Toxic (Denazen #2)(40)

“Please tell me it’s a juicy one and does not involve that walking pot factory from downstairs.”

I flexed the fingers on my left hand. Sharp needles of pain shot up each one. “Curd? Um, no. It’s about my dad and Denazen.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw her watching me. Oh, yeah. I had her attention. “Really…” Disappointment—and fear. When it came to Denazen, Kiernan was a little traumatized.

I opened my mouth, but something slammed hard against the door. Kiernan and I both jumped about a foot into the air, as a second later, a guy with a blond goatee and spiky black hair poked his head through the door.

“Fudge!” he screamed at the top of his lungs before slamming the door in his own face and continuing down the hall. He must have opened the door next to this one, because I heard him scream again.

I sighed. “I saw him today—my dad.”

Her eyes went wide. “Are you serious? Where? When? And you didn’t tell anyone?”

I shook my head. My buzz was starting to clear, and for a second, I contemplated grabbing more of whatever that pink stuff had been. The clearer my head got, the more my shoulder hurt. “He showed up at the post office. And no. I didn’t tell anyone. I couldn’t—I was afraid because—”

I trusted Kiernan and had started the conversation with the intention of telling her about my shoulder, but second thoughts were creeping in. I didn’t want her telling the wrong people—meaning anyone—in a misplaced attempt to help me. In the end I chickened out and settled for the least damaging thing. Supremacy.

“The Supremacy kids are—well, they’re not doing well.” I couldn’t say it. Couldn’t tell her they were all dropping like flies. Or, more accurately, being dropped like flies. “Dad says they found a cure, and he’ll give it to me…if I turn myself over.”

“Are you shitting me?” she said as someone downstairs let out an excited scream, followed by a chorus of insane laughter. A second later, a girl—her voice was slightly familiar—screamed for them to turn up the music.

The new song started, and I found myself feeling a little bitter. It was one of my favorites to dance to. Instead I was up here in the dark. Hiding. It was a perfect example of how my life had changed over the last few months. “I wish.”

She thought about it for a minute, then shook her head. Strands of wispy purple hair fluttered free from her braid. “No way.”

“Huh?”

“He’s totally playing you.”

Maybe I hadn’t lost the buzz after all. “How is he playing me?”

“How do you know there’s a cure? How do you know they’re even dying? And really, Dez. If he gave you the cure, you’d live, right? Why would he let you go free? Wasn’t the purpose of that Supremacy thing to make super soldiers or whatever?”

She had a good point. A few of them, even. “I guess I don’t know there’s a cure for sure, but I do think they’re dying. There was this girl on the news. Layne Phillips.”

“That’s the girl in Morristown that was found dead in her bedroom, right?”

“I’m pretty sure she was Supremacy. Dad said they retired her.”

“‘He said’? I’m gonna chalk this up as the alcohol, ’cause no way are you this dense.”

As if on cue, someone downstairs screamed, “More beer!”

“Huh?”

She punched me lightly in the shoulder—thankfully the right one. “Think about it. Of course he said that. It got you thinking, right? Got you worried? Mission complete. He’s taking credit for some other whack job’s kill to freak you into doing what he wants. Totally classic bad guy move.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it. I didn’t believe it was a scare tactic for one second. Brandt had given me the name first, and my gut told me he was right.

“Maybe,” I said, unwilling to give her the rest of the information. Brandt stayed out of conversations. It was safer for him. As far as the world was concerned, he was dead and buried, and if I had any say in it, it would stay that way.

“What about that hippie chick? Have you tried her?”

“Who?”

“That Daun girl. The one that saved Kale. Maybe she could help you?”

Holy crap. Daun. I’d never even considered going to her. Chances were she couldn’t do a damn thing about the Supremacy thing, but I bet she could help with Able’s poison! While I still didn’t believe it was fatal, it was painful. “You’re a genius,” I said, pulling her in for a hug.

“And I’ve got killer hair, too.”

I nodded to her long purple braid. “Kale would love this color. I was thinking about streaks.”

Kiernan didn’t say anything. Instead, she pulled away, eyes wide.

“What?” I looked behind me, worried we weren’t alone anymore. There were footsteps in the hall, and I could hear the faint sound of a girlish giggle, but it was just us in the room. “What’s wrong?”

She was bouncing up and down like a two-year-old with a box of sugar cookies. “OhmyGod! That is so frigging cool! How come you didn’t tell me you could do that?”

“Do what?”

She grabbed my shoulders and twisted me toward the dust-covered mirror on the far wall. “That!” Someone knocked on the door. “Occupado!” Kiernan screamed, eyes still trained on me.