by C. J. Hill
Did that mean Jesse still cared about her, that he was jealous? Probably not. He had been the one who told her she should date other guys. Jesse was only mad about her getting together with Dirk because Dirk was Jesse’s friend. Or at least he had been Jesse’s friend.
Tori revised the thought again. Dirk had never been any of the Slayers’ friend. Not Jesse’s, not hers. From the day Dirk enrolled in camp years ago, he planned to learn their secrets and betray them. It was a bitter, bitter thought.
The van stopped. “All right,” Dr. B called. “Where is Ryker?”
Tori reached out with her mind, searching for his presence. It was no good. What had been so effortless with Dirk was absent with Ryker. “I don’t know.” Tori shrugged and pointed to her left.
“Tori isn’t Ryker’s counterpart,” Bess announced, relieved.
Tori opened her eyes. Jesse, his eyes still shut, was pointing at the back of the van, which was where Ryker’s truck was parked—right behind them.
“Jesse might be,” Rosa said. “Or he might just be a better guesser than Tori.”
Jesse kept his eyes closed. He moved his finger from pointing to the back of the van, to pointing to the back-left corner, and then slowly traced his finger along the left side of the van. Which made sense, because Ryker had gotten out of his truck and was walking along that side to talk to Dr. B.
“Okay,” Rosa said. “Jesse officially wins. He’s Ryker’s counterpart.”
Jesse opened his eyes, glanced at Ryker, and smiled triumphantly, not at Rosa or Ryker, but at Tori.
Which irked her because she never claimed to be Ryker’s counterpart in the first place.
Tori smiled back at Jesse, amazed at how quickly she could go from gut-wrenching worry about his safety to wanting to throw something at him. “I might be Ryker’s soul mate, though. As you said, the night is still young.”
“Don’t mind them,” Lilly whispered to Willow. “They used to be an item and they haven’t finished breaking up.”
Tori wished she could argue that point, but she couldn’t.
CHAPTER 34
Jesse leaned against the office wall and watched Ryker pace back and forth in front of his parents. It was odd having a counterpart, odd being able to look away and still know where Ryker was. Back at camp, a part of him constantly kept track of Tori. When they were in a group together, he always knew where she was. He thought that awareness was a counterpart sense he shared with her. Now he realized that sort of attention didn’t have anything to do with counterparts. That was love. This knowing where Ryker was—it was like knowing where his arm was.
Kody, Lilly, and Rosa were outside the building, standing watch. Everyone else had gone to the conference room at the back of the office. Willow, Bess, and Tori sat by Ryker’s sister, Jillian, taking turns comforting her. Mr. Davis sat on the edge of the table while Mrs. Davis washed out his wound before she stitched it up. Dr. B stood next to Mrs. Davis, ready to assist her if she needed it.
Dr. B spoke for a few minutes, explaining who Overdrake was, that the dragon eggs had hatched, and that an attack would most likely take place in less than a year. Then the police called Mrs. Davis.
Judging from the things she said to them, the police were puzzled by what they’d found at the house and now had lots of questions, such as: who had shot the people in the backyard, why they were all unconscious, what had the nets been used for, and why did scorch marks run across parts of the grass?
Mrs. Davis worked on stitching her husband’s wound while she spoke. “You know more about what happened in the backyard than I do. I haven’t seen it.” A pause. “I don’t know. Maybe they were going to rob us.” Another pause. “He knows even less than I do. The gunmen knocked him out right away.” A longer pause. “Are you insinuating that our family had dealings with these people? We’re the victims here. Why don’t you ask the gunmen all these questions?”
Ryker sat down next to Willow. He glanced at Jesse. He’d done this off and on since he’d seen Jesse without his helmet. “I know you from someplace, don’t I?”
“No,” Jesse said. The other counterpart abilities were kicking in, he supposed. The ability to read emotions, to understand each other as though they’d grown up together. When Jesse had seen the other counterparts at camp working together, he’d envied their closeness, their support for each other. Now he couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable, transparent. Ryker would be able to read him soon.
