Playing With Fire Page 9

  Aaron peered at the picture too, studying it.

  Bianca held the phone closer, almost cradled it. “Dirk is so grown up. I can’t believe how much.”

  “Yeah,” Ryker said with a grunt. “Dirk’s all grown up and taking over the world.”

  Dr. B sent him a stern look then returned his attention to Bianca. “I spent the last five summers with Dirk. You’ll think I’m making this up, but he reminds me of Nathan. He has the same humor, charm, and I believe he has the same goodness, too.”

  Nathan was Dr. B’s brother, a Slayer killed by Overdrake’s father when he was only thirteen years old. It occurred to Tori that Bianca must have known Nathan, must have known what happened to him. Tears brimmed in Bianca’s eyes, then ran down her cheeks. She didn’t bother wiping them away.

  “I don’t think you’re making it up. That’s how Dirk was as a boy.”

  Dr. B extended a hand as if to comfort her, then seemed to think better of it. “I don’t want to hurt Dirk. If anything, I want to get him away from Brant. Certainly, you must want to help me do that?”

  Bianca didn’t take her eyes off Dirk’s picture. “I don’t know where Brant is.” Her voice had a note of suffering, of fear. “We used to live in Winchester, Virginia. On Dirk’s eighth birthday, I went back again. I thought Brant would let me see him, but I found new people living in the house. They said he’d moved to Louisiana.”

  He hadn’t. Overdrake must have just bought a new house in the same city, because Dirk had still been living in Winchester until last month when they’d found out who he was.

  Dr. B nodded at the information. “We’re aware of the compounds in Winchester. But thank you for sharing that information.” He took his phone from her. “Tell me your number, and I’ll send you Dirk’s picture.”

  She hesitated, thinking over the request.

  Dr. B let out a laugh, one that almost sounded amused. “Are you worried about giving it to me? If I need to contact you, wouldn’t you rather I called instead of dropping by your house again?”

  That seemed to convince her. She told him the number.

  Good. That meant Tori could talk to Dr. B later about whether she should give Bianca Dirk’s contact information or vice-versa.

  While Dr. B forwarded the picture he said, “I apologize for the state we’ve left your living room in. I’d stay and clean up, but I need to return the Slayers to their homes.” He slipped the phone into his pocket. “If you need to relocate, I can help make sure Brant doesn’t find you.”

  Bianca put her arm around Aaron, her composure coming back. “We’ll be fine.”

  She and Dr. B stared at each other silently for another moment. Tori wasn’t sure what passed between them, but theirs was the gaze of people who knew each other well, and were calculating strategies.

  “I’d like to talk to you later,” Dr. B finally said. “Perhaps we could find ways to mutually benefit each other.”

  Her lack of enthusiasm at the suggestion was apparent, but she forced a smile. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  And then, as though it had really been a normal visit, the Slayers left through the front door. Tori was the last one out. Before she left, she turned around and looked back.

  Bianca’s arms were around Aaron, her face buried into him. She was crying, her shoulders shaking. As Aaron watched the Slayers leave, his expression reminded Tori of one of Dirk’s: Firm resolve.

  Perhaps Tori had some sort of counterpart skill with Aaron too, because she knew what he was thinking.

  I’ll learn everything about you I can, and next time, I’ll protect my mother. I won’t let any of you ever bother her again.

  Tori didn’t go out the doorway. “We’re not your enemies.”

  “Could have fooled me,” he said.

  “We’re just trying to protect the country from dragons.”

  “Yeah,” he said. “They’re a huge problem. I often think, If only someone would do something about our country’s dragon infestation. I can’t walk to school without batting one away.”

  He was determined to be their enemy. It felt like losing Dirk all over again. The other Slayers were already making their way to the van, but Tori turned off her mic and walked back to Aaron.

  When he saw her come back inside, he straightened, and Bianca looked up, startled. “What do you want?” she asked.

  Tori hated that they were afraid of her, although she couldn’t blame them. She was an unknown assailant in a helmet. She did the only thing she could think of to lessen their fear; she took off her helmet and let them see her face, her expression, her eyes.

