Momentum (30 page)

“So what do we do?” I practically yelled. We’d wasted precious time trying to find Granddad when we should have been trying to track down Raj and Potomal. If there was anyone left to rescue, I thought, remembering the state we’d found Kellan’s dad in. I felt a lump in my throat, and David put his arm around my waist, pulling me close.

Dad looked as desperate as I felt. He shook his head and slumped back into the chair, his face in his hands.

“There is one way around this.” Granddad’s voice was grave, but soft.

Everyone sat up in rapt attention. Granddad crossed his arms in front of him and held Dad’s gaze.

“Son,
you
can take over leadership now. I can pass it directly to you. You’ve always been in the charter as my successor, and you’ve not declined the position officially.”

All eyes were on Dad as he absorbed the idea. He looked conflicted. I had no idea what it would mean, but I was guessing a very big change in our lifestyle. He looked up at the ceiling, concentrating on it so hard that I thought he might cause it to collapse. After a short while, he slowly looked down to meet my eyes. The indecision in his eyes was gone.

A
lthough Dad wore a look of complete conviction, Granddad didn’t look so confident.

“Son, this is not a decision to be made lightly. Not one you should make based on one situation alone, even if it involves my grandson. We cannot hand over leadership to someone who is not totally committed to the cause. This is something you should discuss with Olivia first.”

Dad nodded. “I’m not making this decision lightly or basing it on only the issue at hand, though that does, of course, have a very deep bearing. Our lives have been completely derailed in the past year. We are no longer the ordinary Mountain View family trying to live a regular life. In a way, I guess we never were, but we did at least maintain a sense of normality. In the past year, the kids have been exposed to… well, everything.”

I hadn’t. Not that I remembered, anyway. Well, apart from this recent run-in with Raj and the whole Wanderer thing. That was kind of way out there. So I guessed he was right, even with me not remembering whatever he was talking about.

Dad’s eyes flickered with regret. “We can’t go back to how things were a year ago. Our lives seem to have become entwined with yours, and it’s a separation we can no longer maintain. Everything being equal, I would have liked to have a longer time to prepare myself to take over from you, but I consider myself ready. I was trained for this job for years. What I still need to learn, I can learn from you. I am ready, Dad.”

A lone teardrop slid down Granddad’s cheek. He sniffed and rubbed his eyes. He was clearly too choked up to speak.

Dad went over and put his arms around him, clasping him close. “It’s going to be fine.”

Granddad nodded and blew his nose into a large handkerchief he hurriedly extracted from his pants pocket. “Okay,” he said in a raspy tone. “Let’s go and break the news to your mom. Then we have to convene with the rest of the council to get their approval, which will just be a formality. Then Alfred will introduce you to the London Faction. Now that is something that didn’t come up in your training, and I will have to explain. I can do that while we wait for the council.”

He turned to look at David and me. “Children, you won’t be able to accompany us to the council meeting; it’s a closed affair. You can stay down here with Bruno or head back upstairs to the others.”

The thought of listening to Trina drone on upstairs didn’t fill me with glee. Neither did the idea of being stuck in the basement with Bruno. However with Bruno, we would be closer to the action here and would get any news faster. David nodded in agreement, obviously reading my thoughts again. I hadn’t even noticed that our knees were slightly touching. As soon as I did, a surge of excitement shot through me. I felt myself turning red, while David muffled a snicker. I elbowed him.

“Arizona?” Dad asked, with a flicker of amusement.

“We’ll stay with Bruno. How long will you be?”

“Not too long,” Granddad replied. He walked us back to the family room.

Bruno must have heard us because I heard the television turn off abruptly and, by the time we entered the room, he was clearly pretending to be engrossed reading. He stood and bowed to Granddad.

“Bruno, could you entertain Arizona and David while I discuss business with my son? How’s your father, by the way?”

“No change, he’s still in bed staring vacantly at the ceiling. I’ve been going in to give him his meals. He doesn’t stir while I’m there, but the plates are empty when I go back for them. So he’s eating, which I’m happy about. I doubt he will be up anytime soon.” He gazed at Granddad meaningfully. Then he looked over at Dad.
 
“I’m not ready. I have school to finish and–”

Granddad interrupted. “Don’t worry about that, Bruno. Take care of my guests. We are going to wake Amadea and then talk to the rest of the council. We may be a little while. Please don’t leave the basement.” With that, he walked away with Dad, who seemed consumed in thought.

“So? What do you guys want to do? There’s not a lot of exciting stuff down here, as you can probably guess,” Bruno said apologetically.

I flopped down on one of the armchairs. “Got any grub? I’m starving. Aren’t you, David?”

