“I can’t promise you that.”
My eyes narrowed. “Really?”
“Flirting comes so naturally; I do it without thinking. I’ll try though.”
He looked sincere — at least I got that much. “Fine.” I was reluctant, but righted my chair, sat and opened the book. “It seems to me that somewhere along the way you missed something or you wouldn’t be having trouble now. We’ll start at the beginning and see if we can figure out whatever you didn’t get.
* * * *
“Hey, Mom.” I stood in the doorway to the immaculate kitchen. Our house wasn’t a castle, but it was nice — wide windows and high ceilings throughout with all the most modern conveniences.
“How was school?” She continued cutting vegetables without looking up or smiling.
My parents never abused me, verbally or physically. They just ignored me. I learned long ago that they didn’t want to know about my day. They expected a socially acceptable answer.
“Fine.”
“Dinner’s almost ready. Your father will be home late and I’m going out shortly.”
Typical. I left the kitchen without replying, knowing she wouldn’t notice or care.
When I was little, my mom sang me to sleep and lovingly nursed me when I got sick. We explored every inch of Arizona from the Grand Canyon to the rivers and my dad would carry me on his shoulders or push me in the stroller. When we returned to our comfortable home in the suburbs of Phoenix, we’d plan our next trip.
Things changed around my seventh birthday, but I was too young to understand why. Mom started crying a lot and Dad stopped planning trips. Maybe I could make sense of it now if I knew what actually happened. But the details had faded like an old pair of jeans.
Now, we hid behind a façade of superficial words and fake smiles. To the casual observer we had the perfect life, complete with the pretty but modest house and late model cars. At home, Mom’s stellar performance as the loyal wife almost made me believe she didn’t sleep with any man who came near her outside the house. Dad seemed to work all the time but the only things he worked at that late were his girlfriends. My parents were so busy living in the moment that they weren’t even doing financial planning for their future — or mine.
Or course, I wasn’t supposed to know about any of that. But I did. Worse, I’d fused into their world, succumbing to their apathy and pretending everything was perfect. I did my homework and chores, got good grades. But I wanted more for myself than this sterile existence.
I wanted something real in my life, something I could depend on. I wanted love.
Soft blond curls cascaded against the back of the sofa. Bree, my five-year-old sister, was full of giggles and mischief. I’d had the advantage of several years of a normal family life. But she barely knew our parents. In the wee hours, it was me she crawled into bed with after a nightmare. Me who she came crying to when she got hurt.
If I moved out, Bree would be practically alone. If she grew up without me, my parents would suck the spark right out of her. I’d decided to stay there, at least until she was old enough to leave with me.
Bree grinned, pink lips exposing two missing teeth. “Tetha.”
“Hi, cutie.” I bent over, letting her outstretched arms wrap around my neck, and snuggled with her on the couch while she watched Finding Nemo for the hundredth time. Homework could wait.
* * * *
For the second day in a row, Hayden waited for me on the other side of the gate near the school entrance. He wore a faded blue t-shirt and snippets of tanned skin showed through holes in his tattered jeans. The word yummy came to mind.
So far, he’d excelled at observing me without appearing to. But now, he openly watched as I slung my backpack over my shoulder and headed in his direction.
“Any news?” he asked.
“No.” I slowed my pace, unsure if he intended to continue the conversation.
He fell in step beside me. “How are your parents handling things?”
My fingers twitched at my thigh and I hoped he’d drop the subject soon. “Oh, uh, they don’t know about any of this.”
“Wait.” He stopped, compelling me to stop too. “Why would Agent Phillips tell you, but not your parents? Don’t they have a right to know someone’s targeting their family?”
“Agent Phillips thinks they only want me.” I wished I’d thought of a better answer. “No point in worrying them over nothing.”
“You’re a minor and they’re responsible for you. Agent Phillips would be required to inform them. Besides, their daughter being stalked is not nothing.” He stared, mouth gaping.
“Of course.” I slowed my breathing so I didn’t appear nervous. “But there’s no point in telling them, since Agent Phillips doesn’t have any real information yet.”
He studied me a moment then motioned for me to go ahead. “That logic’s not right. But whatever.”
My gut prickled in agreement. But with the data I had, everything they’d said made sense. It was Hayden who lacked vital information — of course he’d be worried. And a little voice in my head forewarned that I should be worried too.
Chapter Five
Hayden
“Dude, are you tapping that?” Brad shoveled another bite of pasta into his mouth, his gaze fixed on Tessa several tables away.
Brad’s lewd comments used to make me laugh. This time, my fingers tightened around my fork. Tessa didn’t deserve to be talked about that way. She’d tutored me two days already, slogged patiently through my notes and had single handedly saved me from flunking out in calculus. She’d been spot on. I had missed something early on, then crashed and burned. I wasn’t quite out of the woods, but I was getting there.
School had sucked for a long time. Today, I almost enjoyed calculus. I enjoyed her. I looked forward to the end of each day when I shadowed her to the library. Tessa would smile and take a seat inside. I’d sit across from her and watch those silky blond tresses fall over her face while she looked at my notes from our latest lesson.
