Well, okay, he was dangerous, but clearly there was something else out there even more so.
She dropped her arms in disappointment, and guilt crashed into me. I decided to let them in on one secret. One that I was hoping wouldn’t get me shipped off. I looked at them all sheepishly, and said, “Ms.
Mullins knows what I am.” When every set of eyes around me widened in surprise, I continued. “She told me that nothing is inevitable. No matter what I saw, nothing is inevitable. She knows.”
“That’s impossible,” Grandma said, her face a picture of shock.
“No.” An astonished smile slid across Granddad’s face. “No, it’s not. She’s the one. Why didn’t I see it?”
“See what?” Brooklyn asked.
When he grinned at Grandma, she sputtered in disbelief, thought a moment, then her mouth dropped open in realization. “You’re right. Oh, my goodness.”
“What?” I asked, fairly bursting to know.
Granddad looked at Jared, who stood with a knowing expression on his face. “You knew, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but only recently. She slipped one day. I caught it.”
“Granddad, really,” I said, growing annoyed.
“She’s the observer.” He laughed softly. “She’s always been the observer.”
“I just can’t believe it,” Grandma said. She looked at me, a loving expression in her eyes. “Your father told us there was always an observer, a person on the outside looking in who makes sure the power of the
Order of Sanctity is not being abused or misused. And nine times out of ten, nobody within the Order knows who it is. Once that person is brought to light, another one must be sent, else the position be compromised.”
“It has to be her. She moved here right after your parents married. She’d just graduated from college with a teaching degree. But she became friends with your mom,” Granddad said to me.
“No,” Grandma corrected. “Carolyn became friends with her through that book club. Remember how many times she had to ask Ms. Mullins out for coffee before she accepted?”
Granddad’s face brightened in remembrance. “That’s right. And that explains why she wouldn’t go to coffee with your mom for so long.”
Grandma nodded and glanced at me. “She was trying to do her job, and your mother just wouldn’t give up.”
I couldn’t help but let a smile dawn. “What happens now that we know?”
Granddad patted my hand. “She’ll be disassociated. She can’t be the observer if we know who it is.”
“We got her fired?” I asked, suddenly concerned.
“Well, perhaps, but now she can join us. She can be a part of the Order, if she wishes.” He cast a hopeful expression on Grandma. “She’ll be a great asset.”
I hoped they were right. And that Ms. Mullins wouldn’t be upset that she’d just lost her job as observer. At least she still had her teaching job. But my question was, to whom did Ms. Mullins report?
Fortunately, our next class was PE, where I had a toothbrush waiting for me. I couldn’t wait to wash the taste of vomit out of my mouth. And I had a note from the nurse not to suit up for the rest of the week.
Sweet. Thanks to Nurse Mackey, fourth went fairly smoothly, as did fifth. But the day was only a bit more than half over.
“Could this day get any weirder?” Brooke asked as we headed to lunch. Glitch ran up behind us, and
Cameron met us on the way.
“What? Did something else happen?” Glitch asked after he tossed a quick glower at Cameron. Just in case Cameron didn’t know how he felt about him, because clearly the seventeen thousand other glowers he gave him weren’t enough to get his point across.
“No,” Brooke said, her voice blase, “just the usual unexplained events and near-death experiences that seem to be happening a lot here at Riley High. Speaking of which, we’ve got to practice your new trick more. I’ve worked up a schedule.”
She handed me a schedule with specific times that we would practice. Or, well, I would practice and she would prod me onward. I felt so abused. She was bound and determined to expand my new skill, since it was safer than the visions themselves. I would’ve bet Glitch’s college fund Nostradamus wasn’t prodded.
After gracing her with my best grimace, I asked, “Really? Sunday mornings at seven?”
She grinned. “This will give us an excuse to sleep over all weekend.”
Wow, she was good. I looked at Cameron. “So, where is Jared now?”
“Why do you always ask me that?”
“I don’t know. You guys are like cosmically connected,” I said. “You each seem to know where the other one is at any given moment, except when he’s been attacked by unscrupulous descendants and is lying somewhere unconscious.”
“And you’re stealthy,” Brooke added.
I nodded in agreement. “That’s true. And strong.”
“And really tall.”
Cameron didn’t seem impressed. “So, I’m supposed to keep tabs on the reaper because we’re both tall?”
“Something like that,” Brooke said.
“Are you going to tell us why the sudden animosity between you two?” I asked him.
“Nope.”
It was worth a shot.
“It’s not animosity. Or I don’t think it is. I’m not sure what that means.”
When we left the main building and rounded the corner that led to the cafeteria, Cameron grabbed our arms and pushed us roughly against brick.
“Hey,” Brooke said in complaint, but Cameron pressed his back against us as Jared literally fell from the sky in front of us, landing solidly on his feet, the muscles in his legs powerful enough to keep him upright with just enough bend to regain his balance.
He grinned at Cameron, then inclined his head to look at Brooke and me. “I was just going to scare them.”
“Were you on the roof?” Brooke asked, astonished.
He had refocused on Cameron and didn’t spare her a glance when he replied with a simple, “Yes.”
I sidestepped past my barrier. “And you were on the roof because?”
When Jared stepped closer, Cameron ran interference by blocking me again. “Are you good?” he asked
Jared, holding me back with an arm made of steel.
“Cameron, what the heck?”
“Why are you asking?” Jared took the challenge in Cameron’s expression with a particular kind of glee.
“You don’t seem yourself today,” he responded, pushing me farther back.
“And you know me so well.”
“I want to talk to Lorelei,” Jared said. “Alone.”
Cameron angled his head. “I don’t think so.”
“Cameron.” I socked him on the arm. “What are you doing?” They hadn’t behaved so aggressively toward each other since Jared first showed up in Riley’s Switch. They’d almost killed each other that time. And they tore half the town apart in the process.
“Okay, guys,” Brooke said, putting on her supervisor’s hat. She held up her palms for a cease-fire.
“Clearly everyone’s blood sugars have dropped to dangerous levels. Let’s just go to lunch.” She grabbed
Cameron’s sleeve. Cameron grabbed mine, and I grabbed Glitch’s.
Jared stayed back a solid minute, measuring Cameron like he was sizing him up for a coffin.
“Jared, come on,” I called out over my shoulder. I didn’t know what to think, what to say. Admittedly, Jared was acting different. His movements. His expressions. Even his countenance was full of something strange, something foreign.
He finally followed us, his steps slow and methodical.
We each got our lunch and sat at our table, but the boys hardly touched theirs. Except for Glitch. He inhaled
