by MJ Fletcher
“How was the meeting?” Slade chimed in and I finished chopping up the carrots and placed them in a colander for Mrs. Slade.
“Well enough, Levi is improving though I would rather he didn’t leave the Wheel of the Impossible Engineers. We’ve made it clear to the other Societies that we can handle the situation in house.”
“Is Mr. Miller going to start teaching again?” I asked glad to hear he was doing better.
“Soon enough, but with everything going on we want to be cautious. Whoever these people are, they’re brazen, speaking of... ” Mr. Slade focused so intently on me that I felt I was under a spotlight. “Chloe, how are you after that incident at the race?”
“Fine, I handled it.”
“You had some help with that I saw.”
From what everyone saw, but I didn’t remind him of that. I kept my response simple not wanting to say something inappropriate, a habit I had of doing. “Yes.”
“A Guilder, an odd choice for a DS member.”
“I wasn’t really in a position to turn down his help.” I smiled and bit back a much harsher response. I didn’t like my friends being judged and normally I’d be letting him know that, but I had to remind myself this was Slade’s father and that I had to behave.
“Very true. The First Kind seems to be obsessed with you. Why do you think that is?”
“I’ve got no idea.” The image of my mother rushing Ms.True through the portal played in my mind.
“I can’t imagine how anyone could abandon their order for some other group,” Mr. Slade said. “Slades have been Impossible Engineers for generations, just like Masters have been DS members. I’m sure your father has instilled that loyalty in you as well.”
“Actually, my dad didn’t tell me much about the Old Kind until just before I joined the Paladin Academy.”
“I see. Then Slade is a great example for you. Loyalty to your order should be the first order of business, right, son?”
“Yes, Dad,” Slade said obediently and smiled at me.
I was struck by how different Slade’s dad was to mine. My dad taught me to measure every situation and take the appropriate action no matter what. If I hadn’t questioned the DS, I would never have seen Mr. Jordan for what he was... a traitor.
“I hear your father is once again in good standing with DS,” Mr. Slade said.
I didn’t like the path this conversation was taking, but I kept a tight lip even though I had to bite it to do so.
Mr. Slade continued. “Perhaps now he can better show you how Old Kind reveres their history and loyalty.”
OK, enough lip biting. “Maybe, but the DS wasn’t exactly loyal to my dad when he had done nothing wrong.”
“But that was all resolved.”
“After ten years of my father being ostracized by everyone.” I couldn’t keep the bitterness or annoyance out of my voice. And I grew more annoyed when Slade briefly shook his head at me as though warning me to watch what I say, his hands nervously fidgeting with utensils as he set the table. “My dad is one of the best illusionists in the world and he taught me that it was better to question everything, even those in charge, rather than be caught in an illusion that you can’t find your way out of.”
“I can appreciate that,” Mr. Slade said, though he sounded more like he placated me. “I just wouldn’t want to see anyone else get caught up in something that was of your doing.”
Wait a minute here. Was this guy saying what I think he was? Did he think I coerced Slade to help me? Now I was really getting pissed. “If someone helps me, it’s because they want to. I don’t coerce anyone to do anything they don’t want to.”
“I hope that’s the case.” Mr. Slade stared at me and if he thought to intimidate me, he damn well better think again. I didn’t look away; I kept a firm focus on him.
“Chloe, why don’t you help me finish setting the table?” Slade stepped between us and broke our stare-down.
“Sure why not,” I huffed and walked to the table and began folding napkins. I could feel Mr. Slade watching me. Slade was too, though I wasn’t sure how he was feeling and at the moment I wasn’t sure if I cared.
“I better get cleaned up for dinner,” Mr. Slade announced and left the room. Mrs. Slade scurried after him, pushing Aiden and Sammy out along with her leaving Slade and me alone.
“I’m sorry,” Slade whispered as he came to stand beside me.
“What the hell was that?”
“Nothing, my dad is just looking out for me.”
