The Awakening (Darkest Powers 2)

Tears burned my eyes, that old never-quite-healed ache flaring. I took a deep, shuddering breath, folded the letter, and put it back in my pocket.

We’d been there over an hour when Liz came racing in with the news. “She’s not dead. Your aunt. She’s okay. ”

From the excitement on Liz’s face, you’d think she’d just learned her own aunt had survived. It didn’t matter that Aunt Lauren was part of the group that murdered her. All she cared about was that this news would please me. Looking at her glowing face, I realized that as good as I tried to be, I could never be as selfless as Liz.

My relief was cut short by a fresh worry. What would they do to Aunt Lauren now that she’d helped us escape? Now that she’d betrayed them. Thinking of that reminded me of another betrayal. Rae’s.

I’d trusted her. I’d vouched for her to the guys, persuaded them to let her join us, and she’d turned us in.

Rae was the one who’d insisted that the boys weren’t coming back. She was the one who suggested I go to Aunt Lauren, who’d talked me into it when I’d hesitated.

I remembered the night we’d left, lying in our beds trying to sleep. She’d been so excited about her powers and not the least concerned about what lay ahead of us. Now I knew why she hadn’t been worried.

Aunt Lauren said Rae honestly thought she was helping me. Betrayal as tough love, forcing me onto the path chosen for me, certain she was right and I was just too stubborn to see it.

Now both she and my aunt were trapped with the Edison Group. Once the glow over her new life faded, Rae would see the cracks and pick away at them until she realized the truth. I hoped she didn’t. I prayed both of them would just hold tight and do whatever the Edison Group wanted until I could return. And I would return.

Finally Liz popped in to tell me that Dr. Davidoff and his crew had given up, assuming Tori and I had snuck past the front gates and were long gone. They’d left a guard behind, keeping watch from some hidden spot, in case Derek showed up, following my trail.

At five, the whistle blew, the workday ending. By five thirty, the building was empty. Still we waited. Past six, past seven…

“It must be dark out by now,” Tori whispered, crawling over to me.

“Dusk, not dark. We’ll give it another hour. ”

At eight, we left.

Fourteen

WE SNUCK PAST THE night guard, who was busy reading Playboy in the lunchroom. Liz stayed with him to make sure he didn’t hear us. He didn’t.

Luckily Tori and I had the good fortune to dress in dark clothes that morning—Tori in a navy American Eagle sweat suit and leather jacket, me in jeans and a green shirt. I only wished I had more than this thin jacket. With the sun gone it was freezing, made worse by an icy blast that had to be coming straight across the river from Canada.

Once inside the warehouse, we wouldn’t have to worry about the wind. Getting there, though, was taking forever. Liz was having trouble finding the Edison Group guard, so we had to go the long way around, scooting from hiding place to hiding place, to reach the real rendezvous point—the warehouse where Rae and I had waited for Derek and Simon.

As it had been the other night, the warehouse door was latched but not locked. Unless you knew a hot black market in cardboard boxes, crates, and wooden pallets, there was nothing inside to steal. All that worthless junk made it the perfect place to hide…and meant there were a million spots for the guys to leave a note.

After a few minutes of banging around in the dark, I gave up.

“We’ll have to wait until morning,” I said.

No response. I squinted around for Tori.

“This is my stop,” she said, somewhere to my left.

“Hmm?”

“This is where I get off. ” Her voice was oddly monotone, like she was too tired to put any bite into the words. “My adventure, as fun as it’s been, ends here. ”

“Just hold on until morning. If there isn’t a note, we’ll figure something out. ”

“And if there is a note? I wanted to join your escape, Chloe, not your crusade to find Simon’s dad. ”

“B-but he’ll—”

“Save the day?” She managed a sarcastic lilt. “Rescue us from the mad scientists, cure us, and take us to a land of lollipops and unicorns?”

My voice hardened. “Finding him might not solve anything, but right now, we’re a little short on options. What are you going to do instead? Go back to the Edison Group and say you’re sorry, it was all a mistake?”

“I’m doing what I planned all along. We needed each other to get out. But that’s all I wanted from you. I’d help you find the note, but I won’t stay until morning to do it. I’m going home, to my dad. ”

That shut me up, if only because I was afraid I’d say something I’d regret, like ask if she meant her dad or her father. Did she know there was a difference? I doubted it.

“So your dad…. He’s human?”

“Of course. He doesn’t know anything about this. But I’m going to tell him. ”

“Is that such a good idea?”

“He’s my dad,” she snapped. “When he hears what my mom did…? Everything’s going to be okay. My dad and me get along great. Better than him and my mom. They hardly even talk. I’m sure they only stay together because of us kids. ”