“I’ll see you guys soon. Don’t give Hope any lip while I’m gone. She’s the boss,” I winked at her and she smiled back. I was turning away when something on a table caught my eye. I casually called over my shoulder as I walked past it, asking her what it was.
“A Binder,” she answered, then continued on into a very specific description of what it did, who had used it, and any other notable facts about its history. It sounded useful, especially after Pandora’s warning about Achilles’ visit, but I steeled my resolve. I shrugged and continued on, having never heard of it before. Then again, I really hadn’t taken the time to catalog everything in the Armory. After all, temptation was a very real concern. The things locked up in here had been placed here for a reason. I didn’t want to dig too deep into the inventory and convince myself that this or that would be handy to have around the house. These things needed to stay locked up. They were safer here.
“And what is so important that it trumps girl talk?” My mother called out from behind us as we neared the exit.
I slapped my palm lightly on the giant wooden door, and it began to slowly swing open, responding to the contact of my flesh and the blood beneath it. “Parent Teacher Conference,” I yelled back, then quickly darted through the door before I could hear her surprised squawk.
Alucard shook his head in amusement, but he was the only one. The Reds now looked like they were walking the plank, or on Death Row, which made me very interested to see exactly what they were afraid of us finding out.
One thing was certain though.
Tory was going to be pissed that I was late.
Chapter 24
I had dropped off Alucard at Plato’s Cave only to find Tory impatiently leaning against the brick wall, tapping her foot in a steady beat and glaring at me. The Reds chuckled in the backseat. I turned to glare at them as Tory approached the passenger door. “Hey, cool it. You know I’m going to just blame you two anyway.” Aria and Sonya smirked back. They were basically twins, and their fiery red hair would have gotten them thrown into a river or burned at the stake a few hundred years ago.
Superstition was like that. Suffer not a witch to live…
I grinned back, admiring the women they would become. They looked so much like their mother, Misha, the red dragon who had guarded Raego for the last year or so. But now Misha was gone.
Thanks to the Grimms.
And me.
I hid my emotion as Tory opened the door. Tory had been Misha’s lover, and was now the Reds’ surrogate mother with her gone. Sure, the girls had plenty of people to watch them between the other dragons at Raego’s compound, Indie and I at Chateau Falco, and Gunnar and Ashley at the werewolf apartments. But Tory seemed to take it as a personal duty, an honor guard, and was never far from their side. I had been amazed that she had let me take them to the Armory in the first place, but she hadn’t wanted to run into Indie.
Any sign of love just seemed to twist inside her like a knife. She wasn’t hateful to us or anything, but her wounds were still fresh. Her lover had been murdered. As had Indie. But then…
Indie had come back. And Misha hadn’t. Which had to have messed with her head on so many levels that I was amazed she even wanted to ever see us again.
She climbed into the seat, arching an eyebrow at me to silently demand an explanation. I opened my mouth, but the Reds piped up behind me. “Nate and Alucard were flirting with Hope.” They said in unison, obviously choreographed.
I shot them a quick glare. “I wasn’t flirting. I was asking her about Achilles. Alucard was the one with his jaw on the floor the whole time,” I defended myself.
Tory merely shook her head, but I sensed a small smile behind her façade.
“Let’s do this,” I said, pulling out into traffic.
We drove in silence for a time, the girls in the backseat whispering softly to one another. Tory finally spoke. “Thanks, Nate. For doing this. And for watching them for a while.”
I shrugged. “My pleasure. I know Raego can be a bit… unpredictable at times, and with his father issues, he probably has no idea how to act in these kinds of situations. Plus,” I smiled at her, “I want to hear what kind of trouble they get into when we’re not around.” I said the last loud enough for the two in back to hear me. I could tell I was successful because their whispers halted, then picked back up again even softer.
