by Gabby Fawkes
Lips pursed, Juniper poured us a mug each. I could just see the cogs in her mind turning. She was about to rake me over the coals. Coming from anyone else, I’d get annoyed, maybe fire back a witty retort that I’d be sure to regret later on. But Juniper was a beautiful person, inside and out. Intelligent. Caring. Bold. Determined. She was basically everything I hoped to one day be. When Juniper had something to say, it was worth listening to it.
She sat back in her armchair and sipped her coffee, studying me with intense crystal blue eyes. Then, in a calm voice she said, “Tell me everything.”
I took a deep breath and described Geiser’s myriad attempts to do me in, from Trevor’s attack in Battle Class to the assassination attempt and the final Vanpari attack. With each story, Juniper’s expression became more perturbed. Birch went the other way, his excitement mounting like I was explaining the plot of an action movie he was about to be cast in.
“So now the cops are after you?” he asked me, his eyes sparking.
“I don’t think so. We made it out the city before the roadblocks were in place. Hopefully they think we’re stuck there hiding out and won’t think to come looking here.”
“But, you’re, like, a wanted person?” Birch prodded.
“I guess so.”
“Neat. Out of the cousins, I really thought I’d be the first one to get in trouble with the law.”
Juniper flashed him stern eyes.
“Come on, sis, we were all thinking it,” he said, with a shrug.
He went over to the TV and turned on Werefox news. It was going over and over the completely inaccurate events of Heidi’s party, while red ticker-tape at the bottom of the screen spewed out wild accusations against Nik and me. Somehow they’d realized there was a connection between Nik and the Vanpari Five. A photo of Nik looking menacing appeared dramatically on the screen with the words, “Vanpari Six?” appearing over it.
Juniper gave him the side eye. “Theia,” she said cautiously. “What have you gotten yourself into?”
“He’s not,” I stammered. “It’s lies. The whole thing.”
“So he doesn’t know the Vanpari Five?” she asked.
“Well, yes, he does, but it’s not as bad as it looks.” I looked over to Nik appealingly.
“They were framed,” he explained. “That’s why we’re here.”
Juniper pursed her lips. “What do you mean it’s why you’re here?” she asked sternly.
I took another steadying breath. “The one who ran away is hiding on Bear Mountain. If we can find him, we might be able to convince him to speak out against Geiser.”
My cousin’s eyes bulged with shock. “Have you lost your goddamn mind?” Juniper cried.
“He’s our last hope,” I explained hurriedly. “He’s the only one who didn’t give a false confession. If he agrees to testify that the Vanpari Five were framed and we provide our photographic evidence and Aaron’s recording, then it might be enough for us to be believed. We could instigate Geiser’s fall from grace and stop him from getting control of the city.”
Juniper blinked slowly in a way that made it obvious she thought I was spouting bullshit. “So let me get this straight. Two fugitives”—she pointed at me and then Nik—“want to find a third fugitive to help them take down a respected member of the government? Or am I missing something?”
My stomach churned. Juniper was so much better at the whole mom routine than my own mom was. I hated her pointing out the flaws in my logic.
“Well, when you put it that way…” I said, meekly.
“I’m not putting it any way,” Juniper snapped. “I’m telling it as it is. That’s reality, Theia. You’re a bunch of kids and he’s someone with power. He wins, you lose.”
“I still have to try!” I yelled back. “I cannot sit back and watch our liberties get stripped away from us. Have this wedge driven between the classes. I have to fight it.”
Around me, silence fell. Nik, Retta and Birch all looked away. But Juniper kept her eyes fixed on me.
“How?” she asked, simply. “How are you going to fight it? Really?”
My shoulders slumped with emotion. I felt defeated.
Retta puffed up her chest. “First off, she’s not alone. There’s us. And we have contacts.” She gestured to Nik. “The moon mayor. My mom, too.”
Juniper folded her arms, looking less than impressed.
“I’ll totally help,” Birch piped up excitedly.
Juniper’s gaze snapped to him. “No you will not.”
