Winging It

by Deborah Cooke

  Isabelle was outraged and appalled by the story of the attack, but she also had some ointment for burns. I figured she would have packed it instinctively, having grown up in a Pyr household, and I was glad to have been right. It was some herbal stuff, cool and soothing, and I felt better within minutes.

  I also scored another chocolate bar. I didn’t care if she gave it to me out of pity. It was delicious.

  She gave me strict instructions not to get the injury wet, and insisted I come back the next day for another lathering since I couldn’t reach the spot. I promised to do so, and headed back to the L.

  There was no sign of Derek. The train pulled in and I picked a seat. I wondered whether he’d abandoned me.

  But he stepped into the car just before the doors closed, and sat down facing the other direction.

  Ever vigilant.

  We got back to school in time for the last class of the day, arriving separately.

  And you know, it didn’t break my heart to have missed gym.

  Chapter Eight

  I came out of a particularly excruciating history class – excruciating mainly because my back hurt and my thoughts were spinning and I got called on four times to answer questions I hadn’t even heard, based on a reading I hadn’t even done – to find Liam leaning against my locker, watching the other students go by.

  I was really glad to see him.

  The girls were all checking him out and he seemed to be amused by their reactions. Every time I see Liam, he’s taller and broader. His hair has darkened to an auburn that makes it unreasonable to call him ‘Carrots’ anymore.

  I still do.

  I remember him having a face full of freckles and orange hair, and that counts.

  ‘Carrots! How’d you find my locker?’

  He inhaled pointedly and I understood. We dragons don’t just smell the presence of our kind. With time and familiarity, we can recognize the scents of those dragons we know.

  Apparently, though, we had nothing on wolf shifters.

  ‘Gotta take that gym bag home,’ I joked and gave him a hug.

  He watched me intently, even though he leaned casually against the lockers. ‘You okay?’

  ‘Spooked,’ I answered him in old-speak. ‘I went to see Jared today.’

  His eyes glittered and I knew he was going to chew me out. Before he could do that or I could explain, someone cleared her throat.

  ‘Um, excuse me, p-p-please.’

  The locker Liam was leaning against was Meagan’s.

  She was beet red when he apologized and moved out of the way, so flustered that I was afraid the stutters would overtake the words. ‘Meagan, this is Liam. Liam, my best friend, Meagan.’

  ‘Nice to meet you.’ Liam gave her a smile as wide and honest as a thousand acres of prairie. Meagan blinked. Her mouth opened and closed. She reached for her lock and dropped all of her books.

  I squatted down beside her to help pick them up.

  She flicked me a resentful look, as if I’d been holding out on her. ‘How come you suddenly know all these hot guys?’ she whispered.

  I blushed because I knew Liam would hear whatever we said. ‘Liam’s not hot,’ I said, as if he was my kid brother. ‘I grew up with him.’

  ‘Where? When? I grew up with you!’

  ‘He’s the son of a friend of my dad’s.’

  Meagan glanced up, then looked at me again, then nodded. ‘Okay.’ She straightened up, with her books piled against her chest, and smiled at Liam. ‘Nice to m-m-meet you, too. Do you live in Chicago?’

  Liam was all easy charm. ‘No. Ohio. We have a dairy farm.’

  His manner reassured Meagan a bit. ‘Are you visiting for long?’

  ‘No, I just came to hang out with Zoë since her folks are away.’ He nudged me. ‘Hey, Zoë, maybe we should go see that movie you were talking about.’

  A movie. The last thing I wanted to do was go to a movie. I was sore enough that I wanted to go to bed.

  And maybe never leave it again.

  ‘You can bring me up to speed,’ Liam said, in old-speak. It was as much a threat as a promise.

  ‘That’s a great idea,’ I said out loud. ‘Way better than homework.’

  He turned to Meagan, flashing that easy smile. ‘You want to come, too, Meagan?’

  I think she nearly had a heart attack.

  For once, even math homework didn’t have much appeal for Meagan. She shoved all her books in her backpack, blushed when Liam insisted on carrying it for her, and came to the movie with us.

