The Vanishing Girl

by Laura Thalassa

  I nodded as I passed some other teleporters footsteps on my way to the back exit.

  I pushed through the doors and looked uphill at the dirt path worn into the earth. I’d now attended classes twice outside, yet I still hadn’t gotten a good look at the fence that closed us in. Today I’d make sure I did.

  I jogged uphill, eventually leaving the dirt trail to scout out the edge of the perimeter. Dry pine leaves crunching under my feet.

  The air here was thinner but fresher, and I took deep gulps and breathed in the forest around me. I glanced back at the facility, now hardly visible between the branches and trunks of the coastal trees.

  As I ran I let my emotions fuel me. My instructors’ unreasonable expectations, the government’s plans for me, Desiree’s presence in my life—it all pushed my legs harder.

  Sweat trickled down my face and my sore muscles screamed at me. I didn’t care. I’d run until the endorphins could take away my pain.

  I caught a flash of silver amongst the browns and greens that made up my surroundings. I slowed down and jogged closer.

  A chain-link fence rose twenty feet into the air. It would’ve been an easy climb if razor wire wasn’t wound at its top. If I wanted to escape, I’d have to go under or through it.

  Someone had mounted cameras along the fence, each roughly forty feet from the next. They were watching us, monitoring our movement near the perimeter.

  I followed the fence uphill when a watchtower came into view. Inside I could make out an individual.

  My gaze traveled down the length of the fence. Downhill I could make out another watchtower big enough to hold a person.

  This wasn’t good.

  On the other side of the fence, a dirt road ran parallel to it. I heard an engine in the distance and backed away into the trees, interested in what was heading my way. The seconds ticked by and slowly the sound increased, coming closer.

  I caught sight of the car, some military vehicle that had been painted a lusterless mud green color. It moved slowly, and the men inside wore fatigues. I didn’t see any guns on them, but by the looks of them, they had to be armed.

  They drove slow, watching the perimeter.

  I cursed quietly. This place was highly guarded, which meant that escaping would be a much more long-term goal than I’d planned.

  But, if I could find a way to escape, would I? I’d run once, and I’d gotten caught. I hadn’t been punished for it; however, if I ran and got caught again, I had a feeling the government wouldn’t be so lenient. And if I succeeded, I’d have to flee to Mexico; I’d have to leave the U.S. permanently.

  With stakes that high, could I do it?

  Yes.

  I watched the car drive by and waited to see how long it would take for another car to drive the perimeter.

  “You’re not leaving, princess.”

  You’ve got to be kidding me. I couldn’t get a moment.

  I whirled around to face Caden, whose eyes had a hard glint to them. I’d been so focused on the perimeter that I hadn’t heard him sneak up on me.

  “You followed me,” I said. A spark of anger flared within me. Caden hadn’t caused it, my situation had. But the fact that he followed me here only fueled it.

  He folded his arms, frowning. “You skipped training.”

  I pushed past him and trotted back into the forest. “I didn’t feel like going,” I said. I needed to run off this new anger and to mull over what I should do now that I knew about the heavily guarded perimeter.

  “Clearly.” Caden followed me, his voice flinty. “You were too busy trying to plan your escape.”

  I whirled on him. “That’s right. I was. You just know me so well.” I went to push him, but Caden caught my hands the moment they touched his chest.

  His gaze had softened, just as it had the day he caught and cuffed me.

  “Stop it,” I said. “Don’t look at me like you care. If you cared, you’d know that I hate it here. If you cared, you’d help me escape.”

  He wouldn’t let my hands go. “You think I don’t know how miserable you are?” he said, his eyes sad. “Give me more credit than that, Ember.” I flinched at my name. He never used it.

  “You want to know how to leave this place?”

  I nodded.

  “I’ll tell you, but you have to win the information from me.”

  “I have to win it?” What kind of offer was that?

  He watched me as he spoke. “There’s a lake further up the mountain, beyond the shooting range.”

  In my mind I mapped out where that might be from where I was. I had a good idea of where he was talking about.

  “Get to it before I do,” he continued, “and I’ll answer a single question and do you a single favor.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “You want me to race you to this lake?” A lake I’d never set eyes on.

  “No,” he said. “I don’t want to race you at all, but if you want help from me, that’s my price.”

  I rubbed my lower lip and weighed his words. I could tell that this was the best offer I’d get from Caden, and I didn’t have much to lose. “Agreed,” I said. “I’ll race you.”

  His dimples peeked out. “I haven’t stated what happens if you fail to beat me.”

  “That’s because I’m not going to,” I said with confidence I didn’t feel.

  His dimples deepened. “Cockiness is an attractive feature in a girl, but don’t fool yourself. I don’t make bets lightly. You’re going to want to know my terms for when I beat you.”

  I folded my arms. “By all means, state your terms.”

  He smiled as he spoke. “If I get there before you, then you have to give up a secret. And that lake? You and me are going for a dip in it. Naked.”

