I was being rewarded.
I slanted a glance toward the principal, who was talking to her secretary and suitably distracted. If goodies were being distributed, I knew which one I wanted—and it wasn’t the Toyota.
“You could give me the Lamborghini,” I suggested softly.
My dad laughed, a throaty dragon chuckle. “That insurance I’m not going to pay. Besides, it’s sold.”
I was shocked. “Sold?”
“A collector of vintage cars. He’s going to pick it up after we get home, which will make room for your mom’s new car in the garage.”
Sold? Before I even sat in the driver’s seat?
Sold?
“Can I drive it just once?”
“No.” He was succinct and firm. There was no wiggle room on this. “It has been sold in its current pristine condition and will be delivered the same way.”
Rebellion rose hot in my chest. I wanted to choose my reward, and it wasn’t the bashed-up red Toyota. “But…”
“Have you been maintaining the dragonsmoke boundary at the loft?” he asked crisply. “It may be starting to wear down already, and I don’t want anything to happen to that car.”
“I’ll go after school to check.”
“Excellent.” His voice dropped to a warmer timbre. “Well done, Zoë,” he added; then he was gone.
It says something about my state of mind that I stared at the receiver for a minute before putting it back in the cradle.
My dad was proud of me.
I had a car of my very own.
And, you know, I was thinking the Toyota wouldn’t be so bad.
Suzanne’s call wasn’t going nearly so well, from the sound of it. I was excused, and headed off to math class late and without having managed to spare a minute to cram for the test.
But the math test was easy.
So easy that I was sure there was a mistake. Had I gotten a different one? The wrong one? Like maybe the one I should have gotten a year ago? No one else seemed to be surprised by it, so maybe I was channeling some Meagan and Jessica brilliance.
Speaking of which, Meagan wasn’t in class. Her seat at the front of the room was empty. I might have been more worried about this if Jessica hadn’t been there, acting as if nothing was wrong at all.
You will be less surprised than me to realize that no one noticed Meagan was gone.
I saw a teensy shimmer of purple spell light dancing around Mrs. Dawson’s head. It swirled around her head like a glittery blindfold. Apparently, Meagan was learning more about spellsinging—and her spell ensured that Mrs. Dawson didn’t notice the empty seat in the prime A-student zone.
I could have used a bit of that for Muriel.
I had to wonder, though, how exactly Meagan was going to conjure up the test she wasn’t taking.
Never mind where she was.
I surreptitiously checked my messenger and saw that there was a message from her. I might have gone for it, even against school rules, but I saw Trish watching me. There was venom in her eyes—as well as that twinkle of golden spell light—and I understood that she would be more than happy to rat on me in vengeance for Suzanne.
Who was not in class.
I smiled at Trish, dropped my messenger back in my bag, and focused on my test.
Even having started ten minutes late, I was done fifteen minutes early and itching to accomplish something before art class. When I finally got out of there, I had a plan.
First things first. I needed backup.
Dragon backup.
I sat down by my locker and tugged out my messenger again. The message from Meagan was pretty enigmatic—she just said she had something to do and would see me at lunch. I decided on a meeting at my fave tofu-burger place and sent her an update. I composed messages to the guys, my fingers and thumbs moving in a blur as I brought them up-to-date and asked them to come to the restaurant.
I was sure that if we all put our heads together over lunch, we could come up with a ShadowEater Elimination Plan.
Of course, I wasn’t counting on the fact that Meagan already had one.
THE RED TOYOTA HAD IMPROVED remarkably in its appeal during the morning.
The news that it was mine, all mine, made it look infinitely better.
I walked around it in the school parking lot, admiring its color and its signs of experience. It started right away when I turned the key, as if it, too, liked that we were going to be a team.
“Nice of your dad to let you use the car,” Derek said when he got in.
“It’s mine now,” I said with a thrill of pride. I’d already told him that Jessica had said she was going to meet us at the restaurant. I was assuming that she was with Meagan.
He looked impressed. “What are you going to do to it?”
“What do you mean?”
“You could repaint it. Black.”
“Purple,” I said. “Lime green.”
“Or install a better stereo,” he added a minute later. We skidded a little bit on a corner. “Get bigger tires for the snow.”
His suggestions got me excited about the possibilities. Just because my mom had liked the car being minimal in terms of luxury didn’t mean I had to keep it the same way.
It was mine and I could change it. I felt the power.
“Paint a dragon on the side,” Derek said with a grin. “That would get attention.”
“That would get it taken back!” I argued with a laugh.
He grinned. “Let me look under the hood later. Maybe we can soup it up a bit.”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah. Engines can always get a bit of a nudge.”
I was really excited about the car by the time we got to the restaurant. I parked it with new pride and couldn’t help looking at it, imagining the possibilities.
It turned out that Derek and I got there first. We ordered and claimed a big group of tables in anticipation of the others arriving. Derek sat right beside me, doing this proprietary thing that made me blush. Then Nick and Isabelle arrived and gave the nonexistent gap between us a significant look.
