The Tower (16 page)

“You learn by doing, Adrian. Just like everything else,” said Terry, and then asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Sorry, Terry, it’s just that you’re so different today.”

Terry laughed. “How can you say I’m different? You’ve known me for less than a week. If you like, I’ll knock you down right here.”

“No thanks,” I said, laughing with her. Then I told her, “While you were getting acquainted with Alia yesterday, I actually ran five miles. Without using my power.”

“You did?”

“Yeah... in bits.”

Terry smiled. “Well, that’s a start. I’ll go a little slower on our next jog, okay?”

I said as carefully as I could, “I know you’re supposed to teach me to fight and everything, Terry, and I honestly don’t mind learning from a girl, but I’d really appreciate it if you could go just a little slower in the dojo too.”

Terry smiled again as she said, “I’m sorry I was so rough on you, Adrian. I just expected a little more from someone who beat my grandfather twice. I was kind of hoping you were a natural athlete and that you’d catch on quicker if I pushed you to the limit. But you’re obviously not a natural, so I’ll slow down a bit, okay?”

“Thanks,” I muttered, feeling both grateful and insulted at the same time.

We continued to circle around each other, ever-so-slightly more in step with the music.

“The thing is,” said Terry, “this is my first real job for the Guardians, and I promised Mr. Baker that I’d get you into shape quickly. But I only have a month and a half left to teach you daily, and then I’m going back to school. After that, I might only be able to teach you on weekends.”

“You’re a student?” I asked, surprised.

Terry replied sarcastically, “As unbelievable as it may seem for someone my age, Adrian, yes, I’m actually a student.”

“I thought you were a Guardian Knight.”

Terry shook her head. “I’m still too young to officially join the Knights. You have to be of age for that.”

“What grade are you in?”

“Well, I’ll start tenth grade from this September. Mine’s a combined middle and high school, and Mrs. Gifford told me that if you can learn to balance your power, you might be joining me there.”

“I’ll never learn,” I said heavily.

“Maybe you’re just learning it wrong,” suggested Terry.

“I’m meditating with Cindy almost every day.”

“Well, maybe meditation isn’t your thing. There are other ways to balance psionic powers.”

“How would you know?” I asked. “You’re not even psionic.”

“Trust me, Adrian. I’ve lived with psionics all my life. I do know some things about it.”

The song ended. We made our way to the side of the hall as the band announced that it was going to take a short break.

“I was wondering,” I said as casually as I could, “if you might tell me a bit about your life.”

Terry sighed softly. “I don’t like talking about myself very much, Adrian. I’m not my favorite subject.”

“But I don’t know anything about you, Terry.”

“So?”

“So Cindy told you everything about me,” I said, trying not to make it sound like a whine.

“So what?” Terry asked again, grinning mischievously.

“So you kind of have me at a disadvantage here,” I pointed out.

Terry shrugged. “I’ve always had you at a disadvantage, Adrian.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Would you like to fly again?”

“I’m kidding!” laughed Terry. “And you’re right, it is a bit unfair. But do you really want to know more about me?”

“Yes,” I said, failing miserably to keep my tone laid back.

Terry sighed again and said, “Alright, Adrian, I’ll tell you the sad story of my life. But don’t expect me to get all misty-eyed like Ms. Gifford does when she’s talking about you and Alia. And I’m no good at telling stories, so you’ll have to ask me questions.”

“I have lots of questions,” I informed her.

“Tell you what, I promise to answer all of your questions as fully and as truthfully as I want, just as soon as we get another drink.”

“Okay,” I said slowly, unsure if I had heard her right.

“But in return,” said Terry, poking me in the chest, “I want the truth about you too.”

“What truth?” I asked. “Cindy told you everything there is to know, and she rarely lies.”

Terry shook her head. “There’s just one thing I’m dying to know which I didn’t ask Ms. Gifford because I figured she probably didn’t know either. But I’m not going to ask you until you promise.”

“Okay,” I said lightly, thinking that if Terry already knew that I once wore a dress to a shopping mall, there was little more she could possibly ask that I’d desperately want to hide.

“Promise?”

“I promise,” I said. “So what do you want to know?”

“No, you go first, Adrian. And we’ll also need a drink.”

We exited the hall. The air outside felt almost cool and quite refreshing. The catering staff was still passing around wine glasses, but we decided to fetch our own from the buffet table. In addition to filling our glasses, Terry swiped a bottle so that we wouldn’t have to come back for more. As we were looking for a table, Cindy found us and, politely ignoring the bottle in Terry’s hand, told me that she was taking Alia and returning to our penthouse.

“Please don’t stay out too late, Adrian,” said Cindy. “Remember, you have school tomorrow.” Giving me a wink, she led Alia away. My sister was singing
“Addy has a girlfriend”
into my head, and I was pleased to see them go.

After a few more minutes of searching for an open table, we gave up and sat on the damp grass. So much for the expensive clothes.

“Okay, Adrian,” said Terry, sipping her wine, “question number one, please.”

Wanting to start with something harmless, I asked, “Is Terry your real name?”

Terry laughed. “Actually, it’s Teresa. But if you call me that,” she said, pointing her right index finger menacingly at my nose, “I will make your life very painful.”

“Teresa?” I mouthed.