  I don’t even know what it was about. I spent the whole ninety minutes briefing Liam in old-speak. And getting shit in old-speak for taking unnecessary chances. I felt better just talking about the encounter with Kohana, and we decided that he would walk us back to Meagan’s, then keep watch over the Jamesons’ town house.

  I really liked the idea of a dragon on the roof, on guard. We were going to breathe some dragonsmoke together later, mostly because it was a relaxation exercise.

  We left the movie theater to find the snow a foot deep in the streets.

  I wondered what had happened to Derek. Was he in the vicinity, but just out of sight? Or had he done all he was going to do? I did like the idea that he might not be smelling trouble in my immediate future and so could leave me to my own resources.

  Maybe I’d been wrong to be suspicious of his motives.

  Maybe I’d offended him. I felt guilty about that, as well as a bit flustered. Had I made sure Derek was cured of liking me? Had he liked me just because he had a plan like Kohana’s? Or did he like me just because I was a shifter and we had something in common?

  All the possibilities made my head spin.

  Plus I probably should have talked to him about our making an alliance with the wolf shifters. Did they really call themselves werewolves?

  It made my palms sweat just thinking about hunting Derek down the next day and asking him questions. Maybe he would smell my intent and make the first move.

  I could hope.

  ‘It’s so weird,’ Meagan said. ‘This theater isn’t anywhere near the L, but all I could hear was rumbling trains throughout the movie.’

  ‘Me, too,’ I said, deliberately avoiding Liam’s gaze. One look and I knew I’d laugh. ‘They ought to do something about that.’

  I heard his snort of laughter, and then he was making snowballs. He shoved one down the back of my jacket and the fight was on.

  ‘You are such a liar,’ Meagan said, hours later when we were crashed in her room and I thought she was asleep.

  ‘What?’ I nearly sat straight up in bed.

  She threw a pillow at me. ‘You are such a liar. You said Liam isn’t hot.’

  I closed my eyes in relief. ‘Is he? I don’t know. I’ve known him too long, maybe.’

  Meagan made a snort of skepticism. ‘I don’t care how long you’ve known him – you’d have to be blind to not see he’s hot.’ Then she laughed again. ‘Maybe you’re the one who needs glasses, Zoë. Want to borrow mine?’

  We laughed together and I had a minute to think that everything was back to usual.

  She rolled over to face me and I had a heartbeat to brace myself against whatever she was going to say. ‘Hey, I meant to tell you. Jessica found this site today, about the Pyr.’

  My throat got tight. ‘The what?’

  Oh, I am such a lousy liar.

  ‘The dragon guys! I told you there has to be one at our school.’

  ‘Oh, right.’

  ‘Why aren’t you interested in this? You draw dragons all the time.’

  ‘I dunno. Maybe they make more sense to me as fiction.’

  Right. Liar, liar, pants on fire.

  ‘As if,’ Meagan scoffed. ‘Real is ten zillion times better.’

  I didn’t say anything to that.

  ‘So, listen, this site says that the Pyr have these powers.’

  I looked around the room, wishing I knew where this was going. ‘What kind of powers?’

>   ‘One’s called beguiling. They kind of hypnotize people by creating flames in their eyes. People stare at the flames and the dragon guy makes suggestions and they end up agreeing. How cool is that?’

  The only possible solution was to sound skeptical. I tried. ‘Flames in their eyes? Really?’

  ‘I think it would be awesome to see that dragon guy again. I wouldn’t mind at all if he beguiled me.’

  ‘I think it sounds silly.’ My tone was cranky and gruff, sour enough to spoil Meagan’s mood.

  Smooth move, Zoë. Lie to her and piss her off. That’s the way to treat a friend.

  I heard Meagan typing in the darkness once she stopped talking to me, so I tugged out my messenger as well. Garrett had sent a message that he’d found some information and would call me in the morning to tell me about it. Nick was outraged that Kohana had attacked me. Both of them were very, very quiet about Jared.

  ‘Huh,’ Meagan said suddenly. ‘Jessica thinks you were holding out on me, too.’

  ‘What?’ That surprised me.

  ‘She says you must have been trying to keep Liam to yourself.’

