by Abby Tyson
Veronica watched the crowd of people swarm in. Savi could sense her fear, but when Veronica looked back at her, there was only determination.
"All I know is they saved my son," she said. "I can't ever say no to them, not after that."
"Come on guys," one of the workers said. "We've already got empty pans."
Veronica plunged into the sea of people, leaving Savi to remember Berto's words...
There is no greater fear than love.
The rest of the morning was too busy for Savi to talk to Veronica anymore, but as she kept the buffet stocked, she overheard several people excitedly talking about their upcoming graduation.
"I wonder what job I'll get... I hope I get accepted into the exchange program... What do you think the ceremony's like?"
No one mentioned anything even remotely connected to werewolves or the Alters, other than the terms Second and Veronica had used. It became clear that none of them knew what was actually going on. And numerous people put recyclables in the garbage bins, so environmental stewardship was apparently not a priority, as it had been for Marcia.
The only people who seemed to have a clue were the group of guys Savi had seen with Second when they'd gone to meet Berto. The one Second had called Mr. Ford, who turned out to be named Vaughan, fielded questions from curious inquisitors about their jobs, their travels, and the graduation ceremony. All he and the other guys did was grin and talk about how much money they would earn, and all the fun ways they could spend it.
By ten, Savi was tired, sweaty, and ready to leave. She finished loading the last of the breakfast dishes into the car-sized dishwasher, and asked a baker where Veronica was. He told her Veronica had left at 9:30, so Savi went to the bathroom to wash her face and pruny hands, then went out the back door.
Even though she knew it was probably already in the 80s outside, the air was cool compared to the kitchen. Dave, who had been standing in the shade of the administration building, joined her as she started walking back to their cottage.
"Looks like they really put you to work," he said, taking in her damp, stained clothes.
Skirting past large groups in the square doing tai chi and yoga, Savi said, "Yeah, I think I pissed off my trainer. She put me on dishwasher duty."
"How did you manage to do that on the first day?" asked Dave.
Savi was reluctant to tell him. Despite what he'd said the other night, she wasn't entirely convinced that he believed her about the werewolves.
Across the square, Second stood beside one of the classroom buildings, giving a tour to a girl with long black braids. It was Lila.
Lila glanced in their direction and met Savi's gaze, but quickly looked away, neither acknowledging the other.
"I'm glad I'm able to walk you back," said Dave. "I've been meaning to talk to you about that bomb we dropped on you Thursday night."
Unable to withhold her sigh, she scanned the square, praying for an interruption. There were no classes on Saturday, so there were many more people shopping at the market or hanging out on the stoops of the cottages. Most of the people waved and greeted Dave by name, but no one approached them.
"Don't look so frightened," he said with a chuckle. "I simply wanted to say that I'm well aware that while your mom chose me, you didn't, and that puts you in an awkward position. But I love your mother deeply, and you are so much a part of your mother that I can't help but love you too."
Savi realized she was grimacing and switched to a passive expression, but not before Dave saw. "I also know you're not comfortable talking about feelings, especially your own, so I appreciate you bearing with me here."
They were almost to the cottage. Savi tried to pick up the pace, but Dave didn't take the bait, and when he started talking again, she had to slow back down.
"Now, I recognize that you've gone your whole life without a father, and I'm willing to accept the fact that I won't be stepping into that role in any capacity other than title only."
Dave stopped outside the cottage door, and Savi stopped with him, her mom's words from that morning about making an effort echoing in her ears.
"But I also want to make it clear that I'd be happy to give you more than that. I'll do my best not to push it on you, though."
"Thanks," she said, giving him a tight-lipped smile.
Opening the door for her, he said, "Thus concludes our awkward not-quite-but-sort-of-father-daughter moment."
Savi went straight to the bathroom and took a shower. Afterward, she went to her room and saw that Hettie had called while she was at work.
"Savi!"
The sound of her best friend's voice instantly made her smile. "You'll never guess my big news," said Savi.
"Your big news? But I have big news!"
"Mine's bigger."
"Okay, okay," said Hettie, "what is it?"
"I chopped my hair off."
Savi held the phone away from her ear at Hettie's squeal of excitement. "Take a picture, send it to me, and call me back THIS INSTANT!"
Grinning at her phone, Savi obeyed her best friend's instructions, then lay back on her bed.
"I LOVE IT!" cried Hettie. "But where are you? That's not your room behind you."
"Oh, right. My mom and I decided to take a vacation in Florida. We rented a cottage."
"That's such a good idea! Perfect time to get a new do. You look like a movie star. How does it feel?"
"It's amazing. I took a shower and it was dry by the time I was dressed. I don't have to do anything to it -- it looks good even without any product. No more freaking out about frizz!"
"I'm so jealous. Do you think Marley will like it?" Hettie drew his name out.
You tell me: he could barely look at me for about ten minutes.
But admitting that Marley had already seen it would blow her cover. Savi hated lying to her best friend, but telling her what was really going on would only make her worry.
"I did it for me, not for him," she replied, then changed the subject. "What's your big news?"
