“Hey, Nic,” Rafe said. “Look who’s here.”
He pulled me up and smiled at us, and I had to stare at him for a moment before remembering. He didn’t know. No one knew except . . .
I glanced at Sam.
She flushed and mouthed, “Sorry,” then whispered under her breath, “I didn’t know what to do.”
“Do about what?” Hayley asked.
Nicole stood there, looking confused. Looking like the same Nicole I’d known for ten years. Sweet and shy and uncertain. The girl Serena took under her wing, trying to boost her confidence. The girl I’d pushed Daniel toward after Serena’s death, thinking she was just the thing to help him get over her. The girl I’d struggled to befriend, even if we didn’t have much in common, feeling guilty that we couldn’t get closer when she seemed to need a friend so much after Serena died.
Now I looked at Nicole and I saw that girl, and I started wondering if I’d misjudged. If Sam and I had drawn the wrong conclusion. There was no way this girl could have done what we thought.
Except I’d seen another girl in Nicole a few days ago. The one who’d lashed out at the campsite when I’d refused to rescue her. The one who’d tried to get me captured, too. Who’d shouted at Moreno to shoot me. To kill me.
What mattered more to me was who we thought Nicole had killed. Serena.
“Get out of here,” I said, barely able to open my jaw enough to get the words out.
Rafe looked surprised at first but seeing my face, that melted away and his own face hardened. He turned to Nicole.
“What’d you do?” he said.
“Wh-what did I do?” she squeaked. Her blue eyes rounded and she flinched, like a whipped puppy seeing a raised hand. “I-I don’t understand.”
“What’s going on here?” Hayley said.
“She . . .” I clenched my fists tighter and my face started to throb, as if I was about to shift. I took a deep breath and tried to find calm so I could explain.
“I-I don’t understand,” Nicole said again, tears welling up.
“Oh, stuff the theatrics,” Sam said. She turned to the others. “Nicole killed Serena.”
TWENTY-ONE
SILENCE.
Hayley stared at Sam. Then at me. Nicole’s mouth opened and closed as she made a strangled noise deep in her throat.
“Did you say . . . ?” Hayley began.
“Nicole drowned Serena. She dragged Maya under, too, probably as a warning. Then she tried to kill her after the crash.”
“No,” Hayley said. “Nicole was pulled under herself after the crash. I was there.”
Sam shook her head. “She faked it. She dragged Maya down and wrapped her foot in some weeds. She hoped in the commotion, no one would realize Maya was missing until it was too late. But Maya got free.”
“Th-that’s crazy,” Nicole said. “Y-you’ve always hated me, Sam. You hated coming to live with us and you were jealous of me and—”
“Um, no, you’re the one who was jealous. Spiking my orange juice with vodka so I’d go to school drunk. Planting drugs in my bedroom. Drugs you got from volunteering at the clinic. Like the drugs you got to dope Maya at her party.”
“That was Hayley. Everyone knows it was. She worked at the clinic, too, and she hates Maya.”
“I did not roofie Maya,” Hayley said. “I didn’t have access to the drug closet.” She turned to us. “Dr. Blair caught me sneaking Ritalin this summer. She took away my key. I couldn’t tell you guys that without admitting I got caught stealing drugs. I asked Nicole to vouch for me, but—”
Nicole crumpled—just let her legs give way and fell to the floor, hunched and sobbing. Hayley looked at me. Even Rafe did. Uncertain looks from both of them. I had to admit, Nicole was a good actor. If I hadn’t seen her switch from “sweet Nicole” to “raving lunatic Nicole” in a heartbeat at the campsite, I might have believed her myself. Even now I felt that niggle of doubt.
Had I been wrong about people before? Oh, yeah. Repeatedly in the last couple of weeks. Starting with Rafe, which is why he stood here now, looking hesitant, studying my expression. He’d been the target of my snap judgments. So had Hayley.
“Maya?” Rafe said. “Is that what you think? She killed Serena?”
Before I could answer, Nicole leaped to her feet with astonishing speed for someone who’d been in a puddle of misery a moment ago.
