Stella pulled a sour face. “I can’t believe you actually thought it was me. As if I’d attack Marjorie like that!” she said. “Why would I have gone to such effort to find and protect these missing kids if I was in on it the whole time? Can someone explain that to me?”
Alton paced the floor at the back of the office. “I really am sorry for the inconvenience, Stella, but we have to make absolutely sure that it couldn’t have been you. There are several healing spells you might have used, and laying the blame on a Shapeshifter is always a very convenient excuse for anything.” He paused, offering an apologetic look. “I really am sorry, but we can’t take any chances right now. Everyone is a suspect, as much as I hate to admit it.”
“It’s because I’m new here, isn’t it? You all claim you aren’t prejudiced against us, but I can see it in your eyes: none of you trust us. And you know what, I bet you all wish it was me or Channing so you wouldn’t have to find out that one of your colleagues is lying to you. Well, tough luck, because it’s definitely one of your people.”
Part of me felt bad for Stella. There was no clear way of knowing that it wasn’t her, since the “other Stella” had vanished into thin air. If I’d been around at the time, I could’ve used my Empath abilities to figure out whether it was her or not. Unfortunately, I’d gone back to my room after the infirmary visit and was half asleep when I got the call that something was up. If the spy really was a Shapeshifter, I wouldn’t have been able to feel their emotions. If it had been Stella, then I’d have known right away that she was the real deal.
“Can’t you get the Clairvoyant to touch me? She’ll be able to see it wasn’t me,” Stella complained.
“I can try,” Marjorie said. “She’ll feel different than the impostor, if she’s telling the truth.”
Santana stood in her way. “Hold on a minute. This girl has just been through hell and back, and every vision she gets drains her of energy. Not to mention the fact that she’s been at her Clairvoyance all day and is probably exhausted. So, how about, before we start touching people, we hear what Stella has to say about where she was and what she was up to? Let’s compile a little evidence before we start sapping injured victims, okay?”
Channing got up from his seat and squared up to Santana, who looked about ready to take anyone down, regardless of the fact that she was a little green around the gills. The two of them glowered at one another for what seemed like an hour, before Channing finally spoke.
“If you must know, Stella was with me,” he said curtly. “We were working late on the missing kids case, since the rest of you seem to clock out at five on the dot. When you accosted her in the hallway, she was on her way back from the Bestiary. We’ve been there all evening. Whoever this impostor was, it wasn’t Stella.”
That seemed a little convenient. All of us were looking at him with suspicious eyes, wondering if he was in on this attack, too. It was unlikely that, if Stella was involved, Channing wasn’t. They’d come here together, after all.
Stella turned and gazed at Channing, a flurry of affection drifting off her. His protectiveness warmed her heart, making her fall even deeper for him. It almost pained me to sense that there was nothing romantic behind his actions—he had no such warmth brimming inside him. His emotions were stark and logical. He cared about her, and he wanted to clear her name, but his feelings didn’t match hers. They didn’t come from that same intense place of adoration. Ugh, poor girl. Accused of being a spy and dealing with unrequited love, all at the same time. Tonight wasn’t going well for anyone.
“Smartie’s cameras have also confirmed her location at the time of the attack,” Astrid added.
“So, not Stella then?” I said, my voice breaking the unnerving silence that had fallen on the group. Even Alton didn’t seem to know what to say. Meanwhile, Santana and Channing were still scowling at each other. In any other situation, their war of wills might’ve been funny. Now, it just seemed to perpetuate the divide between us.
Alton sighed loudly, running a hand through his dark waves. “I didn’t want to do this, but I’m going to have to implement a new rule on the Shapeshifters amongst us. From now on, they will all be required to wear body cams. I’d already suggested this kind of approach to Preceptors Bellmore and O’Halloran. They agreed it was necessary.” He offered a sorrowful look to Garrett. “I’m about to make the call now. As of tomorrow morning, it will be mandatory for every Shapeshifter to wear a body cam at all times.”
