“All I needed were a few tiny mirror shards positioned throughout the classroom, and I could see everything. My students are convinced I have eyes in the back of my head.
“I suppose this means the game is afoot. And it’s my move.”
CHAPTER16
Annette
Morgan looked calmer than he had any right to be, sitting there in the middle of the couch in his blue plaid pajama bottoms and a loose white T-shirt.
I, on the other hand, was barely holding it together. I wanted to hug him and I wanted to kick his ass, and I couldn’t do either one. “How much of our conversation did you overhear?”
“All of it,” he said.
To my left, Temple was inspecting the books on the small shelves by the entertainment center. He pulled out aCalvin and Hobbestreasury and asked, “Hey, can I borrow this?”
“Not now,” I snapped. To Morgan, I said, “Let’s start with Sage Parker. Do you have any idea where he is?”
Neither his expression nor his voice changed. “No.”
I pulled up the ottoman and sat in front of him. “Did you give him the black-magic pills?”
“I didn’t give them to him, no.” He rolled his eyes, the first sign of annoyance he’d shown. “Sage must have stolen them from my room.”
“How many did he steal?”
“Six.”
“And how many more do you have?”
Morgan didn’t answer. No matter. Between Jenny and Temple, we’d find every last pill in the house before we left. “Morgan, those pills put four of your classmates in the hospital.”
His calm cracked, and he turned away. “They weren’t strong enough. The things you see when you take them are...intense. For some people, it’s overwhelming.”
My chest felt like it was being crushed by a thousand stones. “Tell me what you saw.”
“Or else what?”
“Answer the question,” snapped Blake.
“He saidyouwouldn’t understand.” Morgan’s expression hardened, turning him into a stranger. “You’re ashamed of what we are, Dad. You’re scared of it. Well, I’m not. I want to be like Grandma and Aunt Jenny and Uncle Temple.”
If anything was going to make Blake blow a gasket, it was his son saying he wanted to be more like me.
“Why do you want to be like us?” I asked before Blake could respond.
“You used to save people. Especially Aunt Jenny. She never cared what anyone thought. She snuck out every night. She lied to her parents and her teachers and everyone else, but she was a hero. She saved the world again and again.”
“You’re no Hunter,” I said firmly.
“Maybe I could be,” he shot back. “Mr. Barclay is teaching us, just like the guy who used to teach Aunt Jenny. He’s helping us see and making us strong enough to protect the world.”
Jenny moved forward, silently asking to speak. I gave a slight nod.
“Morgan, there’s so much I haven’t told you about what it was like being a Hunter,” Jenny said. “Felipe wasn’t the good guy. Sometimes, neither was I. You don’t know the toll it takes.”
“Nothing worth doing is easy,” said Morgan. “Isn’t that what you’re always telling me, Dad? What about that Ben Jonson quote you love so much? ‘He knows not his own strength that hath not met adversity.’ I’m not afraid of adversity.”
Blake’s face reddened. “There’s strength and then there’s being a damn fool,” he shouted.