“Maya hasn’t said that,” Nicole insisted. “Sam’s the one doing all the talking. Maya’s smart. She thinks things through and she knows there’s no way I could have drowned Serena. How could I do that and escape without being spotted?”
“By swimming under the water,” Sam said.
“Seriously? How long would I have had to stay under water? Ten minutes? That’s impossible.”
I glanced at Hayley, who’d gone quiet. “It’s not, is it? At least, not for the members of Salmon Creek’s championship swim team. Serena could hold her breath for at least five minutes. I’m guessing you could do the same, Hayley?”
Hayley nodded. “We all could. Me and Nicole and Serena. We used to have competitions when the coach wasn’t watching. The winner was always . . .” She looked at Nicole. “Almost fifteen minutes one time, until Serena freaked out, worrying Nic would hurt herself. None of us could stay under nearly that long.”
“No!” Nicole said. “That’s a lie. No one can hold her breath that long.”
“No normal person,” I said. “But you’re not normal, as I’m sure they’ve told you here already. You’re a xana. Your talents are singing and swimming, which I’m sure includes holding your breath.”
“No!” Nicole spun on Hayley. “You’re lying about the competitions and you’re lying about the drugs. If you can hold your breath so long, then you killed Serena. Killed her and drugged Maya.”
“Why? What possible reason—?”
“Jealousy. You hated Serena because she was better than you in swimming and singing. You hated Maya because everyone thinks she’s special.”
“Yep, we’re all jealous,” Sam said. “All except you. Right, Nic? Which is good, or else you really wouldn’t want to hear about Daniel and Maya.”
“What?”
“Daniel and Maya,” Sam walked toward her. “Who do you think comforted Maya when she thought Rafe was dead? Who do you think got really close to her on that long walk through the woods?”
“What?” I said. “If you mean—”
“Oh, Nicole knows what I mean. Gotta hand it to you, Maya, you played the grief card perfectly. Completely blindsided poor Daniel.”
“What?” I stared at Sam. I could see Rafe hesitating, looking confused. Confused and hurt.
“Don’t lie, Maya,” Sam said. “I saw you and Daniel together that night. Awfully chilly to have all those clothes off, but you seemed to be keeping warm just fine.”
Nicole flew at me then, her face twisted with rage. She knocked me flying. Rafe and Sam jumped in to pull her off, but she grabbed my hair and wrapped it around her fingers, yanking, hitting and clawing with her free hand. I managed to grab her by the hair and yanked her off me. She yowled and kept coming, clawing and hitting, not caring that hanks of her own hair were ripping free as they held her back. Finally, I pinned her. I could feel the shift coming, my skin pulsing, my face changing. She could see that and still she kept fighting. I got my hand around her throat. Then the door slammed open and two guards raced in.
I backed off Nicole fast. They hit her with a needle, but she wouldn’t stop trying to get me and they had to haul her out.
“You bitch!” she shrieked back at me. “You think what I did to Serena was bad? Just wait until I get ahold of you.” They dragged her away, still spewing threats.
I stood there, doubled over, catching my breath. Hayley helped me straighten and led me to the sofa, then sat beside me.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
I gulped in breaths as the shift slowly reversed.
Hayley looked up at Rafe. “I don’t know what S
am was talking about, because I never saw anything happen between Maya and Daniel.”
“Because nothing did.” I pushed up and advanced on Sam. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but nothing—”
“Oh, of course, nothing happened,” Sam said. “Like you’d watch your boyfriend die and jump the next available guy.” She turned to Rafe. “And if your boyfriend thinks for a second that was possible, he doesn’t know you at all.”
“You caught me off guard,” Rafe said. “I just didn’t know what the hell you were playing at. I didn’t think Maya did it.”
Only he had thought I did. Or at least, he’d entertained the possibility. I’d seen it on his face.
“I think it’s clear what I was playing at,” Sam said. “Setting off Nicole. It worked, didn’t it? When it comes to Daniel, she’s got a few screws loose. More than a few. Now everyone’s seen it, and she confessed to killing Serena, so it’s all good.”
