The Reckoning

Forty-nine

MR. BAE’S VAN WAS parked a mile away in a shopping mall. He’d bought it a month ago, using faked paperwork, so it couldn’t be traced back to him, and it looked like he’d been living in it. He threw his sleeping bag and a cooler into the back, and we all climbed in.

I don’t know where we ended up. Pennsylvania, I think. No one asked. No one cared. It was a really long, really quiet drive. I was in the back with Aunt Lauren, and even though I noticed Derek glancing back at me anxiously every now and then, I soon fell asleep to the murmur of Simon and his dad in the front seat.

I woke up when Mr. Bae pulled into a roadside motel. He got two rooms and we split up, guys going in one, girls in the other. Mr. Bae said he’d order pizza for us all and then we’d talk. Aunt Lauren said not to rush. No one was hungry, and I’m sure the guys wanted some alone time with their dad.

Liz and Tori seemed to figure I needed alone time with Aunt Lauren, too. Liz took off, saying she was going to wander and she’d be back by morning. Tori said her stomach was queasy from the long drive, so she was going to sit outside for a while to get some fresh air. Aunt Lauren asked her to go behind our unit, so no one driving past could see her.

That’s when it really hit me: we weren’t going home, not yet anyway. And we’d have to get used to always thinking about stuff like that, about who might be watching.

I sat beside Aunt Lauren on the bed, and she put her arm around my shoulders.

“How are you doing?” she asked.

“Okay.”

“What happened back there…At the lab…”

She didn’t finish. I knew what she meant-killing Dr. Davidoff. And I knew that if I mentioned it, she’d tell me I hadn’t actually killed him. But I had. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, only that Aunt Lauren wouldn’t be the person I’d talk to about it, because she’d only try to make me feel better, not help me work through it. For that, I’d need Derek, so I just said, “I’m okay.” Then, “I know I can’t go home right now, but I want Dad to know I’m okay.”

“I’m not sure that’s-”

“He has to know. Even if he can’t know about the necromancer stuff and the Edison Group stuff. He has to know I’m safe.”

She wavered for a moment, but seeing my expression, she finally nodded. “We’ll find a way.”

When I found Tori out back, she was just sitting there, like that night at the warehouse when her dad betrayed her. Sitting there, staring into space, hugging her knees.

This had to be so hard for her. The guys got their dad back, I got Aunt Lauren back. And Tori? She’d watched her mother die. No matter how horrible Mrs. Enright had been, no matter how much Tori had come to hate her, she’d still been her mother.

Tori wasn’t alone here. She still had a parent, a biological one anyway, but I was sure Mr. Bae wouldn’t be too quick to tell her. That would be too weird, like saying, “Sorry you lost one parent, but here’s a replacement.”

I sat down beside her.

“I’m sorry about your mom,” I said.

A short, bitter laugh. “Why? She was an evil, murdering bitch.”

“But she was your evil, murdering bitch.”

Tori gave a choked laugh, then nodded. A tear slid down her cheek. I wanted to put my arm around her, but I knew she’d hate that, so I just moved closer, bumping against her. She tensed and I thought she was going to move away, but then she relaxed, leaning against me. I could feel her body shaking as she cried. She didn’t make a sound, though, not even a whimper.

A huge shadow rounded the corner. Derek stepped out, head tilted to catch the wind. His lips twitched when he saw me, curving into a crooked smile.

“Hey,” he said. “I thought I-”

Tori lifted her head and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, and Derek shut up.

“Sorry,” he said gruffly and started to retreat.

“That’s okay,” she said, getting to her feet. “My pity session is over. You can have her now.”

As she walked away from us back to our room, Derek stood there, looking uncertain again. Anxious again. I waved for him to sit beside me, but he shook his head.

“Can’t right now,” he said. “Dad sent me to find you.”

I went to get up, but my foot was asleep and I stumbled a bit. Derek caught me and didn’t let go. He bent, like he was going to kiss me, then stopped.

Was he always going to do that? I almost teased him about it, but he looked so serious, I didn’t dare.

“Your aunt,” he said. “Did she say anything about your plans?”

“No.”

