The Reckoning

“At this point, I’ll take house arrest over black hair.”

“It’s not that bad.”

Tori mock-whispered, “Simon’s thinking the Goth girl look is kinda hot.”

He glowered at her. “No. I just want-” An impatient look at Tori, telling her to get lost. When she stood her ground, he leaned down to my ear, his fingers entwining with mine. “I know you want to get rid of it. I’ll ask Andrew to get you a better color. I don’t care what your hair looks like; I just want you to be safe.”

“That’s so sweet,” Tori said.

Simon moved to stand between us, his back to her. “You can check with Andrew. Maybe I’m overreacting-”

“No, you’re not. I still need that shower, but I won’t try washing out the color.”

“Good. Oh, and Derek said you were asking about self-defense lessons. How about we try that after?”

I wasn’t really in the mood for that, but he was smiling, obviously eager to do something nice for me after vetoing my hair fix. It wasn’t like we had anything better to do, so I said, “Sure.”

“Sounds good,” Tori said. “Yes, I know, you weren’t inviting me, but we could both use the training. And, no, I’m not trying to get between you guys. I’m over you, Simon. I think you and Chloe make the most nauseatingly cute couple ever. But you can gaze soulfully into each other’s eyes another time. Right now, I need self-defense lessons. So I’ll meet you out back.”

She started for the stairs, calling, “And it wouldn’t have been one-on-one for long anyway. I’m sure Derek will join in as soon as he’s done eavesdropping.”

I ran into Derek as I came out of the bathroom.

“Meeting over?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

Simon popped his head out of their room and Derek motioned him into the hall.

“Where’s Tori?” he asked.

“Outside. She’s waiting for us, though, so we can’t be long.”

“And the verdict is?” Simon prompted.

“Gwen and Andrew believe us. Margaret suspects we may have misunderstood the situation and jumped to the wrong conclusion about Liz, Brady, and Amber being killed. Only Russell thinks we’re intentionally lying.”

“Jerk. Where does he get off-?”

Derek gave him a look. Simon zipped it and gestured for Derek to continue.

“They teleconferenced with a couple of the other senior members and-” Derek looked at me, and I read the answer in the way his gaze dipped from mine. “They want to slow down, get more information first. They’re going to send a team to Buffalo to do recon work.”

Simon glowered. “Sure, take the slow and steady path while Rachelle and Dr. Fellows could be-” He looked at me. “Sorry.”

We all stood there for a minute, simmering.

I turned to Derek. “What do you think we should do?”

“For now? Play it out.” His voice was gruff with frustration. “Nothing else we can do. We’ve got the Edison Group gu

We found Tori out back. I apologized for taking so long; they didn’t. Simon had barely begun showing us a wrist hold when Andrew summoned us inside.

Russell had already left. “Fled,” Simon muttered, “so he wouldn’t have to look us in the eye after telling the others he thinks we’re lying.”

Gwen was gone, too, but only to grab groceries and takeout for di

We ate with Andrew, Gwen, and Margaret. They couched the plan in optimistic terms, of course-they were just doing a quick bout of reco

“So, guys,” Andrew said, “over the next few days, your job will be threefold. Rest up. Tell us everything you can about the lab. And get some training.”

“Training?” That perked Tori up. Me, too.

Gwen smiled. “Yep. That’s what Margaret and I are here for.”

“And I’ll be working with Simon,” Andrew said, “though I know your dad’s been training you for years.”

“I’m sure he can use the practice,” Tori said.

Simon flipped her off. Andrew pretended not to see it.

“As for Derek…” Andrew said.

“Yeah, I know. No werewolf teachers for me.”

“True, but we do have someone. Tomas, a half-demon member who lives in New Jersey. You may remember him from when you lived at the laboratory. He was a member of the team responsible for the werewolf section of the project.”

Did I imagine it or did Derek flinch? I wouldn’t blame him if he did. Derek had lived in the lab until Simon’s dad took him and that section of the experiment had been abandoned. The other three werewolves had already been killed. Meeting one of his “keepers” certainly wouldn’t be a happy reunion.

“Tomas quit before you left the lab, primarily because he disagreed with the way you boys were treated. But he knows more about werewolves than anyone I know. Your dad used him as a resource for raising you.”

Derek’s shoulders relaxed. “Yeah?”

“He’s away on business, but he’ll be back next week. If we’re still waiting to act-which I hope we won’t be-it’ll give you someone to talk to, answer any questions you might have.”

Six

AFTER DINNER, ANDREW WARNED us it would be lights-out at ten. Until then, he was going to get caught up on some work and we could amuse ourselves.

Problem was, we didn’t want to amuse ourselves. Or get a good night’s sleep. We wanted our lives back-stop the Edison Group, free Aunt Lauren and Rae, find the guys’ dad, and let my father know I was safe. Sitting around playing board games would be torture…and that’s exactly what Andrew suggested, the house being otherwise diversion free.

Tori and I were heading up to our room when Gwen popped into the hall to say good-bye.

“Can I ask you a couple of things before you go?” Tori said to Gwen as she hurried down the stairs. “I’m new to all this witch stuff and I know we’re starting lessons tomorrow, but if you have time for a few questions…”

Gwen gri

I felt a pang of envy. I had questions, too. Tons of them. And who did I get for a teacher? Margaret, who wasn’t exactly the let’s hang out and chat sort. Not to mention the fact that she was one of the doubters.

I trudged up the stairs and didn’t notice that the guys’ door was open until Derek reached out, fingers brushing my elbow.

“Hey,” I said, struggling for a smile.

“You busy?” he said, voice barely above a whisper.

“I wish. What’s up?”

He glanced back at the bathroom door. Light shone under it. He stepped closer, voice dropping even more. “I thought, uh, if you weren’t doing anything, maybe we could-”

The bathroom door swung open and Derek jumped. Simon walked out.

“Good, you found Chloe,” he said. “So what’re we doing? This time, I’m not missing the adventure.”

“All our adventures are accidental,” I said, “and we’d be happy to miss most of them.” I looked up at Derek. “You were saying?”

“Nothing. Just that we shouldn’t do too much.”

“Okay. So what are we doing?”

“Nothing tonight. Just…whatever.” He retreated into their room.

I looked at Simon.

“Yeah, he’s weird. I’ll talk to him. Catch up with you in a few minutes.”

I was heading into our room when Tori came up. We went in and talked, awkward conversation, thankfully interrupted when Simon rapped at our door.

“Everyone decent?” he called, and started opening it.

“Excuse me?” Tori said. “Could you at least give us a chance to answer?”

“It was a warning, not a question. I was being polite.”

“Being polite would mean waiting for-”

I held up my hand. That was all it took to stop the bickering.

“I found something,” Simon said as he walked in. He whipped an old-fashioned key from his pocket and gri