least until he realized it wasn’t the Edison Group that had sent them. Once he saw that text message and confirmed it was Russell’s number, things changed, and Andrew finally became the kind of guy we needed him to be.
He was furious, pacing the kitchen, vowing if not vengeance, at least answers. And safety. He promised us that nothing like this would happen again, even if it meant he had to take us away from the others and handle the Edison Group alone.
He called Margaret and told her to get over to the house. He didn’t care if it was four
A.M
., this wouldn’t wait until morning. He couldn’t get hold of Gwen, but he left the same message.
Next, we got Simon and Tori up, me talking to Tori, Derek to Simon. I was quite happy not to have to face Simon just yet.
I told Tori what happened. Or a version of it, balanced between conveying the seriousness of the threat and not freaking her out. Derek and I also hadn’t told Andrew everything because we didn’t want to freak
him
out. In our version, Derek hadn’t completed his Change. Everyone was already worried enough about him without us admitting he was now a full-blown werewolf. We also hadn’t admitted that Liam was dead, saying Derek had just knocked him out, then Ramon called it a draw and carted his friend away.
Derek wanted all of us to pack our bags and run. I knew that’s what he wanted because it’s what I wanted, too. It wasn’t an option, though. Not yet.
If anything, tonight had only opened another window on the danger lurking beyond our castle walls. I suppose it’s dramatic to say we were under siege, but that’s how we felt.
In a movie, we’d set out, braving Ramon and Russell and the Edison Group assassins. Those who refused to leave the castle would be branded wimps and cowards. But there’s a reason people do stupid things in movies—no one wants to watch a bunch of kids pace and bicker and angst as they wait for the adults to come up with a plan. We didn’t much like it either, but for now, we were stuck with it.
O
NLY
M
ARGARET SHOWED UP
. While Andrew said Gwen must be at her boyfriend’s, cell phone off, I could tell he didn’t like that. Had she been in on the scheme to get rid of Derek? I hoped not.
If we expected the same outrage from Margaret that we’d gotten from Andrew, we were disappointed. But she was upset and concerned. Good enough for now.
When I came out of the shower, I found a piece of paper shoved under the door. It was a pictogram message from Simon, like the one he’d left at the warehouse. It started with a ghost as the salutation—meaning me—and closed with a cloud of fog and lightning bolt—meaning him. As for the message itself, it was a little more complicated than the last one, and it took me a while to work out.
The first symbol was a piece of paper with “I bequeath…”
across the top. The second was the letter U. Then the number 4. Then two hands, one putting something in the other’s palm. Then the musical note “mi.”
Will you for ___ me?
I stared at the two hands, trying to figure out the missing word until a loud sigh came through the door.
“Either the answer is no or my drawing sucks.”
“Hold on.” I quickly dressed and opened the door. Simon was leaning against the wall.
“So?” he said.
“I’m having trouble with one part.” I pointed to the hands.
“Give,” he said.
“Ah.” I read the note. “Will you for…
forgive
me?” I looked up at him. “I think that’s supposed to be my question.”
“No, you did the right thing. You realized it wasn’t what you wanted, and you said so. I’m the jerk who stomped off and left you alone in the forest. I’m sorry. Really sorry.” He paused. “So…are we okay?”
Relief made my knees wobble. “We’re okay. But I
am
sor—”
He held up a hand to cut me off. “I can’t get mad at you for confirming something I already suspected. I gave it a shot. It didn’t work out. I’m not going to say I’m fine with that, but…” He shrugged. “I like you, Chloe. And it’s not a girlfriend-or-nothing kind of like, so I’m hoping we can skip the we-tried-dating-and-it-blew stage and jump straight back
to where we were, if you want that.”
“I want that.”
When we got downstairs, Andrew was gone. We figured he went to confront Russell, but Margaret, left behind on babysitting duty, wouldn’t confirm that. Was this how it would be? Left on the sidelines while the grown-ups took action? I hoped not.