“I’m positive I know you.” Ryker tilted his head as he tried to figure it out. “Which high school do you go to? Maybe I’ve played you.”
“No,” Tori said. “Jesse has only played me.”
Jesse raised an eyebrow at her.
“What?” she asked him. “You can throw jibes at me but I can’t throw them back at you?”
Ryker’s gaze went from Jesse to Tori with puzzlement.
“They used to be an item,” Willow stage-whispered to him, “and they’re not through breaking up.”
Dr. B, who had apparently been paying attention to this exchange, let out an unhappy grumbling noise. It was one more broken rule he had just found out about.
Jesse kept his attention on Ryker. “You probably feel like you know me because we’re counterparts.”
Dr. B had explained the concept to Ryker earlier, had even told him that he was Jesse’s counterpart. Ryker didn’t seem to fully understand it was a condition, not an assignment.
“No,” Ryker said, narrowing his eyes in thought. “I know I’ve seen you somewhere. I’m good at remembering faces.”
Willow snorted in disbelief. “Okay, if that were the case, you’d be asking Supergirl who she is.” Willow smiled at Tori. “I just figured out why you look familiar.”
“We don’t divulge each other’s identities,” Dr. B broke in. “Secrecy is needed for safety.”
“Oh,” Willow said, casting another glance in Tori’s direction. “Good luck with that.”
No one else commented. Mrs. Davis had raised her voice, speaking sharply into the phone. “Look, I don’t have time to answer more of your questions. I need to take care of my husband’s wound.” She nearly threw her phone down on the counter. “This is great,” she said, tight-lipped. “The police think we’re involved in organized crime. They can’t imagine why else so many well-armed men would have attacked us.”
Bess shook her head. “It’s not true. Our crime isn’t organized at all.”
Dr. B ignored his daughter. “It isn’t safe for you to live in Rutland anymore. Let us help you find somewhere else.”
Mrs. Davis went back to her husband, cutting the thread on his last stitches. “And in return, you’ll take my children? No thanks. I want them to live. We can disappear on our own.”
Jesse inwardly groaned and fought the urge to grind his teeth. Was running away her answer to everything?
Ryker leaned forward in his chair. “That didn’t work out so well last time, did it?”
Mrs. Davis spun on him. “We were fine until you and Willow started sneaking around using your powers. I bet that’s how Overdrake found us. Someone saw you flying around the ridge. We all could have been killed because the two of you couldn’t resist playing superhero.”
Dr. B raised his hand in a calming gesture. “Nothing your children did brought Overdrake’s men here. On the contrary, Willow’s powers most likely saved your lives. Overdrake’s men weren’t expecting them. You should be glad she’s been practicing.”
Mr. Davis gingerly felt his wound. “How did they find us then? How did you know where we were?” He still sat on the edge of the table and hadn’t said much since they’d come to the office. Jesse wasn’t sure whether Mr. Davis was still groggy from his injury or whether he was entertaining the idea of letting Dr. B train Willow and Ryker.
Across the room, Tori tensed. She looked down at the floor.
“A fair question,” Dr. B said. “Unfortunately, I can’t divulge our sources.”
“Well,” Mrs. Davis said
, folding her arms. “I guess you’re entitled to your privacy and we’re entitled to ours. We’ll be more careful when we disappear this time. Please don’t try to find us again. Don’t contact Willow or—”
“Stop it, Mom.” Ryker stood from his chair, a bundle of tension. “Overdrake’s men broke into our home, clubbed Dad, and held the rest of our family at gunpoint in order to get to me. I’m not going to let him get away with that.”
Mrs. Davis strode toward him. “This isn’t a game. Do you really think a handful of teenagers can stop armed men, let alone dragons? You’ll all be killed. It’s the military’s job to fight him, not yours.”
Ryker folded his arms and used his height to look down at his mother—to send a message that she couldn’t stop him. “I’m not running from Overdrake. Willow can go with you if she wants, but I’m going to D.C. to train with the Slayers.”
Willow raised her hand. “If Ryker goes, so do I.”
