Embolden

by Syrie James

  Everything looked normal. The driveway that ran beside his building was empty. The street out front appeared vacant. But he’d heard breaking glass. Then something caught his eye: two figures were slipping inside a broken window of the house next door.

  In an instant, Alec was at his weapons cabinet, phone in one hand, his other hand on the lock. The cabinet clicked open with a few additional bursts of mental energy. “I’m back, sorry,” he told Claire.

  “Where’d you go?”

  “Looks like there’s a B&E happening at the house next door.” Alec scanned the various guns and edged weapons in the cabinet, debating which one to take with him.

  “Oh no. Call the police!”

  Claire’s words caught Alec by surprise. “The police?”

  “Yeah. Why do you sound all weird? Is there something wrong with calling the police?”

  “No, I just …” Alec felt foolish now. He hadn’t glimpsed an aura. He had no reason to think the perpetrators were members of the Fallen. This was strictly a human-on-human crime, which wasn’t, and never had been, part of his job description. “I was about to go do something about it.”

  “Alec, what the hell? I thought you said you wanted a break from action-hero crap?”

  “Aye.”

  “We mere mortals have people trained to take care of that kind of thing.”

  “Sorry, you’re right. Old instincts.” Alec closed the cabinet. “I’ll call it in, then call you back.”

  “You’d better.” He sensed that Claire’s nerves were back to where they had been at the start of the call. So much for making her feel better, Alec chastised himself as he disconnected the call, then reported what he’d seen to the local precinct.

  Before calling Claire back, he paused, wondering what on earth he’d been thinking.

  He’d felt a definite, nagging itch to go after those guys. Sticking his neck out like that might help ease the guilt he’d been feeling recently, for hiding out, living a normal, safe existence. But it also might expose him, bring Zachariah right to his doorstep. He’d be throwing away everything he held so dear.

  He reminded himself that he had another reason for being here now, beyond himself. Claire. If he hadn’t been here last fall, Claire would be dead. And if he didn’t stay now, something else might happen to her.

  Focus on that, he told himself. You need to keep her safe.

  ten

  “Why are you late? I could’ve looked at the callback sheet already and been halfway to precalc by now.”

  Claire had just climbed out of her car in the junior parking lot to find Erica waiting for her, visibly anxious. “I know. Sorry, sorry. My morning went way slower than usual. I had to carefully time when I crossed the common areas of the condo, so I wouldn’t run into my grandma.”

  They hurried across the drop-off circle. The scaffolding from last fall was long gone, and the theater building sported a fresh, new, Spanish-style facade.

  “So you two still aren’t speaking?”

  “Not if I have anything to say about it. Pun intended.” Claire had spent most of the night before on the phone, telling first Alec, then Erica and Brian, everything that had happened, from the visions of her dad in captivity to her meltdown afterward. “I am so mad at her.”

  “Good luck keeping that up. The longest I ever succeeded giving my mom the silent treatment was a week. In return, she suspended my allowance and tightened my curfew to eight for a month.”

  “What happens to me doesn’t matter. I’m worried about my dad. He could be in huge trouble and need our help. But Grandma’s putting the brakes on, and I can’t do anything about it!” Claire groaned in frustration as they trudged up the south stairwell to the upper school.

  “It’ll be fine, Claire Bear. You don’t want the Grigori or the Fallen breathing any further down your neck. Helena’s not stupid. You just have to be patient.”

  “Being patient is hard.”

  They pushed through the heavy glass door into the newly renovated theater lobby. A few students were clustered around the bulletin board where the callback sheet was posted.

  Erica took a deep breath. “Keep your shoulder ready for me to cry on if they didn’t call me back. And don’t feel bad, Claire, if your name’s not on the list for a lead. With pipes like yours, you’re guaranteed a part in the chorus.”

  “Right. The chorus is fine with me.” She didn’t have the experience to play a big part, anyway. She’d been so distracted by everything the past couple of days, she hadn’t really been thinking about the play. But, she suddenly realized, she really wanted to be in it, just so she could share the experience with Alec and Erica.

