19.
"Thanks for coming," I said through gritted teeth, pulling myself up into the back of the blue truck.
"No prob–" Ben's words cut out midway and he swivelled to look at me. I narrowed my eyes, clipping the seatbelt in.
"What? Have I suddenly become a problem?"
"No, no. You just look… weird. Good weird?"
"Great. Thanks." My phone buzzed in my hand, making me jump a little. Lit up: Jason Taylor. It brought a flash of fury at being played for a fool in my friendship with him, and in a fit of ridiculous temper, I hurled my iPhone across the car.
"Hey! Innocent bystander over here!" Hi exclaimed, rubbing the pec where it had hit him, and taking up my phone as Ben signalled left and moved off. "I'm keeping this dangerous missile until you can promise me it's not going through the windscreen."
"Tor? You okay?" Shelton, shotgun, was peering nervously at me around the headrest. I pursed my lips in response, trying to keep a control on myself. I felt like I was about to explode. A heavy set of cramps settled into my stomach and lower back for the last hour didn't help, either. If I tried to answer that question now…
"Ugh, what is that smell?" I wafted in front of my nose, tugging at the stupid hairdo with my left hand.
"Hiram. Of course." Shelton grinned. "Apparently it's part of the costume."
"Costume? Ohmygod." I hadn't looked at him properly before, but what a welcome distraction the ridiculous sight before me was. Hi was swathed in what looked like multiple maroon bedsheets, safety pins gleaming where he was keeping the folds in place. He was wearing black cycling gloves, and from a leather belt at his waist, a large pipe-cleaner-wrapped plastic sword was currently bent at right-angles to the shape of his bent leg. To top it off, a large stick was wedged between him and the door.
"What the hell?" I turned to stare aghast at Shelton, whose jamjar lenses waggled as he shook his head against the seat.
"Some sort of dawn Game of Thrones LARP gathering. From that Charleston RP he's in."
Ben coughed something that sounded suspiciously like 'weirdo'.
"I don't remember you telling me about the part where the Starks dress up as duvets."
"I'm Thoros of Myr," Hi said in a mildly offended voice, not looking up from his phone. "And it was a great gathering. I actually talked to a female who isn't Tory. And she was dressed up like Khaleesi. She left kinda halfway through, but I've still got her number."
"You got a girl's number?" I was torn between amusement and pride, giving a large knot in my hair an unsuccessful tug. "Well good for you, Hi."
"You're not a complete social stump after all," Ben chipped in.
"Just me, then," Shelton groaned. I actually smiled at that, my bubbling anger draining a little. Now if I could just get the stupid knot out of my hair, I'd be golden.
I reached for the tiny bag, came across a tiny comb, and began to work it through the centre of the tangle. I had just loosened it a little when Hi gave a yelp. "Tory!"
"What?" He held up his phone. Except – that wasn't his phone he'd been fiddling with, it was mine.
All the frustration came flooding right back in, and a tooth of the comb snapped off in my hair. I left it stuck there and lunged for the phone. "Give it here! Oi!"
"What? What is it?" Shelton ducked as Hi chucked my iPhone forwards. It hit the dashboard. Before he could scoop it up, I unbuckled and threw myself forward, snatching it up before any more damage could be done. As predicted, the screen showed mine and Ella's convo.
"Stop throwing things!" Ben barked, swerving slightly. "I need to concentrate on the road or so help me we will all end up in the Ashley river."
"What did you think had got me so riled up?" I half-shouted at Hi.
"I don't know – Whitney? It's really none of my – "
"No, it's not! And Whitney's a part of it anyway! I haven't been allowed to eat for seven hours, and she insisted on playing Barbies with me so I look ridiculous, and I've had to show hundreds of bimbos how to cook a bloody Roux. And Madison cornered me, by the way, and she's all new and out for me, and all of us. And all I hear from everyone is about my stupid reputation which is really starting to kill me. And yes, I also had to rehash that conversation with Ella for the fiftieth time and also Jason's mom cornered me about it."
"So why do they think you're going out with Jason?" Hi asked interestedly.
