Chapter 5 #2
“Of course I do.” Jamison’s face darkened.
“I mean, we weren’t friends, but it wasn’t that big of a school.
When Zach and Peter died in the car accident, and then you and Alana dropped out to homeschool or whatever, your desks went untouched for the rest of the year.
Like we were always waiting for you to come back, but I felt like all I could see were your four empty spaces. ”
Dessa winced, the cover story clashing with her painful memories of the truth. How she wished it had been as simple as all that. She wiped a hand over her face and cleared her throat, clawing for some semblance of normalcy. “Uh, yeah, it was a rough year.”
She thought of Carly now missing. Of Zach still missing. Of Alana somewhere in a long-term care facility in California, never to speak another word, and Peter cold in the ground.
Tears burned in her eyes, and she forced her focus back to the computer screen, trying to keep her voice from shaking. “But anyways, how did we start talking about this?”
“Um…” At least Jamison had the decency to look away as he kicked at the carpet. “The Vampire said something about an Uncanny.”
“Right.” Dessa’s lips twisted into a grimace, but she had to give him something.
“Uncle Brad is an Uncanny. It’s why he runs this office.
Uncannies are a rare subset of Magickers that are immune to Vampire and Were-venom, and can sense magic in others.
The other factions see Uncannies as both one of them, but also apart, like an impartial judge. ”
“Oh, cool.” Jamison snatched a pen from the desk and twirled it between his fingers. “Does he have any Magicker abilities?”
“He does,” Dessa conceded. “But as a rule, Uncannies, even more so than Magickers, generally don’t reveal their abilities unless they absolutely have to. The element of surprise is a huge advantage.”
“Seriously?” Jamison groaned as he paced behind her desk. “All of these secrets are going to kill me.”
Dessa glanced over her shoulder at him. “I don’t exactly see you being forthcoming about whatever magic you’ve got clinging to you.”
“Wait.” Jamison’s head jerked up, his gaze sharp and almost wild. “Did Brad tell you that?” Dessa hesitated, and Jamison’s brows shot high. “No, you’re an Uncanny too then.”
Ugh. She really was sloppy. No use denying it now.
Dessa hadn’t meant to show her hand so early, but she was unused to the changed boundaries of the PC.
Though her tongue was freer here than in the Nesci world, she had to remember there were things she still needed to hide.
Her more than anyone—even if she didn’t want to.
Jamison leaned forward with a searching, almost desperate gaze. “That means you can feel the magic, right? Do you know what it is?”
Dessa cleared her throat and turned back to her computer, trying to concentrate on the updated web layout. “Um, no. Sorry, I don’t. I’ve never felt anything like it before.”
Frustration burned off of Jamison in hot waves, and he walked away, loosing a string of colorful swears under his breath. Interesting, so he didn’t know what it was either? How did that even happen?
The computer screen distracted her as the updates from the other AzRIO locations finally loaded, and she scrolled through them. Nothing. She widened her search and scrolled again.
“Well…” She leaned back in her chair and blew out a breath. “There’s only been two changes in the entire country since Carly disappeared—one Vampire, one Werewolf—and the pictures aren’t a close match at all. Likewise for the two dozen or so new community members in the Southeast U.S.”
Jamison was over her shoulder once again, nearly cheek to cheek with her as he peered at the computer screen. “So either she wasn’t turned, they didn’t register her, or she fled the country.”
“All of which, unfortunately, are possibilities.” Dessa pulled up the video of Carly with the Were boys again and clicked into Melba’s facial recognition software that showed their names and addresses.
“But you don’t think she actually left,” Jamison said, and Dessa glanced sideways at him. He was right of course, but she had no idea how he’d picked up on it so quickly. Maybe she hadn’t given him enough credit. Either that, or her poker face was seriously rusty. Probably both.
“Did you know Carly by any chance?” she asked.
Jamison shrugged. “I mean, I think I’ve seen her around town, or saw her with her siblings way back when, but none of your friends ever gave me the time of day.”
“Don’t take it personally. When there are only four Magickers in your class, you tend to stick together, but Carly was always the sweetest kid.
After Peter died”—another stab in her chest—“and Alana, um, changed, her parents wanted to get as far away from town as possible, but Carly convinced them to stay until she graduated.” She fast-forwarded through the Jowetts’ interview after Carly went missing—their anger and devastation flashing out at three times speed.
