After the shopping spree, I was glad to get back home, where I could relax. I rushed to our warm, familiar kitchen and got out a pot. I would make mac and cheese from scratch with three kinds of cheese for dinner. It was a perfect night for comfort food, and this had been my dad's favorite meal.
After I put the food in the oven, Poppy said, very casually, "What do you think about what Duke said?"
"I don't know what to think. Part of me hopes it's true, that Dad is out there somewhere, just trying to get home," I admitted.
Poppy's eyes filled with tears. "Do you think it's really possible?"
"I don't know that either, but I'm going to find out whether Duke's a phony. And I'm going to start with Penny."
"Why Penny?"
"She's the biggest gossip in school," I replied. "And besides, she's been hanging all over him. It would have been easy for Duke to pump her for information since he's staying at her house."
" True," she said. "It's not like she'd need any encouragement."
I was a little embarrassed about seeing everyone at school after I had made such a scene at Slim's. And I was going to shove Penny's pom-poms down her throat if she said a word about it. But it was mostly business as usual at Nightshade High, at least until I ran into Duke in the hallway.
"Daizee, I was worried about you. You rushed out in the middle of our reading."
"I was ... upset."
Duke said, "I do not control what I see. I am only the conduit."
He appeared contrite, but I wasn't buying it.
"Just forget it, Duke," I said through gritted teeth.
"But Daisy, I admire you so much. You are so strong. You even killed vampire scum." He said the last words like he smelled something bad.
"How did you find out about that?"
"I have my ways." He smiled mysteriously.
"My friends were in danger," I said, thinking back to that scary time last fall when the cheerleaders were being taken out by a vamp one by one. "It's not like I just hate vampires."
His face darkened as he leaned closer. "If I had my way, they'd all..."
He didn't finish his sentence. He didn't really need to. That was a side of Duke I'd never seen before, and it seriously gave me the creeps.
I caught up with Penny in the lunch line and confronted her.
"What exactly did you tell Duke about me?"
"We have better things to do than talk about you, Giordano," she sniffed. "Get over yourself already."
"Answer the question, Penny. Did he ask about my family? My ... father?"
"I told you he didn't ask me anything about you or your family the whole time he's been in Nightshade," she insisted.
I wasn't sure why, but I had a feeling that Penny was telling the truth. Call it my detective instinct. The girl was a gossip but not an outright liar. Plenty of other people knew about my family scandal, but I couldn't believe they would blab it to Duke. And how did he find out about the vampire? Besides my family, Samantha, Ryan, and Chief Mendez, the only people in town who knew about that were the members of the Nightshade City Council. There's no way Duke could know about that. Unless he really was psychic.
Penny interrupted my thoughts. "Have you heard his latest prediction?"
"What now? Did he predict you'll be prom queen?"
"No," she said, looking offended that I obviously found such a thing impossible. "It's Poppy. He predicted pain, loss, and death all around her. She didn't tell you?"
"No," I said. This prediction thing was getting serious. My stomach clenched at the thought of my sister in danger. "Thanks for telling me."
I was worried for the rest of the day. Even though Penny was not the most trustworthy person I knew, she'd sounded sincere. She really believed Poppy was in danger.
After school, Poppy went to Mort's to visit Gage as usual. At home, I paced anxiously, waiting for her safe return. Midnight followed me, rubbing up against my legs. When the doorbell rang, I practically ran to answer it. I was shocked to see Ryan standing on the porch.
"Hey," he said sheepishly. "I heard the rumors going around school about what Duke said about Poppy. I figured you'd be worried, and I wanted to see how you're doing."
I couldn't help but smile a little bit. Ryan may have been my ex, but he still knew me better than anyone else.
"Come in," I said. "I mean, if you want to."
Ryan followed me to the living room, where we sat down on the couch with Midnight snuggled between us, purring loudly.
"Did Duke say something that upset you at Slim's the other day?" he asked. "I saw you crying in the parking lot."
I nodded, embarrassed that Ryan had witnessed my total breakdown.
"Why do you listen to that guy, anyway?" Ryan asked. "He's a jerk, Daisy. Do you really think he's a true seer?"
"I don't know," I said. "Some of his predictions are coming true." I didn't mention that I actually hoped the one about my father was true. "But this last one ... What if Poppy is in danger? Nothing can happen to her. I can't lose someone else I love. I just can't." I couldn't stop shaking.
