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She growled.
Dastien reached over to hold my shaking hand. Lisabetta was making me nervous. More so than any other member of the Seven I’d met. “I know that’s not what you want to hear, but you could make the case either way. The only fact I know is that this mess—” I waved to the TV. “Humans won’t forget this. Maybe we can outlive them, but you’d need to wait at least another… I don’t know fifty, seventy years, maybe more before coming out. And with today’s technology, it’ll only be a matter of time before another video crops up. What then? Another cover up?” I paused. “I’m not sure what your plans were, but you’d have to wait a long time and make sure nothing else happens between now and then, or else this cover-up will come back to bite us. And it won’t be pretty.”
“She is biased.” Lisabetta wrinkled her face with a look of disgust. “Her father has spoken with her.”
What was she talking about?
“Tessa,” Donovan said. “Have you spoken to your father in the last day?”
“No.” I winced. I probably should’ve checked in with him. “Not since we left the compound.”
“See. She doesn’t smell like a lie,” Mr. Dawson said. “And before you say that she could be hiding her scent, she doesn’t know how. She’s too new.”
At this, everyone started talking at once again. The voices rose until Donovan slammed his hand on the table. “Enough. We’ve delayed too long already. What we need is someone to talk to the press. It can’t be me or Michael. We shifted on camera, makin’ us one of the monsters. But we have to make a statement—one way or the other—and we have to decide on that right now. The crowd at the gates is growing restless, and I’m not sure how much longer we can peaceably hold them off before they break in.” He paused. “So we vote. Those in favor of not covering up this incident, say aye.”
A chorus of ayes answered. Only three of the alphas—the Canadian, French, and Eastern European ones—and Lisabetta stayed silent.
“Right. That settles it. Thank you, for your thoughts, Tessa. We’d been evenly divided until now.”
Wow. I’d actually helped? “Of course.” This hadn’t been so bad.
“Now, we just need to decide which of us is going to speak to the press.”
“I will do it,” Lisabetta said.
“No,” Muraco’s voice fuzzed through the speaker. “You were against this. You’ll paint us in a bad light.”
She growled. “I would not. I am insulted that you would say such a thing, Muraco. After all this time?” She tilted her chin up in the air. “Not only am I one of the Seven, but since I do not agree with this plan, I’m the only one who would say what was necessary and no more.”
Yikes. That seems like a bad idea.
Agreed. But I’m not going to be the one to tell her.
Me neither. You think if we keep quiet, they’ll forget we’re here. Or better yet—do you think we could sneak out?
I wish. We’d better stay until we’re dismissed.
So, I settled back in my chair and waited. The voices rose, and once again it was too much. I couldn’t pick out the voices when everyone was so loud. I tried to focus on what was going on, but after a few minutes I gave up.
And then someone kicked me.
I glanced around the table, and Cosette motioned to me, nodding her head to the side.
What, I mouthed the word.
She nodded her head to the side twice. More sharply t
his time.
I don’t understand, I mouthed. What the hell was the side nod about?
The room stopped.
Mr. Dawson’s voice cut above the din. “Yes, Tessa. Do you have something to add?”
My heart sped up. Nope. This was from my vision. And I definitely had nothing to add.
I shook my head, keeping my mouth firmly shut.
