The Lost Saint(26)

“Daniel didn’t bite me. Jude did. He attacked me right after he turned into a werewolf.”

April looked away. She played with one of the sequins on her shirt. “What does this mean? You’re not a werewolf yet, right?”

“No. I’ve been infected with the curse, but I’m not a wolf yet. And I never will be if Daniel and I can help it. He’s training me so I can use my powers to help people. But yes, there is the potential of me becoming a monster.”

A car honked from behind us, and I shifted back into drive. I looked at April for her reaction, almost afraid she’d bolt from the car now that she knew the truth. She was quiet until we’d driven through the intersection, and then she leaned in real close to me. “Are you serious?” she asked. “Are you telling me you’ve got superpowers? ’Cause that’d be pretty much made out of awesome.” She grinned at me and shook in her excited, trembly way.

“Um. Yeah. Kind of. I mean, I’m just learning how to use them, and they’re kind of fickle—but they came in handy tonight, didn’t they?”

“Heck, yeah, they did!” April squealed. “Did you see the look on that guy’s face when he hit the ground? Seriously, that was the coolest thing ever. He was all like, ‘Come here, defenseless little girl,’ and then you were like, ‘Bam! Take that, suck-face! I’ve got superpowers!’ ”

I laughed. “Um, you’re kind of forgetting about the part where he knocked me down and was about to take my face off.”

“Yes, but that’s why the universe created boys like Talbot. Those other guys practically peed their pants when they saw him.”

“Yeah, didn’t you think that was kind of weird? I mean, what was a guy like Nathan Talbot doing there, anyway? He didn’t exactly mesh with the crowd.”

“Tal,” she said, emphasizing the nickname he’d told her his friends used, “is probably a DD.”

“A what?”

“Part of the designated-driver program at the university. He’s probably like the resident adviser for one of the dorms. I bet he could get those guys kicked out of school for being tools. That’s probably why they backed off, but it’s still cool the way he swooped in to save us like that.”

I cringed. I absolutely hated that someone had had to “swoop in” to save me. I had abilities, and if only I could figure out how to use them the right way, I wouldn’t need some random guy to come to my rescue.

April giggled. “And it doesn’t hurt, either, if your knight in green-and-blue plaid just happens to be hot.”

I laughed. “You know, just because a guy looks nice and seems nice … doesn’t mean he is.” I’d learned that all too well with Pete Bradshaw last year.

“Oh. My. Gosh.” April shouted so loud I slammed on the breaks, thinking we were about to hit a dog or something. But April bounced in her seat with the craziest smile on her face, like she’d just thought of the best idea since nail polish. “Okay, sorry to segue away from the hotness that is Talbot, but I have to ask: if you’re gonna be a superhero, can I be your sidekick?”

“What?” I gaped at April, hoping she was kidding—but of course, she wasn’t.

“Dynamic Duo,” she crooned, waving her finger between me and her.

“Um, I’m pretty sure sidekicks have to have superpowers, too,” I said gently, sorry to break the news to her.

April’s crazy smile faded. “Oh, yeah.” But then she popped up in her seat again. “Okay, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be your Alfred.”

“My Alfred?”

“You know, I can, like, help you design gadgets and stuff. Oh!” Her eyes went wide. “I can design you outfits for crime fighting!”

“I’m just in training, April. I don’t think I need—”

“Oh, come on, Grace. It would be perfect for my Trenton portfolio. I want to get into their fashion design program, and Katie already has more experience than I do. Please?” April made puppy-dog eyes at me and clasped her hands together.

I couldn’t help laughing. “Okay. Sure. But no spandex.”


April yelped with joy and threw her arms around my shoulders as I drove. I really had no need for superhero costumes or gadgets of any kind, but I guessed this meant we really were best friends again. “At least something good came out of tonight,” I said out loud.

April let go of me and sat back down in her seat. We were just pulling into her neighborhood. “So are you going to tell Daniel about what happened tonight?”

“Good question.” Except I wished she hadn’t brought it up. Any joy I’d felt in the last few minutes faded away as I thought about having to tell Daniel that I’d broken my word to him and gone looking for Jude on my own. And even if I hadn’t technically been alone … I wasn’t sure I was up for the reaction I’d get when I told him I’d almost gotten maimed in the process. Not to mention that because April and I had caused such a scene at the club, we’d probably ruined any minute chance of finding Jude through that lead.

And I didn’t know why, but for some reason I felt uncomfortable telling Daniel about Talbot’s coming to my rescue. Like maybe he’d worry there was something between this new guy and me when there totally wasn’t.