Bad Bloods (12 page)

“That’s it,” Cal confirmed the home of the
Southern Flock. It was smaller than I thought, whiter too, with a
red trim and dark shutters. This was where Serena had grown up.
This was where Robert had been hiding. This was where they were
together.

“You don’t have to do this,” Cal added.

“You know I do.”

Cal grunted. It was his way of saying “I
know.”

I stepped forward and concentrated on Cal’s
footsteps following me. I hadn’t been able to tell them Cal was
coming with, but I couldn’t have done it alone, and I held no shame
in that fact.

When I rang the doorbell, I could hardly
breathe. Every muscle in my body ached, begging to run, burning
from the inside out, but I held my ground. I sucked in my first
breath once the door opened.

No one was there.

“Hiya,” a little girl’s voice squeaked, but I
didn’t see anyone. Not a single person.

“Why would you have a talkin’ door?” Cal
whispered, but before I could respond, the front door opened up
further, revealing another door inside, and Serena stepped up and
out of the space. It must have led to a basement. Her face lit up
like she’d been down in the dark all day.

“Daniel,” she said my name a little too
loudly, like she was announcing my presence to a house of hiding
bad bloods—which she probably was. “Cal, it’s good to see you.” I’d
never heard her speak so properly. When she bent down, I had no
idea what she was doing, even when she pretended to be holding
something. “This is Melody.”

Serena squeezed, and the little girl appeared
just as she sneezed. Melody. Serena had told me about her. The
youngest of the Southern Flock could be invisible.

“Hey, kiddo,” Cal started softly, like he did
with all the kids.

Melody’s big brown eyes widened even further.
“Where’s your arm?”

Serena’s face turned red. “That’s rude,
Mel.”

The child glanced at Serena, then back at
Cal’s missing arm, then back at Serena. Her nose crinkled.
“But—”

“Melody,” Serena’s tone was a warning, and
she set the four-year-old down on the floor. “Be nice.” When Serena
straightened back up, she mouthed, “Sorry” at Cal. He chuckled, but
he never got a chance to speak.

Others had arrived, slowly flooding in from
the basement, the kitchen, the stairway, and a hallway. Little
faces. Older faces. Girls and boys of all shapes and sizes and
backgrounds. All of their eyes on me. None of them looked like
Robert. But it was an older guy that stepped forward first. It took
the blonde following him for me to recognize them. Catelyn and
Steven. I had attacked them in the alleyway.

“Daniel, right?” Steven asked, his voice
shaking as much as his hand as he stuck it out.

I shook his hand. “Steven, right?” He nodded
as I leaned over to look at Catelyn—really look at Catelyn. Aside
from the scar on her cheek and short hair, she could’ve been
Serena’s twin. “Catelyn?” She stood taller but didn’t nod. “I’m
sorry about what happened.”

Both of them flushed. I wondered if they’d
ever heard an apology before.

Serena gestured to the living room. Even
though there were only two chairs and a couch, I relaxed at the
idea of some of the kids sitting down. It would seem like less
then. And it seemed like the others liked the idea too, because the
room turned into a rush of kids fighting over one chair and the
older kids directing who would sit where and why it was fair.

It reminded me so much of my own flock that I
was already missing them. I was asking a lot of Serena to leave her
flock behind. I always knew that. But it was another thing to see
it in person, to see the other flock in person, to see exactly who
she would lose, exactly who would lose her.

“So, it’s true? Serena will be with
Henderson?” The question came from a gap-toothed blond boy. He
looked like an older Blake.

“That’s the plan.”

“What about you?”

I looked around for the girl who spoke but
never figured it out. “I’m staying behind.” I scratched my head.
“With my flock,” I added.

A hundred questions flew out of the group.
What were my members like? How many were there? How had we all met?
Did any of the members have powers like them? Why didn’t I bring
them with me?

A dark-skinned woman interrupted the room,
“One question at a time.” When she looked at me, I recognized her
red eyes. She was the one in Old Man Gregory’s. Niki, if I
remembered correctly.

I forced a smile. “I would rather know more
about you all.”

