by Deanna Chase
“You’re such a bastard, Cain.”
“Pretty sure Flint already started that fan club—you should join up.”
“Ugh.” Abel stormed off, leaving his table littered with half-eaten food.
Seth and Eli glanced at Cain.
“Dude, this thing is going to hell in a handbasket,” Eli mumbled. “Listen, I know you might not want to hear this—”
“Then don’t say it.” Cain lifted a brow.
Seth shook his head, taking over for his brother. “But maybe you should listen to Janet. Guard the girl yourself.”
“I can’t,” he ground out, picking at the crust of his second sandwich. Just thinking about her made his body burn with heat and adrenaline. Her scent, her smile. How she’d looked today in that teal dress. His heart had done a summersault in his chest when she’d walked into class.
It was too dangerous. For her. For him. For everyone.
And the last thing he needed was a princess getting in the way.
Eli quirked his blond brow. “Dude, you’re so obsessed with crying over a stupid girl…”
Cain growled.
“A girl,” Eli said, correcting himself, “that you’re missing the big picture.”
Cain smashed his fist on the table. “And just what is the big picture?”
Kids at the table nearest to them jumped, startled, casting the trio worried frowns. Cain settled down, taking a deep cleansing breath, wishing for a second—just one second—that he was normal. Not some freak with anger issues.
“We’ve been trying to find that queen all summer, man. We’ve prevented the workers from kidnapping more victims and making baby drones, but that’s small potatoes. We can’t stop the swarm unless we kill the queen. Without the queen, all of this is fruitless.”
“Don’t you think I know that?”
Eli opened his eyes wide, an are-you-stupid look on his face. “So if you keep an eye on her, you’ll have more access to hive out of school, which means a trail, which means…”
A slow smile curled his lips. “We might find someone who can lead us to the queen.”
Seth laughed. “Ding, ding, ding. We’ve got a winner.”
But the problem was that being around Flint fractured Cain’s precarious hold on his sanity.
“There’s got to be another way,” he mumbled.
The twins groaned.
“Well,” Seth said, “if you find one, let us know, because what we’re doing isn’t working out so well.”
They walked off, heading to gym class. Cain got slowly to his feet, gathered his brother’s leftovers, and dumped everyone’s trash.
Glancing outside, he saw her. She leaned her head against Janet’s shoulder while her own shook. Clenching his jaw against the tight flare in his chest, he headed to English, wishing he could redo the morning.
Chapter Thirteen
“You really didn’t need to ride my bus home from school,” Flint said, looking at Janet who was busy peering out the window.
She turned to Flint with a distracted smile. “Actually, I kind of wanted to see where you live.”
“Really?”
Janet had never mentioned that, but then again, maybe she thought Flint was on her way to cracking after her meltdown on the field earlier. Flint picked at the math book in her lap, which had helped not at all on the test. She was pretty sure she’d failed, having been way too distracted to focus.
“I love Abel, but he’s a boy. I need girl time sometimes.” She grinned.
Flint laughed. “I guess.”
“Hey, what are you doing today?” Janet’s brown eyes were bright.
She sighed.
“Ohh, the dinner.” Janet grimaced. “Duh, forgot.”
Flint waved her hand. “Yeah, tonight’s a no go.”
“Okay. Well, what about tomorrow?”
She shrugged. “Don’t know. Dad has the day off, but I’m pretty sure he’s gonna want to spend it with her. Why?”
Janet waved her fingers. “Manicure.”
“I don’t have any polish at my place,” Flint said as the bus began to slow down, rolling up to the first stop.
The girls in the seat in front of them slipped out. Flint’s stop was the next one.
She didn’t live in the crappiest place in the world—in fact, these were the nicest apartments she’d ever lived in. The buildings were a soft tan color, and Flint was lucky enough to live in the apartment right across from the pool.
“What kind of a girl are you?” Janet rolled her eyes with a happy snort.
“A low-maintenance one.”
The bus pulled up to Flint’s stop.
“Fine,” Janet said, “I’ll bring a bucketful and some popcorn. Do you mind if I invite Rhi too?”
Now that the idea had been suggested, Flint smiled, looking forward to some girl time. It’d been forever since she’d done something like that. “Sure, sounds good.”
The bus stopped, opening its doors with a loud squeal.
“You coming?” Flint stood.
“Totally would, except I bet your dad only wants you there tonight.”
Her heart sank as she nodded her head. “Probably right. See you tomorrow.”
“Oh, and Flint…” Janet grabbed Flint’s hand as she started to scoot around her to get in the aisle. “I don’t think Cain really hates you.”
Biting down on her tongue at the mention of his name, she rolled her eyes, “Yeah, well… that doesn’t make two of us.” She waved and hurriedly jogged out before the bus driver got impatient and closed the door on her.
Not that she’d minded, but that’d been weird. Flint frowned, tugging her book bag tighter as she turned and headed to her apartment. After lunch, both Rhiannon and Janet had followed her everywhere. Through the halls, into the bathroom—if they could have gotten into her classes they probably would have done that too.