Tory smiled weakly and shook her head in resignation. “Hopefully not too much trouble.” Their whispers began to grow more urgent, and even quieter. Tory winked back at me, folding her arms. We drove in silence for a time before she spoke again. “I want to… apologize for being off my game lately,” she began. “It’s just that-”
I held up a hand. “Please, don’t. We went through hell a few months back We thought we were all going to die. We went to a dark place…” I swallowed tightly, “And not all of us came back. I feel like hell about the whole thing. But without you… without… her, none of us would be here. I’m confident of that. If any one of us had been out of the equation, none of us would have made it out alive.” Tory opened her mouth a few times to speak, but nothing came out. “And those two would have no one…” I finished in a barely audible whisper.
The passenger seat was silent, and as I risked a discreet glance, I noticed that her eyes were glassy, and she was using everything she had to keep her pain bottled up inside so the girls couldn’t see. They were too busy coming up with whatever scheme they had lined up to get them out of trouble after the upcoming teacher’s meeting. I was sure of it.
I had been in their exact position many times, and now that I was looking in on it from the other side, it was hilariously obvious what they were doing. Surely, I hadn’t been that obvious, had I? As kids, we think ourselves so clever, but as parents, we simply sit back and watch with amusement as the children mimic what we did as children, and we know every single trick.
It made me wonder if my parents had seen through it all too. And if it was simply part of growing up. Letting your kid build confidence. Fall. Get back up. Learn.
You know. Life stuff.
And I wasn’t even a parent yet.
I placed a palm on Tory’s shoulder. “None of that is supposed to make you feel any better. Nothing will. Except time. But now you have two beautiful, troublesome young girls, just like their mother, to carry your burden.” Tory let slip a small sob, but the girls in back still hadn’t noticed. Or at least hadn’t let on that they had heard.
“Which brings up a point… I’m not their mother, and you’re not their father… and we’re going to their Parent-Teacher’s Meeting.” I nodded, but said nothing. “So, they probably aren’t going to want to give us any information. Do they even know what happened?” She asked softly.
“Yes. She was in a horrible car accident.”
Tory glanced at me. “I see.” Her fingers were clenching the door handle, and I cleared my throat. She looked at me, and I nodded my head at her fingers. She glanced down, and slowly pried them free of the plastic, where they had embedded themselves, damaging the door. “Sorry.” I just smiled, shrugging lightly. We were pulling up to the school, a giant brick building that looked to have been erected around World War II. “I’m serious, Nate. We need to come up with something that legally allows us to do this. Sooner or later someone is going to demand answers of some kind. I don’t have a job, and I can’t exactly prove that I have any reason whatsoever to adopt them anyway.”
“I know. Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out. Later.” She stared into my eyes, looking both frightened and territorial of the girls.
My phone rang. I glanced down at it as I pulled into park. “Jeffries,” I answered. Tory straightened her hair in the mirror, and then corralled the girls out of the car as I listened to him speak.
“No leads? At all?”
“None. Well, except for Indie.”
“Damn it. She’s going to have to talk to them at some point. I just don’t know what she should say. She didn’t do anything. Sh
e doesn’t remember… much that’s useful,” I carefully corrected, remembering that Indie had told Jeffries she had seen a strange man there. “And everyone else has been accounted for?” I asked hopefully.
“Yes.”
I sighed in frustration, having hoped one other person had survived. Because that person would have been the murderer. Or the thief. Or both. “Okay. The problem is, after the Grimm ordeal, she’s a loose cannon. What if there is some closet freak at the office, or worse yet, in the interrogation room?”
Jeffries grunted. “I know.” The line was silent for a few beats. “Perhaps I can arrange for myself and another agent to come around the shop to talk with her. She is, after all, the only survivor, according to the log book from the auction house that night. It will seem less confrontational that way, and I could also vouch that my partner will not be a freak.” I thought about it.
“I won’t be able to be there. None of us will. Being around us, and stressed out, could mess with her control.”
“Yes,” Jeffries answered begrudgingly. “But it’s the best way I can think of.”
