* * * * *
Janelle’s feet ached and burned by the time they got to Palm Grove High School almost an hour later.
They’d walked into the end of a football game. Cars pulled out of the parking lot and the lights to the field dimmed, leaving the campus in darkness. Hopefully they could blend in if the cops came looking this way. Otherwise they might be screwed.
“Great. Witnesses,” Gary said, stopping near the curb.
“We’ll blend right in until everyone leaves. Where’s our ride?” Janelle looked back and forth across the parking lot for the blue dial-a-ride van that was supposed to pick them up at eight. A nervous feeling bloomed in her stomach. “Uh, Gary? What time is it?”
“Probably eight-thirty by now.” He glanced at the sky and shot her a grimace. “I think we missed our ride.”
Janelle sighed and kicked at a piece of loose concrete. A bunch of cheerleaders in a passing car pointed at her, but she didn’t care. Thanks to the accident, they’d had to take detours to avoid patrolling cops. She skulked over to the benches near the main entrance and plopped down on one, staring down at the flattened gum on the sidewalk. “Why isn’t anything working out tonight?”
Gary sat down next to her, cramming his hands in his pockets. His presence made her feel warmer in the dark. He lowered his voice. “We could bum a ride off someone. See any of your friends here? I don’t know anyone, so it's up to you.”
The last occupied car was pulling out of the parking lot. A rusty maroon one was parked nearby, but nobody was in it.
“Nope. We’re screwed.” A gust of wind blew over her, reminding her how cool the night would get. She remembered the website for Your Transport Service. “We’ll have to wait until tomorrow to do anything. The dial-a-ride place shuts down at nine.”
Gary pulled himself up from the bench. “Hey, I know a spot behind a strip mall where there’s a shed we can sleep in for the night. It’s about a mile from here.”
Janelle shivered. The thought of being on the streets all night weighed down on her, but the only other option was to return to her dad and find out what being a hurricane felt like. She stood and clenched her teeth. How could her dad go along with some Elder Council and make this demand on her? “Let’s go.”
“Janelle? Waiting for your folks to pick you up?”
Mr. Deville strode towards them, his whistle bouncing on his gray shirt. Somehow, he was a welcome sight.
“Um…” she began, fumbling for an excuse.
“Great game, huh?” Her teacher leaned against the brick of the building. “We’ve been waiting to spank the Cougars for years.”
“Yeah. It was,” she said. Something about Mr. Deville made her feel a little better. Maybe it was the fact that he’d turned Andrina away in the office.
“It’s getting awfully late,” he said, surveying the lot. “You two have a ride home?”
Gary looked to Janelle and nodded. They had one last shot, and she’d better try for it. It was all up to her.
“I…I’m supposed to meet my dad so we can leave for the Bahamas tonight, but I missed the dial-a-ride that was supposed to pick us up,” she said, letting her voice wobble a little. “He just flew in from a business trip so he’s waiting at the airport for me. If he drives out here to pick me up, we’ll miss our flight and have to cancel our trip.”
Mr. Deville rubbed his chin. “There’s got to be a bus or something you can take. And who’s this?” He gestured to Gary, but his tone was still as friendly as ever.
Crap. “My cousin, Gary. He’s going with us.”
Her teacher took a long look at him. Way too long. He could probably see right through her lie. She and Gary didn’t share a single trait--except for--no, they couldn’t show him their Tempest marks.
Her teacher nodded. “Come on in here, and we’ll see if there’re any services that can get you to where you need to go. I'll grab the phone book from the office. Sounds like an important trip that you don’t want to miss.” He produced a shiny key ring and went to unlock the main door as the sound of an approaching motor floated down the street.
Mr. Deville froze in place, mouth falling open. His expression hardened in an instant. “In. Quick. Somebody’s coming.” He waved them inside. “I want you to stay out of sight.”
“What’s—“ she asked.
Mr. Deville pulled on Janelle’s other arm with a grip like iron. “Now, Janelle. I know the sound of that motor. It’s that woman who was looking for you today. They’re coming to talk to me. I’ll put you in a classroom ‘til they leave.”
She didn’t resist and burst in through the doors, running beside Gary and her teacher. “You know her?”
“Yes.” He pulled out his keys as he ran. “We’ll talk later. Lay low.” He unlocked a classroom and waved them inside.
Gary dove into the classroom with huge eyes, silently begging her to follow. She did, ducking out of the glaring light of the hallway.