“But I’m good with my bow. I could be look-out while you’re searching the mountains. In case the cops work out you’re not in the city anymore.”
Juniper shook her head fiercely. “No way. Not on my watch.”
As grateful as I was for my gung-ho sixteen-year-old cousin, I didn’t want to drag him into this. I’d gotten too many people caught up in my crap already.
“You don’t need to do anything, Juniper,” I said, sinking my head onto my fist. “But it would help if you were on my side. I’ve spent the last week dodging murder attempt after murder attempt. And I haven’t even had Gus to vent to. That fat camp is like a prison.”
Out my peripheral vision, I caught my cousins exchanging a glance. Right away, I knew something was wrong.
“What is it?” I asked, my back going pole straight.
Juniper swallowed. “Gus isn’t at fat camp, Theia.”
I frowned. “Where is he?”
“Camp Clearview.”
My confusion only grew. “What’s that?”
“It’s a conversion camp.”
It felt like all the air had been sucked out the room.
“A…” My mouth went dry. “You mean like one of those places they try and therapize the gay out of you?” Revulsion swirled through me. My heart ached. “Oh my God, that means his parents tricked him. Those scumbags. We have to do something. Bust him out. Like yesterday.”
I was up on my feet, ready to fire an arrow through the heart of any homophobe that stood between me and my GBF.
But just as I was about to head for the door, the face of Mayor Benson filled the TV screen. Flashing photographers’ lights illuminated his face and there was a row of microphones in front of him. He stepped up to them and began to speak.
“It is with deep regret that I must announce my immediate resignation from my position as sun mayor. In light of recent events, it’s become clear that the people of New York City are demanding a change. The mayoral election will be called tomorrow. That is all.”
He turned away from the bombardment of questions the reporters were throwing at him and disappeared back into the town hall.
Hovering at the living room door, I looked from Retta to Nik.
“Well, that’s just fan-fucking-tastic.”
26
“Tomorrow?” I said, striding back into the room. “We have until tomorrow to stop Geiser?”
Nik heaved himself to his feet, gripping his wound as he did. “Then let’s go. Let’s get into the forest now and find Elliot.”
“But what about Gus? I can’t leave him in that terrible place.”
Nik looked furious. “He’s a big boy. I’m sure he can handle himself.”
Now it was my turn to spit feathers. I leaned toward him, teeth gritted. “Do you know what they do to people in those places? They try to brainwash them. They break down their self esteem.” I shuddered at the thought of my unashamedly gay best friend being, well, shamed.
Nik huffed. “We have less than twenty-four hours to find Elliot and get back to New York City. We don’t have time for Gus.”
My anger overwhelmed me. I clenched my hands into fists at my side. “How dare you say that? He’s like a brother to me!”
“So’s Elliot to me,” Nik fired back. “But I let you convince me to delay his rescue. ‘Give me a couple of days,’” he said in a mockingly girlish voice. “‘We need enough evidence to really nail him.’ And what did you find, Theia? Jack shit!”
/> Nik the jerk was back in full force. But this time, his anger actually hurt. Before he’d been aloof and standoffish. Now he was being personal. And the look in his eyes couldn’t have been further from his expression back in the alleyway when we’d almost kissed. It was the sort of look I’d expect from Emerald, not Nik.
I puffed myself up. “It’s hardly the same. Elliot didn’t want to be found. Bear Mountain is a safe place to disappear. But Gus is being held against his will.”
“Elliot’s a fugitive!” Nik yelled. “Because of Geiser. You of all people should know how that feels.”
Retta stood up, creating a barrier between Nik and me. “Guys, bring it down a notch, okay? We don’t need to argue about whose friend is more pitiful. Let’s just split. Half of us go with Theia, the other half with Nik.”
“Nik shouldn’t be going anywhere,” Juniper said.
She pointed to his side. The balm he’d put on his wound had clearly been ineffective when it came up against his argumentative gesticulating. Fresh blood was starting to drip from it.
