Shifters

Chapter 40

THEA

"Sit," he said, gesturing to a row of rickety folding chairs facing a desk.

"Why do I feel like we're being interrogated?" Luke hissed.

"We are," I whispered back.

"Shh, he'll get suspicious," Will warned.

The man took a seat behind the desk. "I am Charles Westin," he said, sounding a little bored if I wasn't mistaken. "The highest-ranking officer currently at this base. I will ask you some questions here, and then you will be sent to separate rooms for further questioning."

Jeez, who did they think we were? Government spies? We're still just teenagers. Well, teenagers with wacky powers and unclear allegiance. I guess that warrants some pretty thorough screening.

"First, your names." He looked at me.

"Thea," I said, then quickly corrected, "Theodora."

"Full name," Mr. Westin said.

"Oh. Theodora Myers."

"Full name."

"Theodora Vanessa Myers?"

"Thank you. And you?" He turned to Luke. Will, beside him, started nervously fidgeting with the cuff of his shirt.

"Lucas Evan Wesley," Luke said, giving Mr. Westin a hard look.

Mr. Westin wrote down the name, tapped something into the computer on his desk, and looked expectantly at Will. Luke coughed, but it sounded like a poorly covered laugh. The tips of Will's ears were slightly pink. What was wrong with his name? William was a fine name. Did he have a weird middle name?

"F–F..." Will sighed, took a deep breath, and said in a voice that only slightly wavered, "Phoenix Fitzwilliam North."

I blinked, and Luke tried to stifle his chuckles—obviously he had already known this.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Westin asked, pen poised in midair as he looked blankly at Will.

"Phoenix Fitzwilliam North," Luke said for his friend. He gave Mr. Westin a jokingly haughty look. "It's not that hard to forget."

Will's face was now approximately the color of a tomato. I was speechless; I felt a little bad for him, but his name was just so...so...I didn't even know how to describe it!

Mr. Westin spared a second to glare at Luke before returning to staring at Will. He looked like he wasn't sure whether to tell Will to stop joking or to tell him to take a break and get a glass of water.

Will cleared his throat awkwardly, shifting in his seat.

"Are you serious?" Mr. Westin finally asked.

Will blinked.

"Jeez, Mr. Westin, does this look fake to you?" I snapped, gesturing at Will's extreme discomfort. Will only turned redder. I bit my lip to keep from giggling at his expression.

Mr. Westin looked at me, then back at Will, and shook his head. "No, Miss Myers, it looks very real."

"Yeah," Will said, and his voice squeaked, and this time Luke didn't even try to hide his amusement as he bent over laughing. I clapped a hand over my mouth to keep back my own laughter, while poor Will sat there looking completely betrayed and so, so embarrassed.

"That's enough, Mr. Wesley," Mr. Westin scolded. He turned to his computer and typed in a bunch of stuff. "Now," he said, "onto the next set of questions. How did your parents die?"