“I’m warning you, Adrian!”

“Okay, okay. Question number two,” I said hastily. “Who’s Uncle Charles?”

“I live with him,” said Terry. “He’s not my real uncle. I had three not-real-uncles that I called uncles when I was growing up. They’re from my grandfather’s old Wolf pack. I lived with each in turn. But Uncle Charles is the only one still alive.”

“And they taught you how to fight?”

“Mainly. They taught me most of the CQC stuff anyway. I also attended more dojos than I can count. I did karate, kung fu, judo, kendo, kenpo, aikido, jujutsu, bojutsu, jojutsu, and even some ninjutsu, which was kind of stupid.”

“Everything but sumo, huh?” I grinned.

“Very funny, Adrian,” Terry said dryly. “But I never really mastered any of the dojo stuff. We kept moving around, so I went from master to master, sometimes three dojos a year.”

“Well, you certainly mastered something.”

“What I do is a combination of various fighting styles. That’s what military CQC is, after all. Mine comes with a bit of a twist here and there.”

“Those twists are very painful, by the way,” I said unhappily.

“Pain is a part of training,” replied Terry. “You’ll get used to it, I promise.”

According to Mr. Baker, not even all Guardian Knights learned combat. Yet here was Terry, not a Knight, not even psionic, who had spent her whole life learning to fight. Aside from simply being raised by ex-Wolves, I couldn’t help but wonder what had led her onto this dangerous path of life.

I asked her, “What was it like growing up with the Guardians?”

“It wasn’t all terrible, Adrian,” said Terry, correctly reading the tone of my voice. “We had some good times. I learned to drive when I was nine, and fly airplanes too. But moving around means saying goodbye to a lot of friends in school, and that was never fun. I was really happy when the New Haven Project came up because I could settle down here and have a real life for a change.”

“How long have you lived here?”

“Since last summer,” said Terry. Then she laughed as she added, “For staying in one place, that’s a new record for me.”

I laughed with her. I had lived all my life in one little town until last summer. These days, I knew a bit more about what it was like to move around on short notice, but still I found it hard to imagine what Terry’s life must have been like before she came to New Haven.

“Did you ever fight the Angels?” I asked.

“Not personally. Not yet, anyway,” Terry replied with a hint of bitterness in her tone. “Still, living in a Guardian community means there’s always the danger of an attack, or of someone you know going off on a mission and not coming back. I was born after Granados was killed. I don’t really know how the Guardians were during her rule, but the Angels have been pounding us harder and harder these last ten years. Next question.”

I couldn’t think of a good next question quickly, so I settled for, “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

Terry paused for a moment, sipping her wine before answering slowly, “I had an older brother.
Had
, Adrian. Just like my parents.”

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.

“It’s okay.”

“I don’t mean to pry, Terry, but what happened to your parents?”

“That’s called prying, Adrian, but okay. A month after I was born, they were killed during a mission against an Angel stronghold. It was led by my grandfather, and he got them killed.”

“Is that why you stay clear of Ralph?”

“He stays clear of me, Adrian.”

“Tell me about him, Terry.”

“What’s to tell?” Terry said in an annoyed tone. “You’ve met him. You’ve fought him. He’s just a crazy old man.”

I looked evenly at Terry for a moment, and she sighed loudly, saying, “My grandfather was captain of Diana Granados’s personal guard. When she was killed, he avenged her and became the new leader of the Guardians.”

Ralph had avenged Queen Diana Granados? That would mean Ralph was the one who caught and killed Cindy’s husband, Eric. Back in January, Cindy obviously hadn’t told me the whole story of her time with the Guardians.

Terry continued, “My grandfather was no master controller though. He couldn’t keep everyone together. Soon enough, the Guardians were all breaking into smaller and smaller groups.”

“Cindy told me about that,” I said. “But she also said that Ralph stepped down after a mission he was leading failed. Was that the same one where–”

“Yes,” Terry cut across me sharply.

We finished our glasses. Refilling them, Terry said in a subdued tone, “It was a big and important battle. The Angels’ queen was there, and the Guardians were trying to kill her.”

“You mean Larissa Divine?” I asked. Cindy had once told me the Angel queen’s name. Knowing that my first sister, Cat, had been converted by this master controller, I had burned her name into my memory.

Terry nodded. “It was our one chance to end Queen Divine’s rule. But everything went wrong, and my grandfather was one of only two survivors. The other was Mr. Baker, who took command of the faction soon afterwards.”

“And Ralph dumped you and your brother with his Wolf pack, huh?”

“Mr. Baker used to tell me what a wonderful man my grandfather had once been, but I never saw it. Several years after my parents were killed, Mr. Baker, along with the leaders of other large Guardian groups, tried to negotiate a truce with the Angels. The Angels refused, of course, but my grandfather never forgave Mr. Baker for trying. He agreed with the Angels. Peace, he said, was for the weak.”

That certainly sounded like the Ralph Henderson I knew. Terry refilled my glass again as she said, “It was actually really strange seeing him join and lead your rescue team, Adrian. I have no idea how Mr. Baker managed to convince him to do that, because my grandfather is no team player. He always works alone, and he keeps taking really dangerous missions. Sometimes I think he’s
trying
to get himself killed.”