The car properly jerked towards the middle of the road this time. I caught a glimpse of Ben's jaw set. "Because he lied. He bloody – "
My jaw clamped shut of its own volition as my anger broke free and pushed a red-hot flare outwards, from under my ribcage and along to my extremities. I struggled to keep my eyes closed and clenched hard to stop it becoming a full seizure. This stupid electrical discharge in my brain wouldn't get the better of me.
Except just by my getting out of control, it already had.
The burning accelerated, intensifying before dropping off the edge. I sucked in a large breath and opened my eyes. Hi winced on seeing the golden glow. I took a second stab at answering his question.
"Between the rumour mill, Ella, Whitney, and Jason, they have all managed to ignore me and decide I'm in a non-existent relationship with Jason. Even though I definitely don't like him in that way. I have told him I definitely don't want to be more than friends. Ever."
I sat back, glowering in the ensuing awkward silence. My brain was settling down to the sensory overload again, but amongst the olfactory bombardment (oil, worry, leather, sweat, attraction, overpowering cheap incense, anger, salad dressing) there was another faint memory filtering through.
I leant forward to sniff the air properly. There – between the emotions and other chemicals, I could definitely smell one filtering through that had the most faint memory attached to it. Must be a scent I had originally smelled when not flaring… but where was it coming from?
I sniffed again, closing my eyes to lean in the direction of the trace. Then again. It was from Hi, but what was it?
Sandalwood. And I had the faintest remembrance of it from…
This morning. In a shock, I remembered Ben's attacker by the band-aids. The one who Ben had said smelled like Hi.
And he smelled like the attacker.
My eyes popped open. Hi raised an eyebrow in question. I just shook my head. "Sorry. Thought I could smell… never mind."
"Even you can't smell good looks, Tory," Hi said jovially, slightly overly bright. I must have been really freaking them out to crack even Hi's joking.
"I can smell attraction, though," I reminded him. His eyes widened slightly, but I just chuckled, slipping on the borrowed bubblegum-pink, heart-shaped shades Whitney had put in my bag when I wasn't watching. Good thing she had, now I was accidentally flaring and somehow not snupping easily. Honestly, she forced stuff like this on me, but told me off for taking snacks?
"Can we get food before we hit Candela?" I asked, rubbing my rumbling stomach. "I'm going to start eating the seats soon."
Of all the frustrations bound up in my flare right now, hunger was the easiest to solve.
"Tory."
The word, spoken close to my ear, roused me from the nap on my arms I'd been blissfully enjoying. I pulled my head up, blinking until the suave lines of Chance Claybourne came into focus in front of me.
"Chance?" Pushed my head up onto a hand, sitting up slightly. "Where have you been?"
He was smirking, hands in the pockets of his pricey suit, and fixing me with a look of condescension. It immediately made me edgy. He looked like the perfect Claybourne heir once again, the person he hadn't been for over a year. And while I knew that it was an act, a mask, more than ever before, it set my teeth on edge. To be reminded of a time when Chance was a step ahead of the Virals, and Hollis a step ahead of his son.
I shook off the last drowsiness and concentrated on the façade of a rich playboy presented in front of me. Only the mint clean surfaces around us gave the telltale hint of truth to Chance's casual nail inspection.
"Searching a new lead South of Broad. I'll tell it to you with your pack later. But I wanted to talk to you alone. Your bodyguards are all too effective, and really, you're far better at telling the truth without them." Chance looked up from his nails – the nibbled edges beginning to grow out – and flashed me a grin that read, you spill secrets when you're feeling vulnerable.
"Well fire away," I said, more forcefully than the situation really required. If Chance wanted a talk, I'd be damned if I was going to start the talking.
He checked that the boys were all fully absorbed in their tests before speaking confidently, confidentially, to me. "It's been a while since we last had a one-on-one chat. All of… three weeks, if I recall correctly." I nodded stiffly. "But the time difference belies the progress we've made since, doesn't it?"
Chance paused. I decided that was a rhetorical question and kept my mouth closed. He frowned for a second, as though disappointed I wasn't being more objectionable yet.
