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Finally, I took the towel off the mirror to look at myself. Torin was still there, and I scowled, trying to see around him. "Lovely, Isolde," he told me, and I had to admit, I looked. . . Okay, maybe I was no Leslie, but my hair actually looked. . . pretty all down around my face like that.
Still, my hands itched to braid it again. Brannicks never wore their hair down, because it only got in the way of staking vamps or shooting shifters or taking out witches.
I heard the front door open. "Iz?" Mom called. I gave myself one last look before grabbing my jacket and heading downstairs.
Moms hands were full of books, old ones that were flaking little bits of leather binding everywhere and filling the room with the smell of musty paper. "Everything I could get from the university library on-Oh. "
She paused in the doorway. "Thats a new look. "
"Theres this boy," I blurted out. "Adam. And he, uh, asked me to go meet him at the school for a basketball game, and I was thinking you could drive me there. If thats all right. Its part of my cover. "
Mom blinked a couple of times before shifting her stack of books to her other hip. "Like a date?"
"Like a mission," I corrected, and I thought the corner of her mouth tilted up a little bit.
"Okay, then. Just let me. . . um, put this stuff away. "
I walked over to help her, scooping up a few of the books. As I followed her to the guest room, I glanced at the spines. Two of them appeared to be about hauntings, but one had a title so faded I couldnt even read it. "Whats the deal with all the books?" I still had no idea what Mom was up to while I was busy at school all day, although shed mentioned driving to the university in the next town over to get some "materials. "
Sighing, Mom shouldered the door open. "Research. " From the tone of her voice, I knew thats all I was going to get.
Once again, a twist of guilt and anger coiled in my stomach. Did the research have something to do with Finn? If it did, I didnt understand why Mom was being so secretive about it.
"Izzy?" Mom said, and I realized shed asked me a question.
"Sorry. " I laid my books down on the bed next to Moms half of the stack.
"I was just asking if youve found out anything at school yet. "
"Yeah, actually," I told her, tucking my hair behind my ears. "For one thing, Im pretty sure who the ghost is. " I filled her in on Mary Evans and what Id learned from PMS. When I was done, Mom raised her eyebrows. "Sounds pretty typical. "
"Thats what I was thinking. " I perched on the edge of the bed. "Some stories become legends for a reason, I guess. "
Mom nodded. "And how was the ghost hunter club? The usual?"
"Yeah. EMP detectors they ordered off of TV, files of local legends. That kind of thing. And they want to do a seance at some point, so I need to come up with a way of stopping that. "
Sighing, Mom glanced down at one of her books, the one called Ghosts and Hauntings. "Make sure you do. Last time I dealt with one of those civilian ghost hunter groups, they did a seance. Ended up opening a portal to the Unseelie court instead, and brought through some seriously nasty faeries. I dont want to clean that up again. "
I didnt know if she meant clean up in the "closing the portal, banishing the faeries" way, or if it was more a "and then I mopped the humans blood off the wall" kind of thing.
I decided maybe it was better just to wonder.
"Anyway," I said, fiddling with the ends of my hair, "it seems pretty cut-and-dried. The frog and Barbie thing is odd, but-"
Mom held up a hand. "The what?"
Oh, right, Id forgotten to tell Mom about Romys theory that Mary was somehow warning her victims. As briefly as I could, I filled her in.
When I was done, Mom was frowning. "That is odd," she said. "But it doesnt really matter. If this Mary Evans is the ghost youre after, get rid of her. "
"Planning on it," I told her. "But you have to do a banishing on the last day of the month, right? Thats still a couple of weeks away. "
Mom made a noncommittal sound in reply, and I thought of what Torin had said. Was coming here really about protecting the students of Mary Evans High? Or was it Moms attempt at letting me have a taste of normal life?
"So this Adam," Mom said, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Is this part of the job, or is it-"
"Part of the job, for sure," I said quickly, and for some reason, Dexs face suddenly appeared in my mind. How would I feel if it were him I was meeting tonight? Just the thought sent my heart racing in a way that wasnt totally unpleasant.
Mom peered at me. "Youre blushing. "
I just stopped myself from covering my cheeks with my hands. "What? No, Im not. Im just. . . its kind of hot in here. "
But Mom was not so easily fooled. "Iz, I know we havent talked much about boys. "
"And we dont need to," I hurried on. "Dex is just a friend. "
I didnt realize my mistake until Mom frowned at me. "I thought you said his name was Adam. "
"It is," I said, turning away and heading for the door. "Dex is just this other boy. Hes in that ghost hunter thing, and you had mentioned that, so it was on my mind. We should go if-"
Mom stood up. "Two boys?" she asked, and I wasnt sure if she was horrified or impressed.
"Friends," I said again. "Nothing else. And didnt you say it was important to blend in? Going on a. . . er, going to a basketball game is totally blending in. "
I could tell Mom was struggling between the Brannick part of her that wanted to believe I was doing all of this for the mission-which I so was-and the Mom part that suddenly realized she had a teenage daughter. A teenage daughter who was hanging around teenage boys.
