Chameleon (16 page)

C
hapter 15

I shifted into Fin.

My bushy strands thinned into bl
onde and sank into my skull. Fin’s luscious cream complexion extended over my body. My biceps curled into firm muscle. I raced into Wiz’s bathroom, found some grease and smoothed it against my face. Next, I changed my shirt and then gazed into Wiz’s mirror. A bald headed and greased up Fin stared back at me.

I’d never mimicked her before, and especially not in Haven.
There was always a threat that she could be around, which would freak everyone out if we were both spotted at the same time. I believed if two Fins appeared, the kids would just simply lynch us, beat and pound on our skin, and toss us over the roof without wondering why there were two Fins in the first place. Street kids didn’t survive street life by investigating peculiarities. It was best to injure the problem and sprint to safety.

I bobbed to the door in
Fin’s classic swagger. It was a mixture of an I-am-the-coolest and I-will-cut-you attitudes. It helped her keep people from approaching her and shielded her in an armor of confidence. Most believed she was crazy. Others thought she had sense but never wanted to mess with her to find out if she really ended up being crazy. Sighing, I opened the door and prepared myself to talk like Fin.

When the door wrenched open, t
he three kids looked surprised and taken aback.

“
Fin? How long you been in there?” Fuego peeked into Wiz’s apartment.

“Chill.” I block
ed him from peering in any further. “Cameo is showering. I’m about to grab some food for her on the roof. You know how she is, all uppity and such.”

Fuego nodded. “But when did you get in here?”

“I climbed through the window, had to check to make sure those kiddies on the ground were on guard.” I closed the door behind me.

The kids backed up and kept the machetes in front of them.

“What?” I asked.

“It’s just. . .” Fuego looked to the others to step in and talk for him, but no one came to his rescue. “Wiz said to make sure that no one else stepped out of the room.”

“What does that even mean?” I laughed.

Fuego gave off a nervous chuckle. “I have no idea.”

“Look. If it will make you feel better, throw some dirt at me, spray water, say the words ‘what was hidden now is seen.’” I raised my hands in the air. They jumped back. I laughed again, loud and confident like Fin tended to laugh. “But make sure you don’t get my grease too dirty.”

“So you climbed into the room from the side of the building?” the girl displayed a weak smile.

“Yeah. I had to make sure those little ones were paying attention.”

“Did they piss their pants when they saw you?” Fuego
chuckled. The other two kids joined in.

“Of course.”
I leaned on the door, knowing that if I tried to rush out without talking to them then it would seem suspicious. Fin made it her point to get to know everyone in Haven. I’d joked with her that she acted like she was running for Haven president. “So remember, don’t let anyone in. I’ll be back soon unless I get into an emergency, then Miss Uppity is going to have to wait on her lunch.”

“Shoot.
Don’t worry. We won’t let anyone in. We aren’t trying to get on Wiz’s bad side,” one of the kids behind Fuego said. “He finally went crazy and trapped the Ice Princess up.”

There goes that name again.
I hadn’t decided if I liked the nickname or not, being that people only said it behind my back.

“Can you believe last night?” Fuego shook his head. “No chick will come near him after that. Poor Destiny cried all night on the roof.”

“What did he do?” I moved around them so that Wiz’s door was behind them and far enough away from me.

“What do you mean what did he do? You’re the one who shot her.” Fuego held his hand up to high five me. “That girl’s foot will heal in a week
, but it sure was funny.”

Oh goddess. Fin shot Destiny in the foot.

“Yeah. I probably shouldn’t have done that.” I backed up.

“Who cares?” Fuego waved me away. “Wiz
definitely didn’t care which was why Destiny cried all night. Shoot. I couldn’t believe Destiny demanded that he punish you. Once he had Mic and them to cart Destiny to the hospital and you left with Rich. Wiz went all crazy searching for the Ice Princess, looking sad and what not. Glad he found her. I don’t like to see Wiz sad.”

“Yep.” I
eased down the hallway some more. “I don’t like to see Wiz sad either. I’ll catch you all later.”

