“I —” I bit my tongue. Don’t lie, Cassie, I thought. You’re done lying. “One of my friends is in trouble. His dad – the guy from the thing at school – has kinda gone off the rails. He broke into his kid's house, attacked the mom and she’s hurt pretty bad. I’m worried she might have a concussion.”
Dad was silent for a moment and all I could hear were the sounds of the car driving along the highway.
“She really needs your help, Dad,” I said.
“Does this have to do with vampires?” Dad asked.
“No, actually,” I said. “But please. I need you to come and look at her.”
I expected him to challenge me, to scold me, to tell me to call an ambulance.
But instead, he said, “All right. Where are you?”
I rattled off their address.
“I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes,” he said after a moment. I figured he was putting it into the GPS. “I'll do what I can, but if she's hurt beyond my ability to help, I will have to bring her into a hospital, okay?”
“Yeah, but if she can avoid telling doctors why she got hurt, that would be best,” I said.
“Oh, great.” He sighed and I was amazed, again, that he didn’t press for information. “Keep her comfortable and conscious. Tell her that help is on the way.”
“You’re the best, Dad,” I said, relief seeping through me, like a warm cup of tea on a cold day. “Thank you so much.”
“I expect an explanation later,” he said. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I said.
And we hung up. I returned to the kitchen and found Corinna scrolling through her phone. “I just got off the phone with my dad. He’s a doctor,” I said. “He’s on his way over here to help you.”
She gave me a skeptical look. “Wait, does he know —”
“Oh, yeah,” I said, nodding. “He’s in the know.”
She sighed. “All right.”
I smiled at her. “We're going to find Derrick, okay?”
“I'm sure you will.” She frowned at me. “I just hope it's in time. I mean, how do we know that he hasn’t turned him already?”
A sharp needle of worry lodged itself in among all of the other worries I was carrying right now. “I…don’t,” I said. “But we can’t think like that now. It’s best if we all just believe he’s fine until something else proves us otherwise. Right?”
I heard a scoff and looked up to see Jed still staring out of the window.
I glared at the back of his head for a second before turning back to Corinna. “Can I get you anything? Maybe a pillow? Blanket?”
“I'm fine,” she said, her eyes still a little blurry, but focused on me. “Just...please. Find my son.”
“I can do that,” I said, lapsing into a silence that I tried to make sound unworried.
What if Derrick was turned when we found him? What would happen?
A family would be ruined, that’s what. A vicious werewolf would have succeeded in his goals and who knows how Derrick would be? He wouldn't be himself anymore, that was for sure.
As I tried to plan for what to do next, I found myself hoping that Derrick was good at stalling. And that he believed that the cavalry was coming.
Chapter 30
The silence in the Bauer house was getting pretty heavy when I wandered over to Jed. The TV was still talking, quietly, in the next room, the only break in an otherwise staggering noiselessness. Even the AC was deep in the background. Or maybe I was just deep in my thoughts.
“So your father’s coming?” Jed asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “He’s a doctor. Should be able to help her.”
Jed sniffed in distaste.
“What?” I asked, the frustration that I had been feeling toward him growing again as if we’d never stopped fighting.
“You’re wasting your time,” he said, shaking his head. He kept his voice low, where Corinna couldn't hear. “And telling her stuff that ain't true. It's over. That kid is probably a werewolf by now.”
“You don’t know that,” I said. I shot a worried glance at Corinna. Her head was back against the island and her eyes were wandering slowly around the room.
Jed shrugged. “Think about it. His father has made the decision. He's committed and he's been trying to get a hold of him for days now. Why would he wait?”
Anger flooded my veins and suddenly I felt a hot flush in my skin that had nothing to do with the Florida weather. “I don’t know, okay? But I can’t tell his mom that. She’s having a hard enough time with all of this as it is.”
“You should probably check her for bites,” Jed said, nodding his head toward Corinna. “
I stole a glance at Corinna and lowered my voice even more. “You're kidding, right?”
Jed met my gaze with a knowing look. “Think about it. Man and wife are having problems. He feels like she doesn't understand him because he's a wolf.” He arched his eyebrows, then looked at her.
“No,” I whispered and then did a look of my own. I didn't see any blood anywhere on her, but Jed – knuckleheaded teen that he was – had inadvertently stumbled onto a very good point.
“I don't think he did,” Jed whispered, “but we should make sure, because we don’t want to be here when she changes. It’s pretty gruesome the first time.”
“Hey Corinna?” I asked, turning toward her. “Thomas didn't...bite you, did he?”
She blinked at me a couple times, then ran her hands over her body, a look of thinly veiled panic flashing across her chiseled features. After a moment's inspection she said, “No...no, I don't think so. I would know, wouldn't I?”
“Oh, yeah,” Jed said, looking out the doors again. “It's not gentle.”
“Way to panic her for nothing,” I said, back to low whisper. “Why are you such a pain in the ass?”
“I don't know what you're talking about,” Jed said sullenly. “And watch your mouth.”
“It feels like you're working against me here, negative Nellie,” I said. “Why are you so dead set to be a total drag in this?”
