A kid arriving just before the final bell brought in a newspaper, and the “disturbance” was front-page news. No conclusions about what it was, no mention of the barrier. Only a comment that “authorities are investigating.”
Aiden decided to call Mr. Johnson after school. If anyone had answers, it would be him.
CHAPTER NINE
Dylan swore as a grenade exploded nearby and his health bar dropped almost to nothing. He ran for cover while flicking through his inventory for a first aid kit.
“Dylan!”
He started and a stray bullet caught him, killing his character. He swore again and looked up to see his mom. Dylan paused the game and pulled off his headphones. With the roar of battle suddenly gone, his ears rang a little. “What?” She usually knocked before coming in, but maybe he hadn’t heard her.
“There’s a warden here to see you.”
At first he assumed it was Mr. Johnson, but Mom always called him by name. So that meant it was someone else. Unease and a rising sense of anger heated him. Was it the bully? “Why?”
“He wants to talk to you about something. Please be polite.” She looked a little worried. That Dylan would be a jerk or that he would get in trouble for it?
“Talk about what?” Dylan stood and set down the controller. If it was Warden Bully, he definitely didn’t want to talk to that asshole.
“He didn’t say, but if I were going to guess, it might be about the strange lights in the sky.” Mom knew a lot about magic, but she hadn’t been sure what the weird rainbow light had been. She had guesses, but that was it.
Dylan had seen it while he was out at the pit. If it had happened a few years ago, he would have been curious but not much else. After being kidnapped and hunted and then attacked a few months later, anything unusual that happened made him nervous.
Being a little bit scared made him a whole lot angry. He hoped it was Warden Bully so he could yell at the asshole.
Mom went ahead of him down the stairs. “Please be polite, Dylan,” she repeated.
“Yeah, whatever.”
They stepped into the sitting room and yep, it was the same warden, the “liaison” at school. The man stood up. “Hello again, Mr. Galloway. I have a few questions for you.”
Dylan stopped near a chair, crossing his arms. “I didn’t do anything.”
“A protest often made by guilty people.” Warden Bully adjusted his tie and sat back down on the small couch.
Mom crossed the room and sat opposite Dylan.
“I’d prefer to talk to your son alone,” the warden said.
“As my son is still a minor, I’d prefer to stay and listen to any questions you might ask him.”
A flicker of warmth went through Dylan. Mom was always there to protect him.
The warden didn’t look pleased. “Very well.” He turned back to Dylan. “Where were you at approximately twelve thirty-five a.m. yesterday morning?”
“This about the lights?”
The lines around the warden’s mouth and eyes tightened a bit. “Please answer the question.”
Not quite such a jerk when Mom was around, huh? “I was at the gravel pit.”
“This is the pit approximately a mile away from here?”
“No, the one in Canada.” Dylan rolled his eyes. “There’s only one.”
The warden’s face tightened again. “What were you doing there?”
“Warden Bradley,” Mom interrupted. “Is this an official investigation?”
“No, Mrs. Galloway. This is just a few informal questions. For now.” He made the threat very clear.
Well, he was just as much an asshole when adults were around, he was just more polite about it.
“If you have an accusation against my son, please come out and say it.”
For a second Dylan thought Warden Bully was going to back down. “With recent incidents in Shadow Valley often revolving around your son, it’s logical to wonder if he might be involved in this as well. Also, we’ve isolated the area where the disturbance originated, and it’s at the edge of your property. Just as the kidnappings were near your property a year and a half ago.”
A flicker of green flashed in Mom’s eyes. “Yes, the kidnappings that wardens were responsible for.”
Real anger crossed Warden Bully’s face. “They were corrupt, Mrs. Galloway. They were disgraces to their badges and went against everything wardens stand for.”
“Nevertheless, that would make you just as much a likely suspect as my son. Who was one of the kidnapping victims, in case you forgot.”