“
Alright Fin!” They called back in unison as I rushed down the hallway and toward the entrance to the roof. The sun brightened on my creamy skin, well Fin’s creamy skin. No rain appeared in sight. The day looked like it would be a nice sky blue one with not much heat. I searched the roof frantically, head shifting side to side. Lots of kids crowded the area, waiting in line for lunch. There were no campfires or smoke, so lunch must have been sandwiches. A couple others played cards on the side. A younger group was with a teen learning how to use the brick climbers on the side. I’d seen the unofficial course before and always freaked out when the kids began learning how to scale the brick walls, but so far no broken legs or arms came out of the training. I checked the other roofs with my eyes.
No Fin. Not yet at least.
I rushed through the roof, dodging and ducking around kids.

“There you go
, Fin.” Rich approached my side. “Were you in Cameo’s room all night after I left you there to go off with Wiz?”

“Yeah.” I reached the ledge, climbed up, and leaped over. He followed.
I sucked my teeth. “I have something to do, Rich.”

“What?”
Rich captured my elbow and towed me to him. “Am I supposed to pretend like I didn’t kiss you two nights ago and last night?”

Oh boy. This is awkward.

“There are bigger things happening now. I have lots of things to do. Let’s deal with this later.”

Rich licked his lips. “I
’ve been thinking about last night’s kiss all morning. You’re lips are so soft.”

I
swallowed in embarrassment for him and me. “So. . .I’m going to go on an errand real quick—”

“We’re all ordered to watch Cameo while Wiz does his thing.”

“And what does he have to do?”

“Kill someone.” Rich moved in to kiss me. I jerked back.

“Who?” I feigned interests and tried to put some space between us.

“
He’s going to kill a dangerous guy.” Rich wrapped his hands around my waist. “You smell so good, Fin. What do I have to do to make you my girlfriend? I asked Tina. She approves of you and me getting together.”

I shoved his hands away. “
So I really have to get this stuff done because. . .lots of people need it. Plus I have to meet someone about this thing and I’m almost late.”

Rich sneered. “
Is this someone Stan?”

Oh goddess. I’m not going to get a break today.

“No, it’s not Stan. I’m not into him.”

“
Then who is it?”

“None of your business.”

“Am I wasting my time trying to talk to you?” Rich looked away. “Should I move on?”

“I don’t know. Let’s talk about this later.”
When I’m not Fin and you’re talking to the real one.
“I’m doing something that has nothing to do with you or Stan.”

“Did Wiz ask you to do this?”

“Yes.” I edged away and climbed out of his arms in a way that I hoped seemed casual. “I’m worried about Wiz. He’s acting different.”

“He’s fine.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“I’ve known him a long time.” He
steeped my way, embraced me, and ignored how my body stiffened under him. “If I told you how long I’ve known him you wouldn’t believe me.”

Interesting. Maybe Rich could tell me something.

“Tell me.” I kissed his cheek and struggled with not scrunching my face in horror.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?” I twirled the end of one of his braids.

“Because I would kill him
.” Wiz’s voice sounded behind me. I didn’t even turn around

I’m really starting to get ti
red of Wiz sneaking up and scaring me.

“Hey, Wiz. What’s up?” Rich raised his eyebrows. I got behind Rich. Wiz targeted me with his eyes.
We all stayed quiet.

“You get
B.D.?” Rich interrupted the silence.

“No. He got away.” Wiz tilted to the side to see me. “And
how are you doing,
Fin
?”

“Fine. I have some errands to run.”

“Oh really. Well, I need to tell you something in my apartment.” He stepped around Rich. “Why don’t you come back with me?”

He definitely knows
it’s me. Why does he always know?

“Th
is is my. . .free time. Plus I am doing something that you asked me to do.” I formed my fingers into fists. He glanced at them and then shifted his view back to my face.

“And what w
ill you be doing while you’re done with my tasks and. . .free?”

“Staying out of trouble.” I backed up.

“And away from a certain guy?” Rage glittered in Wiz’s eyes.

“What guy?” Rich shrieked.
I forgot he still thought I was Fin. However, we ignored Rich.

“Yes. I’ll stay away from him
, master.” I executed a dramatic bow.

“Then you can go.” Wiz’s
lips twitched at the corners.

“What’s going on between you two?” Rich held his hands out to the side.
“Who don’t you want Fin to talk to? Is it Stan?”

“
There is nothing happening between Stan and me.” I moved Rich’s hand away.