Before I could comment—or think of how to do it—and before things got awkward (again) between the four of us, Liam arrived, as good-natured and easygoing as a ray of sunshine. He gave me a big tight hug, and it was only after he stepped away that I saw he was growing a mustache.
Or trying to.
At least, I assume that was the plan. There was a weedy little auburn thing on his upper lip.
I wasn’t going to say anything, but I looked at it too long and he noticed.
“What is that thing on your face?” Nick demanded, then began to tease Liam about it.
Liam blushed. “Forget about it,” he said to Nick, who (of course) did not.
“Let me help you wash it off,” Nick razzed him. “A little dirt like that will just take a wipe. We’ve got napkins right here.”
“Leave it!”
Nick and Liam started to mock box over it, the two of them becoming so rowdy that I thought they’d get us tossed out.
Then Garrett sauntered in, his gaze dancing over the people gathered at the table already. The other two dragon guys straightened up at the sight of him, maybe because Garrett always seems so serious.
Although he tried to hide it, I saw his disappointment. “Meagan said she had something to do. She’ll be here in a couple of minutes, and I think Jessica must be coming with her.” He smiled then and ruffled my hair as if I were six instead of sixteen, so I poked him in the gut to get even.
So, they ordered and we all sat down, leaning over the center of the table to talk in (comparatively) hushed voices about what had happened so far. The guys had some questions and I answered them, Derek nodding periodically.
“What about these kids in the news today?” Nick said.
“That Steve Ford guy is the one I saw in my dream—and again yesterday.” They nodded, not surprised now. “I wonder if the other one was an apprentice Mage. It said he was in band.”
Isabelle pulled out her messenger. “I saw on the way here that there were two more bodies found this morning. These were two homeless people with mental problems.” She frowned. “They had jobs until November. As music teachers.”
“Let me guess,” I said. “They had no history of mental problems before November, either.”
“Mages,” Liam said, and we all nodded. “They couldn’t function after the hive memory was destroyed.”
“That’s what must have happened to the survivors,” Nick said.
“So the ShadowEaters must be targeting surviving Mages and apprentice Mages,” Isabelle said.
“Well, that’s not a bad thing.” Nick shrugged. “Saves us the trouble of hunting them all down.”
I shook my head. “That’s how they’re building their power. They must be taking on the spellcasting power of every Mage or apprentice Mage they kill.” I told them about tearing the veil and how the Wakiya elder had told me that I had to act quickly.
“But do what quickly?” Liam asked.
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Derek said.
Jessica arrived then. Alone. She looked flustered and a bit annoyed. Liam stood up and smiled at her, making space for her beside him. She smiled warmly at him, holding eye contact longer than I might have expected.
And Liam blushed a bit. Hmm.
“I thought you were coming with Meagan.”
“No. The Oracle wanted to talk to me.” She made a face and that surprised me. I thought she revered that woman.
What had changed?
“There’s a problem,” she said. “I can’t stay.”
“You’ve got to eat,” Liam protested. “Let me get you something.”
We sat in restless silence while he was at the counter, impatient to find out what was going on but not wanting him to miss anything. When Liam came back, we leaned forward for Jessica’s story.
She took a bite first, nodding approval at Liam over his choice. “So, this morning, when I told the Oracle about my dream, I thought she was going to lose it completely. She said that was proof that someone tore the veil, eliminating the barrier between the ShadowEaters and us. She says it’s proof of meddling.” She looked me right in the eye. “Your meddling.”
Yeah, well, there wasn’t a lot I could say to defend myself there.
“Is it true, Z?” Nick asked.
I had to nod. “I told him to tear the veil.”
“There has to be an upside to it,” Isabelle murmured.
“Are King and Mozart okay?” I asked.
Jessica grimaced. “They’re not better, just about the same.”
That wasn’t good news.
“But that’s not the worst of it,” she continued. “There were more Bastians hurt during the night and three of them aren’t going to survive. Their shadows are completely gone.”
Derek caught his breath and took my hand. I knew he was thinking of those two wolves.
“The Oracle says you’re dangerous company. I’m not allowed to be in the alliance with you anymore or even talk to you. She’s monitoring my messenger and my mom’s covering the phone.” She frowned at her burger. “I don’t know how else she learns things, but she always does. I can explain being here by saying I had to tell you.”
“But then you have to go,” Isabelle said, grimacing.
“But we have to stick together,” Liam said.
“Why wouldn’t she ask Zoë to explain her actions?” Derek said, with some annoyance. “Why do the Bastians always have to pull away like this?”
Jessica shot him a look. “I tried to change her mind. I told her about Zoë destroying the spell that was keeping me from shifting. She said it wasn’t enough.”
“But there has to be something good about tearing the veil,” Isabelle said again, looking at me.
“It destroyed their glamours,” I said. “And it means we can destroy them.”
“We just have to figure out how,” Nick said with a nod.
“And fast,” Liam agreed.
“I’ve got to go.” Jessica looked at me again, and there was a mutinous glint in her eyes. “But Derek’s right. The Bastians can’t pull back on this issue. I think you’re right. The Oracle doesn’t have to know that I’m still on your side.”
“Really?”