  I’d had enough of Jessica. ‘No way. Liam is just this guy I grew up with—’

  ‘Zoë,’ Meagan said, interrupting me firmly. ‘I’m not fooled. Whether Jessica’s right about this or not, you’ve been lying to me since spring break.’

  Caught. If I could have thought of a good comeback, I would have argued my own side. As it was, I was totally out of my daily allotment of lies. I just shut up.

  Meagan sniffed with displeasure after a moment – sounding a lot like my mom – then rolled over so her back was toward me. She wasn’t asleep. I could still see the glow of her messenger and hear the sound of her typing.

  I knew who she was messaging.

  Jessica. Jessica. It was always about Jessica. Jessica was right and I was wrong, and there was nothing I could say to change that.

  Why did Jessica give me the creeps? I’d assumed I was just jealous of the attention Meagan was giving her. But maybe it was something else.

  Or maybe thinking it was something else was a pathetic cover for jealousy.

  There was only one way to find out more.

  I told myself that I might like Jessica better if I just talked to her for once. It sounded like something my mom would say. I wasn’t convinced, but I’d give it a try.

  Because, you know, I didn’t have anything else to do.

  We were back to our awkward pattern again the next morning, much to my regret. Meagan and I walked to school in comparative silence. Actually, we kind of trudged along. It was painful, especially when I thought of how easy it used to be between us.

  And I couldn’t think of a good way to fix it.

  Just how much trouble was I already in for shifting to fight Kohana? It was easier to dismiss the prospect of exile when I was angry and acting in the heat of the moment. Walking along with Meagan, I could only remember the burn of dragonsmoke on my hand and shiver. I’d gotten injured, too. There was negative reinforcement.

  How was I going to negotiate a treaty with the wolves? I hadn’t any clue how to go about it.

  It was galling to admit that my dad might know something.

  Jessica waved from the doorway to the school. Waiting, as usual.

  ‘What about those trig problems?’ she asked, all aglow with the thrill of solving them.

  ‘The third one was tricky,’ Meagan said. ‘Because of the wording.’

  ‘Right. You had to look for the arctangent.’

  ‘You guys want to sit together at lunch?’ I asked.

  They both looked at me as if I’d just dropped in from Mars.

  ‘On Tuesdays, we go to the library instead,’ Jessica informed me. ‘C’mon, Meagan.’

  ‘Didn’t know the library was off-limits,’ I said. ‘I’ll keep that in mind.’

  I hauled open the door to the school. Meagan hesitated for a minute, but then she stayed with Jessica.

  So I knew where I stood.

  I opened my locker a bit more savagely than was strictly necessary and threw my books in. I heard a step beside me and glanced up, surprised to find Trevor there.

  Smiling.

  Like a starving man checking out lunch.

  I smiled back.

  Like lunch that bites all the way down.

  He was as neatly turned out as ever. I swear someone ironed his jeans. He was pretty good-looking, if a bit stiff. As I surveyed him, I had to admit what an oddity he was. He could have been a jock, but he was a music fiend. He could have been a geek, but there was the way he played the sax.

  But that was Mage stuff. He was enchanting everyone who listened.

  His parents were totally loaded, which didn’t hurt. He had this vintage MG in British racing green that he drove to school every day and they lived in one of those huge houses on Riverside Drive.

  If he hadn’t squealed into the parking lot with that car every day, I don’t think someone like Suzanne would even have noticed him. Much.

  Someone like Meagan would, though. If anything, Trevor seemed a bit too squeaky-clean to me to be real.

  But then, I knew his secret.

  And he knew mine.

  Maybe he played it squeaky-clean because he really was sneaky. Maybe it was an act. And only the music – or the spell he cast with it – was real.

  I had a vague sense of Derek’s presence, somewhere in the hall. I liked knowing he was looking out for me.

  ‘Get my invitation?’ Trevor asked.

  ‘Yes, thanks. What a surprise.’ I rummaged in my locker for my sketchbook and pencil box. Tuesday morning was the bright spot of my life – art class.

  ‘You didn’t get back to me about it.’

  ‘I didn’t see an RSVP on it.’

