“There are plenty of condiments to disguise the eggs,” Clarice observed from the fridge. “I remember that I loved pickle relish on my eggs as a kid. I’m far too grown up for that now, of course.”
Addison laughed. “I’ll have to try it! I didn’t go through a pickle phase with this little one, but I’m intrigued.”
Bruno made his way past Vivian, who was setting the table and trying to keep Shane from grabbing napkins off as fast as she could put them down. “We’ll have to sit in shifts,” she said. “There aren’t enough chairs for everyone at once.”
Somehow, breakfast was served and everyone rotated in and out of the two bathrooms before any bladders exploded. Showers were kept brief and utilitarian, but Bruno, as one of the last to go, still had a lukewarm wash, ankle-deep in a tub that was draining a little bit too slowly.There were no clean bath towels left, so he used a hand towel to dry off.
After breakfast, Darius grudgingly took the kids back to the romp room to tidy it up and Juliette called another meeting, having consulted extensively with her superiors.
“Clarice’s phone has gone dead, but we had time to track it to a decommissioned military installment outside of Anders Canyon, about two hours out from here, and we’ve confirmed activity there. The vehicles match the descriptions from the Bluffs incident, but we don’t know how long they’ll be in one place, so we want to go now. We’ll debrief on the way, but I need you people to stay on task. No heroics, no improvisation. If something goes sideways, civilians stand aside and let the agents take the risks. Fully qualified agents, Kendra. We’re using all of you for the first wave because we’re closer than any of the next available teams and because your particular talents might be useful, but you have specific jobs, and I expect you to do them. If you stick to the script, this will be fast and bloodless. If you think you know better than your team lead, tell me now, because that’s how people get hurt, and I will ground you faster than Jackson can fill up a diaper and it will smell twice as bad. Got it?”
There was a murmur of assent.
“We only need to hold things down until Monday morning, when the cavalry will be able to come in and mop up. If things go according to plan, we’ll all be back to our own beds by Monday night, but I don’t want anyone going back to their homes until then and I want you to keep radio silence with anyone outside of the safe house until that time. Darius, that goes for you, too. No texts to your friends, no gaming chats.”
Daruis, startled, looked up from his phone. “I know,Mom.” He managed a perfect mix of offended anddisgusted that teens were so good at. “I’ve got it in airplane mode.”
“We’re taking Becket, Ian, Olivia, Alan, and Kendra. Roderick, I appreciate your offer, but I need to leave someteethbehind. This house has some built-in protections, but I’d feel better if you were here.”
Bruno felt a moment of chagrin. Armadillos weren’t fighters. Their survival lay in protecting themselves.
“Is there something I can do?” Clarice asked anxiously from his side.
Juliette gave her a wry smile. “You can help babysit.”
42
CLARICE
Clarice had done a little babysitting as a teenager, but it couldn’t prepare her for eight kids and a baby, compounded by the fact that most of them turned into animals when they got frustrated, tired, or bored.
Cherry and Addison quickly assembled the romp room into a makeshift day care, and the kids were all on board with the games of pretend that they suggested. The agents had brought a varied selection of toys and books, but Clarice was impressed by how little they needed to stay entertained.
Some of the parents slipped out without lengthy goodbyes in order to forestall tears, but most of them shared long hugs and kisses with the children they were leaving behind. “It’s a Tiny Paws weekend sleepover!” most of them fibbed, leaving out the part where at least three evil agencies had teamed up to hunt them.
Becket gave Vivian a lingering kiss.
“You aren’t a cat with nine lives left,” Vivian reminded him, while Clarice tried to pretend she wasn’t there because there wasn’t a good way to get out of the kitchento give them privacy without being obvious about it. “Be careful.”
“I have a lot left to live for,” Becket said. Then he murmured, “I love you,” and went out with Juliette to try on a bullet-proof vest.
It was considerably easier to move around when they were all gone, but not an awful lot quieter.
Darius escaped to a corner of the living room with his phone and earbuds. Bruno and Roderick went out to do a quick walk around the neighborhood to check for anything that didn’t belong, armed with agency earpieces. That left Clarice in the kitchen with Vivian. “Becket’s a better baker than I am, but even mediocre cookies will go a long way towards distracting the kids. And us, too.”
Clarice helped mix the batter—there was no mixer so it had to be done by hand—and shape the cookies, then do an inventory of the supplies and plan some meals. “We ate all the eggs and we’ll run out of bread by tonight at the rate they’re going through it,” Vivian said. “And shredded cheese. There are some cans of things, but I’m not sure what the kids will find appealing.”
Clarice found a wholesale-sized plastic cylinder of parmesan in the pantry, and cans of veggies and soup—but not enough of any one kind of soup to feed everyone. A soup smorgasbord? There were a few big jars of marinara and a few packages of noodles. “Spaghetti for lunch seems like a no-brainer. Then we could make a casserole for dinner,” she proposed. “There’s no meat, but we have vegetables and mushroom soup for the base. There’s fried onions we could make a crunchy topping out of.”
“That might work if we don’ttellanyone they are onions,” Vivian agreed cheerfully.
If Becket going into the line of fire bothered her, Vivian was masking it well. Clarice was not sure she wouldhave been so serene if Bruno was the one going, and she marveled at the fact that it had only been a few weeks that she’d even known Bruno.
And it had been less time that she’d known about magic in the world, and here she was in a safe house with a bunch of shapeshifting children.
Clarice found a sheet cake pan big enough to cook the casserole in and set aside the ingredients. There was also a wide selection of spices and Clarice mixed up a bowl to season the dish with, consulting with Vivian about what might be too spicy for young palates.
“Tara is hypersensitive to…well, everything. Shane will put anything in his mouth. I watched Franzi enjoy an entire bowl of pickled hot peppers. I’m not sure Gil tastesanythingwhen he eats. Kids are all different!”