“That’s insane!” Garrett leapt out of his seat and stormed across the room, slamming his hands down on Alton’s desk. “This isn’t some sort of nanny state, where you can control us all like that. Do you even understand the precedent you’re setting? We have a hard enough time as it is!” He shook his head in a rage. “There have to be at least thirty of us here at the coven. You’re exposing every single one of us by doing this. You get that, don’t you? I just want to make sure you haven’t lost your damn mind.”
“I understand your anger, but—”
“No, Alton, you don’t,” he shot back. “You’ve got no right to do this to us. For all you know, the Shapeshifter might not even be from the coven! Has that little thought even entered your mind, huh? It could be some magical pretending to be someone we know, or it could be someone just hiding in the shadows, waiting for all these opportunities to Shift into others. You’re playing into their hands and punishing us for it. It’s disgusting! I thought you were better than this.”
All of those possibilities sent a shudder of doubt through my body, making me feel even more uneasy. Each one was viable. It could even be all three—someone in the coven, someone out of the coven, and someone hiding in the shadows. I suddenly understood why Alton had told me to be vigilant about any unusual behavior. I’d thought he was being overcautious, but now I realized we couldn’t be cautious enough. We were in a whole lot of danger, standing on the brink of being completely compromised. Leonidas would have a field day over this. This was the excuse he’d been looking for, times about a million.
“Garrett, I know you’re upset, but you will not speak to me like that, do you understand?” Alton said firmly. “It’s nothing personal, I can assure you. I would have preferred to do this a different way, but necessity has forced my hand. This is a precaution we have to take. If you have nothing to hide, then there’s nothing for you to worry about.”
Astrid shook her head. “Technology should never be used to take away freedom. I agree with Garrett—this is an extreme and downright ridiculous measure. You’re risking their safety by taking away their anonymity. Revealing their Shapeshifting is their choice, not yours. You’re making a mistake.”
Alton seemed wounded by the side she’d chosen to take. Evidently, after everything he’d done for her, with all the resurrections, he was surprised by her words. Astrid rarely criticized him, and never this harshly. Astrid was his right-hand woman, but it felt like she was shifting her allegiance because of a crush. Garrett seemed to be the instigation for this rare outburst. The sting of it found its way to me, a subtle heartbreak sitting in my chest cavity.
I could understand her aversion to the body cams, but I also understood the necessity of putting the Shapeshifters under surveillance. The discomfort of some might help save the lives of many others—that was a move worth making, as uncomfortable as it felt.
“Astrid, you’re more pragmatic than this,” he replied, his tone softer. “Surely, you can understand why this measure has to be implemented? This decision has been made for the safety of the coven as a whole, and to ease paranoid minds. I will ensure the Shapeshifters are protected, if that makes it better?”
“Not really,” she said coolly.
“Nevertheless, it’s happening. We are fresh out of options.”
Glancing at Alton, I realized he didn’t have as good a handle on things as he made it seem on the surface. He was as terrified and confused as the rest of us. Plus, with Krieger’s curse, and the fact that he hadn’t told anyone about that, h
e seemed to be flying by the seat of his pants. He felt weirdly lost, like he was close to just handing the reins to someone else. Don’t you dare, Alton Waterhouse. Don’t you dare.
An awkward silence stretched between the group. Nobody wanted to break it. To my surprise, it was Marjorie who finally spoke, her small voice finding its way through the stillness.
“I do have some good news,” she said. “At least, Santana told me it was good news.”
Santana turned to her encouragingly. “Yes, of course—I almost forgot! Tell everyone what you saw.”
“When the Shapeshifter grabbed my wrist, I got a vision,” she continued. “I saw Micah standing in an abandoned factory. The Hoffman Millwork factory. It didn’t look like it had been used in a long time, but that was where Micah maybe was… or is… it’s kind of hard to tell. I never know where in the timeline these things have happened or will happen.”
