Thrall (25 page)

“Whatever. Forget her,” Parker said, laughing it off. I was no threat to him at all.

I was still seething when I got back to my car. I jerked my door open and slid inside. Someone was sitting in my passenger seat.

It was Karayan.

I felt all the air leave my lungs. Karayan reached across me and pulled my door closed. Her silky honey-blond hair brushed past my face. I stiffened. She sat back, and turned to stare out the front windshield. A guy approached us on the sidewalk with his dog. The dog gave a low woof and dipped its tail. It sensed what its master couldn’t; we weren’t just two girls sitting in a car - we didn’t belong in this world. I thought about opening the door, screaming for help. But what could he do? He would be no match for Karayan. I watched them pass, and in a few moments Karayan and I were the only living souls on the street.

“I know you think I’m your enemy. But I’m not.” Karayan’s voice was quiet. Almost wistful. I glanced at her. She was staring at the house. “He deserves to be punished.”

A jolt of surprise distracted me for a moment, but I forced myself to focus. Karayan wouldn’t be here without a reason. “What do you want from me?”

“I want you to let me help you.” Karayan faced me, and some small part of me was again struck by the perfect beauty of her face. Her rich green eyes held mine, unflinching. “Guys like this? They treat girls like toys. They play with them until they break them, and then they toss them aside. And most of these boys get away with it.” Her jaw clenched with real anger. “No one else is going to deliver justice for your friend, Braedyn. It’s up to you. You see that, right?”

I looked away from Karayan quickly. I didn’t want to hear what she was saying. And it wasn’t because I disagreed with her. A different kind of fear took hold of me. Her words wove a terrible kind of logic into my mind, a logic that was hard to argue with. And I did want justice for Cassie.

“Let me paint a picture for you of what Cassie’s life will be like now,” Karayan said quietly. “The boys at school will taunt her, because now they think she’s easy. The girls at school will shun her, because now they think she’s a slut.” Karayan’s words were like nails, and she drove them into my heart with uncanny precision. “You and your friends will try to shield her. Don’t fool yourselves. You won’t be able to make her deaf to the insults they’ll shout at her across the quad, or blind to the graffiti they’ll scratch into the bathroom stalls.” Karayan’s eyes seemed to darken, as the ocean does when clouds pass overhead. “If she’s brokenhearted today, imagine how she’ll feel when her peers get through with her.”

I felt a sharp pain in my hand and looked down. I’d squeezed my hand into a fist so tight that I’d driven a fingernail into the flesh of my palm. As I looked at the dot of blood forming in my palm, a drop of water splashed it away. Only then did I realize I was crying.

She stared at me until I met her eyes. “You have the power to make him pay.”

“How?”

“By showing him what he’s done.”

I shook my head, frustrated. And then I voiced what had finally driven me away from Parker and his laughing friends - the awful truth that had kept me in this car, listening to Karayan when I knew I should be running away. “How is that justice? He’s... he’s proud of it.”

“He doesn’t know what Cassie is feeling.”

“You think he cares?”

“He’d care if he felt it himself.”

I looked up at her sharply. “I won’t... If you’re suggesting I try to do the same thing to him that he did to Cassie...”

Karayan snorted in bitter amusement. “Please. He’d be thrilled to get so lucky.” I watched her. Karayan was surprising me at every turn. Her smile faded. “I’m talking about justice. I’m talking about a punishment equivalent to the crime. And I mean it when I say you are the only one equipped to deliver it.” I shook my head, but my attempt at denial was so weak that Karayan ignored it entirely. “Your empathy for Cassie - it helps you feel her pain. It’s a map of the devastation she’s feeling. All I’m suggesting is that you share that with Parker.”

I dropped my eyes. “I tried. He won’t listen.”

“In the waking world, no. But he’ll be at your mercy in the dream.” Karayan sat back, waiting for me to make the next move.

I breathed in, trying to calm my racing thoughts. “I don’t want to hurt him.”

“You don’t have to hurt him,” she said softly. “You just have to make him see.” She gave me a searching look, and then she opened her door, got out of my car, and walked away. It was with shaking hands that I turned the ignition key. I hit the gas, speeding away from Parker’s house.

It was much harder to leave Karayan’s words behind.

I was still shaking when I changed for bed that night. Hale was counting on me. Cassie needed justice. It felt like all the answers were waiting for me in the dream world. But so was Karayan. I couldn’t trust her. She’d attacked Derek so easily, destroyed his life with no more hesitation than I’d have plucking a flower. But what she’d said about Parker... I needed time to think. I lay down to sleep and told myself I wouldn’t dream at all. It worked. The morning arrived quickly, but I did not feel rested.