“I'm just being realistic,” Jed said. “He’s gone. You just have to understand that.”
“I’m not giving up on him,” I said.
“What if he wants to be a werewolf, huh?” Jed asked. “What’s so terrible about being a werewolf?” Now I could see the anger, the wounding behind his eyes. We'd hit something here.
“There’s nothing wrong with it,” I said, trying to backpedal a little. “Is that what this is really about? I never said there was anything —”
“Your boyfriend hates werewolves,” Jed said, his eyes narrowing. “And you're talking about this happening to Derrick like it's the worst thing ever. I think you might have picked up an attitude from Mill.”
“That's not true—”
“Feels true,” Jed said, sinking further into the reaches of sullen. “You don't like my kind. Just like your boyfriend.”
“He’s a vampire,” I said. “You guys have been enemies since the dawn of time. That's bad blood that goes back a lot longer than you or I have been alive.” I paused. “Unless that feud actually did start with Jacob and Edward, in which case I guess it's a short history.”
“Oh, it goes back further than some silly English book.” He folded his arms across his chest.
“Look, I don't hate your kind,” I said, trying to bring this back. “Maybe I don't understand you as well as I should. And that's on me, I guess, a little. But also on you guys, because you try and hide it. Which is fair. But that doesn't lend itself to an easy understanding for us outsiders. And if Derrick was choosing this path for himself – hey, I think I'd be okay with it. But he's not. So help me find him. Help me prevent any of this from happening, because I know you don't want any more rogues out there.”
“I tried,” Jed said. “You don’t like my methods.”
“Of course I don’t. Your method is chasing people down and threatening them. Or worse, killing the rogues.”
“I
’ll do whatever I have to in order to protect my pack,” Jed said darkly.
I stared at him, baffled. “Even kill an innocent person?”
“You think Thomas is innocent?” he asked. “Look what he's done – here and everywhere else he's been. He came into your school, didn’t he? Attacked his own father. The man's gone beast, slipped the leash that binds us in, keeps us mostly in control. He has no discipline and no reason to be disciplined, outside our code and our beliefs.”
“I —” I said, my mouth going dry. “You're right, he isn’t innocent, but you can’t just go around threatening to kill people. That’s not okay. Just like it’s not okay to just turn into werewolf whenever you want.”
“You are not my father,” he said, glaring at me. “Who are you to tell me what I can and can’t do?”
“Are you listening to yourself?” I asked. “A breath ago you were talking about discipline and control, now you're willing to throw caution utterly to the wind. Your dad would freak out if he heard you saying these things –”
“Unlike my father, I’m incredibly proud of being a werewolf,” he said. “I’m going to be a stronger and better leader of the pack than he ever could have been.”
I stared at him.
“This…doesn’t sound like you, Jed,” I said. “Or your pack’s ideals.”
“There is a lot about us that you don’t know,” he said. “That you'd never understand. You and your secular ways— ”
“Hey, I never said anything nasty about the beliefs that you and the rest of your pack hold,” I said, pointing a finger at him. “I’ve been respectful to you and your family —”
“Respectful?” he said. “Showing up at our house, demanding that we intercede for you, come and fix your problems for you —”
“I have never demanded anything of you,” I said, my blood surging with fire. “I came to ask for your help. You’re werewolves, so who else would I turn to for help for my friend?”
“You barely know him,” he said. “You’re throwing yourself into harm’s way for someone you barely know.”
He was sounding too much like Mill and that was making me even angrier than I already was.
“Fine,” I snapped, my fingers shaking with rage. “Fine. Then I don’t need your help. Is that what you want to hear? Do you want to hear that I don’t need you?”
“Yes,” he said, his eyes narrow slits. “That’s what I needed to hear.” His hands balled into fists, he wheeled around and started toward the front door.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked, a bite to my words, following after him.
“Leaving,” he said.
“Is everything okay?” Corinna’s voice sounded weak and she was watching him leave like I was.
“Yes,” I called back over my shoulder.
Man, my not lying streak was taking a hit today. It has been zero days since last incident.
“Don’t be an idiot,” I hissed. “You’re miles away from home.”
“I don’t care,” he said, stomping out onto the front porch.
“How are you going to get home?” I asked. “You can’t walk all the way back to Sarasota.”
“I won't be,” he said, stalking off the porch. I could see his ears lengthening as he went, the change already underway.
I glared at the back of his head. “Fine, go turn into a wolf, leave your shoes and hat behind. Men need those, not beasts. Hell, leave your suspenders, pants and shirt behind, too. Go ahead and walk away. Pout all you want, I’m not chasing after you.”
He didn't say anything, didn't turn around.
He just turned into a wolf and bounded away at a run.
And I watched him go, a mixture of fury and sorrow filling my heart.
Chapter 31
Dad's car was always messier than Mom’s. His stainless steel coffee thermos was tucked into the cupholder, used, pale green stevia packets stuffed into the one beside it. He had quite the collection going. A crinkled brown bag peeked out from underneath his seat; apparently he’d made a fast food run for lunch someday that week.
