I wondered a bit about our exit, but as soon as we stepped into the foyer, the door opened, seemingly of its own volition. Jessica pushed the elevator button as the door clicked shut behind us. It looked as if she was used to this.
I had so many questions, I wasn’t sure where to start.
Meagan didn’t have that trouble. “Is this why you didn’t answer me?”
“It wasn’t up to me to tell you where I was. The Oracle had to decide, and she was a bit busy.”
“But the panther girl,” I said.
“The Oracle sent her,” Jessica confirmed. “She asked me why I was worried, and I told her that you were concerned about me. She said I didn’t have time for distractions.”
Meagan pushed up her glasses. “Did you really call to the dead?”
Jessica nodded. “The ashes of all past Oracles are here in the sanctuary, and the current Oracle calls on them for guidance.” She grinned. “Apparently, even an Oracle in training can get them to show up.”
“How do you ask ashes for guidance?” Meagan asked as we got into the elevator.
“Because they’re more than ashes,” I said, understanding now what I had seen. “The past Oracles came alive, like ghosts, right when the baby was shimmering in your grip. They were there again when I had to promise.”
Both of them looked at me in astonishment.
“You saw the ancestors?” Jessica asked. There was an edge to her tone, as if she didn’t believe me, as if she thought I was making up that part.
As if maybe I was trying to steal some of her thunder.
But I had seen them.
The elevator zoomed toward the lobby, moving so fast that my ears popped a bit. It was a smooth ride, but the bottom of my stomach felt weird.
“I think so,” I said, pretending to have more doubt than I did. “There were lots of gold cats, transparent ones with red eyes. They were walking between the sculptures, kind of weaving their way along the shelves, and meowing.”
“That’s them,” Jessica said, looking at me in awe and maybe, just maybe, a teensy bit of resentment. “You shouldn’t be able to see them. You’re not initiated into our rites or one of our kind or anything.”
Oops.
“Don’t you see them?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Not yet. But I’ve been told about them.” She smiled. “I know what to look for.”
“We both saw the puma,” Meagan said.
Jessica nodded. “Everybody does. I never heard of anyone other than an Oracle seeing the ancestors before, though.” She looked at me again, consideration in her eyes.
“If you can’t see them, how do you know whether they come?” Meagan asked.
“I hear them,” Jessica explained. “Today they told me the baby’s name. And I felt their power surrounding her in that moment, revealing her future.”
“Why does it matter?” I asked. “I mean, is it important what kind of cat the baby will be able to become?”
“Just that she can.” Jessica exhaled and looked suddenly tired. “We never know, you know. A child might not have the power to shift and become one of us. It’s not a gimme anymore, even for the child of an Oracle. Ever since the Mages—well, since we were their slaves—things have been erratic. This ceremony used to just be routine, but now it’s really important. If the child will fully be one of us, the ancestors share that truth.”
“And if they don’t answer the summons?” I asked, sensing that she wasn’t telling me the whole story. The Bastians sure were big on their privacy.
“Then the child will just be human.” Jessica grimaced. “Or maybe the Oracle doesn’t really have the gift to conjure them.” She smiled wearily as the doors opened to the lobby. “I’m so relieved that they came today.”
“You were great,” Meagan said, giving Jessica a quick hug.
The doorman smiled at the sight of us, and it did not crack his face. He nodded at Jessica as if they were old pals, then swept open the door to the street. We walked through like queens, and I thought I could get used to living in a place like this.
Then Derek, looking ticked off, separated himself from the shadows to stride toward us.
“Remember your vow,” Jessica muttered under her breath.
Derek gave me an electric look, like he’d heard what she said, and I wondered what I could tell him that wouldn’t break my shiny new promise. I was thinking there was something to be said for my dad’s skills with diplomacy and negotiation, and that maybe I should have paid a bit more attention when he’d explained all that to me.
“Did you tell her about the ShadowEaters this morning?” he demanded, flicking a look at Jessica.
“We didn’t have time to talk about it yet,” I said. I slipped my hand into his and he visibly relaxed. “Let’s find Jessica some ice cream and bring her up-to-date before we get back to class.” Derek’s eyes narrowed and he looked more closely at Jessica, but she held his gaze.
As if daring him to imagine she’d share her secrets.
I watched her and wasn’t at all sure that the cat shifters had lost their royalty.
WE SCORED SOME ICE CREAM and claimed a pair of benches in a concrete park off Michigan Avenue. It was probably a busy little oasis in the summer, but in February, with the fountain turned off and the snow fluttering down, we had the place to ourselves.
It was hard for me to tell them about my experience with the ShadowEaters. It was gross to remember it, even though the Bastians’ Oracle was sure it had been a dream even the second time. I thought she was wrong; the others weren’t so sure. Again, I had that sense of things coming apart when they really needed to be together, but couldn’t think of a thing to do or say to fix it.
Except maybe prove to them that I was right.
That was when we realized the time and that we’d be late back to school. We started to walk back together, moving pretty quickly.
“What about our alliance of shifters?” Derek asked, and I heard the edge in his tone.
“What about it?” Jessica asked, looking between us.
