Heir of Wings and Shadows Read online

  “I’d say that’s a gross understatement.” I nodded at the windshield. Starr was pacing back and forth in the garage.

  She ran to the side of the van and opened it for me. “How’s Frank? Is he okay? When can he come home? How long’s his recovery?”

  I winked at Ben. “He’s improving, but he’s completely delusional. They must have him doped up on some major drugs.”

  She followed me up the stairs. “Why do you say that?”

  “He told me I was sexy.”

  “Di,” she said, “you are sexy.”

  “You’re on crack.”

  She raised an eyebrow—that “I’ll show you who’s right” look. “Am I? Christian and Coda come here.”

  Christian slipped his arm around her waist. Coda leaned against the doorway. “Whassup?”

  “Frank told Di that she’s sexy, and she doesn’t believe him.”

  Christian studied me from top to bottom. I adjusted my pentagram necklace as if I could ward off his undivided, clinical attention. “He’s right. You are sexy.”

  “If I liked misdirected, violent girls, I’d be all over you,” Coda said winking.

  “Alright, that’s it. Everyone in the van. You’re all suffering from PTSD.”

  “Di, have you looked in the mirror lately?” Starr asked.

  “I haven’t showered for days. I’m a walking disaster.” What was going on with everyone? I wasn’t the girl people called sexy. I was the girl who painted her face white and dyed her hair black, and while I strove to achieve the sexy night-vixen look, I never achieved it. And now, I was a brain-eating zombie. I didn’t know what sick inside joke they were getting at, but they better knock it the fuck off.

  “Come with me,” she said and led me to the bathroom mirror. “Look.”

  I kept my head down. “No fucking way.”

  She squeezed my shoulders. “Look.”

  “You’re a stubborn pain in the ass you know that?” I snapped at her. I took a deep breath and lifted my head. I didn’t recognize the girl in the mirror. She wasn’t me. This girl had a pink tone to her skin that made her glow. Instead of hair spiked in harsh angles, locks fell gently around her face in a cute pixie cut.

  I was still wearing the corset and leather mini from the party the other night. I dressed to look sexy, but I didn’t think I pulled it off.

  I stared at my reflection for a ridiculously long time. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen my real face. That base layer of white foundation I added before I even stepped in front of the mirror protected me from the rounded, pudgy-faced Diane from junior high. As I stared at myself, I realized I even had cheekbones. With only a residual trace of mascara and eyeliner, my eyes reminded me of turquoise pendants instead of a wannabe vampire.

  “See,” she whispered. “You had no idea you were gorgeous, did you?”

  The lump in my throat made it impossible to talk. She smiled at me. “You have always been this beautiful.”

  I needed to interrupt this line of thought. “Starr, I did not always look like this.”

  “Well, not exactly like this,” she said, indicating the bulging corset, “but like this.” She framed my face as if I was a portrait. “You just didn’t believe in yourself. All you needed was confidence.”

  I stared at her smile for a good long time. Her eyes shone with pride. I blinked back tears that threatened to burst. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “I’m sorry I blamed you.”

  “Blamed me for what?”

  “For getting all the attention. I felt like I was your shadow, and then one day, I got tired of it and went all Goth.”

  She dropped to the floor and wrapped her hands around her knees. “You did that because of me? Why didn’t you say anything? I….” Her breath caught in her throat. “I never meant to hurt you.”

  I dropped down next to her. “I know. You’ve always been so confident, so sure of yourself. That’s what people love about you. I hid in the corner and couldn’t figure out why people treated us differently. I didn’t know it was because of the way I acted.”

  “I wish I had known,” she said. “It seems like everyone I thought was my friend really hated me. I lived a lie.”

  I wrapped my arm around her. “Starr, I didn’t hate you. I just needed to go my own way for a while. I needed to figure out who I was. Everyone at school loves you.”

  She grunted. “Not Sami and Jovie.”

  “Those girls are bitches. I never liked them.”

  A smirk appeared. “Bitches huh? Wonder how they felt when they woke up?”

