The Inquisitor's Mark (7 page)

DORIAN'S TEACHER WASN'T HAPPY
when his father yanked him out of class in the middle of the day, especially since he had finals tomorrow. But she didn't protest too loudly. All the teachers at Bradley Prep knew that when students were pulled for
family business
, it was best not to argue.

Besides, Dorian wasn't the only student pulled out early this week—or missing entirely.
There's something big going on,
Dorian thought,
and other clans know about it even if no
one's talking about it. They can't all have long-lost relatives
coming into town
.

Jax was waiting for them at the Port Authority bus station, just where he'd told Dad he'd be. He was taller than he looked on the video call, about two inches taller than Dorian. He carried a backpack over one shoulder, and, as they approached, he scowled at them from beneath tousled hair, looking tough and angry.

Dorian, wearing his school uniform with his short hair neatly parted and combed, felt like a geek by comparison. There was definitely a resemblance between him and Jax, but all it did was make Dorian look like the shorter, weaker, dweebier cousin.

“Where's Billy?” Jax demanded.

“At home,” Dad said.

“Making my sister watch
Doctor Who
,” Dorian added. Lesley's public school had already let out for the summer. There weren't a lot of things to be envied about Lesley's life, but having a long summer vacation was one of them.

“That's not what we agreed on over the phone,” Jax said.

“If I put Billy on a bus today,” Dad replied, “you'd have no reason to come home with us. You'd get on the bus with him.”

Jax's scowl deepened. Dorian guessed that was exactly what Jax had been planning.

“Your aunt's making dinner to celebrate your homecoming. Please come with us.” Dad extended his hand in welcome and bumped into a boy in a hoodie who was too busy on his phone to pay attention to where he was going. Dorian watched his father grin and bear the collision instead of snarling at the kid the way he normally would've done. When Jax didn't move, Dad shot Dorian a look. This was why he'd been yanked from school: to make Jax feel safe and welcome. But what was Dorian supposed to say?

Run, Jax. If I had any guts, I'd tell you to run
.

But Dorian didn't have any guts, and in the meantime Jax had apparently made up his mind. “All right,” he said. “Let's go.”

On their way to the street exit, they passed through a knot of people. A girl with gnarled curls of orange hair pushed her way between them, elbowing Dorian in the ribs and knocking the backpack off Jax's shoulder.

“Watch where you're going, jerk,” said the girl.

“Same to you,” Jax replied, picking up his backpack.

Dad hailed a taxi, and the boys climbed into the back together while Dad sat in front with the driver. Jax flung himself into the far corner and looked at Dorian. “You always dress like that?”

Dorian realized he'd been wearing the same clothes on their video call. “It's my school uniform.” Jax wrinkled his nose and turned away to look out the window.

When they arrived at Central Park West, Dad discovered his wallet was missing. “Pickpockets,” he growled, waving down the doorman to come pay the cab driver.

Jax, meanwhile, tipped his head back to stare at Dorian's apartment building. “Holy crap!” he exclaimed. “Is this the place from
Ghostbusters
?”

“No, that's down the street,” Dorian said. Jax glanced at him skeptically, but it was the truth. “This one belongs to the Dulac clan.”

“The building's full of Dulacs?” Jax stopped in his tracks, like
he was about to enter a vampire lair. “How many of them are there?”

“Not just Dulacs. Their relatives and vassals, too,” Dorian clarified. “Everyone who lives here is part of our clan.” Everyone who worked here, too, down to the doorman and the security guards. But Jax looked spooked enough, so Dorian left that out. “There are a few buildings along Central Park owned by Transitioner clans. You can tell which ones because they're some of the oldest—no electronics in the elevators—but they all have solar panels on the roofs. To make and store electricity for the eighth day.”

“You don't try to hide it?” Jax asked.

“Why would we?” Dorian and Jax looked at each other, equally confused. Then Dorian remembered the dinky little house where his cousin had been living with the Pendragon guy. Flying under the radar and hoping not to be discovered. “It's perfectly safe here,” Dorian assured Jax. As if anyone would mess with the home base of the Dulac clan!

Once inside, Dad patted down his pockets and cursed under his breath. “Keys are gone too,” he muttered.

“I'll have to report that, Mr. Ambrose,” said the doorman, using his own key to let them on the elevator. “We can't afford any lapses in security, especially now.”

“Of course not,” Dad agreed, but he jerked his head toward Dorian and Jax with a warning look, as if to remind the doorman not to talk about the big secret in front of the
children. Dorian practically ground his teeth together in frustration.
Does everyone know except me
? Then the elevator jerked to a start, and Dad made the effort to paste a smile on his face for Jax's benefit. “Welcome home,” he said as the elevator climbed to the fifth floor. “This is where your father and I grew up.”

