The Reckoning

“Why wouldn’t they?” Simon said. “Takes us off their hands.”

“For many of them, that’s the least of their worries, falling far behind their concern over the threat you pose to the supernatural world at large. If your dad comes…” He shifted, hand flexing, the spell wavering for a split second before surging again. “I hope that Russell acted alone when he told those werewolves to kill Derek and Chloe, but honestly…I don’t know.”

“Nice friends you’ve got there.”

“Yes, some of them are my friends, Simon, but most are like other members of a club. We share one interest, nothing more. That interest is protecting our world. For me, that means shutting down the Edison Group. For some of them-”

“It means shutting down us,” I murmured.

“Don’t listen to him, Chloe,” Simon said. “He’s a liar and a traitor. If these people are so worried about us, why are they leaving us alone with just you to watch us?”

“They aren’t. That’s why I had to stop you before you set foot out that door.”

Simon laughed. It wasn’t a nice laugh. “Right, because they’re lurking in the dark, waiting to slam us with energy-bolt spells. No, wait, that’s you, isn’t it?”

Andrew lowered his fingers just a fraction, like he wanted to retract the threat. “Yes, they’re there, Simon. Not right outside the door, but close enough, guarding the escape routes. Because that’s exactly what they fear most. That you’ll escape. That you’ll run to humans and expose us. Or you’ll lose control and expose us. You ran from Lyle House and you ran from the Edison Group. What’s the first thing you’ll do if you get a whiff of trouble? You’ll run and-”

Derek lunged. He hit me in the shoulder and knocked me to the floor, landing on top of me. His body jerked, like he’d been hit with the spell, and I let out a yelp, struggling to get up, but he held me down, whispering, “I’m okay. It’s okay,” until the words finally penetrated.

I lifted my head to see Andrew caught in a binding spell as Simon hurtled to his feet. Simon tackled him and wrenched his hands behind his back. Derek got up to help. He pi

“Y-you’re okay? He didn’t hit you with a spell?” I said, walking over, knees wobbly.

“Yeah, he did.”

Andrew lifted his head. “And, as you can see, it was the nonlethal energy bolt. I said I don’t want to hurt you, Derek. I wouldn’t have hurt Chloe, either. I only needed you to listen to me.”

“We listened,” Derek said. “Simon? I think I saw rope in the workshop. Chloe? Stay here. Tori? Cover Simon, in case there’s anyone else in the house.”

Thirty-three

DEREK HAD MORE QUESTIONS for Andrew. He asked about that night at Andrew’s cottage. Andrew admitted he’d been part of the plan to stage his kidnapping and impersonate the Edison Group. The whole thing had been a setup-even giving us the opportunity to snatch a radio so we could hear about his “escape.” They’d set themselves up as our rescuers, so they could take us into protective custody.

Simon came racing in and threw down a length of rope. “His cell phone. We can call Dad. Check his pockets.”

“It’s in the nightstand by my bed,” Andrew said. “And it’s useless. Reception has been cutting in and out and it’s been out all night. I think someone’s using a blocker on the house.”

“I’m not taking your word for it,” Simon said.

“I don’t expect you to.”

Sure enough, we couldn’t get reception. Even sneaking onto the roof didn’t help.

So Andrew was telling the truth about that. But what about the rest of it? Were his people really out there, waiting and watching? Or was this just another lie to keep us from ru

We bound and gagged Andrew and put him in the basement. Then we talked.

Not surprisingly, Tori wanted to make a break for it. Simon agreed. Neither wanted to be stuck here a moment longer than necessary. We should run and, if caught, as Tori said, “What are they going to do? Shoot us?” Problem was, that might be exactly what they’d do.

We didn’t think Russell had acted alone. Had it been him and Gwen? Or more? How many people in this group secretly would be happy to see us dead-a convenient solution to the dilemma of our inconvenient existence.

Even if they didn’t want us dead, if all four of us were caught sneaking through the woods with our backpacks, there’d be no question of what we were doing. We’d lose our chance to get away.

So, one of us should go. But who? Derek was the most likely to be killed if caught. Tori might roll her eyes at the suggestion we were in mortal danger, but she wasn’t volunteering either. And Derek wouldn’t entertain the idea of either Simon or me going.

We argued. Then we split up, Derek and Simon going downstairs to try to get more information from Andrew, and Tori deciding to keep searching Andrew’s laptop, to see if there was anything there that we’d missed, something that might support or refute his claims.

As she searched, I knelt and tried to summon Liz. She’d be the perfect solution to this problem-she could zip out u

So I called Liz. And called and called, and didn’t feel so much as a twitch.

“Derek with you guys?”

I jumped. Simon walked in. I got to my feet.

“I thought he was with you,” I said.

“Nah. He made me test my blood sugar, and I grabbed a snack, but when I came back, Andrew was alone.”

“I’ll help you look.”

I found Derek on the roof, looking, listening, and sniffing for signs of anyone guarding the house.

“Oh, this is a great idea,” I said. “The guy they’re most likely to shoot is standing on the roof, giving them a perfect target.”

“They won’t see me up here.”

When I gave him a look, he sighed, like I was making a huge deal out of nothing, then sat and said, “Okay?”

“I don’t think it’s safe for you to be up here.”

“Just a few more minutes.” He took off his coat and held it out beside him. “Sit down here, between me and the chimney. It’s safe.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about.”

“I’m fine.”

“How do you know that? They could have night vision goggles, sniper rifles…”

The corners of his mouth twitched and I braced myself for “You watch too many movies.” He didn’t say it, but I knew he was thinking it.

“You’re not coming inside, are you?”

“I will. Just sit down. I want to talk to you.”

“And I want you to come in. We can talk there.”

“I don’t smell anyone out here. I think Andrew’s lying.”

“Please, Derek? Come inside?”

“In a minute.”

I turned and walked away.

“Chloe…”

I hoped he’d follow. I knew he wouldn’t. He didn’t.

“Found him,” I said, meeting Simon in the upstairs hall. “On the roof.”

“The roof? I suppose you told him he’s an idiot.”

“I asked him to come down. He won’t.”

“Because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. The right thing for everyone else, that is. One day he’s going to get himself-” Simon ran his hands through his hair. “I can talk to him. I can yell at him. It just doesn’t get through. He’s not suicidal. It’s not that he doesn’t care if he lives or dies. It’s just-”

“Not a priority.”

“Not if it interferes with protecting us. He can argue that’s the wolf, but those two werewolves you met weren’t throwing themselves in the line of fire to save each other, were they?”

“No.”

He exhaled. “I might know a way to get him down. But don’t hold your breath.”