Once more he leaned down to me, then stopped again.

“Didn’t she say anything? Like whether you’re going home or not?”

“I’m not. As long as that Cabal is still out there, we can’t. I suppose we’ll stay with you guys, if that’s what your dad has in mind. Probably safest.”

He exhaled, like he’d been holding his breath, and I finally understood why he was so anxious. Now that we’d escaped the Edison Group and were back with our families, he thought that meant we’d go our separate ways.

“I’m definitely hoping we’ll stay with you guys,” I said.

“Me, too.”

I slid closer, feeling his arms close around me, tightening. Our lips touched-

“Derek?” his dad called. “Chloe?”

Derek let out a growl. I laughed and backed up.

“We seem to get a lot of that, don’t we?” I said.

“Too much. After we eat, we’re going for a walk. A long walk. Far from every possible interruption.”

I grinned up at him. “Sounds like a plan.”

Speaking of plans, Mr. Bae had plenty. Over pizza he confirmed what I expected-we needed to go on the run again, this time from the Cabal.

“So everything we did back there, at the lab…it didn’t do any good?” I said.

“Probably only pissed the Cabal off,” Tori muttered.

“No, it helped,” Mr. Bae said. “The Edison Group won’t recover from this anytime soon, and it’ll take some time for the Cabal to sort through everything and plan a search. Fortunately, being a Cabal, they’ve got a lot on their to-do list, and we won’t be at the top. You’re valuable, and they’ll want you back, but we’ll have some breathing room.” He glanced at my aunt. “Lauren? Living on the run may not be what you had in mind, but I’m going to strongly suggest you and Chloe come with us. We should stick together.”

Derek looked at me, tensing, like he was ready to jump in with arguments if Aunt Lauren disagreed. When she said, “That would be best,” he relaxed. So did I. Simon grinned and shot me a thumbs-up. I looked over at Tori. She seemed to be holding herself as still as she could, her face rigid, not giving anything away.

“And Tori will come with us, right?” I said.

“Of course.” Mr. Bae smiled at her. “I suppose I should make sure that’s okay with her, though. Will you stay with us, Tori?”

She nodded, and slid a half smile my way.

“We’ll need to lie low for a while,” Mr. Bae said. “I have a few ideas of places we can go. Simon says Tori got a list of the other subjects. We’ll make contact with them. They have to know what was going on…and what happened. We’ll look for Rae, too. If she’s with her mom, that’s good, but we’ll want to make sure of that. We don’t want anyone left behind.”

It was overwhelming, but it felt weirdly good, too, knowing we weren’t alone, knowing we could help the others. We had a lot of work ahead of us, but a lot of adventures, too. I was sure of that.

Derek and I went out for our walk after dinner. Alone.

There was an open field behind the motel and we headed there. Finally, when we were far enough from the motel, Derek led me into a little patch of woods. He hesitated then, unsure, still just holding my hand. When I stepped in front of him, though, his free hand went around my waist.

“So,” I said. “Seems you’re going to be stuck with me for a while.”

He smiled. A real smile that lit up his whole face.

“Good,” he said.

He pulled me against him. Then he bent down, breath warming my lips. My pulse was racing so fast I could barely breathe. I was sure he’d stop again and I tensed, waiting for that hesitation, stomach twisting. His lips touched mine, and still I kept waiting for him to pull back.

His lips pressed against mine, then parted. And he kissed me. Really kissed me-arms tightening around me, mouth moving against mine, firm, like he’d made up his mind that this was what he wanted and he wasn’t backing down again.

I slid my arms around his neck. His tightened around me and he scooped me up, lifting me off my feet, kissing me like he was never going to stop, and I kissed him back the same way, like I didn’t want him to ever stop.

It was a perfect moment, one where nothing else mattered. All I could feel was him. All I could taste was his kiss. All I could hear was the pounding of his heart. All I could think about was him, and how much I wanted this, and how incredibly lucky I was to get it, and how tight I was going to hold onto it.

This was what I wanted. This guy. This life. This me. I was never getting my old life back, and I didn’t care. I was happy. I was safe. I was right where I wanted to be.