Hellbender - Dana Cameron Page 0,107

soft moist snuffling under my nose; I snorted, and sneezed. The cat, who had been inspecting me, took off.

It was as if there was nothing inside me, and nothing in the outside world capable of sustaining my skin, a leaky balloon. I just wanted to ooze into the floor, but it kept falling away from underneath me. It was the definition of misery.

I was on the floor, having fallen off my chair. By very carefully flexing one muscle at a time, I was able to determine that none of my bones were broken, but I was bleeding from the nose and chin, where I’d landed. While it had not been a physical battle, a serious toll had been taken nonetheless.

I lay there hating the feel of the gritty floor under my cheek but unable—at least unwilling—to get up. Faced with the prospect of spending the day there, I have to say, I gave it considerable thought. Not only did I feel like a sock full of hammered shit, I had another bunch of high-risk, no-reward tasks to do before I dared to rest. I shoved myself up and fumble-grabbed a bottle of water and drank it all without stopping.

I coughed, and called out. Claudia poked her head in the door, saw the blood on my face.

The cut was already starting to heal. That was a good sign.

“Holy God, Zoe!” She ran to me. “What the hell did you do to yourself?”

“Later,” I said. “What’s going on?”

“Lots. Same as a minute ago. We’re on for I-Day.” She shook her head, frowning. “Are you okay?”

“No, I mean, maybe. I mean, did anything happen? Out here, with you, with any of the Fangborn?”

She shook her head. “What do you mean?”

I swallowed my frustration. I had to know. “Like, did you sense any disruption here, in this world? No flying squids in the sky? It’s still just after breakfast on I-Day? Can you Change?”

“No, yes, hang on.” Claudia Changed, as effortlessly as ever, her face shifting from human to violet and serpentine. I felt the familiar frisson of energy and felt the urge to follow her suit. I did so, and then Changed back.

“Okay?”

“Yes, thanks,” I said. So far, so good.

She Changed back.

“I think I did it.” I said the words, dazed, not believing them. “Claudia, I think I did it.”

“Did what?”

“Unchained the Fangborn.”

She looked astonished and scared and excited. “Okay, the prophecy—how—I don’t know what . . . but you did?”

I nodded.

“So, I-Day?”

“It’s on, as planned.” I took a deep breath. “It’s been a long time coming. The Normals could use a little excitement.”

Claudia frowned, but nodded and took off.

I dragged myself up to the table, sat down painfully, and found my phone. I made two calls: one to Senator Knight to tell him I’d succeeded and one to Danny.

I noticed there were little indentations all over my bagel where the cat had licked off the cream cheese. Someone was settling in to his new routine.

Finally, I texted three words to Vee: The game’s afoot.

I waited until the phone binged, letting me know Vee had texted me back: Done. The game is ON.

I grinned weakly, amazed at how much that simple act hurt. Without many Family ties of her own, for I-Day Vee was going to involve her Normal friends, whom she’d once described as her “techies and geekdoms.” They were going to solicit a little help from the willing uninitiated, crowd-sourcing the problems of I-Day and integration via several online communities. The social media blasts had been carefully planned, hashtags ready. Additionally, certain groups of scientists and researchers were going to get very interesting emails with carefully selected information about history and biology. It was going to be done quietly, resembling more an IV drip into a bloodstream than a series of press releases, so certain folks would get a head start on what was coming and hopefully take our side. I’d also put Vee in touch with Ariana, my Italian vampire friend, who was going to release her new game, “Wolf, Raven, Snake.” The card game looked remarkably like Fangborn adventures to me—with us as the good guys, of course.

All of this was quite possibly a futile gesture, but it was the only way the two of us personally had to soften the ground. We hoped to gain allies by introducing the idea of the Fangborn with the lure of science and entertainment.

At seven o’clock tonight, President Rozan was going to read the statement she, her staff, Representative Nichols, and the