“I just want Fin to be safe and not
go near a person that isn’t good for her,” Wiz said.

“Who?” Rich asked.

I exchanged a look with Wiz, not willing to try and help him with his lies.

“I’ll explain later,” Wiz said to Rich and then returned his gaze to me. “Will I see you later?”

“Yes.”

“Tonight?”

“Yes, master.” I bowed again.

Rich
fixed his gaze from Wiz to me and then back to Wiz. I climbed up onto the ledge and leaped over to the other roof, never stopping or gazing over my shoulder. The city raced by under my feet. The city’s ceiling hovered over my head. Its presence made more clear with my new circumstances. Wiz let me go because in the end, where could I really hide?

Nowhere.

No matter what mimic I wore, he recognized me. No matter how far I ran, there would be a boundary wall blocking my path to freedom. Wiz had me, anyway he desired.

The only questions now were
what did he want from me, how could I get away from him, and what was in that unexpected kiss.

Chapter 16

I spent the rest of the day researching in the library. Luckily, Eight was in school so I didn’t see him. I got the feeling that Wiz would show up if I met up with Eight.

Hours passed. I couldn’t find anything on Wiz or B.D. There was no further information on the theft of Fortimer’s trunk or anymore newspaper clippings. The lack of discovery forced me to check out other angles. By lunch, I looked for any book that discussed Fortimer’s trunk or shadow stones. As far as I was concerned, if I could learn more about how the trunk got into the habitat I could find the important piece to Wiz and B.D. Rich did say that B.D. claimed to be from the fairy realm. Maybe he brought the trunk into the habitat.

I discovered a decent amount of information, but nothing that revealed anything helpful. Fortimer escaped the fairy king’s jail with the help of the king’s assistant and during the escape Fortimer seized all of the prisoners’ shadow stones. He was never seen or captured again. However, several years later Fortimer’s trunk wound up in the Santeria Habitat.

I snatched up several books on the fairy king and his assistant too. The very idea of the fairy king experimenting with shadows so that he could wear them and shift into other people’s images flooded my head with confusion. The magic was so close to mine, so close that I had to look deeper into it. To learn about the king’s shadow research would be to gain knowledge about myself and Wiz. I knew now that Wiz and I were linked. He’d confessed that him and I were made of the same magic.
Whatever that meant.
Regardless, if he was correct, then I had roots in the fairy realm, not just my mother’s earth magic.

I never knew my dad or the other half of my beginnings, which sucked when the only parent I knew
, beat the crap out of me. That being said, no one should walk the earth not knowing who their parents are. That missing component left the definition of who I was blank in my mental biography and filled most sections with only scattered sentences of childhood fantasies to store in front of commas and periods.

The day continued with me dragging a box of books to my place and reading some more.

This may be the best book so far.

Highlighting a few sentences here and there, I flipped through more pages of the book, called “History of Magical Prison Systems.”
It provided a large section of fairy realm punishments. Apparently, fairies were the best at trapping criminals. Half of the book was dedicated to the Fairy King’s assistant’s journal entries. I read the entry the assistant made on the day the king imprisoned Fortimer.

“. . .The Fairy King deemed Fortimer evil and a danger to the realm. Fortimer had sucked in others’ magic with no restraint, leaving them as powerless husks to walk the enchanted land with no defenses. This could not go on. No one fought the King’s decision, but many experienced remorse.

‘How sad,’ all said within the hidden walls of mental conversation.

I’d searched through their minds and yanked out their somber thoughts.

How sad indeed.

A little bit of me died inside as I watched the King carry Fortimer into his cell, where he would live for all of his life within stone walls. It was wrong to imprison him, but what would be the alternative? Unlike other fairies, Fortimer’s power could not be lured out and captured in a shadow stone. Fortimer and stones were linked with the same magical theory, the same essence. And so the poor lad remained alone and far away from others as to not drink their magic away.”

“But why did Wiz trap you in his room? That’s crazy. Are you sure he wasn’t sick or drunk?” Fin asked, the real Fin, who’d broke into my room last night with shaking hands and a gun, scaring the blood out of Sasha and freaking out all of my neighbors. Not that life in Aztec Hotel set the bar for manners and polite behavior, but I didn’t like my guests freaking out people on my floor.

