I winced. Great, now they were both pissed at me. Sighing, I switched my rattan sticks to one hand and went in myself. I wished I could smack the tire dummy a while longer, but keeping a low profile seemed like a good idea now. The last thing I wanted was a grilling session where they would both ask questions I couldn’t answer.
Mom and Dad were talking in the kitchen—probably about me—so I slipped into my room and gently closed the door.
My phone sat on the corner of my desk. For a second, I thought about calling Kenzie. I wondered what she was doing now, if the police had shown up on her doorstep, asking about a missing classmate. I wondered if she was worried about him…or me.
What? Why would she worry about you, you psychopath? You’ve been nothing but a jackass to her, and besides, you don’t care, remember?
Angry now, I stalked to my bed and flopped down on it, flinging an arm over my face. I had to stop thinking of her, but my brain wasn’t being cooperative this morning. Instead of focusing on the demonstration and the missing half-breed and the creepy Fey out to get us both, my thoughts kept going back to Kenzie St. James. The idea of calling her, just to see if she was all right, grew more and more tempting, until I jumped up and stalked to the living room, flipping on the television to drown out my traitorous thoughts.
* * *
The day passed in a blur of old action movies and commercials. I didn’t move from the couch, afraid that if I went into my room, I’d see my unblinking phone and know Kenzie hadn’t called me. Or worse, that she had, and I’d be tempted to call her back. I lounged on the sofa, the remains of empty chip bags, dirty plates and empty soda cans surrounding me, until late afternoon when Mom made an exasperated comment about rotting brains and bumps on logs or something, and ordered me to do something else.
Flipping off the television, I sat up, thinking. I still had a couple of hours till the demonstration. Wandering back to my room, I again noticed the phone on the corner of the desk. Nothing. No missed calls, texts, anything. I didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed.
As I reached for it, though, it rang. Without checking the number, I snatched it up and put it to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Ethan?” The voice on the other end wasn’t Kenzie, as I’d hoped, though it was vaguely familiar. “Is this Ethan Chase?”
“Yeah?”
“This…this is Mrs. Wyndham, Todd’s mother.”
My heart skipped a beat. I swallowed hard and gripped the phone tightly, as the voice on the other end continued.
“I know the police have already spoken to you,” she said in a halting, broken voice, “but I…I wanted to ask you myself. You say you’re Todd’s friend…do you know what could have happened to him? Please, I’m desperate. I just want my son home.”
Her voice broke at the end, and I closed my eyes. “Mrs. Wyndham, I’m sorry about Todd,” I said, feeling like an ass. Worse than an ass, like a complete and utter failure, because I’d let another person down, because I couldn’t protect them from the fey. “But I really don’t know where he is. The last time we spoke was yesterday at school, before I talked to you, I swear.” She gave a little sob, making my gut clench. “I’m really sorry,” I said again, knowing how useless that sounded. “I wish I could give you better news.”
She took a shaky breath. “All right, thank you, Ethan. I’m sorry to have bothered you.” She sniffed and seemed about to say goodbye, but hesitated. “If…if you see him,” she went on, “or if you find any information at all…will you let me know? Please?”
“Yeah,” I whispered. “If I see him, I’ll make sure he gets home, I promise.”
After she hung up, I paced my room, not knowing what to do. I tried surfing online, watching YouTube, checking out various weapon stores, just to keep myself distracted, but it didn’t help. I couldn’t stop thinking of Todd, and Kenzie, caught in the twisted games of the fey. And it was partly my fault. Todd had been playing a dangerous game, and Kenzie was too stubborn to know when to back off, but the common denominator was me.
Now, one of them was gone and another family was torn apart. Just like last time.
Picking up my phone, I stuck it in my jeans pocket and snatched my keys from the desk. Grabbing my gym bag from the floor, I started to leave. Might as well head to the demonstration now; it was better than standing around here, driving myself crazy.
The silver coin on the desk glinted, and I paused. Sliding it into my palm, I stared at it, wondering where Meghan was, what she was doing. Did she ever think of me? Would she be disgusted, if she knew how I’d turned out?
“Ethan!” Mom’s voice echoed from the kitchen. “Your karate thing is tonight, isn’t it? Do you want anything to eat before you go?”
I stuffed the coin in my pocket with the keys and left the room. “Kali, Mom, not karate,” I told her, walking into the kitchen. “And no, I’ll grab something on the way. Don’t wait up for me.”
“Curfew is still at eleven, Ethan.”
Irritation flared. “Yeah, I know,” I muttered. “It’s been that way for five years. Why would it change now? It’s not like I’m old enough to make my own decisions.” Before she could say anything, I stalked past her and headed outside. “And, yes, I’ll call if I’m going to be late,” I threw back over my shoulder.
I could feel Mom’s half angry, half worried gaze on my back as I slammed out the front door, making sure to bang it as I left. Stupid of me. If I had known what was going to happen at the demonstration that night, I would’ve said something much different.