She must have looked really pathetic outside, crying like a baby over her and her dad’s fight that morning. She’d not mentioned anything about Cain and his idiot self, but that had stung worse. Being new sucked, being new and already the butt of jokes sucked even worse.
He’d avoided her like the plague the rest of the day. She only had chem with him in the morning, but she’d been intensely aware of him the rest of the day.
Which was weird, because usually she never saw him after chemistry, except for lunch where he ate at the table right behind her. But it seemed all day she kept bumping into him in the halls.
He wasn’t walking. Or talking. His big blond goons hadn’t been with him. He’d just been standing by the lockers, always conveniently close to her classes and only long enough for him to look at her.
And it hadn’t been a sideways glance either. The looks had been thorough. Hot. Pressing in on her and intense. Even through the glasses, it was obvious his eyes followed her. Tracking her movements between bells, watching her as she opened her locker for new books.
She’d grown so aware of it that her fingers had begun shaking, forcing her to redo the combination three times before her locker would open. Just when she’d get to the point of snapping, she’d turn around and he was gone.
And that had happened each period.
He never smiled or said hi.
Flint glanced up the stairwell to the second-floor units and scrunched her nose, knowing she was dragging her feet. There was a strange car parked next to her dad’s red Ford truck.
A sleek black Maserati, and she only knew what it was because it was her dream car. Living in LA, that was the it car for young Hollywood types. She’d squelched her desire for one when it dawned on her she’d never in her life be able to afford it. Even used they cost a cool $100K easy.
Who had that kind of money? And what where they doing here?
She glanced around and then rushed up the stairs, opened the unlocked door with a breathless rush, heart plummeting when she heard the relaxed strains of female laughter floating from the kitchen.
The dizzying aroma of bak
ed bread and rosemary teased Flint’s nose.
“Flinty,” her dad called, “that you, babe?”
He peeked out of the kitchen, eyes twinkling and holding the fluted stem of a wineglass full of something red.
She narrowed her eyes, praying to God that was grape juice.
“I’m home,” she grumped, dropping her bag on the floor.
His sandy-brown hair was combed back nicely. “Good, I want you to meet someone.”
Couldn’t he even wait until she washed her hands or something? Did he have to thrust blondie on her already?
But it was not the blonde she remembered from the show; instead, it was the brunette. Her dad’s arms were clamped to the woman’s shoulders.
She was petite and, judging by the few lines around her eyes, in her early twenties. Deep green eyes smiled shyly up at Flint. Holding out a hand, she said, “You must be Flint. Frank has told me so much about you.”
Lifting a brow at her father, Flint took the woman’s hand. It was a firm grip, as most performers had thanks to their years of grueling upper-body conditioning.
“I’m Katy.” Her voice was polite, soft, and breathy. Her smile was wide and friendly and a worm of doubt wiggled through Flint’s belly. “I know how awkward this must be for—”
Flint clicked her front teeth together. “I’m sure you don’t.”
“Actually”—she gave a weak grin and squeezed Frank’s hand—“I do. My mom did the same thing to me when I was sixteen and I pretty much wanted to kill her for it.”
“I’m seventeen,” she muttered but felt slightly mollified.
Maybe Katy wouldn’t be so bad.
And actually the dinner went a lot better than she’d expected it to. Her dad had made shrimp scampi, buttery goodness that dribbled down their chins and splattered on Flint’s dress, pretty much ruining it for future use.
Not that she had any intention of ever putting the stupid thing on again.
Katy was on her best behavior, trying to get Flint to talk, asking her about school, her grades (solid B student), but when the woman started prying about boys, Flint decided she’d done everything her father had asked of her. She’d not rolled her eyes once and didn’t have much else to say.
Also, she wanted to get away because every two minutes or so she’d feel her father’s foot reaching out, clearly trying to find Katy’s, which was beyond awkward.
“I’ve gotta go study.” She scooted back.
“Flint?” Her father frowned and she put on a smile.
It really hadn’t been as awful as she’d feared. But still, enough was enough.
“Frank, it’s the first time,” Katy said quietly and nodded. “It’s okay.”
Casting Katy a grateful smile, she dropped her plate in the sink and ran to her bedroom. But of course the second she got in there, she couldn’t study.
Flint sat on her bed, staring at an open book like she wanted to do it bodily harm before finally sighing in disgust and flipping the thing shut. Chances were she was going to get a C (C+ if she was lucky) whether she studied or not. She and history did not get along well.
But she also didn’t want to stay in the house. With the looks and the footsies and the word play. Did they think she was five? That she couldn’t figure out flirting when she saw it?
It wasn’t dark yet. Sun was maybe two hours away from setting.
A restless mood crept over her. She bounced her foot, listening to her dad and Katy laughing and talking in hushed, heated tones, and she shuddered.
She really wasn’t sure she could put her finger on it, because even though Katy had been nice and perfectly all right, Flint still didn’t like her.
She flung herself back on her bed, spread-eagle, staring out the window. The sky was gray but there were no clouds.
Flint sighed louder. If she walked out the front door, her dad would want to know where she was going and with whom, as well as when she’d be back and how she was going to get there. And right now she honestly didn’t have a clue. All she knew was she was suffocating. The air was thick, her head was pounding, and her tongue felt swollen. Her mother’s ghost was way too close and she needed to breathe or she was going to scream.