Once I arrived at my room, in my normal form
and with all my library books, I’d told Fin as much as I could about the shadow stone, B.D., and my new fear of Wiz. I did, however, leave out several details. I never discussed the kiss we shared, the dreams I kept having, or that Wiz is older than we think. The kissing and dreams would just gross out Fin and fill Sasha’s head with romantic ideas. The never aging part would incite them both with fear. So, not wanting to start a panic or have Fin lose her lunch I decided it was best if I left them out. I needed someone on my side who wasn’t too scared, because right now I didn’t trust Wiz.

I set my highlighter down.
“He said he didn’t want me around Eight and that he couldn’t risk me being so close to the B.D. right before my birthday.”  

“But why?” Fin raised her eyebrows.

“That’s what I’m trying to find out.” I read some more, skipping past more of the assistant’s entries and checking out the discussion on the journal.

“Many scholars have analyzed the assistant’s journal to better understand why he aided Fortimer in his escape. It is said that Fortimer was the only being in the history of the airy realm to escape the
King’s jail. Clearly the King’s assistant was not happy with poor Fortimer’s imprisonment, but none of the realm foresaw the assistant breaking his oath to the King.”

“Why doesn’t Wiz want you around Eight?” Fin asked
, grabbing my attention away from the book.

I groaned and highlighted what I’d just re
ad. Yellow lines covered the page. “No matter how many times you ask me, Fin, the answer will remain the same. I don’t know. I’m trying to find out. It’s why I’ve been reading these stupid books all day.”

“I doubt the answers are in old ripped up books.” Fin picked up her gun. Sasha and I dove to the floor with shrieks.
She rolled her eyes. “I say let’s go to Wiz and threaten him.”

“Put that gun down!” I crawled back to the door. “You promised not to grab it and if you think you can scare Wiz with a few bullets in your little pistol then you don’t know him like I do.”

Wiz’s man-eating birds flashed in my mind.

“Well I can see why Wiz doesn’t want you around this
B.D. guy. He sounds dangerous.” Fin laid the gun on my kitchen table. “But him not wanting you around Eight doesn’t make any sense at all. So what, he found the news clippings. Eight won’t harm you.”  

“Are you that dense, Fin? It’s quite obvious that Wiz likes Cameo. That’s why he doesn’t want her around Eight.” Sasha jumped back up in a blur and returned to rummaging through the bags of gowns Eight had dropped off. “Call me a hopeless romantic but I like Eight. I’m rooting for him.”

“I’m loyal to Wiz. Even though I’d shoot him if he locks Cameo up again.” Fin collapsed onto my small couch.

“This isn’t some dating game
TV show.” I skimmed some more paragraphs. “Wiz just said that stuff so I would keep my mouth shut.”

Although I hadn’t told them about the dreams I had of Wiz for so many weeks or that he confessed to actually being in those dreams.
He must’ve made all of that being in my dream stuff up anyway.
When I woke up in my bed a few days ago with my head on his chest, he’d admitted that I talked in my sleep. He could have heard me whispering about my dreams, from the color of the clouds to the feel of his lips.

Wiz d
oesn’t want me. But he does need me listening to him and working for him. How else could he get money? But he doesn’t love me. If he did, then he wouldn’t have been between Destiny’s thighs, grinding and grunting.

“You just like Eight because he’s letting you keep the dresses Cameo doesn’t want
,” Fin said to Sasha.

“No, I’m for Eight because Wiz seems like a psycho and has worms under his skin.” Sasha propped a pink lace dress with bows covering the neckline. “What do you think?”

I cringed in horror. Fin mimicked a person vomiting.

“You both act like
you’re
the ones born with penises.” Sasha traced her fingers against the lace. “This is gorgeous. If you don’t want Eight I will take him.”

“Could we get off this topic?” I flipped over another page. “Besides, I don’t need you to pick a dress for me, Sasha. I can do it myself. It’s just a gala. I’ll throw one of those dresses on and call it a day.”

“Just a gala? It’s a fashion event.” Sasha flung a ribbon at me. “You’ll need to look your best, and for Shango’s sake you don’t want to embarrass Eight.”

I sighed and returned to reading.

