RILEY
SOMEBODY MOVED ME TO Luc's couch in my sleep, and he jarred me to my senses. I'd almost punched him, nightmare of chains and evil faces merging with his face over mine. Devin, Ben and Jeremiah whispered in the kitchen with dark expressions.
I'd noticed the late hour and several missed calls from Dad. Another kind of fear gripped me. My mind had scrambled for excuses, a reason, anything, and I set out on texting him I hadn't seen the time pass at Adam's. Whoops.
Luc accompanied me inside the Ford.
I trailed his eyes back to the raw traces on my neck. He'd tried to heal them, but the redness and dozens of mini-punctures wouldn't close any more than his own. Turns out not only were the chains laced with mercury on the surface, but their coils had tiny injecting pumps with some fast-acting agent. It carried traces of that metal again.
He'd explained that it numbs abilities, giving them time to circle around. They'll have to go away at a natural speed, hidden under collars and jackets.
His fingers wrapped around my sleeve, gently pulling it away from the wheel to reveal the rest. With a lip-gnawing frown, fighting back a new swell of tears, I contemplated the identical darts across his.
"I'm so sor—"
"Don't say it. Just... don't." Luc opened his hand next to mine. His was larger and surprisingly delicate, with slender fingers and some veins running in the middle. "Look, friendship bracelets. That's a thoughtful souvenir."
I tossed his aside, the hysterics still banging at the door. "Did the mercury kill your last surviving brain cells?"
"There's this circus monkey sitting in my brain and clashing cymbals right now. Hope you don't mind a himbo on steroids."
Okay, so not funny. My breath fogged, and I said nothing to encourage his stupid rambling. Luc dropped his arm back in his lap. He flicked his head against the headrest, closing his eyes.
"It's not because of you," he said after a minute. "They've always been after me and my sister, ever since they realized we existed and we could heal faster. Last time and the year before that, it was us they were looking for."
And now only one remained. I imitated him, shutting out the forest outside the windshield. How naive was it of me to not expect that a power such as his wouldn't draw conflicts, that it wouldn't be sought after. I was still barely starting to understand the disconnect between his life and that of anyone else's.
"There's really nobody except you?"
"No contender so far."
"How did they know you could do that?" My lids swooped up and I found him angled in his seat, facing me.
"This place is a hotspot for Wanderers, so they get that we're nearby. I've confronted them many times in small groups. When I was younger, I was there to heal wounds but I could also get hurt myself. Takes one hunter to witness it, slip through the cracks and warn their buddies."
I shook my head, refraining from cursing. Who the hell threw an underage boy in these fights even if he was valuable to keep others alive? He had been a kid. Obviously, it wasn't my place to judge what they needed to do to survive, but this was egregious.
I massaged my neck, sighing. "The injections didn't really stop you once the frequency was turned off," I pointed out.
Luc offered a lazy, crooked smirk which did nada to alleviate the palpitations when I wondered about the dots riddling his chest and legs. Those clothes had been ripped beyond repair. "Because I grew up big and strong. I'm just too awesome."
"Oh, great. And are you awesome enough to get back on your own?"
"You bet. We run faster than cars," he'd added and motioned at me to start the engine. I hadn't wanted to until he answered that. It's not like I was going to be okay with him coming back alone if I shouldn't be doing it, either. "This forest is my playground. If they ever make it back here, they'll be crying blood."
It reassured some dark part of my mind, and we rode down the hill in a sinister silence.
When I pulled over, the porch lights were turned off, but the living room window shone bright. Dad's figure paced through the curtains. I locked my car, counting my last seconds of peace in the darkness outside.
Luc shoved his hands in his vest pockets. "Good luck with your father. You look like you'll need it."
I cracked a cynical grin. "Not even you can charm him now and get me out of trouble."
"I'll call the police if I don't hear from you tomorrow."
The police surely wouldn't be of any aid for all this. With one last stare, Luc flashed out of sight the next second, stirring my hair in his path. I zipped the jacket all the way up to cover the marks. I consciously climbed the stairs and entered the house, finding my dad glowering. It was almost midnight.
"Riley Jane Addison..." He seemed on the point of actually yelling at me. "How did you not see the time pass with all my missed calls?"
I recited some made-up story of forgetting the silent mode on my phone. He assaulted my ears with a moralizing sermon, pointing out that this was the second time I'd scared the crap out of him and going on about grounding me.
What was there to punish, though? Keep me from leaving the house? I barely left it. I'd just have to sneak out for the training with Tony. Chores? Sure, whatever.
Suddenly, I couldn't stand the buzzing monologue after being restrained with literal torture chains. Dad's punishments were welcome in comparison. Yet I was unable to listen to him a sentence longer, wanting only to crawl into bed and try to cope with tonight.
"Look, I told you that's what happened. There's no curfew to break." I walked toward the stairs and rubbed my eyes. "Just get off my back."
He looked utterly floored. I never acted like this, and I hated doing this to him, but my limits were wearing thinner than chiffon. I didn't want to burst in front of him.
"Young lady, watch your tongue."
I raised my hands and turned away. "Fine, whatever."
Today, I passed this close to skipping the entire school morning. Because of Dad, who was now watching me like I was under a microscope, I had to prove everything was normal. But going to school was one task. Being awake was another.
Mr. Kennedy even had to wake me up during his lesson, and I detected a trace of sympathy in his gaze but also helplessness as he walked along the desk alley. He had no choice. It was only natural he hadn't been in the field yesterday since he was the only teacher able to keep tabs on Spencer.
