Slayers: Friends and Traitors (21 page)

He didn’t insult her. He was too smart for that. Tori would have ignored insults and forgotten them before she went to sleep that night. Overdrake spoke in riddles, and those repeated endlessly through her mind as she tried to figure them out.

“Who is your source?” she had asked, her rifle held firmly in her hand. “How do you know things about me?”

“You go to one of those private elitist schools, don’t you?” he called back to her. “Let’s see if the tuition is worth it. Do you know what the sign in the Greek temple of Delphi says?”

“No littering. In six languages. I went there last summer. Now answer my question.”

“The sign says, Know thyself.”

She thought he was stalling. She’d already shot one tree branch from underneath him. He’d only managed to keep himself from plunging twenty feet to the ground by flipping through the air and landing on another branch. “Okay,” she said, “I know I don’t have a lot of patience.” She looked into the sight of her rifle, aiming at the tree branch he stood on. “You might not be so lucky the next time you fall.”

Overdrake shook his head. She couldn’t see his expression through his helmet, but somehow still knew it was condescending. “When you understand yourself, you’ll be a lot closer to figuring out who my source is.”

It made no sense. The one thing she knew was that
she
wasn’t his source.

“Who are you, Victoria Hampton?” he’d asked. “Where do you come from?”

Where did she come from? She came from Virginia. She came from a home that, despite her father’s political position, was remarkably normal. Two kids and a dog. How did any of that have to do with Overdrake’s source?

Tori didn’t speak to him for long after that. She went to fight the dragon. When that was done, Overdrake was gone.

Tori knew he never meant to give her any information. He was only trying to get her to doubt herself. She ought to have been able to dismiss his words as easily as insults. Heaven knew she brushed off enough of those in high school.

But maybe that’s why Overdrake’s comments bothered her. Average people spat out random insults. The smart ones, the ones that really wanted to hurt you, they mixed truth in with their insults. Those were the barbs that penetrated and stung.

So what was the truth in Overdrake’s words?

Tori knew who she was. She was a Slayer. She was a person who cared about her country and would fight for it.

She moved around the room, reading a history of Jefferson that hung on the wall. She sensed Dirk before she saw him. He was walking up behind her. “Nice costume. I’m glad to see you kept my advice about being careful and staying home today.”

She turned and smiled at him. He wore jeans and a black leather jacket. His hair was shorter than the last time she’d seen him, the summer highlights gone. He was as handsome as ever, though—more actually, because now when she looked at him she didn’t just see his perfectly formed features and light blue eyes; she saw the weeks of texts he’d written her. Funny ones, caring ones, ones that asked her out to dinner at La Niçoise so she could show the staff she was making progress with him.

Without saying a word, Tori hugged him. She would have hugged any of her friends from camp. Dirk held on to her for longer than normal, and she let him. It felt good to see him again.

He ran his hand along her cape. “Where were you today that you needed this?”

Tori pulled away from him. “I was helping my parents throw a party for some kids at a hospital.”

“Giving candy to babies,” he said, still looking her over. “That’s probably why your father scores so high with the four-to-eight-year-old constituents.” Dirk smiled as he said this, but Tori could sense the tension in him. The worry.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

Dirk put his hands in his pockets. “Dr. B will give us the details when he gets here. We’ll feel the simulator when he gets close.”

Tori had asked what was wrong with Dirk, why he was so tense. She didn’t clarify herself, though. He was probably just nervous about the mission. She was, too.

She took the edges of her cape and wrapped them around herself. “This is the real reason superheroes wear capes. You’ve got to have something to keep you warm when your outfit consists of twelve inches of material.”

She had expected Dirk to laugh. Instead he took off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders. The gesture was so sweet she didn’t even make a token refusal. “Thanks,” she said, and slid her arms into the jacket, enjoying the warmth. It smelled like his cologne. It felt like putting on a hug.

“Oh,” he said, “I’d better get my phone.”

He slipped his hand into the pocket to retrieve his phone. He was so close. She wanted him to be close and at the same time didn’t. The rest of the Slayers were on their way. Jesse was on his way. That thought alone brought up a whirlwind of emotion inside her. This wasn’t the time for her and Dirk to figure out what their relationship was.

