The Reckoning

Five

IN THE HALL, DEREK turned. “You guys go see about finding a new bedroom for Tori. I’m getting more donuts.”

Simon and I exchanged a look. As much as Derek loved to eat, the last thing on his mind right now would be filling his stomach. What he meant was take Tori and get out of here, so I can listen in on the meeting. Werewolf hearing meant he could eavesdrop from the kitchen.

“Save me a chocolate dipped,” Simon said, leading Tori and me to the stairs.

“You aren’t supposed to have-”

“Just winding you up,” Simon tossed back. “Come on, Tori. Let’s get you a room of your own.”

As it turned out, Tori wanted to stay with me. Not that she said that, of course. She checked out the other options, bitched and moaned about how dusty they were and how it seemed she was stuck with me after all. I offered to take another one. She lit into me about being too nice and how I had to learn to stand up for myself. I decided it was time for a shower.

A shower would also give me a chance to wash the temporary dye from my hair. When we’d run away from Lyle House, my dad was told I’d done just that-run away. He had no idea I’d been caught almost immediately and taken to the Edison Group lab. He didn’t know what the Edison Group was or what a necromancer was. To him, his schizophrenic daughter had run away from her group home and was now living on the streets of Buffalo. So he’d offered a reward. A half-million-dollar reward.

I wanted to let him know I was okay. God, I wanted to. But Aunt Lauren said he was safer not knowing the truth and Derek agreed. So, for now, I tried really hard not to think about how worried he must be. I’d get a message to him as soon as it was safe. In the meantime, his reward was a problem.

My strawberry blond hair was distinctive, even more so with the red streaks I’d added before I got shipped off to Lyle House. So Derek bought me temporary dye. Black dye. I was way too pale for black, and now I looked exactly like you’d picture a necromancer: white skin and harsh black hair. Uber-Goth. But now, thankfully, the color was fading. Or so I thought.

Tori followed me down the hall, offering tips about how to get the dye out, being Miss Helpful two minutes after calling me a wimp. These days, that seemed par for the course with Tori. She’d start inching toward friendship, then remember we were supposed to be mortal enemies.

Now she was in friendly mode. “Don’t wash it more than three times or your hair will be like straw. I saw conditioner in there. Make sure you use that and let it sit.”

“Right now, dry hair is better than black hair.”

Simon poked his head out of his room. “You’re washing out the color?”

“As fast as I can.”

He hesitated, the look in his eyes telling me he was about to say something he really didn’t want to. “I know you want it gone, but…Well, if we go out…”

“At this point, I’ll take house arrest over black hair.”

“It’s not that bad.”

Tori mock-whispered, “Simon’s thinking the Goth girl look is kinda hot.”

He glowered at her. “No. I just want-” An impatient look at Tori, telling her to get lost. When she stood her ground, he leaned down to my ear, his fingers entwining with mine. “I know you want to get rid of it. I’ll ask Andrew to get you a better color. I don’t care what your hair looks like; I just want you to be safe.”

“That’s so sweet,” Tori said.

Simon moved to stand between us, his back to her. “You can check with Andrew. Maybe I’m overreacting-”

“No, you’re not. I still need that shower, but I won’t try washing out the color.”

“Good. Oh, and Derek said you were asking about self-defense lessons. How about we try that after?”

I wasn’t really in the mood for that, but he was smiling, obviously eager to do something nice for me after vetoing my hair fix. It wasn’t like we had anything better to do, so I said, “Sure.”

“Sounds good,” Tori said. “Yes, I know, you weren’t inviting me, but we could both use the training. And, no, I’m not trying to get between you guys. I’m over you, Simon. I think you and Chloe make the most nauseatingly cute couple ever. But you can gaze soulfully into each other’s eyes another time. Right now, I need self-defense lessons. So I’ll meet you out back.”

She started for the stairs, calling, “And it wouldn’t have been one-on-one for long anyway. I’m sure Derek will join in as soon as he’s done eavesdropping.”

I ran into Derek as I came out of the bathroom.

“Meeting over?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

Simon popped his head out of their room and Derek motioned him into the hall.

“Where’s Tori?” he asked.

“Outside. She’s waiting for us, though, so we can’t be long.”

“And the verdict is?” Simon prompted.

“Gwen and Andrew believe us. Margaret suspects we may have misunderstood the situation and jumped to the wrong conclusion about Liz, Brady, and Amber being killed. Only Russell thinks we’re intentionally lying.”

“Jerk. Where does he get off-?”

Derek gave him a look. Simon zipped it and gestured for Derek to continue.

“They teleconferenced with a couple of the other senior members and-” Derek looked at me, and I read the answer in the way his gaze dipped from mine. “They want to slow down, get more information first. They’re going to send a team to Buffalo to do recon work.”

Simon glowered. “Sure, take the slow and steady path while Rachelle and Dr. Fellows could be-” He looked at me. “Sorry.”

We all stood there for a minute, simmering.

I turned to Derek. “What do you think we should do?”

“For now? Play it out.” His voice was gruff with frustration. “Nothing else we can do. We’ve got the Edison Group gunning for us. We have to stay put.”

We found Tori out back. I apologized for taking so long; they didn’t. Simon had barely begun showing us a wrist hold when Andrew summoned us inside.

Russell had already left. “Fled,” Simon muttered, “so he wouldn’t have to look us in the eye after telling the others he thinks we’re lying.”

Gwen was gone, too, but only to grab groceries and takeout for dinner. Yes, it was dinner time already. Having gotten up so late, we were skipping lunch.

We ate with Andrew, Gwen, and Margaret. They couched the plan in optimistic terms, of course-they were just doing a quick bout of reconnaissance work in preparation for the rescue operation.

“So, guys,” Andrew said, “over the next few days, your job will be threefold. Rest up. Tell us everything you can about the lab. And get some training.”

“Training?” That perked Tori up. Me, too.

Gwen smiled. “Yep. That’s what Margaret and I are here for.”

“And I’ll be working with Simon,” Andrew said, “though I know your dad’s been training you for years.”

“I’m sure he can use the practice,” Tori said.

Simon flipped her off. Andrew pretended not to see it.

“As for Derek…” Andrew said.

“Yeah, I know. No werewolf teachers for me.”

“True, but we do have someone. Tomas, a half-demon member who lives in New Jersey. You may remember him from when you lived at the laboratory. He was a member of the team responsible for the werewolf section of the project.”

Did I imagine it or did Derek flinch? I wouldn’t blame him if he did. Derek had lived in the lab until Simon’s dad took him and that section of the experiment had been abandoned. The other three werewolves had already been killed. Meeting one of his “keepers” certainly wouldn’t be a happy reunion.

“Tomas quit before you left the lab, primarily because he disagreed with the way you boys were treated. But he knows more about werewolves than anyone I know. Your dad used him as a resource for raising you.”

Derek’s shoulders relaxed. “Yeah?”

“He’s away on business, but he’ll be back next week. If we’re still waiting to act-which I hope we won’t be-it’ll give you someone to talk to, answer any questions you might have.”