Excitement rose in Dylan. Was Mom going to get in a fight with a warden right here in the sitting room? He pictured her shooting flames and the warden screaming as he burned. Dylan’s memory served up the exact smell of cooking human flesh, and the idea was suddenly less appealing. Okay, Mom kicking the guy’s ass then. That would be fun to watch.
“I haven’t forgotten. I said your son might be involved, not that he was responsible.”
Mom was so calm most of the time, it was nice to see her get pissed off. “I know what you said, and I also know what you implied.” The room smelled just a little like warm rocks. She stayed in the chair, hands folded in her lap, but her face was hard. “If the disturbance originated at the edge of my property and Dylan was at the pit, then he was a mile away when it happened, so he was neither the victim nor the perpetrator of whatever happened.”
Funny, after she’d warned him to be polite. Although she wasn’t yelling or calling him names, so maybe she considered this polite.
“Can anyone confirm you were there at the time?” the warden asked Dylan.
“I was alone.”
“How convenient.”
“Warden Bradley, I believe we’re done here.” Mom stood. “I’ll show you out.”
They glared at each other. Fight, fight, fight! Dylan bet his mom could lay the guy out with one punch. She wouldn’t even need to use a fraction of her strength.
The warden got up, smoothing his black tie. “I’ll be in touch.”
Dylan trailed behind them as they walked to the front door.
“Have a good night, Mrs. Galloway,” the warden said as he stepped outside.
“You as well, Warden Bradley.” She didn’t slam the door, but she closed it harder than she needed to.
Dylan smiled. “Mom, that was kinda awesome.”
* * *
The driveway was empty when Aiden got home, and that was odd. Whenever weird stuff happened, Mr. Johnson came by to talk to him. Or he pulled him aside at school. Or he at least called.
Aiden went inside just to be sure, but there was no sign of the warden. There were no missed calls or messages on Aiden’s phone, not even a text. Flopping back on his bed, he stared at the little screen for a moment before opening his contact list. He had to know what that weird light in the sky had been.
Mr. Johnson picked up on the third ring. “Hello, Aiden. Is something wrong?”
He hadn’t meant to worry the man, and now he felt guilty. “Um, no. I was just wondering if you knew anything about what happened last night.” The “authorities” mentioned in the article had to include the wardens.
“We’re still investigating the incident.”
“So you don’t know what that was? Some of the kids think—”
“Aiden, I’m not at liberty to discuss anything with you until we release information to the public.”
“But I thought—”
“If I thought this case was relevant to your situation, I would tell you.” He sounded a little annoyed. “There’s no trace of fae magic.”
“Well, that’s… good.” And no one had turned up dead, so that was good too. It wasn’t a repeat of last year.
“Aiden.” Mr. Johnson sighed. “I can’t share every case with you. Unless something is directly related to you or Dylan, you have to wait for information like everyone else.”
“Oh, sorry.” Aiden bit his lip. He desperately wanted to know if it was something dangerous, if he
should be worried.
“I understand that you’re concerned, given the incidents that have happened to you. But I can’t give you confidential warden information. I’ve broken enough rules as it is.”
Mr. Johnson was hiding the fact that Dylan helped a dark fae escape from Faery. The warden was still keeping that a secret even though people had been killed. Aiden was extremely grateful for that, so as hard as it was, he decided to let this go.
“Okay.” Aiden swallowed.
“Have a good night, Aiden.”
“Good night.”
Aiden set his phone down. So much for that.
CHAPTER TEN
It wasn’t even lunch, and this was the fourth time today a girl had smiled or laughed at Dylan, or both. This had been happening more and more since school started. And worse than that, there had been notes in his locker. With fucking hearts on them.
Speaking of his locker, there was a girl standing by it right now. He’d had a few classes with her, but he couldn’t remember her name. He didn’t much pay attention to names since he’d started ignoring people in second grade.
“Hi, Dylan.” She smiled.
