He didn’t comment when I finally stepped back. Nor did he say anything as he followed me down the hall. Ethan would have been making little comments, trying to tease me into a better mood. Guilt hit me with that thought.
I used my keycard to open the door to our room, then quickly grabbed my bag and shut myself in the bathroom. Staring at my reflection, I let the tears fall. I’d hit Carlos repeatedly in the right shoulder, just like I had Ethan. What was wrong with me? Why did I have to be that way?
Turning away from my reflection, I started the shower. I let the warm water wash away my tears. After a good cry, I felt a little better.
When I reemerged, my skin was pink from the long, hot shower; and a billow of steam followed me out despite my use of the bathroom fan. My clean leggings had been a bugger to tug on.
Carlos sat at the end of my bed. The TV was off. He wasn’t reading anything, just sitting there. Apparently waiting for me. My stomach gave a little jump. It hadn’t done that in days.
“Sorry. Was I hogging the bathroom?” I said as I pulled the towel from my head.
“No.”
His gaze traced over my face and wet, tangled hair, then drifted down to my tank top and further still to my legs. Once he reached my toes, he let his gaze travel the same path back up.
“Get a good look?”
“For now.”
My gut clenched. He stood and moved close. A thread of panic wormed its way into my heart.
“Two thirty seven. Don’t be late,” he said, then turned and walked out the door.
I stayed where I was for a moment. So many thoughts wanted to surface, but I wasn’t ready for any of them. I needed to keep things simple. Simple tasks, simple thoughts. I went to the bathroom and picked up my hairbrush. On autopilot, I ran it through the wet strands.
Before the clock showed five to the hour, I was out the door. Though I didn’t want to go, I wasn’t ready for the implied “or else” of Carlos’ words if I didn’t show up.
The room wasn’t hard to find; it was at the other end of our hallway and had the door propped open. The heat coming from the room explained why. Too many bodies in too small of a space. Someone had even opened the room’s window. It didn’t help much. My cheeks flushed as soon as I stepped in.
Carlos leaned against the wall near the door. He turned and studied me for a moment.
Bethi stood from her place on the bed and walked toward me. When she reached me, she grabbed my hand and tugged me into the hall.
“How are you doing?” she said quietly.
“Fine.” It was such an automatic answer. Why did I bother saying it? She studied me for a minute, and I could see she knew it was a lie.
“You’re still bouncing between numb and angry. Numb might seem like it’s better, but it’s not. Not for you. You need to be angry, Isabelle. Very angry.”
“Why?” I wanted to slap myself for asking.
“Because they aren’t done yet.”
Her vivid blue eyes seemed violet in the light of the hall as she earnestly watched for my reaction to her words. I noticed the dark circles under her eyes and the redness.
“You can sleep by me tonight if you want.” I didn’t know where these words kept coming from.
She smiled at me. It started small and grew into something that made me want to grin back.
“Not sure how Luke would feel about room sharing. Can you picture Luke spooning with Carlos?”
“Bethi!”
Luke’s voice made my lips twitch.
“Luke’s smaller than Carlos. He knows he’d be the spooned, not the spooner,” I said.
“If you don’t go out there, I will,” I heard Luke say.
A second later, Carlos emerged from the room.
“Hey, Carlos,” Bethi said with good cheer.
“Hello, Bethi. I think Luke would like you to join us again.”
“I’m sure he would. So, can we share a room tonight?”
“Yes.”
Poor Luke. I realized my lips were curving into a smile. What was wrong with me? Nothing. It was Bethi. She was over the top. I found it hard not to like her. She reminded me of Ethan. That thought sent a spear of sorrow through my chest.
“Let’s get inside and get this over with before my skin starts to crawl,” I said, brushing past both of them to step into the room once more.
Bethi was only a step or two behind me.
“All right. We all know what needs to happen. We need to outline a plan and execute it,” Bethi said, moving to sit beside Luke, who looked slightly annoyed.
“Hold up,” I said. “Can you recap for me?” My brain was fried, and I had no idea what needed to happen.
