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“I didn’t just sit in the truck.” He hadn’t touched his soda, but now he ran a finger around the rim of the glass. “And I wasn’t sure whether you’d need help.”
“They have laws against stalking high school students.”
“No one saw me.” He paused. “They arrested a boy for these arson attacks, and the fires have stopped. But from what I can see, this Ryan Stacey has no connection to Elementals. The police are chalking up the pentagram patterns at the arson locations to simple cult obsession.”
Kate snorted and took another sip of her soda. “Idiots.”
“According to the police reports, Gabriel Merrick was arrested and released. He was never charged with the crimes. In one article, it’s claimed that he and another boy—” Silver checked his phone. “—a Hunter Garrity, rescued students from the fire in the school library—”
Kate choked on her soda.
Silver raised his eyebrows. “Problems?”
“I met him. Today. Hunter Garrity. He’s the one who fought with Gabriel Merrick in the cafeteria.”
“The plot thickens.”
Kate wiped at her mouth with the napkin. “It does? Why?”
“One of the first Guides sent to take care of our friends the Merricks was named John Garrity. He never made it. While I believe in coincidence, that strikes a bit too close to home, does it not?”
Kate froze. She remembered the way the air went still around Hunter in the school office.
“Can you get close to him?” said Silver.
She nodded, thinking of those text messages.
“Find out what really happened to his father.”
“What else?”
“Find out whether he had something to do with it. It concerns me,” said Silver, leaning in, “that there may be more Elementals at play here than we realize.”
“More than you can handle?” said Kate.
“Never.” He laughed, low, under his breath. “I’m worried, my dear, that they’re more than you can handle.”
“I can do this,” she said, losing any trace of humor. “I can.”
“Good,” he said. “Then prove it.”
Hunter found his mother and his grandparents sitting in silence when he walked in.
Then he stopped short.
His gun was on the kitchen table between them. His two knives were laid out beside it. And the spare magazine, plus the box of bullets.
They’d searched his room.
Casper nosed at his hands, begging to be petted, but for the first time, Hunter couldn’t even acknowledge his dog. His emotions were wildly vacillating between fury and fear, and they couldn’t decide where to settle. His heart felt like it was beating a path out of his chest.
His mother looked like she’d been crying—but that seemed to be a daily occurrence, so Hunter didn’t read too much into it. His grandmother looked disappointed, as usual.
And his grandfather looked like he wanted to load the gun and use it.
Hunter was tempted to go for it first.
He cleared his throat, and his voice didn’t want to work. “What’s going on?”