“All good?” Hayley said, standing. “Not only did you just accuse Maya of messing around with Daniel, but you’ve convinced Nicole that she did. Nicole. The girl who murdered Serena because she was dating Daniel. The girl who tried to murder Maya because she’s friends with him. And that’s all good?”
Sam sputtered and spewed excuses, but I could tell she hadn’t thought it through. Now I was trapped in a house with someone who truly wanted me dead.
The door opened again. In walked Nast, followed by Moreno, a guard, and a woman I didn’t recognize. Moreno was talking, as usual. “Look, I know you’re in charge, sir, but Calvin asked—”
“I don’t give a damn what Calvin asked for. I told him to control his daughter.”
Nast headed for me. Rafe moved closer.
“Get out of here, boy,” Nast said. “Playtime’s over. Take them”—a dismissive wave at Sam and Hayley—“with you.”
They made no move to leave. Nast didn’t seem to notice, just continued bearing down on me.
“One hour,” he said. “You haven’t even been conscious for one hour and already you’re attacking—”
“She didn’t attack anyone,” Rafe said. “Nicole jumped her.”
Nast looked at Rafe. He didn’t even seem to focus on him, just curled his lip, like Rafe was beneath his notice, before waving at the guard and saying, “Get them out of here.”
“It was self-defense,” Sam said. “Nicole attacked her.”
“Get them out.”
Nast didn’t raise his voice, but the guard jumped as if he’d shouted. He took both Hayley and Sam by the arm and propelled them to the door.
“Moreno? Take the boy. Now.”
Moreno wasn’t so quick to obey. He sauntered forward, waving at Rafe. “Come on, kid. Your girlfriend needs to go with the doc for a checkup.”
I caught Rafe’s eye and mouthed, “Go on.”
A second guard appeared as Moreno and Rafe left. Nast pointed to me.
“Take her to the lab for Dr. Wiley. And be careful.” He met my gaze. “Her wild streak is showing.”
TWENTY-TWO
DR. WILEY WAS THE woman who’d been standing there, silently observing. She followed as the guard led me away. We headed upstairs and into another hall. As Rafe said, the house was huge. This seemed like a wing, with doors lining the corridor. A few were open and I could see what looked like work areas. An office. A computer lab. A staff lounge.
Dr. Wiley opened the next door. Inside was a medical office, complete with paper-covered examining table and gown.
I hesitated.
“It’s a physical, Maya,” Dr. Wiley said without looking back. “On the table, please. Sitting.”
The guard backed out of the room. As he was closing the door, a hand grabbed it. Moreno walked in. When he did, I felt a weird flutter of relief at seeing a familiar face. Which was stupid, really, because Moreno was no friend of ours. But at least he was a threat I knew. One I understood.
“Hey, Doc,” he said.
“I’m busy.”
“Yeah, I see that. Only . . . wasn’t Inglis supposed to do the examination on Maya? Pretty sure she was. Pretty sure Cal insisted on it.”
“Mr. Antone and Dr. Inglis are unavailable. Mr. Nast wants the examination done immediately. He’s concerned about Maya’s behavior.”
Moreno gave a derisive snort. “Only because he wasn’t the one chasing her though the forest for three days. Otherwise he’d know that misbehavior is pretty much par for the course with Miss Maya.” He turned to me. “Isn’t it?”
I gave him a look.
He laughed. “The killer glare. You inherited that from your daddy.” He lifted a hand. “Yeah, yeah. Rick Delaney is your daddy. Spare me the protest.” Back to Dr. Wiley. “If Mr. Nast thinks Maya’s bad now, he should just be glad her partner in crime isn’t here. First time I met those two? Maya tried to question me while her benandanti buddy knocked me around. It was kinda cute, actually.”
“Beating and interrogation?” Dr. Wiley said. “We have a very different definition of cute, Mr. Moreno.”
“Maybe. But the point is, she isn’t acting out of character. Which means this examination isn’t necessary. I’m sure you have other things to do. You go do them. I’ll take Miss Maya back to the others, and Dr. Inglis can examine her later.”
“My orders are to conduct a physical. I take my orders from Mr. Nast.” She looked his way. “As do you.”
