Convergence - The Last Science #2.2 - Heroes and Villains

B2: Chapter 22 - In Her Image - III

  The first thing she did to celebrate was eat. All her food was still intact, thanks to her bag. She wondered if it would keep things totally fresh too, and decided to leave a package of doughnuts inside just to test it out. The real problem was that she was starving, and she didn't just want to have snacks for dinner.

  Quinn's family had a well-stocked kitchen, but Natalie didn't want to steal from them. She wasn't supposed to be there, and while she felt like he'd probably be okay with it, she was too nervous to ask. Natalie wasn't a thief, so she had to find another way to get a real meal.

  What she did have was a phone, piled bundles of cash, and a stack of prepaid debit cards she'd bought for emergencies—and so she could pay in shops without getting as many weird looks as the cash did. After all, the cards didn't show anyone how much she had on her. More importantly, they could be used online, and she was in the middle of Seattle. She could finally take advantage of something revolutionary, which hadn't existed in her hometown and which she couldn't ever use at the Laushire house.

  Natalie could order delivery.

  She made sure it was safe first. The guard had typed in the code from an angle she could see pretty well. Natalie opened the door a crack to test it, and the box began to beep. She typed in the code, as quick as she could, and it displayed a reassuring "Disarmed" message. Still, Natalie went back to hiding for a good half-hour again, just to be extra careful. When no one showed up, she felt reasonably assured she could go in and out without setting off another alarm.

  Which meant only one thing: pizza time.

  Natalie wasn't about to risk another meeting with a total stranger. She put in her order with specific instructions on the site. While she waited, she texted back and forth with Kelsey, who had finally managed to escape Steven's house and gone home for the night. Kelsey was still annoyingly curious about Natalie's big secret, but she hadn't seemed to make the connection yet to the breaking news.

  Natalie wondered if she should just tell them—tell them she was from Rallsburg, who she was, everything. It would make her life so much simpler, and it wasn't like they were keeping the big magic secret anymore. That ship had sailed.

  Will you tell them everything? What he did? What you did?

  She shivered. Quinn's house was pretty cold. It was November. Did she dare try to figure out how to turn on the heat?

  The door knocker interrupted her thoughts. She waited, watching the silhouette through the curtains as the delivery guy set down the pizza and walked away. As soon as he'd disappeared into the stairwell, Natalie opened the door and grabbed it, closing it just as quickly.

  She did end up using the family's dishes, whispering an apology under her breath as she did. She cleaned them afterward, and left them to dry in the little rack next to the sink. She hoped they wouldn't mind—or even notice, if she could manage it. That was her goal. Stay as long as she had to, but be out before Sunday, when the Kincaids were supposed to come home from San Diego.

  Her phone lit up again on the table, and Natalie got back into a texting back-and-forth with Kelsey, arguing about whether or not they should hang out in Quinn's house since it was totally open for the weekend. Kelsey had practice Saturday morning, but she was free the rest of the day. Natalie wasn't so sure, but she left the idea on the table.

  More than anything, she just wanted to relax. Her heart was still racing after the mad dash through the city and the impromptu hide-and-seek with the security guys. Between the pizza and the bottle of soda that came with it, though, Natalie was finally returning to some semblance of calm.