Tessa was an all-you-can-eat banquet for my imagination. Every day, I fantasized about kissing her and each time, she’d nail me — as if reading my mind — then she’d calmly remind me to focus. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I knew it would never go anywhere and she’d never go for a hit and ditch. But that knowledge didn’t stop me from wanting her.
I had a simple philosophy about relationships — there were no guarantees. Even couples who were in it for the long haul got divorced. And high school romances had less chance of working out. If it was going to end anyway, did it really matter whether or not my motives were honorable? But I couldn’t bring myself to play Tessa that way. A girl like her wouldn’t want to settle for less than some kind of promise of a future. A commitment.
So I kept my distance and gave her a hundred percent of my attention, directing every last bit of my mental energy toward my studies. Most important, I never flirted. And the less interest I showed, the more relaxed she appeared. If I kept it up, she might even grow to like me one day. That wasn’t my goal, but I preferred that to her loathing.
“Well? Are you hitting that?” Brad repeated.
I scowled. “No.”
“You sure? ‘Cause you’ve been different lately, since your private lessons.” He lifted one brow. “You’re not going soft on us, are you?”
“Crossing over to the dark side, Hayden?” Skyler snickered. “Might want to hit that one a little longer before you ditch. She’s so hot.”
My thoughts exactly. I’d definitely want to take my time with Tessa. My eyes found her again. She glanced at me as though I’d just whispered those words into her ear. I wasn’t sure if I liked how she seemed to see into my soul. It made me uneasy.
It also intrigued me and made me want her more.
“There’s something I’ve been thinking about.” A goofy grin covered Skyler’s face. “The new girl from Romania. Very hot. I’ll see you guys later.”
“You going to Christina?
??s Halloween party this weekend?” Brad asked.
“Don’t know yet.” I’d rather find some excuse to see Tessa. But she wasn’t right for me and I shouldn’t allow myself to indulge. There were other things to concentrate on, namely graduating. But I also needed something to take my mind off Tessa — like other girls. “You know, a party at Christina’s sounds perfect.”
“Excellent.” Brad grinned.
Chapter Six
Tessa
The bell rang and Hayden trailed after me along the outside of the main building.
“You only met with them two days ago. What do they want?” He nodded toward the auditorium.
To practice my supernatural powers. Only three days and my ability to pull pictures had improved dramatically. But now that I could do it, the visuals cluttered my head and ravaged my peace of mind. It should have been fun, plucking images from the minds of everyone I encountered. Instead, ugly truths ambushed me at inconvenient times and made me wish for ignorance.
As near as I could tell, the guys fantasized about me more than any other girl in school. Though the knowledge raised my confidence, did I really want to see myself making out with Tom in Lab or Jose in PE? I constantly changed my mind about whether or not the power was more trouble than it was worth.
Desperation for peace of mind gnawed at me. I needed to practice blocking unwanted pictures. But Hayden had asked me a question. “We brainstorm, go over clues. They ask me questions and we try to figure out what’s going on. If they have any news, they’ll fill me in. Last time, Agent Phillips promised to give me some self-defense tips at this next meeting.”
Hayden stopped just before the doors. “It’s weird. If you’re in so much danger that you need to be watched full time, why do they let you go to school at all? Why not put you in protective custody? I don’t know. An FBI agent and the principal spending a private hour with you, then volunteering self-defense tips — all without involving your parents? Don’t you think it sounds a little fishy?”
Not if you knew what I know. “N-no.”
Hayden stared into my eyes a moment. “I’ll see you after my PE class.” He pushed past me to get the door and his arm brushed my shoulder.
Little electric ripples shot down to my toes. I had to get a grip. The last thing I needed was to get all puppy-eyed over a guy like Hayden. Sure, he’d been a total gentleman during our tutoring sessions. He remained studious and aloof — until his mind went idle and his visions rushed me. So I did my best to keep his brain occupied. I didn’t fool myself into thinking that just because he didn’t act on it when he fantasized about getting me naked that it meant he had any real respect for me. Not that I wanted him to act on it. He wasn’t my type.
“Yeah, see ya,” I said, too disturbed over my body’s reaction to his accidental touch.
As the door to the auditorium closed behind me, I picked up on something. An energy behind me, on the other side of the door. The little hairs on my arms sprung to attention. I opened the door again and poked my head outside. A quick scan revealed nothing except concrete paths, lawns and shrubbery. Strange. But I didn’t worry too much about anything happening in broad daylight… on school grounds. Still, waiting around for someone to pounce set my teeth on edge.
I made a beeline to Fawn and Mr. Linton who stood next to the table and chairs. “Someone’s out there. I feel it.”
“We know. We’re doing everything in our power to keep you safe.” Mr. Linton motioned toward one of the chairs.
I ignored his direction and leaned against the wall, willing my pulse to steady. “It doesn’t bother you? The waiting? Shouldn’t we do something? If they’re dangerous, why do we just sit around so they can get the jump on us?”
“Things will happen soon enough without you rushing it.” Fawn kept her voice low and soothing. “You need to focus on honing your skills and let us do the worrying.”
