The Reckoning

Forty-seven

DEREK’S CHANGE CAME FASTER now and maybe a bit easier-no vomiting this time. Finally it was over, and he fell onto his side, panting, shaking, and shivering. Then he reached for my hand, holding it tight, and I entwined my fingers with his, shifting closer and using my free hand to brush sweaty hair from his face.

“Whoa,” a voice said, making both of us jump. Simon stood in the entrance to our corner, a pile of fabric in his hands. “You really need to get dressed before you start that.”

“I’m not starting anything,” Derek said.

“Still…” He held out the stack in his hands. “Dr. Fellows dug up some hospital greens for you. Get dressed and then…whatever.”

“We weren’t-” I began.

“Have you still got my note?”

I nodded.

“Give it to him.”

I pulled the folded page from my pocket and handed it to Derek. When he was busy with it, Simon let the smile fall from his face as he studied his brother.

“Is he okay?” he mouthed.

I nodded. I passed Derek the scrubs as he refolded the note, then turned away to let him dress.

“We good?” Simon asked.

“Yeah.” Derek lowered his voice.

A squeak of shoes as Simon turned to go. Derek called him back, grunting with effort as he rose, his bare feet padding over. A short, murmured conversation. Then the slap of Simon smacking Derek’s back, and his footsteps retreated.

A whisper of fabric as Derek dressed. Then a hand on my waist, a light touch, tentative. I turned and Derek was right there, his face above mine, hands sliding around me as I tilted my face up-

“What the-?”

We both jumped-again. Tori stood there, staring at us, Simon behind her, grabbing her arm.

“I told you not to-” Simon began.

“Yeah, but you didn’t say why. I sure didn’t expect…” She shook her head. “Am I the last one to know everything around here?”

Liz raced in. “What’s going on?”

“Derek’s ready,” I said. “We need to move.”

We had one gun, one werewolf, one poltergeist, one supercharged spell-caster, one not-so-supercharged spell-caster, and one perfectly useless necromancer, though Liz was quick to remind me that she needed me to relay her words.

Our plan, though, involved something much simpler than a supernatural showdown. We were falling back on the advice Derek’s dad had given him for dealing with a significantly stronger opponent: run like hell.

While Liz watched the operations room, we’d try to make it to the exit door. If we failed? That’s when the gun, werewolf, poltergeist, and spell-casters would come into play.

According to Liz, there were five people in that room-Mrs. Enright, Dr. Davidoff, the head suit, his assistant, and one SWAT guard. They seemed to be staying put, manning the war room while the employees searched. Every now and then, one of those employees would pop in for an update or orders. We just had to pray that didn’t happen during the few minutes it’d take us to get to the door.

As we coordinated a what-if plan of attack, Derek stood beside me. Aunt Lauren kept giving us weird looks. We weren’t doing anything to earn them, but she kept glancing over and frowning.

Finally she said, “Derek? Can I speak to you?”

He stiffened and glanced at me, as if to say, What does she want?

“W-we don’t have time to-” I began.

“It’ll just take a second. Derek? Please?”

She waved him across the room. Tori and Simon were arguing about spells and Liz was in the hall, so no one else noticed. Aunt Lauren said something to Derek. Whatever it was, he didn’t like it, his gaze shooting to me as he scowled and shook his head.

Was she telling him to stay away from me? I could hope that today she’d seen he wasn’t dangerous, maybe even seen how I felt about him, but I guess that was too much to hope for.

I wanted to march over and interrupt, but before I could, Derek stopped arguing. He eased back, head bent, hair hanging forward, deep in thought. Then he gave a slow nod. She reached out and took his arm, leaning in to say more, her face taut with urgency. He kept his gaze down, nodding. I told myself he was just saying whatever she wanted to hear so we could get out of here, but I’ll admit I felt a lot better when he walked straight to me, rumbling, “You ready?”

We stepped aside as Aunt Lauren got Simon and Tori.

“Was she telling you to stay away from me?” I asked.

He paused, then said, “Yeah.” He squeezed my hand out of Aunt Lauren’s sight. “It’s okay. We’re good.”

We headed for the hall.

Our biggest worry had been the loud click of the door lock, but Derek listened and motioned for me to open it while the men were talking. Then Derek took the lead, in case anyone came in through the exit door. I was behind him, Simon behind me, Tori and Aunt Lauren following.

Those thirty feet seemed like thirty miles. I longed to bolt for the door, throw it open, and be gone; but we had to move silently, which meant excruciatingly slowly.

We’d gone about ten feet when someone in the war room said, “We have a breach, sir. A perimeter spell.”

“Where?”

Derek picked up speed, just a little.

“Hold on,” the man said. “It seems to be right outside-”

“Chloe?” Aunt Lauren’s loud whisper floated through the halls.

