Vagabonds

Chapter Fifteen: Secrets

Eliza sat in the most aggressively unhelpful position she could fathom, arms wrapped around her torso, legs splayed, eyes fixed on the plaque that read Headmaster. She looked every bit the surly teenager brought in for disciplinary action. But what they couldn't, what she wouldn't let them see, was the fear arcing through her like solar flares and the instinct making the back of her neck prickle.

They know.

"I'll ask you again, Ms. Mason, where were you last night?" said the woman from the army base, those dark eyes glittering.

When the headmaster had shown Eliza into his office, she'd expected her homeroom teacher or dorm mother, maybe even the cops. But instead, to Eliza's horror, she'd walked in to find a short woman with a sharp haircut sitting behind the headmaster's mahogany desk, two men in uniform looming behind her. The woman had introduced herself as Amile Robillard, head of science and operations at Fitzgerald Labs.

And then the questions had begun.

"Ms. Mason, we know you were not in your dorm this morning. Your roommate says you left last night with her bike and didn't return."

"She's lying," Eliza said through clenched teeth.

"I'm afraid we have more reason to trust Victoria Bent than we have to trust you, don't we Private?"

One of the soldiers saluted, fingers snapping to his forehead. Eliza glared at him, taking in the blonde hair, blue eyes, thin lips.

It couldn't be...

"Private Bent here vouches for his sister's honesty. Who will vouch for yours?"

Eliza dropped her gaze, struggling to hide her surprise.

Tori has a brother in the army?

How had she never known that?

The woman leaned forward on thin elbows, glowering at Eliza.

"Ms. Mason, it's a simple enough question. Tell us where you were between the hours of eleven and six."

Eliza bit the inside of her cheek, thinking of bashful Tero who had finally allowed Eliza to run her hands along the velvety skin of his wings, of excitable Moose who had practically tumbled over himself to show her his collection of vintage N64 games. If they traced her to Ian Eckelson's estate, if they found out about the Vagabonds...

An idea came to her, as unappealing as it was brilliant.

Might as well make Tori's rumors useful.

"Haven't you heard?" Eliza said with a smirk. "I have a boyfriend off-campus. I was with him."

Amile's smile was sharp enough to flay skin from bone.

"Very well. Would you provide us with a name and address?"

"I will not," Eliza said.

"Now Eliza —" the headmaster piped in, but Amile cut him off.

"You're making a most unwise decision, Ms. Mason. Do you know who we are?"

"Yeah. Grunts in uniforms."

"We are the army, Ms. Mason. Do you really want to make an enemy of the United States government?"

"Sounds exciting."

"That's not the word I'd choose."

Eliza met the woman's eyes with her own stubborn ferocity, unblinking, unshifting, her body twisted into a knot of total resistance.

For a long, brittle moment neither of them moved.

Finally, Amile sighed.

"Very well, Mrs. Mason, if that's your decision."

"It is."

The headmaster appeared in the corner of her vision, twisting his hands.

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Robillard, our students are not usually so difficult. But this one came with a file as thick as my laptop, so I'm afraid it's not exactly surprising that she'd be off getting into trouble."

Amile pushed to her feet, not a single strand of black hair out of place as she nodded to the two privates.

"We'll be in touch. Just make sure she doesn't go anywhere."

"Of course not, absolutely. Please, let us know if there's anything we can do to help with your, er, investigation."

Eliza glared at the toes of her sneakers, seething with fury at the obsequious headmaster, the woman, her bodyguards.

But mostly, Eliza was terrified as Amile answered, the words as slimy as Otto's skin.

"I'm afraid its top secret, headmaster. But the army appreciates your concern."

~~~

"What was that about?"

Joe was waiting for Eliza on the front steps as usual, his expression one of apprehensive concern.

"Nothing," Eliza said, glancing over her shoulder and chilled to find Amile watching her from the driveway. A car pulled up behind the woman, black and unmarked.

Eliza spun away, fear pulling tight around her spine.

"Is this about Friday night?"

"Joe, drop it."

"Eliza, we're friends."

"Joe..."

"You can tell me anything."

Eliza stopped in front of homeroom, shoulders tight, adrenaline pounding so hard she felt like her body was on fire. I can't, can I? Telling Joe would mean dragging him into this mess. And it was a mess, she could see that now. The night at the Eckelson mansion had been a magical bubble. But she'd crashed back to the real world, a world that wouldn't welcome the five strange boys the way she did but seemed just as interested in finding them.

Eliza took a deep breath, facing her best friend.

"Trust me. You don't want to know."

She made to turn away, but Joe's voice stopped her.

"Is that... is it true? That you have a boyfriend? I mean, that would be fine, you know, if you did..."

Joe's eyes were earnest enough to break Eliza's heart. She put a hand over his, squeezing his fingers, thinking of all the things she wished she could tell him.

"No, Joe. It's not a guy."

At least, it's not just one guy.

Joe's lips twitched up in a sad smile.

"I know I'm always saying that I don't want to be a part of your adventures, Eliza. But I think you need me. As a voice of reason and all that."

A laugh surprised its way out of Eliza, bright and calming. She bumped her elbow into Joe's side, as grateful as ever for his stalwart presence.

"I'll keep that in mind," she said, and meant it.