Had Aimee told Jayden the truth?
I blinked. She was supposed to be one of my closest friends.
Daniel’s phone stopped ringing, but his text tone rang. I watched his face as he read it. “Andre says I need to come to the shelter now. He’s asking if you can, too,” he said.
“Tell him Samaya’s busy,” Jayden said. “You’re welcome to leave, though, hockey-boy.”
Daniel stood up, looking worried. “He says it’s an emergency,” Daniel said. “I’ve known Andre for a long time—I don’t think I’ve ever heard him call anything an emergency.”
I nodded and shut off my computer. Andre was normally so laid-back. Whatever this was had to be serious. “We should go.”
“What?” Jayden said. “Are you kidding? You can’t leave before we fight the diamond griffins.”
I glared at Jayden. “It’s an emergency. This is a family shelter—with, like, kids and families. If there is an emergency there, it might be serious.”
Cass closed their computer and unplugged it. “I’ll drive you.”
“Oh my god, why are you going, too?” Aimee asked Cass, voice full of attitude. “You don’t even know if there is anything wrong yet.”
Cass glared at Aimee. “I’m going because Samaya and Daniel are my friends, and if they say there’s an emergency, then I trust that and I want to help.”
Amid the chaos of them arguing, I zipped my laptop into my backpack. My heart was racing—I was scared for Andre and Muniba, and for everyone at the shelter.
“Everyone, everyone,” Devin said, lowering his hands in a calm-down motion. “The griffins will be here in six minutes. And the fight will take, what, ten minutes? You can leave after that.”
Jayden nodded. “Fifteen minutes won’t make a difference. You made a commitment, Samaya.” He gave me a look. He was probably already thinking about how he was going to get back at me if I left. “We’ve known you longer than he has, Samaya. You are supposed to be our friend.”
I didn’t even bother answering. Just stood up with my backpack.
“I’m going to call Andre,” Daniel said, stepping away from the table.
Jayden looked at Aimee. “Told you she changed. She’s been thinking she’s better than all of us since Devin dumped her.”
I glared at Jayden. I was almost positive now he was the one who’d sent that picture from game dev into Earl’s Whispers. He wasn’t the catfisher, but he was the one trying to ruin me.
Daniel came back to me, his face whiter than the ice he played on.
“What is it?” I asked. I put my hand on his arm just above the cast.
“Yasmin’s missing.” His voice cracked.
“What? What do you mean, missing? We just saw her today while baking. She said she liked my shirt.”
“She was last seen at the shelter two hours ago. They’ve looked but can’t find her. They’re putting together a search party to check the forest. Andre wants my help because I’ve gone for walks with her there before.”
My fists clenched. The forest that ended at the Scarborough Bluffs cliff. Yasmin was just a baby—only five years old. She shouldn’t be alone out there.
I stepped away from the table, looking straight at Jayden. “Yasmin is a five-year-old girl from the shelter where we work. You can’t possibly be so heartless to stop us from going now.”
No one said anything.
“Let’s go,” Cass said, heading to the stairs. “I can join the search party, too.”
I squeezed Daniel’s arm. I’d never seen him like this. He looked terrified. I knew Daniel had worked at the shelter a lot longer than I had, and I knew that he and Yasmin had a close bond. Yasminhadto be okay.
“Cass and I are going to do whatever we can to help, okay, Daniel? Let’s go. We’ll get there quickly.”
Aimee stood. “I’m coming, too. To help find the kid.”
