Heroes 'Til Curfew (Talent Chronicles #2) (14 page)

“I’m not saying—”

I went for her hand again, and she let me.
“I know you’re not. I get it, Joss, but I don’t have to like it.
And I don’t like the fact that I knew Heather couldn’t read Eric,
and it still wouldn’t have occurred to me to leave him out of the
loop because he’s my friend and I trust him. Not many people see
things as clearly as you do. Not many people even know what they
should be looking for. That’s why we need you, so don’t let Kat’s
drama get you down, okay?”

“Even if she cools off, I don’t know if I
can trust her not to take everything I say right to Eric. I feel
bad that I have to think that way, but I can’t risk trusting him,
and now I know I can’t risk trusting her anymore. Not with this. I
hadn’t known I was really counting on Kat being with me on this
until I realized I couldn’t depend on her.”

“Depend on me,” I said, pulling her into my
arms. She didn’t resist, so I pretty much had to kiss her. Sitting
there with her, alone in the dark, I’m surprised I’d managed to
wait that long.

It would have been so easy to get carried
away. It felt so good to hold her like this, the way she curled
into me, the silky feel of her hair between my fingers, the
softness of her lips, the taste of her that was driving me crazy.
But something about Joss’s intensity was off. The way she pressed
against me wasn’t all hots for me. There was something else going
on with her.

I pulled back from her, watched her eyes
open. I had to take a moment, tuck her hair behind her ear. I
wondered if she could feel the slow, heavy thud of my heart in my
chest, and if it could be so wrong to just ignore everything else,
pretend there was nothing else in the world and just go on kissing
her for a while. I brushed my thumb across her lower lip and almost
gave in to that. But that wasn’t what she needed. Not really.

“What is it?” I asked her.

For a moment she looked confused, then
worried. “What, did I—?”

Do something wrong? Christ no,
Complicated Girl.
“I just wanted you to know, if there’s
something wrong—something else, besides Kat, you could talk to me
about it. I mean, you don’t have to, but if you want to.”

Smooooth.

She moved into me, turning her face into my
neck. I closed my arms around her, drew her in tighter. My throat
closed up and I had to swallow hard. I wasn’t used to having her
turn into me like this, and it was weird how much it affected me.
But I could get used to it.

We were quiet for a few moments, just
sitting like that in the dim light of the lantern. I was thinking
how just yesterday I was afraid to talk to her, and now here we
were. Like maybe we had spent the last several weeks getting to
know each other, getting comfortable, it was just that whole
boyfriend/girlfriend label thing getting in the way. Then she
started to talk about her dad, missing money, some strange,
curly-haired guy with an envelope full of cash—blackmail again.
When she got to the part where he called her by name, I got real
stiff and it was hard to make myself relax again. I ran my fingers
through her hair. That helped.

“How long do you think this has been going
on?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. I haven’t had a chance to go
back through the store records and see how long money’s been going
missing. But it kind of seemed like it wasn’t the first time the
guy had been there, you know?”

“Your dad seems to be taking it pretty
well.”

“
You
seem to be taking it pretty
well.”

“I’m just saying, there’s someone out there
who knows about you, right? Who’s gone to your dad, threatening to
turn you in if he doesn’t pay up. And your dad seems to be doing
okay.”

“I guess.”

“Not only that, but you’re here with me, not
under house arrest. When he came to get us at the park the other
night, he was okay. I mean, pissed, yeah, but he seemed pretty
together. And even after you told him what went down—mostly—you’ve
still got your free time and friend privileges.”

“Okay…”

“For your dad, there is nothing more
important than keeping you safe. You and your secret. It’s like his
whole reason for being.”

“Uh-huh…” Her head came up at that and she
narrowed her eyes at me.

“Don’t get that huffy tone with me, I’m not
saying anything.” Talking about Joss’s dad was dangerous territory.
I was dancing in a mine-field. “Just, if someone was going around
threatening you like that, I’d expect him to be less…together, to
be in hyper-protective mode. I’d expect you to be under house
arrest, no contact with us riff-raff who only get you into trouble,
that kind of thing. But he hasn’t been. It’s like he’s…distracted.
Like he’s not totally focused on you, because maybe it’s not about
you.”

