Toxic (Denazen #2)(35)

Game face. Out the door and past the counter, I left without ordering coffee. Hands in my pockets as I walked to the car, hiding all evidence of a freak-out. Having everyone spaz over this wouldn’t help. They were already freaking about the Supremacy thing. Adding something else to the pile might topple everything like a bad game of Jenga. I’d been prepared to tell Kale everything. The plan had changed.

Turn the key. Start the engine. Foot on the gas. Pull the car onto the road. Nice and easy.

Think. I just needed some time to think. I could figure this out on my own. I was a resourceful chick. This was not a death sentence. Dad was lying. He was a liar—it’s what he did. That whole show at the post office was a scare tactic. An attempt to bully me into walking right through his front door. It wouldn’t work.

Pull the car around back. Get out—keeping hands in pockets. One foot in front of the other. Left. Right. Left. Right. In the front door and past the lobby. Act normal.

I stepped through the conference room door. The three of them had their heads in a book, and Ginger was nowhere to be seen.

Jade looked up, grinning. Was it my imagination, or was her chair even closer to Kale’s than when I left? “Didn’t expect you back so soon.”

And with those words, it was like the universe slapped me upside the head with a cosmic bat. I froze, shoulder momentarily forgotten. OhmyGod. I knew something was off about her. Dad somehow knew about Kale and me, and he didn’t show up at that post office by chance. Someone told him where I’d be.

Jade told him where I’d be.

The timing would be tight but doable. All she’d have had to do was slip away, make a quick call, and boom. A visit from Dad.

I leaned forward on the table. “Expecting me not to come back at all, maybe?”

She tried for a casual shrug but failed. Our eyes met, and she grinned.

“Where did you go to mail my package, Deznee? Chinatown?” Ginger hobbled in and thumped another book down, sliding it across the table. It landed in front of me.

“Lunchtime,” I said, still watching Jade. This was going to take finesse. I could out her now, but there was no real proof. More than likely they’d write it off as jealousy. No. I needed cold, hard facts. Something to prove it was more than a case of love triangle blues. Plus if I said something now, they’d find out about my shoulder. That was a bad plan. I took a step back and turned to Ginger. “Line was out the door.”

Sinking down into the seat across from Jade, I opened the book. It all made sense. Dad knew he needed someone to keep tabs. He wanted to get his hands on me, and he wanted Kale back. He also wanted Ginger and the rest of the underground out of the picture. I couldn’t figure out how, but somehow he’d managed to throw Jade in Ginger’s path.

“Enough chatter,” Ginger snapped. “Read through chapters two, three, and four, and write up a four-page summary.” She paused for a moment at the door, almost like she was waiting for me to object. When no one protested, she disappeared around the corner and into the hallway.

I let my head thump against the cool surface of the table and ignored the open book. Dad was lying. I was sure of it, but a small voice in my head said consider all the options just in case. My options were sadly limited. Really, there were only three. Taking Dad up on his offer—out of the question. Even on the off chance he was telling the truth, it wasn’t something I was willing to do. I didn’t know half the things Denazen did to Kale over the years, but the little bit he had told me, coupled with what I’d seen up close and personal, was enough to make me seriously consider digging my own grave before handing myself over.

I could tell Kale like originally planned—which would lead to Mom, Ginger, and the rest of the underground finding out and would just cause everyone’s stress level to skyrocket. Plus what would Kale do if I told him Dad could fix this? I’d bet all my fingers and toes—hell, I’d throw in a lung—that he’d march himself into Denazen and demand a trade. Himself for the cure. Dad asked me to come back first, but something told me he wouldn’t refuse if Kale offered. In fact, knowing Dad, he was probably counting on it.

The last option, the one that looked the best, was to just leave it be. I’d seen the intricate lies Dad could spin to get what he wanted—hell, look at my entire life—this was exactly that. Another fabrication to get what he wanted. I’d keep an eye on it. If by some chance it got much worse, I’d have to consider telling someone.

For now, one hour at a time.

There was a dull pounding in my head, and the throb in my shoulder had progressed to a moderate stabbing pain. I closed my eyes and did my best to block it out. When I opened them after what seemed like hours to peek at my cell again, only five minutes had passed. Around the room, everyone else was lost in their own method of passing time—none of which included the reading Ginger had left us. Jade had a bottle of glaring-pink nail polish out and was touching up her tips. Alex stared at the ceiling while picking at the loose rubber sole on his right boot.

When I twisted toward Kale, he was looking right at me.

“Something’s wrong,” he said.

I held my breath and picked my head off the table. “Didn’t sleep last night. Just tired. Plus reading about the French Revolution?” I tapped the book in front of me. “Serious snoozefest.”

After a moment, he said, “Okay…” And a smile slipped across his face. “Will you go to the homecoming dance with me?”