he spoke to you?”
“Yes, but it was brief.” It was hard to keep my calm. And it was hard for me
to lie—even to protect someone who may or may not deserve it. Lying was not
a talent of mine, as dad had mentioned. “He asked me how my night was going,
what I was doing. Mostly just the casual pick-up lines guys pull on girls.” I threw
in a sarcastic laugh.
Mr. Tright wasn’t laughing. He exchanged tense glances with the Men in
Black. The statues’ eyes narrowed a bit.
“Why? Who is he?” I decided to play dumb, or they might catch on to what
I really knew.
“This man,”—Mr. Tright tapped the “WANTED” sheet— “is under Arizona’s sexual predators list. He’s been on our radar for a while, but every time we think we’ve got him, he disappears. What’s got me is that he seems to slip into thin air. Dissolve.” His eyebrows lowered, reflecting his befuddlement. “And then reports of missing young women show up and we have to start all over again. Sometimes half way across the country… It is crucial, Ms. Ridgewood, that if you have any information you tell us. He’s extremely dangerous. Did you go anywhere with him?”
“No, I didn’t.” I wondered if they could see how fast my heart was beating. I debated again if I should tell them about the mall, but fear of the faerie king kept my teeth on my tongue. “My friend showed up to get me right after this guy was there, so he didn’t hang around long. He disappeared into the crowd.”
“And you haven’t seen him since then?” Mr. Tright’s grip on the chair arm looked a little tight. His veins were showing under a thick black bracelet.
“No.” I shook my head, trying to act assuring so I could get the heck back to class and away from the office. “I haven’t seen him anywhere.”
“And he never specified any significant information?” Tright’s voice was growing weary. “Nothing about current residence, family, friends in the area?”
“Nothing like that,” I made clear. “No.”
“… Very well.” He stared at the floor. Pulling a tiny black notebook and a pen from his jacket pocket, he added, “Alright, do you have any other witnesses you could provide us with? This friend of yours maybe that came to pick you up?”
A shard of panic stabbed me. “My friend wouldn’t be any use to you. He was appearing just as this sexual predator of yours was leaving. I don’t even know if my friend saw him.” I shrugged, noticing Tright’s clunky bracelet had white letters on it. Random letters, like a line from a crossword. But it was the four random red ones spaced along the line that caught my eye. They looked like—
I tensed up. The red letters spelled a word.
The word, FADE.
“Alright, Ms. Ridgewood.” Tright took back his poster and closed the manila folder. “Well, thank you for your time.” He held his hand back out.
“Glad I could help.” I managed to shake his hand without ogling the bracelet. I felt sort of nauseous all of a sudden and my energy seemed to be seeping out my feet. Just let me get out of here.
He gave me a funny look while straightening his jacket. “Are you alright, Ms. Ridgewood?”
“Oh. Yeah.” Make an excuse. “Just, should I be worried about this? Should I be scared that he’s a… Predator?” I hadn’t called Adrian that in a while. But in FADE’s presence, no way was I going to call him by what he really was. Faerie.
“Don’t fear. We’ll get him.” Of that, Tright sounded sure. He leaned over and shook the vice principal’s hand.
“Thank you, Mrs. Watson. I appreciate your time.”
Mrs. Watson’s complexion was whiter than usual, but she put on a smile. “Of course. Good luck in your search. Men like that just… ugh.” She shuddered. “I don’t need nor do I want any of my students in danger.” She eyed me like a worried mother goose.
“No one does, Mrs. Watson.” Tright ushered his moving statues to the door. “Which is why I won’t rest until this case is settled.”
“Thank you, Mr. Tright.” Mrs. Watson nodded weakly, her smile quickly being replaced with a frown.
“Good day, ladies.” Tright gave half a bow before crossing the room. “Oh, Ms. Ridgewood, if you happen to see him again, I’ve left Mrs. Watson my name and number. You give me a call if anything happens, ok?”
I nodded, unable to speak. His sentence was dripping with assurance, with protection—a false security I would never call upon. “Kay.”