“Why, what did I do to him?”
“He just wants me to remember my place.”
“And what place is that?”
“I’m the oldest son and I’m being groomed to take his place on the Council one day. He wants my loyalty to remain with the Engineers.”
“As opposed to what, loyalty to your girlfriend? I thought I was coming over for dinner not an interrogation.”
“Chloe, he’s just looking out for me.”
“A heads up would have been nice.” I tossed the last napkin down and stepped away from the table annoyed that I was stuck here for dinner.
“I’m sorry.” Slade took me in his arms and hugged me tightly. And while I welcomed his apology and his arms around me, I wondered what was it about me that his father felt the need to protect him.
Chapter 11
Status: Just when I think things can’t get worse...
The sun was shining high in the sky as I lay on my beach towel and soaked up the rays. It had been a week since we had been to Rome and no one had seen or heard from Nightshade in that time. Jess was on edge along with the rest of us, but I had finally decided to take a day and not worry about anything. Val had been pestering me to go to the beach with her before all the summer tourists over ran Cape May. And it seemed like a perfect day for it.
“Are you okay? You’ve seemed distracted lately.” Val was sitting beside me her massive sunglasses covering half her face.
“School’s been crazy that’s all.” I didn’t want to think about anything but here and now on the beach.
“If you say so.” Val didn’t sound convinced.
“I say so.”
“What’s Slade doing?”
“He has some project he’s working on with Edgar.” I was still processing the dinner with his family. I’d been happy when he told me that he and Edgar needed to work on some secret projects.
“Whatever.” The word came out like a curse and I turned to Val and could see her mouth drawn into an angry line.
“What?” I asked, though I had a feeling I knew exactly what was bothering her.
“I know you guys have your dance coming up.”
“Oh, that.”
“Yeah, I suppose Edgar has already asked someone to go with him?”
“I don’t think so.” I really wasn’t sure how I could explain to Val that people without abilities weren’t allowed to attend school activities including the dance.
“I bet he has and he just isn’t telling me.” She huffed as she spoke. “Well, if he thinks I am going to wait around for him he’s mistaken. I’ve got plenty of boys who are interested in me.”
“I don’t think it’s that, Val. The school frowns on non-students attending all school functions, that’s all.”
“So not only can I not get into that snobby place but I can’t even go to its stupid dance!” She shouted the last part loud enough that the people around us all turned and stared at us as if we might be crazy. Well, Val anyway. I gave a weak half-smile in apology.
“I know it’s stupid. I don’t even want to go, but Slade is thrilled about it.”
“You guys will make such a cute couple. Is anyone else going?” Val’s fingers toyed with the ends of her curly hair probably contemplating a million different ways to throttle Edgar.
“I’m not really sure. I haven’t seen Nightshade and I know Jess and Faith both want to go with him.” I rolled my eyes at the situation, not wanting to dwell on it.
“B
etter watch out. Those girls might kill each other over that man.” Val laughed.
“I’d rather they killed him.”
“If you say so.” Again Val didn’t sound convinced. “Who did he choose?”
“No idea he’s away.”
“Not anymore he isn’t. I saw him at the coffee shop last night.”
“Are you sure?” I was surprised that I hadn’t heard he’d returned, though I was surprised he hadn’t gotten in touch with me.
“Yeah, he stopped in at the Beanery and was talking to some guy I’d never seen before. It seemed as if they knew each other.”
“I’ll talk to Jess and see if she’s heard from him.” I wasn’t sure who he was meeting with or what had happened to Henna but I was sure as hell going to find out what Nightshade was up to.
Val’s phone dinged and she dug through her oversized purse pulling it out and checking the message. Her face fell as she read it and typed a quick message back before tossing the phone back into her bag with disgust.
“Everything okay?”
“Sometimes I swear you’re lucky that your mom took off.”