"Oh, yeah. So I finally got to the lab last night --"
"Friday night? Shouldn't you have been out painting the town with Colby?"
"I'm seeing him tonight, which is why I'm calling you now. Although, honestly I'd rather go to the lab again and explore my findings further."
"Did you and Colby have a fight?" Savi was surprised to find herself genuinely saddened by the prospect. Hettie was so happy with Colby -- breaking up with him would be devastating for her. It was also good to know that someone was keeping an eye on her in Boston, even if he was a dumb jock.
"No, no," laughed Hettie. "My desire to go back to the lab isn't the result of a rift between me and Colby, it's a testament to how interesting my findings were. So I was studying your blood samples, and found that your blood does contain traces of the lupa compound."
"From Marcia's experiment?"
"Actually, no. Both vials have the same percentage -- there was no increase after Marcia injected you."
"That's good, I guess."
"I'm guessing the lupa in your blood is inherited from your dad, but it's very strange that there's any at all, because when I added a single drop of your blood to a single drop of mine -- which I've already analyzed and know is teeming with lupa -- within ninety seconds there was not a trace of lupa to be found in the whole specimen."
"That doesn't really seem possible if my blood contains it already."
"I know, right! I'm guessing it has something to do with your leukocytes."
A boulder dropped into Savi's stomach, pinning her to the bed. "Leukocytes are white blood cells, right?"
"Correct," said Hettie, "but that's not even the big news. Someone else in the lab was working with liquid silver. Now, I've been reading up on werewolf lore and of course silver is supposed to be fatal to us. So I asked if I could take a dropper full, and mixed a drop with a fresh blood sample of mine."
"And?"
"Nothing. I was about to give up on the silver angle as a dead en
d, when on a whim I mixed it with your blood. The reaction was immediate: the solution thickened and became a metallic grayish-green color. When I mixed that new substance with my blood... poof!"
Hettie went silent again, as if Savi was supposed to know the outcome.
"What happened?" asked Savi, sitting up on her bed.
"Oh, it didn't just eliminate the lupa compound, it killed all of the cells. Isn't that fascinating!" Hettie's voice was as thrilled as it had been when Savi told her about her hair.
"Not fascinating," said Savi, "scary."
"Scary? Why?"
"Gee, I don't know, a WEREWOLF-killing compound made out of my blood so close to my best friend who's a WEREWOLF."
Scoffing at her fear, Hettie said, "I was wearing all the appropriate safety gear."
"Please be super careful. I don't want to be responsible for your demise, even if it is indirectly."
Hettie assured her that she would be extra diligent, and then her roommate returned, so their talk shifted to more typical girl chatter, including what Hettie was going to wear on her date, and rating her professors on brilliance versus charm. After they got off the phone, Savi lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling.
Omar had said that they were removing components from her blood. Could he have taken white blood cells? Is that what they needed her blood for -- to create a substance lethal to werewolves? Would it kill coywolves too?
He said they were creating a vaccine from my blood, not a toxin, Savi reminded herself.
Despite the Florida heat, She rubbed her arms against the chill that bit into them, unable to rid her mind of the frightful possibility that the Zuun might discover that her blood held another secret -- that they could not only hollow werewolves, but annihilate them.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Savi stared at herself in the mirror, as she'd been doing for the last ten minutes. She told herself that she was merely nervous about whether her red halter top sun dress was the right balance of modest and sexy, but she knew the real reason.
He didn't even look at me when Lila was in the room.
It would make total sense if Marley liked Lila -- way more sense, in fact, than him liking Savi. Lila was really pretty, had a great body, and also happened to be the first young girl coywolf he'd ever met. There was bound to be an attraction there.
Then why did he bother asking me out for dinner? Is he breaking up with me?
The act of it had been so romantic, her skin still tingling with the memory of his hands on her, that it was hard to believe, but a part of her couldn't deny the possibility. She pictured herself remaining stoic and sensible as he described how dull she was in comparison with Lila. She pushed down the tugging pain that gnawed at her, telling herself it was probably for the best. Marley was too perfect -- something was bound to screw up their relationship, and at least this way it wasn't her.
With one last glance at the mirror, she put on the low wedge sandals she'd bought with her mom the day before, and went out into the living room to wait. Her mom had come home briefly, but then run out to the grocery store, swearing that she'd be back before Savi left, so once again she was alone with Dave, who was lying on the couch reading a mystery novel.
"You look nice," he said, peering at her over his book.
Although she guessed he already knew, she said, "Marley's picking me up for a date."
"How do you feel about that?"
Savi glowered at him. "This is never going to work if you can't shut off the psychologist part of your brain and have a normal conversation."
"Believe it or not, normal conversations often include people's feelings."
"But you don't have to lead with it. Or you could ask in a different way that doesn't sound so... clinical."
"Okay. Let's take two." He sat up, putting his book and glasses on the coffee table. "You look nice." He motioned to Savi, inviting her to repeat her opening line.
Already regretting that she bothered saying anything in the first place, Savi said, "Marley's picking me up in ten minutes for our first date."
"Are you looking forward to it?"