  The other students dashed off, gossiping, as Erica and Claire strode to the bulletin board and studied the sheet. It listed the main characters and the people called back for each one, starting with the boys.

  “Neil was called back for King Arthur!” Erica cried. “That’s so perfect.”

  “And Alec’s called back for Lancelot. Sword-wielding do-gooder with a great voice. Sounds about right.” Claire grinned as she scanned down the sheet.

  There was only one girl’s role listed: Guinevere. Four names were noted beneath it.

  Claire sucked in an astonished breath. “Holy shit. Erica? I can’t believe this!”

  She and Erica had both been called back for the same part.

  Erica hesitated, then said, “Way to go, Claire.”

  “You, too!” Claire high-fived Erica, and they shared a smile. “The part’s yours for sure, but still, how cool is this?”

  “Yeah, it’s totally cool.”

  As they turned to leave the theater, though, Claire saw the smile leave Erica’s face and sensed that her friend was annoyed and maybe a little … worried. Why? There wasn’t a chance in hell that Claire would get the part.

  Alec couldn’t help but notice how much the dynamics of their formerly friendly group of four had changed over the past few days. It was bad enough that Erica and Brian were still in some weird, undefined place. But ever since the callbacks yesterday, Erica had been standoffish with Claire and him as well.

  He couldn’t blame her, really. Erica had been training and hoping to play the lead in a school musical for forever, and suddenly her best friend was serious competition.

  It was now Friday morning, and the four of them were in snack bar line in the cafeteria, silent and moody.

  Brian glanced at his watch and proclaimed, “Okay! That’s the thirty-six-hour-and-five-minute mark. I’m officially weirded out. Why is nobody talking?”

  “Nothing to say?” Erica shrugged, her eyes wandering.

  “How is it that you haven’t had anything to say for a day and a half?” Brian retorted.

  “So I’m a chatterbox normally, then?”

  “I’d say more like bubbly and cheerful,” Brian countered in an obvious attempt to diffuse Erica’s prickly mood. “Come on. Callbacks were yesterday. They were supposed to be the height of your entire theatrical career to date. Why haven’t you said a thing about it?”

  Erica remained silent. They’d reached the front of the line now. Alec bought two quesadillas, one for him and one for Claire. After Erica and Brian each grabbed chocolate-chip cookies, the foursome exited the cafeteria and headed for their table outside the library.

  As they walked, Brian said to Alec and Claire, “What happened at callbacks, anyway? Care to fill me in?”

  “It was weird,” Claire offered. “Ms. Donnelly kept switching everyone around into different pairings. Erica and I and the two other girls who were called back read Guinevere with all the guys. And the guys had to trade off reading both Arthur and Lancelot. At the end, I had no clue what she was thinking.”

  “It was confusing,” Alec agreed. “I half expected her to ask me to read Guinevere.”

  His attempt at a joke fell flat. Afte
r an awkward beat, Erica griped, “That would’ve been just what we needed. More competition.”

  Claire looked at her. “Are you seriously worried, Erica? I’ve heard that Ms. Donnelly likes to give everybody a chance at auditions. But you killed it. I’m sure she’ll give it to you.”

  “There’s no guarantee,” Erica pointed out. “The year we did Mack and Mabel, she gave the lead to a ninth grader who’d never acted before.”

  “And that girl was amazing!” Brian enthused. “She came out of nowhere and totally rocked.”

  More awkward silence followed as they passed through the Science Quad. Claire gave Brian a death stare. He just looked confused. “What?”

  “You’re not helping, mate,” Alec whispered in Brian’s ear.

  “Oh.” Brian finally got it. “Sorry. When is the cast list going to be posted?”

  “At the end of the day,” Alec answered.

  Brian looked desperate to catapult himself out of the gigantic hole he was in. Suddenly, his face lit up. “Hey! CB, couldn’t you just, you know, figure out what’s going to happen, ahead of time?”