Grabbing her bright orange iPod off her nightstand, she put her earbuds in and tried to lose herself in the music. But all the rock was doing was getting her wound up and even antsier. Jackknifing to her feet, she paced like a restless tiger in its cage. Back and forth, back and forth.
What would her mother think?
Would she be okay with this?
Mad at Flint for making it so difficult?
Swallowing hard, she dropped her head into her hands. It’d been a year. He deserved to be happy.
But it hurt.
Like someone was reaching into her soul and yanking the death and the memories out again, making them fresh and so painful she wanted to cry.
When her mother had fallen, she’d broken. Like a twisted doll, her face still painted on. A doll’s face. Her mother had been obsessed with dolls. And she’d always painted herself to appear like a marionette without strings. To see her on the ground, body twisted and broken… it’d been surreal.
A memory she could never forget, no matter how many tears she cried. The doll was always there. Eyes closed, bow-shaped mouth open, a thin trail of blood flowing from the nose…
More laughter.
It yanked Flint from the bad place with a sharp jerk of her head.
It was Katy, and she was doing some sort of girly giggle. Flint gnashed her teeth, and grabbing a pillow, she shoved it over her face and screamed.
Which helped. A little.
It eased some of the tension zinging through her blood.
She knew what she needed. What she hadn’t done in weeks. It was kind of late to be even considering heading downtown, but if she didn’t do it, she was going to burst. Which also meant she’d have to tell her dad something.
Sitting down, she pulled her Adidas out from under the bed, slipped them on, and then grabbed a hoodie sweater just in case. Pulling her hair back into a tight ponytail, she was just headed to her door when she heard a knock.
“Flinty, open up.”
Pulling the buds out of her ears, she whisked the door open. “Dad?”
He eyed her up and down, his brow raised. “Going somewhere?”
Katy’s head peeked over his shoulder, her dark green eyes inquisitive, which made Flint bite down on her tongue to keep from saying “You mind?”
Returning her eyes to her dad, she nodded. “Going to the mall.”
“Oh.” His brows lifted. “Isn’t it getting kind of dark for that?”
She shrugged. “Not really.”
He dug into his pocket and tossed her the keys. “Take the truck then. Be home by ten.”
That was easy. Too easy. Why didn’t he care?
Unless he’d already made plans himself.
Snatching the keys out of the air, Flint asked, “You going somewhere?”
“Katy and I are headed to the circus to do some training.”
“You have a show tonight? I thought tonight was your night off.”
Katy smiled. “Yes, but if we want to keep improving”—she squeezed her dad’s bicep and it was all Flint could do not to roll her eyes when he gave her big goofy grin as he flexed—“then we have to practice.”
“Aren’t you going to need the truck then?” Flint jangled the keys at her dad.
“No, Katy’s driving. Did you see that black Maserati outside?”
Of course.
And how did a circus performer afford one of those? She looked at Katy, who still wore a smile.
“’Kay, then.” She waved, needing to get out of the apartment like yesterday. With a quick hug for her dad, Flint grabbed her hat and sunglasses off the end table and ran out the door before her dad could change his mind.
~*~
Stretching, Flint eyed the nearly empty stretch of the shopping plaza. The left side was ablaze with people
and shoppers, but down here, there was only one open shop, a New Age something or other with hanging crystals in the window. She couldn’t imagine a ton of people coming down this way, which meant she shouldn’t have to worry about cops stopping and telling her to leave.
The area over here was perfect, rails and steps, brick fronts and ledges.
The night was muggy.
Again.
And… She glanced at the sky. It was definitely starting to look a funky greenish-gray color. Which was weird, but no rain, though there was a little bit more wind now.
Still, she hadn’t done this in months and the excitement of moving her body in ways that defied the laws of gravity got her blood humming just like walking a tightrope used to do.
Body limber, she shook her wrists loose and then attacked the wall, nearly scaling the brick-face front like Spider-Man, then sailing over the ledge in a type of side-flip. Her stomach dropped as for a second she remembered landing on her face and almost busting her front tooth loose four months ago. But she squashed the fear and refused to think about anything other than jumping, scaling, and climbing, moving in and around obstacles in ways that most couldn’t.
Gone were the weird looks between her dad and Katy.
Gone was the girlie cry-fest she’d had on Janet’s shoulder at lunch.
Gone was Cain and his mean comments.
Flint grabbed hold of a metal beam and felt her biceps flex as she quickly released it, flying like a squirrel to the next and the next, until they were all gone and she was back to jumping and flipping.
She laughed, breathing heavily, losing herself in the delicious burn of flexing muscles. Time failed to register for her. Her father wasn’t home; he wouldn’t care how long she stayed out. So she danced across the buildings, over and over, failing to note the greenish-gray sky was now gathering tight with thick clouds of black.
Only when it became too dark to keep flipping did she finally stop, landing and breathing hard as she brushed the sweat off her furrowed brows.
Pieces of hair were stuck in her mouth, but she hardly noticed, all her attention focused on the creepy clouds that seemed to fluff up, dark and foreboding into the sky.