Dirk put his phone into his pants pocket and looked around for other Slayers. A few more people had wandered inside the exhibit hall. No one Tori recognized.

“I’m sure more of us are coming,” she told Dirk. “They’ll be here soon.” Dr. B knew who had replied. The rest of the Slayers didn’t.

Dirk was silent as some tourists walked past them to the door, then said, “This is one of those times when we could use Ryker. Did your dad have any luck finding him?”

Tori hesitated. She didn’t like keeping things from Dirk. “That’s still up in the air.”

“I called every listing for an Allen Davis in San Diego, Denver, and Crown Heights. Each time somebody answered, I asked to speak to Ryker.” Dirk shook his head. “No one had heard of him.”

“You did that?” It was touching and sad to think of Dirk calling all those people, each time hoping to speak to Ryker.

“I even searched some older records, in case they had gotten rid of their landline. I thought maybe I could find an address.”

Tori had to tell Dirk something. Next he’d drive to the cities and go on a door-to-door search. She stepped closer to Dirk and lowered her voice. If any of the other Slayers came in, she didn’t want them to hear this. “His dad’s name isn’t actually Allen. He’s one of those guys who goes by his middle name. You should have been looking for a Charles Davis—although it wouldn’t have done you any good. Their phone number is unlisted.”

Dirk straightened, surprised. “You found Ryker’s address?”

She paused, didn’t answer.

“Tori—” Dirk prompted.

“You have to promise not to be mean to him.”

Dirk lifted an eyebrow. “I’m never mean to anybody.”

“How many times last summer did you throw Lilly into the lake?”

“That wasn’t mean,” Dirk insisted. “If you use all the hot water in the showers, you get thrown in the lake. It’s a posted rule.”

“Yeah, but waiting until after she did her hair and makeup to throw her in—that’s mean.”

Dirk rolled his eyes. “Fine. If I throw Ryker in the lake, I’ll do it before he beautifies himself. Where does the guy live?”

Tori glanced around to make sure they were still alone. “Rutland, Vermont. The problem is, Ryker’s parents won’t let him train. He has to wait until he’s eighteen and he can legally leave on his own. That won’t be until next summer.”

“Next summer.” Dirk considered this. “That’s not too far away. The important thing is that we found him.” Dirk’s words were calm but Tori felt a surge of emotion run through him. Satisfaction, and then something else. Something that was harder to identify.

Dirk glanced at his watch, looked around the room, then put his hand into his jeans pocket and fiddled with his cell phone. An almost electric current of energy, of restlessness, ran just underneath his surface. He reminded Tori of one of those caged panthers at a zoo that paces back and forth in their cages.

“You’re too tense,” she told him and reached up and massaged his shoulders. His muscles were hard, thick. Slayer muscles. “Relax a little. It’s not like
I’m
leading A-team on the mission. You’d have a reason to be tense then.”

He forced a smile. “I’m just remembering our last mission.”

“We’ll win this one.” She stopped kneading his shoulders and motioned to her costume. “As an experienced superhero, I can tell you that good always conquers evil.”

Dirk let out a grunt. “Who said this is a fight between good and evil?”

She hadn’t expected that reaction from him. It seemed so cynical. “Of course it’s between good and evil. We’re good and Overdrake is planning on using dragons to take down the government. Last I checked, that qualifies as evil.”

Dirk’s gaze went to a portrait of Jefferson on the wall. “Wars aren’t ever that clear cut. You don’t think everyone who fought on England’s side during the Revolutionary War was evil, do you?”

“That was different. The British soldiers fought because their king ordered them to. But even then, they were in the wrong. Americans deserved to have self-determination. We deserved our freedom.”

“Freedom?” Dirk asked, turning back to her. “Runaway slaves fought for the British troops. England promised them their freedom—something that didn’t happen in America until the Civil War. And that war is still America’s bloodiest.”

Tori never considered this before and it bothered her. The colonies were fighting for their freedom while denying freedom to some. Then again, none of that changed what was happening now. “So what are you saying? That you don’t want to fight Overdrake or that you wish you were British?”

