Inquest (34 page)

I am starting
to feel lightheaded but Milo looks angry. “Stop it, Libby. I don’t
like this. Don’t tell me I have something I don’t. I’ve learned to
live with what I am. You have no idea how much it crushed me to
find out I would never live the life I wanted. I won’t go back to
that place in my life.”

“But you don’t
have to. I know I’m right about this, Milo,” I argue. “Have you
really never considered this? What about what you said to Lance in
the hall about you hiding something?”

“I just said
it to make him scared of me!” Milo says in exasperation. “I mean, I
have secrets about my diktats, and he knows I’m hiding something,
but I was only trying to piss him off and make him stay away from
you. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“There is more
to you than forged diktats, Milo. You have talents. I’m right about
this,” I argue. There is so much telling me I’m right, but Milo
still refuses to believe me.

“No. You’re
not.” His jaw is set in frustration.

“Have you
listened to anything I’ve said?” I demand.

“Every word of
it,” he snaps. “And you’re wrong. Don’t you think I have been
training myself to look like I have talents? Whatever you think
you’re seeing in me, it’s not there.”

I growl out my
frustration and glare at him. “Why are you being so difficult? You
can train yourself all you want to try and trick people, but
training would never let you move as fast as you did today. And
without Strength, moving that fast would have turned your joints
into jelly. And nobody can practice Concealment or Perception. You
have talents, Milo.”

“No. I.
Don’t.”

“This is
stu…”

The sound of
my name being called out over the restaurant din cuts off the rest
of my sentence. Milo’s irritation morphs into fear. Nobody would
have any reason to call out to me in here. Nobody even recognized
me that I noticed. Milo starts to move but I grab his arm and pull
him back.

“No, let me,”
I whisper. He shakes his head but I’m not giving in on this one.
“Milo, it could be the media. They can’t see you again.”

“Or it could
be someone coming after you.”

I roll my eyes
at him. “Yeah, the Seekers are really going to call my name out
before they kill me. Stay put and don’t let anyone see you.”

Grabbing my
crutches I scoot myself out of the booth without taking my eyes off
Milo. He doesn’t move. It speaks to just how scared he really is of
being found. I have to push down my own fear for him and focus as I
start to turn away from him and attempt to intercept anyone from
seeing him. I try to tap my Vision, but it only sputters at me.
It’s not the most reliable talent. At the most I can get a glimpse
maybe a minute or two into the future when I try to force it, but
half the time I get nothing. It’s still better than anyone else
I’ve met, but that doesn’t keep me from being irritated about my
talent’s limitations. I push my frustration away and complete my
turn. My eyes close involuntarily. It’s probably just the media. I
knew they would find me again eventually. Forcing myself to quit
being a wimp, I open my eyes expecting a crowd of eager faces.

Instead, all I
see is one face, grinning stupidly instead of eagerly. “Hey, cool,
it worked. I found you,” Lance says.

“Lance, what
are you doing here?” I hiss.

He leans
against an empty booth casually. “Just checking in on you.”

“She’s fine,”
Milo says from behind me, “now leave.”

“Ah, I thought
that was Freak Boy’s car in the parking lot.”

“Don’t call
him that or I’ll punch you myself,” I say. “Several times.”

Maybe all my
pretending has worked a little too well, because Lance doesn’t look
scared in the least. Milo notices as well.

“Purple’s a
good color on you, Lance,” Milo says, referring to the streaks of
violet bruising under his eyes. “You should wear it more often, and
you will if you don’t leave right now.”

Why does it
irritate me that Lance flinches for Milo but not for me?

“Look, Mi-lo,”
Lance says, stretching out Milo’s name condescendingly, “I don’t
expect you to understand, but I’m not going anywhere. Libby is mine
to protect, mine in a way she’ll never be yours.”

Milo pushes
past me and grabs Lance before he can react. “Oh, I understand
better than you think. Libby told me all about your Guardian
Oath.”

Lance’s face
pales slightly.

“I’d kill you
right now if Libby would let me. For some reason she thinks you
might be useful, although I don’t know why. A sniveling, pathetic
idiot like you can’t be worth too much, but Libby asked, and I know
how to respect a lady’s wishes. We’ll use you to keep her safe, and
if it costs you your life, so be it.”

