Bad Bloods (13 page)

“Not when I was a kid.”

“You look just fine to me,” Robert head,
slowly tilting his head to the side. “How is your shoulder?”

Serena squeaked. Robert knew about my injury.
She suspected as much, but now, I couldn’t deny it. I would have to
explain it. But in this moment, I had to face Robert, and I faced
his question without letting go of Serena. She brought me strength.
Her presence calmed me. She was my biggest comrade and my only
weapon, and without her knowing it, she’d already fought back for
me. When she squeaked, Robert froze. Her reaction told him
everything he needed to know. Serena knew about my injury too.

“I’m alive. Thanks to Calhoun,” I said before
Robert could react further. “I trust him with anyone.”

Robert’s stare flicked over to Cal. “And you?
Are you on the northern side then?”

“Western.”

Robert’s face drained of color. He was
figuring it out. Placing the pieces together. Even the pieces I
wanted. Robert knew more than I did. I knew that when I learned
where Serena’s parents lived on Debary’s Lane. Now, I had to know
if my suspicions were correct.

“And you?” I asked. “How’d you end up on the
southern side?”

Robert looked at me—really looked at me—and I
wondered what he saw in my face. His face stayed pale like I was
more than a ghost, like I was also a ghost of himself, and my jaw
tightened, because I knew exactly how he felt, and it was every
reason I wanted to punch him.

Serena stepped out of my grasp and right
toward Robert—I knew she could see something was off in his
expression. She had known him for twelve years, even longer than I
had known him, and he met her eyes and conveyed exactly how he
felt. She froze. He didn’t want her near him.

She stepped back like he slapped her, and he
rubbed his eyes as if he was trying to take it back. I don’t think
any of us breathed.

“I,” he paused, peeking at her for a moment.
“I met Serena,” he finally answered my question.

She turned around to face me. “I told you,”
she explained. “I met him when I ran away.”

Debary’s Lane. I had always known what
happened that night.

“We made the flock together,” Robert
confirmed as the rest of the pieces fell into place.

I couldn’t look at Serena. I couldn’t. And
neither could Robert because we were looking at each other. In the
corners of my vision, Serena’s blonde hair waved as she looked from
him to me, searching for something she had yet to see. She wouldn’t
find what she needed. Robert or I would have to be the ones to
allow her to see it. And neither of us had it in us. I knew that
now.

Robert broke eye contact to focus on Cal.
“Mind if you put down guard duty for five minutes?” His tight voice
was strained as he touched Serena’s arm. “You too.” He still didn’t
look at her. “We need to talk alone.”

Calhoun smiled, but it was closer to a snarl.
“Not a problem.” He stepped away from the house and walked toward
the yard. “Come on, Serena.”

She hesitated like she was about to argue,
but then she ran after Cal like she knew she had asked for this.
Her one condition. She wanted us to meet again. What a mistake that
was.

Robert sighed, keeping his back to the yard.
“You must know—”

“I know.”

Robert’s face didn’t move, but he watched me
from the corner of his eyes. “Did you tell her?”

“Did you?”

Neither of us did. We were more alike than
we’d ever admit.

“Leader, huh.” Robert breathed, staring at
the wall of the house. “I thought that old guy was the leader.”

It occurred to me that the “heartless, cruel
leader” Robert had told Serena about could’ve been Calhoun—the
ex-soldier who killed too many bad bloods to count—but when I
called her leader heartless and cruel, I had meant Robert. I still
did.

“How long have you been keeping tabs on me?”
I asked.

His shoulders rose, then fell. “How long have
you stopped keeping tabs on me?”

“I never did,” I said, and it was the
truth.

Robert’s eyes widened, and for a moment, the
air turned hot. His emotions were barely under control, and he only
calmed down when he spun around to watch his flock. His fingers
curled around the railing just as mine had before. “Remember when I
came to you five years ago?”

I had beaten him. It was one of the better
days of my life. “How could I forget?”

Robert’s lip shifted, like he was fighting a
grimace or a smile or both. “Don’t you want to know what happened
to her?” He came to me, asking for help to heal one of his members.
She had caught pneumonia, and she was dying. I remembered every
plea he tried to give me, how young fifteen-year-old Robert looked
in Shadow Alley’s dim light, how skinny he was, how I didn’t
care.

I pushed the memory out. “I told you,” I
growled, “I can’t heal illnesses.”

Robert huffed like he didn’t believe me, like
he never believed me. “That’s why I don’t like you, Daniel.” My
name came out like a curse. “You don’t even care to hear what
happened to her.”

“What happened?”

“She lived,” Robert said, pointing to the
yard.

I followed his gesture to land on Serena. She
was laughing, her head thrown back like she could barely contain
herself, and Catelyn was clutching her arm, still telling her
whatever girls giggled at. Steven rolled his eyes.

“No thanks to you, of course,” Robert said,
dropping his hand.

I couldn’t move as I thought it over, how
desperate Robert had been when he came to me, how I punched him the
second he tried to get me to hear him out.

“She lived, didn’t she?” I managed, allowing
all of my other memories of Serena to crash into me. We were all
connected more than I knew. “She lived through more than one thing
too,” I reminded him of the present instead of the past. I looked
at him—directly at him—and he stared back, his face reddening. He
knew I was referring to the blood camp. The idea drove us both mad,
but there was one difference. “You didn’t see her when she
escaped,” I said. “You haven’t seen her since, have you?”

He was silent.

My eyes trailed back to Serena. “She wouldn’t
have come back to me if you had.”

“I was there for her more than you know. I
was—”

“Robert,” I cut him off, and surprisingly, he
silenced. “I’ll make sure she’s taken care of.”

Neither of us spoke for a moment as Serena’s
laughter filled the void between us.