  “I was Dirk’s friend,” she said. “I mean, I’m still his friend.” Instead of explaining more, she said, “I want to see if Aaron has counterpart abilities like Dirk.”

  “If I what?” Aaron asked.

  Bianca said nothing. She stared at Tori, incredulous.

  Tori pulled off a glove. Back at camp, she hadn’t known she was Dirk’s counterpart right away. It wasn’t until the third day when they’d touched, that her senses had zeroed in on him, bonded with him as though she’d known him all her life. No, that wasn’t right. It was before they’d touched. With her eyes closed, she’d still known where he was.

  “Shut your eyes,” she told Aaron. “I’m going to hold up my hand, and I want you to tell me where it is.”

  From over the earpiece she heard Jesse say, “Where’s Tori?” She didn’t have much time until someone came back for her.

  Aaron didn’t shut his eyes. Instead he cocked an eyebrow at her. “Why do you want me to tell you where your hand is? Don’t you already know where it is?”

  Tori let out an aggravated sigh. “Hey, let me be the first to tell you that you’re as smart-mouthed as your brother. Just do it. I’m seeing if you’re like him in other ways.”

  “Counterpart abilities?” Bianca asked. “What are those?”

  From her earpiece, Jesse said, “Tori, where are you?”

  She flicked on her mic. “Talking to Aaron. Be there in a second.” She turned the mic back off. She didn’t have time for explanations. “Shut your eyes.”

  Aaron did, then flinched and jerked them open again. “What the . . .”

  “What?” Tori and Bianca asked together. Bianca came around to better see his face.

  Aaron looked from Tori to his mother. “Nothing,” he said.

  Liar. Something had freaked him out. Tori didn’t have time to question him about it.

  “I can tell you’re lying,” she said. “Now let me show you that you can tell when I’m lying too. Shut your eyes again and don’t open them.”

  He did, this time bracing himself. Tori held her hand a few inches in front of his shoulder. “Do you know where my hand is?”

  “Um, I’m guessing it’s still at the end of your arm?”

  He was worse than Dirk; he was a twelve-year-old version of Dirk. “Is that a no?”

  When Dirk had done the test with her, she’d known exactly where his hand was. In fact, she'd raised hers and put it exactly against his, matching every finger with his. But perhaps only two people could be counterparts. Perhaps the right genes were only one aspect of it.

  With his eyes still shut, he pointed to Tori’s hand.

  Tori smiled. “Open your eyes.”

  He did and blinked in surprise. “How did I know?”

  “You knew,” Tori said, “because we’ve got counterpart abilities. When I’m close, you’ll know where I am. You’ll also know if I’m not telling the truth. So believe me when I tell you, the Slayers aren’t your enemies.”

  Bianca shook her head, her lips pressed into a tight line. “We’re supposed to believe you just because Aaron could tell where your hand was? You’ll excuse me for remaining skeptical.”

  Tori heard footsteps approaching the doorway. “T-bird, what are you doing?” Dr. B sounded horrified. Most likely because she’d taken her helmet off and revealed who she was.

  She hadn’t expected him—the maker an
d worrier about all the rules—to be the one who came back for her. She put her helmet on and headed for the door. “Coming. Sorry.”

  Dr. B stood there, waiting until she went out. He didn’t speak until Tori was half way across the lawn, so he probably didn’t mean for her to hear him speak to Bianca, but she had exceptional hearing. Dragon hearing. Thank you, DNA.

  “Now you know one of my secrets,” Dr. B said. “I trust you’ll keep it as well as I keep yours.”

  “The senator’s daughter was never here,” Bianca replied.

  “Who?” Aaron asked.

  “Never mind,” Bianca said. “We have things to talk about.”

  Chapter 9

  Tori climbed in the van and leaned her head against the seat. The mission had been a failure, and Bianca had recognized her. Still, Tori didn’t regret coming. If the Slayers hadn’t found Aaron, Overdrake eventually would have. Now at least Aaron wouldn’t do stupid things to attract attention to himself, like selling more dragon scales.

