“She was poisoned at the academy.” Dad lets out his breath in a soft huff. “It’s simple enough. There’s a facility in one of the government offices I could suggest they use instead. I’m sure Nigel would agree. They’d have more resources there and be able to set up whatever equipment they like in a more controlled environment. A win for everyone.”
A faint thrum of energy has come into his voice, one that sends a more welcome quiver over my skin. That’s the power of his glim: bringing people together, finding solutions that satisfy all sides.
All sides except Ms. Lupul’s, apparently.
She rests a slender hand on his sleeve, her pose still easy but her eyes intent on his face. “I don’t think it’s necessary to go that far. What will it mean for Elodie’s future if you give the impression that she needs her father to fight her battles for her even now? You could harm her prospects over what’s really a very small risk.”
“We don’t know how small it is,” Dad says.
Ms. Lupul keeps going before he can expand his protest. “And what’s really best forher? Do you want her to go through life cringing at threats and hiding behind you? Wouldn’t it serve her better to show you’re confident in her abilities, to give her the self-assurance she’ll need to face everything this world will throw at her?”
She’s good; I’ll give her that. Something about her words worms through my skull, and for a secondI’malmost convinced that I’d be happier if Dad sent me off into the lion’s den with just a pat on my shoulder.
And I’m just watching from afar without her even knowing I’m here.
Before my eyes, the worry lines on Dad’s face smooth out. His shoulders ease down.
He swipes at his mouth. “I hadn’t thought about it that way.”
Ms. Lupul gives his arm a gentle squeeze. “You went straight to defensive mode because you care about her so much. It’s a credit to you as a father. But because you do care so much, it’s also important to consider the bigger picture. The standard you’re setting for the rest of her life.”
The muscles in my arms flex. I can see that she’s winning him over, talking him down, and I doubt it’s only through honest persuasion. There’s magic in the mix, possibly her glim countering his.
My limbs ache to march over there and cut through her bullshit. To tell Dad I don’t want anything to do with this stupid, hazardous training exercise or his treacherous consultant. To throw her scheming in her face.
Except I don’t know if I could actually do that.
Willmyprotests be strong enough to overwhelm whatever power she’s working on him? I get the sense she could spin my accusations into proof that I need to face my fears or some crap like that.
And then she’ll know thatIknow. The only advantage I still have is that she and Gwyn and whoever else is in their group don’t realize I’m on to them.
How far will they go if they find out their cover is blown? How swiftly will they move to eliminate me?
I don’t even know how big this group is, how many other lucents they’ve swayed to their side…
I need to think. I can’t rush into anything. Not unless I want to put Dad’s life on the line next to my own.
As I creep back to the house, my lungs clench up. The towering mansion has always intimidated me, but at least it’s felt somewhat secure.
Now… how can I say I’m safe even within those walls? One of my enemies has been pouring her own kind of poison into my dad’s ears.
Is it because of her and her colleagues that Aunt Daphne is still AWOL?
The sudden, chilling question has me pulling my phone from my pocket. I type out a hasty text to Daphne’s number.
When are you coming home? Could use your help. Problems getting bigger.
I don’t know if it’s safe to write more than that in case our enemies are monitoring her communications. But if she does still have access to her phone, surely she’ll reply?
As I wait, I walk past the house and out to the road. A restless tug pulls me on down the street, away from the woman who’s weaseled her way into my family.
If Ms. Lupul is so set on keeping me involved in tomorrow night’s event, it must be even more important—and dangerous—than I imagined. What do she and Professor Jovak and whoever else have planned for me at the park?
How can I expose those plans so they’ll face real justice? Whatever trick Salvatore came up with wasn’t enough, but if we had concrete proof, if the right people saw with their own eyes…
The houses have passed in a blur. I register the scrape of my shoes over the sidewalk pavement, the rhythm of my strides, and my mind trips back to a similar walk I took nearly a month ago.
I set off into the dark that past night to lure out my attacker, never imagining it’d be Kenneth who took the bait.