  “One hell of a hangover. The cops took them away. They should still be sitting in a jail cell.”

  “Jude says Sami demonstrates psychopathic tendencies. There’s some official DSM classification, but—”

  “Psychopath sounds about right.”

  She looked at me, her eyes wide with tears pooling in the corners. “Di, she was going to shoot me. She wanted to kill me. I don’t know what I did to hurt her that much.”

  If I could take the pain of betrayal away from Starr, I would, but there wasn’t much I could say to make her feel better. “Well, if it’s any consolation, I never wanted to shoot you. Maybe shove you in the pool, but never shoot you.”

  She giggled wiping away her tears. “Well, that definitely is something.”

  “I’ll taser you if it’ll help.”

  She laughed even harder. “I think I’ll pass. Get cleaned up, and we’ll order pizza. Jude’s been talking about some great pizza place that tastes like New York pizza.”

  I raised an eyebrow.

  “I know,” she replied. “I question it too.”

  I reached over and hugged her. “Starr, thank you for your friendship.”

  They could take my godsdamned license away and my Gorilla glue too. I didn’t need them anymore.

  Chapter Three

  STARR

  Sometime after Jude’s confession of love to me and Di’s arrival home from the hospital, Christian and Jude found a quasi-peaceful existence. I couldn’t figure out if it came from male bonding during the afternoon baseball game or a freaky alternate space we somehow plunged into or if Frank’s shooting really did bring us together as a team. Whatever the cause, I wasn’t sure I liked it. It set my teeth on edge.

  I mean I always wanted everyone to get along, but I didn’t think it would actually happen. Jude said he loved me and Christian was “fine” with it? I didn’t like it. Not one bit.

  “Hi,” Di said shyly as she came out of her bedroom. Her wet hair framed her face in an adorable pixie cut I wish I had the face for. A dash of eyeliner and a light coat of mascara made her turquoise eyes striking, especially with the blue shirt I left on the bed when she was in the shower. I smiled at her, feeling all warm and fuzzy and proud. Di and I were real. We might have had some time apart, but our friendship was real. I felt it in my heart. In my bones.

  Christian, Coda, and Ben clapped. Jude’s mouth dropped when he saw her. Then he clapped too. She blushed. The pink glow made her even more attractive.

  “Alright, enough of that shit,” she said with a new spring in her step. She winked at me and mouthed, “Thank you.”

  Jude jumped up. “I’m starving. Di, did Starr tell you I found an authentic New York pizza place?”

  “I still question that claim,” she said.

  “Seriously the pizza is awesome. Any topping preference?”

  Di curled up in the corner of the sofa. “Mushrooms and peppers.”

  “Perfect. Starr, any favorites?”

  “Mushrooms and peppers sound good. I don’t eat meat.”

  “Neither do I,” Di said.

  “Okay, one with no meat. Guys, what do you want?”

  “Pepperoni,” Christian, Coda, and Ben said with one mind and a singular focus.

  “Oh wait, forget Coda and me. We have to leave for work.”

  Coda moaned. “But I was looking forward to New York pizza.”


  “I’ll buy you cafeteria pizza for a late-night snack. You won’t even know the difference since you’ve never had New York pizza anyway. Di, I’ll meet you and Frank at the hospital tomorrow around ten. It’ll probably take a while to discharge him.”

  While we said our goodbyes to Coda and Ben, Jude borrowed Christian’s phone to order the pizza. “Great, thanks,” I heard him say. “It’ll be ready in about half an hour, and they don’t deliver. It only takes about fifteen minutes to get there. Hey Christian, want to go for a ride to pick it up?”

  Christian pushed up from the floor. “Sure.”

  At the sound of his voice, my heart raced. “I don’t think you should go.”

  “Starr, it’s just pizza.”

  I reached for his hands and pulled him down next to me. “Forget the pizza.”

  He leaned in and whispered, “Starr, it’s just pizza and besides, we don’t want to leave Jude alone and I’m not sending Di in my place.”

  I glanced over at Di. She finally seemed content with herself. Happy even.