She reached out, and I think she was going to lay a hand on my shoulder or something, but in the end, she just let her arm drop to her side. "Izzy, Im glad youre so dedicated to this, but. . . you have to remember that these kids youre spending time with are just part of a job. You can enjoy spending time with them, but in the end, there isnt any room for them in your life permanently. "
I should have just nodded, but instead I said, "But you have friends. Or connections, or whatever. People like Maya. Like whoever found you this house. "
Mom frowned slightly. "Those arent my friends, Izzy, and theyre not. . . civilians. Theyre people who are already wrapped up in this life. People who know about Prodigium and what we do. Its different. "
"I understand that," I replied, but Mom just ducked her head to look into my eyes. "Do you? Do you really?"
I thought of Dex again, and the way it had been kind of. . . nice sitting with Romy in English class.
But I looked at Mom and said, "Absolutely. A job. Means to an end, all of that. On it. "
Mom held my gaze for another beat before sighing. "Okay," she said at last. "Then let me grab my car keys and well get you to this game. "
CHAPTER 14
The gym was brightly lit, and as I made my way down the hill from the parking lot, I could hear the banging of drums, the squeak of sneakers, and the occasional shout. Inside, it was even louder, and way more packed than I would have expected. Apparently sports are a really big thing around here.
Adam was waiting just inside the door, and I was relieved to see he was wearing more or less the same thing hed had on at school today. That was one thing Id gotten right at least. And from the look he gave my hair, I guess that had been right, too. "You look nice," he told me, waving his hand in my general direction.
"Thanks," I said, forcing myself not to shove my hair behind my ears again. "You, um, too. "
On Everton and Leslies first date, hed taken her to this fancy restaurant that had ended up burning down by the end of the episode. But before that, the date had looked like fun. I didnt remember them standing around awkwardly, struggling for things to say.
Because thats a TV show, dummy, and this is real life, I reminded myself.
Finally, Adam nodded toward the inside of the gym. "I, uh, usually play in the pep band,
but I took the night off. Drums. "
"Oh," I said, unsure what else to say. "Drums are. . . loud. "
Adam tilted his head to one side, like he couldnt decide if I was being funny or not. Then he just shrugged and said, "Yeah, they are. So do you like basket- ball?"
I peeked around him, watching as boys in satiny-looking outfits raced up and down the court. "I dont know. Ive actually never seen a basketball game before. "
Adams eyes widened. "Whoa, seriously?" From the tone of his voice, youd think Id said Id never, I dont know, been outside before. Breathed air. "Like, youve never been to one, or youve never even seen one on TV?"
"Both," I told him. "We never had a TV before, so. . . "
Now Adam didnt just look surprised, he looked kind of horrified. Maybe thats what made me sound so defensive when I jerked my head toward the court and said, "Ive seen stuff like this. "
Then I remembered that that had been a "party" this coven of dark witches had been throwing, and it hadnt been a ball theyd tossed between them, but a human head.
That little story didnt seem like one I should share with Adam.
He shook his head. "Okay. Well, then Im glad I could introduce you to your first real basketball game. I mean, our team sucks, but still, right?" He smiled at me, but it didnt reach his eyes, and I knew I wasnt the only one disappointed by the way this "date" was going.
"We should go in," he said, turning toward the gym. I did the same, and promptly collided with a boy.
"Sorry!" I said, reaching up to steady him without thinking.
But since it was Ben McCrary, and Id just put my hand directly on the shoulder Id dislocated, he gave a hiss of pain.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" I said again, holding my hands up. Ben just stared at me, pale and wide-eyed, and attempted to put as much space as possible between me and him.
"Just-just stay away from me," he sputtered before darting off.
Adam and I watched him go.
"I. . . um, I kind of dislocated his shoulder in P. E. ," I said.
Adam was still staring after Ben. "Okay," he said slowly. "I heard that, but I thought it was just a rumor. I mean, no offense, but youre kind of tiny, and Ben McCrary is. . . not. "
"I throw a mean dodgeball," was all I could think to say.
Turning back to me, Adam blinked a few times. "So youve never seen a basketball game, you didnt own a TV, and you can dislocate shoulders with dodgeballs?"
I didnt think any of that was meant to be a compliment, but I smiled anyway. "Yup. "
Adam took that in. "Im gonna grab us some Cokes," he finally said, nodding toward the concession booth. "If you want to go on in and grab a seat, Ill find you when Im done. "
"Great," I said, relieved for any suggestion that would put an end to us just standing there.
The game seemed to have just started, but the bleachers were already pretty full. I spotted a few empty spaces in the middle, and was just preparing to wade through the crowd when I glanced up and saw Romy, Anderson, and Dex sitting in the very top row.