The vagueness
of how exactly it might cost Lance his life, by another’s hand or
by Milo’s, doesn’t do anything to improve Lance’s complexion.

“But let me
make one thing clear, Lance,” Milo says, grabbing Lance’s shirt and
yanking him closer, “if you ever try to steal my girlfriend from me
again like you did with this Oath crap, I won’t let it slide no
matter what Libby says. Talents or no talents, I’ll slit your
throat with your own knife just like you tried to do to Libby.”

Milo lets go
of Lance’s shirt and turns his back on him as if he isn’t in the
least bit concerned about a reprisal attack. And maybe he isn’t. I
let out a nervous breath. Milo’s expression turns perfectly sweet,
and just a little seductive, as his hand glides across my cheek.
Bristling annoyance overcomes Lance’s fear at the touch, but Milo
isn’t finished.

“Why don’t you
go ahead and give your watchdog his instructions. I’ll wait for you
at the table.” Then to punctuate just how much Lance does not have
me, Milo leans down and kisses me. Awkward is an understatement. I
can feel Lance nearly boiling over with anger, but Milo knows
precisely what he’s doing. His lips draw out my inhibition in an
instant and I find myself returning his modest kiss wholeheartedly.
He pulls back with a wolfish grin. Without another word, he walks
away, leaving me staring at an infuriated Lance.

“Watchdog?” he
asks through clenched teeth.

“It was your
choice, Lance, not mine.”

His body
releases some of its tension. Milo believes Lance made the Oath
solely to try and steal me back, and that was probably part of it,
but I know from what I felt in him earlier today that he honestly
does want to protect me. It’s pretty much the only reason I didn’t
let Milo take at least a few more swings at him. Despite his anger,
Lance seems to understand that he got himself into this mess all on
his own. He leans back against the booth’s support.

“I could feel
that,” he says quietly. “When he kissed you, I could feel you
respond to him.”

The urge to
throw up nearly gets in the way of me speaking. “I didn’t think the
Oath worked like that.”

“It’s not
really meant to be used on one person,” he says quietly. “When you
swear to protect a whole group of people there’s too many to form
any deep connection. Personal feelings make it worse, too. I just
didn’t expect it to be so strong.”

“You shouldn’t
have done it, Lance.” At the very least he should have asked me
first. I might have actually agreed to it if he had. This way I’m
too angry at him for forcing me into this connection to be
appreciative of his help.

He shakes his
head. “No, I had to, Libby. I have to protect you.”

I don’t
understand him even if I do believe him, but I’m not going to turn
away help right now. “Then you’ll just have to live with it, I
guess.”

“I know,”
Lance says. For a few seconds neither of us says anything. I want
to go to Milo and pretend Lance doesn’t exist, but the tortured
expression on his face is hard to turn my back on. Finally Lance is
the one to break the silence. “You love him, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Did you love
me?” he asks. “Before?”

I exhale
slowly. “Yes, I loved you as my best friend, and more than that,
too.”

The slow nod
of his head is all the reaction I get. After a moment he pushes
away from the booth and faces me. “What are my instructions?”

“You know who
the Seekers are?” He nods like I thought he would. Being that his
dad is pretty high up in the Guardian infrastructure, I figured he
would have at least heard of them. The only Guardian secrets his
dad keeps from him are the ones he’s forced to keep because of
Guardian promises he’s sworn. “We think they’ll be the ones to come
after me, but we can’t forget the Guardians either. President Howe
ordered them to leave me alone, but Lazaro has already broken that
order once.”

Lance raises
an eyebrow in question but I don’t bother to stop and explain.
“It’s been quiet since Lazaro attacked me, so maybe Howe took care
of him for me, but I would hate to count on that and find out I’m
wrong. Besides, if it isn’t Lazaro calling the shots anymore, one
of his lackeys will be. Listen for any hint that either group is
going to make a move. I’m not asking you to spy on your own
brothers, but if you hear anything…”

He nods
again.