I spun to see her jogging the other way-toward the room where the Edison team and the Cabal guys were. She called my name again, like she was searching for me.

My mouth opened. A hand clamped over it, an arm going around my chest, holding me still, Derek’s voice in my ear, whispering, “I’m sorry.”

“I think I hear them,” Dr. Davidoff said.

“Chloe?” Aunt Lauren ran full out now, shoes slapping the linoleum. “Chloe?”

She wheeled into their room and let out a yelp.

“Hello, Lauren,” Tori’s mom said. “Lost your niece again?” She cast a binding spell, freezing my aunt. “I see you still have that gun. Let me take that, before you kill someone else.”

As I struggled, Derek waved for the others to keep going. I vaguely saw Simon and Tori pass me as Derek scooped me up and started for the exit, and I knew this was what Aunt Lauren had told him to do, what he’d tried to argue against. If there was trouble, she’d sacrifice herself to save us. His job was to get me out of there.

I twisted my head to see Mrs. Enright holding the gun on Aunt Lauren, still frozen.

“Time to rid ourselves of a very inconvenient-”

“A gun, Diane?” a man’s voice called. “Guess your charm isn’t the only power you underestimate.”

A man stepped around the corner. He was about my dad’s age, a couple of inches shorter than Mrs. Enright, slender, with silvering black hair. He was smiling-and it was a smile I knew well, even if I’d never seen this man before.

“Dad!” Simon shouted, skidding to a halt.

Forty-eight

MR. BAE LIFTED A hand, waving casually, like he’d walked in on us sitting around chatting. I struggled and Derek released me.

“Hello, Kit,” Mrs. Enright said. She turned the gun on him.

He tsk-tsked. “Is that really the impression you want to make, Diane? Prove to everyone here that a witch needs a gun to fight a sorcerer?”

She lowered the gun and raised her hand instead, fingers sparking.

“There,” he said. “That’s better. Now come on over and show me how much you missed me.”

She cast an energy bolt. Mr. Bae’s hand flew out and her bolt stopped short, exploding in midair. The guard advanced on Aunt Lauren, gun pointed, now that the binding spell on her was broken.

Simon lunged forward, but his father motioned for him to run. Simon kept going. Derek caught his shoulder. He looked down at me, then from the door to his father, caught between the impulse to protect him or protect us.

“Fight,” I whispered, and it was all I needed to say. Derek released Simon and pushed me toward the door. Tori locked the guard in a binding spell and yelled for Aunt Lauren to follow me. My aunt sprang up and grabbed the guard’s gun and hit him in the head with it as Derek plowed into Dr. Davidoff, sending him flying.

Tori cast another spell, then another. I don’t know what they were, only that the walls started to shake. The cracks from earlier yawned wider. Plaster rained down.

I wanted to do something, anything, but Derek saw me and shouted for me to get back. Then one of the men in a suit hit him with a spell, knocking him forward before his dad slammed an energy bolt into the guy. I stayed where I was, knowing that as much as I wanted to help, I’d only put everyone else in danger trying to protect me.

The building continued to shake, weakened walls and ceiling cracking. White dust rained down, enveloping everyone, and I could catch only glimpses through it, snapshots of the action.

Tori facing off with her mom.

Liz running toward Mrs. Enright, a broken plank in her hand.

The guard lying unconscious under everyone’s feet.

Derek tackling the main suit, his dad and Simon taking on the other.

Aunt Lauren standing over Dr. Davidoff, gun at the back of his head.

Then, with an earsplitting crack, the ceiling gave way. Huge chunks of plaster and broken wood crashed down. Boxes and crates and filing cabinets toppled through from the attic. The ceiling kept ripping and cracking, and I looked up to see it splitting right over my head. Derek shouted. He hit me, knocking me to the floor and pinning me beneath him as the rest of the ceiling collapsed.

When the hall finally stopped rumbling, I heard Mr. Bae calling for Derek.

“Here,” Derek said. “With Chloe.”

He moved off me and helped me up. I rose, coughing and blinking. I could make out Simon and Mr. Bae safe in the room where we’d hidden earlier.

“Tori?” I heard Liz saying. “Tori!”

I squinted and moved toward her voice; Derek still gripped my arm, staying close. Liz was hunched over Tori.

“Tori!” I yelled.

She lifted her head, brushing a hand over her face. “I-I’m okay.”

As she got up, I looked around frantically for Aunt Lauren. Then I saw her, stirring under a pile of rubble between me and Tori. I leaped forward, but Derek pulled me back.

“Stay there, guys,” Mr. Bae said. “Tori-” He paused and when I looked over, he was staring at her, like he’d only just seen her now, really seen her.

“Dad?” Simon said.

Mr. Bae shook off the surprise and said, slowly, “Tori? Head toward me. That ceiling doesn’t look good.”

