“Cassidy. Psst, Cassidy. Hey–”

A very small ball of wadded up paper bounced off my neck, making my eyes snap open as I sat up and looked around. What–where? Oh, class. I was in class. School. Somehow, I had closed my eyes for what felt like a blink only to end up completely falling asleep. At least we had a substitute today, which meant everyone was watching a movie. The room was dark, an old classic film from the late nineties I’d seen seventeen times was playing on the projector screen, and everyone was being quiet to avoid drawing the substitute’s attention. No wonder I’d fallen asleep.

My back ached a little where I had twisted it wrong, and I had to grimace while looking around blearily for a moment before my eyes fell on the person who had thrown the paper. “Tomas?” I whispered under my breath, glancing toward the back of the room where I could see the substitute reading something on his phone. He wasn’t really paying attention. That was how subs worked, most of the time. They didn’t care as long as we weren’t too obvious about the fact that we weren’t watching the movie, or doing the worksheet, or whatever they had given out to keep us busy for the class period. Very seldom did they actually try to teach the class.

Tomas was sitting in the aisle across from me, turned completely to face my way. “Are you okay?” he whispered. “You seemed pretty out of it right there.”

Out of it? Well yeah, I supposed I was. It had been another week since that event with Angel Dust, meaning it had been two weeks since the dinner party and convention. Specifically, it was Friday, May 8th. And if the first week following the party had been busy, this past one had made it look positively docile. The gang war was getting even worse, particularly now that it looked like the Ninety-Niners and Oscuro were starting to splinter a bit. Some of their people were getting into fights between themselves, which just emboldened La Casa and the Easy Eights to hit them harder. Territory was changing hands by the day, and it was all the authorities could do to try to keep up and stop the situation from completely spiraling out of control.

So yeah, things were getting pretty out of control. I was out there every day doing what I could to help out alongside Alloy. We’d put a bit of time in to show that we were around, then go to the construction site to work on the tunnel a bit. I felt bad about not putting in a full shift at both, and wished I had Syndicate’s power to be in two places at once. Well, four places in his case, which would be even better. To make up for that deficiency, I had been pushing myself as hard as I could, working in the tunnel and trying to help out in the streets. It meant I was exhausted every night, and probably wasn’t getting enough sleep. But I was okay. I had to be okay.

Well, maybe the fact that I had fallen asleep in class would tend to disagree with that assessment. I would get a real nap in later. I had promised myself that I would sleep for a few hours right after school. The idea made me feel a hard stone of guilt in my stomach, but it couldn’t be helped. If I pushed things too much harder, I was going to screw up somehow. And I was pretty sure it would be a screw-up I couldn’t come back from.

Still, I obviously couldn’t tell Tomas all of that. So I settled on shrugging a little. “I guess I haven’t been sleeping very well. You know, just one of those things.” Yeah, that wasn’t very informative, but what else was I supposed to say? I couldn’t tell him the truth. There was no way for me to know just how much he was involved in the whole Ministry thing. As much as I didn’t want to think that he was that sort of person, I also didn’t want to believe my parents were those sort of people, and look how that had turned out. It was all a mess. Not being able to trust a guy I had cared so much about for so long was one of the worst feelings I’d ever experienced.

Tomas raised an eyebrow, glancing back to the sub briefly before giving a teasing whisper, “Oh, right, it must be that terribly lumpy bed you’ve got. What on Earth were your parents thinking? Why, that thing is barely more than a camp cot. What did it cost, a mere twenty thousand dollars? You might as well be sleeping on the ground. On a pile of nails. Fresh from the furnace.”

Blushing despite myself, I rolled my eyes and retorted, “Yeah, yeah. I didn’t say the bed wasn’t comfortable, jerk.” My finger flicked a tiny piece of eraser off my desk, which bounced off the middle of his forehead, making the boy gasp softly.

“Good shot,” he murmured, rubbing his temple. “Bet you couldn’t do that twice in a row.”

Wait, was that part of my power, the whole accuracy thing I’d noted when it came to using my paint? Did it extend to–oh. Realizing belatedly that I actually might’ve been able to ‘do that twice in a row’ after all, I mumbled something about being lucky once in awhile, dismissing it in the hopes that he would do the same.