“And…” I
hesitate, as this isn’t something I discussed with Milo. “I can’t
fight very well right now. Stay close in case something happens,
but it’d be better for everyone if you stayed far enough away that
Milo doesn’t know you’re there. Just do what you’ve been doing up
to now.”

“No problem,”
Lance says. “Anything else?”

I take few
more steps away from Milo so I can be sure he won’t hear me. Lance
raises a curious eyebrow, but follows. “I won’t explain this, so
don’t even ask, but if you hear any rumors about the Guardians
coming after Milo, tell me right away. Day or night, I don’t care.
And if you ever want any hope of me forgiving you for what you’ve
put me through, you’ll make sure nothing happens to Milo, because
if I even think for a minute that you let Milo get hurt because of
your stupid jealousy, I will destroy you, Lance.”

“I won’t let
anything happen to Milo,” he agrees. The words seem bitter on his
tongue, but again, I can feel his sincerity. It likely has more to
do with the pain it would cause me to lose Milo, which he would
feel intensely, than actually caring about him, but I’ll take
it.

“You better
go, now,” I say, “and please don’t just show up like this
again.”

Lance flips
his keys in his hand, his usual cocky attitude returning full
swing. “I’ll see you at school, then. Later, Libby.”

Great, one
more reason to hate school. It was hard enough to deal with Lance
when he was making everyone hate me. Having to face him like this
might be even worse. Thank goodness it’s almost Christmas break. I
hobble back to the table to find Milo pacing next to it. He stops
when I sit down. His eyes are dark and focused in the dim
light.

“I still don’t
know if I believe you about me having talents,” he says, “but I’m
willing to try and find out.”

I’ve had about
enough testosterone for one day. These two are going to give me a
brain aneurism. “Your sudden change of heart wouldn’t have to do
anything with Lance, would it?”

Milo’s grin is
contemptuous. “Well, I can’t let that prick have all the fun, now
can I?”

Forget the
Seekers and Guardians, Milo and Lance are going to be the death of
me.

Chapter 28

Remedy

My frustration
boils over and I lose my focus completely. The trance I have been
holding for an hour slips away. I hear Milo sigh along with me. He
claims he has no talent for Spiritualism at all, but somehow he’s
able to tell the moment I gain or lose my trance. That’s five. It’s
the only good thing that has come out of these practice sessions
during the past week. I still can’t manage to reach my own spirit
let alone the spirits in the spirit world who could tell me what on
earth I’m supposed to be doing with my life right now.

The rest of my
body wakes back up, and I lean against the bed in defeat. “I just
can’t do it, Milo. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I thought
confronting my mom would help, but it hasn’t. Not as much as I
hoped it would anyway. I need to take a break.”

“Yeah, that’s
probably a good idea,” Milo says. “I’m going to get a soda. You
want one?”

I nod.
“Something with caffeine, please.”

Celia rolls
over onto her back, her head hanging off the edge of the bed so she
can turn and look at me. “It’s too bad we can’t tell my mom about
you, Libby. Mom’s a great Spiritualist. I bet she could tell you
what you’re doing wrong.”

“I would love
to meet your mom, Celia, but we’re lucky enough they never saw Milo
on TV. Telling them about me would make them pick up and leave
faster than anything.”

Actually, I’d
love to meet Milo’s family for several reasons. The biggest one
being that I don’t like being anybody’s secret. I’ve had enough
secrets to last a lifetime. Milo hands me a can of soda and sits
back down on the floor across from me.

“Celia’s right
about me needing a teacher, though. I’m not getting this. We’ve got
to find somebody willing to help,” I say.

“Maybe Mr.
Walters will know of someone. People are getting used to you at
school, but there’s still no way either of the Spiritualism
teachers are going to volunteer,” Milo says. “I’ll try calling Mr.
Walters tomorrow, but for now we just have to keep trying.”

I shake my
head and groan. “No more. I’m done for tonight. I want to work on
figuring you out now. I feel like we’re getting close. We’ve
already confirmed you have five talents. I just have to figure out
how to unlock them now.”

“Four,” he
says grumpily. “We know there are four.”

Well, at least
he’s admitting the first four now. Why he’s still arguing with me
about Spiritualism despite it being blatantly obvious makes no
sense, but I ignore him for now.