“That seems a little dramatic.”
She chuckles. “They’re hunting us, do you know that?”
“I do. They killed my mentor as well as the mentors of the others I’ve been working with. But we’re strong and we’re working together.”
“Yes. I see you’ve been collecting my Lost Boys.” He tone shifts, as does her scent. Jealousy. “Are they well? Happy?”
“They’re not lost and they aren’t boys, Demetria. They’re men. And yes, they’re trying to rebuild their lives. But none of us are set on vengeance. That was not the aspiration of our mentors.”
She leans back in her purple chair, crossing her long legs. She wears a skirt made of shimmery chiffon. The fairy pin Quinn described is on her shoulder. “When you realize how foolish you are, you’re welcome to come home. Neverland is always open for the Lost Boys and Wendy will always be here to take care of them. Tell me, how is Peter?”
“You mean Owen? He’s better.”
“He was my favorite you know.” She leans in conspiratorially. “He can fly, you know.”
Oh jeez. Astrid now understands the psych evaluation a little better and as much as it saddens her, there’s also something terrifying about it. She doesn’t argue, instead she changes the subject.
“I’m glad you tracked me down because there is something going on that I think you’ll be interested in.”
She raises a perfectly arched eyebrow. “And what is that?”
“We have a common enemy who is trying his best to take down the swamp. Brutus Kincade.”
“Bastard,” Demetria spats. “He approached you? What does he want? Your gym?”
“Blackmailed is the more accurate word.”
Her eyes narrow and her hands clench. Her nails are painted hot pink with rhinestones on the tips. “He wants my buildings—I’m fighting with the city right now to keep that property away from him. Code violations,” she mutters. “He wants to get rid of all of the affordable housing in the Swamp.”
“I know. And he wants me and my team to help him clean up the area or my building will be next.”
Demetria studies me for a moment, her mind running faster than a hamster on a wheel. She sits up straight and there’s no mistaking the gleam in her eye. “This may be the perfect opportunity for us to work together, Astrid. A common enemy and a mutual goal. Together, we’ll bring down Kincade and protect the less fortunate in the Swamp.”
“I’m down with that,” Astrid agrees. “But I’m going to need some assurances from you.”
The woman eyes her skeptically. It’s obvious she’s not used to making deals. “What do you want?”
“You have to promise to leave my team,” she swallows, “the Lost Boys alone. You have to leave the gym and programs alone. And this is a one-time arrangement. We’re not joining up with you, not while you have a vendetta.”
She pouts. “Fine. I’ll leave the Lost Boys alone.” She looks up at me under her thick lashes and holds out her hand. “Deal?”
With only the slightest hesitation they shake, Demetria’s firm hand against Astrid’s gloved one. “Deal.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Demetria
Before
They found her with blood on her hands. She was in the yard playing with a doll, a marble, a rusty Matchbook car, and a chipped cup from a child’s tea set.
“Miranda,” she said to the doll. “It’s time for your nap.” The baby’s glass eyes fluttered and she yawned. Demetria wrapped her in a dirty blanket and cradled the doll in her arms.
The blood was dry but sticky.
She heard the men in the house. She knew one uniformed woman stood by the back door keeping an eye on her. She’d given her a purple lollipop and told her not to come inside. The police officers would check on her mother.
Demetria knew her mother was dead. She’d watched as her eyes glazed over and she slid to the floor from her spot at the kitchen table. The girl waited to see if it was like the other times when she’d used the white powder to feel better.
It wasn’t.
Her mother was dead. No matter how hard Demetria tried to force her to come back. To smile. To stand. To walk. It didn’t work.
She heard the rattle of the van before she saw it. A frazzled woman stepped out in a brown skirt and blue cardigan. Her hair was brown-messy—and pulled back behind her head. Demetria knew this was the person coming to get her. She’d have to leave her home. Probably the Swamp. There was no way they’d let her stay here. Not with what she can do—her mother always knew that. She’d say, “Be careful, little one, they won’t want you to have powers like that.”
Powers like what? the girl always wondered. And who are ‘they’?
She wondered but didn’t ask, then made her toy dogs race around the room with the flick of her hand.
“Demetria?” the woman asked, walking across the yard. Her shoes squished in the dirt. She squatted next to her. “I’m Nicole. I’m a social worker and I’m here to take you somewhere safe.”
Demetria looked at the woman and knew she may be one of them but takes the woman’s offered hand anyway, slipping her dark, blood-covered hand into the woman’s much paler one.
They didn’t go back in the house, back past the body or to retrieve any of Demetria’s things. She never said goodbye. But she did make a promise as she looked at the house from the inside of the van: she would come back.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Astrid
The silver car fights the thick rush-hour traffic from downtown back to the edge of the Swamp. Draco drives and Astrid sits in the back, wanting to ask him a million questions; things about Demetria, about WIND-E, and most importantly, how he came to work for her. She has a feeling, the kernel of suspicion, that this man is someone she’s supposed to know. Is he one of them? Is he just another Lost Boy, or some pretty token Demetria found to take their place.
She doesn’t ask though, instead keeping her mouth shut and one hand on the door for a fast escape. Joining forces with Demetria is a big step. Going against Kincade is a dangerous one. Both things she agreed to without approval from her team. She sighs and fidgets with the door handle.
“Everything okay back there?” His gray eyes catch hers in the mirror.
“Yeah. I’m just thinking about how I’m going to have a lot of explaining to do when I get back home.”
He nods in understanding and swerves out of the way of a white mini-van with a dozen bumper stickers on the back window.
She takes a moment to study the back of Draco’s head and reaches out with her senses. He’s calm. Heart rate steady. Damn him for smelling like bake goods and sex. Knowing Demetria, it’s probably a requirement for working for her. She laughs to herself, thinking how her secretary probably has farts that smell like rainbows.
Draco’s eyes meet hers in the rearview mirror again. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.”
“You laughed. Did I miss something?”
“I was just thinking about your boss and, you know, all her sparkles and glitter. She likes to surround herself with pretty, happy things.”
“True,” he agrees. His shining gray eyes keep connecting with hers. “Makes sense for why she wanted me to pick you up.”
Astrid laughs. “Demetria didn’t track me down because of my looks, but thanks handsome, you’re not too shabby looking yourself.”
Did she just say that? Who is this guy and why is she talking like this? She gets a glimpse of his face again. Oh yeah, that’s why. He’s so painfully attractive he’s melted her brain. She averts her eyes to the window and promises not to say anything else so stupid. Thankfully he keeps his ridiculously soft-looking lips shut for the rest of the trip.
“Thanks for the ride,” she says when he finally pulls up to the curb.
“Nice to meet you, Astrid. I’m glad you’re joining WIND-E.”
She pauses halfway out the door, not sure how to reply to that. She’s not exactly joining WIND-E. They’re not on the payroll. They just have a common problem to take care of. That’s it.
“Nice meeting you too, Draco. Stay perfect, okay?”