It worked. Partly because he had other things on his mind. Leaning over a little, he whispered, “You’re not worried about this weekend, are you?”

This weekend? A rush of confusion, and more than a little paranoia, filled my mind. This weekend was when we thought we would be able to finish that tunnel and make our move. But how could he possibly know anything about–wait, no. He didn’t know anything about it. He wasn’t asking about the tunnel, obviously. This was about something completely different. Namely, the fact that I was supposed to hang out with him and Maki this weekend. Which was uncomfortable all on its own, but I had to do it if we were going to learn anything about Maki themself. Amber was completely sure that they were the person she had seen get picked up by Tomas’s father after shapeshifting to change sex. So yeah, there was definitely something going on there, and hanging out with them alongside Tomas was my best chance to find out what.

Which did indeed mean that we were going to try to break into the Ministry base the day after I hung out with my ex-boyfriend and the person he was now dating. But hey, it could have been worse. We could’ve flipped those. Somehow, I was pretty sure that breaking into the base first and then hanging out with Tomas and Maki the next day would have been even harder to deal with. At least this way, I wouldn’t have some other distraction in the back of my mind while we were supposed to be focusing on getting through that tunnel.

Okay, that was a lie. Of course I would still have distractions. But I could try to fool myself, damn it. And I could push most of them out of my head for awhile. Getting into that Ministry base was too important, and we had spent too much time and effort on the tunnel, to let myself screw it up by being too focused on the whole Tomas thing. This way, I could get through hanging out with them, find out whatever I could about Maki, and then shift my attention to where it needed to be.

Yeah, sure, that would definitely work.

And speaking of focusing on things, I met the boy’s curious gaze before shaking my head. Somehow, I found a smile. “Nah, don’t–ahh, don’t worry about it. It’s fine. I mean sure, it’s gonna be a little awkward. But it’ll be fine. I mean, Maki seems cool. I’m glad you umm, I’m glad you’re with someone like that. I mean, they–” I almost said ‘they’ for Maki, which would’ve been bad considering I wasn’t supposed to know about that whole situation. Instead, I quickly corrected, “They always say, if your ex is gonna get with someone new, make sure you at least get some good ice cream out of the deal.”

Tomas gave me a doubtful look at that, his eyebrow rising. “Who says that, exactly?”

I gave him a put-on innocent look. “I mean, I’m sure I could pay somebody to say it for me. Maybe even a lot of somebodies. What do you think the going rate for getting this entire class to repeat those words just so I don’t sound completely ridiculous might be?”

“Oh yeah, cuz you definitely don’t sound completely ridiculous already,” Tomas shot back with a chuckle. He opened his mouth to say something else, but the bell chimed first. Unlike movies and television shows I’d seen, our between classes bell wasn’t an obnoxious buzzer, it was a pleasant chime.

Everyone else was already getting up to leave as I gathered my things and walked next to Tomas on our way to the door. “It’s cool, really. I’ll be there tomorrow. One o’clock, right?” We were going to get a late lunch and then see a movie, or something.

Tomas started to confirm that, as Amber joined us. “One o’clock for wha–ohhh right, Tomas’s attempt to make his ex-girlfriend get along with his current boyfriend. You are a glutton for punishment, aren’t you?”

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Giving the other girl a shove, I retorted, “Be nice. Maki’s cool. We’re cool. It’s all cool. Believe it or not, this isn’t a sitcom or a soap opera. I am more than capable of getting along with both of them. It’s fine. It’s–you know, it’s fine.”

The other two exchanged looks as we walked down the hall together. But whatever they might’ve said in response was cut off as another chime came. This one was not the bell for class, but the start of an announcement.

“Good morning, students,” the pleasant voice of one of the school secretaries began. “As you are well-aware, the fighting and conflict between various Fell-Touched gangs in the city has been rising in the past couple of weeks. In order to gain some control over the situation, the police force, mayor’s office, and our local Star-Touched organizations have decided that it would be for the best to institute a curfew for the time being. It will be announced on the news and official city bulletin over the next few hours, but what you need to know is that every person who does not have official work-related business keeping them out should be off the streets by eight PM until further notice.”

