I slammed the book on the table. “And because she told you, my secret identity is not secret, which means that my family is in danger, and we’ll all be murdered in our sleep. Happy? And Spider-Man does not wear a cape! Who else knows?”
“The whole school will if you don’t yell at me a little quieter,” Bobby said. “Jeez, I thought superheroes were discreet.”
My throat tightened. I wondered how upset Kathryn would be if I murdered her boyfriend. “Who. Knows?”
“Nobody. What do you think, your best friend is a moron? She never said a word. I brought it up. Don’t forget, Rinnie, I was there. I saw what you did.”
“You knew about the Memory Lash before that day in the park. I suppose you found that on the Internet?”
Bobby blushed. “Well, to tell the truth, Kitty talks in her sleep.”
“WHAT?”
“No, nothing like that. She always falls asleep during Math Club. I was going to wake her to leave, and she mumbled something about a Memory Lash changing hearts. I thought she was dreaming until I saw what you did to Mason. After you saved me in the park, I asked her about it, and she totally flipped out on me. Believe me, you do not want to be on the wrong side of Kitty. She swore she’d cut off body parts that I’d really prefer to keep if I ever spoke a word to anyone. She is extremely protective of you, and made it painfully clear that I will be, too, if I want to remain alive and unharmed. We did everything we could to cover up what happened that afternoon. You’re just lucky Rubric was so whacked out on drugs he doesn’t remember anything. He doesn’t even know he was there. You knocked Chuckie out, so he didn’t see anything. It’s Mason I’m worried about.”
So Kathryn didn’t give away my secret after all. She was totally trustworthy. I sighed silently. “I’m not worried about Mason anymore. I want Angel.”
“Rinnie, I have an idea.”
“Put all my secrets on Facebook? You mean you haven’t already?”
“I brought you an army. Train them.”
“Your army can’t help me. It’s too dangerous. This is something I have to do alone. In case Kathryn left out any other details about my personal life, I fight very ruthless people. My birth parents were murdered. I’m going after their killer as soon as I stop this kidnapper.”
“They…” Bobby’s mouth hung open. “You’re adopted? That part must’ve slipped her mind.”
“They kidnapped me and used me as bait. If it weren’t for me, my parents would still be alive. I want Angel. She’s one of them.”
Bobby looked down at the floor, then back at me. “Are you telling me that Tammy Angel is the Walpurgis Knight called Scallion? So…she is the kidnapper. She attacked Kitty. Makes perfect sense.” Bobby touched my shoulder. “The Knights do all these nasty things to lure you out, right? They beat people up, they run drugs, just to get you to try to stop them. Just to find out who you are.”
I mentally smashed my head repeatedly against the tabletop.
“Is there anything Kathryn didn’t tell you?” I mumbled. On the plus side, she had obviously instilled a healthy fear of giving away my secret. I had no doubt Bobby would keep his mouth shut. “Look, I’m positive Tammy is Scallion, but I lost her Amplifier, so I can’t prove it. I have to get her to come out of hiding.”
“Let’s give them a taste of their own medicine.” Bobby leaned toward me and slammed his fist into his palm. “Let’s kick Angel’s butt right here. We’ll stop the Psychedone 10 production. We’ll put her and her goons in jail. If that doesn’t make her show herself, I don’t know what will. Leave it to the Dweeb League. We’ll give the school its dignity back.”
I smiled, struggling only a little with the idea of restoring dignity to someone with a Three Stooges hairdo. “That might actually work.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Psychedone 10
I went to the hospital the next day after school. I’ve never seen a corpse up close, but if I ever do, I can’t imagine how it could look more frightening than Kathryn.
Her room in the Greensburg Hospital ICU smelled very septic, like they had embalmed her, but waited a little too long. It seemed like her body was already decomposing. Her eyes were sunken into deep pits. The dark purple surrounding them was the only color on her face, except for her dry, cracked lips. They were the same bluish hue as her fingernails. Her shallow, forced breathing terrified me.
Suddenly, Kathryn inhaled sharply and sat up. Her pupils were so tiny, it was like they weren’t even there. Sweat poured down her forehead. She shivered uncontrollably.
“Fight it, fight it, fight it,” she whispered, drawing her knees up to her chest and squeezing her arms around them.
“Kathryn.” I touched her sweat-soaked hair.