Moreno blustered some more, but when Dr. Wiley picked up the phone to call security, he shut up and took a seat. The doctor settled for compressing her lips in a thin line of disapproval as she turned her attention to me.
I’ve been having physicals all my life. I always figured they were just the normal kind everyone talks about. Now I suspect mine were a little different. They were certainly thorough. At home, we all dreaded the twice-annual two-hour appointment.
This one started exactly as I remembered. Height, weight, blood pressure, eyes, ears, throat, chest. She drew blood. Ten vials. Nothing more than I was used to, but I could see Moreno’s eyes widen a little as she passed number five and kept going.
When she was done with the blood, she sent it out immediately. I got juice and cookies while she waited for the lab tech. It was the same kinds of juice and cookies I’d been getting since I was five, which was creepy. The Nasts hadn’t just bought us, they’d bought everything about us, replicating each detail to ease the transition.
I shivered.
“Cold?” Dr. Wiley asked.
I shook my head.
She frowned. “Have you been shivering a lot recently?”
“No.”
“Anything more serious? Shaking? Convulsions?”
“The girl shivered, Doc.”
“Mr. Moreno, I’m going to ask you to leave now.”
“Ah, hell.” Moreno leaned back in his seat. “Fine. I’ll be quiet.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be sufficient. I need to conduct a thorough examination, which requires . . .” She picked up the robe and waggled it at him.
Still he hesitated.
“Mr. Moreno.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He stood and walked over to me. “Your dad will be here soon, kiddo.”
Dr. Wiley sniffed and waved him out. I watched him go.
Okay, what was that about? I’d sensed the tension between Antone and Nast earlier, but I hadn’t given it much thought. Antone was more accustomed to giving orders than taking them. But Moreno’s hovering? That was weird, as was his insistence on waiting for Antone and Dr. Inglis.
Something was going on here. Serious tension, and not just between Antone and Nast. I could see Dr. Inglis being uncomfortable having someone else work on me. I was “hers,” and there was bound to be conflict between the Nast camp and the former St. Cloud employees. But Antone and Moreno had been with the Nasts since this had begun.
The rest of the physical was exactly what I’d had since I turned twelve, right down to the order of the steps. Physical exam. Pap smear. Breast examination. Cheek swab. Vitamin
injection. And, finally, the sour apple lollipop.
I stared at the green sucker. “Seriously?”
“We were told you liked green apple.” She opened the drawer and pulled out a bag. “We have cherry, raspberry. Even . . .” She picked up a brown one. “Root beer? Oh, yes, that’d be for Daniel.”
I stared at that brown sucker. My stomach twisted. She set it on the counter where I could see it.
“Do you know what happens when a car strikes the human body, Maya? Yes, Daniel got up and walked away. I’m sure he just felt battered and bruised. But the force of that impact must have done damage. Internal damage. He could go to sleep feeling fine and then . . . never wake up.”
I clenched my fists to keep from shaking as panic whipped through me.
They’re exaggerating. You know they are. Corey will take care of him. Trust Corey and trust Daniel. Worry won’t help you get out of here. You need to focus on escape.
“I don’t know where he is,” I said.
“I think you do.”
“I don’t. We got separated—”
“Then he’ll find a place you all stayed before that and go there to wait. You need to tell us—”
“There’s nothing to tell.” I hopped off the exam table, scooped up my clothes, and retreated behind the curtain to dress.
TWENTY-THREE
I LEFT THE EXAMINATION room to discover we were all on lockdown pending an investigation of my allegations against Nicole. That didn’t explain why all the others would be confined. I suspect Nast was just happy for the excuse.
At least they let me keep Kenjii. Antone’s orders, apparently. They’d brought in her dishes and bedding. I supposed he thought I’d be grateful. I wasn’t. Or, at least, I didn’t want to be.
I’d only been in my room for a few minutes when Antone himself arrived with lunch. I considered rejecting it, on principle, but if I was stuck here I needed allies, and at this point Antone seemed my most promising option.
“I want to talk to you about your brother,” he said as he pulled a chair over to where I sat cross-legged on the bed.
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