Her eyes narrowed, but she nodded. “I’ll be watching the clock.”
I stepped inside—only to gasp. She had decorated my room with everything she knew I’d love. The furnishings were a dark cherrywood and polished to a glossy shine. Wispy white curtains covered my window, and a framed picture of Emma and me hung on the wall. She was in front of me, wrapped in my arms, and we were both smiling our biggest smiles.
There was a note taped to the border.
Angels must have held this photo in their hands, because that’s the only way it could have survived the bomb. I had it framed weeks ago, but wanted to wait to give it to you at Christmas. This seemed like a better time.
Love, Nana
Oh, Nana, I thought as tears welled in my eyes.
“You’re both adorable,” Cole said, stepping up behind me to study the photo. “You look so happy.”
“We were. We’d just finished playing hide-and-seek in the house, and of course, she had won. She always won. My legs were too long to fit anywhere. She was gloating in that sweet way she had—nah, nah, nah, I’m the crown champion again—so I snatched her up to tickle her. Mom demanded we pose.”
He squeezed my shoulder. “I have one of my mom and me, taken a few weeks before she died. It’s more valuable to me than my heart and lungs.”
I liked when he shared something from his past. He didn’t do it often. I turned, met his gaze.
He hooked a strand of hair behind my ear. I could feel myself getting lost in the moment, in him, so when his phone beeped a few seconds later, I jumped. I also sighed with relief.
“Go ahead,” I said. “Check it.”
He hesitated a moment before scrolling through the message, his features darkening as he read. “Justin says the spy is someone who was at the park tonight. Information about the fight has already hit Anima.”
“So...that rules out Collins and Cruz. And Frosty and Bronx were too busy rescuing Kat and Reeve to hand out any details.”
“Not necessarily, but I know them better than I know myself, and they’d never help the enemy. I’ve never suspected them.”
Had he ever suspected me? “You can rule out Lucas and Trina, too. I watched the spy watch them, remember? So that leaves...Veronica.”
“You saw a male in the forest.”
“Yes, and she could be working with him.”
“Maybe.” His gaze locked with mine and searched. “There’s also Gavin.”
My hand fluttered to my throat, rubbed. Gavin... He had to be innocent. And yet he wanted to stay the night here, no matter how uncomfortable he’d be on the couch. Maybe not because he hated the motel, after all, but to keep tabs on me and my dark metamorphosis.
“Anyway, they weren’t the only ones there,” Cole reminded me.
“Me?” I squeaked.
He rolled his eyes. “I never suspected you. I mean Kat. Reeve.”
“Girl. Girl.”
“Like you said, a girl could be working with a boy.”
“Besides,” I continued, “there’s no way Kat would betray us, and Reeve doesn’t know anything.”
“Kat has no filter. She—”
“Isn’t responsible,” I insisted.
“What about Ethan?”
“Bronx has already looked into him. Found nothing suspicious.”
After a short pause, he nodded. “That leaves us with...yeah, Gavin and Veronica. But I’ve already checked, and they came out clean. As you know, that’s the reason I spent so much time with her. I was going through her stuff, checking everything she said. Nothing dubious came up. More than that, the problems started before the pair got here.”
“Maybe you didn’t dig deep enough. Maybe one or both were working for Anima before they got here and asked to be assigned to your team. Talk to Mr. Ankh and your dad. They’ll have ideas about what to—”
“No way. My reasons for staying quiet are still the same. I won’t blacken someone’s name without at least a little proof.”
“Yeah, but once the truth comes to light, whoever you’ve accused will be vindicated. Or not.”
He shook his head, saying, “The problem is, my closest friends will know I didn’t trust them. Maybe they’ll forgive me, maybe not, but from that moment on, no matter what I do, what I say, they’ll always wonder at my motives. That stuff doesn’t leave a person.”
Had he ever been accused of something he hadn’t done?
I must have asked the question aloud because he said, “When Justin started working with Anima, he hung around my team for information, just like the newest spy. I knew something was going on and stupidly blamed Boots and Ducky, members of the team you never got to meet.” As he spoke, he rubbed the tattoos of their names. “They were so mad at me, so hurt, they went hunting that night, I guess to prove their loyalty, and they found a nest of zombies. That’s the night they were killed. I can’t go through something like that again.”
“Cole—” I said, but he stopped me with another shake of his head.
“I’ll do more digging with Gavin and Veronica. And now let’s close this subject and revisit at another date. You said you had something to show me. Was it a kiss?” He backed me into the door, putting his body in front of me, and the hardwood in back of me, effectively caging me. And oh, good glory, had I just used the word hardwood? “Lately I haven’t been able to think about anything else.”
“Cole. No.”
“Just one more,” he said raggedly. “Then we’ll stop. Then maybe the madness will finally end and we’ll be able to be friends. I know you said we couldn’t be, but I don’t like the thought of being without you. I need you in my life, at least in some way.”
“Friends don’t kiss.” Besides, I’d already had my one more. Whimper. “Nana would hear us, we aren’t always quiet. She’ll come to the door, knock. I’ll be hugely embarrassed.”
“Okay.” He anchored his palms at my temples. “Okay.”
I had to stop breathing. He smelled too good, the scent of him invading my senses, making me dizzy with need and want and breaking through whatever new walls I’d managed to build against him. “You’re not acting like it’s okay.”
“When is the madness going to end?” he asked. “I must be obsessed with you, Ali. Addicted. Whatever I feel is definitely unhealthy. Without you, I’m having trouble eating and sleeping. I think about you all the time, wonder what you’re doing, and who you’re doing it with. Do you know how many times I’ve been tempted to hunt you down and just carry you away?”