He’d taken a seat opposite the television and was fiddling with the controls. “Yep. Food would be good. What’s the protocol, Bruno? Do you have a kitchen?”

“I’ll get the housekeeper to bring something through.”

“Finna?” I asked.

“No, we have our own down here–Mandy.”

“How many of you are down here?” The place was big enough to house a small village.

“I don’t think I’m allowed to say.” Bruno looked uneasy, scratching his wrist. “Security and all that.”

“Yeah, no worries. We get it. So, how about some food?”

“Do you want snacks or a proper dinner? Mandy served Thai food earlier.”

“Oh, that sounds good. I can eat just about anything covered in peanut sauce, even broccoli. Sound good, David?”

David had switched on the TV and was busy chuckling.

“What are you watching?”

“
Little Britain
. Come watch, it’s a trip.”

“Go ahead,” Bruno said. “I’ll see what I can do about food. In the meantime, there are some snacks and whatever drinks you can think of behind that bar in the corner.”

I grabbed a couple of bottles of water and made myself comfortable next to David. I watched him watch the TV. He was totally engrossed, his facial expressions matching his quickly changing emotions in response to whatever he was watching. He laughed most of the time, and I decided that he looked hottest when he was beaming. His broody look wasn’t to be sniffed at, though; that, too, brought fluttery feelings to my stomach. I looked over at his fingers resting casually by his thigh and impulsively leaned and brushed my fingers over them.

David’s expression turned serious as he looked down and watched my fingers glide over his. I felt a hot surge through my body, and I was unable to stop myself from slipping my fingers through his and pulling myself toward him. Once close to him, I wasn’t quite sure what to do next. He raised his eyebrows at me as I turned and put my hand around his neck, drawing him to me. He smelled good, a mix of peppermint and something else I couldn’t quite identify.

“Poppet,” he whispered hoarsely. “Don’t.”

I was mortified. Don’t? I extracted myself instantly and stomped over to the furthest couch I could find. What was I thinking? How could I have been so forward? I shook my head, flushing as I looked up and saw that he’d followed me.

“I’m sorry. Total lapse of judgment. Please don’t be mad at me.” I felt a lump in my throat.

His eyes flickered in amusement, sending a wave of annoyance through me. “This is not funny! I am so embarrassed. Don’t make it any worse.”

“I won’t. Forget about it.”

Thankfully, Bruno waltzed back into the room looking pleased with himself. “Follow me!”

We did, into a dining room, which had been set up for dinner. I sat down and tucked in, as did David. Halfway through our Thai meal, I heard footsteps approaching, and Gramadea appeared in the doorway, closely followed by Dad and Granddad.

She strode in and engulfed me in her arms. “Arizona, I’m so relieved to see you. I am so sorry that we weren’t able to protect you better.”

I didn’t want to say that it was okay; it wasn’t. So I just hugged her, instead. It wasn’t her fault that the Sigma-W security stank.

“Mr. Darley, how did it go?” David queried softly.

“It was a formality, like my dad said. Now we need to get to work, and the first order of business will be to find and rescue Harry and Kellan. I also need Ella brought here for safety.”

“You need to do something before we can get to that,” Granddad said firmly.

“No, that is my first priority,” Dad said defiantly.

“Listen to your father.” Gramadea’s voice was hard and unyielding. She glared at Dad until he backed down.

“What?” he asked almost sullenly.

I laughed inside. Now he knew what it felt like….

Granddad cleared his throat, clearly exasperated. “Like I mentioned before, there is a large part of your duties that you are unaware of. It’s in fact what will take up most of your working hours and more.” He sighed. “I have informed Alfred of our change in leadership–”

“Is he a Sigma-W, too?” I asked. “Or a Wanderer?”

“Um, neither, my dear. Rupert, you need to come with me to see him right now, I’ll explain on the way.”

“Okay. But only if I can get back to business after that, and you have to promise not to micro-manage me.”

Granddad snorted. “Hah! I have no intentions of doing that. As soon as you’ve talked to Alfred, your mom and I are going on vacation. For a long time. No more Sigma-W for us, isn’t that right?” he asked, beaming at Gramadea.

“After we find Harry and Kellan. Until then, we must stay and help out. But not to
micro-manage
, as you put it, dear Rupert. You are such a funny boy at times.” She ran her fingers through his hair, shaking it out vigorously. “Now, go with your dad and meet Alfred.”

“How long is this going to take?” Dad asked.

“I’m hoping that it won’t be too long, but I can never tell with Alfred. Let’s be on our way.”

“Where’s the rest of the council?” Bruno asked, once they had left.

“They’re in the conference room. They asked me to have you meet them there,” Gramadea said.