She nodded at me. “You cut me free. They would have had me otherwise. I’m in and I’m staying in.”
Derek grinned approval of that.
“Do you want me to pass messages between you two?” Liam asked.
Jessica touched his arm briefly, then shook her head. “Thanks, but it won’t work. They’re expecting something like that.” She smiled, and there was a gleam in her eyes. “But what they’re forgetting is that Zoë can send me messages telepathically. Like she did yesterday. And they can’t monitor that.”
“No way!” Nick said. “Sending messages! That’s full-power Wyvern stuff.” He gave me a high five across the table. We all grinned at one another, and I was glad I had given it a try.
“You’ll have to be sure you don’t seem distracted,” I warned Jessica. “The Oracle picked up on your concern yesterday.”
“Only because she was so focused on my needing to concentrate. If I’m not with her, I don’t think she’ll notice.” Jessica’s lips set. “Especially if I try to hide my feelings from her.” Then she stood up. “But I have to go now, before she decides I’ve been here too long and gets suspicious.” She gave me a look. “Let me know where I have to be when, and I’ll be there.”
“I’ll tag along,” Liam suggested, but Jessica shook her head. He kept talking. “I’ll keep watch over you or fight ShadowEaters if necessary. She can’t have a problem with you being defended.” He held Jessica’s gaze, and something about his expression—pure puppy dog with muck on his lip—must have changed her mind.
“You just want the rest of my lunch,” she teased, and he grinned.
“Well, if you’re not going to eat it…”
Jessica smiled and handed him the last of her fries.
I didn’t like our group separating, but the idea of Jessica being with Liam was better than her being alone. “But what else do you Bastians know about the NightBlade?” I asked Jessica, and she shrugged. “Because King knew that Kohana wouldn’t be able to break it right from the start.”
“I didn’t,” Jessica said. “But I’ll tell Liam our story about the origin of the ShadowEaters.”
“She called them failed Mages.”
“I’m not sure if it’s important or not, but it might give you a clue.” Jessica nodded, then tugged on her coat, Liam close beside her. The others started to discuss ShadowEaters as Isabelle’s messenger rang with more updates on the murders.
I heard a motorcycle engine, and the bottom dropped out of my universe.
I had a sudden idea what Meagan had needed to do.
The motorcycle engine grew louder as the bike came closer.
There was no way it could be a vintage Ducati.
Ridden by the hottest guy on the planet.
The spellsinger who was corresponding with Meagan, teaching her how to develop her innate skill, and ducking me big-time.
The oh-so-sexy rocker rebel who got my dragon drawing tattooed on his back for my birthday when I couldn’t get a tattoo myself.
Jared Madison.
No. It couldn’t be him.
It wouldn’t be him.
Jared had bailed on me.
I was never going to see him again and I knew it.
But that bike was pulling into the lot.…
And Meagan had insisted that she had a plan. Was it this one? I turned to look out the window, unable to stop myself. Derek inhaled sharply. Nick was fighting a grin. Isabelle covered her mouth to hide her smile. Garrett looked between Derek and me. Jessica and Liam glanced up on their way out of the restaurant.
Jared roared into the parking lot, looking leaner and sexier and roughly ten zillion times better than ever, with Meagan hanging o
n to the back of his bike.
My heart stopped.
Then it fell through the floor, popped out in China, did a gleeful somersault, and charged back through the earth’s core to slam into my chest again. No wonder I couldn’t breathe.
Jared parked, then helped Meagan off the back. Just the way he’d helped me off his bike a couple of times. My knight in black leather.
I was sure my mouth had to be hanging open. Smooth—that’s me.
No. He was not my knight in black leather. I reminded myself of his silences and unresponsiveness. Assuming he was here for me was just plain dumb.
Had he come to help Meagan? I had to consider the possibility, given that she’d been in contact with him, and I hadn’t.
Meagan tugged off her helmet, revealing her jubilant expression. She waved at me, racing toward the restaurant as Jared parked the bike to his satisfaction. He took a lot of care with it, just the way I remembered.
“Hey, Zoë!” Meagan shouted as she entered the restaurant. “I thought we needed a secret weapon! What do you think?”
I could not say one word.
I watched Jared saunter toward the restaurant, his eyes gleaming as he smiled at me. He knew his effect on me so precisely that he could have measured it out. I doubt anyone else missed it, either. My gaze was locked on him, as if he were the only person in the universe.
In that moment he was.
Me, I couldn’t say a single word. I couldn’t even think of a single coherent word. Even hi would have been a stretch.
Instead I thought about the way Jared had teased me, the fact that I owed him a ride, the way he kissed, the way he provoked me and challenged me, the way he made me feel simultaneously excited and confused.
Like I was feeling right then and there.
It would have been nice if time had diminished his effect on me. Or if absence had made the heart forget. No luck. Mine was beating double time while I thought about the song I was sure he’d written for me last year and the tattoo—my dragon drawing—he had on his back.
I itched to see it.
Or maybe just to see him half naked.
Of course, he had bailed on me. He hadn’t been in contact at all. And I was sitting right beside the most loyal and helpful guy ever. I slapped my impulses down and fought them, hard.