Needless to say, the announcement brought about a loud chorus of groans and boos directed toward the loudspeakers. Not that it accomplished much, but everyone made sure to let their annoyance be known. Even Tomas and Amber contributed, though the look the dark-haired girl gave me behind his back made it clear that she was simply trying to blend in with everyone else.

Of course, the whole thing made me wonder if it was supposed to apply to Star-Touched, or if we were exempt or whatever. Well, clearly all Amber and Izzy had to do was whatever the leadership told them. Alloy and I might… eh, we’d just take it as it came. Worst case scenario, someone would try to tell us to go home.

And if we couldn’t be out on the streets, we’d just make sure the tunnel was ready to go.

As those thoughts worked their way through my mind, Tomas focused on me. “At least we already planned on making tomorrow an early one, huh?”

Amber shook her head. “Personally, I still think hanging out with your ex and his new boyfriend is weird. I’m just saying. Hey, Jae.”

That last bit, of course, came as the girl in question joined us. She was looking around at the people loudly complaining before shaking her head. Her voice was quiet. “It’s like they want to be in the middle of a Fell-Touched war.”

“You know people like that,” Tomas put in with a shrug. “They think they’re invincible.” His eyes centered on me pointedly. “Isn’t that right, Miss Can’t Resist A Dare?”

Huffing a bit, I retorted, “I’ll have you know, I am more than capable of resisting a dare. It’s just that I usually don’t want to. If it’s something I don’t want to do, I just don’t. For example, if someone dared me to give you a hug right now, I definitely wouldn’t do that. Because you’re a jerk.” The words came out primly as I lifted my chin and harumphed at him.

Tomas snorted. “I bet if someone dared you to do a flip off the top of the school before crashing into me for a hug you’d do i–wait.” His face twisted a little as he reconsidered what he had been saying.

Grinning, I gave a quick nod along with a thumbs up. “You know what? Absolutely. If you want me to do a flip off the top of the school then crash into you for a hug, I will do that.”

Jae and Amber snickered, before the latter spoke up. “Anyway, the point is, nobody thinks they’re going to be the ones who end up getting hurt. They all think it’s gonna happen to someone else and they’ll be fine. Which, I mean, yeah, it’s a pretty big city. But it’s also a pretty big gangwar.”

While the others were reacting to that, I glanced away at the crowd of students who were reluctantly starting to move to their next classes. Everyone was talking about how annoying and unfair having a curfew was, especially one that early. Amber was right, everyone just assumed the fighting in the streets wouldn’t affect them personally. But, of course, there wasn’t exactly a way for the city to tell the gangs to only fight where people weren’t.

Oh wait, maybe not the city themselves, but that should have been exactly what the Ministry could do. If they were really trying to keep damage to a minimum and were good at maintaining control, shouldn’t they just be able to tell the gangs to take their war outside of the city, or to places where people weren’t going to be? But no, they were fighting all over the place and people were getting hurt. Innocent people who had nothing to do with any of it. Businesses were being damaged, civilians were being injured, or worse. And the war just kept escalating. Now we were on a full curfew? What was next? How bad was this going to get before it was over? And did I actually want an answer to that question?

Regardless, one thing was clear. This whole situation was going to get worse before it got better. The gangs weren’t going to stop fighting on their own. They were just going to keep escalating until one side faltered and the other could claim some sort of victory.

But hey, maybe we would find something useful in the Ministry base this weekend, something we could use to convince the gangs to back off. Yeah, that didn’t sound very likely, to say the least. Yet I had to give myself something to hope for.

On the other hand, maybe I should just stick to hoping that we got through the whole thing alive, in one piece, and without losing any of our secrets.

*******

“Still nothing from Irelyn?”

It was a few hours later, and I was at Wren’s shop, upstairs with Paige (and Raige) to check in. Her eyes were opened again, as they both took turns speaking through the same body.

