He looks at me, his eyes sad. “We’ve been keeping so much from The Pack, Fi. I can’t deal with that anymore—they’re the only family I have. I already keep too much from them as it is.”
Those words hit me hard. After tonight, can I blame him for thinking any differently? “You could tell them about your ability, you know.”
“Not yet.” His eyes are on the horizon, and I’m not sure he even considered what I said. “I need you to do something for me right now, though I know you won’t like it.”
“What?”
“Go see if he killed the Spudlings?” He gulps and then buries his head in his knees. “I don’t think I can see it for myself, but we need to know what we’re up against.”
I suck in a breath. He’s the only person I’d do this for. “Okay. You call Brady—we don’t have time to carry her out of here. Tell them to bring Sexy Blue.”
“Okay.”
As I force myself to walk towards the bridge, I can’t help feeling like this was The Phantom’s revenge. It sends a pretty clear message—he knows what we’re doing. He might even know Spud is here. Or at least helping us out. Who knows? One thing’s for sure: this is just the beginning.
I don’t have to go too far under the bridge to see what happened here. There’s blood everywhere—bullet holes in precise, fatal places. These aren’t the shots of a novice. The wounds scream hit man.
No wonder Seth’s dad is always high or drunk or both.
I look away, my heart racing at the thought of Mr. Mitchell doing this. I’ve been in that house, so close to him, more times than I can count since I’ve been here. He could have done this to me months ago…which means there’s probably a good reason he didn’t. He also could have killed Lee Seol—his aim seems perfect—and yet he didn’t. I wish I knew what to think of that.
When I get back to Seth and Lee Seol, I think he already knows, but still he asks, “So?”
“Five guys. All shot dead.”
He purses his lips. “I guess our dads have more in common than I thought.”
“Seth.” I take his hands. “How can I make it better? Please. I hate thinking about you in pain.”
He squeezes my fingers, and his head finds my shoulder. “I seriously don’t know.”
I put my arms around him, because I can’t think of words that would help. We lost the equipment. Lee Seol is badly hurt. Seth’s dad is a freaking hit man. Hours ago I thought we were making progress—now it seems like we’re screwed. So we hold each other, and for a second I remember that Seth is the one person in my life who can make me feel like it will be okay even when it’s not.
Headlights appear in the distance. “They’re here,” I say.
He pulls me closer. “Don’t let go. Not yet.”
I want to say I’ll never let go of him, but I don’t.
Bea and I cradle Lee Seol in the back seat, while Brady drives over the rough terrain. No one has said anything yet, but I can tell by Bea’s face that it won’t last long. I get the sense that she’s known all along that I’ve not been telling her stuff—she’s just been the bigger person and not gotten pissed about it.
“Fiona…” Bea looks down at Lee Seol, whose head is in her lap. “Who is this? I feel like I have a right to know, if she might find out what my mom can do.”
“You’re right. She didn’t want me to tell you, and she’s not exactly someone you argue with, you know? But now I don’t have a choice and I hope she doesn’t get mad at me because—”
“Fi,” Bea cuts me off. “You’re rambling. Just tell me.”
I gulp. “She’s Miles’ girlfriend. You remember who his girlfriend is, right?”
Bea’s eyes go wide, but it’s Brady who says, “Holy shit. Are you serious?”
“Yeah. Dead serious.” I lean my head back on Sexy Blue’s grimy old seat, exhausted from the things we haven’t told them yet. “I can’t say more here. I don’t know who could be listening to us after what just happened.”
“I wish we were all telepathic,” Seth grumbles.
“No kidding.” I’m so tired of my life. But once I’m not invisible anymore, I won’t have to deal with this at all. I have to keep my eye on that invaluable prize.
Lee Seol moans when we hit another bump. She’s been going in and out of consciousness, but this time she opens her eyes. “Miles? Where’s Miles?”
I put my hand on her face. “He’s okay—you’re the one who got shot.”
“Oh yeah…” She clutches her stomach. “Feeling it now.”
When we get to the Navarros’ house, everyone is awake and waiting for us. We lower Lee Seol onto the couch. She winces at every move, and I can tell she feels uncomfortable with so many eyes on her. Bea’s dad doesn’t look particularly happy about this, and I’m proved right when he says, “I’m still not convinced we should do this. We know nothing about her.”
“Do what?” Lee Seol says weakly.
All the Navarros hesitate to answer.
“I know it’s a lot to ask,” I say. “It’s just…this girl means everything in the world to Miles. I can’t bring her home like this.” At my words, Hector and Carlos exchange glances. Clearly that’s all they need to get who Lee Seol is.
“Miles will worry when I’m not home. I can’t stay here forever,” Lee Seol says, since she clearly has no idea just what Bea’s mom could do for her.
“Just tell us who you are,” Bea’s dad insists. “Miles’ girl or not, why can’t you go to hospital for this?”
Lee Seol looks to me with wide, panicked eyes. I gulp and say, “Can’t you just tell them? I promise it’d be worth it, and they are the most trustworthy people I’ve ever met.”
“They better be.” Lee Seol sighs in defeat. “You might know me by the name of Spud.”
“What?” Bea’s dad turns to his wife. “She could tell the whole world about you!”
“Alejandro, calm down. If she’s with Miles I don’t think she’s like that.” Rosa kneels down by the couch. “I have always wished I could share my gift with the world. God blessed me with this miracle—I’m happy to use it when I can.”
Bea’s dad sighs. “I wish the world wouldn’t punish you for having such a gift.”
“I know. Perhaps someday.” Rosa looks over the wound before she asks, “Is the bullet still in there?”
“Think so,” Seth answers. “We need to get it out, right?”
Rosa nods. “It will be difficult and painful, but I’ll get the tools.”
“Tools?” Lee Seol says in a high-pitched voice. “What’s going on?”
I want to explain to her, but it’s not my place. All I can do is hold her hand and say, “It’ll be okay, I promise.”
Rosa comes back with a long pair of tweezers, but she doesn’t look excited for what she’s about to do. “This is the hard part.”
“I’ll do it.” Seth grabs the tweezers, and before anyone else can object he’s already at Lee Seol’s side. She looks terrified as he pulls the black mask from her wound. Too bad I can’t tell her that he’s the best possible person to find that bullet inside her. It’s clear from the way he approaches the wound that he’s confident in his ability to retrieve the metal.
Lee Seol screams as Seth pushes the tweezers into the torn hole in her skin. I try to hold both her hands, but it’s more like she’s crushing mine. Seth cringes, and I can’t imagine what he’s seeing. “I know it’s hard, but can you try to relax? The muscles contracting are making it worse.”
“Oh sure, easy!” she yells at him.
“Almost…” Seth pinches the tweezers. “I think I got it.”
Sure enough, he pulls out a round object covered in blood. Lee Seol whimpers at the sight of it. Hector lets out a low whistle, eyeing his best friend. “You sure did that easily. Like a freaking surgeon.”
“I got lucky.” Seth gulps, and I wonder if his best friend is starting to put things together.