Val and her mother had a very chilly relationship and I could understand why she would feel that way. But after believing my mother had abandoned me only to find out that she was a traitor working with people who had tried to kill me and my friends... I was far from feeling lucky.
“Yeah right,” I spit out in a bare whisper as I recalled seeing my mom help Ms. True escape during the battle at the Infinity Library. Our eyes had locked, she had known it was me and she had simply turned and left... again.
“Chloe?”
I turned to find Val, her glasses off and her eyes narrowed, looking right at me, oh crap I thought. “What?”
“What’s wrong, I know that look?”
“Nothing.” I shook my head and glanced away. Val reached out and grabbed my wrist squeezing it. Somehow in all the craziness that was my life I had become best friends with Val Hobson, the most irritating girl in the world, but one I implicitly trusted. She knew I was lying and I knew I was caught.
“I saw my mom.” My voice cracked as I finally admitted it out loud and damn if I didn’t feel as if some of the burden of keeping it secret hadn’t been lifted.
“Oh my God, what happened, how?”
“You remember me telling you about my friends and me getting in trouble in school a while back?” I had told Val it was a minor escapade gone badly and she had never pushed for details. She had been aware that Nightshade had gotten hurt, but she hadn’t pried.
Val nodded, her eyes wide.
“She was there, Val, standing no more than fifty feet away from me. She looked right at me and didn’t say a word. She just turned and left.” My eyes rimmed with tears and I tried my best to keep them from falling but they slipped out and rolled one by one down my cheeks.
Val grabbed me and pulled me to her, hugging me so tightly that my face got lost in her curly hair. More of my burden lifted off me and though I hadn’t told my dad or the Old Kind, I had at least finally admitted it to someone ... and someone I knew I could trust.
“She didn’t say a word?”
“Nothing. How could she do that, Val? Not see her daughter in years and all she does is stare at me and walks away again.”
Val eased me away, her hands going to my shoulders and squeezing reassuringly while her own eyes pooled with tears.
“Screw her.”
I laughed in spite of myself. “Yeah, screw her.”
Val smiled, hugged me again. “Did you tell your dad?”
“I want to but I don’t want to see him hurt all over again.” I also didn’t want to tell him that my mother, his wife and the woman he loved was a traitor to our kind. I also was afraid that he wouldn’t believe me.
“You know that you’re eventually going to have to tell him.” Val rubbed my arms trying to comfort me.
“I know, I just need more time.” Enough to figure out just what the First Kind were up too. If I told Dad now I had a feeling I’d be put in lockdown mode and never get a chance to figure everything out.
I grabbed my bag needing a tissue and lost my grip. It dropped on our beach towels, all my things spilling out and I sighed at my luck. Val moved to grab my stuff and my eyes nearly popped out of my head as I saw my Doorknob Society handbook lying in the sand. I reached over snatching it as Val picked up my training knob and held it up, her eyebrows raised.
“Why is there a doorknob in your bag?”
“School project.” I grinned and snatched it from her hand shoving it back into my bag. She helped me gather up my makeup and clothes and looked at them oddly.
“You do know that it’s almost summer, right?” She laughed as she handed me a pair of warm gloves I kept in the bag. How was I supposed to tell her that I could travel anywhere in the world, though never be sure of the climate where I landed.
“I should probably clean out my bag.” I shrugged.
“You think?” Val still seemed interested in the contents of my bag and I didn’t want her curiosity getting the better of her, which in turn would force me to concoct more lies.
“Let’s head out. It’s getting too crowded.”
Val looked around and seeing that the beach had indeed swelled with people nodded in agreement. We grabbed our beach towels, gathered the rest of our stuff and headed off the beach.
“Do you mind if I hang out at your house for a while, my mom is being a pain?”
It wasn’t anything new that Val and her mom didn’t get along and the reason had always been obvious. As far as her mom was concerned Val was never good enough at anything. Even though Val worked her butt off at work and school achieving high honors every semester it still wasn’t enough for the overachieving Ms. Hobson. Some mothers just don’t appreciate and never realize what great daughters they have.