“I’m only allowing this because she won’t be
around you,” he said, quieter than everything else we’d said to
each other before.

“Me, too.”

And then, I walked away. Our conversation was
over, and I hoped it was the last conversation we would ever have.
Just to make that point, I didn’t look back at him as I made my way
across their backyard. As I approached Serena, the kids stopped
giggling and halted their play. Cal’s expression even dimmed.

“Serena,” I said her name, and everyone knew
what was coming. “It’s time to go.”

She looked up at me and forced a shaky smile,
while Catelyn’s grip tightened on Serena’s arm. Serena had to pull
the blonde up with her. She hugged her first. “I’ll be back,” she
said, and I wouldn’t have heard it if I wasn’t close to them.

Catelyn incoherently mumbled something, and
tears were already falling off her scarred face by the time Steven
pulled her back. He nodded at me but turned back to Serena. “Be
good, okay?” His voice cracked.

“I will,” Serena promised just as all of the
other kids flooded around us. So many voices at once filled the
tiny area. A few clutched onto Serena’s legs, while others squeezed
her arm, but only one kid got picked up.

Melody flickered in and out of her
invisibility, but she wasn’t crying. She played with Serena’s
blonde hair instead. “Timmy says I might be a flower when you come
back.”

I didn’t understand, but Serena must have
because her eyes filled with a mist. “It’ll be sooner than that,”
she said, kissing the little girl on the forehead. “Take care of
Catelyn for me.”

Melody grinned, a grin too big for her chubby
cheeks. “And the kitten.”

Serena giggled. “And the kitten.”

Apparently, the Southern Flock had a pet. As
much as we were alike, we were different in many ways too. We had
the same amount of members, but they had powers I couldn’t imagine.
They even had a human and a child from the Highlands. The Northern
Flock was simply made up of bad bloods from the street. But we were
alike in one, definite way. We loved one another. Every member of
Serena’s flock loved her, and I was taking her from them. I was no
better than Robert taking her away from her first family.

“Serena.” Robert’s voice was right behind me,
so close that goose bumps trailed across my neck and down my
shoulder, and he stepped into my vision just as Serena placed
Melody into Catelyn’s arms.

She was in Robert’s embrace before I knew it.
He ignored me completely, and for a moment, I was sure the world
only existed between them. I had to look away. I even started
walking away too, but he stopped me by saying my name.

When I turned around, the entire flock was
watching—little eyes on little faces of little kids who the
government wanted dead—and Robert had protected each and every one
of them. Serena still stood by his side.

“If she gets hurt or killed—” he started, but
Serena grabbed his arm.

“Don’t.”

He shushed her, and I had to tighten my jaw
to prevent myself from yelling at him. “If she gets hurt or
killed,” he continued, his eyes darkening, “I’ll kill you.”

“The goal is keeping everyone alive,” I bit
back. “Even you.”

Robert’s jaw moved back and forth, but he
leaned back as he looked me over. “Then you’ll make a deal with
me.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“We should join flocks.”

Everyone was speechless, even me, even
Serena. I had to look at everyone else’s reactions to confirm the
words that left his mouth. Robert wanted the Northern Flock and the
Southern Flock to become one. He had lost his mind.

“I’m not sure I understand,” I said,
slowly.

“Let me put it bluntly.” He was not holding
back. “If we lose this election, we will need each other. We will
have to fight.” We would have to kill. “The number of people that
reside on our side will be the determination for a good result. Or
a terrible one.”

Robert always made a good argument. If we
weren’t bad bloods, he would’ve been a fantastic politician. It was
one of the reasons I always wanted to punch his face in. But I had
to prevent myself from hitting him, even now. Robert and I didn’t
like each other, but that didn’t mean our flocks had to suffer from
our grudge.

“I agree.”

Serena stepped forward and grabbed my hand.
She squeezed it, and I could feel Calhoun edging closer to me, a
looming, one-armed shadow.

Robert didn’t smile. “Two days from now, in
the morning, bring your flock here. One at a time.”

I shook my head against his plan. “My house
is bigger. We would be able to fit everybody better, and the city
can cover up our noise. We also have a safety house.” I gestured to
Cal with my free hand. “We’ll live at my house.”

Robert opened his mouth, and I half-expected
an argument, but he said the last thing I ever expected to hear out
of his mouth. “You’re right, Daniel. I’ll see you soon.”

Only two
hours had passed since we left my flock behind—since I left my
flock behind—but it felt like an eternity had taken hold of my
energy. I dragged myself across Cal’s living room to sit on his
couch, and I let all of my thoughts consume me.

Robert and Daniel spoke in private—about what
I didn’t know—and it somehow led Robert to ask Daniel to join the
flocks. While I was gone, the Northern and Southern Flock would
become one. It seemed odd that the only person they had in common
had to leave in order for it to happen, but I was satisfied—with
that, at least.

My eyes followed Daniel as he sulked down the
hallway. “I need a shower,” he grumbled over his shoulder and
disappeared. I heard the water running almost immediately, and my
fingers curled into fists against my knees. The one detail of the
evening was ruining everything else.

Robert knew about Daniel’s scar.

If it had been summer, it would’ve made
sense, but Daniel was wearing a jacket—his signature blue-and-white
one—and the plaid covered everything. There was no way Robert
could’ve guessed it either. I only knew about it because of the
night Daniel got sick and Cal asked me to take off his shirt.
Recalling it gave me chills, for more than one reason.

I could sense Calhoun watching me from the
kitchen, and I wondered if Daniel could sense I was watching the
hallway, waiting for him to return. I had so many questions I
needed him to answer before I left, but I doubted he’d respond the
way I hoped. He was similar to Robert in so many ways. Perhaps it
was why I found so much comfort in Daniel. Perhaps it was the most
frustrating part of him.