“And don’t worry. We’ll get to the bottom of this.” Tright gave one last nod and a look as if to say: anything you want to tell me now, you can. When he realized I had nothing to say, the Men in Black left, leaving me to sigh in relief.
“Is there anything I can do for you, Rose?” Mrs. Watson’s voice swelled with concern as she stared. “Get you some water, take you to counseling, call a parent?”
I wiped the sweat off the back of my neck. “No, please don’t call my parents. They’re dealing with enough as it is.” This would be the perfect topper on my mother’s wedding cake if the office told her about her only daughter being stalked. And if they called dad, I’d be on lockdown for days, unable to tell him I had protection.
Mrs. Watson pressed her lips together. “Alright, but I am going to encourage you to tell them. Soon. This isn’t just a hair in your pie, Rose. This is a very serious issue.”
“I know that.” I realized that Tright never mentioned this dance club was the Viper and Vixen, where I wasn’t technically allowed to be. Did he not know, or was he letting me off the hook? Trying to prove he was trustworthy and could keep secrets? Whatever it was, it wouldn’t work. Not now with that creepy scar and wristband. People like dad had my trust, people like Joe or the boys.
And, of course, Hayden.
And he needed to know what just happened…
*
The black Silverado roared into the school parking lot. I kept a neutral expression as I walked outside (just in case Tright was lurking around, nearby and unseen), leaving the rest of my classes behind. I silently praised the wave of safety I felt, knowing my protector had complied with my emergency come-now call.
The minute I opened the truck door, Hayden freaked. “Are you alright? Did someone hurt you?” His eyes were wild as he scanned my body, then peered passed my head. “Where’s Adrian? Is he here? Is that what this is about?”
“No.” I flopped into the seat and dumped my stuff on the floor. “It’s not Adrian. Just drive—no speeding. I mean it this time.” My stomach wouldn’t take it.
He was able to pull out like a normal person today. He didn’t spin the wheel or hit the gas. The Silverado blended in with the traffic easily, non-suspiciously. But his driving didn’t match his fuming posture. “Alright, we’re out of the school,” he muttered. “Now tell me right now what happened, Rose.”
I leaned my head against the window, the cool glass soothing my hot cheek. “Do you remember at the apartment, the night you showed me that map?”
His brows furrowed. “Yeah?”
I took a deep breath. What was he going to say? “Do you remember those stories you told me about the faerie hunters, the humans who go hunting for fey still on Earth?”
His eyes struggled to watch me and the highway at the same time. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak I decided to just lay it on the line. “I think FADE is here.”
“What?”
“FADE. I think they’re here in our part of Los Angeles.”
Silence. Expecting Hayden’s features to be on the brink of explosion, I was a little shocked when I saw they were soft, pale… and nervous. “You’re kidding me,” he breathed.
I shook my head. “Nope.”
He sighed, steering the truck in silence for four or five heartbeats. “How did you find out?” he eventually asked.
“They pretended to be undercover cops at my high school. They pulled me out of class for questioning.”
“What?” He nearly served into
the other lane, throwing us around the cab. A car behind us let off a double honk.
“Jeez, Hayden—”
“What’d they ask you?! What’d they want?!”
“They’re looking for Adrian!” I spat, temper back in style, throwing out my fear like last year’s shoes. “Someone told them they saw him when he was hitting on me in the Viper and Vixen—”
“What’d you tell them?!”
“Nothing! I acted like the dumb blonde I’m supposed to be and said I didn’t know him!” I sunk in my seat with a scuff. “I didn’t tell them anything about you or the mall encounter with him. I just clarified that he was talking to me before I was picked up to go home.”
Hayden hesitated. His voice softened as he saw my frustration. “And what’d they say? Do they have any leads? Are you sure that it was FADE?”
“I’m positive. The guy was wearing a weird bracelet with letters that spelled FADE and he had this vertical scar that ran cheek to cheek over his nose. And I don’t think that scar was the result of some accident or attack. It looked like someone had done it on purpose.”