“I’m a little tied up right now. Why don’t you call her and see what she says? I haven’t seen her for some time though…”
“Be sure that you do… And please… no tricks, Nate. Not with this.”
“I won’t,” I answered honestly. “I’ll let Indie handle it, but just beware of the risks.”
He grunted. “I’ll call her.”
“Thanks,” I answered, hanging up.
I was going to let Indie handle it alright, and I hoped to hell that her lying ability could get her out of their crosshairs.
Chapter 25
I jogged up to the school entrance, briefcase steadily thumping into my thigh. Tory was standing on the lawn while the girls stood off to the side, trying to look cool in case any of their fellow classmates saw them. Tory’s hand rested on the bark of a tree, and she was sobbing lightly, almost softly enough for me not to notice, but her eyes were too moist for it to be anything else.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, stepping up beside her.
She startled, glancing up at me in surprise. “I…” Her hand rose to her cheeks. She looked confused. “I don’t know…”
I frowned at her reaction. “Are you going to be okay?” I pressed.
She took a deep breath. “Yes. I just… I thought I heard something. It’s nothing.” She shook her head, shooting a quick glance to make sure the girls were still present. She looked surprised that they were standing off to the side and not next to her, as if she didn’t recall them walking away from her. It made me nervous. Had she just blacked out or something? How bad was her depression?
Before I could push her, she began walking towards the girls with purposeful strides. I glanced at the tree thoughtfully and blinked. Where her hand had rested was a single leaf. Tiny, but vibrant. I heard her call my name so I quickly jogged over to her, ignoring the anomaly.
“What was that phone call about?” She asked, changing the subject.
“Work stuff. It’s fine.” I wasn’t about to get her involved in any more of my problems. The Reds led us down the hall, nodding like prison inmates at fellow students as we passed by packs of families pocketed together here and there. We finally reached their classroom. The two stood outside the door, glanced at each other with hopeless looks, and then opened the door. We were only a few minutes late, according to a quick glance at my watch. A father was standing beside the desk, growling in low tones at the teacher, who looked extremely uncomfortable, her face red.
Before I realized it, I had crossed the distance, and was tapping the man on his shoulder. “Easy, pal.” I murmured, so only we and the teacher could hear. I had assumed he was hunched over, but as he turned to face me, I realized that he was just a little guy.
He rounded on me, full of piss and vinegar at my interruption.
And the stars aligned. There truly was a God. A helpless grin split my face.
“You!” He spat in disbelief.
“Me.” I replied, grinning at former Detective Kosage.
“What are you doing here?” He stammered in barely restrained fury, as if unable to decide whether to be pissed off or embarrassed. My guess was both.
I dipped my head at the teacher. “Appointment.” His mouth opened and closed several times, but no words came out. “I think you were just finished. And about to leave,” I warned, leaning closer. The teacher looked mortified, and confused.
“Kyle!”
“Yeah?” An arrogant voice replied from the back of the room. I glanced over to see an equally short, but pudgy kid staring at us. He had a buzz cut and looked to enjoy tearing the wings off of butterflies in his spare time. He shambled over, like every worthless, too-cool teen hard case.
“Time to go.”
“But-”
“Now!” Kosage’s face purpled as he grasped the kid by the upper arm and chicken-walked him out the door, shooting one last hateful glare my way. Then he slammed the door. I glanced to Tory, who was shaking her head with a small grin. The girls were in the back of the room, watching me thoughtfully as they sat before a table, a forgotten tablet flashing the lights of some current game at them. Everyone in the room was watching me, and it was deathly silent.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “You okay, Nate?” Tory whispered.
I nodded slowly. “Yeah. It’s just that… well, Christmas comes early every now and then. I’m cherishing the moment.” I opened my eyes, smiled, brushed my hands together significantly as if cleaning dirt off of them. “So, let’s chat,” I said to the teacher.