I glanced up. Broken timbers and huge pieces of plaster swayed overhead. Boxes teetered on the edge.

Tori looked around. The guard and two guys in suits were almost buried under the rubble. Dr. Davidoff lay on his stomach, not moving. Beside her lay another body-her mother, her eyes open, staring up.

“Ding-dong, the witch is dead,” Tori said. She swayed. Then she made a weird, strangled hiccupping noise, shoulders hunching. “Mom…”

“Tori? Hon?” Mr. Bae called. “I need you to come over here, okay?”

“Aunt Lauren,” I said. “She’s caught-”

“I’ve got it,” Tori said, wiping her sleeve over her face. She bent and started pulling pieces off my aunt.

A plank flew up from the pile behind Tori. Dr. Davidoff’s eyes were open, mentally guiding it. I opened my mouth to scream a warning and Liz raced to grab it, but it swung down, hitting Tori in the back of the head. She fell face-first to the rubble. Aunt Lauren scrambled up, pushing the last pieces of plaster aside. Then she stopped. Dr. Davidoff rose behind her, gun pressed to the back of her neck.

Liz grabbed the plank he’d hit Tori with, but he saw it move and said, “No, Elizabeth.” He swung the gun toward Tori. “Not unless you’d like some company in the afterlife.”

Liz dropped the wood.

Dr. Davidoff moved the gun back to Aunt Lauren. “Pick that board up again, please, Elizabeth, and move in front of me, so I can see where you are.”

She did.

“Now, Kit, I’m going to give you five minutes to take your boys and go. The modifications appear to have succeeded with Simon. As strong as Derek is, he seems normal for a werewolf. Another success. Chloe and Victoria are the problems, but I assure you, they’ll be well cared for. Take your boys and-”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Derek said. “Not without Chloe.”

He stiffened, like he expected me to argue, but I barely heard them talking. My blood roared in my ears, stomach churning, knowing what I had to do, fighting to get past every instinct that screamed against it.

Dr. Davidoff’s eyes lifted to Derek. He frowned, assessing, then nodded. “So be it. I won’t turn down the opportunity to keep our only werewolf subject. Take your son, then, Kit.”

“I’ll take both my sons,” Mr. Bae said. “And Victoria and Chloe and Lauren.”

Dr. Davidoff chuckled. “Still don’t know when to cut your losses, do you? I’d think ten years on the run would have taught you a lesson. Think of everything you gave up, just because I wanted Derek back. I’m sure Simon would have been a lot happier if you hadn’t been so stubborn.”

“Stubborn’s good,” Simon said. “And it runs in the family. I’m not leaving until you give them up, too.”

Derek rubbed the back of my shoulders, mistaking the tightness for fear, not concentration. Simon cast an anxious glance my way as sweat poured down my face. I closed my eyes and focused.

“Go, Chloe,” Aunt Lauren said. “Just go.”

“That’s not how it works,” Dr. Davidoff said. “I can shoot you and Tori before Kit or Derek can take me down. Make up your mind, Kit. There’s a Cabal team on the way, if they haven’t already arrived. Cut your losses and go.”

A shape rose behind Dr. Davidoff. Derek sucked in a breath, then slowly released it and whispered under his breath, encouraging me. Simon and Mr. Bae quickly looked away so Dr. Davidoff wouldn’t turn around.

“You only have a few minutes, Kit,” Dr. Davidoff said.

“Pick up the gun,” I said.

He laughed. “Your aunt knows better than to dive for a gun ten feet away, Chloe.”

“Dr. Davidoff,” I said.

“Yes?”

“Shoot him.”

He frowned, mouth opening. Mrs. Enright’s corpse swayed. Her eyes met mine, rage-filled eyes.

“I said-”

She fired. Dr. Davidoff hung there, mouth working, hole through his chest. Then he dropped. I squeezed my eyes shut and released Mrs. Enright’s soul. When I opened them, Aunt Lauren was crouched beside Dr. Davidoff, fingers to his neck. His ghost stood beside her, staring, confused.

“He’s gone,” I said. “I-I see his spirit.”

Someone shouted. Boots clomped in the distance.

“We have to go,” Mr. Bae said. “Lauren-”

“I’m fine.”

“Derek, grab Tori and follow me.”

We raced out the door just as shouts echoed behind us. Mr. Bae yelled for Simon and Aunt Lauren to get over the wall, as he boosted me and Derek carried Tori. I got to the top, then crouched beside Simon, the two of us helping Derek as Liz ran ahead, shouting the all clear.

As we climbed down, Mr. Bae stood atop the wall, ready to shoot spells at anyone who came out. But no one did-the rubble and the bodies slowed them down long enough for us to get away. By then, Tori was conscious and we ran, all of us, as far and as fast as we could.