“Sure. We need to stop Blake from coming after us or, at least, make it really hard for him. When I started having the dreams of our past lives, I ran. I was terrified the Urbat would find me. They had destroyed me in so many ways in so many lives, I was sure there was nowhere safe from them.
“Then, I realized something. In this life, they couldn’t just come for me directly. They had to be careful. Why? Because humans outnumber them. For all the strength the Urbat and werewolves have, it is nothing compared to the collective strength of humanity. We need to use the Urbat’s fear of exposure to our advantage.
“By exposing the two races publicly, the Urbat won’t be able to move as freely.”
“Correct. They will be hunted,” Winifred said, “and so will we.”
Bethi turned to face Winifred. “What other option do we have?”
“I’m not refuting your plan, only stating the truth. Our lives will be in greater danger afterward.”
The room fell silent.
I thought they’d already discussed that part and made peace with it.
“You guys have remained hidden for how long? Why do you think public awareness will make it more difficult to hide?” I asked. “You look human. You blend.”
“The plan is that Winifred will be exposing herself on TV. Her face will be all over the place. So will anyone who goes with her,” Bethi said.
“No,” Charlene said. “We all go. I don’t want to split the group for this. I think that would be bad. I can make people forget the rest of our faces. Just not Winifred’s once it’s broadcast.”
“I’ll be fine,” Winifred said. “I’m more worried about the rest of our people.”
“They should be fine as long as they keep blending in,” Bethi said. “The point of this meeting is to decide which station and then how to get on the air because I doubt anyone will take us seriously if we just walk up and tell them the truth. Plus, we need to figure out our route. According to Gabby, the way north is perfectly clear.”
“They’ve pulled back but are still following us at a distance,” Gabby said. “Occasionally, one will get close, almost as if verifying our location, and then retreat. All netting movement has stopped. There’s a wall of Urbat to the west two states long. The same to the east. It’s as if we’re in an almost empty alley.”
“Almost?”
“There are still clusters of them. It took me a bit to figure it out, but I’m pretty sure they’re guarding the airports, train stations, and bus stations between here and New York.”
That didn’t sound good. Why New York? Because they already knew we were headed that way or because they wanted us to head that way?
“We need to decide this,” Bethi said again. “What station?”
Charlene picked up the remote. “We don’t watch TV often. I wouldn’t even be able to tell you what our local stations are back home.”
She started to surf through channels, pausing at anything that looked like a talk show or morning news.
“Any suggestions on how we can get someone to talk to us once we pick a station?” Bethi asked, looking at everyone.
“When I called the local news station, they agreed to send out a reporter after I said I had money and wanted to donate it,” Michelle said.
“That could work,” Bethi said, looking excited.
“No,” Charlene said. “I’ve got something better.” Conflicting waves of fear and excitement rolled off her.
I followed her gaze and stared at the TV. A woman was speaking. I looked at the newsreel at the bottom of the screen. Penny Alton was reporting a short, feel good piece about a man who’d saved a kid from a train.
“We’re pushing someone in front of a train?” I asked.
“I vote Emmitt,” Jim said quickly.
“Cut it out,” Charlene said, giving Jim a censuring look. “I know her. Penny. She wasn’t Alton back then, though. But I recognize her. And I think, no matter what I have to say, she’ll talk to me.”
Thomas wrapped his arms around Charlene.
The surprised understanding on Bethi’s face as she stared at the reporter had me curious.
“Why?” I asked.
“She knows what I can do. And she hates me for it,” Charlene said, her fear winning over the excitement.
“Is it smart to use her, then?” Winifred asked.
“Yes. Because she will do anything to try to expose me to as many people as she can.”
“Good,” Bethi said. “We have the where and the how. I don’t think we should call her, though, until we reach the city. No sense in giving anyone an advantage.”
“I agree,” Charlene said. She looked so pale.
Winifred clapped her hands together, commanding attention and breaking the mood.
“Let’s pack up and start moving, then. We have a long way to go. Michelle, perhaps your lawyer can help us find somewhere more secure to stay while we’re in New York. Gabby, even though they seem to be hanging back, I want to steer clear of the Urbat.”
Gabby nodded.
I didn’t envy her job. Navigator. Did the girl ever sleep?