“After what happened to Peter and Alana, this is her parents’ worst nightmare. ”
“So if it wasn’t them…” Jamison rolled his neck in a slow circle. “Then I guess we have to go talk to a Werewolf.”
“We?” Dessa swiveled in her chair and crossed her arms. “Don’t you think it’s enough that you already pissed off a Vampire today? Now you want to go double or nothing with a Were?”
Jamison fished a folded paper square out of his pocket and waved it around. “But now I’ve read the pamphlet, and I’m all set. Besides…” He leaned closer with a stupidly perfect smile, his cheeks dimpling. “I’m shadowing you, remember?”
“He’s right, Dessa Blue.” Melba sipped on her sweet tea, legs folded beneath her in her chair, watching them with a thoughtful expression.
“While I don’t blame you for your hesitation, if he’s going to learn, you’ve got to take him.
You need someone else in the field anyway.
I’m too old to go out there, and…” She cast a doubtful glance in Arthur’s direction, her expression forecasting exactly zero odds that they’d get him out from behind his computer.
The memories of bringing her childhood friends into AzRIO business tightened around her chest like a nest of pythons.
The decade-old laughter of Alana, Peter, and Zach practically rang in her ears as they talked about what a lark it would be to solve the neighborhood’s problems. What a dream team they were.
How one day, they would take over AzRIO and run the town themselves.
How stupid they’d been.
Someone cleared their throat, and Dessa snapped from the sepia remembrance to find Arthur standing in front of her, his face serious beneath his bushy brows. Someone needed to trim those things before they merged into his hairline.
“Um, yes?”
“Don’t forget if you’re going into the field, you’ll need to write an activity report afterwards and email it out to the office distribution list. If I don’t receive it within forty-eight hours after you return, it’s late.” With that, he spun around and zipped back to his desk.
Activity reports. Right. A good reminder that not everything about the job was glamorous.
Still, something about it had her lips quirking up.
Maybe because it wasn’t until this moment that she really felt like she was back at the job.
That maybe the Aiden start-up debacle had happened in a different life to a different person.
Even with his apology texts clogging her phone, she’d managed to not think about the implosion of their relationship for the last hour. After all, a break-up and a job transfer were surely small-fry trifles compared to a missing woman and the omnipresent danger of man-eating neighbors.
Her thoughts too big to speak aloud—especially with Jamison making a paper airplane out of his AzRIO guide on her desk—she typed them into their office communicator instead.
Dessa Blue: What are the chances that I’d come back into town after Carly disappeared?
Melba: Ha. You’ve lived here long enough to know it’s not chance. That’s fate winking at you.
Dessa pursed her lips, her mother’s similar words ringing in her ears. Personally, the idea of being a barely functioning marionette in a rather melodramatic puppet production of the world didn’t sit well with her.
Dessa Blue: I don’t think fate likes me that much. I think it’s more like fate giving me the finger.
Melba: Either way, it’s not really something you can ignore, is it?
Melba peeked out from her monitor with a smile, and Dessa couldn’t help but return it.
Even if this old life was a bit of a mess, maybe she could do some good here by starting a new chapter. Maybe before she got a chance at a true fresh start, she had to tie up these loose ends first.
If she was being perfectly honest, she wasn’t in a position to turn down help either way.
Even from Jamison Kane.
“Okay, fine, you can come along,” she conceded, picking up her phone.
Jamison’s face lit up, and for a moment, Dessa was back in high school before that darkest October, sitting in English class. The popular boy had just smiled at her, and she had to turn away to hide a grin. Even unshaven and shaggy, he was too attractive for his own good.
“All right!” Jamison sent his paper airplane sailing across the office. “My first Werewolf field trip. I can’t wait to tell them the Vampires said they could win in a fight.”
Dessa glared at him, and he winked as his airplane crashed directly into Arthur’s desk. Arthur looked at it like a biohazard had been dropped on his keyboard, and Dessa struggled to keep a straight face.
“Just kidding, Blue. I read your notes.”
“Sure you did. Just remember, when you’re on Werewolf territory, the fine for a provoked mauling is even less.
” She lifted her phone, her smile curling at the corners as he paled.
If there was anything that could scare him into quitting, an angry Werewolf was probably it.
And it certainly didn’t take much to spin them up.
Perhaps this field trip could be helpful after all.
“So here’s your first real lesson. If you want to talk to a Were-boy, first you have to call their alpha.
Because if a Were’s going to kill you, it’ll probably be them. ”