I grinned at the shy girl. “That’s awesome news. That’s exactly the kind of lead we’ve been looking for.”
Santana beamed proudly. “That’s what I told her. My little changuita is a genius.”
“Changuita?” Channing asked sourly.
“My little monkey, not that you’d understand a pet name if it smacked you in the face. Which, incidentally, is what I’d like to—”
“How about we all get to work on this new lead, huh?” I interjected, before she could say something she might regret. I adored Santana, but her fieriness was going to get her into trouble one of these days. “I’ll call Wade and let him know what’s happening.”
Alton raised his hand. “You should all go and get some rest. Start with this lead bright and early in the morning. There’s no use chasing these ghosts if you’re all dead on your feet. You’re all dismissed.” He looked at me. “And don’t worry about Wade. I’ll talk to him myself.”
With that, we broke off in our own factions and headed back to the living quarters. Alton was right: we needed clear heads if we were going to track down the kids. Spending the whole night downing coffee and struggling to stay awake wasn’t going to do anyone any favors. Plus, I was getting more and more worried about Santana. She’d been fading all through the meeting, even when she’d squared up to Channing. Something was wrong with her, but I doubted she’d tell me what it was, even if I tried to force it out of her. Who knows, maybe she’s just tired.
I got halfway up the stairs back to my room, when I realized my stomach was growling. I’d barely eaten all day and, right now, a little two a.m. snack was sounding pretty damn delicious. Saying goodnight to the others, I hurried through the silent hallways until I reached the banquet hall. There was always food available, with snacks set up on a table in the corner, alongside urns of hot tea and coffee and various fruit juices in a myriad of gaudy colors. Slipping through the doors, I froze. There was already someone in the banquet hall.
I ducked down behind one of the tables and strained my ears to listen in. If the spy was in here, I wanted to know about it.
“Thank you for what you did back there,” a female voice said. Stella.
“I was doing my duty, protecting a fellow colleague,” Channing replied. His voice was unmistakable. “You already had an alibi. I was merely informing them of the circumstances.”
“I know, but you didn’t have to defend me like that,” she went on. “Channing, I know that now isn’t a good time, but there’s something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time. And when you spoke up for me like that, it got me thinking it’s now or never. The truth is… I’m in love with you.”
A stiff pause followed, my whole body cringing for Stella. I already knew his reply before he even said it. If I could have crawled to the door without being seen, I would have. This wasn’t the kind of thing I wanted to be eavesdropping on.
“Stella, I’m flattered,” he began, “but I don’t think of you like that. You’re like a sister to me. I care about you, and you’re beautiful, too—don’t go thinking you’re not—but when it comes to romance… I’m sorry, Stella. I’d rather be honest now and spare you from wasting your time on something that just isn’t going to happen. You know?”
“Of course,” Stella replied, her tone tight. “No, thank you for being honest. I appreciate it. And, honestly, things will always be cool between us. Like, don’t think this will change our working relationship, because it won’t. It’s all good, honestly. Honestly, it’s fine. I just wanted to get it off my chest. Now that I have, it’s all honestly cool.”
Jeez, say “honestly” one more time and he might believe you.
“I’m glad to hear that,” Channing said. “I don’t want anything to change between us.”
“No, absolutely. It’s all good.”
“Okay, well, I’m going to bed. You want me to walk you back to your room, or are you still eating?”
“I’m going to finish this. I’ll be fine on my own.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.”
“Okay, well, goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Channing.”
I listened to the pad of his footsteps across the hall floor, before he exited the double doors and headed into the hallway beyond. Waiting a couple of minutes, to make sure he’d really gone and wasn’t about to run back and confess his love after all, I crawled on my belly toward the doors. Halfway there, I stopped. A small, sniffling sound echoed from the other side of the banquet hall. Stella was crying.
Ah man, what am I supposed to do now?