Dirk turned and studied the pictures of Monticello. “All I’m saying is that conflicts aren’t usually about good and evil. They’re about the decisions people make when they’re ambitious, when they’re angry”—his gaze cut back over to her—“when they’re in love. The fate of nations can change from the roll of the dice. Who’s to say the world is worse off because Egypt fell to Alexander the Great or because William the Conqueror took over England?”

“This is about good and evil,” Tori said. “I’m not risking my life over something that’s no more important than a roll of the dice.”

Dirk looked like he was going to say something, then changed his mind. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” He reached out and took her hand. His was warm, comforting. “I’m just stressed.”

She wondered if this was how soldiers felt before they went to battle—did they question the cause they were fighting for? Did they weigh it against their life and wonder if it was worth it?

She squeezed Dirk’s hand. “It will be all right.”

He smiled and squeezed her hand back, but wasn’t convinced. Another emotion joined his others: a sadness she didn’t understand. Were these emotions stronger than the ones he usually felt, or was she getting better at reading him? Even his light blue eyes seemed darker now, muted.

“It will be all right,” she told him again, so softly it was no more than a coo.

He pulled her a step closer and leaned down to say something. She waited for the feel of his breath brushing against her ear. He never got the words out.

A voice interrupted them. “Well, I’m not the first one here after all.”

Tori blushed even before she turned. She had been so wrapped up in Dirk, she hadn’t heard Jesse come in, hadn’t sensed that anyone was there.

Jesse wore jeans, a tan jacket, and an expression that said he didn’t like that she and Dirk were holding hands. He walked toward them, a wry look in his eyes. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, I’ve always known how fast Dirk is.”

CHAPTER 18

It had been almost three months since Tori saw Jesse at camp. When she’d thought of him, she pictured him standing against the canopy of sunlit trees, as much a part of the forest as the summer air and the emerald leaves around him.

It was odd to see him suddenly superimposed here in the real world.

That was the only reason she was staring at Jesse, the only reason she couldn’t speak. It had nothing to do with the memories that rushed back at her—she and Jesse sailing through a sea of leaves and light, Jesse smiling at her as they sat by a campfire under the star studded sky, Jesse’s hand on her cheek as he leaned down to kiss her.

Dirk didn’t drop Tori’s hand. He held on to it possessively. “Tori got here first. We’ve only been together for a little while.”

“Oh.” Jesse’s gaze slid to Tori’s eyes. His voice was accusing. “Sorry to interrupt you two then.”

Tori felt caught, awkward. She didn’t want to offend Dirk by pulling her hand away from him, but she didn’t like this either—this feeling that Dirk was laying claim to her in front of Jesse.

She said the only thing she could think of. “Do the two of you need to talk … you know, as captains … to discuss strategy?” She dropped Dirk’s hand and stepped away from him as though expecting him to walk off.

Jesse’s gaze stayed on her. “Actually, I was just thinking that the two of
us
needed to talk.”

Dirk folded his arms. He didn’t move away from Tori. “I thought you said everything you needed to say to Tori on the last night of camp.”

Jesse took a couple more steps over to him. “And apparently you said a whole lot to her afterward. Thanks. Thanks for being a friend.”

“As I remember it,” Dirk said, “Tori was the one who needed a friend that night.”

“I bet she did,” Jesse said. “How nice that you were there for her.”

Tori’s gaze bounced back and forth between them. She needed to put an end to this but didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t explain how things were between Dirk and her—didn’t exactly know how they were herself. She couldn’t decide on the spot and didn’t want Dirk deciding for her. At the same time, she couldn’t be disloyal to him. He had been there for her during the last three months. Jesse hadn’t.

Tori pulled Dirk’s jacket tighter around herself and addressed Jesse. “You have no right to be mad at either of us. You told me you wanted me to date other guys.”

Jesse raised a hand in disbelief. “Yeah, but I thought you would wait longer than fifteen minutes. And I didn’t expect you to start with one of my best friends.”

She could have told Jesse things hadn’t started at camp, and technically she and Dirk weren’t a couple. Instead she said, “Sorry. After you break up with someone, you don’t get to decide those things.”