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Damon’s one bite hadn’t hurt him too badly. It’d made me nervous seeing him off to bring his mother home from the hospital, but he’d looked steady enough on his feet.
“I’ll convince her she needs to take a few days off to rest,” he’d said. “To stay in her apartment. They shouldn’t be able to get at her again while she’s there, right?”
“I don’t think so,” I’d said, but it’d been with an uncomfortable pang in my gut. I didn’t actually know, because I didn’t know what our enemies might try next. I hadn’t been ready for a flood of poisonous spiders.
I was just coming back into view of the front gate when it swung open. Kyler ducked in, his face brightening when he saw me. He hurried over, his hands slung in the pockets of his khakis.
“How are you doing?” he asked. He, Seth, and Jin had already checked in a dozen times today. Seth had swung by earlier bringing fresh scones his mom had baked, and Jin to collect a couple of canvases. I knew they were torn between staying to look after me however they could and keeping an eye on their parents, but really it was their parents who needed more protection. I’d been able to defend myself at least partly.
“About the same,” I said. “I’ve finally got the protections all reinforced.”
I wiped my hands together, and his gaze dropped to the reddened mark on my arm where I’d taken one of the bites. He winced. “They’re really pulling out every dirty trick in the book, aren’t they?”
“I just wish I had the same book so I knew what to ward off next,” I said with a crooked smile.
“No kidding.” He dragged in a breath. “Are we okay to talk here? Should we go in the house?”
I motioned him closer to the manor. “We should be good here. What’s up?”
He grinned. “I’ve got his number. Frankford’s. Literally, I mean, although I guess it applies in the figurative sense too.”
It took a few seconds for his words to sink in. “Thenumber?” I said, my eyes widening. “The private one he’d use to call meetings with his colleagues? Are you sure it’s the right one?”
“About as sure as I can be. I got into that account last night and started recording the texts in- and out-going. Earlier today he texted your dad reminding him of some restaurant where they talked last and then asking him to come to a different café. As soon as your dad replied, Frankford deleted both of the messages. The whole account is pretty much blank.”
My pulse kicked up a notch. “It sounds like he’s still using it then. The number and the code. Even though Gabriel knew we were looking for it.”
“Frankford might figure there’s no way I could ever ferret it out in the first place,” Ky said. “Arrogance tends to be the downfall of a lot of villains. Or theyareworking magic on Gabriel somehow, and they haven’t managed to get that information out of him.”
“Or Frankford knows and he switched codes, and he’s just periodically sending dummy messages as a trap,” I said.
Ky hesitated. “Yeah. That’s possible too.”
“And there isn’t really any way to know, is there?”
“Well, I can check whether your dad really does go to that café, or at least near it, at the right time,” Ky said. “Portland has lots of traffic cams. Although I wish they had a few more. It looked like Frankford and that Gwen Remington from the Assembly who we’re hoping will be on our side headed out around the same times the other day, but I couldn’t narrow down where they might have met up or if they definitely did.”
“And we’d still need a plan for getting through all that security around the Cliff before we could use that information anyway.”
“Hey.” Ky stepped closer and wrapped his arms around me. “It’s a start. We’re getting there. These people have been doing what they do for decades. It’s amazing how scared you have them after just a few months.”
I hugged him back, ignoring the throbbing that spread through my muscles as they flexed. “I know. But amazing doesn’t really matter if it’s not amazing enough to protect all of you.”
“We’re making it through. We’re building up our defenses. It’ll be easier to launch some kind offensive when we’re not scrambling to stop their next attack so often.”
“Right.” I made myself inhale and exhale slowly, sinking into his embrace even more. Something he’d said tickled deeper into my head. I’dscaredthem. The Frankfords were doing some pretty crazy things trying to destroy us or at least convince us to leave them alone, and they’d started before I’d ever retaliated. “If I unnerve them enough, they might slip up more.”
Ky rubbed my back. “What are you thinking, Rose?”
“I’m not completely sure yet. But can you give me a list of all the businesses and other buildings the Frankfords own? And their allies who seem the highest up too?”
“Of course.” He gave me one last squeeze and stepped back. “I can go through the files and then the internet databases right now. It shouldn’t take me more than an hour to get a pretty thorough list.”
“Perfect.”
When we came into the house, Imogen was standing in the hall. From her unusually meek posture, my first guess was that her aunt and uncle had been on her case again. Or maybe it was just the lingering effects of the spider bites dampening her energy.
Ky gave me a peck and headed upstairs. I waved the young witch over to the sitting room. “You look like you need to talk. Are your symptoms getting worse? I can try to help with that.”
