pool.
I was also more than a little worried about explaining this whole thing. All evidence of my fight with Dr. DuPont had mysteriously vanished, but I wasn’t sure how whoever had worked that particular mojo could cover this up. I expected our neighbors to start congregating in the street any minute now, like they did when the power went out.
David gave a huge sigh and ran his hands over his hair. “Well, this is weird. And awful.”
“Yup.” My skirt had gotten twisted around my hips somewhere in all of this, and I started straightening it. Anything to avoid looking at the pool.
“Who are you?” David asked me for the second time that day.
“International assassin? Ninja? Vampire slayer, maybe?” I lifted my head. “No, I’m a—”
There was a slight popping sound from the pool, and David and I both turned our attention back to the water.
Which was now empty.
And with one loud crack, the hole in my fence was suddenly gone. I didn’t even have to look behind me to know that the screech of metal was David’s car repairing itself. In just a few seconds, all evidence of the insane car chase, the crash, all of it, was gone. Then the only sound in my backyard was the singing of birds and the rustling of the leaves.
“That really happened,” David said softly. “All that shit, it . . .
disappeared, right? I didn’t hallucinate that?”
My adrenaline seemed to vanish as completely as the Cadillac, and it was all I could do not to collapse in a heap on the grass. It was one thing to see the after-effects of stuff disappearing. It was another to see an entire car—with people inside—poof out of existence.
“Yeah,” I replied. “That happened.”
“Do you know why?”
When I turned to him, David was still staring at the pool, the fingers of his right hand pressed against his temple again. “No. But . . . David, something seriously weird is going on.” The hand at his temple moved up to tug on his hair as David made a sound that was part sob, part laugh. “You think? Jesus, Harper. You . . . you flipped Ryan Bradshaw like a pancake. You drove a car like Jason Bourne. And then this . . .” He waved his hand at the water. “I don’t . . . I mean . . .” His words trailed off and he sank down into a crouch, eyes still fixed on the pool. Walking over to him, I pulled at the shoulder of his jacket.
“Okay, I get that it’s weird, and while I totally respect the need for a PTSD moment, we really need to talk.”
He eyes moved up to my face, still kind of unfocused. “About what? Why bad guys are chasing you, and why freaking magic is apparently real?”
“I actually think the bad guys might be chasing you , but yeah.” David staggered backwards, and sat down heavily on the grass. As he did, he nearly overturned Mom’s statue of two little girls reading on a bench, but I was able to grab it before it fell. His sleeves, too short as usual, fell back from his thin wrists as he rested his elbows on his knees, hands tugging at his hair.
“Hold up, what? You think those guys were after me ? Why?” “I don’t know. Do you know why?” I towered over David, my shadow falling on his body.
Dazed, David shook his head. “I can’t—”
And then I saw it. Something flickered across his face and he flinched.
“You do know,” I said, yanking him to his feet. “David, what is it?”
He swallowed heavily. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”
At that moment, I really hated that my superpowers prevented me from shaking the crap out of him. I settled for balling my fist up in the front of his shirt and pulling him down to meet my eyes. “David, look around you. This? This is crazy-sauce . And if you know anything that could help me figure out why I’m suddenly Wonder Woman, I need to know it right. Effing. Now.” I actually said the word that time, and David’s eyes went so wide I wondered if that had shocked him more than the disappearing Cadillac.
But he never got a chance to answer
I was also more than a little worried about explaining this whole thing. All evidence of my fight with Dr. DuPont had mysteriously vanished, but I wasn’t sure how whoever had worked that particular mojo could cover this up. I expected our neighbors to start congregating in the street any minute now, like they did when the power went out.
David gave a huge sigh and ran his hands over his hair. “Well, this is weird. And awful.”
“Yup.” My skirt had gotten twisted around my hips somewhere in all of this, and I started straightening it. Anything to avoid looking at the pool.
“Who are you?” David asked me for the second time that day.
“International assassin? Ninja? Vampire slayer, maybe?” I lifted my head. “No, I’m a—”
There was a slight popping sound from the pool, and David and I both turned our attention back to the water.
Which was now empty.
And with one loud crack, the hole in my fence was suddenly gone. I didn’t even have to look behind me to know that the screech of metal was David’s car repairing itself. In just a few seconds, all evidence of the insane car chase, the crash, all of it, was gone. Then the only sound in my backyard was the singing of birds and the rustling of the leaves.
“That really happened,” David said softly. “All that shit, it . . .
disappeared, right? I didn’t hallucinate that?”
My adrenaline seemed to vanish as completely as the Cadillac, and it was all I could do not to collapse in a heap on the grass. It was one thing to see the after-effects of stuff disappearing. It was another to see an entire car—with people inside—poof out of existence.
“Yeah,” I replied. “That happened.”
“Do you know why?”
When I turned to him, David was still staring at the pool, the fingers of his right hand pressed against his temple again. “No. But . . . David, something seriously weird is going on.” The hand at his temple moved up to tug on his hair as David made a sound that was part sob, part laugh. “You think? Jesus, Harper. You . . . you flipped Ryan Bradshaw like a pancake. You drove a car like Jason Bourne. And then this . . .” He waved his hand at the water. “I don’t . . . I mean . . .” His words trailed off and he sank down into a crouch, eyes still fixed on the pool. Walking over to him, I pulled at the shoulder of his jacket.
“Okay, I get that it’s weird, and while I totally respect the need for a PTSD moment, we really need to talk.”
He eyes moved up to my face, still kind of unfocused. “About what? Why bad guys are chasing you, and why freaking magic is apparently real?”
“I actually think the bad guys might be chasing you , but yeah.” David staggered backwards, and sat down heavily on the grass. As he did, he nearly overturned Mom’s statue of two little girls reading on a bench, but I was able to grab it before it fell. His sleeves, too short as usual, fell back from his thin wrists as he rested his elbows on his knees, hands tugging at his hair.
“Hold up, what? You think those guys were after me ? Why?” “I don’t know. Do you know why?” I towered over David, my shadow falling on his body.
Dazed, David shook his head. “I can’t—”
And then I saw it. Something flickered across his face and he flinched.
“You do know,” I said, yanking him to his feet. “David, what is it?”
He swallowed heavily. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”
At that moment, I really hated that my superpowers prevented me from shaking the crap out of him. I settled for balling my fist up in the front of his shirt and pulling him down to meet my eyes. “David, look around you. This? This is crazy-sauce . And if you know anything that could help me figure out why I’m suddenly Wonder Woman, I need to know it right. Effing. Now.” I actually said the word that time, and David’s eyes went so wide I wondered if that had shocked him more than the disappearing Cadillac.
But he never got a chance to answer
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