Page 8 of The Evil Twin

“It’s working,” I said.

Other-me glanced over at me and raised an eyebrow, as if she’d heard me. And maybe she had, who knew what kind of stolen powers she had.

“No, it isn’t,” Hannah said sternly.

Other-me let out a fake-sounding laugh and clutched Mr Porter by the arm, in a very flirty way.

“He’s a teacher,” I hissed. “She’s being gross.”

Hannah laughed. “Wait until she starts acting like that with your boyfriend.” She seemed to forget Other-me for a moment and turned to me. “Speaking of, I haven’t seen you and Tennyson together in the past few days. Is everything okay?”

I shook my head. “I can’t talk about it,” I told her. “But it’s fine, really.”

She didn’t look convinced but was distracted by a loud peal of laughter from Other-me.

“I need to figure out that lodestone,” I said. “The sooner the better.”

CHAPTER FOUR

It was a few days before I saw Tennyson again. Without consciously meaning to, we’d managed to divide up the few classes we had together with sitting by Althea’s bedside, so one of us was with her and one of us was in class. We emailed each other our notes, but apart from that, it was complete radio silence.

Then we all got called back to Wilde Manor. There had been another attack, a bad one, and Tennyson wanted the whole pack together to discuss strategy. Hannah and Nikolai stayed behind to keep an eye on Althea and Other-me. We didn’t want Althea to wake up alone, and there was nobody else we could trust around Other-me. Harper was just as bewitched by Other-me as the rest of the school, but on the other hand, Sam would have torn her to shreds given half a chance.

The pack meeting was a shambles. Everyone was angry and scared, and they seemed to blame Tennyson and me as much as they blamed my father. Normally, Althea was the one who could calm everyone down, but she wasn’t there. Tennyson stood in front of the crowd as they yelled at him, hurled abuse and accusations. He just stood there and took it. It got too much for me to stand, and I stepped forward to say something, but Tennyson met my eye and gave a little shake of his head. He had a plan. I just had to trust him.

It was hard for me not to stick my nose in, but I did trust him, and I wanted him to see that, so I kept my mouth shut.

After a while, the crowd began to quiet down.

“If you’re quite done, then perhaps we can begin on the matter at hand,” he said. His voice was clear and confident. He sounded like an alpha.

I stood back and watched in awe as he took control of the group, organized them into groups, and gave them specific tasks. He seemed to know everyone so well, even those who hadn’t originally been in the Wilde pack. He knew their strengths, their interests, and applied them to his overall strategy in a way that benefited both the person and the pack. He was wonderful.

I’d been hurt over the summer when he’d had no time for me. Selfishly, I realized. He’d been thrust into this impossible position, at such a precarious time for the pack, and he’d met the challenge head-on. Not just met it, he’d triumphed over it. No matter how things went with my father in the end, the way Tennyson led this pack was a win. I doubted even his mother would’ve found something to criticize. I envied him, in a way. He was still so young, but he’d clearly found his calling. He was a born leader.

Once the main business was over and the crowd began to drift off, he came over to me.

“You handled that well,” I said, not trusting myself to say anything more.

He leaned against the wall beside me. He looked so tired as he rested his head back against the stone, his eyes falling closed.

“I’m having dinner with my father,” he said, not moving. “You’re welcome to join us. Your brothers, too.”

I had a sudden flash of how that would go, Hamish hanging from a chandelier, Fletcher talking Tennyson’s father’s ear off about Call of Duty. Liam complaining in the face of everything Tennyson’s family had done for us.

“Maybe not,” I said. “Your father doesn’t deserve that.”

Tennyson huffed a quiet laugh, then opened his eyes. He turned his head slightly toward me, and there in the shadows at the back of the meeting hall, I was struck anew by how beautiful he was. I took it for granted most of the time; he was just Tennyson, but he was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. And he was a man now, I realized. He was tall and broad, with a classic square jaw, which was shadowed with stubble. Without meaning to, I’d raised my hand to trace the line of his jaw, but then I remembered.

I dropped my hand awkwardly, then cleared my throat.

“You didn’t have a role for me in your strategy,” I said, to change the subject. “Even without my power, I can still help.”

“You’re researching the lodestone,” he said. “That’s the most important thing right now. Everything else is just a stalling tactic until you can claim your full power.”

I snorted. “No pressure.” But I smiled at him so he knew I was kidding.

I couldn’t keep standing there with him and not go back on my resolution, so I pushed away from the wall.

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