Niki tensed, but a young boy with black hair
jumped up. “I double myself.” He was the only one to budge, and he
looked back at the group like he didn’t understand why they didn’t
want to share their abilities. I was still the enemy in their eyes.
But the boy didn’t care. He stood his ground, and then he stood in
two places—two of him—right in front of me.

I nearly fell backwards.

“Jake,” they both spoke, but their voices
sounded different, and there was something about their appearances
that didn’t seem quite right. Almost as if you could tell which one
was the real one if you looked hard enough. But he formed into one
of himself before I could concentrate. “I’m Jake.”

“That’s… ” I had to take a breath and look at
Serena to gain my composure. She was smiling a small, perfect
smile. “That’s amazing, Jake.”

He beamed before pointing at a smaller, blond
boy around the same age. “That kid has spikes in his arms.”

“Jake,” Steven’s voice was sharp. “Let Justan
share if he wants to.”

Nearly dancing with excitement, Jake looked
at Justan, but he was focused on the floor. It was then that I
realized his long sleeves were ripped up, small threads hanging off
his wrists. When no one responded to Jake’s silent plea, he
slumped, and a girl pulled him back. Her blonde hair was tied back
in braids, but her eyes were fierce. She didn’t speak, but there
was something about her that reminded me of Kally and Michele if
they had meshed into one person.

A moment of silence passed until the girl
asked, “So, what do you do?”

“He heals,” Niki answered for me. How she
knew was beyond me.

“Really?” The blonde relaxed a bit, and Jake
escaped her grip. I watched him run over to Justan and sit on the
floor. “How does that work?” she asked as I kept my eyes on the
group.

The Southern Flock had six girls and six
boys. Some blond. Some with dark hair. One was human. Serena had
told me that much. And the rest were bad bloods. Melody went
invisible, and Jake doubled himself. Catelyn went through walls,
Steven merged with objects, and Robert…he could explode someone
from the inside out.

“How do any of our powers work?” I reworded
the braided girl’s question. “I don’t know.”

Steven opened his mouth but shut it when I
met his eyes. He accepted my simple answer, even though it wasn’t
entirely accurate. Some could control their powers more than others
could. Some didn’t even discover theirs until much later. But where
they came from—how one person’s varied to another’s—was a
mystery.

“And him?” Niki probed further. “What’s he
do?”

Cal stood behind me like a bodyguard. “I’m
human.”

A collective gasp went through the crowd, and
one kid got up to run—like she honestly thought I’d bring someone
in to hurt them—but another pulled her back down. A little boy up
front squeaked the loudest. “Me, too.”

The human. He had white-blond hair and a
skinny torso. Melody was next to him, and I couldn’t decide if she
made the boy look older or younger than he actually was. I had no
way of knowing.

“Do you have humans in your flock?” he
asked.

I sighed, wishing I could’ve said yes to make
him feel less alone, but I had to say “No.”

The boy nodded, like he knew my answer before
I said it, and Serena leaned over to pat him on the head. “You’re
still one of us, Timmy.”

He gave her a smile, but it shook a little. I
had to look away.

“And you’re the leader?” The question came
from the girl who tried to run. Even now, she scratched at her arms
like it was a nervous habit. It was then that I noticed her
scales.

“Yes,” I answered calmly.

“Like Robert?” she pressed.

My throat tightened. “Just like Robert.”

“Daniel.”

I knew it was him before I turned around.
Robert. His voice still had the strong tone of a leader, something
I could only wish to have, and it echoed despite only saying my
name. I forced myself to turn around before his single word
defeated me.

He looked older than I thought he would. He
was taller than me, only by a few inches, but his hair was shorter,
his facial features sharper, his eyes heavier. The last time I’d
seen him, he was scrawny—too thin—but that had changed in the past
five years. He’d gained weight, but he remained pallid, like he
never risked leaving his flock’s home during the day. Despite that,
he somehow had freckles and light in his eyes. A burning one.

I straightened up. “Robert.”

Silence lingered, but I could hear my own
heartbeat pound in my ears. The room increased in heat, and I knew
I wasn’t imagining it. When Serena grabbed Robert’s arm, the heat
dissipated. His powers. I forgot how suffocating they were.