  Chapter 14

  “What is it with you and getting me naked? Haven’t you already gotten an eyeful?” I asked, looking him up and down. Dappled light fell along his face, making his hair and eyes shine. I ignored the way it sped up my pulse.

  “Not nearly.”

  I shook my head. “Perv.”

  “Perv—I’ve gotten upgraded from stalker.”

  Wasn’t he the eternal optimist?

  “Fine. I agree to your terms,” I said.

  Caden might be fast and in better shape, but I wanted the win more than he did. I needed all the resources I could get if I was going to escape this place.

  He put out his hand. “Shake on it.”

  My hand gripped his, and we watched each other as we shook. A slow smile spread across his face. He thought I’d already lost. My grasp tightened.

  I was going to take this guy. I had to.

  He released my hand and bolted.

  “Hey!” My legs began moving a second later.

  Caden’s golden hair bobbed in front of me as he weaved between trees. His form shrank as he pulled ahead, and I had to stop myself from sprinting after him.

  Slow and steady wins the race. This mantra had helped me win many races during cross-country season, and it would help me again today.

  Only after Caden’s form disappeared far ahead of me did I speed up, my legs falling into a rhythm I could maintain. The trees flew by in my peripherals. It felt like flying. I continued like that for roughly a mile, moving in the rough direction of the lake. All the while I kept an eye out for my partner.

  While I ran, I wondered whether our speed had been tampered with. I’d always been exceptionally fast. Now it seemed like just another altered gene.

  A glimpse of golden hair pulled me from my thoughts.

  Bingo.

  I continued to build up my speed and shadowed him until I saw something glint between the trees. The lake.

  I laid on my speed until I was sprinting. As I grew closer, a patchw
ork of water formed from behind the trees. I pushed my legs and burst through the foliage. Dirt became sand and then my toes splashed against the edge of the lake.

  Leaning over, I took a moment to catch my breath.

  A shadow fell over me. “Nice try, princess.”

  Damn.

  I looked up. My eyes followed the golden skin of Caden’s arms up to his face. He wore a cat-that-ate-the-canary smile.

  I felt my lungs deflate. He’d beaten me. I’d have to find some other way to escape.

  “I guess someone’s going skinny-dipping with me.” He didn’t even try to hide the glee from his voice. Caden had managed to sneak his way into seeing me naked for the third time. Amazing.

  I ground my teeth together to prevent myself from arguing with him. A deal’s a deal.

  Be a good sport about this Ember.

  “Fine,” I said, pulling my sweaty shirt off. “Let’s just get this over with.”

  Caden’s eyes zeroed in on my hot pink sports bra. He looked back up at me, his mischievous smile back in place. He slid his own shirt off.

  Next came our shorts. I eyed Caden’s boxer briefs, which clung to his muscular legs, and discreetly swallowed.

  Then I pulled off my bra and tossed it aside.

  Caden sucked in a breath and froze, his gaze fixated on my breasts.

  “Are you done yet?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest.

  He recovered and skimmed his hands over the edge of his waistband. After flashing me a final smile, he slid his boxer briefs off.

  Oh. My. God.

  My eyebrows shot up. Seeing a man naked was a very different experience than seeing a man almost naked. And he looked pretty happy to see me.

  Geez, were all man-things supposed to look that large?

  “Stop objectifying me,” Caden said, “I’m not just a piece of meat.”

  Just like that, his words broke the sexual tension, and I began to laugh.

  “Now it’s your turn.”

  Well, they broke the sexual tension until he said that.

  I took a deep breath, trying to muster the confidence I always had during one of my trips. It wasn’t coming to me.

  I’d been naked many times in public, thanks to my special ability, so why was this so difficult?

  But I knew the answer. Teleporting was real, but it didn’t always feel that way—it often felt more like lucid dreaming. And it was easy to fake confidence when you only had to stick around for a few minutes.

  Caden, on the other hand, saw me everyday, and he was quickly learning all my dark little secrets and idiosyncrasies. Being intentionally nude in front of him made me feel vulnerable.

  With that poignant final thought, I dropped my panties.

  Caden drank me in, his eyes shining too brightly.

  I didn’t give him much time to look. I turned and began sauntering to the water. My legs trembled from the need to sprint into the lake as quickly as possible, but I willed them to move slowly.

  As soon as I was thigh deep, I dived in the rest of the way, the water tingling my bare skin. My body arched in the water, my toes skimming the lake’s muddy floor. I cringed at the squishy sensation of the lake bottom. I was going to have to tread water if I didn’t want to touch it again.

  By the time I surfaced, Caden had already gotten into the water.

  He dunked his head and came back up, running his hands through his wet hair. My eyes roved over his shiny skin. The water dripping off of him made him look all the more sexy.

  He caught me staring. “Like anything you see?”

  I flashed him a smile. “Naw.”

  “Liar,” he said. We both knew it too. He could read me just as well as I could read him.

