Hey guys, I am so sorry it's been such a long time since my last update. Life has been hectic. But thank you all for your reviews last time, and I hope this chapter answers a couple of questions. I won't keep you, so here's the chapter; enjoy!
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"I don't want to do this." Tori looks at the neatly typed instructions, complete with the Alliance insignia at the bottom. Beck had received them earlier that morning – exactly a week after Tori had found out about her ancestral werewolf hunting lineage – and had been quick to deliver them to Tori, who has spent the entire day trying to talk him out of it. "I'm not going to do that to her."
Beck frowns, taking the letter back and tucking it into his pocket. They're standing in the janitor's closet, yet again, at the start of last period. Neither of them have class and Beck had decided to use the time to try to change Tori's mind, something for which she is very resentful. "Come on, Tori," he says. "Jade's a werewolf. You know that."
"All I have is your word, Beck," Tori says, and, correctly reading his indignant expression, quickly continues, "and the word of some Alliance I haven't even met. It's not enough to go on."
"Which is why the Alliance wants you to do this," Beck argues, jabbing a finger at the letter. "Once you realize what's really going on, you're going to feel differently."
"I don't see why I need to be involved in this." Tori crosses her arms, repeating an argument she's used a lot over the past week – ever since Beck had told her that Jade was, in fact, a werewolf. "You're a hunter, right? You deal with it."
"You're not getting it, Tori," Beck says, but the sympathy in his voice outweighs the irritation. To his credit, he's been as supportive as he could be given the circumstances. It's just that the Alliance means more to him than it ever will to Tori, and he can't understand why she, a bloodline hunter, won't defer to them. "Even without any training, you're probably a better hunter than I'll ever be. If we need to deal with Jade, then -"
"What does that even mean?" Tori interrupts. "Deal with her? She's our friend, Beck. Even if she is a werewolf – and I'm not saying she is – then we have no proof she's done anything wrong."
Beck surveys Tori for a moment, and then he says, "She's a werewolf, Tori. The Alliance knows that for sure. And we're also reasonably sure that she's after you."
"I'm just finding it hard to believe," Tori says. They've had this discussion so many times that it's starting to feel old, but they still haven't been able to reach any kind of satisfactory conclusion.
"Why is it so hard to believe that Jade might want to hurt you?" Beck asks.
Tori snorts. "Oh, no, I have no doubt Jade wants to hurt me," she says. "I just don't think she'd have to be a wolf to do it. And I don't think she's a werewolf. It just… it doesn't feel right."
"Intuition is important," Beck allows, "but so is proof. Which is what this," another jab at the Alliance letter, "is about." He pauses, exhaling sharply, and then finishes, "And the Alliance has proof that Jade is interested in you. Which either means that Jade wants to kill you or she's attracted to you, and I think we can safely rule one of those out."
"I get what they're trying to do," Tori says, glancing at the letter again. She's read it fifty times already, and she knows it almost off by heart now. "They want me to trick Jade into revealing herself, hoping that once I know what she is I'll turn against her or something."
"Would you?" Beck asks quietly, catching Tori's eye and holding her gaze. "If you knew that she really was evil – that she'd hurt people or even killed them – then would you be able to turn her in to the Alliance? Would you be willing to do whatever it takes to stop her?"
"Quit talking like that," Tori says with a touch of irritation. "This might be your destiny, but it's still my choice. I don't want to do this to Jade. Even if she is trying to kill me, she hasn't done anything to me yet."
"But she might," Beck presses. "I don't want to hurt Jade any more than you do, but…" He trails off, and Tori's eyes narrow.
"What?" she asks, instantly on alert. "What aren't you telling me?"
In response Beck pulls another piece of paper out of his pocket and hands it to her. Tori scans it quickly, unsurprised to find that it's yet another letter from the Alliance. "Any action necessary," Tori reads aloud, frowning. "What does that mean?"
"In Alliance terms, that's basically a kill order," he says. "It's only issued when it's believed that the wolf might be a danger to society. In cases like these, we're encouraged to…"
"To what, Beck? To kill people?" Tori bursts out.
"They're not people," Beck counters, and too late he realizes what he's said. "I didn't mean that," he says quickly, but Tori's had it.
"Get out of my way, Beck," she says calmly. He steps to the side, confused, and she moves past him, shoving the letter back into his hand as she does so. She pauses in the doorway, thinking of saying something dramatic or vaguely threatening, but then decides against it. Without a word she leaves the janitor's closet, and literally runs into someone on the other side. Startled, she steps back, already stammering out an apology.
And then she sees who it is.
"Watch it, Vega," Jade says sharply. Tori's mind flashes back to last week, to coffee in the courtyard, to a feeling almost like companionship. Sometimes she feels like she doesn't know Jade at all, but others…
"Sorry," she mumbles. At that moment her phone goes off, and when she reads the message she groans.
"What now?" Jade asks, and Tori knows she's probably only looking for another chance to annoy or insult her, but she answers anyway.
"That was Trina," she says. "She's going to a friend's house tonight so she can't drive me home." She slumps against the nearest locker and wonders what else this day is going to throw at her.
"I can give you a ride."
Tori's sure she misheard or imagined it. She glances up, but there Jade is, not quite smiling but not looking hostile either. "Excuse me?"
"I said I'll give you a ride," Jade repeats, and this time Tori's sure she didn't imagine it. The dark-haired girl cocks an eyebrow. "Are you deaf, Tori?"
"N-no," Tori says uncertainly. "It's just… well, last time you drove me anywhere, I'm pretty sure you were going to kill me."