"See? What kind of a question is that?"
"A reasonable one, I think, given that you were frowning when you said it."
She scowled, then relaxed her expression. "He won't even let me drive myself over there. He insisted on picking me up."
"You don't consider that chivalrous?"
"Trying too hard is more like it," she muttered, sitting on the love seat.
Dave gave her a thoughtful look that Savi tried not to picture him giving a client on his couch. "This is the young man whom you met a few weekends ago?"
The mere mention of that time made Savi's breathing go shallow. "Yeah," she whispered, praying that he wouldn't press the topic.
"You two met under extreme circumstances. Are you having second thoughts about your relationship?"
"What relationship?" she asked. "Do eighteen-year-olds really have relationships? Or do we just have hormones that drive us to make bad choices?"
Savi stood, struggling against the tide of words that were pushing their way out of her. "Marley and I made out a couple times, and had one long, enjoyable conversation. Our relationship is a joke, and soon he'll realize that too. It's not real -- like all the rest of this craziness that's supposedly happening to me. Werewolves? Come on. This is all just a really long and vivid nightmare that I'll wake up from at any minute."
Annoyed that he'd somehow wheedled all of that out of her, she went to the window. "I know I'm not really in a nightmare," she said, watching for Marley, "so don't diagnose me with schizophrenia or whatever."
Although it was mid-afternoon, the sky was an ominous gray, and many of the Den's inhabitants were out on the main road, enjoying the cool breeze before the oncoming storm. Even Veronica passed by, walking hand-in-hand with a little boy who was still wobbly on his feet. The anger and fear that Veronica had shown that morning was nowhere to be found, as she let her son set their dawdling pace and grinned down at him as if they were the only ones on the whole campus. When the little boy stumbled, Veronica's hand kept him from falling completely, and he let out a sparkling bellow of a laugh, as if tripping on a brick road was a fun surprise his mother had planned.
"You recently found out that there's another fantastical layer to this world that you and most of civilization are unaware of," said Dave, bringing Savi back to their awful conversation. "You're currently operating in an environment of fear, forced on you by someone who is deliberately keeping you ignorant of his agenda. Distancing yourself from your emotions is a natural reaction to all of that."
Savi cursed herself for opening up.
"However," Dave added, "you're not the only one in this position." His tone was calm, non-judgmental, polished after almost twenty years of practice, but Savi heard the accusation in it nonetheless.
"Your mother, me, Marley -- we're all working with the same constraints here. Keeping those who care about you at a distance hasn't worked in the past, and it will only make things harder in the long run."
"What do you mean, hasn't worked in the past?"
"Chloe told me about the drinking." He glowered at her; no withholding judgment here.
"That's none of your business," said Savi, her temper flaring.
Dave pursed his lips and leaned back on the couch, clearly debating whether to continue the conversation.
"Go ahead," snapped Savi, unable to endure his stare. "Go ahead and tell me how broken I am and how I've got textbook daddy issues. You've been wanting to say it for a long time, so get it out of your system. Now's as good a time as any."
He studied her for another moment, then reached down and picked up his phone off the table. "There are four different ways for people to contact me on this thing," he said. "Is that good? Bad? Depends on who you ask. To my friends and family, it's great -- provided that it's on, with the ringer set so I can hear it, and I acknowledge their communication with relative alacrity."
Glaring at the device in his hand, Savi tried to understand the segue.
"Sometimes it gets to be too much," he continued. "Sometimes I want to shut the damn thing off and relish the silence. But love requires both sides to feel valued by the other, and being heard is a big component of confirming that value."
Savi thought of all the times Hettie had chided her over the years for keeping her phone on silent. "What are you getting at?" she asked, although she was starting to glean his meaning.
"Of course, being chained to your phone and social media is unhealthy also, but there needs to be a balance between being available and communicative, and preserving your own sense of self and living in the moment."
"So because I have a flip phone and don't keep it glued to my hand I'm a bad person?"
"Not a bad person, no. Of course not. But it could be interpreted as one example of you keeping the world at arm's length, setting yourself apart from the popular majority, filtering out those who don't continually make a special effort to reach out to you."
"Yeah, well, if this is what the world has to offer, then I'll keep my distance, thank you very much."
The door opened, and Chloe rushed in, tote bags in hand. "I told you I'd be back in time," she said as she put them on the kitchen counter.
Savi spun around, pushing down her swelling emotions as she resumed watching for Marley.
"Need help with the groceries?" Dave asked.
"No thank you," answered Chloe. "This is all of it. I was thinking salad and -- Savi!"
Savi's head whipped around, expecting something terrible, but her mom was staring at her with pride and fear and sorrow and love all blurred together.
"You're beautiful," she said, coming over to take in Savi's outfit and hair. "I told you that dress suited you."
"It's okay," said Savi, her cheeks burning.
The sound of a car pulling up made them both look out the window.
"I've got to go," said Savi, "I can't let him be recognized."
Chloe gave her a hug. "Don't lose yourself," she whispered.
"I'm right here," Savi whispered back, hoping her mom wouldn't hear the tremor in her voice.