“Several years after Fortimer’s imprisonment, the king’s assistant unlocked Fortimer’s cell with a stolen key. They journeyed to the top of the castle to seize shadow stones, objects that held other creatures’ magic. Scholars theorized that the assistant used the stones to feed Fortimer during their journey away from the castle.”

“So instead of going to Wiz, beating his wormy behind, and forcing him to tell us what’s going on, we’re going to read books and sort through dresses?” An exasperated breath left Fin’s lips. “I’m turning on the
TV.”

“Good. Maybe you will be quiet so I can read.” I turned to the next page.

“Maybe you’ll be quiet so I can read,” Fin mocked.

I rolled my eyes. The
TV came on and displayed the evening news. Anytime Fin came over she watched the news with a sick fascination. It was always interesting to see what everyone loved to watch on TV. Wiz always switched to the food channel. Eight blasted music videos whenever he visited. Sasha devoured supernatural soap operas all evening. Her favorite followed the romance of an elf and his steamy affair with an air witch who was married to another.

Yawning, I checked out the last few pages on the king’s assistant and Fortimer’s getaway.

“It hadn’t been an easy escape. Guards flanked all the staircases and a few had wakened the king and queen. People crowded the castle, searching for them and readying themselves for attacks. When he was surrounded, the assistant chanted a complex spell, one that involved words from the ancient languages of Thoth and Gorman. His voice filled the entire castle in darkness and could be heard in every section. Witnesses say, the assistant threw pebbles in the air and formed them with only words into large black and silver crows that ate their way through anyone in the line of attack. Bodies crashed to the ground. The flesh-eating birds soared upon all in the castle, eating eyes, ripping away skin, slurping blood, and dining on intestines. The assistant and Fortimer were quickly forgotten as people raced away. It was only later when the royal court realized that the two had escaped and captured all of the shadow stones as well as two important hostages. The king and queen’s twins.”

A shiver of dread crept up my spine.
Flesh-eating birds.
My hands trembled, rocking the book in my palm. Wiz had birds like the ones in the book. He’d said that those amber rocks were gateway stones and that they invited the birds into this realm to eat. But I didn’t think so anymore. The book said that the assistant changed the pebbles to birds, not that the pebbles served as a gateway from some other realm. This was the assistant’s power to change pebbles to murdering birds. Wiz had that power.

Why can he do that? Is he the king’s assistant?

The very idea of Wiz being the assistant blew my mind, but I had to consider the facts. Today he revealed how powerful he was as if to say, “It doesn’t matter anymore, and you can’t stop me.” He moved around his bedroom within seconds, faster than I’d ever seen him move before. The jacket had soared to Wiz, just by him reaching out his arm and extending his fingers. And after our kiss, he’d disappeared into thin air.

“What’s wrong, Cameo?” Fin asked. “Your scales are pushed out of your skin and they’re all, rattling back and forth. It looks. . .”

“Creepy.” Sasha edged away from me, holding a horrid pink dress up in front of her like a shield. I struggled to get control of my scales but they vibrated anyway with a steady humming noise. My mouth stretched open. No sound came out.

The birds from the book are just like Wiz’s birds. I knew he had power, but not that much, not enough to be the king’s assistant. Why is he here in Santeria? And who is Fortimer? Maybe it’s
B.D. No. Maybe I’m thinking too far out of the box.

But I didn’t think I was. With Wiz not aging, the power he possessed, and his being involved with the theft of Fortimer’s trunk, he very well could’ve been the King’s Assistant. But why did he come to Santeria? Why did he say that him and I were made
of the same magic? Who was B.D.? Was it Fortimer? It made sense. The assistant’s journal entries stated that Fortimer sucked magic and that he possibly fed on the magic from the shadow stones after they escaped. That night when I dealt with B.D. he went into my mind and screamed that he needed a shadow from Wiz.

What was so special about this shadow? Was it like the ones the Fairy King used to shift into other people?

Dropping the book on the floor, I rubbed my face with both hands. My head ached. My mouth went dry. My fingers shook with this new knowledge because in the end, none of those questions even mattered in comparison to the big question that clattered against my skull.

What did a blood promise about me have to do with
the King’s Assistant/Wiz and B.D./ Fortimer? And why in Shango’s name is my power like shadows?

“Cameo?” Fin’s voice sounded shaky.
“Are you okay?”