  “Huh?” Claire replied.

  “You know.” Brian mimed removing a glove and laying a hand on Alec’s shoulder. “See what you can see?”

  Claire looked appalled. “Are you crazy? Isn’t that cheating?”

  “Not unless you try to change the results,” Brian said.

  Erica turned to Claire, sudden interest in her eyes. “I wouldn’t want you to change anything, Claire Bear. But all this waiting is killing me. I have to know. Please?”

  “No,” Claire whispered firmly. “You both asked me to never go spelunking inside your heads, and I promised I wouldn’t. Plus, I’m not good enough to focus on a specific moment yet. Only Helena can do that.”

  “Oh. I forgot.” Erica sighed. “I’m sure I can make it a few more hours.” Erica gripped the straps of her backpack and trudged forward with them down the stairs.

  When they reached the lower patio, Alec stopped in surprise. The weathered wooden table where they’d consumed half a year’s worth of lunches and snacks was gone. The entire area was cordoned off by plastic and caution tape, and filled with construction materials.

  “Great,” Erica muttered, annoyed. “This is just great.”

  Claire sighed. “I am so sick of all the construction at this school.”

  “That’s been our table for years! Where are we gonna—” Brian was interrupted as a pair of pale arms suddenly flung themselves around him.

  “Hey, Bri! How’s it goin’?” The cheerful speaker was a tall, pretty, blond girl, who was in the grade below them.

  “Hey, Kayla.” Brian smiled, awkwardly returning the hug.

  Kayla shoved a book in Brian’s face. “I found my copy of City of Thieves that we talked about the other night. You’re going to love it!”

  “Great!” Brian accepted the book. “Thanks.”

  Alec noticed Erica frowning at this interchange, her mouth twisting like she’d just eaten something sour.

  “Oh no, isn’t this where your table was?” Kayla asked, eyeing the nearby construction zone.

  “Aye,” Alec confirmed.

  “Well, if you guys need a new place to hang,” Kayla said brightly, “my friends and I totally own the shady spot in the North Quad. You should join us.”

  “Um. Thanks,” Claire replied.

  “Don’t forget: North Quad. I hope they still have muffins left at the snack bar. Catch you guys later!” Kayla dashed up the stairs.

  “She’s … friendly,” Alec commented, hoping to keep the mood light.

  Erica, however, wasn’t smiling. Her eyes locked on Brian. “What did she mean, ‘the other night’?”

  “Oh. Um. Well, Kayla and I went to a movie at the ArcLight. Her dad gets free passes.”

  Nobody said anything for a long moment as the news hung in the air. Claire and Erica both looked surprised. Alec waited, hoping for the expected disclaimer, “It’s no big deal, we’re just friends”—but it never came.

  Without another word, Erica spun and darted up the stairs two at a time.

  Claire shook her head. “Today’s gonna be fun.”

  The minute the bell rang signaling the end of the school day, every student in class made a beeline for the door. Alec was a few steps behind Claire, aware that she was anxious to see the cast list, when their history teacher, Mr. Patterson, called out, “Miss Brennan? A moment, please.”

  Claire paused, eyeing Mr. Patterson warily. Alec hung by the door, concerned. Claire and Mr. Patterson hadn’t started the year on the best of terms.

  “What’s up?” Claire looked uncomfortable as she approached the teacher’s desk.

  Alec had spent a lot of years observing people. He could tell that Mr. Patterson wasn’t any more relaxed than Claire.

  “I was just wondering,” Mr. Patterson began. “Is everything all right at home?”

  Claire stared at him. “Why? What do you mean? Did you hate my last paper again?”

  “No, no, nothing like that. I was more trying to ask after your mother.”

  “My mom? Oh. Um. She’s. Fine.”

  Oh, shite. Alec sensed where this was going, and from Claire’s expression, it appeared that she did, too.

  “I don’t know if your mom told you this, but we went out a few times last fall.”

  “She did mention it,” Claire returned awkwardly.