Luc had been absent during the first half of classes. Emma wasn't there, either. I considered telling her how awfully wrong she was about Miles, but I didn't know how to break it to her. She obviously liked Miles, and I didn't want to take that away from her. Moreover, he hadn't been in the field, so what would I be proving?
Still, I'll never warm up to the guy. He was a part of it just like his father. I'd do Emma a favor, but I couldn't force her to leave him, either. I've tried talking to her and now she avoided me.
I passed by my locker after lunchtime to fill my backpack. Only there was one thing missing. I combed between textbooks, pulling some spines back and rummaging through the gym clothes bag. I rummaged again and again. Could it be in my backpack?
I dumped it at my feet and kneeled. Unzipping it, I emptied out all the pockets. No way...
My forehead rested against the cool metal while I inhaled and exhaled, eyes closed. I didn't care at all if it looked weird. It was to convince myself to stay awake until the end of class and gather every ounce of motivation.
"You look like crap and not the fresh kind," Luc dropped beside me.
I made an effort to open my eyes. "Fresh crap looks more gross than the dry one, so... thanks."
He appeared tired as well, but I didn't think he could ever look like crap. Even for mutant standards, Luc must have special genetics that made it impossible to appear unattractive. That was probably his most amazing superpower. Ugh.
I chose a woolen turtleneck to hide the thick red mark around my neck and its sleeves covered my wrists, but it was so big that I was swimming inside. Paired with a don't care braid, I rocked the whole, unflattering and stereotypical librarian style.
"Why have you been tossing your locker upside down for the last ten minutes, anyway? It was entertaining until it was like watching a peasant lose their ancestral land in the war."
I jerked my head back. "I can't find the English book. I had it in my backpack the other day and I can't figure out where I left it." And I did not have enough brain power to retrace my steps. "I'm cooked. It was borrowed from the library."
Luc mimicked a hiss. "Best of luck with that. I wouldn't mess with the librarian if you paid me."
"Wait... I had it last night on the passenger seat... when I left Adam's house." I stared up. "Did you park your giant ass on it on the way back?"
Not a single inch of his steely features was fazed. "Oh, you're one to talk. And no, pretty sure I would have felt it if Huxley's work was poking my ass cheeks."
"What did you say?"
"Ben was the first guy to sit there that night and, for the record, he has a much bigger ass than mine. If you want to start somewhere, start there."
I made a mental note to track Ben down and willed the strength to rise. "What brought you to school, anyway?" I inquired. Maybe running my mouth would kick some energy into me.
"I wanted to talk to Greg in person." He pushed off his locker. "And to you."
"Me?"
"I checked with Tony, and he said he's ready to spend more time to train if you want. I thought the faster you'd know the basics, the better it would be for us all after yesterday."
I nodded. I would do whatever it takes to never be in that position again. Luc's protection wasn't something to be taken for granted and he'd done more than he needed. I should be able to stand up for myself.
"I'm on board."
"It's going to be more intense, you know?" he said while entering his locker combo. "I don't think you'll have much time left to go out or do anything after school except homework."
I thought of Adam. How could I explain this? A part of me saw it as an option to tell him the truth, but I quickly rejected that. I wouldn't forgive myself if he got close to the hunters like Emma or even became one of them. Hurting him would be too easy.
"I'll manage," I said.
Luc seemed to take it for what it was worth when his eyes narrowed on something across the hall. A murderous glint lit up his gaze, and I barely had time to search for what poked his attention. It was more like a someone. Miles.
Luc strode forward, fists clenched, and I realized he was about to beat the kid to a pulp in front of everyone. I twisted and ran up, my short legs working twice as hard as his.
"Hey!" He was fast, damn it. "Luc!"
He pretended to be deaf. I stretched a hand and seized him by the forearm, forcing him to halt.
"Okay, stop. Seriously, you are not going to do that in the hallway."
"Watch me, his face will look like one of those inflated, deformed cookie oven failures when I'm done."
I got in front of him, trying to block his view, but my wee size prevented me from stealing his interest. His eyes turned into white orbs.
"Shit, your eyes. Luc..."
Only then he seemed to listen. He looked down, focusing on my face as if the rest of the world was fading away. He blinked several times, and it disappeared. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one saw it. Miles stared at us from his locker, a smirk playing on his lips, like he was laughing at our inaptitude.
Oh hell, he thought this was funny?
My legs started of their own volition, and I could see myself landing an audible, thundering bitchslap across his face that would mark his cheek for a whole month. Hands held me back by the shoulders. I teetered on the ball of my feet, and I snarled. Freaking snarled.
"Hey, you're not going to hit him right after you told me not to. That's not really fair, Sunshine."
I tore my gaze away, fighting a pressing urge to body slam that dirtbag against the lockers. I inhaled and counted to ten before my abilities riled up and increased his satisfaction.
"I hate him," I said, turning to Luc with a defeated pout. "I really hate him."
"I know. I'm not a fan, either. But there's not much we can do about him right now."
"What are we going to do about all this?" I asked. We had no plan. We just got torched by hunters last night, and we had nothing to retaliate. I briefly considered kidnapping Miles and using him as leverage to drive them out of town, but it didn't take a genius to conclude it would add fuel to the fire.
Luc shrugged, but it wasn't casual. "Try and lay low for now. It's all we can afford until we find something."
"How did you normally get rid of them in the past?"
"As I said before... they don't leave until they score a kill," he said, looking down. "They can't stay until all of us are gone. It would take them forever."
My stomach dropped with understanding. That meant that every time they'd dealt with hunters, one of them died. How many people have they lost like this...?
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