The Emerald Mask (5 page)

“But she
did
exist!” Gabriella said, forgetting to whisper as she waved the mask in the air. “And—and—I think she's my
mom
!”

“No
way
!” Mack exclaimed loudly. Then he glanced anxiously over his shoulder. “I mean . . .”

“Think about it,” Gabriella urged. “It makes sense, right? The Emerald Wildcat was obviously a
nahual
Changer. And Changer abilities run in families.
And
her mask was in my attic! I mean, that can't be a coincidence!

“Plus, my mom grew up in New Brighton,” Gabriella continued. “She only moved to Willow Cove after I was born.”

“I can't believe it,” Mack said, his voice full of admiration. “I'm actually friends with the daughter of a
superhero
! This is without a doubt
the
most incredible—”

“Good morning, Mr. Kimura,” Mr. Morrison, Mack's homeroom teacher, said as he walked into the classroom. “You're here early.”

Gabriella shoved the Emerald Wildcat's mask into her hoodie's pocket; the sudden motion made Mr. Morrison glance in her direction. She wasn't doing anything wrong, but she still felt guilty from the way he raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. “I suppose you'd better be off to your own homeroom, Ms. Rivera,” he said. “The first bell is about to ring.”

“Yes, Mr. Morrison,” Gabriella said. Then, under her breath, she whispered to Mack, “Talk to you later.”

“Here,” Mack said suddenly as he pressed
The Emerald Wildcat, Volume I
into her hands. “You can borrow it.”

For just a moment, Gabriella hesitated.

Why would she want some dumb comic?
Mack asked himself, feeling a little embarrassed.
She probably thinks they are the ultimate in uncool.

But to Mack's surprise, Gabriella grinned at him. “Thanks,” she replied gratefully. “I can't
wait
to read it.”

Later that day, Mack ran all the way to the Ancillary Gym for Changers class. His plan to sneak in a few extra minutes of drawing time during lunch had worked a little
too
well. Hunkered in the stairwell, he hadn't heard the bell signaling the end of lunch—or even realized it had rung until a bunch of kids were stepping around him on their way to the upstairs classrooms. By the time Mack reached the Ancillary Gym, everyone else had already transformed and started practicing. One look at the steely expression in Ms. Therian's eyes told him that he was in trouble.

“I'm . . . sorry,” Mack panted. “It won't . . . happen . . . again.”

Ms. Therian nodded—just once. “Go ahead and transform, Mack,” she told him. “You and Gabriella will be racing today.”

Mack transformed and then glanced over to the track, where Gabriella was waiting for him in her
nahual
form. Since Mack and Gabriella were the two land-based Changers, it made sense for them to be paired up. That didn't bother Mack one bit. The same skills that made Gabriella such a formidable force on the soccer field challenged Mack in his training, pushing him to be faster . . . stronger . . . better. He hadn't won a race against Gabriella yet, but he was determined to keep trying.

Gabriella's long, sleek tail flicked back and forth, like a wave, as Mack joined her on the track. Her eyes, shining and golden, seemed like they were smiling at him.

Ready to race?
Gabriella's voice echoed in his head.

Oh, it's on,
he said back to her.

At the first shriek of a whistle, Mack was off and running.

Sometimes Mack wondered if his heightened
kitsune
senses were the reason why he could never quite catch Gabriella. The feel of his paws propelling him forward, the light glinting off the equipment in the gym, and the sounds echoing off the walls were a constant distraction. If there was a way to turn down his senses, Mack hadn't figured it out yet.

Boom!
There was Gabriella, her large paws thundering on the indoor track's spongy surface.

Splash!
There was Fiona in her
selkie
form, struggling to master her swimming ability by diving through a series of increasingly narrow hoops.

Flash!
There was Darren,
impundulu
wings outstretched as he perched high on an exposed pipe near the ceiling. Small sparks crackled from the end of his talons. With Mack's keen fox vision, he could see the determined gleam in Darren's eyes.
You can do it,
Mack thought to him.

In that same instant the bolt of lightning ripped through the room. Was it coincidence? Or had Mack accidentally distracted Darren?

It all happened so fast—that burning bolt of electricity that sliced through the air. Mack watched,
horrified, as it missed the pool where Fiona swam, blissfully unaware, by inches.

Thweeeeeet!

The call from Ms. Therian's whistle captured everyone's attention.

“Human forms, please,” she said, her voice trembling.

If Darren's lightning bolt had hit the pool while Fiona was swimming . . . ,
Mack thought as he transformed. He shook his head. It was too terrible to think about—all that water, electrified, and Fiona trapped in the middle of it . . .

“Did you see that?” Gabriella, who was back in her human form, asked him.

Mack nodded. “Close call, huh?”

“Too close, I bet,” she replied in a low voice. “Ms. Therian looked like she was going to have a heart attack.”

Mack tilted his head. Ms. Therian's face
did
look pretty gray.

“That was a good practice,” Ms. Therian announced as everyone gathered around her. “Mack, very nice form while sprinting. You seem more comfortable as a
kitsune
every time you transform.”

Then Ms. Therian turned to Darren. “Darren—”

“I'm sorry,” he said right away. “I didn't
mean
to send out any lightning—”

“It happens,” she interrupted him. “After all, practice is the purpose of this class. Still, I think it would be wise to take additional precautions. Whenever Fiona is in the pool, you should practice on the opposite side of the gym.”

