Awakening by Kelley Armstrong Read Free Book Online Page B

to Dr. Davidoff. “Obviously I
can’t
get better, and my mother knew it when she made that promise. So she owes me a laptop.”
    Dr. Davidoff frowned, as if trying to follow her logic. Then he shook his head. “All right, Victoria. We’ll order you—”
    “I know what I need and I’ll pick it out myself.”
    Dr. Davidoff stood. “As you wish. Tomorrow we’ll—”
    “Today. And I want a spring wardrobe, too.”
    “Fine. I’ll ask someone to take you—”
    “You think I’m letting some middle-aged dweeb help me choose clothes? I’m going today so Chloe can give me a second opinion.”
    “You want Chloe to help you shop?” Rae said.
    “Well, I sure don’t want you, skater girl. Chloe may be a loser, but she’s a loser with money, and someone has taught her some small degree of fashion sense.”
    “No, Victoria,” Dr. Davidoff said. “You are not going—”
    She walked over to him, rose onto her tiptoes, and whispered in his ear. A look passed over his face, one part shock, two parts sheer terror.
    “I see,” he said. “Yes, now that I think about it, perhaps you could help us find the boys.”
    “I thought so.”
    She sauntered back to her chair. Blackmail? Two weeks ago, I’d have been horrified. Today, I was impressed.
     
    It’s a classic movie moment. Our hero, trapped in a jungle prison, plots and schemes until finally he breaks free…to find himself miles from civilization with no idea how to get home. Likewise, my ploy to “help” find Simon and Derek had paid off, and I had only the faintest notion of how to use the opportunity.
    And Dr. Davidoff didn’t give me time to plot my next move. He called Sue and told the others to meet us at the front door. I asked for a pit stop at my room, to grab something warmer, but he said they’d do it for me. I had the foresight to specify which sweatshirt I wanted—Liz’s green Gap hoodie.
    As Tori and I waited up front with Sue, I felt a now-familiar warm current tickling across the back of my neck.
    “Leaving without saying good-bye?” the demi-demon whispered in my ear. “And leaving me trapped here, after all I’ve done for you?”
    There was no menace in her voice, just a teasing lilt.
    “I’m sorry,” I said automatically.
    “An apology? My, my, such a polite child. No need to apologize. I didn’t expect you to free me now. You’ll be back when you’re ready, and when you are, I’ll be waiting.”
    “Girls?” Dr. Davidoff said, striding toward us. “Our car is here.”
    As we followed him out, that warm breeze ruffled my hair. “Good-bye, child. And do be careful, you and your little band of magic makers and monsters. Keep those lovely powers of yours in check. I’d hate for the apocalypse to start without me.”

Ten
    W E RODE IN A minivan with Dr. Davidoff, Tori’s mom, and a driver I didn’t recognize—a blond security guy. Behind us, in another car, was Sue, a balding driver, and the dark-haired man who’d had the gun the night we’d escaped Lyle House.
    There was a fourth person in that car: Aunt Lauren. I hadn’t seen her—I knew only because Dr. Davidoff said she would be. When he did, I’d scrambled into the van as fast as I could, so I wouldn’t see her come out.
    How was I going to face Aunt Lauren? Even thinking about it made my stomach ache. I’d spent the last twenty-four hours trying hard not to think about her, about what she’d done.
    My mom died when I was five. Aunt Lauren was her younger sister. In all the years of moving around with my dad, who was always away on business, leaving me with a succession of nannies and housekeepers, Aunt Lauren had been the one sure thing in my life. The person I could count on. So after I escaped, when I got hurt, and Rae and I were separated from the guys, we’d gone to her for help.
    And Aunt Lauren took me back to Dr. Davidoff. If she’d thought she was sending her delusional niece back to the nice folks who could help her, then as angry and hurt as I’d