"But I just want to talk, alpha to alpha, about the… relationship of our respective packs. Our future. We might not have concrete evidence yet, but I should think it's obvious even to Benjamin that we are not coexisting smoothly."
I couldn't resist. "What could possibly have led you to that realisation?"
Chance narrowed his eyes a fraction. "There's too many agendas. Too much is going wrong, too fast."
"What, so you want us to all do what you say now?"
"I want," Chance enunciated, "for us to trust each other, Victoria. That's all I'm asking."
I slid off the stool, folding my arms and coming to stand closer to Chance. A challenging stance. "And why should I trust anyone, least of all you? Aside from the fairground attackers and flaring problems, which could be absolutely anyone, your girlfriend is hell-bent on exorcising me." I took another step forwards, forcing Chance to step back. Good. "Tell me, does she know that your eyes also glow? Only they're actually a satanic shade of firetruck red, of course. And does Maddy know that you have hypersenses sometimes too?" I paused for a beat, drilling my stare into Chance's. "I'm guessing not. Possibly because I'm the only one being chased around by her cult out of all of us."
"That is a telling sign," Chance agreed, lowering his voice further. "Of course I haven't told Madison. I'd rather keep the exorcisms to a minimum. But why should she ever suspect me? I'm the Claybourne heir, returned from Bedlam a hard-working and sensitive soul. I'm the man she's been trained to expect her entire life. Whereas you? The easy pick-on turned witty victor who she never expected to be confronted by, let alone scared by."
"How can I get her to let it go?" I demanded. "Can you make her stop?"
Chance was the one to take a step forward now, facial muscles taut. "You got inside her head then told her she was insane. Then another revelation, and then the Gamemaster episode under the Citadel." His voice hardened to steel. "There's only so much insanity a person can take before they look for answers, Tory. Even if that search brings true insanity."
The words were like a blow to my chest. I swallowed, looked away from Chance for the first time in this confrontation. He clearly wasn't just talking about Madison here.
Night-time monster, thy name is Tory.
"Is," I cleared my throat, "is it too much to want to protect us all?"
"The road to hell is paved with such intentions." Chance stepped forward so we were almost chin-on-forehead. I forced myself to meet his flinty eyes.
"Have you never done stupid things to protect yourself or your family, Claybourne?"
He didn't shy away from my obvious accusation. "You dug up that corpse yourself, Tory."
"And how did you know that being shot at in the dark wouldn't cause me to break down? Oh, right, you didn't." I pushed on, though Chance opened his mouth to respond. "I can't trust you, Chance, until we have solid evidence that whoever has knocked Ben out and injected me is not you. I have tried to prove your worth to the boys a hundred times, and it's got us here, but now there's someone out there targeting us… nobody is getting my trust. If you want to start gaining it, chuck Maddy."
Chance grasped my upper arm firmly, trying to regain control. "My private life has nothing to do with our experiments. And I have no idea who or what these attackers are, but you've been shot at enough times. Surely you've got enough clue by now on how to deal? Or are you too stumped without my help again?"
"Your private life has everything to do with being Viral," I hissed, grabbing his arm right back, hot anger shooting through me. "You can't just choose to not be at risk of a flare at some points. And no, it's not particularly easy to find anything to track on super-quick attackers whose only move is to be dressed in black. Believe me, we've tried."
"Then what the hell are you threatening me for?" Chance hissed. The crazed light seemed to have returned to his eyes as he frantically searched my face for something.
"Excuse me?"
"Because you're not telling me what bigger idea – what incredible, pull-it-all-together plan you have going here!" I shoved Chance's shoulder with my forearm as best I could, even as my back hit the wall again when he pushed me backwards with an icy expression. We were both internally struggling with the snapping beast straining to break free. "I don't know what happy, sunny mind-palace you're looking out from, but nothing works out that way. The only happily ever afters are in fairy tales."
"Excuse me!"
"I don't think I need you to remind me this isn't a win-win situation, Victoria," Chance snarled.
"EXCUSE ME."
I twisted my head at whiplash speed. Chance was more leisurely, just as appraising. Source of voice: one very bemused Azad.