My head shook. “No. I definitely haven’t heard from her, and no one I’ve spoken to has either.” My face twisted a little into a grimace. “I even checked with Arleigh. Tried to make it sound casual, you know? Just asked if she ever saw that woman who accosted us outside the restaurant again. She hadn’t, but she did use that as an excuse to invite me out to dinner some night, any night. She’s free whenever and I should totally check out this awesome sci-fi-themed restaurant with her. And the worst part is, it actually does sound pretty cool. But if she ever finds out that I went without her, she’s going to be even more impossible.” I groaned a bit, slumping against the far corner of the same couch Paige’s body was lying on, down by her feet. “But hey, at least she’s not–” Cutting myself off, I frowned and tilted my head. “Uh, I was gonna say at least she’s not… well, you. This is weird.”

It was clearly Raige who spoke then, sounding amused by that whole thing. “I dunno. Seems pretty fun from where I’m sitting. Can’t wait to see how you two work this whole thing out once we get separate bodies. But in the meantime, what’s this about Irelyn not checking in again? It’s been weeks. She should’ve come back to kick the rocks around some more by now. Our distraction wasn’t that good.” Her tone through that had gradually changed from amusement to what sounded like genuine concern, though masked somewhat by projected annoyance. “The fuck is taking so long? She’s a better detective than that. She must’ve figured out that you aren’t down there by now. Don’t tell me she gave up and decided to have a quick little vacation down there.”

“Maybe we should call her again and find out,” Paige put in, her voice uncertain. “Unless she found something in Florida that she thinks has something to do with me, she wouldn’t leave the city for so long. Not with–” She stopped, going silent for a moment before finishing with a simple, “Not without getting any actual clues.”

“You could call her,” I agreed. “It’s been a couple weeks and if she still hasn’t come back, maybe she did find something. I mean, something she thinks is about you. Or…” I trailed off, frowning. “I dunno. But yeah, you should call her again. You don’t think she got in trouble or something, do you?” The idea that we had sent some poor, practically defenseless woman down to Florida to poke around looking for her sister was starting to sound like a bad idea in my head.

So, Raige gave Paige a little bit of control once more and she called Irelyn. Unfortunately, that didn’t lead to answers, or to making any of us feel better. There was no response. She tried six more times over the next half hour, all to no avail. Which only made Paige even more worried. And Raige clearly wasn’t doing much better as far as that went.

“Fuck!” I wasn’t sure which of them said that, though ‘both’ was an option. “What happened to her? What the hell is going on? Why isn’t she answering?!” Her eyes snapped toward me. “She left thirty messages on the phone since the last time we talked to her, but all those calls ended a couple weeks ago. Since then there’s been nothing. No messages, no calls, nothing. Something’s wrong. She would have–she should have–it’s wrong. Something happened.”

What was I supposed to say to that? She wasn’t wrong. Something had obviously happened. The only question was how bad that something might be. “I don’t–maybe she’s asleep or–” I cut myself off at a hard glare from her. “Yeah, probably not. Seriously, we can’t freak out. Let me take the phone and I’ll keep trying to call her. Wren says it can’t be traced, and I believe her. I’ll just use my voice changer thing if–when she answers. I’ll find out what’s going on with her.”

“And if she doesn’t answer?” Paige demanded in a voice that was attempting to be flat, but I could still hear a bit of guilt within it. “What then?”

I honestly had no idea. We couldn’t go search all of Florida for one woman. It would be impossible. “Sunday night we’re going into the Ministry base,” I reminded them both. “We’ll find that list of your dad’s secret labs and hope there’s a body for Raige in one of them. Once you’re both on your feet, we can go from there. We’ll get hold of her, you guys. Just… just one step at a time.”

Paige slumped back on the couch, both her and Raige clearly lost in private conversation. I wasn’t sure how long that would take, so I rose, promised to come back later to check in or if anything happened, then started downstairs with the phone in one hand.

Right, as if there wasn’t already enough pressure riding on this whole thing, now we had a missing woman to deal with. The weekend was gonna be quite… something. First I had to go hang out with my ex and his new boyfriend tomorrow just so I could spy on both of them, and then Sunday I had to break into the secret Ministry base so I could spy on my family.

And I honestly had no idea which one I was looking forward to least.