Contractor (21 page)

it as best she could. She let Eleanor tell her

how to style her hair, and what color to paint

her nails. But she never stopped sewing.

It was a moment of supreme triumph and

frustration when Eleanor started dictating

what she should make next. And so she made

what Eleanor asked to shut her up.

Rachel took a long breath. Her feet had

carried her into the gardens. She sat on a

stone bench in front of a small bed of roses.

The flowers were beautiful, but they had

sharp, wild thorns. They were left natural;

never preened by the gardeners. As Eleanor

was left by Henry.

Over the years, Eleanor had come to

regard Rachel as a friend. Rachel felt that it

was less they were friends and more Eleanor

didn’t have anyone else to order around that

she was also allowed to complain to. But

that was the life of a bodyguard. She’d been

cursed with strong magical potential; they

plucked her from home and set her to work.

And work she did. She worked very

hard at living her own life around the edges

of Eleanor Astor’s field of view. Rachel

didn’t think she was very good at it, but she

had her moments, here and there.

They laughed. They shared stories. They

talked about the men that annoyed them, and

the men that they’d wish would ask them

out—though that was a blank list, in

Eleanor’s case. They even played a few

video games, when Eleanor was in the mood.

There was an estranged camaraderie

there, a bad sort of friendship. But a

friendship all the same. Rachel enjoyed the

good times and tried not to worry about the

not-so-good ones. That was what life was, in

a nutshell.

"Rachel. You’re always out here."

Rachel looked up. Eleanor was walking

toward her from a gap in the hedges. Her

blond hair shone in the sunlight. She was tall.

Statuesque. Regal. Aphrodite come down to

walk amongst mortals.

Rachel sighed. "Hey Elly."

"The car is coming in just a few

minutes." Eleanor looked around. "Getting

one last gasp of the clean air?"

"Yeah. I’ll miss the gardens."

"Northeastern seems to be in a nice

area. A few small parks and greens, about a

mile from the river. Right in downtown

Boston."

"Yep."

"Are you nervous?"

Nervous was the last thing Rachel was

feeling. They were going out into the real

world. A world where magic didn’t exist. A

world where branch families weren’t

subservient to main families. A world where

it didn’t matter if you were the president’s

daughter or her servant. "…I guess."

"Don’t worry. We’ll have the whole

Boston headquarters looking after us, and it’s

not like we’ll be split up much."

Rachel couldn’t stop her sour

expression, so she looked away instead.

Rachel had been shoehorned into the same

class schedule despite having a different

major, and, on top of that, they were sharing

a room. No, she’d be seeing plenty of

Eleanor. "Yeah."

"Feels like nothing since the assembly,

huh?" Eleanor sat down next to her. "It’ll be the longest time we’ve ever been away from

home."

"…for you."

Eleanor blinked, looked at her. "Oh.

Well, I mean, this is pretty much home for

you too, right?"

"Yeah."

"You seem quiet. What’s up?" Eleanor

grinned. "Still upset from the last time we

sparred?"

"I don’t know." Rachel looked up at the

sky. "A change of pace sounds pretty good.

I’m looking forward to it."

"Me too. But…you sure you’re ok?"

Rachel looked up at her friend.

Eleanor’s face was lined with mild concern.

"I’m good, Elly. Just feel like I’ve got a lot

stuck in my head."

Eleanor smiled. "Big trips can do that.

But you’ve got me. So don’t worry so much."

Rachel felt an odd tug between comfort

and some other emotion she had no name for.

"Miss Astor, Miss Ashworth!" One of

the maids was running over from the hole in

the hedges. "The cars are here!"

Rachel gestured ahead. "After you, Miss

Astor."

Eleanor nodded in the way Rachel

imagined royalty would nod. "Why thank

you, Miss Ashworth." She glided across the

grass in her heels. Rachel thumped after her

in her sneakers.

"So, are we going straight to Boston?"

"We’re going by boat to Salem, and then

we’ll drive south from there," Eleanor said.

"Show my face at headquarters, shake hands.

That sort of thing."

Chapter Five

Boston

Daniel, Felix, and their father found

Daniel’s room in the dorm. He inspected the

door. "This is it," Daniel said.

They were at the end of a long, blue-

carpeted hallway. The walls were washed

the same off-white color every other hallway

in the world used. His room had a pale wood

door, maybe pine. The letter and numbers

C101 were hammered on the front in raised

black metal. The door itself was ajar. Daniel

leaned in.

A light was on. The cramped space had

a tall bunk bed set against one wall, but he

couldn’t see the roommate he’d been

emailing. He knocked on the doorframe.

"Anyone home?"

A chair scraped back against tile. A boy

walked up. He was short, thin, almost

scrawny. Brown hair was buzzed close to his

scalp. "Uh, hi. Daniel Fitzgerald?"

Daniel nodded. "And you must be Jack

Killiney." They stood there awkwardly for a

moment. Daniel gestured to the side. "This is

my little brother, Felix. And my dad, James."

Felix stayed half-hidden behind the

doorframe. He had a bit of a shy streak.

James stepped in and shook Jack’s hand.

"Good to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Fitzgerald,"

Jack said. "Do you guys need help moving

stuff in?"

"Sure," James said. "Dan travels pretty light. With you we might make it in one trip."

They walked down the hall of the dorm.

Daniel took it all in a second time. It was

pretty nice—he wouldn’t have chosen that

paint, but the wooden paneling smelled new.

The simple style made it feel bright and

open.