God, he wasn’t used to that. So many years of people getting out of his way, dropping their gaze. Everything started changing when Aiden came along. Last year had been weird enough with everyone acting all nice to him and a few girls giving him shy smiles, but this year was fucking ridiculous.
“Hey.” He opened his locker and shoved a book in.
“So I, um… I was wondering… has… has anyone asked you to the dance?”
“What dance?” He glanced over to see her smile falter.
“Sadie Hawkins. Next Saturday.”
He grabbed the book he needed and stuffed it in his backpack. “No.” He’d sort of vaguely noticed some posters but hadn’t paid attention to them.
“Would you… would you like to go with me?”
He slammed his locker shut and stared at her. “Why would I want to do that?” Dances were stupid, and they were even stupider when Shadow Valley High was trying to act like a normal school by having them.
The girl blinked at him, her cheeks bright red. “Sorry. I… I’ll just go.” She hurried off down the hall.
Dylan tried to forget it, but the next day two girls asked him to the dance. One of them was a senior and she was pretty hot, so he actually considered it for a moment. But he had no desire to go to a dance, and he definitely didn’t want to do any actual dancing.
“What is with these chicks?” Dylan dropped his lunch tray on the table. “They keep asking me to that stupid dance.”
Tiago chuckled. “You should go.”
“Why? I hate that stuff.”
“Have you ever been to a dance?”
“No.” Dylan squeezed hot sauce on his tacos.
“Then how do you know you hate it?”
Dylan glared at the jaguar boy. “Did anyone ask you to the dance?”
Tiago shrugged. “Yeah.”
Aiden’s head snapped up and he stared at Tiago. “Who?”
“Doesn’t matter. I said no.”
“So you don’t want to go, but you think I should?” What kind of crap was that?
Tiago looked at his fries as if they were extremely interesting. “I’d go if the right person asked.”
Aiden sucked in a breath, and Dylan heard his heartbeat over the din of the lunchroom. Weird.
“Who’s the right person?” Dylan asked. There was definitely something going on. Were Aiden and Tiago sharing secrets? Of course they were. They spent a ton of time together now, and it made Dylan feel left out.
“It doesn’t matter. Nobody’s going to the dance,” Aiden said, his voice loud.
“Aw, don’t be jealous.” Tiago smiled.
Aiden’s face paled, and he shook his head.
Tiago’s smile widened. “Someone will ask you too… and you can turn her down like the rest of us too-cool-for-dancing types.”
Dylan munched his taco thoughtfully. “You got a crush on someone or something?” he asked Aiden. And it seemed like Tiago knew who it was. Why tell him and not Dylan? They’d shared a freaking girlfriend—sort of—and yet Aiden didn’t want to talk to him about this?
Aiden held up his hands. “No, no! No crushes. You’re right—dances are stupid. We should get together and do something that night. Play video games and blow things up. That’s the opposite of dancing, right?”
“Yeah, that sounds like fun.” Tiago munched on a french fry, though there was still a little smirk on his face.
Jealousy twisted inside Dylan. He liked Tiago, he really did, but sometimes he wished the boy had never come here. Dylan missed the days when it was just him and Aiden. “I guess.”
They didn’t have to say it would be at Dylan’s house. Aiden didn’t have any gaming systems, and Tiago never invited anyone to his house. As far as Dylan knew, he might not even have a TV.
“We could get pizza and snacks and stay up late,” Aiden said.
Tiago’s eyebrows went up. “A sleepover?”
“No,” Dylan and Aiden said at the same time, in very different tones.
“Sleepovers are for girls and little kids,” Dylan said.
Aiden looked freaked out. “No sleepovers.”
What was up with him? Was he having anxiety problems again? Aiden seemed a lot better now that the dark fae was dead, going outside for training and everything. He actually seemed to be really happy, although he acted extra weird sometimes. Maybe that’s just how he was dealing with it.
Tiago snorted. “I was just kidding, jeez.”