Mr. Deville shut them in just as the squeak of the main doors opening floated down the hall. A set of high heels tapped closer. A few other pairs of footsteps joined it.
It was her. Andrina. The monster. She was coming to talk to Mr. Deville. It could mean only one thing.
“Is Mr. Deville a Tempest, too?” she whispered.
Gary shrugged. “He must be.”
Janelle exchanged a look of horror with Gary in the near darkness. The cold metal of the filing cabinet soaked in through the back of her shirt as she trembled in place. Had Andrina spotted them running into the school? She eyed the windows for an escape route. They could break them if they had to. Things were going to get bad fast.
“Hello, Hank.” Andrina’s loud voice boomed through the hallway, sharp and cold as a razor blade. “How is your evening? Is the school cleared out?”
“Yes, Ma’am. The last football players just left. The janitor’s down at the bus garage, but she might come back any minute."
Janelle’s bladder felt ready to let go. Standing just feet away was the infamous Andrina in the form of a human. Maybe Joey and Ivanna and Curtis had joined her.
“If I can say something really quick—” a young man started.
Andrina made a tsk sound. Her voice grew lower and more threatening with each word. “Look at where you are, Hank. You ought to strive for something greater than coaching high school football and teaching those human kids, with your mother here in the Elder Council. But maybe I shouldn’t expect too much out of you, after you leveled a few towns and started a relief fund for your own victims. Don't you realize that those people would kill us soon as they had the chance? What a shame for a Tempest with the blood of Camellia in his veins.”
Janelle let out a breath. At least Mr. Deville wasn’t one of the really bad Tempests.
“Hey, I tried with him.” An old woman’s voice rang out just outside the door.
Mr. Deville sighed. “Not now, mother.”
A spark of sympathy for her teacher came to the surface, but got drowned out in roar of her pulse a second later.
Andrina spoke again, voice level. “Anyway, I’m paying all known Tempests in the area a visit tonight. I’m offering a reward for the capture of a certain individual—the Janelle I was searching patiently for earlier today. She still hasn’t turned up, and I have no idea what her last name has been changed to, so if you come across that information, I would greatly appreciate it. Camellia, the official statement, please.”
The old woman—Mr. Deville’s mother—cleared her throat. “Janelle, age sixteen and last name unknown, is currently wanted by Tempest High Leader Andrina L. Morgen. If found or sighted, she is to remain unharmed and brought directly to Andrina or the Elder Council. A substantial reward will be offered to whoever delivers her to Alara. Janelle stands at five feet tall with blond hair and a slim build. She may be accompanied by Gary Plankett, also age sixteen, who is consid
ered a fugitive and for whom a reward is also being offered.”
Janelle cringed and tapped her fingers on her jeans. Would Mr. Deville go for the reward—a double reward? Teachers got paid peanuts. If the door opened, she could run for the window across the room and break it open with a chair, and then they could make a run for the woods.
“And we need her by the end of next week at the latest,” Andrina added. “Her name is up on the list next. Operation Reckoning will not wait.”
Next. The word wormed its way inside her.
“Operation Reckoning?” Mr. Deville echoed. “You can’t be saying—”
“Yes. Janelle’s the one with enough power in her to pull it off.” Andrina sounded as if she were showing off a new car. “I’ve been waiting years for this. We need to show the world who’s boss. It's our best chance for survival.”
“You’re saying she’s more powerful than either of us? We’re the two strongest Tempests on this side of the world.” Camellia sounded surprised. “Who are her parents?”
“Do not question me, Camellia.”
More powerful. It didn't make any sense. Her?
“Ma’am, if I can have a word. It’s important.” The voice of the young man cut in again.
“What, Kevin?”
“I saw two kids running into the building with Hank before I pulled into the parking lot. It might have just been a couple of humans, but it doesn’t hurt to check the premises.”
Gary took her arm and tugged her towards the window, eyes huge in the darkness. They matched the panic exploding inside her.
Janelle raced after him. And caught her foot on a table leg, which sent her sprawling to the floor.
Pain surged through her elbow. The table toppled behind her with a deafening crash.
The door flew open with a loud bang. High heels tapped closer. A hand seized the back of Janelle’s shirt and yanked her to her feet, spinning her around.
Her gaze landed on a group standing in the doorway: Mr. Deville, the young man in sunglasses—Kevin—and an old woman with loose skin and curly gray hair.
Janelle tensed, ready to right, but a hand grabbed her chin and turned her head to the side.
Andrina’s sharp face stared into her own, triumphant. “Hello, Janelle.”
Chapter Nine