“You lost me.”

I thought about making a crack about how
maybe if it wasn’t all about her, she just couldn’t get it. But
that would have been incredibly stupid. I should get points for not
saying every dumb thing that pops in my head. “I’ve just been
thinking about all the crime that’s been going on around town
lately—the stuff we know Marco’s been involved in, the stuff they
haven’t pinned on anyone.”

“And what’s that got to do with this?”

“Your dad’s a merchant. A protection racket
usually starts with the kinds of petty crimes we’ve seen in the
paper over the last month. At least, that’s how it works in the
movies. That’s what they do to introduce the merchants to the idea
they need protection, right? And then it escalates, especially when
there are some who won’t pay, or give them any kind of trouble.
Something more serious to show them the consequences of
non-compliance or whatever.”

“Like burning down a store.”

“Exactly.”

Even in the lousy light I could see her
cheeks color. “I’m an idiot. I totally didn’t see it.”

“You’re not an idiot. It’s not like that was
a crazy conclusion to leap to. And yours might still be the right
one.”

“Yours makes more sense, though.”

“Well, okay, so less ‘Joss is an idiot,’
more ‘Oh Dylan, you’re so smart!’”

She rolled her eyes at me, but it got a
little smile too. Then, “So we stopped Marco from blackmailing
Talents only to have him start using Talents to extort money from
merchants. From people who work hard and can’t possibly do anything
to fight back against the kind of powers he has access to.”

“Um, maybe?”

“I think I liked my original idea
better.”

“Don’t say that shit.”

“I don’t mean…I’m not that much of a martyr
or anything. I just mean that if it was just me it wouldn’t seem so
big. But a protection racket, so many people involved, that makes
doing anything about it a lot riskier. But with so many people
involved, so many people who can’t fight back…How can I just sit
back and watch that happen? I don’t think I can do that.”

Whoa, and she’s already on to planning
and risk assessment.
Sometimes Joss’s brain moved so fast it
made my head spin.

“You’ll figure it out,” I told her. I knew
she would, and anxiety over it was already starting to creep
in.

“I will?”

“That’s what you do. Just, when you figure
out what to do, don’t forget I’m going to be there, doing it with
you.”

Chapter 8

Joss

“Kat, wait up!”

She didn’t slow down, and my face heated as
what felt like a hundred pairs of eyes turned toward me and watched
as I hurried down the hallway after her.

I finally caught up and fell into step
beside her. “Come on, Kat. Can’t we just talk about this?” I didn’t
know why this was so important to me. If Kat didn’t want to be my
friend anymore, maybe that was for the best. But I was carrying
this lead weight in my stomach that got heavier every time she
glared at me and looked away.

“What’s there to talk about, Your Highness?
It’s your show. You’ve already laid down the law, right? Your
boyfriend’s in, mine’s out.”

I was so frustrated I could scream. I never
should have approached her in the hallway, where people might
overhear. “Why did you come to me if you didn’t want me to do what
I think is best for everyone?” I hissed.

“How is it best for everyone to treat Eric
like a criminal? How do you think that looks to everyone else?”

“It’s not about how it looks—”

“Of course it’s not. Not to you. As long as
you think no one’s looking at you, you don’t care about anything
else. You’re such an outsider, you haven’t got a clue how normal
people think.” She grabbed my arm and yanked me to stop, staring
hard into my face. “You’re blind, Joss. Completely blind.”

And suddenly I was. Kat was gone, and there
was nothing but a sea of darkness all around me. The metallic
crashes of lockers slamming shut all along the corridor, bodies
brushing by. And voices, so many voices, murmuring things I
couldn’t understand, but I was sure every one of them was talking
about me as I stood, rooted to the spot in the middle of the
hallway. I didn’t even know which way I was facing anymore. If I
just started walking, would I walk down the hall until it wore off?
Would I slam into a wall of lockers? Stumble into a classroom I
didn’t belong in?

Someone grabbed me roughly by the arm,
ushering me along the hallway. I felt the cool air of an open
doorway, concrete steps, grass under my feet. I was shoved up
against a wall, cold brick at my back.