* * *
The building was already full of people when I arrived. Tournaments had been going on for most of the afternoon, and shouts, ki-yas, and the shuffle of bare feet on mats echoed through the room as I ducked inside. Kids in their white gis tied with different colored belts threw punches and kicks within taped-off arenas; from the looks of it, it was the kempo students’ turn on the mats.
I spotted Guro Javier and made my way over, weaving through students and onlookers, gritting my teeth as someone—a large kid with a purple belt—elbowed me in the ribs. I glared at him, and he smirked, as if daring me to try something. As if I’d start a fight with the brat in front of two hundred parents and about a dozen masters of various arts. Ignoring the kid’s self-satisfied grin, I continued along the wall and stood next to my guro in the corner. He was watching the tournament with detached interest and gave a faint smile as I came up.
“You’re very early, Ethan.”
I shrugged helplessly. “Couldn’t stay away.”
“Are you ready?” Guro turned to me. “Our demonstration is after the kempo students are finished. Oh, and Sean sprained his ankle last night, so you’re going to be doing the live weapon demo.”
I felt a small, nervous thrill. “Really?”
“Do you need to practice?”
“No, I’ll be fine.” I thought back to the few times I’d handled Guro’s real swords, which were short, single-edged blades similar to a machete. They were a little shorter then my rattan, razor sharp and about as deadly as they looked. They’d been in Guro’s family for generations, and I was a bit in awe that I’d be wielding them tonight.
Guro nodded. “Go, get ready,” he said, eyeing my holey jeans and T-shirt. “Warm up a bit if you want. We should start in about an hour.”
I retreated to the locker room, changed into loose black pants and a white shirt, and carefully removed my wallet, keys and phone, ditching them in the side pocket of my gym bag. As I pulled my phone out, something bright tumbled to the floor, striking the ground with a ping.
The silver token. I’d forgotten about it. I stared at the thing, wondering if I should stuff it in my bag or just leave it on the floor. Still, it was my last connection to my sister, and even though Meghan didn’t care about me, I didn’t want to lose it just yet. I picked it up and slipped it into my pocket.
I stretched a bit, practiced several patterns empty-handed, making sure I knew what I was doing, then headed out to watch the tournament. The other kali students were starting to arrive, walking by me with brief nods and waves before flocking around Guro, but I didn’t feel like socializing. Instead, I found an isolated corner behind the rows of chairs and leaned against it with my arms crossed, studying the matches.
“Ethan?”
The familiar voice caught me off guard. I jerked my head up as Kenzie slipped through the crowd and walked my way, a notebook in one hand and a camera around her neck. A tiny thrill shot through me, but I quickly squashed it.
“Hey,” she greeted, giving me a friendly but puzzled smile. “I didn’t expect to see you around. What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?” I countered, as though it wasn’t obvious.
“Oh, you know.” She held up her camera. “School paper stuff. A couple of the boys in our class take lessons here, and I’m covering the tournament. What about you?” Her eyes lit up. “Are you in the tournament? Will I actually get to see you fight?”
“I’m not fighting.”
“But you do take something here, right? Kempo? Jujitsu?”
“Kali.”
“What’s that?”
I sighed. “A Filipino fighting style using sticks and knives. You’ll see in a few minutes.”
“Oh.” Kenzie pondered this, then took a step forward, gazing up at me with thoughtful brown eyes. I swallowed the sudden dryness in my throat and leaned away, feeling the wall press against my back, preventing escape. “Well, you’re just full of surprises, aren’t you, Ethan Chase?” she mused with a small grin, cocking her head at me. “I wonder what other secrets are hiding in that broody head of yours.”
I forced myself not to move, to keep my voice light and uncaring. “Is that why you keep hanging around me? You’re curious?” I smirked and shook my head. “You’re going to be disappointed. My life isn’t that exciting.”
I received a dubious look, and she took another step forward, peering into my eyes as if she could see the truth in them. My stomach squirmed as she leaned in. “Uh-huh. So, you keep your distance from everyone, take secret martial arts classes, and were expelled from your last school because the library mysteriously caught fire with you in it, and you’re telling me your life isn’t that exciting?”
I shifted uneasily. The girl was perceptive, I’d give her that. Unfortunately, she was now treading a little too close to the “exciting” part of my life, which meant I was either going to have to lie, pretend ignorance or pull the a**hole card to drive her off. And right now, I didn’t have it in me to be a jerk.
Meeting her gaze, I shrugged and offered a faint smile. “Well, I can’t tell you all my secrets, can I? That would ruin my image.”
She huffed, tossing her bangs. “Oh, fine. Be mysterious and broody. You still owe me an interview, you know.” A wicked look crossed her face then, and she held up her notebook. “In fact, since you’re not doing anything right now, care to answer a few questions?”