The Reckoning

Twenty-four

WE 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.