“Oye… A metal code band and an unusual scar. That sounds like them.” The perspiration on his face was shining in the sunlight as he glared at the windshield. Suddenly he let out a snarl. “Ugh, the next time I see Adrian, I might just turn him into FADE myself. He’s caused too many problems now! He’s toast—”
“Don’t go after him, Hayden.” I shook my head, almost begging. If something happened to him… Oh, God. I couldn’t even think about it. “Please don’t go after him.”
“Effing right I’m going after him!” He looked at me as if to say: what drugs are you on? “He’s caused so much bullshit I—”
My fingers covered his hand on the lower half of the wheel. “Please,” I said, forlorn. “Don’t.”
Silence. His knuckles flexed under my touch, and I pulled my hand into my lap, not wanting to interrupt his steering. We didn’t need a collision to add to today. I was gazing out the window when I felt his fingers touch my thigh, prying my hand up under his. His palm was unusually damp, cool.
He expelled a huffy sigh. “Alright, you win,” he whispered, though I swear he muttered, for now, under his breath. “I won’t go hunting him. But! If he comes around here again, he’s road kill.”
I squeezed his hand. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Yeah well, I don’t need you getting hurt either. Adrian better go away—and take FADE with him… I wonder how long they’ve been following him.”
“He said something about Arizona.” I recalled the poster and the way Tright called him a, sexual predator. If Mrs. Watson hadn’t been there, I wondered if he’d have called Adrian what he really was, called him faerie or asked questions to clue him in on whether or not I knew that fact. “So it’s probably been a while. They said something about tracking him, too. How he always manages to disappear.”
Hayden snorted. “That’s Adrian for you. What else did they say?”
“Only that he’s high on their priority list. He’s been marked as a sexual predator, no surprise.”
“Huh! Sexual predator. Try hungry, cold-blooded killer. I’m sure that’s the real reason they’re after him: he’s not just a faerie hunting humans, he’s a faerie king hunting humans. There’s a bonus there.”
A shiver ran up my spine—that seemed to be increasingly common whenever subjects like Adrian’s diet came up. I frowned, really starting to see why Hayden despised him.
“Listen,” he continued. “I don’t know much about FADE’s habits, but if they think Adrian is near or find something of interest, they might hang around this area for a while. You need to stay low and keep me informed, ok?”
I nodded, thinking if Adrian was smart he would stay away from here. There was a funny feeling in my stomach, however, as Hayden’s fingers turned silvery in the sunlight, this nails slightly extended. Something told me that FADE would be the least of the faerie king’s worries if Hayden’s temper slipped.
Adrian had two hunters against him now.
21) Gone
I
dreaded the following day, worried that Adrian or his followers or FADE was still lurking nearby or in the school. But even while I didn’t see any of them, worse news lingered in the coming air. In the cafeteria, the girls hummed about an unusual topic that morning. Instead of gossiping about cafeteria food or the fact that nerdy Lora Williams was dating senior comedian Elliot Hinkle, the girls were gabbing about a counselor— apparently a really cute one. This was sort of a big deal because it wasn’t everyday my friends called the school staff cute.
“His name’s Mr. Thomas,” Ashley informed us. Thanks to James, she didn’t seem as interested as the others.
“He’s got the most gorgeous green eyes!” Tansy gushed while texting a friend about it at the same time. “And I’ve never seen anyone with such thick hair. It’s like, model hair!”
“It’s even my favorite color: buttercup gold,” Cheyenne chimed, smoothing her pink beanie around her scalp. “I mean, how old is he? He doesn’t even look old enough to be a counselor.”
“You know I’m legally an adult.” A smirk crossed Chanel’s face as she tugged her low-cut shirt down. “Would it be against the rules to ask him out?”
The girls burst out laughing. I giggled along as they all fought over this new counselor, saying they’d have to share him—plus other explicit comments involving a game of spin the bottle and strip-chess. I barely thought much of it, knowing my mind was well preoccupied with another man, one that not even world’s hottest teacher could compete with.
