Thirteen (Otherworld 13)

Mom leaned over and whispered to me.

"Oh, right. Okay." I cast a nervous look around, then lit a light ball in my palm.

"Ah, I see," Amanda said.

"Right. So, we're new to town and we heard about this . . . stuff going on, and this guy we met, Shawn Roberts, he said you could--"

"Don't lie, Bri," Mom whispered. When I looked over, she leaned in and mock-whispered. "She can check on that. Tell the truth."

"Okay. Right." I wiped my hands again. "So Roberts wouldn't tell us where to find you, but he sent us to this guy named Toby. He didn't want to help us either. But then Sami . . ." I cast a knowing look at Mom. "She kinda . . . convinced him."

"I'm sure she did," Amanda said. "And I'm sure it wasn't hard. Look, girls, whatever you heard--"

"We know about the Supernatural Freedom--"

"Liberation," Mom whispered.

"Right. Supernatural Liberation Movement. They recruited a couple of our friends who go to UCLA. Our friends want us to join, but we're not sure if it's a good idea."

"It's not," Amanda said.

I exhaled. "Whatever you're doing, we can help. Sami here, they say she's a Conspicio, but we think she's an Aspicio. She can do the X-ray vision thing."

That stopped Amanda in her tracks. She waved to the wall of the building. "That's the super's apartment. Look inside and tell me what she's doing."

Mom walked over and cleared a peephole. "I don't know where 'she' is, but there's a guy inside. About three hundred pounds, surfing porn, wearing only his--no, I don't think he's wearing anything."

"That's good, right?" I said. "I mean, not about the naked guy, but Sami's power. It would be useful, right?"

Amanda shrugged, but her eyes glittered. "And the blinding power?"

"I can cause temporary blindness," she said. "It only lasts a few minutes, but it's handy."

"I bet it is."

"I can help, too," I said. "I know witch and sorcerer magic up to the third level, and it usually works."

A dismissive nod my way. Amanda laid a hand on Mom's arm. "How about I skip the workout today and treat you girls to a drink. There's a nice little place down the road. Very private."

THIRTEEN

I got a text from Elena while we were still walking to the bar. Their plane had landed and they were ready to take over as Mom's bodyguards. I texted back to say we'd made contact and I needed to play this through.

Amanda led us to a neighborhood pub, already dark inside and reeking of hops. We took a booth in the back and Amanda explained the situation. If I were she I'd have gone with a whole lot less detail for potential recruits. But that's what happens when you launch a revolution with no previous revolutionary experience. It all seems like a grand, adventurous game. You'll be cagey, of course, because it's top-secret stuff. But when you have a reason to spill--like trying to woo an Aspicio half-demon to the cause--you're happy for the opportunity to prove how terribly clever you all are.

Amanda's group was anti-SLAM. I'd suspected that because Roberts had switched the drugs, but to be honest, I couldn't see the advantage of feeding stimulants to werewolves--for either side.

Now, as Amanda explained it, I understood . . . they were idiots. Their scheme only proved I was right about their lack of experience with this whole revolt business. I'm sure the plan made sense to them, but to anyone who's seen the dark side of supernatural life, it was a very, very stupid idea, guaranteed to go horribly awry.

See, the plan was this . . .

"Controlled outbursts of supernatural activity," Amanda explained. "This SLM group is trying to persuade supernaturals that coming out of the closet is a good idea. But it's not. We know that, don't we?"

Mom and I nodded.

"The problem is that a lot of supernaturals aren't so sure. They think of how much simpler and better life would be if they didn't have to hide their nature, and they tell themselves humans wouldn't react that badly. I mean, the Inquisition is over."

We nodded again.