The Black Coats(29)
Casey shot daggers at Mirabelle. “I’m not just a driver. I’m a hacker! And I was going to say you. What do you really add to the team? Thea is pretty enough to be ‘the face,’ and you . . .”
Louise frowned. “I was actually going to say that maybe Thea is the most useless. What does fast do for us?” She gave Thea a sympathetic look. “Sorry, Thea. I like you a lot.”
Thea let their voices circle around her, her jumbled thoughts blocking out the accusations. Feelings were being hurt. Bea was almost in tears. They want to tear us apart. Thea stepped out of their circle, waving her hands.
“No,” she declared loudly. “No. Stop! We’ve been through so much together. It’s not about whose gift is the most useful or the most coveted. It’s about how we work together. Each gift in itself isn’t enough.”
“I agree,” whispered Bea. What had Nixon been telling them? Over and over again? To trust their team. All their work had built to this moment, and it was close to shattering. Unless, of course, it had been building to the moment where they would sniff out the traitor. Thea’s hands clenched once, and then she turned back to her girls.
“No. They wouldn’t put us through all that just to pull one of us and make us start again.”
Louise straightened her spine. “I agree with Thea.”
Mirabelle leaned forward, her pitch rising. “I’m not going to lose out on being a part of the Black Coats because we can’t figure out who the traitor is among us.”
“Maybe it’s you,” objected Casey. “Maybe that’s why.”
“Stop!” Thea’s voice was louder than she meant it to be, but all the girls fell silent. Thea reached out her hand, and the girls slowly, one by one, reached out as well until they embraced one another. “We are bonded by the grief we carry, so let’s carry it together or not at all.”
Finally, Mirabelle stepped forward and joined their circle. “Fine,” she sighed. “But know that I hate you all so much right now.”
Team Banner turned back to Nixon and Julie. The latter watched Thea with fascination, her pale eyes sparking like flint in the candlelight. Thea spoke for the team: “Each of us makes up Team Banner. There is no weakness here, only strength.”
Nixon closed her eyes for a moment, and Thea was sure that she had made the wrong choice. But then she opened them with a huge smile. “Congrats, Team Banner! Tonight you passed the most important test, more important than all your training. You have shown a willingness to sacrifice your own desires for the good of the team. Some teams here have not been so lucky the first time around.” Her eyes darted to where Team Emperor simmered in the darkness.
Julie Westing stepped forward, nodded once, and retreated back into the folds of the Black Coats. “Nixon, you may proceed.”
Thea blinked, still in shock, but felt a smile tugging at her mouth.
Their president stepped forward after handing her candle to a Black Coat alumna. “Mirabelle, step forward to receive your coat.” Mirabelle was followed by Casey, Louise, and Bea. Thea watched them with her hands pressed up against her lips. She took a deep breath as Bea walked back into the crowd. “And finally, Thea Soloman.” She stepped toward Nixon, struggling to control her emotions as Nixon pulled the coat off the rack that had appeared behind her. “Turn around.”
Thea obeyed, and Nixon slid the coat onto her shoulders. As soon as she felt the weight of it, she knew that this coat had been made just for her, and it was at once the most precious thing she had ever owned. It was knee-length, with black wool buckles on each wrist. The coat was lined from collar to pocket with large black buttons on both sides. At her hips, the coat flared wide so that leg movement would be uninhibited. So I can run. The fabric was smooth but strong under her fingers. The collar hit her just under the chin, reminding her of an old officer’s coat.
Nixon gently ran her hands over Thea’s shoulders before turning her back around to face her. “Thea, you have also been named the leader of Team Banner.” She turned around to face her team, who gleefully nodded their consent, and Thea felt her pride swell. This moment was so much bigger than she was: all these women, all these candles, Team Banner, Sahil’s proud gaze resting on her from his place in the corner. She trembled slightly as she took Nixon’s outstretched hand. The president jerked her close. “Go carefully into changing waters,” she hissed. Then she let go of Thea and raised her arms above her head. “Fellow Black Coats, I give you Team Banner!”
The Haunt erupted into wild cheers, a wave of sound rushing over the space. The candles went out in a collective breath, and when the lights came on, Thea saw hundreds of women, all wearing their black coats. Upbeat music filled the previously silent room, and soon the crowd was swaying to the music, collectively moved by its hypnotic pull. Red wine was uncorked, and the atmosphere turned from a scene of solemnity to one of celebration as older alumni clustered around Team Banner, offering congratulations and telling stories of their glory days in the Black Coats.
Thea sipped slowly from the glass in her hand, wincing at the dry, plummy taste of the wine as she made her way through the endless rounds of small talk. Her heart had finally calmed down when she had the strange feeling of being watched, like a cool fingertip trailing up her spine. Slowly, she raised her eyes to the narrow balcony that overlooked the Haunt, and there, an older woman was indeed watching her silently. She was seated in a wheelchair and had a pink silk scarf wrapped around her head, her own black coat so worn that it had dimmed to a shade of light gray. When Thea’s eyes met hers, the woman delicately raised her hand in greeting. Her eyes were tired, the bruises beneath them pulling at hollowed cheeks, and they bored through Thea as congratulations fell around her like rain.