Jax had abandoned his swagger now and seemed completely overwhelmed. He faltered when they entered the Ambrose apartment, looking at the vaulted ceiling and the crystal chandelier as if he must be in the wrong place. Then he spotted his friend and heaved a sigh of relief. “Dude! You had me worried!” Jax left Dorian and Dad behind to hurry down the steps leading from the foyer to the sunken living room.

Billy stood up to meet him, grinning. “I told you I was okay.”

Jax grinned back, heaved his backpack off, and hit Billy playfully in the arm with it.

All the color ran out of Billy's face. He staggered backward.

Mom crossed the room swiftly, putting herself between the two boys. “No roughhousing in the living room,” she said, brushing a hand against Billy's elbow. Then she grabbed Jax's face with both hands and planted a big kiss on his head. “Jax, honey, we're so happy to have you here.” She pushed his hair out of his face and looked him in the eyes. “Did those people take good care of you?”

“Yeah, I'm fine.” Jax pulled out of her hands. Dorian was impressed. Not many people got away from Mom that easily. By now, Billy was seated on the sofa again with the game controller, perfectly at ease.

“Lesley, have you said hello to Jax?” Mom prompted.

Lesley glanced up from the game she was playing with Billy. “Hello, Jax.”

Dorian saw the exact moment when Jax noticed what was different about Lesley. His eyebrows came together, and he opened his mouth to say something.

Not here.
Not now
, Dorian begged silently.
Please don't embarrass her
.

Then Jax clamped his lips shut and went back to looking around in disbelief at the apartment and the view of Central Park from the picture windows.

“I hope you're hungry,” Mom went on. “I may have gone a little overboard, but it's not every day we celebrate a family reunion. Your grandparents will be here any minute.”

Panic crossed Jax's face, and Dorian couldn't stand it anymore. “You know, Mom, we kinda forced Jax into this. Maybe we should stop acting like everything is normal and give him a break. Do Gran and Gramps
have
to come right away?”

Jax shot Dorian a look of gratitude while everyone else responded at the same time.

“Ya think?” That was Lesley, agreeing with him.

“Dorian . . .” A low growl from Dad.

From Mom with hands on her hips: “Do
you
want to call your grandparents and tell them to stay home?”

Billy put down the game controller and looked up at Jax, mortified. “Does he mean you only came because of
me
? I was trying to help. Don't you remember how many times you told me you wanted to be with a family? Well,
this
is your family.”

That was when the grandparents burst in, Gramps yelling, “Is he here? Is the boy here?”

Gran wore her pearls. And her diamonds. And a pressed linen suit. She'd had her hair permed for the occasion. “Dear heavens!” she exclaimed. “Wait until I tell Ursula. He looks just like Rayne!” She reached for Jax with both hands, intending to hug or kiss him.

Jax scrambled behind Lesley's armchair. “You're the one who's a Dulac, right? You're not touching me.”

An awkward silence fell over the room, and Dorian cringed.

Gran straightened her shoulders with dignity. “Now I
know
he's Rayne's son. He needs a haircut,” she said in an aside to Mom, who nodded vigorously. Then she turned back to Jax. “Young man, I don't know what you've been told, but Dulacs do
not
use our talent on everyone we meet and certainly not on family members!”

Dorian stared at the floor. That was a lie. A big, fat lie.

“Did Pendragon come with him?” Gramps shouted. He
must have had his hearing aid turned off again. The volume of his voice wiped out the charm of his high-class British accent.

“He came alone,” Dad answered in an equally loud voice. “But we'll get the custody worked out, don't worry.”

“Whoa.” Jax put up his hands defensively. “I'm here for
a visit
. If you send Billy home tomorrow morning, I'll agree to stay a couple days. That's it.”

“I'm not going home tomorrow,” Billy protested. “I want to stay for the eighth day!”

“You can't get into the eighth day,” Jax said.

Dad cleared his throat. “Actually, there's a way to bring him . . .”

“I know how to do it,” Jax interrupted. “But I don't want my friend in danger.
Bad things
happen on the eighth day.”

There was another moment of silence, and then everyone burst out laughing.

“Bad things?” Gramps hollered. “What's he mean—
bad things
?”

“Well, I've occasionally made bad business deals on the eighth day,” Dad admitted.

“I've heard some bad bands at Rockefeller Center,” Lesley added.

“I've had bad meals at Sardi's,” Gran said. “All their best chefs are Normals.”

Jax looked more confused than ever. Billy crossed his arms and said, “I'm staying.”

“O-kay,” Jax said, frowning. “We'll stay until Thursday.”

But Dorian could practically see the wheels turning in his cousin's head. Jax wasn't planning on staying a second longer than he had to.

DORIAN DIDN'T THINK THE
“family reunion” could get any more awkward, but dinner proved him wrong. Jax ate plenty but responded to all questions with one-word answers or stony silence. Billy spilled information like a waterfall, but Billy didn't know anything he hadn't already told them.