“You’re both underage,” Mrs. Davis said firmly. “And until you’re eighteen, you will go where I go and do what I say. No arguments.”
Ryker didn’t move. Jesse could sense his frustration churning to a boiling point, perhaps Willow could, too. She let out an overly dramatic sigh. “Aunt Harriet, you’re embarrassing us in front of the other superheroes.” She turned to Bess who sat by her side. “I bet Batgirl’s aunt never did this to her.”
Bess nodded sympathetically. “You should see what my father does to embarrass me.”
Mrs. Davis flushed with anger. It was clear she wasn’t used to having Willow talk to her that way.
Ryker kept his arms folded. “You can’t stop me. I’ll find a way to go.”
“If you think—” Mrs. Davis started.
“Ryker is right.” Mr. Davis stood up and made his way over to his wife. “He and Willow need to train.” The words were heavy somehow, weighted with a finality of what they meant.
Mrs. Davis stared at him openmouthed. Her insistence seemed punctured now and deflating while they all watched.
“We just had a taste of how Overdrake works,” Mr. Davis said. “I don’t want him ruling this country. We’ve got to try and stop him, even if that means letting Willow and Ryker go.” He turned to Dr. B. “I’ll sign any paperwork you need. You have my permission to train them.”
Dr. B smiled and nodded at him. “Thank you.”
Mrs. Davis kept staring at her husband. Her head made little shakes like trembles. “Ryker will die. You know that. And what will we tell your sister about Willow?”
For an answer, Mr. Davis stepped closer to his wife and gathered her into his arms. He held her that way, trying to ease her trembling. “Overdrake will come after Ryker and Willow either way. It’s better to die fighting than to die running.”
Willow let out another sigh, a real one this time. She whispered to Bess, “Their faith in me is touching. Hello, I just saved them from armed intruders.”
Jesse smiled, relieved. He didn’t care what the Davises thought about the Slayers’ chances. Finally, Ryker would join their group. A flyer. His counterpart. They would be able to fight so much more effectively with three flyers. And the Slayers would have Willow, too. That was especially important since their numbers kept shrinking.
Jesse relaxed in his chair, hardly paying attention to the details Dr. B and the Davises were working out. The whole day had been a string of horrible events, but things were finally looking up. The worst was over.
It turned out, he was wrong about that.
CHAPTER 35
Tori sat on the plane, watching everyone else talk to Ryker and Willow. Well, mostly Tori watched Jesse talk to Ryker. She should have been happy that Ryker was Jesse’s counterpart—and she was. Even if it did make her feel like she’d been replaced.
Had she ever really been Jesse’s counterpart? How could she have if he was Ryker’s? What she thought was a counterpart connection might have been something else—a different emotion all together.
Bess and Rosa were trying to explain to Ryker what being a counterpart was like.
Ryker raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “So Jesse knows things about me just because he can fly, too? That’s impossible.” He motioned at Jesse. “Go ahead, tell me what you know about me?”
“I know you’re skeptical,” Jesse said.
Everyone laughed at that.
“I know you’re smart,” Jesse went on.
Ryker brushed off his words. “I had to be in order to build my own simulator. Anyone could have figured out those two things.”
Jesse’s eyes narrowed as though he was looking inside of Ryker’s mind. “I know you don’t like taking orders. In fact, you’ve got a stubborn resistance to it.”
Ryker smiled. “Nope. You’re wrong on that one.”
Willow nearly spit out the soda she was drinking. “No, he’s not. When we trained together, did you ever once let me be in charge?”
“Okay, maybe not,” Ryker conceded. “But that’s because you’re indecisive and you kept interrupting training to answer text messages. It worked out better for me to be in charge.”
Willow rolled her eyes.
“What else?” Ryker asked Jesse.
“You’re a risk taker.”
Ryker shrugged. “That’s easy. You know I hang glide.”
“And you have a problem with authority figures.”
Willow laughed again. “No, as long as he’s the authority figure, there’s no problem.”
Ryker cocked his head. “Do you only see bad things about me? Is that how this works?”