  Knowing he was a counterpart was such an odd thing. She’d just met Aaron, and already she felt a protective streak for him. She’d have to do her best to dismiss the feeling. She would probably never see him again.

  Dr. B started the van. “Seatbelts on?” The question was typical. Dr. B could lead them into danger one moment, and then turn into a concerned parent the next. As he pulled away from the curb, he called Kody and told him to release Rudolpho. No point detaining him longer. The address hadn’t been a bluff.

  The Slayers all took off their helmets, which were too hot and stuffy to keep on. Ryker glanced over his shoulder at the receding house. “We’re not really going to just leave, are we? We need to post some sort of watch, keep those two under surveillance.”

  “Why?” Bess asked, running a hand through her hair to smooth it down. “Do you think they know something they didn’t tell us?”

  “The kid is a dragon lord,” Ryker replied as though it were obvious. “That means he’s potentially dangerous. We can’t let random dragon lords wander around.”

  Rosa and Bess both glanced at Tori, then awkwardly looked away. Tori had never admitted to anyone except Jesse and Dr. B that she was half dragon lord, but she wondered if the others suspected. After all, they knew she was Dirk’s counterpart.

  “Not all dragon lords are evil,” Rosa put in.

  Ryker took off his gloves and laid them on the seat. “It’s not a matter of being evil; it’s a matter of genetics. Dragon lords want to protect dragons, and we have to kill them. Overdrake could find out about Aaron and use him. If we’re not careful, the kid could turn into a huge liability. We might end up fighting three dragons at a time. We have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  Dr. B cast a look at the Slayers through the rearview mirror. “Captains? What are your thoughts?”

  Jesse unbuttoned his jacket, his dark eyes serious. “Being a dragon lord doesn’t automatically make someone a liability. People choose whether to work for the good of society or against it.”

  From the passenger seat, Lilly rolled her eyes. “Says the guy who is dating a dragon lordess.” She turned to Dr. B. “Come on, you can’t have the captains decide this issue when one of them is a dragon lord.”

  “Dragon lords are always men,” Bess reminded her. “The genes don’t pass down to women. Tori can’t be one.”

  If the other Slayers agreed, they would have jumped to Tori’s defense. But no one said anything. Perhaps they felt the same way about her that Ryker did about Aaron—that she might be a liability.

  Dr. B pulled up to a stop sign and looked around the van before proceeding through the intersection. “Have any of you had a reason to doubt Tori’s loyalties?”

  “Yes,” Lilly said. “I doubted them when I found out she was a dragon lord.”

  A flash of anger went through Tori. “I doubt your intelligence all of the time, but I try not to hold that against you.”

  “Tori’s a Slayer,” Jesse said firmly.

  Bess tossed her helmet on the van floor. “Lilly’s hair bleach is too strong. It’s killed off her brain cells.”

  Lilly started to respond to that, but Dr. B cut her off. “Stop it, all of you,” he snapped, showing more anger than he had all day. “Your best defense will always be unity. Lose that, and you’ll lose everything.”

  No one said anything for a few moments. Bess glared at Lilly, something that seemed to have no effect on her. She stared back at Bess with self-righteous dignity. Rosa and Willow kept sending Tori sympathetic glances, which somehow made her feel worse. Jesse looked out the window, clenching his jaw in agitation, although she wasn’t sure what he was upset about—Tori being a dragon lord, or Lilly trying to out her for being one.

  “Has Tori done anything,” Dr. B asked, composed again, “that makes any of you question her loyalties?”

  A chorus of “No” went around the van.

  Lilly said, “Dirk didn’t do anything to make us question his loyalties, but then he led us into a trap.”

  Bess leaned back in her seat. “I have it on good authority that Tori isn’t Overdrake’s kid. In fact, I’m pretty sure we all know who her father is.”

  “I’m not being mean,” Lilly insisted, raising her voice to emphasize the point. “I’m just saying that genetics make us who we are. We can’t ignore that fact. Especially not when it comes to dragon lords.”

  “Genetics don’t make us who we are,” Jesse maintained. “Our choices do. Tori helped kill two dragons, and she unmasked Dirk. She’s one of us.”