  “Out of the blue, she stopped returning my calls and emails with no explanation. I just wanted to make sure that she—that you and she—are all right.”

  “We are. I promise. We moved last fall, and things got really busy for her after that. Selling houses takes a hundred hours a day, so she doesn’t have time for much else.”

  Alec knew the real reason why Lynn had cut off communication. She was too freaked out by what had happened after Homecoming. Even though Mr. Patterson hadn’t really been involved, Lynn said that the thought of seeing him again creeped her out.

  “Claire,” Mr. Patterson replied with a tentative smile. “Nobody should work that hard. Everyone needs to take time away for themselves. To that end …” He pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and offered it to her. “Would you do me a favor and give her this note?”

  Claire paused. “Um. Well. It’s really nice of you to think of her, but now is not the best time.”

  “There’s never a perfect time for anything,” he returned insistently. “Please, just give this to her. I have tickets to a play at the Music Center, and I’d love to take her.”

  Claire’s eyes lifted to his, quiet sympathy behind them. “Sorry, but you need to stop, Mr. Patterson.”

  Mr. Patterson stared back at her, as if a bit confused. “What?”

  “You need to just stop. I’m sorry, but trust me. This can’t go anywhere with my mom. It’s over.”

  A moment passed, a faraway look in the teacher’s eyes. Then he blinked, nodded, and put the note back in his pocket. “Okay. I understand,” he said firmly. “No problem. Have a good weekend.” He turned away with a smile.

  Wait, what? Alec’s brow furrowed as Claire joined him at the door, and they exited outside into the North Quad. Something strange had just happened.

  “Thank God that’s over,” Claire said, as they dashed up the stairs, then headed toward the theater building. “I thought Mr. Patterson would never let that go. But I know Mom’s feelings on the subject, so I tried to let him down gently.”

  “Gently?” Alec glanced at her with narrowed eyes. “It was more like you slammed a door in his face.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, it was clear that this thing with your mom was really important to him. But when you told him ‘just stop,’ he dropped the whole thing in two seconds flat. He didn’t even look disappointed. Doesn’t that seem
odd to you?”

  “Not at all. He saw my point. It was fantastic! Finally, an adult listened to me and understood what I was trying to say.”

  “Maybe. But from what I’ve observed, people don’t usually give in so easily about things that matter to them. I still think the way that conversation ended was a bit off.”

  Before he could elaborate further, Brian exited the theater building and raced up to them, a serious look on his face.

  “Alec! CB! The cast list is up.” With a flourish of his arm, Brian bowed to Alec. “Your Majesty.”

  Alec barely had time to register the news, when Claire blurted: “What? Alec is King Arthur, not Lancelot?”

  “He is.” Brian turned to Claire and repeated the low bow. “And might I congratulate you, Your Highness?”

  “What are you talking about?” Claire asked.

  “You’re Guinevere,” Brian replied with a small smile. “It’s official. You two are the happy royal couple.”

  Claire looked absolutely dumbfounded. “What about Erica?”

  “She’s Nimue.”

  “Who’s that?” Alec asked.

  “Exactly.” Brian let out a sigh. “It’s the fairy with barely half a song who puts Merlin into a coma.”

  “Oh my God,” Claire cried, distressed. “Has she seen the list yet?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Just then, Alec caught sight of another figure coming up the stairs. It was Neil.

  “And here’s our knight errant,” Brian commented, grinning broadly now.

  “Neil is Lancelot?” Claire’s eyes widened. “Awesome.”

  Every atom of Alec’s being tensed up. He knew it was ridiculous. After all, Claire had chosen him over Neil, and ever since the Homecoming fight, her relationship with Neil had been practically nonexistent. But emotions and facts weren’t always in sync. A chemistry still existed between those two, Alec could sense it.

  Neil reached the landing and stopped, looking somewhat uncomfortable. “Hey.” It was the first time in months that Neil had talked to them, outside of auditions. He extended a hand to Alec, his voice flat. “Congrats.”