Jax tensed when asked a question about Riley Pendragon or the Emrys girl. And despite his obvious discomfort, Dad and Gramps kept bringing them up. Dorian wondered if this persistent interest in Jax's guardian and liege lady had to do with the
crisis of epic proportions
Dad had predicted after whatever it was that had happened in Wales.

Occasionally, without warning, Gramps or Dad would throw inquisitor talent behind some question. Each time Jax deflected it expertly.

Jax relaxed only once, and it was thanks to Lesley.

Gramps had just blurted out, “What kind of name is
Jax
anyway? Spelled with an
x
, they tell me? I've never heard of such a thing.”

Lesley covered her face with her hands, then peeked between her fingers at Jax. “Officially dying of embarrassment now. If you want to run for the door, I'll cover you.”

Jax broke out in his first genuine smile.

Because Lesley was so honest. So Normal.

After dinner, Dad and Gramps disappeared into Dad's office for about an hour. Dorian tried to sneak off and listen at the door, but Mom snapped her fingers at him and motioned for him to stay put. Meanwhile, Gran tortured poor Jax with a photo album, showing off pictures of his father until it looked like Jax was about to climb the walls to get away from her. Finally, Dad and Gramps reappeared, and Mom rescued Jax, nudging the grandparents toward the door and sending the boys to their room. Dad pinned Dorian with another meaningful look as they were leaving.

Yeah, yeah, he got the message. He was supposed to bond with Jax.

Billy took his borrowed pajamas and went into the bathroom to change, and Dorian groped for something to say. “I hope tonight wasn't too bad.”

Jax turned cold eyes on him. “Best dinner with kidnappers I've had yet.”

Bonding fail.

“Your sister doesn't have a mark,” Jax said.

Dorian nodded unhappily. At least he'd waited until they
were alone. “She's a dud.”

“What does that mean, exactly?”

Was he kidding? “It means she never transitioned to the eighth day,” Dorian said. “She has no talent.”

“No eighth day, no talent, right?” Jax said as if repeating something he'd been taught, instead of something every Transitioner knew. “You can't take her there with handcuffs?”

“We can, but it doesn't help. She still hasn't developed any talent.”

“Maybe she needs a mark,” Jax suggested.

“Which one? Mom's or Dad's? Giving her the wrong one would ruin any chance of her developing talent, and our clan artisans refuse to take the risk. It's a sore subject around here. Dad's disappointed he couldn't give Aunt Ursula more than one talented child for the clan.” Dorian didn't like remembering the dark days in the Ambrose family when Lesley passed her thirteenth birthday without transitioning. Dorian had transitioned two years ago, at age ten, which shamed his older sister all the more.

“Ursula's the Dulac leader, right?”

“Yeah. She's Gran's older sister.” Dorian couldn't stand it anymore. He had to ask. “Is it true you're sworn to Kin? To an Emrys?”

Jax's scowled returned. “Yeah.”

That was creepy and fascinating all at the same time. “Did you really kill a Wylit?”

“Not me personally.”

“But you were there, right? What was it like?”

“People were trying to murder me, my liege lady, my guardian, and most of the world. What do you think it was like?” Billy came back into the room, and as if by agreement, Jax and Dorian dropped the subject. “Where am I sleeping?” asked Jax. “The floor? 'Cause I'm tired and want to go to bed.”

That seemed unlikely, but Dorian answered, “Billy's got the lower bunk. You can have the top. I'll sleep on the futon. It folds out.”

“Fine,” said Jax, throwing his backpack onto the top bunk. “G'night.”

“Are you kidding?” asked Billy. “It's barely ten o'clock.”

Jax wasn't kidding. He climbed into the bunk fully clothed and didn't say another word to anyone. Billy sighed and got into the lower bunk, moving stiffly.

Dorian pulled the futon out into a bed and turned out the lights. Once it was safely dark, he opened two dresser drawers. From one he removed pajamas, and from the other he carefully extricated a journal that was hidden beneath old school papers, awards, and report cards. Covering the journal with the pajamas, he carried the whole bundle with him to the bathroom.

He didn't intend to change his nightly routine, especially now.

Hunched over the sink, Dorian read yesterday's entry. Then he opened to the next blank page and wrote:

When Dorian returned to his room with the journal wrapped up in his clothes, he slipped it back into its drawer, on top of the one he'd found a year ago in his grandparents' apartment, the one that had belonged to Uncle Rayne.

Then he lay down on the futon to watch and listen.

Half an hour later, a phone lit up on the top bunk. It flickered like Jax was moving through screens, maybe checking his messages. In the quiet of the room, Dorian could hardly miss it when Jax suddenly started cursing under his breath.