Nik looked woozy at the sight. His owl began tugging at his sleeve. Finally, he gave in and fell back into the couch, letting out a groan.
“Good,” Retta said. “Now that everyone’s stopped tantruming, can we think about this rationally?”
Rational seemed to be the last thing I was able to do right now. Every second Gus spent in that place was one second too many.
I folded my arms. “You are such a politician’s kid.”
“And proud,” Retta shot back with a grin. “So, voting for the new mayor doesn’t start until tomorrow. They’ll need a full day for that, plus several more hours for counting. We have more time than you think.”
“I’m getting Gus,” I said the second she’d finished speaking. “No negotiations.”
“And I’m getting Elliot,” Nik retorted. “Because there’s a bigger picture here.” His words were pointed, and his tone was starting to rise again.
“Everyone shut up!” Juniper whisper-shouted. “Before Gran wakes up and makes you.”
Finally, I fell silent. I could feel my heart slamming painfully in my chest. I couldn’t quite believe how much of a shithead Nik was being about this.
“We have time for both rescue missions,” Juniper continued like we were all idiots. As the eldest cousin, it was her job to be the voice of reason. And boy did she love being boss. “The nocturnal half of your crew are asleep. Nik needs to recuperate. That leaves us four.”
Birch’s face snapped to the side. “You mean we get to help?”
“I don’t see what choice we have,” Juniper replied, testily.
Birch fist-punched the air.
I wasn’t about to turn them down for a second time. Not now that I knew about Gus.
“Theia, you and Retta go and save Gus,” Juniper said. “Birch and I will go to the woods and start looking for Elliot.”
From his place splayed on the couch, Nik shook his head. “We need Cora to track him.”
“I’m an Elkie. I can track perfectly fine.”
“But Elliot won’t go anywhere with you if I’m not there to convince him,” he contested.
Juniper folded her arms. That meant she was done with the nonsense. “Heard of telephones?”
“Yes...” Nik said, narrowing his eyes in response to her condescending tone.
She pointed at the landline in the corner. “Then sit by that one and I’ll call you when we find him. Then you can chat out your feelings. Jeez! You’re making this way harder than necessary.”
I couldn’t help but smirk. Juniper was awesome and Nik looked miffed to have been put in his place.
I handed Elliot’s talisman to Juniper.
“Whoever finishes their mission first comes back to the house and collects the moon guys,” she instructed, “then heads on to help whoever’s still not back. Got it?”
I nodded and looked at Retta. “You good?”
Retta cracked her knuckles. “You bet. Consider this Rescue Mission 2.0. First the bow, now the boy.” She grinned.
I was so glad to have found a partner in crime in Retta. It felt fitting that my New York City bestie would be the one to help me rescue my Harriman bestie.
We all trooped to the door.
“Hold up,” I said, stopping in my tracks. “I don’t have a weapon. What if things get heated at Camp Crapulon?”
“What happened to your bow?” Juniper asked.
“My evil step-sister broke it,” I said.
Birch winced as if feeling just how painful it was.
“Don’t worry, I broke her nose back.”
“Neat,” Birch said, admiration in his tone.
It didn’t feel like much of a consolation anymore.
“I can fix your bow,” Juniper assured me. “Although most of Uncle Heath’s power will have leached out by now, so it won’t be as strong as it was before. But I can get it working at least. In the meantime, take mine.” She shoved her bow my way. “Birch can defend us if we need it.”
Birch beamed with pride. Juniper slung her quiver off her back and handed it to me as well.
I weighed her weapon in my hands. It felt so different from mine. The history pulsing through it was so fascinating. Juniper’s bow had been forged with wood from India, from the forests where Aunt Shanaya’s ancestors lived. It felt like it had a whole load of things it wanted to teach me, and I was more than eager to learn. I had a lot of pent-up aggression that needed to be unleashed.
Finally, I glanced back at Nik. He was lying in pain on the couch. I wasn’t going to forget the way he’d shot me down over finding Gus. That had hurt. And added to him lying about being Vanpari, well, maybe Retta had a point. Maybe I should leave Nik Storm well alone.