“Seems like it’s not working,” he said in a low voice. “Seems that some people would rather keep their own secrets and run their own plans than work together.”
Jessica clearly took exception to that. She straightened. “Just because we’re allies doesn’t mean that I can betray the trust of my kind and share our secrets with everyone.”
“We’re not talking everyone,” Derek argued. “We’re talking about the four of us.” His gaze snapped. “We’re talking about trust and teamwork. Isn’t that what an alliance is?”
Uh-oh.
“You don’t need to know everything about me to fight by my side,” Jessica said.
“I think I do. I think that’s the way it should be.” Derek had even more than his usual intensity. I remembered his comments in the fall about wolves seeing the world in black and white.
“All or nothing,” I murmured.
“Exactly,” he said, punctuating the word with another hot look at me.
Jessica folded her arms across her chest. “You can believe whatever you want and you can tell me whatever you want, but we learned the price of trusting in the wrong place when the Mages took out the lion shifters. We keep our secrets, thanks. And let’s remember that Mozart, one of my kind, has been injured already.”
Derek—predictably—took exception to her tone. “Oh, so now you’re assuming that I’m going to betray you!”
“Not you!” Meagan interjected, obviously trying to save the situation.
I wasn’t sure it could be done.
“Who else, then?” Derek demanded. “Meagan and Zoë know whatever it was that you were doing, but I don’t. Obviously you trust them.”
“It’s a girl thing,” Jessica argued.
“It’s a girl-shifter thing,” Derek retorted, then glared at me. “You don’t want wolves in the alliance—that’s fine. We can take care of ourselves.”
“That’s not what’s going on,”
I said, and his pale gaze locked on me.
“That’s what you say, but you’re not showing me anything that would make me believe you.” He gave us each one last glare, then turned and trudged away.
Perfect.
I ran after him, but he pretended not to hear me until I caught his hand and pulled him to a stop. He looked at me with narrowed eyes, obviously wanting to be somewhere else.
Anywhere else.
The alliance was being destroyed and it was my fault.
All I could do was try to save it.
“Look,” I said, talking fast and quietly. I knew he’d be able to hear me. “I made a mistake this morning. I’m sorry I did that, and I’m sorry I got mad when you challenged me about it. I really thought I could handle it.”
“What happens if they get you?” he demanded through his teeth. “Our prophecy says that the only way forward is to follow the dragon. If there is no dragon to follow, there is no way forward. If you die because you’re too confident, you’re condemning all of us.”
“Gee, no pressure,” I said, trying to make him smile.
He didn’t. “It’s not a joke, Zoë.”
“I know.” I squeezed his hand. “I was wrong about that, and I won’t do it again.”
“I can only defend you if you let me go into danger with you.”
“I know.” I twined my fingers with his. “I promise not to go off on my own again.”
“You just did it again!”
“Okay. You were right. I need to trust your instincts, too. I will. I promise.”
That seemed to please him a bit. Or at least it calmed him. He took a deep breath and turned his hand so that his fingers tangled with mine.
“But you need to trust me, too,” I said. “Secrecy is really important to the Bastians. They will leave the alliance over it, and I have sworn to defend it.”
He looked at me. “That’s divisive.”
I grimaced. “It’s the only way to keep them in the union. I can’t lose them, or we’re all goners. Come on, she’s under pressure and worried about Mozart, too.” I tugged at his hand, seeing that he was unconvinced.
But thawing. He was definitely thawing.
“Nick and Isabelle are coming after school. They want to go to the vacant lot and hear the whole story, see if they can pick up any clues. I think we should all go together. Will you come?”
He watched me, his eyes glittering with indecision.
I leaned closer to him, touching my lips to his cheek. I felt him melt. It was strange, realizing that I had some ability to affect his thinking with just a little touch, and it gave me an uncomfortable sense of power.
One I wasn’t sure I wanted.
“Can you trust me?” I whispered.
Derek heaved a sigh, then turned to consider me. “The only time you ever kissed me back was on your birthday,” he said softly, then pulled his hand from mine and walked away.
I watched him go, feeling like I’d blown it completely. I could have kissed him back any number of times. I could have initiated a kiss right this minute—well, two minutes before. I could have used that new power I’d felt to bring him completely to my side.
But it didn’t feel right.
When I return someone’s kiss, I’m going to mean it.
Which sounds really good and principled—except if it looks like that principle is going to trash the alliance that could save the last four kinds of shifters left in the world.
Did I care more about being honest with Derek? Or with ensuring the survival of our respective kinds? How much would I compromise for the greater good?
I knew Derek wouldn’t have compromised anything, but it seemed that dragons saw more shades of gray.
Bonus.
Or not.
I DON’T KNOW HOW I got through the rest of the day. Muriel chewed me out for not telling her where I’d gone at lunch—never mind that I was late getting back—and I knew there was yet another black mark beside my name.
That I refused to confide in her compelled her to write a lengthy note in my file.
Meet Zoë the troubled teen, signed up for detention.
I hoped the others would wait for me.
They did.