  No, she’d been through too much. Much too much. My stomach twisted in knots.

  “I’ll make it up to you later,” he promised.

  “Please don’t go,” I whispered and threw my arms around him. I found his lips and began kissing him with a wild desire to never let him go. I knew it was silly. He was just going for pizza, but the way my life had been rolling lately, I wasn’t taking any chances.

  “Come on,” Jude said with a laugh in his voice. Dissimilar from his usual annoyed reaction whenever Christian and I engaged in public displays of affection. It only made me more nervous. “Pizza awaits.”

  Christian struggled to pull away, but I didn’t want to let him go. Not yet. “I love you,” I blurted out.

  He smiled at me. “I love you too. I’ll be right back.”

  Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched his disappearing back.

  “Starr, are you alright?” Di asked.

  “Yeah, I guess. No, not really. I’m feeling a little paranoid.”

  “Let’s watch a show—something mushy and icky the guys would never want to watch, and no news,” she warned pointing the remote in my direction.

  “No news,” I agreed.

  Before Di could change the channel, a newsflash came up. “We’d like to interrupt your regularly scheduled viewing for a brief announcement:

  Christian Evergood of Webster, New York, formerly of Raleigh, North Carolina has been missing for several weeks following the disappearance of Starr Bishop, Jovie Miller, and Samantha Livenwell. The girls’ car careened off a bridge into Lake Superior. Authorities have reason to believe Mr. Evergood is responsible for the accident. He is considered armed and dangerous. He may be accompanied by Diane Rourke, also of Webster, New York. The two were last seen in the southwestern part of Virginia. Any information on their whereabouts, please contact local authorities immediately.

  While the reporter was breaking this revelation, pictures of Christian and Di appeared on the bottom of the screen. The news station must have pulled the pictures from our yearbook. The pale, black eye-lined Goth who looked like he wanted to drain you for dessert didn’t resemble the Christian I’d come to know and love. Di’s picture on the other hand looked exactly like Di from three days ago, but now, no one would guess it was the same person. The veil of makeup disappeared with the spiked tendrils.

  “Remember, Christian and Di are believed to be armed and dangerous.”

  The news station pulled up the stock photo that our parents used when we originally went missing the day of the test. Sami, Jovie, and I were laughing about the wonders of life with our arms linked around each other as if we were the best of friends. I always thought we were. Now, I knew it was a lie. The evil loathing of the other night would be forever etched into my brain. And Jovie’s failure to act out against Sami to save my life, perhaps the greatest blow of all.

  If you have any information on their whereabouts, please contact local authorities immediately. We will now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

  Di and I stared at the TV. Neither one of us willing to put into words what the other was thinking. Present-day Di and Christian in no way resembled their yearbook pictures in the least, but it was only a matter of time before the authorities found old pictures of Christian tucked away in his old high school’s basement or from Di’s grandmother’s house.

  Di checked the time on the TV. “Shouldn’t they be back by now?”

  I took out the phone. “I’m calling.”

  She didn’t try to stop me or tell me to wait or assure me that the guys were fine. We knew all too well that a few extra minutes could be the difference between life and death when it came to the Organization.

  Christian’s phone rang. No answer. I called again. Still no answer. Left a voice mail. Called again. Sent a text. No reply. With each passing minute, my panic increased tenfold. My phone came to life. I grabbed it without checking the caller ID. “Christian, are you alright?”

  “Starr, it’s me.”

  “Frank, did you see the broadcast?”

  “Yeah, it doesn’t look good. Starr, the police questioned Di—without her makeup and hair glue. It’s only a matter of time before they create a range of potential appearances. Di and Christian need to go deep cover.”

  At the mention of Christian’s name, tears sprang to my eyes. I choked back a sob.

  “Starr,” he said, “what’s wrong?”

  “Christian and Jude went out for pizza and they aren’t back yet and they aren’t answering their phones.”

  There was a long pause. Di shoved her face into mine. “What should we do? Should we head to our backup location? Should we go looking for them?”

