Gray and Andros came back in, both carrying plates full of steaming scrambled eggs. They sat down as we all listened.
But there was no mention of Claude. Or the dead Pinnacle guards.
"I'm telling you. They're gonna do a cover up."
Andros swallowed a bite and leaned back in his seat. "Even if there is a cover up, I know those chess pieces. They'll still try to track us down. They're relentless."
I minimized the screen with the video footage and pulled the newscast back up. The feed cut to a shot of two vampires streaking down the street so quickly that their bodies blurred into the night. Behind them, magical law enforcement agents with silver axes, wrote spells that glowed green.
One of the vampires froze on screen, leg lifted, mid-run. Then, one of the black clad agents, Pinnacle badge with its rook, diamond, and light rays gleaming, walked purposefully toward the vamp, tightening his grip on the ax.
The news camera swung away before the agent completed the deed but the thud of the ax hitting its target and a thunk as a head hit the ground left no doubt about what had happened.
The newscaster smoothly continued, "While the majority of the vampires have been captured and euthanized, Pinnacle board member Horatio Martin had this to say about last night’s vampire rampage."
My guys filtered into the room and stood behind me, staring down at the screen as a penguin-shaped man with a roman nose stared into the camera and stated, "Make no mistake. Last night was no accident. The criminals behind this madness are terrorists. They have directly attacked our government and our citizens. No quarter shall be given to those who violate the sanctity of our government."
A whistle erupted behind me. I turned in my chair to glance up at Z, who had come downstairs in his boxers. "Terrorists, huh? That's a little heavier than thieves."
The newscaster regained my attention when he said, "A nation-wide manhunt has commenced for the group responsible for this horrific act. Rebel groups, including the anarchist group SR or Sorceror's Rebellion, are under investigation for potential ties to last night's activity."
The camera angle zoomed out and showed the anchor's co-host, a magical woman in a slick grey dress. "Not a good night to be an Unnatural, that's for certain."
I rolled my eyes at her astute observation. Did the network feed her those shitty lines or did she come up with them herself?
"Definitely not, Julie," the anchor replied, before pulling up a map of Hidden City and the surrounding area.
That was what we most wanted to see. All of us leaned forward, and the tension in the room thickened like frosting.
"Right now, the Pinnacle police force are searching the tri-state area for those who might be responsible for last night’s attack, but coordinated efforts will start nation-wide today."
I savored the delicious flavor of the news ruining the investigation in their desire to get advertisements. They bribed officials and gave out far more information than they should. Including beautiful little sections of the map that had been marked as “cleared.”
Gray's hand reached out and snapped the laptop shut. "That's it. We're moving."
I furrowed my brow. "So soon? I thought you picked this location because it's secure."
"It's secure enough if we're undetected. But obviously, that's not the case," Grayson shook his head. "I need to make a phone call. Everyone get in another nap or pack up or whatever. We're gonna have to move out in two hours."
I rubbed a hand over my face. Welcome to the fugitive life, Hales, I congratulated myself. Ultimately, this shit was my fault. I was the one who'd dragged the guys in. I was the one who hadn't realized Claude had been tracking us.
"How did I not see that ghost?" I wondered aloud.
"What ghost?" Evan pulled out a chair on my right and sat. Malcolm sank into the seat across from me as Gray and Z and Andros exited, to make plans or sleep, or both.
I stared dully into Malcolm's eyes. "Ginny's ghost boyfriend—the one who possessed Andros and me. I should have prepared for that. Expected it."
Malcolm shook his head. "You can't prep for everything."
Evan leaned forward and crossed his hands on the table then sank his head onto sideways onto them so that they pillowed his cheek. He gazed tiredly up at me. "Does it matter? I mean, Mr. King was some kind of freak. Maybe he noticed you hacking into things. Maybe he noticed you monitoring his computer. Maybe he monitored yours. Who knows?"
I shook my head. "I bought a separate computer. I kept everything in a separate file."
"It's called magic, Hales," Evan countered before giving a huge, moaning yawn. "Maybe he paid someone to monitor you."
"He definitely sent Ginny to check on you at school," Malcolm's words were thoughtful.
"Yeah, I know." I sighed. "But why?"
"No idea. But did anyone else find the daddy thing creepy?"
I bolted upright in my chair, spilling lukewarm coffee on my lap and not even caring. "That's it. The dad thing. Emelia aka Ginny asked me about my dad when she was at MAD." I groaned and kicked the table leg in my frustration.
"Hey!" Evan complained when I jolted him.
"Sorry, I just realized, though. He didn't send anyone to my prior academies. So why then?" I racked my brain and slowly recalled the explosive fight after I'd left Medeis, just before I'd gotten into MAD. "I'm an idiot."
“Why?” Evan asked even as he yawned.
I pulled my own hair in frustration. “I had Dad possess him just before I left. We were fighting … I never should have done that. That’s when he must have figured out that Dad’s a ghost … and that I knew all about the serum.”
My phone rang, nearly giving me a heart attack.
When I fished it out of my pocket, my actual phone, not the burner, was the one ringing. My heart shoved all my thoughts aside, like this was a race, and emotions were taking the lead over logic. I expected to see Tia's number or Mom's if she was sober enough--but when I saw Station 4, Pinnacle Police on the caller ID, my knees buckled.
I slid to the floor and squeezed my eyes shut as nausea overtook me. The phone rang again in my hand. I stared at it like I'd never seen a phone before as flashbacks of the police coming to tell me about Dad. I'd been sitting on the front steps and seen them pull up in their sleek black cars. I'd been confused until I'd seen an officer take off his hat ... and then I'd just known.
My knuckles grew white as I gripped the phone tighter and tighter.
Evan was the first to notice my face. He immediately came over. He didn't even ask what was wrong, it was obvious by the way my eyes were glued to the screen that the phone held me captive. His arm glided around my shoulders and he pulled me into his side. "They could just be checking in with all the Ball attendees," he half-whispered.
I still couldn't force myself to swipe to answer.
"Can I?" Evan's finger hovered over the phone.
I nodded again.
He swiped and put the phone on speaker.
I struggled to find my voice. Years of forcing myself to do things I didn't really want to do let me push through the barrier of thick cobwebs my brain was weaving as a preventative shield. Part of my mind was already cushioning itself for the blow.