“Why don’t we go outside?” she suggested,
speaking softer to him than she had ever spoken to me. She never
looked away from Robert, her hands never left his arm, and I tore
my eyes away from it only to realize Robert had been watching me
watch them the entire time.

“Outside would probably be best,” he agreed,
and everyone moved at his words like he controlled the world and I
was only in it because he allowed me to be.

***

Kids ran around the backyard as though they
didn’t stand a chance at being caught. My adrenaline coursed
through my veins at the sight of so many kids outside, exposed to
neighbors, cops, or anyone, but I had to remind myself that
Southern Vendona was the countryside. Anyone would take advantage
of the unusually warm night, especially considering how cold it had
been. I could hear faraway neighbors playing outside too. We were
fine, and Robert had known that when he agreed to it. He was the
leader, after all. I had to swallow that fact. He wouldn’t risk his
entire flock just to get back at me.

I gripped the back patio railing, watching
the group so intensely I barely realized Serena had joined me. Cal
stood by at all times, and Serena eyed him like he was too serious,
too still. She pushed her arm against mine as if I was too.

“Not so bad, eh?” she whispered.

I didn’t respond because I couldn’t.

Robert was running around Jake and Justan
with Melody on his shoulders. She pulled his hair and laughed. He
laughed too. Actually laughed. And all of them fell to the ground,
laughing together.

My grip tightened. “Who’s that?” I used my
head to gesture to the little girl with scales on her arms. I had
to concentrate on someone other than Robert.

“Briauna,” she answered. “She’s one of our
newest.”

That’s why she tried to run.

“And who’s next to her?” The blonde girl with
braids was helping Briauna hula-hoop. My flock didn’t even have
toys—aside from Blake’s teddy bear and Ryne’s checkers. Both were
practically stolen. But this flock had plenty.

“Ami.” Serena gave the braided girl a name.
“She used to live in the Highlands.”

I sucked in a breath. We didn’t have a single
kid from the Highlands. It was hard to accept they were ditched
like we were, but they were far less likely to survive. At least
the poor kids of the outskirts knew the streets.

“The little boy over there is Huey,” Serena
said, pointing near to where Catelyn and Steven sat, holding hands,
looking up at the sky like they wished they hadn’t missed the full
moon.

“He allows relationships?” I asked, unable to
say Robert’s name.

Serena didn’t answer. My stomach churned. Not
because of her lack of response but because of why she didn’t
respond. She was focused, and she was focused on Robert. He walked
straight toward us—alone—and he joined us on the patio, casually
leaning on the railing like we were all friends. He was less than a
foot away from me. Cal took a step toward us, like he thought
Robert would attack me, but then Cal leaned against the house,
deciding against it. I curled my hands together so they didn’t
shake the railing, but I knew Robert was watching me anyway. Serena
was too. I could feel her stare on the both of us, and when we
didn’t speak, she sighed loudly so we would hear her.

Robert returned the sigh as though she
dictated his every move, but he forced a smile at me. It didn’t
reach his eyes. “You’re missing out on all the fun.” Nothing about
his tone said it was fun.

“Can’t play much with one arm,” Cal responded
since he knew I wouldn’t.

Robert glanced over his shoulder at the man.
“I suppose you’re the one who knows Henderson.”

“Alec,” Cal emphasized, “is a friend of
mine.”

Robert let out a half-chuckle as he spun
around and placed his back against the railing. He faced Cal
head-on, but he did the last thing I expected. Robert pointed his
head toward me. “How’d you end up with him?”

“Robert—” Serena started to interject, but I
grabbed her shoulder. She silenced, leaning into me to catch my
eyes, and I nodded at her, letting her know it was fine. We all
needed to talk—that’s what she wanted, after all—and she nodded
back her understanding. When I looked up, Robert’s eyes were
between us, staring at my hand on her, staring at how she leaned
into it. I held her tighter.

“Cal saved my life,” I said, keeping my eyes
on his, waiting for the moment he’d look back at me. When he did,
he suddenly looked smaller.

“I thought you could heal yourself.” His tone
was sharp.