Toxic (Denazen #2)(68)

“It was way bad.” I peeked at her through a curtain of hair. “As if I don’t have enough to worry about with Jade skulking around, seeing the possible crazy that’s my future is a little unsettling…”

Picking up her borrowed pillow, Kiernan sighed. “I could kick Jade’s ass for you. Would that help?”

I forced a laugh. “I think that’s something I’d like to do for myself. But first, I need to find proof that she was responsible for letting Denazen in to the hotel. Kale needs proof.”

Kiernan frowned. “Dez, I hate the girl. You know that, right? But she was at the dance with us.”

“It was all a setup.”

“No offense, but I think you’re reaching. You want it to be her, but hon…I don’t think it is.”

“It is,” I insisted. “It all fits. She was the only one who knew I was going to the post office.”

“Dez, I knew, too. You called me, remember?”

I blinked. I’d totally forgotten. “So you called Dad?”

She punched my arm, then threw her hands up in mock surrender. “Ya got me.” Sighing, she leaned back against the couch. “All I’m saying is, maybe someone else knew. Someone you didn’t realize. Maybe someone overheard Ginger telling you to go.”

“No. It was only me, Kale, and her. I haven’t figured out her plan just yet, but I know I’m right.”

“Okay,” Kiernan said slowly. “But Dez, she was with Kale the entire dance. It does give her an alibi. She can’t be in two places at once.”

“What about when Kale and I were dancing?”

Kiernan shook her head. “She was sitting at the table. Talking to Alex. What did she do, beam your dad a message from her brain?”

“Who knows?” I looked around. The living room reminded me of something from a Martha Stewart nightmare. There were doilies under everything and enough fake flowers to choke an entire herd of horses.

Meela was a Six that lost her son to Denazen. She’d jumped at the chance to help us when she’d heard what happened. Supplied with clothing—out of style and ill fitting, but clean—she’d opened her home to us for as long as we needed.

Kale and Jade were sent with Paul and Panda to a nearby relative of Daun’s. Alex had taken the others to Dax’s apartment downtown. Thankfully, he hadn’t been at the hotel but offered his place if we needed more room.

I didn’t know where the rest had gone, but Ginger assured us they were safe.

I took a deep breath and tried not to gag. Either Meela spritzed the flowers with something, or the air freshener she used smelled like something Rosie would have worn. The thought stung. Our relationship had been rocky from day one, but Rosie had been my friend—even if neither one of us would ever had admitted it. And now she was gone.

I pushed my grief aside and focused on the facts. Jade would not get away with this. “I think Jade’s Supremacy. Like me—in fact, I’m sure of it. That means she’d have some seriously epic abilities.”

Kiernan looked skeptical. “I dunno, Dez. Brain beaming? So not. I kinda think you want it to be her.”

“What I want is to nail the person responsible. And that person is Jade.”

Kiernan shrugged but didn’t answer. Instead, she grabbed the other blanket from the couch—a pink-and-white floral monstrosity—and spread it over her cot. “I’m on your side, Dez, but I think you’re wrong about this.”

I waited till she’d burrowed under the covers before I got up and slunk out to the backyard.

The crisp night air was like a slap in the face. The sun would be up in a few hours, and I’d still be awake. Thinking. Worrying. Plotting. Jade was going down. She’d be dragging Kale off to Denazen over my dead body. Which at this point, was a very real possibility.

The pain in my shoulder spiked again. Funny how that happened whenever I thought about Jade. It was a sign. I was willing to bet my fingers. Tugging aside my borrowed T-shirt—creeptastically a powder-pink, adult-sized Hello Kitty Loves You sleep shirt—I stared down at the mark Able had left behind. The original spot was hard to see now, the dark middle bleeding out in all directions.

The spidery lines creeping from the center were past the tip of my collarbone now. If it kept spreading this fast, they’d be down my arm and well past my elbow by the end of the day. Not to mention up the side of my neck. Time was running out. The poison would be out of the vial soon. I’d have to come clean, which meant I needed a resolution. Now.

The screen door creaked, and someone hobbled out onto the porch.

“You’re up late,” Ginger said from behind me.

I didn’t turn around. If I ignored her, maybe she’d take the hint and go back inside. The last thing I needed was a speech on letting events take their intended course.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

“Shouldn’t you? I mean you’re what, like, ninety? You old folks need your shuteye.”

She snorted. “That was pathetic. Merely a shade of your usual venom. Is something bothering you, Deznee?”

I sighed. “Why are you even asking? You already know the answer. Probably know the date and time I’m gonna buy it, too, right? Please at least tell me I go out in a blaze. Doing something crazy. None of that crapping out all peaceful-like in my sleep.”