The teacher blinked at me. “Who are you?” She glanced pointedly from the girls in the back of the room to Tory. Then me. Eyes narrowing.
I reached into my briefcase, plucked out a folder, and tossed it gently on her desk. “We’re the guardians. Well, Tory here is, anyway. I’m her muscle.” Tory let out a laugh at the irony. Tory could have picked up the desk without my assistance and slammed it into the wall without taking a deep breath. The teacher blinked at us, then blindly reached for the folder as her eyes quickly darted to the girls in the back of the classroom, who were desperately trying to become invisible as their doom unfolded. It was enough to almost make me smile.
I wondered what they were so terrified about.
The teacher was intently pouring through the documents, and Tory looked just as interested. I gave her a few minutes to read through it, ignoring Tory’s questioning glares. I hadn’t told her yet. The little things made me happy.
“Well, it appears everything is in order,” she finally said, looking thoughtful.
“How have they been doing?”
The teacher leaned back, steepling her fingers. “They… are a curious pair. Never leave each other’s side. They seem perfectly content to remain separated from group projects, always choosing each other over others. When forced to work with others they do absolutely nothing.” She didn’t look happy, and seemed to be waiting for us to say something. I sent a flick of power at Tory, placing slight pressure on her thigh. She flinched slightly, glanced at my face and saw my eyes. She got the hint and said nothing. The teacher sighed. “But when allowed to work together they earn top marks.”
I smiled. “That is great to hear. Well, if that is all, I guess we’ll be leaving.”
The teacher leaned forward, shaking her head. “No, that is not all. There have been instances in the recent weeks of… well, hyper violence.” I frowned.
“Excuse me?” Tory said.
The teacher was nodding. “Yes. I never got the full story, as no one would share all the details, but I got enough pieces to put a picture together. The students were in the hall and Sonya was being teased, as children often do to each other. But… never being far apart from each other, Aria noticed. The stories I heard next are varied, but Aria apparently did something to the bully that terrified the boy so badly that he wouldn’t cooperate for a week, staring off into space, and flinching
whenever anyone talked to him. Aria asked to partner with him on every single project after that.” She looked troubled. “I don’t tolerate bullies, but whatever she did apparently turned over a new leaf in an otherwise problem case. He has been one of our top students lately, and regularly assists Aria or Sonya with anything they need. He can be seen regularly following behind them in the halls, almost like a tiny bodyguard… not that they need one, it seems.”
“So…”
“It’s intriguing. I do not tolerate physical or mental violence, but at the same time, whatever she did likely turned that child around entirely. Although, he did have to receive counseling for a week. Not that he ever said anything to the counselor.”
A nervous shiver crept down my spine. I hoped that didn’t mean that Aria’s mental manipulation magic was maturing, and that she had coerced him with her weredragon abilities.
“Everyone gives the two a wide berth now. A respectful, but fearful berth. It’s an interesting dynamic.”
“I’m confused,” Tory finally replied. “Are there any problems with them?”
The teacher turned from Tory to me, and finally shrugged. “I was simply hoping that you could shed some light on their attitudes, and maybe speak with them about, well, whatever it was that they did. On one hand, I’m thankful. But on the other hand, …I’m not sure if they used terror to achieve their ends or what. I’ve heard that Aria beat the boy senseless, that she simply stared at him, that she said some dark whispered words, and everything in between. It’s more about their attitudes. I don’t want them using this as some sort of foundation to learn that the ends justify the means. Does that make sense?”
I nodded. “We’ll talk with them about that. But honestly, it sounds like it was a win for everyone.”
The teacher simply stared distractedly at the girls, who were animatedly talking to each other, shooting furtive glances our way every now and then. “I would like to see them participate more in group settings. With the other students. I would hate for them to be outcasts.”
Silver Tongue: A Novel in The Nate Temple Supernatural Thriller Series (The Temple Chronicles Book 4) Page 12