Meagan and Jessica were still at my locker when I got free of Muriel and detention, but there was no sign of Derek. I figured he wasn’t coming, even though I wished I could have had the chance to change his mind.
When we came out of school Nick was waiting outside, leaning on my car and spinning the keys on his finger. I’d sent him a message and knew he’d give me a hard time about my detention. The three of us ran for it. Isabelle hopped out and gave us each a hug while Nick razzed me about being a troublemaker.
I had a feeling then and looked back, only to find Trevor leaning on his MG. He was surrounded by Suzanne and her crew, all of them flirting shamelessly with him. The spell light danced around them, giving me a sick feeling in my stomach.
I felt sicker when he turned to me and I saw the glimmer of spell light in his eyes. There was something odd about him, something that didn’t look quite right, but I hoped my response was residue from earlier in the day.
I felt Nick beside me then, the weight of his hand on my shoulder. He glared at Trevor, who turned away quickly, as if intimidated.
I didn’t believe it for a minute.
“He’s going to follow us there,” I whispered.
“Then we’ll kick his ass,” Nick said. “Let’s go.”
Let’s face facts. My mom’s car is not a big car. It’s a teensy vehicle designed for commuters who travel alone, maybe with a briefcase and a bag of groceries. There were five of us. Five. Isabelle pulled the passenger’s seat forward as far as possible. Meagan got into the back; then Jessica and I piled in after her. By some miracle, we managed to make room for Isabelle to put the seat back and shut the door, but I was glad we weren’t going far.
There was still no sign of Derek as Nick drove away.
“Where’s Derek?” Isabelle asked. Everyone looked at me.
“I’m not sure he’s coming.”
There was a heavy silence after that. I sensed that they blamed me for his absence, and, really, I did, too. The trouble was that I wasn’t at all sure how to fix it.
It took me a while to direct Nick to the vacant lot, because the area had been unfamiliar to me. We went around a couple of blocks several times. The fact that there was no sign of the library—even though I knew it had been a glamour—didn’t help me to get oriented.
“Are you sure, Z?” Nick asked for the forty-third time.
“Maybe it was another vision,” Isabelle said. “Maybe it didn’t really happen in this plane of existence.”
“That’s what our Oracle said,” Jessica agreed.
“Don’t you believe me?”
Isabelle smiled at me, but it was forced. “You have such vivid dreams, Zoë, and the realm of the Wyvern includes dreams and possibilities.”
“The Oracle says the ShadowEaters can’t touch us in this realm,” Jessica added.
“You could be confusing reality and your vision,” Nick said. “It makes sense to me.”
“It would make sense to me if you believed me,” I muttered.
“What did it look like again?” Meagan asked, trying to be helpful.
Skepticism threw my game a bit and we drove around for another half an hour, the tension mounting in the car. I ignored Nick’s deep sigh, as well as the way Isabelle reached out to touch him, ensuring his silence.
Finally, I thought I spotted it, and Nick parked where I indicated.
I got out and looked around, confirming my memories.
“Here?” Meagan asked, and I saw that she wanted me to be right.
I nodded. “I saw that convenience store when we arrived, when I noticed that the street was empty.” I pointed. “And I saw that locksmith with the grates over the shop windows when Kohana and I took off.”
“So, you see,” Meagan said triumphantly. “Zoë did fin
d it.”
I didn’t wait for a reply, just marched into the vacant lot. Yes, that was the streetlight that shone in my dream, and those were the boarded windows on the other side of the far street. This was the garbage can that Skuld had toppled over, still lying on its side. I headed straight toward the clearing I’d seen several times now, bracing myself for what we’d find there.
That kid might be there still, dead.
Or at least there would be his blood in the snow.
Even though I couldn’t smell it.
I halfway expected apprentice Mages to leap out from behind the piled trash, or ShadowEaters to pounce on us from the sky. Would Kohana reveal himself again? My heart was pounding as I walked to the clearing where the orb had been suspended overhead. I braced myself and looked.
But there was nothing there. There was nothing but discarded and broken bikes, bashed-up trash cans, dented car fenders, some barbed wire, and a lot of litter. The snow fell steadily and silently all around. The sky was a bright gray overhead.
It was just an empty lot.
With no body or blood.
Worse, the snow was pristine, as if we were the first ones to step onto this lot in a week. How could this be?
“Are you sure this is the right place?” Meagan asked. Even she was fighting to believe me now.
“There are no footprints,” Isabelle said. “The snow is completely undisturbed.”
“Like no one’s been here all week,” Nick agreed. “I don’t think anyone’s been here in a long time.” He inhaled deeply, then shook his head.
He was right. There was no scent of anyone having been in this space.
No spell light, either.
How could that be? I turned around and around, staring at the lot, seeing the things that verified that I was in the right place.
And not seeing the really important things that would have proven it.
“So it was just a bad dream,” Jessica said with satisfaction. She repeated what her Oracle had said about ShadowEaters. I could tell that the others liked this answer a lot.
“They’re just messing with Zoë,” Nick said with approval.
“Or it could have been a vision,” Isabelle suggested, maybe seeing that I was disappointed. “Something that could happen.” She smiled. “You must be coming into your ability to see the future.”