“Of course,” Darren replied. Then he turned to Fiona. “Sorry about that.”

She smiled at him. “No harm, no foul,” she said.

“Fiona, you need to continue practicing your breathing exercises,” Ms. Therian continued.

“In the ocean?” Fiona asked hopefully.

But Ms. Therian shook her head. “I would prefer you work on them in a controlled environment. However, I suppose you could practice in your bathtub at home.”

For some reason the thought of Fiona as a seal, lounging in a bath tub, was hilariously funny. Even Fiona laughed, though her cheeks burned bright red at the same time. And just like that, the anxious tension that had filled the room from Darren's stray lightning bolt melted away.

“And Gabriella . . . ,” Ms. Therian began.

Mack's head turned, just a little. Whatever advice Gabriella was about to receive, he wanted to hear it, too.

But Ms. Therian didn't comment on Gabriella's performance during practice. Instead, Ms. Therian tapped her own temple and said simply, “Mind your eyes.”

All the kids looked at Gabriella just in time to see her golden cat's eyes shimmer and shift to brown human eyes. “Thanks,” she said. “I need all the reminders I can get.”

Gabriella seemed ready to say more, but closed her mouth instead. She pulled a small compact out of her backpack and glanced at her eyes to double-check.

“Enjoy your weekend,” Ms. Therian said as she dismissed them. Then she crossed the room to examine the spot where Darren's lightning bolt had struck the floor.

Everyone hung out by the bench while they waited for the final bell.

“So my dad says we need to leave by eight thirty tomorrow morning,” Fiona said to Darren. “Pick you up at eight twenty?”

Darren grimaced. “I usually have a strict policy
against setting my alarm clock on a Saturday,” he said. “But for beating Auden Ironbound, I'm willing to make an exception.”

“I really wish I could come with you guys,” Gabriella said wistfully.

“Don't worry about it,” Fiona told her. “It's better that you show up for the soccer game like normal.”

“Yeah,” Mack agreed. He shifted uncomfortably. “Do you guys, uh, need me to come? My project is still really far behind. . . .”

“I think we've got it under control,” Fiona said. “Darren and I were a pretty good team when we researched in the rare books room before.”

“Yeah, you should stay home and keep working on your comic,” Darren told Mack. “Practice makes perfect, after all. And speaking of practice . . .”

Everyone turned to look as he held up his right hand and snapped his fingers. A shower of sparks flew into the air, like a burning log shifting in a campfire. The sparks hovered for a moment and then twinkled as they fell and faded.

“Do it again!” Fiona cried.

With a confident grin, Darren snapped his fingers several times. The shower flew fast, making a golden cloud. There was a strange expression on Gabriella's face as she reached out to touch it.

“Don't—” Fiona began.

But it was too late. They heard a sizzle, and then Gabriella sucked in her breath sharply and popped her index finger into her mouth.

“Oh man,” Darren said anxiously. “Did you get burned? I am
so
sorry, Gabriella. I would never—”

“Not your fault,” Gabriella said, managing a smile. “I should know better than to play with fire.”

“Cat's eyes,” Mack said suddenly, louder than he intended.

“What?” Gabriella asked, and something like panic flashed in her face. “I don't—I just looked in the mirror and they were
fine
.”

“Maybe the sparks?” Fiona suggested. “I have this theory that Changer powers can feed off one another—”

The final bell rang then, and as everyone grabbed their backpacks, Mack glanced at Gabriella's eyes. “They're still gold,” he whispered. “Maybe you should—”

“Gabriella,” Ms. Therian interrupted him. “Would you stay after class, please?”

Gabriella nodded, looking miserable. She didn't say a word.

Way to go,
Mack thought angrily.
You just got her in trouble. Why can't you learn to keep your mouth shut?

Though Fiona and Darren headed toward the doors, Mack leaned down, pretending to tie his shoe. If Gabriella was going to be yelled at, he wanted to be there to stick up for her.

“Gabriella,” Ms. Therian began.

“I know. I'm sorry. I don't know why this keeps happening,” Gabriella spoke up, the words tumbling out in a rush. “Really, I'm trying my hardest to make sure—”

“You don't need to apologize,” Ms. Therian told her, somehow sounding stern and sympathetic at the same time. “
Never
apologize for who you truly are.”

A long silence followed.

“But you do need to be careful,” Ms. Therian finally continued. “If you go out into the world before your transformation is complete, everyone could learn your secret.
Our
secret. I'd recommend cooling down more before practice ends. . . .”

Mack couldn't imagine what it would be like to transform when he least expected it. To have something so important be completely out of his control. He glanced at Gabriella out of the corner of his eye and tried to catch her attention. He wanted to smile, to wave, to do
something
to make her feel better.

But Gabriella was staring at the floor . . . and she wouldn't look up for anything.

Despite his grumbling about the early start, Darren was ready and waiting for Fiona and her dad when they arrived to pick him up on Saturday. Darren's best friends, Ethan and Kyle, were always complaining about how late he was. It was a habit he was trying to break. Fiona's dad honked the horn in greeting as Darren bounded down the front steps two at a time and climbed into the backseat.