Rafe and I exchange a glance. Excitement swoops in my gut.
“That’s right,” Mr. Qureshi continues. “Your teachers have observed the two of you and believe you will be good partners.” He sits up a little higher in his chair. “How does that sound?”
I blink a few times, trying to get my brain to catch up. This is definitely not what I expected. “Uh, sure. I guess you mean Rafe’s unfinished business since we still don’t know anything about mine. Unless Theo’s checked in?”
Hope lifts in my chest but takes a dive when Mr. Qureshi frowns. “I’m sorry, Billie. That’s actually the other reason I called you in. For some reason, Theodore’s gone completely dark. We haven’t been able to make contact in a few days via any of the normal lines of communication.”
My mouth goes dry and I comb the hair out of my face with my fingers.
“Dark?” Rafe asks. “What does that mean?”
“It could be a number of things,” Mr. Qureshi says with a sigh. “The most likely reason is that he’s trying to avoid a run in with the Xers. They tend to be very well connected. Most have convinced the politicians in Washington that they’re the ones stopping hauntings and the like. But with the country in its current state, there’s no telling what he might have run into.”
I pop up a brow. “Okay, not remembering. What’s the country’s current state?”
Mr. Qureshi’s face sags, and he pinches the bridge of his nose, but it’s Rafe who speaks. “Over the last few years, someone’s been stealing supes’ powers.”
I lift a finger. “That I do remember. Got my powers snatched a few years ago but my family couldn’t afford to send me to Blakemore.”
Rafe nods. “Then someone figured out how to give them back. Unfortunately, they accidentally gave them back to criminals too.”
“Rafe is right,” Mr. Qureshi says. “The moment this happened they all escaped from prison, escalating tensions between humans and supes. Some politicians called for martial law, internment camps, things of that nature. The country was headed for all-out war until the students of Blakemore took care of things.”
I swallow, having a bit of a hard time breathing. “Yikes.”
Images from the news a few weeks ago swirl back into my head. Blakemore half destroyed because of that Keeler kid and his extremist buddies. I guess they’re a bit like the Xers, prejudice against things they don’t fully understand.
“Yeah, it wasn’t good.” Rafe’s voice is rough, and when I try to catch his eye, he refuses to look anywhere other than the edge of Mr. Qureshi’s desk.
“Though the main threat has been taken care of, our nations’ leaders still have much to deal with.”
Letting out a breath, I nod. “Well, okay, then I guess for now we’ll deal with Rafe’s unfinished business.” I squeeze his arm.
Though he still won’t look at me, he covers my hand with his own.
“Excellent,” Mr. Qureshi says. “Then it’s off to Blacksburg.”
Rafe finally looks up, the color in his skin fading. “I haven’t felt drawn there. Did someone find something out about…” he swallows. “Did someone find something out? Last I heard from the Enforcers was that the trail had gone cold.”
Mr. Qureshi shakes his head. “This is something we often do when a student’s unfinished business is difficult to divine. Because Blacksburg was where the end of your life began in a sense, we feel it’s the best place to start. It will also be a good place to seek out information about where you’ve been buried.”
Rafe flinches. “But what if…” He chews his lower lip, then lets out an impossibly heavy sigh.
Mr. Qureshi leans forward, his smile still a little droopy, sad. “It’s never easy confronting our families, even if we ended our time with them on good terms. I know this is difficult, but you won’t be alone.”
I tighten my grip on Rafe’s arm, wanting so badly for him to know down deep that I’ll be there for him every step of the way, wanting to chase away whatever demons from his past still haunt him.
“Kazuya can explain more in the morning,” Mr. Qureshi continues. “He has techniques that can help when you get there. Best of luck. And keep an eye out for Xers.”
The second we step out of Mr. Qureshi’s office, Rafe kind of falls apart. He slumps against the wall and covers his face with a shaking hand. Unsure of what he needs, I slide an arm around his shoulders. They’re tight with nervous tension. Though he doesn’t pull away, he doesn’t look up at me either.
I’m itching to say something that will fix it, but I chew the inside corner of my lower lip to resist the urge. The last thing I need to do is to push him too hard. If we’re going to try and sew something up tomorrow, we’ve got to be on the same page, and I’ll just have to be patient. Wait for him to tell me what he needs no matter how much I’m itching to rush him.
Rafe takes a few slow breaths before he finally looks up at me. “Not freaking out. This is how I look when I’m totally stable and ready to face hard stuff. I swear.”
His grin is an epic fail. Fur springs up along his arms, then he shifts, shrinking down into fox form. Rafe lets out that little chirp of a bark, and I put both fists on my hips. He whimpers and rolls onto his back, as if he thinks his cuteness will distract me. I squat and rest my elbows on my knees.
“Hey, don’t do that. Stick with me, and we’ll talk about it, huh? Hiding from the truth doesn’t help anything.”
Rafe whimpers again and lets his tongue loll out.
I lift a brow. “Nope. That’s not gonna work on me, buddy, especially not if we’re going to go on this mission tomorrow. We need to talk.”
With a funny little huff, Rafe flips back onto his feet, then shifts back into