But Cheyenne and I were walking to first period when we saw him. “OH!” She jabbed a finger through the air as we crossed the cafeteria. “Prepare yourself, Rosalia. That’s him!
I turned to the side, searching. “Where?”
“Heading for the teacher’s lounge!” Her hands clamped the side of my face, rotating my head. “The guy in the black pants and blue collared shirt, walking with that security guard!”
I stared, still oblivious, then realized that I thought I was looking at a student. The tall, young man in the blue shirt and black slacks did have thick golden hair and lovely features. In fact, in all my years going to school I’d never once seen a teacher so attractive. But there was something off. How did he fit in here?
“Is he even old enough to have a teaching degree?” I asked, rubbing my eyes to assure I wasn’t hallucinating. That we all weren’t hallucinating.
“No idea. But ain’t he pretty?” Chanel’s eyes glazed over as she showed up behind us. “Ooooh, what I wouldn’t give to suck the face off that one. Trent’s got nothing on this fine man!”
“Who is that?” I squinted at the guard walking beside him. I’d never seen him before. “Is he new too?”
Cheyenne shrugged. “Probably. Don’t know, don’t care.”
“So what do you think?” Chanel asked, nudging me in the side.
“Well, Nelly.” I watched Mr. Thomas raise a rather elegant hand to open the teacher’s lounge door.
And I saw it. Hanging on his wrist was a black bracelet with white letters, four red misfits that spelled the word out. It was another FADE bracelet, one nearly identical to Cadell Tright’s.
My mouth dropped open. Mr. Thomas disappeared through the door just as the dark-skinned guard went to follow him. He had a bracelet, too. I almost got mowed over by a burly football player as I stared, and Cheyenne yanked me out of the way last minute. “Jeez!” She laughed. “I warned you to be prepared!”
They’re watching. Hayden was right. Something here must’ve caught their attention, but what? FADE hunted faeries, not humans. What could be here in a high school that they wanted? Were there other multigenics, like Hayden and Drake? Then of course there was Adrian. If for some reason he was still hunting me… it’d lead him here. It was the one place I wasn’t around Hayden. Out in the open, like a deer away from her herd. A mouse in the moonlight.
“Ros
e? Hellooo?” Cheyenne waved a hand over my face.
“Oh—sorry.” I shook my head, willing my worries to leave.
She threw her head back and laughed. “You’re so funny! I told you he was cute!”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “Cute…”
*
“Since I have to be to work early, Drake’s driving you to school in the morning,” Hayden decided Sunday evening. He was uptight, like he had been for the
past couple of days now.
I’d hid FADE’s invasion from him until Friday had arrived, only because I
wanted to see if the security guard and Mr. Thomas’s stay was temporary, if they
were some kind of substitutes and were leaving the school soon.
They weren’t.
“Fine. Whatever,” I said, voice emotionless. I was on Myspace while talking,
reading a message from Lea. I’d asked him why Hayden looked so tired this week,
and Lea spilled the beans: Hayden had been spending long evenings in the city…
prowling for Adrian.
Don’t worry Rose. He hasn’t found anything. He’s probably just panicking a little—he really doesn’t want anything happening to you.
I read Lea’s message again, chewing my lip. The phone line was silent as I decided whether to attack Hayden on this right now or not. He said he wasn’t going
to go looking for his father. Why had he lied to me? Why had he hid it from me? In the end, I decided now wasn’t the time—one, because I was too tired, and
two, I didn’t like the negative tension between us. It hadn’t happened during the
duration of our friendship yet. I hated knowing he was mad at me. It made me
fearful with stupid little thoughts that he would leave.
“Rose,” he said after a long silence.
“What?”
“… I miss you.”
My heart fluttered like a bird free from its cage. Suddenly all the fear, tension
that radiated through the phone was gone, and I wished he was sitting beside me
at the computer. “I miss you more.”
He chuckled. “I doubt that… and I’ll take a late lunch so I can pick you up
A Taste of Silver Page 26