“Have you thought about my offer?”

Marco’s voice. Light began to filter in, the
darkness turning to black spots that pulsed and danced across his
face, way too close to mine.

“What offer?”

“Five hundred a month to keep your sister’s
secret. Cash or,” he brushed the hair back from my neck,
“trade.”

I shoved him, even as my body turned to ice,
remembering the power of his fists landing blows on me. I couldn’t
show weakness.

“Didn’t we cover this already?” I asked.
“You stop threatening my sister or we release the video of you
catching that steel beam that should have crushed you.”

“‘We’? You mean you and your good friend
Kat? The one who just blinded you in the hallway? She’s the one
with the video, right? Or maybe she gave it away. Did you ever stop
to think what would happen if you pissed her off?”

Before I could say anything, there was a
blur of movement. Marco fell away from me and when my eyes caught
up, the guys were on the ground and Dylan was whaling on him.
Crazy idiot boy!
If I couldn’t deflect Marco’s strength with
my Talent, he could easily kill Dylan.

A hand caught mine and tugged. I looked down
at Jill.

“Mom and Dad are waiting.”

“Huh? Jilly, I can’t—” I tried to pull away
from her, but a vine, sprouting delicate, peach-colored blossoms,
snaked around our arms, nearly cutting off my circulation and
binding me to my little sister.

“Come on, Joss. Daddy’s never gonna let you
keep him anyway. He’s already gone.”

I looked back to where the boys were
fighting, but there was no one there. Jill tugged so hard that I
stumbled along behind her.

She pulled me around the side of the
building, onto the lawn that was dotted with flowerbeds and shade
trees sheltering seating areas. It should have been serene and
attractive, but it was wrong, and horribly familiar. Jill pulled me
toward a bench where Mom and Dad sat in the sun. People in
light-colored clothing shuffled along the paths, seemingly without
purpose.

“Have a seat, Joss. Say hello to your
father.”

Jill let me go and I sank down onto the
grass at their feet. My mom reached up, a tissue in her hand, and
blotted by my dad’s mouth. My heart contracted painfully.

“Hi, Daddy.”

Dad was staring in Jill’s direction, but he
couldn’t have been seeing her. She was standing in a flowerbed,
waving her arms like she was conducting an orchestra. About a
million colorful flowers rioted under her hands.

“How was school today, Joss?” my mom
asked.

“Um, it was okay, I guess.”

“Layin’ low, like we talked about?” Dad’s
speech was slurred, and he was still staring off, away from me.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good girl. That’s my good girl. Gotta get
out of here, get you back to the woods. We need to train. We gotta
be prepared, Joss. They’re never gonna get you. Not my girl.”

“Of course not, Daddy. Don’t worry about
that. You just get better, so you can come home.”

His head swung drunkenly on his neck, his
whole body lurching forward with the movement until he was looming
over me. His eyes, dark like mine, burned with intensity. “Don’t
worry about it? Don’t
worry
about it? It’s all I do, Joss,
is worry about you, what kind of trouble you’re going to get
yourself into. All I do is think about how to protect you, teach
you how to protect yourself. They’re never gonna take you, Joss. If
we have to kill every last one of them—”

“Let’s not talk about killing, dear,” my mom
said, patting his hand and sounding uncharacteristically
ridiculous. She blotted his mouth again. He paused, let her, but
the fanatical light in his eyes never dimmed.

“I’ll never let them take her,” he said,
more quietly, and it was like he’d forgotten I was still there. His
face contracted into a mask of pain and glittering eyes. “The
things I’ve seen, Joan.” He started to shake. “The things I’ve
seen!
”

I felt tears slide down my cheeks. Mom
nodded to someone and men in white flanked my dad. One slid a
needle into his skin. I wanted to jump up and stop them, but
someone was pulling me back. I turned to see who it was.

“Emily?”

I looked down at her. She was so young, so
little, not even four feet tall. Beside her, a five-year-old
version of Trina looked up at me with a measuring glance.

“Come on, Joss. We don’t have all day,”
Emily complained, tugging. She pulled me through the yard and up
the back porch steps.