Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions (Wicked Lovely 5.50)

Facing Facts

by Kelley Armstrong

s I lay on my back, gasping for breath, I began to suspect that Tori enjoyed our self-defense lessons a little too much.

“Come on, Chloe, get up,” she said, dancing around me.

“Actually, I think I’ll stay down here. It’s safer.”

Simon walked over. As he helped me up, he whispered, “Watch her face. She telegraphs her moves.”

He was right. By keeping an eye on her expression instead of her hands, I managed to evade her twice and bring her to her knees once. Then she flicked her fingers, and I went flying into a tree.

Simon sighed. “No powers, Tori. You know the rules.”

“I don’t like the rules.”

“Surprise, surprise.”

“Seriously. We’re training for real-world confrontations, right? In the real world, if we’re attacked by some Cabal goon, we’re going to use our fighting powers.”

“But Chloe doesn’t have fighting powers.”

“Sure she does. She has a poltergeist. Well, when Liz is around. And when she’s not, Chloe has the awesome power of zombies at her fingertips.” Tori waved at the woods behind our rented house. “Raise a dead bunny. It can nip my ankles while I’m throwing you down.”

“And infect you with the bite of a rotting corpse?” I said.

“That would be bad.” Simon turned to me. “Go for it.”

As Tori flashed him the finger, I grabbed her arm and flipped her, then danced back before she could retaliate.

“Are you blind, ref?” she said to Simon. “Call that.”

“Nope. Distraction is a valid—” He glanced behind me. “Hey, Dad.”

I turned as his father—Kit—walked over.

“Sorry to interrupt your lessons, guys, but I need to speak to Tori.”

As he led Tori into the house, I stared after them. I had a good idea what Kit was about to do—drop the bomb that would explode what remained of Tori’s old life. She already knew her mother was dead. Now she was about to discover that her dad wasn’t her real father. Kit was.

It had been a month since the four of us—Tori, Simon, Derek, and I—had been reunited with the guys’ dad and my aunt Lauren. A month since I’d seen Kit look at Tori for the first time, and known, from his expression, that he’d heard the same rumor I had. But he’d said nothing. Not to her or to Simon.

I’d begun to think maybe he wasn’t going to tell them. Maybe he didn’t believe it. Or maybe he’d wanted to confirm with DNA first, and now he had the answer.

When they’d left, Simon walked over. “We’d better cut the lesson short. Somehow I don’t think Derek would appreciate me wrestling with his girlfriend on the back lawn. As much as I hate to suggest homework, your aunt’s going to expect us to have that biology project done by tomorrow.”

We headed to the old farmhouse. Two weeks ago, Kit and my aunt Lauren had decided that, if the Cabal was coming after us, they weren’t hurrying. Kit wasn’t surprised. While the scientists who’d genetically modified us had been eager to get us back, the massive supernatural corporation that funded them—the St. Cloud Cabal—knew Kit would keep our powers in check. So, they could bide their time, which meant we could rent a place and try living like normal people for a while.

As we reached the house, I heard a vehicle and glanced over, hoping to see our van. When a truck drove past, I felt a pang of disappointment, but I told myself I could better support Tori post-bombshell if Derek wasn’t around.

Derek is Simon’s adopted brother and the guy I’m dating, though we have yet to go on what you’d call a real date. That’s not Derek’s fault. While we’re on the road, we’re pretending to be a blended family, with Kit and Aunt Lauren as our parents. That means I can’t be seen at the movies holding hands with my supposed stepbrother.

Derek grumbles that it’s not like we’d be blood relatives, but Kit says it would still call attention to us. We can’t take that risk. So while Derek and I can go out together, we have to keep a foot apart, like at those old-fashioned dances where teachers would walk around with rulers. On the plus side, because Derek’s a werewolf, we always stay in places near a forest. Derek and I spend time alone “walking” in the woods. A lot of time, actually.

When Derek did come back, he’d want to go for a walk, to relax after grocery shopping with my aunt. It’d been her idea. She’d joked that since he ate most of the food, he should help her get it. Derek had resisted. His dad had taken him aside and said he should go, get to know Aunt Lauren better and show her that this “werewolf dating her niece” thing wasn’t as scary as she thought.

Right now, though, I could have used Derek’s superhearing. While Simon hunted for his notes upstairs, I eavesdropped on Kit’