I usually tried to give people the benefit of the doubt. Since my entire world changed the past week, trusting wasn’t coming easy now. Maybe being around Hayden had tainted me. More likely, my reluctance to trust stemmed from the fact that I had to rely on two people I barely knew to protect me from others I knew not at all.
“How certain are you that they’re not after my family? If anything happens to my little sister—”
“Positive.” This time, Mr. Linton pulled out the chair for me and sat in the one next to it. I didn’t take it. “They have no use for common people, which makes your family of no consequence. By involving non-supernaturals, they risk exposing what they are. Trust me, they won’t take that chance.”
“Tell me again what they want with me.” So far, they hadn’t actually spelled it out.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Fawn sat across from the empty chair. “You’d help in furthering their agenda.”
“Which is what?” I leaned over and rested my hands on the back of the chair.
Fawn studied me. The look on her face told me I should already know the answer. “Imagine what someone like us could do in a position of real power. Unfortunately, the good guys don’t crave power. Since the bad guys are the ones that fight for it, they usually end up in control.”
“Are they in control now?”
“No.” Mr. Linton shook his head. “The non-supernaturals still run everything. Our job is to make sure it stays that way. If you’re on our side, it will be more likely.”
“It’s hard to believe that the less scrupulous sorcerers aren’t already ruling the world.” There had to be some of them in power. I wondered what Fawn and Linton weren’t telling me.
The corners of his mouth curled up. “Neither’s really in control. There’s probably less than a couple thousand of us on the whole planet. And we’re too busy fighting each other and trying to stay alive to give any of us a chance to take over.”
Fawn bent over her briefcase and retrieved some photos. “Look through these and tell me if you recognize anyone.”
* * * *
Hayden seemed distracted. Oddly enough, this time I wasn’t the cause.
“Self-defense, huh? Whatever you learned today, you’ll need to practice.”
“Actually, we didn’t get to that.” I read the paragraph in the text again, deciding the best way to explain it to Hayden without overloading his brain circuits.
“Oh, really? Who better to learn from than me? I’m qualified.”
I yanked my thoughts from his text to stare at him. “You’re offering me self-defense lessons?”
He shrugged. “Well, yeah. You tutor me every day on your own time. I could return the favor.”
“You’re my bodyguard, remember? It’s not like you’re just standing around.”
“I’m being compensated in other ways. You’re not. Besides, what if something happened and no one was around to help you?”
Having him teach me how to defend myself was a fantastic idea but I wondered how smart it would be to spend even more time with him. “You beat up some guys last year and now you’re an expert?”
Hayden scoffed. “I had real lessons. I can show you what they taught me.”
I gazed unseeing at the textbook. “I don’t know.”
“Oh, I get it. You’re not jumping at the chance, because you secretly like me.” Hayden grinned. “You’re afraid that after a while, you’d eventually break down and give into temptation.”
I tried to work up a good sneer, putting everything I had into it to make it convincing. “My, we think a lot of ourselves, don’t we?”
“That’s the only reason I can think of that would make you turn down a perfectly good opportunity to be in control.”
If I refused, I’d have to come up with an excuse that didn’t involve admitting how hot he was. How tempted I’d be… Or I could take advantage of his offer and trust myself. It’s not as if I’d ever be in danger of truly liking him. “Fine. Teach me.”
“Good. I will.” He gave me a smug look and wiggled his eyebrows.
I ignored that, but something
else bothered me about his offer. “I’m curious about something. If your dad used to beat you—”
“Step-dad.”
“Right. Step-dad,” I said, our studies completely forgotten. “If he used to hit you, why would he spring for lessons that would teach you to defend yourself against him?”
“He didn’t. I used to walk home from school and pass this martial arts studio. One day I went inside and asked for lessons. The guy said no, of course. I needed my parents’ permission and I had to pay for the lessons. I was naïve, but pretty determined.
“Every day after that, I stopped and watched through the window. One night, my step-dad came home drunk when I was supposed to be in bed.” Hayden touched the bridge of his nose. “Broke my nose. When I stopped at the martial arts studio the next day, I worked up the nerve to ask the guy for a job and he said yes. Probably felt sorry for the poor kid getting his ass beat.
“Legally, I was too young to work, but he let me do little things, like get clean towels and set up the rooms.” He smiled, but there was a far-away look in his eyes. “After a while, he gave me some lessons. Later I got good enough to teach the beginner classes. I taught them and he continued to teach me. The rest is history.”
Hayden had had a rough time, but had persisted until he found his way out. I was mightily impressed with what he’d accomplished. Too bad he took a wrong turn somewhere. He had a ways to go before rejoining the human race, and I had little faith he could do it.
“We’ll start Saturday,” he said. “Why don’t you pick me up in the morning around nine?”
“You’re okay with my Scion when we could be driving your Viper?”
“I don’t care what we use. I just want to avoid steering anything after a night of debauchery. Friday night is Christina’s Halloween party, remember?”
My engine totally cooled the rest of the way at the thought of Hayden boozing and ending up with some girl in a Naughty Nurse costume — possibly even drunker than him. I’d have to keep thoughts like that handy to periodically jog my good sense and keep things in perspective. I couldn’t allow myself to forget what a creep Hayden was.