Jesse shook his head. His eyes were still focused on Ryker, studying him. “No, it’s just what worries me most. Tori and I are the team captains. You have to do what we say.”
Lilly stretched her legs out into the aisle. She was fiddling with one of the red streaks in her hair, twisting it around her finger. “Tori isn’t officially A-team’s captain.”
“I’m not,” Tori agreed, not even bothering to take offense at Lilly’s lack of support.
Jesse gave Tori a long look, then turned back to Ryker. “Don’t listen to Tori. She is the captain.”
Ryker smirked. “First you tell me to listen to her, then you tell me not to. See, that’s the reason I have trouble with authority figures.” He turned to Tori, looking her over more thoroughly. “So you’re my counterpart, too, right?”
“Nope,” Tori said.
Ryker asked the inevitable question. “If you’re Jesse’s counterpart, doesn’t that automatically make you mine, too?”
“I guess not,” Tori said, keeping her voice light. “I can’t sense things about you or tell where you are without looking.”
Rosa spoke hesitantly to Tori. “You can’t tell where Jesse is without looking. Are you sure you’re counterparts with him at all? We thought you were because you could fly, but Dirk can fly, too.”
Lilly unwound the red streak from her finger. “Yeah, I’ve been wondering about that. How is it possible for a Slayer to be counterparts with the dragon lord’s son? Wouldn’t Tori have to be a dragon lord herself to do that?”
The skin at the base of Tori’s neck prickled. She stiffened. Here it was. The conversation she’d dreaded. “What are you insinuating, Lilly?”
“You hear what the dragon hears,” Lilly said. “That’s a way of connecting with the dragon’s mind. You fly. So do the dragon lords.” Lilly’s gaze swept around the seats at the other Slayers. “Oh, come on. We’ve all thought it ever since we found out what Dirk was. Tori isn’t a Slayer.”
Bess waved away Lilly’s words. “I don’t care what Tori is. She’s helping us. That’s what’s important.”
“Dirk was helping us, too,” Lilly said, “right up until the time he betrayed us.”
Anger flashed through Tori. “Are you saying I’m a traitor, too?”
Rosa didn’t let Lilly answer. “Tori is the one who told us that Dirk was a dragon lord. She wouldn’t have done that if she was in league with him.”
Lilly
shrugged. “What I’m saying is that we need to make sure of everyone’s loyalties. I’m not sure how we do that with a dragon lord as a team captain.”
“She’s not a dragon lord,” Jesse said firmly. “She’s my counterpart, too, and I’m a Slayer.”
Lilly eyed him. “Are you sure you and Tori have counterpart abilities?”
“Yes,” Jesse said. “We’ve always been able to sense things from each other.”
Maybe Jesse was right, because Tori didn’t have any trouble sensing that he was lying.
CHAPTER 36
After Dirk got off the phone with his father, he flew to Reston. One of his father’s men met him there and drove him back to Winchester. Dirk didn’t go in the house. Instead he went up on the roof, looked at the stars, and did his best to block out the events of the night.
So what if the Slayers hated him now? Let them be pious about their position. It wasn’t any more worthy than his. Besides, he’d known one way or another his old life was ending tonight. This was just another move in the game. Emotions didn’t matter. Not his, not Jesse’s, not Tori’s.
Dirk wasn’t as good a liar as everyone thought. There was no way to make that lie work. He sat underneath the ancient stars and let his emotions rip through him until he couldn’t feel anything else. Then when he was completely miserable, he went inside, got his laptop, and searched the Internet to see if anyone had posted pictures from his air chase with Jesse and Tori.
Several people had. Some said it must be a promo for a Supergirl movie. Most people speculated it was some sort of publicity stunt Senator Hampton’s office was doing. The girl in the Supergirl outfit was clearly a Tori Hampton look-alike.
Dirk watched the clips over and over. Stopped them frame by frame. He’d seen that look of grim determination on Jesse’s face a lot of times, but never directed at him. And Tori. Her lips were set in an angry line. The same lips that had smiled softly at him earlier today. The same lips he’d kissed not that long ago.