They passed through a common room

that connected several wings of the dorm. A

big couch was set in front of a TV on one

side. New students and their families were

flitting about, exploring or lugging boxes

around. They walked out the door of the

lobby to the abutting parking lot and popped

the trunk of the sedan.

Jack seemed a bit nervous, but he was

nice enough. Felix was assigned a desk

lamp; everyone else loaded up with heavier

luggage. James had been a bit optimistic—

they’d have to make one last trip.

James and Felix stayed in the room to

unpack his things while Daniel and Jack

went back out to the car to get the last of it.

"You’re from Ohio, right?" Jack asked.

"Yep. Aplington. About an hour south of

Cleveland. And you’re from around here?"

"More or less," Jack said. "Albany’s

only two hours away. You must have had a

drive."

"A drive is one way of putting it, yeah.

My little brother was tons of fun stuck in a

car for ten hours."

"I’m an only child. So I wouldn’t know,

I guess."

Daniel gave him a look. "You don’t

wanna know."

Jack laughed. Daniel smiled. He

wouldn’t know what to do if his roommate

didn’t have a sense of humor, but it seemed

that wouldn’t be a problem. Jack pushed the

door open. "You’re Criminology, right?

That’s pretty hardcore."

"You’re English?"

"Yeah."

"I’m taking Introduction to American

Authors Tuesday and Thursday."

"Cool," Jack said. "We’ll probably be

in that one together."

They reached the car. Daniel beeped it

open and took the liberty of putting a few

boxes in Jack’s arms. The last one had his

new suit of armor. He didn’t want anyone

else handling that. Just in case.

Daniel backed up, propped the box on

his knee, and used his other hand to shut the

trunk. Jack tapped his shoulder. "Yo. Check

that out."

Daniel looked over. A limousine was

pulling up through the parking lot, followed

by a small moving van. The sleek car parked

just a few yards away from them. Men in

black suits jumped out of the front

compartments. Some of them joined the

drivers of the truck in sliding the ramp out.

Furniture soon followed. "Damn," Daniel

said. "Someone’s got cash."

"That, or they’re compensating for

something." Jack grinned at him. "You know

what they say about big limos."

Daniel snorted as one of the men hoisted

a leather swivel chair that looked like it

might double as a massage machine. "I guess

the desk chairs weren’t good enough. But I

can’t blame them. First impressions, right?"

One of the suits opened the limo’s back

door. One of the prettiest girls Daniel had

ever seen stepped out from inside. She was

tall, busty, and had white-gold hair that

would have made an angel envious.

The way she had it done up in a bun

reminded him of his mother.

For a moment, it was like he could see a

silhouette cast over her body, standing the

same way, looking into the distance. He

wasn’t sure what he felt, then.

She turned toward them. Jack averted

his gaze. Daniel couldn’t—he was locked in

place.

Whatever comparison his mind had been

making between her and his mother was

frozen halfway out the starting gates. Her

face was cold in its beauty, but it was made

out of purified apathy.

He had the odd image of mud-flavored

ice cream. Just like chocolate, right up until

you tasted it.

They kept staring at each other. Clearly

she was used to others looking away.

Challenge accepted
. Daniel unabashedly

looked her up and down until she jerked her

nose up and marched away. Several of the

men kept a perimeter around her. He noticed

they had radios coiled around their ears.

And then the second girl got out from the

car. She was shorter, and next to the other

girl, she could only be called cute at best.

But she was curvy as hell in all the right

spots. Long red hair was brushed back

behind a demure green dress. She saw

Daniel and Jack, took them in a moment, then

stepped after the duchess.

"Daaam," Daniel said. "Did you see the tits on that redhead?"

"I think you were saying something

about first impressions," Jack said. They

both laughed. "So, which one you going for?"

"Just sightseeing," Daniel said. "I’ve got more important shit to do."

"Yeah, sure."

Daniel threw his tiny friend a lopsided

grin. "You have no idea."

"Are you telling me you wouldn’t go out

with one of them?"

"Well. I didn’t say that."

"That’s what I thought."

They kept the banter going on their way

back. They were both using the humor to get

comfortable with each other, and they both

knew it, and they knew the other knew it. But

somehow that made it better, not worse.

They were both in the same boat, sink or

swim—a new school, a blank slate.

The babble of the common room had

descended to lowered murmurs in the wake

of the royal entourage. They delivered their

cargo. After a few minutes of pleasantries,

Daniel walked his dad and Felix back to the

car.

Daniel gave Felix a big bear hug. "Good

grades or I’ll fly back and kick your ass."

"I’ll miss you."

Daniel messed his hair. "Me too. I’ll

visit after I get used to everything, ok?"

Felix nodded and hopped in the shotgun

seat. Daniel gave his dad a one-armed half

hug. They hadn’t had much practice lately,

and it was all Daniel was willing to

concede. "Take care of him," Daniel said.

"I will. Have fun. Be good." James

patted him once on the back, hopped in the

car, and drove away. Felix waved wildly

from the window. Daniel waved back. And

then they were gone, turning behind the

tottering buildings of downtown Boston.

Daniel was a little worried considering

the state of the world, but he’d promised

Felix video. He’d already confirmed that he

could see Vorid through electronic devices

like cameras and monitors. Keeping an eye

on them would be simple—if a spawn

latched on to them, he could run back and

take care of it. On top of that, he’d pinned

down the extractor schedule for his

hometown—one a month, like clockwork.

He’d run back and protect Aplington on the

important nights.

In the meantime, Daniel had bigger fish

to fry. On the drive into Boston, he’d sensed

spawn everywhere he looked. If they were