Jade smiles, but it might be more of a smirk. "Oh, nonsense," she says in her fake-Tori accent, "I would never dream of hurting you."
If Tori weren't so worried about what Beck had said, she would be annoyed by this. But as it is her mind is so full of thoughts about the Alliance and wolfsbane and werewolves that she doesn't have time to be annoyed with Jade. "Right," she says. And then, after a long pause during which Jade looks placidly at her, "Well, I guess that would be helpful."
"Great," Jade says smoothly. "Meet me in the parking lot in five minutes."
And, against her better judgment, Tori does.
The entire drive home Jade listens to aggressive rock music and Tori stares out the window, uncomfortably aware of the weight of a small vial in her pocket. Beck had given it to her, explaining that it's tasteless and odourless, and that, if ingested by a werewolf, it will cause them to Change. The Alliance's plan is that she'll use it on Jade, and she's supposed to have Beck and Trina as backup. Once Jade Changes, she's meant to call the Alliance – using a one-way number Beck had given her earlier – and await further instructions. But as she looks over at the girl driving her home, she's still torn. She's almost certain that Jade isn't a werewolf, but she doesn't know whether to give her the potion anyway (just to prove to Beck that she's human) or to throw it out (because Tori doesn't need proof of Jade's innocence).
She's still lost in these thoughts as Jade actually walks her up the drive, surprising her. But she doesn't mention it; she and Jade have been on relatively good terms this week, and she doesn't want to ruin it. When they reach the front door, Tori pauses. "Do you, um, want to come inside for a while?" she asks.
Jade tilts her head, considering. Then she shrugs. "Sure."
Tori hadn't expected Jade to take her up on the offer, but she's pleasantly surprised when she does. Giving Jade a thank you for not driving me into the middle of the desert again smile, she leads the way inside. Her parents are still in Miami on vacation and Trina's at her friend's house, so she's alone. As soon as she's over the threshold, this thought hits her full-force. She's alone in her house with Jade. Swallowing her apprehension, Tori focuses on being a good host.
"Can I get you something to drink?" she asks as Jade makes herself at home on the sofa, kicking off her shoes and switching on the TV. Tori wonders how long she's planning on staying.
"Yeah, a soda would be great," Jade replies without looking over.
As Tori pulls the bottle of soda out of the fridge, she weighs her options. And, finally, she makes her decision. If only to keep Beck off her back, she's going to prove him wrong. She pours her drink, glances over at Jade to make sure she's still engrossed in the TV, and then pulls the vial out of her pocket. It's an opaque kind of white color, the vial itself small and unobtrusive. If she's right, Jade will never know. But if she's wrong –
Not even allowing herself to think that, Tori tips the vial into the glass and watches the liquid quickly mix with the soda. Then she raises it to her face and sniffs it, testing it against her own drink. She can't tell the difference. Satisfied, she sets the two drinks on a tray, adds a packet of chips, and heads over to Jade.
"Thanks for the ride," Tori says as she sits down beside Jade – leaving enough of a distance that if Jade does decide to get up to her usual tricks (which tend to involve pushing Tori onto the floor or something equally painful) – and offers her the tray. Jade takes her laced drink and a couple of chips and smiles fleetingly at her. "What are we watching?" Tori asks, turning her attention to the TV.
"Car chase," Jade says, leaning forward and taking a sip of her drink, her eyes glued to the television in front of her. "This guy is insane."
Knowing Jade's affinity for violence and bloodshed, Tori resigns herself to her fate and leans back, watching the chase. The guy really is insane, driving so fast that it's a wonder he can steer at all, and performing manoeuvres so complicated and dangerous that Tori has to cover her eyes during them. When the chase reaches its inevitable end – the guy being apprehended by police and dragged from his car – Jade turns the TV off.
"Well," she says, "that was disappointing."
"Not enough bloodshed for you?" Tori teases.
"Exactly." Jade tosses the remote down on the sofa, shifting her body so that she's facing Tori more directly. "I mean, there were six cop cars chasing him. And none of them crashed? It's bull-"
"Jade," Tori warns, before remembering that her parents aren't here. Jade rolls her eyes, and Tori knows that, yet again, the dark-haired girl is judging her.
"You wanna play some cards?" Jade says suddenly, nodding over at the table. Tori's eyes widen in surprise. Since when has Jade willingly spent time with her?
"Okay," she says hesitantly, following Jade over to the table and wondering what she's up to. But twenty minutes later they're still playing, and Tori is, against the odds, actually having fun. She and Jade don't normally get along this well when it's just the two of them (or even in a group setting, come to think of it), but Tori finds herself fascinated by her friend. She's sharp, she's clever, and when she's not busy being bitter and caustic she can actually be a lot of fun.
"Read 'em and weep, Vega," Jade announces smugly, spreading her cards on the table.
Tori groans, having now lost three games in a row.
"I need a refill." Jade grabs her cup, and then reaches for Tori's, picking it up before she even bothers asking, "You want one too?"
Tori watches as Jade refills both their cups, and then she looks at her watch. Jade took the potion over half an hour ago. If Jade was a werewolf, it would have Changed her by now. Beck was wrong, Tori thinks with a self-satisfied smile. But her smugness is quickly replaced by uneasiness. Will Beck take her word for it? Or will she have to prove it? As Jade returns to the table, Tori makes her decision. She can't keep Jade in the dark, not when the entire Alliance is after her. She deserves to know.
"What's up?" Jade asks warily, setting their cups down in front of them.
Tori takes a deep breath, bracing herself for the hardest conversation she's ever had. And then she says, "There's something I need to tell you."
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