  “You can come closer,” he said, the water lapping against his body. “I promise I won’t bite.” Contrary to his words, he looked at me like he was poised to strike.

  I shook my head, moving my arms and legs to stay afloat. “We’re partners, and if something weird happens here, we’re going to regret it tomorrow.” Already heat pooled in my stomach.

  My eyes dropped to his lips, and then I glanced away.

  He read between the lines and, never one to miss an opportunity, Caden closed the distance between us so fast you’d think he was trying to win a medal for it.

  “Whoa,” I said, “back up buddy. That wasn’t an invitation.” My heart slammed in my chest and my stomach tingled uncomfortably.

  Instead he wrapped an arm around my waist and used his own legs to hold us both afloat. “Better?” he asked, referring to the fact that I didn’t have to tread water now that he was doing it for the both of us.

  And it was better, but he was now much too close and it made my breath hitch and my abs clench.

  I put a hand on his pecs to push him away, but the smooth skin underneath my fingers captivated me. Without meaning to, I ran my hand down his chest, feeling every dip and curve of his muscles.

  Beneath my hand, Caden stilled. “You have a secret that I want to know,” he said, his voice low. “A secret that you now owe me.”

  I eyed him warily. I was about to feel naked in a whole new way. Strange enough, it seemed worse exposing a secret than it did exposing my skin.

  He watched me for a long time. “Could you love me?” he finally asked.

  What? That was the secret he wanted to know?

  “What kind of question is that?” I asked.

  “A simple one.”

  “I don’t think that counts as a secret,” I said, carefully studying the way tendrils of his wet hair fell over his forehead and the slight dip his dimples made when they were thinking of making an appearance.

  “Of course it counts,” he said. “It’s not something that you’d tell people about, thus it’s a secret.”

  An emotional secret, that’s what he wanted from me. And from experience, these were always the worst to share. “Choose something else,” I said.

  “No. That’s the secret you have to answer.”

  My eyes focused on Caden. One corner of his mouth was quirked up, one dimple exposed. Despite the carefree look, his eyes were serious.

  I was a woman of my word, so I’d answer this, though I hated how vulnerable it made me feel.

  Could I love Caden? I rolled the question over in my mind.

  My hand trailed down to feel the rough skin of his scars, his stomach tightening beneath my touch. He led a violent life, he was cocky and annoyingly protective … and he was the only guy I’d gotten to know who challenged me in all the ways that mattered. He was my equal.

  I met his eyes. “Easily. I could love you easily.” The words burned coming out. Emotional secrets weren’t spoken because they were game-changers.

  His eyes were intense. “God, I was hoping you’d say that.” And then he leaned down and kissed me.

  My eyes closed as his lips pressed against mine, his free hand cupping the side of my face. Without thinking, I kissed him back, my arms sliding around his neck.

  And then I felt all the heated areas where his skin brushed against mine. Suddenly, the entire situation came into hyper focus. I was naked with Caden in some lake on government property and we were only a few simple touches away from doing something really stupid—correction: something more stupid than what we were currently doing.

  What was I thinking?

  I broke the kiss off and pushed him away—this time for real. My ragged breathing matched his own.

  “That—shouldn’t have happened,” I said.

  Caden still gazed at me hungrily, clearly ready to resume where we’d left off. It took him a moment, but he eventually reined it in. “You’re right, that shouldn’t have happened.” He exhaled. “I have a confession to make.”

  I stilled,
the water gently slapping against my exposed skin. “And what’s that?” I asked.

  “You beat me.”

  Chapter 15

  It took a second for me to register what he said.

  “Wait, what?”

  “You beat me here.”

  “Wha …” I blinked, and for a moment the only noise was the water brushing against us.

  I moved in on him and dunked him in the water. “You sneaky bastard!” I yelled at him as the water foamed and bubbled around us.

  He came up laughing, wrapping his arms around my waist.

  “No!” I said, pushing him away. “You don’t deserve a naked hug from me.”

  I peeled myself off of him and made my way out of the water, no longer caring that I was stark naked.

  “C’mon—it was worth it!” he called after me.

  The most frightening thing about his statement was that it was. In spite of his manipulation, it was totally worth it.

  Caden sat next to where I laid out on a rock overlooking the lake, soaking up the setting sun.

  “Why did you admit that I beat you?” I asked. It had bothered me—why he’d admit to something once he’d gotten away with it if he knew it’d piss me off. Not that I stayed angry for long. I guess he’d already figured out that about me too.

  “I like taking advantage of a situation, but I’m not a cheater.”

  Light fingers traced my tattoo underneath the thin fabric of my shirt. I shivered from his touch, but I didn’t move his hand.

  “Cold?” he asked.

  “As if you don’t know what you do to me,” I said, calling him out.

  I could practically feel his smug smile. Now that he knew my feelings, Caden had wasted no time coaxing those feelings to the surface.