Change [Book 1 of The Elemental Marks]

Chapter 20

Dex left soon after his and Tommie's conversation about exactly what the Kelpie had meant. It had gone as well as it could have, but Tommie knew there was more he was missing.

And this time, he wasn't going to let it go easily.

Vic Grewhardt's office still appeared lit as Tommie approached. The Shadowhunter gathered his strength and knocked. "Vic," he said, before even getting an answer. "It's Tommie. Just Tommie."

"Come in," Vic called back. Tommie entered and Vic stayed seated at his desk. He beamed at Tommie as he made his way into the familiar room. He thought of all the times that he and Lina had walked into this room, looking for a mission, looking for something to do, looking for someone to talk to. They had relied on Vic back then. Now...

"I take it you're here to give me a mission report. What'd you think of Corinne?"

Tommie blinked. So much had happened that the mission itself seemed pointless. Still, Tommie was willing to play along. "Fine. Everything went on just fine. The demon was killed...but there was a construction worker too. We called the cops, standard procedure."

Vic was still grinning. "And Corinne? How was she?"

Tommie frowned. "I don't want to talk about Corinne. Yesterday I was mad that you tried to replace Lina. Now I'm mad that you lied to me, that you know some much more than you were ever willing to tell me."

Vic looked mildly amused and it made Tommie even angrier. "You're just now growing upset over this?"

"N--Yes. Stop avoiding, stop telling me what I'm feeling is wrong. I want answers." It was the most confrontational Tommie could ever remember being with Vic. The most angry, too. What had happened to the two of them since Lina left?

Vic stopped smiling. "The Clave is full of secrets, Tommie. You're just a child--"

"I went to talk to a faerie," Tommie said through clenched teeth. "Because now, they're the only people I can trust not to lie."

Vic got, to Tommie's surprise, a lot quieter. All past amusement had vanished. "You've come to the wrong man. Has it ever occurred to you that I don't even know what's going on? That they took Lina and I wasn't allowed to ask all the questions both of us had? That maybe I was upset for a time, but I got over it, as you will?"

"You--" Tommie stopped in his tracks, anger subsiding ever so slightly. "You work for the Clave. They wouldn't..."

The older man smile a sad smile. "They would, and they do all the time."

Unable to hold himself up any longer, Tommie took a seat across from Vic. Without a flame of anger beneath him, the boy had nothing holding him up. He rested his head in his palms, unable to clear his head.

"They did something to her," he said in a hollow voice. "The faerie, it told me."

Vic hesitated. "There's no sense in worrying ourselves now. It's been months, she's tough--"

"There is every sense in worrying. I can't, won't stop caring about her," Tommie said. He wasn't quite angry again, just a different sort of upset. Broken. "I won't just forget."

"You have to trust the system, son." Vic was trying to be gentle now but Tommie would not stand for it.

"I can't do that, Vic. I know when Lina needs me, and it's now. You have to understand--"