  Tori wanted to agree that her genetics didn’t matter, to claim she was only a Slayer. She knew that everyone expected her to say at least that much in her own defense, but the memory of the last dragon attack was repeating in her mind. When the dragon had come after her, she had a clear shot at the dragon’s heart—just for one second—and she hadn’t taken it. Somehow she couldn’t bring herself to kill the dragon, and she’d nearly paid for that mistake with her life.

  She relived that moment sometimes, horrified at how close she’d come to death. If she found herself in that situation again, would she act differently? What if someone else’s life had hung in the balance? What if Jesse hadn’t been there to shoot the dragon before it reached her? Well, there was no ambiguity about that one. The dragon would have killed her.

  Would some genetic part of her short circuit all reasoning during the next attack? “I’m not going to betray any of you or join up with Overdrake,” she finally said.

  “Okay,” Ryker said, impatient, “We all love Tori. We’re agreed on that. Now what do we do about dragon lord junior back there?”

  Shang pulled off his gloves and laid them neatly across his lap. “We watch him. Dr. B should put some people on surveillance.”

  “And do what?” Bess asked. “Slap his hand if he does anything pro dragon?”

  Jesse looked upward, thinking. “We should keep track of him for his own protection. Make sure Overdrake doesn’t find him.”

  Rosa slid her helmet under her seat. “We already asked Bianca if she wanted our help keeping away from Overdrake. She said no. What more can we do?”

  “It’s like eating vegetables,” Ryker said. “We force our help on them for their own good.”

  “Time for broccoli,” Bess agreed.

  “Willow?” Dr. B said, “What’s your opinion?”

  She shrugged, making a section of her curly blonde hair slide off her shoulder. “I’ve only been a Slayer for a few weeks. I don’t know what to do.”

  Dr. B shook his head, refusing to accept her answer. “Ryker hasn’t been a Slayer any longer than you have, and he has an opinion.”

  “That’s because he has an opinion about everything,” Willow said.

  “And I’m usually right,” Ryker added.

  Lilly looked back toward the neighborhood. “He’s right this time, anyway. We’ve got to keep track of the kid.”

  “Captains?” Dr. B asked. “What are your official positions?”r />
  Bess let her head tip backward on the seat. “Is this one of those training moments when you ask people’s opinions and then end up telling us why we’re wrong? Because if it is, could you just cut to the chase?”

  Dr. B didn’t answer her. “Jesse?”

  “It won’t hurt to watch him,” he said.

  “Unless he figures out we’re watching him,” Tori put in, “and then he’ll think we’re invasive, or dangerous, or just plain creepy. We don’t want him to see us as the enemy.”

  “Newsflash,” Lilly said. “We are his enemy. And by the way, what were you doing in the house after we left?”

  Tori unzipped her jacket. “I was trying to convince him that we’re not the enemy.”

  Lilly waved a hand in Tori’s direction, her black fingernails flicking the air. “See, this is exactly what I was talking about. It’s genetic. She’s making friends with other dragon lords.”

  Tori ignored her. “My opinion as a team captain is that we should train Aaron.”

  “As a Slayer?” Jesse asked, surprised.

  “No,” Tori said, letting her gaze fall on each of her friends so they would know she was serious. “I think we should train him to be a dragon lord.”

  She didn’t get to say anything else, because everyone started speaking on top of one another.

  “Are you crazy?” That was Ryker.

  “Yeah,” Bess said, “let’s tell him our secrets so he can pull another Dirk on us.”

  Shang shook his head, lips pursed in disapproval. “Bad idea. Excessively bad.”

  “Told you so,” Lilly said. Apparently she’d told the other Slayers many things about Tori and was enjoying being right about all of them.

  Tori held up her hands to stop the barrage. “Has it ever occurred to you that we don’t need to kill the dragons to win?”

  Bess let out a moan and rubbed her eyes. “I can’t believe this. I finally agree with Lilly about something.” She sent Tori a firm look. “Of course we need to kill the dragons. They’re weapons that will be used against us and every person in this nation. But mostly against us.”