  He smiled. ‘Just wanted to have an idea of numbers.’

  I shut my locker. ‘Sorry I can’t make it.’

  ‘Busy?’

  I shrugged and smiled. ‘Just one of those things. But thanks anyway.’

  To my dismay, he fell into step beside me. ‘Maybe you could just stop by for a while.’

  ‘I don’t think so.’ I tried to be polite. ‘Maybe another time.’ After hell froze over and the planets dropped out of their orbits, the sun splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, etc.

  He chuckled and I glanced up to find that his smile had broadened. ‘Or maybe I just have to find a way to change your mind.’

  Before I could ask, Trevor winked and turned away, leaving me looking after him. I felt threatened, that was for sure, although I couldn’t imagine what he might do.

  I didn’t want to imagine what he might do.

  I caught movement from the corner of my eye and saw Derek’s back as he strode down the hall in the opposite direction. Meagan was standing back by the door with Jessica, her gaze locked on me. She looked hurt. I might have said something to her, but before I could think of what that might be, she pivoted and headed to class with Jessica.

  Perfect. I could just guess what Jessica was telling her. That I was keeping Liam to myself while I did Trevor on the side.

  A perfect start to another perfect day.

  I headed for art class, glum. That had to be a first.

  ‘You okay?’ Derek asked. I jumped, shocked to find him behind me. I hadn’t heard him coming at all. In fact, I’d thought he was going the other way.

  ‘Sure. Thanks. How about you?’

  His gaze searched mine, as if he wasn’t going to take my word on it. ‘You’re angry.’ I watched his nostrils flare. ‘Hurt.’

  I had to cede to a sense of smell that sharp. I smiled. ‘You have any human friends?’

  His lips twisted and he glanced down the hall, as if scanning for likely candidates. Knowing he wouldn’t find one. Resigned to it. ‘It’s impossible.’ His gaze slid back to mine. ‘Better to run solo, or stick with those who understand.’

  He put a slight emphasis on this last word, and held my gaze for an unblinking moment. I co
uldn’t read his expression. He was just watchful. Intent.

  Okay, so he liked me because we were both shifters.

  He almost smiled when I thought that and I knew I’d nailed it in one.

  Now or never.

  ‘I want to talk to you …’ I started to say, but he straightened and stepped back.

  ‘Call for you,’ he said, right before my messenger chimed.

  I looked between it and him, and must have looked surprised.

  He smiled. ‘Told you.’

  ‘Two minutes’ warning.’

  He shrugged. ‘Sometimes three.’ Then he sauntered away.

  Oh, I wanted some of that. It wasn’t much foresight, but it was more than I had. As Wyvern, I was supposed to have buckets of foresight, but thus far I had none.

  Zero.

  Nada.

  And if ever there had been a moment when I’d have liked a peek at the future, this was it.

  I answered my messenger and it was Garrett. I asked him to hang on for a second.

  ‘That must be useful,’ I called after Derek.

  ‘Good or bad, it just is.’ He shrugged. ‘Like Jessica.’

  Well, that was fair enough. I watched him head off to class. He moved with an athletic grace, his steady, long stride looking effortless even as he covered a lot of distance. I had the sense he could walk like that for days. He kept to the side of the corridor, evading the gaze and the notice of most of the students.

  Like a moving shadow.

  Or a wolf in the night. Solitary and purposeful.

  I gave myself a shake and remembered Garrett. ‘Hey, sorry.’

  ‘Got a date?’ he teased and I smiled. We weren’t on video, though, so he didn’t know it.

  ‘I’ll tell you in a minute. What did you find?’

  ‘There’s a book in my mom’s store about Native American legends and stories. You know how your mom always says that myths and stories have their roots in a truth?’

  ‘Right.’

  ‘Well, here’s one that you’ll find interesting. There are legends in many Native American tribes about Thunderbirds. They’re supposed to be strong and fast, supernatural birds. The idea is that they cause storms by the beating of their wings, they can throw thunderbolts, and they cause lightning by the flash of their eyes. In some tribes, they control rainfall. The Lakota call them Wakiya.’