His air fresheners were pine scented, but not the cheap ones. He said it helped to remind him of home in New York. It always smelled like Christmas to me.
“You want to talk about it?” he asked, after we'd been going a few minutes.
He'd treated Corinna pretty quickly, pronouncing her more or less fine, no concussion, surprisingly. That done, we'd gotten in the car and wordlessly headed for home. But the silence had only lasted a minute or so once we were in the car.
“Maybe. Thanks, Dad…” I said. “I was really worried about her.”
“I held my tongue the whole time we were there,” Dad said. “But I’d like to know what happened to her and what you were doing there.”
I sighed, knowing how upset he was going to be when he knew the truth, but I had promised him that I’d tell him.
So I let him in on everything that had been happening in the last week. It was a long story boiled short, most of the emotion stripped out along with all the dangerous parts. A lie of omission, I suppose, resetting my “Days Without Incident” counter back to zero, but I consoled myself that at least it wasn't a bald-faced sort of lie.
We had stopped at an annoyingly long stoplight, cars whizzing by in front of us, as I finished my tale. “…and now I have no idea where Derrick is and I’m worried that when I finally do see him again, his dad will have turned him.”
My father was quiet. He hadn’t looked at me at all while I was talking. My heart was fluttering and I knew that he was disappointed.
He and Mom had said over and over, whether directly or indirectly, that they wanted me out of this supernatural stuff. They didn’t mind Mill, though they weren't wildly enthusiastic about him and I think that Dad even sort of liked that I was friends with Iona. But it was still a touchy subject. And when we threw werewolves, witches and faeries into the mix? They'd just rather pretend none of it existed.
“You know, Cass…” Dad said.
Oh, great. Here it came. The lecture.
“Everything that you’ve been going through lately…all of the choices you’ve been making…”
A lump formed in my throat, making it hard to swallow. I tried to ready myself, emotionally, for what I knew was coming.
“You’re…different now.”
I blinked. That wasn’t quite what I expected him to say. “What do you mean?”
“I know that Mom and I just learned the truth about everything, but…everything that you’ve been dealing with, the people you’re helping, protecting…” He glanced over at me as a car honked at him somewhere behind us. The light had turned green. “You had to go through so much of it by yourself. Even still, you take on these things willingly and so bravely. I think that it’s changing who you are.”
It was…changing me? I guess that was true. I was a totally different person than I was when we moved down to Florida. Meeting Byron set me on a course that I never would’ve chosen for myself, but it had ultimately made me a better person.
He sighed. “You’re growing up right before my eyes. I was worried about you making friends and succeeding in school, maybe getting a boyfriend…and how horribly I’d handle that. But the choices that you've been making are those of an adult. Actually, you’re making better choices than most adults I know. You’re trying to help people instead of just trying to stick your head in the sand so you don’t have to deal with what’s going on around you.”
My cheeks flushed and I looked down at the first aid kit. I was focused really intently on the sticker on the front that was peeling away in one corner. He was the only one who seemed to think that my decision to help Derrick was born of anything other than craziness.
“I really am very proud of you,” he said in a tone that was making my heart squeeze. It was awkward and endearing at the same time.
“Dad…” I said in the most teenager way possible. You’re embarrassing me.
“But I wouldn’t be a
very good father if I didn’t warn you…” he said as we turned onto the road where our new temporary house was. “Being a doctor has allowed me to meet a lot of different people. I’ve met cowards and heroes. A lot of the EMTs have hero complexes when they first start, determined to make a difference, save lives. They’re like crusaders. But they soon learn that it isn’t all rainbows and sunshine. They see some grisly things, some things that will haunt you…and they get burned out sometimes. Even hurt. Those people either quit because they can’t handle it, or they just harden their hearts to the pain all around them.”
I understood what he meant. And he was right. I’d also seen some pretty gruesome things…things that gave me nightmares and made it hard to sleep.
“I don’t mean to worry you or make you upset,” Dad said. “I just want you to know that I love you and care about what happens to you. I want you to be safe. And I’m incredibly proud of you and how compassionate you’ve become. I think you’re doing great things.”
I really didn’t know what to say. It was like I forgot how to work my tongue.
But I was saved having to reply as we pulled up to the house. My eyes were drawn to dark objects against the white stucco front. There were two men in dark suits standing at the door. One of them stood out, dressed sharper than the other, like he was in Armani versus the other guy clad in something off the rack at Goodwill.
In the driveway where Dad normally parked was a sleek, black Jaguar that looked like it cost almost as much as Lockwood’s new Maserati.
“Who is that?” I asked, sitting up straighter in my seat, brow furrowing as I stared at the men. They spared only a glance for us. Mom was there at the door, talking with them. She looked…subdued. Which was strange. I’d never seen Mom look sheepish like that.
Like she was cornered prey.
Chapter 32
The guy in the Armani-looking suit had a long, hooked nose, bushy black eyebrows and beady eyes. His face looked like he was born sneering and he could grate cheese on the wrinkles in his forehead if he wanted to.
Heir of the Dog (Liars and Vampires Book 6) Page 14