“How did it go last night?” Dad asked me, pouring his morning coffee.

“Um,” I turned away quickly, buttering some toast. “Same as the night before, and the night before that,” I lied.

“Braedyn.” I looked up to find him watching me with a wistful expression. “I know how hard this is for you, but you keep trying. I’m so proud of you.”

I forced a smile, feeling sick. “I should get going,” I said. Dad glanced at the clock, surprised. “I need to get some last minute studying in,” I lied again. “Quiz.” Dad nodded and I fled the house, heading to school.

Cassie didn’t come to school Tuesday or Wednesday. Neither Royal nor I could get her on the phone. Lucas offered what little comfort he could at school, but knowing what Cassie must be going through, nothing could put my mind at ease.

And then Thanksgiving dawned. The holiday had always meant Dad and I spent most of the day cooking in the kitchen, then savoring our meal together. This year, we were sharing a half-hearted feast with the Guard. We ate at their house around four in the afternoon. Gretchen’s absence was unsettling, but everyone else had pitched in. Dad had roasted the turkey, I’d boiled and mashed the potatoes, Lucas and Thane had taken care of the green beans and the yams, and Hale had tackled a pecan pie. It all smelled wonderful, but after a few bites, the food lost its flavor for me. I couldn’t stop thinking about Cassie and Parker.

After the big meal, Royal picked me up so we could go visit Cassie. She wouldn’t come out of her room to see us. She wouldn’t see anyone all weekend. Royal and I stopped by her apartment on Saturday, and again on Sunday. Her mother looked exhausted. She asked us to keep an eye on Cassie at school next week. Only Cassie didn’t come back to school on Monday. We didn’t know it at the time, but she wouldn’t be back for two solid weeks.

The first Monday of December dawned bright and cold. In nineteen days, it would be Winter Solstice. The Guard was depending on me, but I’d spent the previous week avoiding dreams entirely. Every morning I woke up feeling a little guiltier. Hale was starting to worry. In our last practice session he’d asked if there was something else he could be doing to help me. I’d just shaken my head, promising to try harder.

I pushed back the covers and got out of bed. I heard a car pull up outside and glanced out the window, curious.

Gretchen was back. She got out of the passenger’s side of a car I’d never seen before. She looked strange, almost hesitant. The driver joined her on the lawn. He was tall and fit, with dark, close-cropped hair. He didn’t look much older than Gretchen. He enfolded her in his arms, and they shared a long kiss. I felt uncomfortably voyeuristic.

I glanced away, pulling on my socks. When I looked out the window again, they were walking slowly toward the house, hand in hand. Gretchen stepped onto the first porch step and looked him directly in the eye. She ran a hand along the side of his face, almost gingerly. I had never seen Gretchen look so vulnerable, so soft.

They shared another kiss, and then he returned to his car. Gretchen watched until he was out of sight. I saw her arms curl up to hug herself. A small smile played around the corners of her mouth, and then she straightened and walked into the house.

Lucas was waiting by my locker at school. Since Gretchen was back, she was his ride to and from school again. For a moment, he didn’t see me approaching. I let my eyes drink in the sight of him. He wore the uniform of Coronado Prep with a relaxed confidence that made the entire ensemble seem like it was his idea. He looked up and saw me.

“Any word from Cass?”

I shook my head. “We’re going to check on her after school. I’ll let you know if there’s any change.” Gretchen would pick Lucas up after school today, so he wouldn’t be able to join Royal and me to go visit Cassie.

I opened my locker and reached into my bag for my books. I accidentally dropped a spiral notebook. Someone swept it up off the floor before I could bend to retrieve it.

“Here, I think you dropped this.” Greg handed me the spiral with a hopeful smile.

“Thanks,” I said, taking it. When he didn’t move, I cleared my throat. “See you later.” Greg nodded and left. I turned back to my locker and saw Lucas watching me with a faintly amused smile.

“That’s what you get for kissing him,”

“I didn’t turn him into a drooling idiot,” I said.

“Are you sure about that?” Lucas laughed.

The skin on the back of my neck started crawling. I got my books and closed my locker.

We had lasagna again for lunch. Lucas had to leave lunch early, something about a make-up quiz. Royal didn’t try too hard to engage me in conversation; we were both lost in our own unhappy thoughts. Missy stopped by our table, interrupting my train of thought.

“Braedyn, we have a problem,” she said. Amber followed her stiffly. “I went to pay the security deposit at the Raven last weekend, but they need all the details in advance – how many people, if we’re bringing in outside food and drinks. If we lose the Raven we won’t have time to find another venue and get it approved by Administration. We’ll be stuck in the gym again. I need you for like an hour or two after school to plan.”