“So next Saturday. Gaming night. Should I come pick you both up?” Maybe Dylan would finally find out where Tiago’s house was. “We could all go to the store for snacks.” God, he loved having his own car. The road out of town taunted him, but at least he could get around Shadow Valley without depending on his parents.
“You paying?” Tiago asked around a french fry.
“Yeah, I guess.” It was no secret he had a ton of money and the other two… didn’t.
“Then I’m in.”
Aiden looked a little calmer. “I’m in too.”
“Then we’re on.” Gaming was much better than some stupid dance.
* * *
Grabbing Tiago’s arm, Aiden dragged him into a quiet corner.
“What?”
“Please,” Aiden whispered, fear clutching at his heart. “Please don’t tell Dylan.”
Tiago’s confused expression softened, and he lifted a hand like he was going to touch Aiden, but then he caught himself. “I won’t.”
“Then what was all that?”
That damn sexy smirk appeared. “I like watching you squirm.” His voice was a low rumble, his eyes dark.
Aiden had to look away before his body embarrassed him in the middle of the hall. “It’s mean.”
“It’s harmless teasing. And no offense to Dylan, but he’s kind of oblivious. He’s never going to guess.”
A group of students walked by laughing, and Aiden tensed. This wasn’t the place for a conversation like this. “Promise you won’t tell Dylan.”
“I promise.” All the joking was gone and Tiago looked sincere. Then a little twinkle returned to his eyes. “But I’m still going to tease you, because if I have to go all night without kissing you, I need something.”
Aiden’s heart jolted with a giddy mix of fear and excitement. He glanced around, but the closest kids were several feet away and weren’t paying any attention to them. For the tiniest moment he considered kissing Tiago right in the middle of school. Other couples got to, and it was so unfair that they couldn’t. Well, they could, it was just that there would be… consequences. Unknown consequences.
God, he was such a coward.
“Fine,” he told Tiago, stepping away to put some distance between himself and temptation.
Tiago moved past him out into the hall and glanced back. “See you later.”
Aiden swore he put
extra smolder into that look.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
A girl walked over to Hanna’s table and stood, her tray shaking in her hands. “Can…,” she said, just above a whisper. “Can I sit with you?”
Hanna wanted to ask why, but she was worried that would scare the girl off. “Sure.”
The girl hesitated before taking the chair across from her. “Thanks.”
The myriad smells of the lunchroom covered up the girl’s scent, but from her pale skin and pointed ears, Hanna guessed she was a ghoul. A freshman most likely, as she looked young and didn’t seem familiar.
The ghoul looked down at her plate and the piece of meat sitting there. Hanna still got queasy when she thought about where that meat came from. That was a little chunk of a dead human, sitting there looking like a raw steak.
Carter, who was plastered to Hanna’s side as usual, said, “Hi there. What’s your name?”
“Jamila.” The shy smile she offered him showed a row of sharp teeth, confirming Hanna’s guess.
“I’m Carter. Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Hanna.”
Jamila smiled again, cheeks coloring with a blush. “I know.”
The others arrived and introduced themselves. The girl had cut her meat into neat squares but had only taken one bite. Everyone was being friendly, but an aura of awkwardness hung over the table.
“Jamila, would you like to join our pack?” Marisa asked.
The girl was already looking down, and the question made her hunch in on herself. “Um, if that would be okay.”
Hanna glanced around the table, but no one seemed to have any objection. Carter squeezed her arm and nodded rapidly. “We’d be happy to have you,” Hanna said.
The tension dropped from Jamila so quickly it was like flipping a switch. “Oh, thank you. Thank you.” She looked at Hanna, though not in the eyes. “I couldn’t be with the ghoul pack anymore. I just couldn’t. They’re so much meaner in high school.”
“I know,” Carter said. “But Hanna’s pack is really nice.”
Zen and the Art of Major Magical Control Page 5