Ryan pulled me into his arms. "Shh," he whispered as he stroked my hair, "it's going to be all right." But it wasn't. It was almost unbearable being held by him after so much time apart.
"There's something I need to tell you," he said softly.
Being this close to him, looking into his green eyes, I knew for sure that he loved me. Suddenly, the events of the past few weeks made sense.
"You're a werewolf," I said in a hushed voice. How could I have missed it?
"How did you know?" he said.
"I figured it out," I said. "Why didn't you tell me? How long have you known?"
"A while," he admitted. "But I was scared to tell you. I knew you didn't like Nicholas dating Rose."
"Because he broke her heart last time," I said, "not because he's a werewolf."
"I know that now," he admitted. He took my hand. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."
"Who else knows?" I asked.
"My dad knows. The rest of the council, too."
I stared at him. Sometimes he seemed like a stranger. There was obviously a lot I didn't know about Ryan. "It was you. You were the Were fighting with Nicholas. Rose knew, didn't she?"
"Yes, it was me," Ryan admitted. "When I first turned, I wanted to fight with everyone, especially other Weres. Nicholas has had more time to gain control. He didn't want to fight. I didn't mean to hurt him."
"I can't believe that Rose didn't tell me."
"She wanted to, but I made her promise to let me be the one to tell you. But I kept putting it off, and things kept getting worse and worse between us. And then Duke was always sniffing around. I'm telling you, Daisy, he's bad news."
"I don't want to talk about Duke," I said. "What's the deal with Elise?"
"She was helping me through it," he said. "Strictly shifter to shifter," he added after a quick look at my face. "At first she actually thought I might have something to do with her cousin's death. She confronted me at my first city council meeting."
I remembered her strength when she pushed me up against the wall that day in school. I feared getting on the bad side of Elise Wilder.
"Why would she think that?" I wondered.
"I was near the scene of the crime," he said. "I was at the park the night it happened."
What was Ryan doing at the park that night? Mr. Davis had been attacked the night Ryan first stood me up. Aloud, I said, "What made her change her mind?"
"Well, you heard what Nicholas said. There was no scent of a werewolf on the body. Those marks were made by a human trying to make it look like a werewolf attack. But despite the facts, at first Elise was suspicious of me, and of every new werewolf in town. Then she realized that instead of alienating city council members, we could all be working together to find the real killer. So she finally stopped blaming everyone else and started trusting us."
I felt a little ashamed to think that I hadn't totally trusted Chief Mendez and Nicholas. How could I think they would ever cover up for a murderer? I also felt ashamed that I hadn't trusted Ryan. Maybe I could learn a thing or two from Elise.
"She's been a good friend to me, Daisy," Ryan continued. "She's had her shifting power a lot longer than I have. When ... the change started happening to me, I told her how I was terrified that being a Were would mean losing you. So she helped me learn to control a shift. I'm getting pretty good at it now."
I had to admit, I was touched. "So when you two wanted to talk to me that day in the diner..."
"I told Elise you had broken up with me, and she wanted to try to talk you into giving me another chance," Ryan said. "I knew I'd have a hard time doing it on my own. But Elise thought that if she was able to tell you how she and her boyfriend deal with the shifting, you might feel better about things."
"Her boyfriend?"
"Bane Paxton," he said. "They've only been together for a few weeks."
"But I thought..."
"I know what you thought," he said. "But I only have eyes for you."
I sat in silence, trying to process the information.
Ryan cleared his throat and said, "So I hear you're going to prom with Duke Sherrad." He looked down at his hands.
"Who told you that?"
"Are you?"
"He asked me," I admitted, "but I haven't said yes."
"You haven't?" Ryan perked up. "Daisy, that's great news!" I gave him a level stare. "I might, though, since no one else has asked me."
"I'm asking you," Ryan said. "Daisy Giordano, may I have the pleasure of your company at the Nightshade High prom?"
"I'd love to go with you," I replied. "But I'm still mad at you. You should have told me about being a werewolf."
He hesitated. "You're right."
"No more secrets," I said. "And no more disappearing or leaving me hanging. If you need to be alone, just say so."
Ryan sobered. "Daisy, everyone has secrets. But I promise you I'll never stand you up again. I'll never hurt you again."