Darker Days (The Darker Agency #1)(42)

For a second, I thought about flattery. On a normal mom, it might have worked. Sure you are—you rock! Are you kidding? You’re totally that good. On my mom, though, it’d never fly. She had the best bullshit meter in the country. “But I just proved you don’t have to do this alone. I snagged Sloth without even a hair out of place. If this is about your whole fascination with normal—”

“This has nothing to do with normal, either.” She sighed. “This has to do with keeping my seventeen-year-old daughter off the radar of one of the oldest evils around.” She stood and leaned over the desk. “We don’t have time to take things slowly, Jessie. I only have three days to find these people or they’re going to die. This morning your father and I tracked them to a warehouse downtown, but they’d cleared out by the time we got there.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it. There was no sense in arguing—or telling her technically I was already on their radar because of Vida. For all my beef with logic, I understood her reasoning. I didn’t like it and didn’t agree—but I understood. She was doing the mom thing. I couldn’t blame her.

Much.

Gritting my teeth, I retreated up the stairs to my room. I slammed the door and dove for my cell. Time to make good on my promise to Kendra. The cell rang five times, and I was about to hang up, when she answered. “Hey—”

“Took you long enough,” she snorted. “Before you say anything, though, I need to apologize.” Knowing Kendra, she was tapping her fingers and biting down on her bottom lip—nervous tics.

“Nothing to say. It’s all good.”

“All good?” she squeaked. “We are talking about the same thing here, right? The part where I tried to kill you at Flankman’s yesterday?”

“Kill is a little dramatic, dontcha think? I mean, you were using magic. How much harm could you have done?”

She gasped, but I could tell it was totally fake. Kendra had a definite flair for the dramatic. “Jessie!”

“Seriously, it wasn’t you, Ken. Don’t sweat it.” I readjusted the cell and rolled onto my back. “Was surprised to see you at school, though. Thought for sure Cassidy would keep you home.”

“Not even,” she mumbled. “She couldn’t get me out of the house fast enough.” There was a slight pause, then I heard her take a deep breath. “She’s helping your mom with something, isn’t she?”

Feeling a spike of guilt, I glanced toward the door. “Yeah. We need to find a family. They’re one of yours.”

Kendra’s voice got a little lower. “Do you know the name?”

Kendra and I had a slew of things in common. We were both part of a small, lesser known community. We loved the same music and laughed at all the same jokes. We also both had parents that wanted to keep us safe.

“Wells. Ring a bell?”

She was quiet for a moment before exhaling into the receiver. “Not even a little one.” A pause. “Listen, I’ll hit you back later, okay? Mom’s on my ass to do the dishes. If I take any longer, she’s liable to curse me with a tail.”

Do the dishes. I sat up straight and swung both feet over the edge of the bed. That was code for someone listening.

The coven Kendra and her mom belonged to was full of some seriously badass women. They all kept pretty close tabs on each other, terrified that their secrets would spill into the supernatural world. Sometimes, I worried what they were hiding. I’d seen them go to extreme lengths when they thought someone had been compromised. Anyone that paranoid of people getting into their dirty laundry had to be hiding something bad.

“Yeah, totally cool. We’ll hook up in school tomorrow,” I said, meaning call me back as soon as you’re sure it’s clear.

There was a faint snap, then some rustling paper. “You gonna be okay?”

“Totally. You know me and Mom. The Darker girls have it covered.” I hoped I sounded more convincing to her than I did to myself.

“Stay safe.” And the line went dead.

I rolled upright and kicked at a stray sock on the floor by my feet as I grabbed my iPod. Volume cranked and eyes closed, I flopped backward onto the bed and let the calming sounds of Beethoven’s Ninth wash over me. My life was kind of like his music. Chaotic at times but balanced. Peaceful in its own strange way. I was betting Beethoven would’ve made an awesome monster masher. The guy’s dedication to his craft was boundless. Hell, he used to stick his head into icy water to stay awake. If that wasn’t dedication, then I didn’t know what the heck was.

I stayed like that for a while, letting the calming melody soothe my nerves as I tried to think. I understood where Mom was coming from, but she was going to have to cut the apron strings eventually. I was almost an adult, and I’d seen more than most people did their entire lives. No. I wasn’t going to be benched. She needed me. We’d just talk this out. Like adults.

I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and opened my eyes. At first it was just a dark blob in my field of vision. Then it took shape. A person’s shape. I stumbled back, yanking the bud from my left ear along with the small silver hoop earring. Lukas was standing over me, looking down with a strange expression on his face. He thrust a white mug at me. “I thought this would make you feel better.”

As soon as my heartbeat stabilized, I took the cup. Chocolate milk.