“No worries, Dad is busy as usual and Slade is probably still busy working with Edgar on those projects.”
We made our way up Beach Avenue and onto Mission Way, toward the house. Instead of heading in through the front porch we walked around back and I turned on the outdoor shower. I jumped in and quickly rinsed off the sand and grime from the beach. I wrapped myself in a towel and stepped out. Val stepped in under the water I left running and the door closed behind her.
“I’m heading inside.” I told her as I grabbed my stuff off one of the white Adirondack chairs and walked in the back door. I put my bag on the kitchen counter after grabbing my cell phone out of it and ran up to my room and put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and sat on the bed brushing my hair so that it didn’t turn into a tangled mess. I caught my image in the floor length mirror and stopped messing with my hair to take a good look at myself. How could I look the same when I didn’t feel the same? My whole life had changed. It was so drastically different than it had been a year ago and would change even more in another year. I had only one more year of school and then it was time to decide between college and an apprenticeship with DS, which I knew next to nothing about. I figured I would probably talk to Edgar and see what he could tell me about the apprenticeship program.
“Did I miss anything?” Val walked in. She had already changed out of her bathing suit and into shorts and a tee and joined me on the bed sitting cross-legged. She used the towel to dry her hair, which although wet was still curly.
“No, just thinking about school.”
“What about it?”
Val was still obsessed with Paladin Academy. I suppose it had to do with the fact that it was the one place that had rejected her. Not to mention most of her friends went there.
“What I should do after graduation next year.”
“You mean you don’t know? Haven’t you applied to any colleges yet?” Val’s eyes were as big as saucers wondering how I could be so casual about what to her—though fueled by her mom— was her life’s blood... planning her career.
“I haven’t really thought about it.” What was I supposed to say,
I’m too busy trying to stay alive and figure out if my mother is a traitor to worry about college right now?
“I’ll bring over all my brochures and application information,” Val smiled. ”We can go over them and you can make your choices and then I’ll help you fill out the applications. This is going to be so much fun.”
Unfortunately, I didn’t feel as enthusiastic as Val about the prospect of college hunting. But then my career plans were far different than hers. Val was going to go off and probably become some high powered business woman. Me? I was either going to become a full-fledged member of DS and perhaps become a tracker like Gran and hunt down wayward members. Honestly I’d thought about chucking the whole thing and just traveling. It wasn’t as if I needed money to get around. I was good at getting by on very little and I could go anywhere I wanted too and survive.
My phone dinged as Val was going on about which schools I should apply to and how we might finally be able to attend the same school, which she seemed to be ecstatic about. I grabbed my phone and tapped the screen seeing that I had new texts. I opened it and read, my heart sinking.
“Who was it?”
“Jess. She talked with Nightshade. It seems that they’re going to the dance together.” Just great. I knew I should be happy for my cousin. This was what she wanted and I felt guilty that I was annoyed. Not only annoyed at having to attend this stupid dance but having to put up with Nightshade being at the same table with me. He always managed to irritate me and I think he actually did it on purpose and enjoyed doing it. I wanted to groan in frustration.
“What about Faith?”
“Jess said she was asked to help with the dance so she’ll be there but not with a date.”
“And Edgar?” Val gritted her teeth.
“She didn’t mention him.”
“He probably doesn’t want anyone to know who he’s bringing.” She huffed and continued to dry her already dried hair.
I finished applying my makeup and moved so Val could use the mirror. I walked to the window over my bed and looked down Mission Way to the ocean. I loved this view. You could see everything from here; the people on the beach, the waves crashing on the shore, the beautiful Victorian houses, and the old oak trees that hugged the sidewalks. The street was nearly empty except for a man leaning against a tree two houses down. I smiled thinking he was probably a lost tourist, but what was he doing wearing an overcoat on such a hot day?