Simon and I found Derek in the kitchen. Simon wanted to grab an apple and head someplace so we could plan our next move, out of range of the adults, but Derek handed him his blood tester and insulin pouch, then got bacon and eggs out of the fridge. Simon sighed and Derek gave him a look.
“I hope you don’t expect me to make that,” I said.
Now it was my turn to get the look.
“I’m just saying…”
“Not all of us grew up with live-in housekeepers,” Derek said.
“I don’t need breakfast,” Simon said. “We have to talk.”
“About what?” Derek said.
“Um, getting out of here?” he said. “Someone tried to
kill
you. Both of you.”
“And the only thing new about that is that it wasn’t the Edison Group,” Derek said, “who are probably also on our trail, waiting for us to do something stupid like run away again.” He put bacon strips in the frying pan. “We’re staying. At least until we know what they plan to do next.”
“I want to summon Royce,” I said.
Derek jerked his head around fast enough to cause whip-lash. “
What
?”
“I want to contact Royce. If I’m lucky, I’ll get his uncle or cousin instead, but it’s more likely that it’d be Royce, and we’ll have to deal with that. We need to know what happened here, and we need to know it fast.”
“She’s right.” Simon met his brother’s gaze. “You know she is.”
Derek’s jaw worked as he chewed that over. Finally he said, “On one condition. No Tori. The last thing we need is her whipping a fireball at Royce.”
“All right.”
I went upstairs to get Tori down for breakfast. I took her into our confidence and asked for her help by keeping Margaret busy and letting us know if Andrew showed up. She’d have rather come to the summoning, but she seemed okay with that.
After breakfast, we decided to do the summoning in the basement—far from Andrew, without the dangers of the roof. And, I’ll admit, Simon and I were eager to get a look down there.
For the first time in my life, I walked into a basement and shivered only from an actual draft. It was exactly as Derek had described it—two big rooms full of stored stuff and a small workshop. Simon joked about secret passages, but
Derek squelched that idea.
I did my usual thing—closed my eyes and knelt. I could imagine Dr. Banks from his photo. Austin was tougher, because I kept seeing his bloodied body, and that didn’t help me relax. So I mainly focused on Dr. Banks, concentrating to the point where I could sense that inner alarm ready to go off, saying it wasn’t safe to go farther.
“Nothing,” I said.
“Are you sure?” Simon said. “You twitched.”
“Try it again,” Derek said.
I did, and still nothing happened, but Simon said, “Yeah, that was a definite twitch. Your eyelids moved, like you saw something.”
The next time I tried, I
did
feel it, a little spark that made me flinch. I sighed and shifted.
“Take your time,” Simon murmured. “No one’s going anywhere.”
I summoned, fighting the urge to crank it up another notch. There
was
a spirit present. I felt that same hyper-awareness that I did with bodies, like I was straining to hear a voice too faint for my ears to detect. Goose bumps speckled my arms.
“I want to take off my necklace.”
I braced for a fight, but Derek only nodded. “Lift it over your head slowly, and keep it in your hands for now. See if that makes a difference.”
I closed my eyes and grasped the necklace.
“No!”
I jumped, then looked from Simon to Derek, but I knew it wasn’t one of them.
“She’s back,” I said. “The woman.”
When I summoned again, the sensation returned, stronger now, and it took all my willpower not to ramp it up and yank the spirit through.
“Careful,” the voice whispered.
My goose bumps rose higher.
“C-can I see you, p-please?” My voice wavered. I cleared my throat and tried again, but still stammered through it.
“Chloe?” Derek said.
I followed his gaze to my hands. They were shaking. I clenched the necklace and took a deep breath.
“Is it your aunt?” Simon asked.
I shook my head. “No. I—” I was about to say I didn’t know who it was, but I couldn’t get the words out. I knew who this was. I just didn’t dare believe it.
“Listen, baby…Have to listen…”
Listen, baby
. I knew who called me that. I knew this voice.
“Mom?”