  “No,” he shouted, “stay where you are. I’ll get ahold of Ben and Coda. Di, you’ve got your taser right?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Do you even need to ask?”

  “Don’t be afraid to use it. Use the fire escape if you need to. Oh, and Di?”

  Di glanced over at me, unable to hide her surprise. “Yeah?”

  “I miss you. I better see you tomorrow even if it’s in handcuffs. Actually,” he said, “especially if you’re in handcuffs. I’ve always found them very sexy.”

  She snorted. “In your dreams buddy.” The blush creeping into her cheeks made me smile. Assassins, the police, nothing could stop love. Nothing.

  I plugged in my phone to charge it, all the while repeatedly dialing Christian’s number. I’d call Jude, but he didn’t have a phone—it seemed like a good idea at the time. We didn’t want him to have more contact with the outside world than was necessary. Di even searched his bags when he was in the shower to make sure he didn’t bring one with him, but now, in hindsight, the more contact we had with our team members, the better.

  Around one a.m., the infomercials took over. By three a.m., Di considered purchasing a set of giant commercial-grade stainless steel stockpots with her mom’s “borrowed” credit card but decided against it, because 1) she didn’t plan to make ten gallons of spaghetti sauce all at once in the near future even if the boys could eat a small grocery store’s worth of food each meal, and 2) she didn’t have the storage space under her bunk. It never crossed her mind, and it barely crossed mine that she’d alert Homeland Security and a half dozen other groups, including the Organization of our whereabouts.

  Ben and Coda left work and searched every street, every pizza shop, and every bar they could get into around the greater Asheville area. They even crashed a half dozen parties at the campus, including a sorority pledge night. Coda hinted that if they weren’t on the hunt for Christian, they would have stayed. It was the only joke he made.

  Christian’s phone cut straight to voice mail. Panic swelled in my chest. My heart threatened to explode. I wanted to search the streets. I couldn’t even… I couldn’t even imagine what happened to Christian. In the short time that Frank, Jude, and Coda were at the youth group dance without us, Frank was tied up and al
most shot. What horrors, what torture was the Organization exacting even now?

  Somewhere around six a.m., the phone shattered the silence of the apartment. Nothing like the interruption of a jilted sleep to throw you into an adrenaline hyper-drive. Di grabbed the phone before I could. She glanced at the caller ID. “Hello?”

  As she listened to whoever was on the other line, she sadly shook her head “no” as she watched me. “Let me check.”

  “It’s Frank. They’re releasing him in an hour. Do you want to come with me to get him? We’ll be back by eight thirty at the latest, and then we can figure out our next move.”

  “No, you go. I’ll stay here just in case.”

  “Frank, we’ll be there by seven thirty outside. See you soon.”

  “We? I’m not going. What if Christian shows up? I have to be here. You can’t go either. The cops know your name. They’ll wait at the hospital and arrest you the moment your foot hits the sliding door.”

  “True, but I’m not going in the front door. Can I borrow that baseball cap you wore the other day?” she asked as she yanked on a pink—yes, pink—sweatshirt.

  I scowled at her. “Di, a pink sweatshirt and a baseball cap are not exactly the best disguises.”

  She winked at me. “You’d be surprised. Besides, I’m not going in. Ben will get him but you’re coming with us. I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

  I crossed my arms. “I’m not going.”

  She sighed as she picked up the phone. “Stubborn,” she mumbled. “Ben, hey it’s me. You guys close?”

  She listened as she watched me, as if the moment she turned her back, I would disappear. A pause. A laugh. “Great. I’ll meet you at the corner.”

  “Coda will be here in less than five minutes. In the meantime,” she said, dropping her taser in my hand. “You flick this button to turn it on.” She pointed to a switch on the side. “It’s fully charged, so it’s ready to go if you need it.”

  She shoved a canister in my front pocket. “Here’s an extra cartridge in case you need it—load it here,” she tilted the taser sideways to show me the cartridge slot. “Easy,” she nodded as if to reassure me that anyone can do it, but I wasn’t so sure, “and brush your teeth. You’ve got wicked dragon breath.”