A low, throaty laugh echoed on the other end. “It’s Zahlia. Sorry. I should have said.”
“Oh my God. No, it’s fine. I’m glad you called. Actually, I’m really glad you called.” Claire sank down onto the scorching-hot concrete at the edge of the pool and dangled her feet in the water.
“I figured you might have some questions, and I heard that your mom went to Chicago. Not that she’d likely answer them, anyway.”
“Yeah. Why is that, exactly?”
“Your mom is just really … traditional. So—has everything been okay?”
The fist that was clenched around Claire’s sternum loosened. “Actually, everything’s been pretty crappy. But I think I’ve figured out a couple of things.” She heard the pride creep into her voice as she admitted that, but she couldn’t stop it. “I—I was trying to change, you know, in the forest?”
“Good. Were you successful?”
“Yeah, I was. But the weird thing was that while I was trying, I heard Lisbeth talking. And she was at our house. Is that normal?”
There was a pause at the other end of the phone. “Not everyone can do it, but yeah, long-distance hearing is one of the more common gifts.”
“So, I could only hear half of the conversation. Can you hear more than one person at a time? Do you have to be a wolf to do it?”
“I can’t do it at all, but I think Beatrice can hear multiple people at once. I’m pretty sure it’s just a matter of practice. And yeah, even though you have heightened senses all the time, you have to be in your true form to use any of your actual gifts.”
“Okay, I guess that makes sense.”
“So—you said you were in the woods. Does your mom know that you’re trying this stuff ?”
A little butterfly-flutter of panic stirred inside Claire. “Um, no. You’re not going to tell her, are you?”
Zahlia laughed. “No. I’m not. She wouldn’t approve of it, and I don’t agree with her about that. Why waste these three months? You’ll be a better pack member if you know what you’re doing when your transformation is complete.”
“Okay. Good.”
“So, listen, you’ll have my number in your phone now, and if you need anything, you let me know. I remember how hard those first few months were.”
“Yeah, I’ll call you.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Claire hung up and swung her feet against the resistance of the water, making the surface ripple and burble. If she had someone who would actually help her—who could actually help her, unlike Emily—then maybe she could get through this after all. With a flick of her wrist, Claire tossed the phone onto the cushioned deck chair behind her and slid into the cool, quiet pool.
The conversation with Zahlia and a good set of laps in the pool had made Claire just calm and tired enough to think that calling Matthew was a good idea.
“Hello?”
“Um, hey, Matthew. It’s Claire. How are you?”
“I’m bored out of my skull. Seriously. It’s too hot to go for a run and my dad’s getting ready for some sort of big meeting, so he’s kind of taken over the house. I’m actually thinking of doing my summer reading assignment. It’s that bad.”
Claire laughed. “It must be bad if you’re willing to do schoolwork.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty awful. But, A Separate Peace actually looks sort of interesting. And it’s short.”
Claire stretched, smiling. She’d guessed he was smart—not in a geeky, chess club way, but a quiet kind of smart. She liked that. She liked it a lot. “Well, Emily bailed on me around lunchtime and you don’t hear me resorting to trigonometry,” she teased.
“Hey, hey, hey, not so fast. I said nothing about doing math,” he shot back. Claire could hear him grinning. “So, do you want to rescue me from my boredom before I resort to doing something productive? I could come pick you up, maybe grab a smoothie or something?”
Claire hesitated. There were plenty of reasons to say no—like the fact that his dad was hunting her family, that she might slip and give something away. But it was so easy to talk to him. And he was so cute.
“Sure,” she said, trying to shut up the part of her brain that was second-guessing her even as she agreed to go. “That sounds fun.”
“Great! A half hour from now okay with you?”
“Perfect.” Claire was already halfway up the stairs, mentally scanning the contents of her closet. “See you then.”
While she was dressing, Claire called Lisbeth and left her a message. She put on a little makeup and the sapphire earrings her mom had given her for her birthday.
Pretty, but not as good as a car.
She sighed and headed downstairs to wait for Matthew.
The outside of Matthew’s car was coated in a thin layer of dust—almost everyone’s was, because the drought had dried everything out so badly—but Claire was surprised to find the inside was really clean. No soda cans rolling around on the floor, no dirty soccer cleats stashed behind the seats.
“What?” he asked, clearly amused at the amazement on her face.