I think you’re all being petty, Oberi said. He’d hopped to his own bannister, and flattened himself to the top of it.
“Guys, shut up. There’s plenty of room up here,” I said. I was starting to freak out, knowing Hemlock could walk in at any time.
“What if they look up?” Marcus asked nervously.
“Here.” Kallie wiggled her fingers, and a strangle tingle began to spread across my skin. I lifted my arm and saw that my skin and clothes had taken on the colors of my surroundings— like a chameleon. I could still make out the features of my friends, as well as the outlines of their bodies, but that’s because I was close to them. Anyone more than six feet away would have a hard time distinguishing them from the rest of the ceiling.
“Our bodies will blend in with the background. The illusion will disguise us as long as we don’t move too much,” Kallie replied. “Just stay still until they leave, and they’ll never know we’re here.”
Easy enough. We’d hidden just in time, because the door opened. I held my breath as I watched Professor Takahashi, as well as Professor Hemlock, stride in. They remained at the door as other people walked in to shake their hand.
A brunette woman strode confidently into the room, and a tall man followed behind. She had a badge on her hip attached to the waistband of her jeans. I bet that was Marcus’ mother.
“Detective Taylor,” Hemlock said, shaking her hand. “So glad you could make it.”
“Call me Nadine. This is my husband, Lucas,” Nadine said, stepping aside to introduce the man beside her. Marcus’ dad was the same height as he was.
Hemlock clasped Lucas’ hand graciously. “I apologize for the short notice, and for taking you away from your work. I know you were working on a story.”
“The paper can wait. My son is more important,” Lucas replied.
Takahashi was awfully quiet through all these introductions. He bowed slightly as Nadine and Lucas took their seats, but gave no other greeting.
The next people who entered the room caught my attention immediately. They were dressed in plain clothes, but walked with a sort of regality that betrayed exactly who they were.
King Ethan was muscular, dark-skinned, and had a stoic way about him. Jeez, Kallie’s dad wasbig.The wolf shifter towered over everyone else in the room. I couldn’t see anything in him that resembled Kallie.
In contrast, Kallie looked a lot like her mom. The older woman had beautiful red hair, and the same blazing spark in her green eyes that gave Kallie her ferociousness.
Hemlock hugged the king and queen as they came to her side. “Ethan, Emma. So nice to see the two of you again.”
“We missed you,” the queen replied, giving her a peck on the cheek. “It’s been too long.”
Hemlock stepped aside as the king released her from his embrace. “Your majesties, I’d like to introduce you to Mister and Mrs. Taylor.”
“We’ve met before.” Nadine smiled. Lucas gave the king a nod of acknowledgement.
“Indeed,” King Ethan said. “Briefly, but we know each other.”
“Yes. We helped them out of a rough spot a long time ago,” Nadine said.
“What the fuck?” Kallie whispered. Marcus shrugged beside her, clearly stumped.
Our parents kept secrets like Ivy collected dollars on club nights. It was beyond annoying.
Mama and Daddy were the last to enter. Mama looked… worried. Her brow furrowed like it always did when she was concerned and didn’t want to say it out loud. Daddy had a water canister attached to the side of his hip, I noticed. He hadn’t come in here without ammunition.
“Please, take a seat,” Takahashi said, and the sound of chairs scraping the floor filled the room as everyone sat down. There was a long moment of silence, filled with tension and distrustful glances.
They didn’t know why they’d been asked to come here. But they knew it couldn’t be anything good.
“I trust that all of us were able to enter the prison unseen?” Hemlock asked.
“Your portal was effective,” Queen Emmaline said.
“Worked for us, too,” Nadine said.
“Portals don’t typically work on Institute property, but as it is close to the Darke Games and I am an instructor, I was able to open one on prison grounds without alerting the attention of the guards,” Hemlock said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t provide it for everyone, Mister and Mrs. Mitoh.”