27
Juniper and Birch headed to the mountains on foot while Retta and I took the snot van to Camp Clearview. I was on tenterhooks the whole time, gripping Juniper’s bow so hard my fingers went white.
“We’ll get him, T,” Retta said. “Relax.”
I shook my head as a fresh wave of pain washed through me. “It just makes me so mad. Like, what’s so scary about love? Why can’t he just be celebrated for who he is?”
“Because,” Retta replied with a sad sigh, “the world is full of morons.”
I couldn’t help but link his situation to the bigger picture going on in New York City, with everyone hating on everyone else for no reason at all other than an inability to accept their differences.
“Talk about Nik being a total jerk back there,” Retta said, giving her wings a flutter of irritation.
“I don’t want to talk about Nik,” I muttered, squeezing the bow even tighter.
Retta raised an eyebrow. “Oh good. So you’ve finally realized he’s not boyfriend material?”
“You could put it that way,” I replied through my teeth.
Just then, a wooden sign beside a single dirt track came into view. Camp Clearview.
“Watch out, haters,” Retta said, turning the van down it. “Here come the allies.”
As the van bumped along the track, the trees overhead created a thick, impenetrable canopy that the twilight couldn’t reach through. The darkness made everything even more ominous.
Up ahead, a row of wooden huts came into view. It looked exactly like the sort of camp I went to in the summers while I was growing up. Innocuous. Quaint. There was no hint on the outside about what might be going on inside the cute little cabins.
Retta pulled over to the side of the dirt road and killed the van’s engine. “I’m guessing we want to go with an element of surprise here.”
I tightened my grip on Juniper’s bow. “You bet we do.”
As quietly as we could, we got out of the van, landing on the dirt path on soft feet. We crouched as we tiptoed all the way up to the first cabin. Yellow light streamed out from its window.
Slowly, I straightened up and peered inside. The room was empty, but there were chairs arranged in a horseshoe shape. On th
e walls were loads of posters that looked like they’d been drawn by kindergarteners, depicting men and women holding hands. Slogans around the room stated, “You can be cured!” “Normal is possible!” “Pray the gay away.” The paint, ironically, was sparkly.
“For people who hate gays,” I whispered down to Retta, “they’re kinda kitsch.”
We scurried along to the next cabin. This time, I could hear a voice coming from the inside. It was very upbeat; the sort of voice that belonged to a motivational speaker.
“The rejection you felt in childhood is expressing itself now,” the man was saying. “But that can change. With perseverance and prayer, you can heal from this affliction.”
I straightened up, peeking in through the window. My hunch had been right. There was a stage upon which a young, enthusiastically smiley man walked back and forth with a headset on. In front of him were rows of chairs, each one filled with a kid. I estimated there were about fifty kids in attendance. Fifty.
I scanned the backs of their heads. I’d known Gus my whole life; I could recognize him just by the tips of his ears jutting out through his wavy blond hair.
My gaze landed on him.
“Bingo!” I whispered down to Retta.
She fluttered her wings with excitement. “What do you want to do?” she whispered back. “See if we can get him out a side door when no one’s looking?”
I hitched up Juniper’s bow. “Hell no. We’re not sneaking around like we’ve got something to hide. We’re causing a scene.”
In one fell swoop, I heaved open the window and leapt up onto the ledge, Elkie-style. My boots landed with a heavy thud. I raised my bow and fired off an arrow. The magic of Juniper’s ancestors pulsed through my movements and the arrow flew straight into one of the speakers. Sparks exploded everywhere.
I took an adrenaline fuelled breath, astounded by the strength that had come from the weapon. What a rush. I could get used to this bad boy.
My intrusion and the exploding speaker caused panic to erupt. The kids in the hall started shouting, jumping up from their seas and turning to the window to see what was happening. But when they saw I had another arrow pointed directly at the fucktard telling them not to be who they were, they seemed to calm a bit. Excited whispers caught like kindling, spreading through the audience.