I couldn’t leave her here in tears. That would just be sad. Still, I couldn’t let her know I’d been listening in, either. Coming up with a cunning plan to crawl outside and then re-enter, making a show of just happening upon her, I continued my slow wriggle across the floor. I’d just reached the doors when my boot squeaked on the polished marble, giving the game away.
“Is someone there?” Stella’s panicked voice asked.
I grimaced. “Yep… only me.” I didn’t want her thinking the spy had come back to take her identity again. With red cheeks, I jumped up and flashed an awkward smile. Stupid stomach, why couldn’t you have just waited until morning?
She frowned at me and wiped her eyes. “I take it you heard everything?”
“I did.” No point lying now.
“You’re going to go back to the others and have a good laugh about it, aren’t you?”
I approached her slowly. “No, of course not. This might come as a shock, but nobody here delights in other people’s misery. To be honest, I was going to come back in and check on how you were doing.”
“You were?”
“Yep. Then my boots ratted me out.”
She smiled sadly. “You know, you’re lucky to have found someone who reciprocates your feelings. I guess you realized I was flirting with Wade to make Channing jealous, huh?”
“I noticed it a little bit, yeah.”
“It didn’t make a difference,” she said. “When I was flirting with Wade, he’d always look over to you to see if you were watching him. I guess he feels like he needs to make you jealous, too. Stupid, really, when the two of you so obviously like one another.”
My heart beat faster. I mean, it was possible that Wade liked me back, but what was I supposed to do about that? “Even if he does have feelings for me, it’s not like he’d ever admit it.”
“Then you should tell him how you feel,” Stella whispered. “You shouldn’t keep your feelings hidden, not when the outcome could be so good.”
I shrugged uncomfortably. “What if the outcome isn’t good?”
“At least you’d know the truth.” She wiped away the last of her tears. “It might not look like it, but I’m happier now that I know where I stand. It wasn’t the answer I was hoping for, but at least I’m not hanging everything on a hope. I suggest you do the same. A few tears are better than months of uncertainty, believe me.”
I smiled at her. “I guess.”
“You know, even though this place is a little flawed in its operations, t
he people here aren’t so bad. I think you’re all growing on me.” She chuckled.
“We might be the scrappy little underdogs, but I bet we stand out because every single person inside this building shares the same mission.”
“What’s that?”
“The protection of innocents—magical or otherwise.” I smiled at her and nodded toward the door. “Come on, let me get some chow and then we’ll get some rest. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”
Twenty-Eight
Harley
Based on the information from Marjorie’s vision, surveillance was set up around the old warehouse, on the edge of what was now the Tijuana River Mouth State Marine Conservation Area. With the beautifully crafted fake ID cards at our disposal, the coven had little trouble implementing our members into the security team who patrolled the area. Despite not knowing where in Micah’s timeline the vision sat, Marjorie felt confident that he was eventually going to be moved there. She claimed that, after learning more about her skills, she had developed a feeling about visions that gave her some indication as to when they might happen or had happened. For Micah, she sensed it was going to occur sometime in the near future, so we had to be ready for that possibility.
We suspected that the reason behind the children being brought there was because Katherine and her associates—more her associates, since she didn’t seem fond of doing the dirty work herself—had been moving the magical kids around, to reduce the likelihood of being caught or tracked by any of our people. The supposed robberies all across the magical nation were keeping everyone else busy; they only had to fox the San Diego Coven and its boosted security entourage.
All we could do now was wait.
Naturally, I wasn’t particularly good at that. Patience had never been one of my virtues, and with the Family Gathering happening the next day, I was way more antsy than normal. I’d tried swimming; I’d tried running; I’d tried reading; I’d tried practicing my Telekinesis and Elemental powers in the coven training rooms, but nothing could tire out my anxious streak. To be honest, I wasn’t even sure it was anxiety. It felt like something else—deeper and far more confusing. A deep-seated sensation of being unsettled.
Harley Merlin 3: Harley Merlin and the Stolen Magicals Page 28