“Yeah,” the others agreed.
Daniel shifted uncomfortably next to me. I knew it would irritate him to have four shadows, but I was glad to see that the devotion of these reformed SKs hadn’t waned one bit now that Daniel was no longer the white wolf.
“I don’t mind busting some heads for you.” Brent punched his fist into his palm, looking tough and yet still very sarcastic at the same time.
“I think this matter may call for a more delicate approach,” I said.
“Okay,” Daniel said, and propelled Brent out the door with the others. “Let’s go. We’ll fill you in on the way.”
TWENTY MINUTES LATER
As part of the delicate approach, we decided it would be best if I arrived at the meet-up alone—didn’t want to spook Talbot before I could get answers.
The only problem was, the moment I saw him leaning against a tree at the farthest end of the churchyard, where I’d texted him to meet me, any idea of handling him delicately vanished from my mind.
Talbot stood up and shoved his hands into his pockets when he saw me coming. Stubble painted his face as if it had been over a day since he’d shaved, and he wore the same clothes I’d last seen him in. I must not have been able to stop my emotions from showing on my face, because a strange looked passed over his eyes—kind of like guilt—before he plastered on his warmest “aw shucks” farm-boy, dimpled smile. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to stay away from me for long. You have no idea how happy I am you decided—”
“What the hell did you do?” I asked as I approached.
A confused look settled in Talbot’s eyes. “Nothing … I was just sitting here.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” My hand went flying, and I hit him in the sternum with the flat of my palm, slamming him against the tree trunk. The branches above us shuddered. A flutter of autumn leaves fell to the ground. A bright orange one landed in his brown hair. I had to stand up on my tiptoes to get in his face.
“Whoa, kid. If you wanted to get me in a compromising position, all you had to do was ask.”
“Stop it!” I grabbed him by the collar of his flannel shirt. “You need to tell me exactly what happened to Pete Bradshaw.”
Since the moment it was revealed that Talbot had been working for Caleb, that he was one of the Shadow Kings, I’d suspected that he’d had something to do with the attack on Pete Bradshaw that had put him in a coma. After all, Pete had been found in the dojo, where Talbot and I had trained, with an SK spray painted next to his body. Not to mention that Talbot had witnessed an altercation between Pete and me the night before at the Depot. And I’d seen how angry Talbot had gotten when he’d heard that Pete had been harassing me.
“You attacked him, didn’t you? After I begged you to leave him be. What did you do to him?”
Talbot just stared at me. He blinked a couple of times. “What are you talking about … ?” He gave me a look like he was afraid I knew something I shouldn’t.
“Don’t pretend you didn’t have anything to do with that attack on Pete. You know what happened to him. I watched him die two days ago, but my sister saw him hanging out near a gas station in the city this morning. Tell me how that’s possible.” I let go of his shirt. “Did you infect him? Is he an Urbat now or something?”
Talbot swore, loudly. “This is what I was afraid of,” he said under his breath. “He’s not an Urbat, Grace. Damn it. If what you say is true, then Pete’s an Akh.”
“An Akh?” Akhs were bloodthirsty and conniving, and they could psychically control their victims by staring into their eyes.
“He must have been infected by an Akh when he was attacked.” Talbot brushed the leaf out of his hair. “I didn’t attack Pete that night … because you asked me not to—”