TIGHTROPE | fitz vacker

Chapter 5.

   "It's okay!" Sophie promised, running ahead of the others, before stepping back (Elvy snapped his teeth at her). "They're with me."

   Tam flicked his wrists, launching the shadows across the water. "I never said you could bring people here."

   "We mean you no harm," Wrinkly said calmly. "There's no need for your darkness tricks."

   "It's not a trick," Tam said. "Unlike your disguise. And you don't come any closer unless I take a reading of all of you."

   A blonde boy scrambled away from the shadows. He was too far away for Azalea to recognise. "Uh, forget that."

   "It doesn't hurt," Sophie told him. "It just feels really cold."

   "I don't care. It's not happening," The blonde insisted.

   "The only people who refuse readings are those with darkness to hide," Tam told him.

   "Or maybe I just don't want some creeper putting his shadow in my brain," Blonde boy snapped back. "Especially a dude with silver tips on his bangs. What'd you do, melt down the buckles on your Exillium uniform and dip your head in?"

   "My registry pendant, actually. I melted down the chain after I ripped off the crystal and threw it in my father's face. Now if I ever face him again, he'll see exactly how little I miss living in his glittering prison."

   "I think we've gotten off track," Wrinkly said. "I appreciate your wariness, Mr. Song, but—"

   "How do you know that name?"

   "Relax. I know your name because I'm careful—like you appear to be. I don't visit someone I haven't investigated."

   Tam snorted. "All you know are the Council's lies."

   "I assure you, I searched well beyond the registry's files. Which is why I know that your sister was banished after she flooded part of Atlantis—even though it was your parents' fault. They should've known better than to bring a fledgling Hydrokinetic under the ocean. It's like bringing a Guster into a hurricane and expecting them to leave the wind alone. I also know that your father tried to convince people you were a year older than Linh, but you and your sister refused to go along with the lie. I know you scored off the charts on your entrance exams to Foxfire, but your sister scored even higher. And yet your performance at Exillium has been mediocre at best. You refuse to apply yourself during the skill lessons, and you've broken several bones due to careless risks. I've also met your father several times. Can't say I was impressed."

   Tam's jaw fell and he lowered his arms, all trace of his shadows vanishing. "I've never heard anyone speak ill of my father."

   "Then you haven't been talking to the right people," Mr. Forkle said. "Do not make the mistake of assuming all adults are like him. Now, where is your sister hiding? And where's your friend. Az-"

   "Don't say her name!" Tam shouted, just in time. "Don't say her name." Tam repeated, focusing on each syllable. "Call her Zee, and nothing else."

   "Zee?" Sophie asked. "You know her?"

   "We're friends," Tam answered sharply.

   "Okay," Wrinkly said. "Would you please ask your sister and Miss. Zee to come out please?"

   Azalea was thankful that Wrinkly didn't expose her. She scrambled for a mask (she ripped out all the studs from an Exillium mask) and put on a cloak with a hood.

   Tam hesitated a second. Then, he opened the door. Elvy rushed inside to be by Azalea.

   "Do we have too?" Azalea asked while rubbing Elvy's head.