How much had he heard?
It didn't matter anyway. He was our own specialist scientist.
Threats and rough shakes were really the least weird thing around here.
"Sorry for, er, interrupting but this phone –" he held up one of the four Virals space-grey iPhones " – keeps ringing. It'll be disturbing the scans soon, don't want that, ha!"
"What's the ringtone?" I asked, brusque. Out of the corner of my eye, Chance casually dropped the arm holding my shoulders to the wall and inspected the jacket sleeve.
"Erm…" He eyed the phone unsurely, but the tinny ringing started up again right on cue.
Chance snorted, smoothing his lapels and beginning to wander away. It took me about 1.2 seconds to work out the ringtone was Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble When You Walked In" and thus who the criminal was.
"Ugh, Hiram. I'll take it for him." Azad handed me the phone and I slicked the switch to silent. Whoever Crystal (Dany RP) was, they weren't getting a piece of Hi right now. "Thanks, Azad," I added.
"Great, awesome, glad to help," he said, flashing a very wide and crooked-teeth smile. "Y'alright back here?"
"Well…" I flicked a glance at Chance, who was strolling out of the lab door now. He threw a last cryptic look over his shoulder; a signature underlining our stalemate. "A little tense I guess. Seem to be at war with everyone these days." And lying to everyone these days, too. But I didn't think it would be prudent to let that slip out.
Azad frowned at me, concern wrinkling his forehead. "Is it all this pack stuff? Because I really don't want to get in your way at all. I'm just sorry we have to be so…"
"So what?" I was intrigued now.
Azad just shook his head. "Let's finish these scans so we can prove it. I'm not a fan of theorising without an evidence-based support, ha. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"I don't suppose you've got the ability to tell what a needle did when it went into my arm?" I asked half-heartedly. He grimaced.
"In theory, we could see if a foreign substance had entered your body… but it's probably not foreign. And there's really not any blood level difference we'd be able to calculate if the needle extracted, unless we had the norm and it was straight after…"
"It's okay. Never mind. Thanks, though." I gave a tight smile. Azad leaned against the wall beside me, folding his arms. I rubbed the front of my neck self-consciously.
"Can I ask why you're asking?"
"I was attacked on Wednesday. With Ben. But they got a needle in me long enough to either push or pull the plunger."
"Oh no," Azad's concerned expression transformed to alarm. "Are you okay? Why didn't you tell us earlier?"
"Because I don't trust Chance," I muttered, grabbing my arm across my body.
That didn't seem to surprise Azad. "Just tell us next time, yes? I'm not Mr Claybourne, but I am in his pack. I can help."
"Thanks." I gave a grateful smile. The scientist opened his mouth, but before he could say anything else, a shout came from the other end of the lab for him.
"Susan. I gotta –"
"Yeah, I'll come too. They might be tearing each other apart."
Anything was possible these days. The science lab had turned into a catalyst for tensions of all sorts, and I didn't want to leave the products to ramp up before I knew what we were working with any more.
I MADE IT ON TIME *happy dance* although it's taken me 45 minutes of grappling with in its iOS Yosemite version for me to get this to upload. Dude, this is how much I love you. Yep, every single reader - you're incredible and I love you. (What's brought this love-fest on, you may ask? Well, with last chapter, we reached 50,000 words posted on here of "Catalyst"! If that's not a cause for celebration, I don't know what is).
There are some slightly out-there revelations in here… what did you think of them? Is it Tory's grumpy narration colouring things? Also, is there too much dialogue and too little description? I find it hard to strike a balance, especially since I'm imitating the Reichs' style of Tory's voice, which is already very facts-based and not as such poetic ;P
Also, the Hi-as-Thoros detail is canon(ish) – I tweeted Brendan asking who Hi would RP as from Game of Thrones and he thought Thoros of Myr! So here you go, Hi as the Red Priest. (I can totally get what Brendan means ha).
Next time: Kit talks abandonment, brainwaves, texts from Ashley
BONUS next time: "Kinda? I remember him getting carted off to lockup for shooting at you, kiddo."