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“And it’s your job to keep her balanced?” I can’t believe her mother would actually ask that of him.
“Apparently, she needs a friend, a support person. You can imagine the kinds of things she said.”
I nod slowly. “You’re not allowed to disappoint her, and you have to give her what she wants.” I shake my head in disbelief. “She can’t demand that of you.” I sigh and add, “I guess we only have ourselves to blame. We shouldn’t have agreed to this. So what if they throw us out of school? At least then you wouldn’t have to compromise yourself like this.”
“It’s not that simple,” Ayden objects.
I can tell by looking at him that there’s more. “What is it?”
He sighs and explains, “If they expel you from school, they’ll ostracize you, take Yoru away from you, and banish you from our world. Don’t get me wrong, I’d follow you in a heartbeat, but no matter where we go, they’ll find us. The Cunninghams have people everywhere, and they’d make our lives hell. And I believe Claire’s mother when she says she’ll deliver on that promise.”
I stare at him, speechless. “You can’t be serious …”
“She’s prepared to do whatever it takes to make sure Claire doesn’t fail the test because of external factors.”
“Did you … Did you agree?” But I already know the answer. He had no choice.
“She promised me that it’s only until after the tests. After that, I can distance myself from Claire and tell her I don’t want anything to do with her. But until then …”
“ …your hands are tied,” I conclude.
He nods and looks at me with a tormented expression.
“There’s more?” I ask, unable to disguise my dread.
“I’m supposed to stay away from you.”
I bite my lip. That’s what I was afraid of.
“Tess.” He moves a step closer and caresses my cheek. “We’ll get thought this. I’m still here for you if anything happens. But we can’t be seen together in public.”
I nod sadly and try to hold back the tears. “Yeah, I know we’ll get through this,” I say, but I’m not sure if I believe it.
He kisses my cheek, my lips. This will be the last time he touches me for a while. It’s killing me.
“Mr. Faible came to our history class this morning,” I say as he lets go of me. I just blurt it out – in the hope that it will keep him here a little longer.
He cups my cheek again and looks at me with concern. “He told the class that Mr. Brian’s missing?”
I nod. “He tried to reassure us and kept offering his support. He didn’t want to confirm any suspicions about Mr. Brian’s disappearance. But he didn’t rule out the possibility that the Noctu had something to do with it.”
Ayden’s eyes darken, which sets off alarm bells in me.
“The hunters figure it was the Noctu, right?”
“What else are they supposed to think?” he says bitterly. “Mr. Brian had no relatives, so it obviously wasn’t a family emergency. And he was always totally dependable. He’s never been absent without notice in all his years as a teacher. The hunters went to his house. They searched it and found nothing to suggest that he’s just packed up and left. They found suitcases, his passport. It’s obvious that something’s happened to him. And who else could be behind it but our arch enemies? It’s only logical.”
“And a perfect excuse to fan the flames,” I point out. “This gives the Tempes one more justification for their next attack.”
I can tell from Ayden’s expression that I’m right. But I see something else there too.
“Do they already have a plan?”
“There’s going to be a raid in the next few days,” he admits. “Most of the hunters will be involved. The Council keeps lists of suspected Noctu. Mostly people working in nursing homes and hospitals but also some government employees. The plan is to launch a large-scale attack on those people.”
I raise my eyebrows. “They’re willing to risk hurting ordinary people?”
“Some key carriers are trained to detect odeon. But they have to be really close to the person. So nobody will be hurt.”
