by Jena Leigh
A pity.
His subject had been quite beautiful—and he’d had high hopes for the serum’s success.
He thought of another beautiful girl. One that had inexplicably saved him from his imminent demise.
The girl that the boy had called Alex.
He smiled at the quandary he’d been puzzling over for most of the afternoon.
She was almost a dead ringer for another Alex he knew. One he’d been keeping close tabs on, since being freed from his icy prison.
One whom, he was quite certain, was sitting in her seventh period math class, nearly three thousand miles away, at the time of his rescue.
So who was this mystery girl?
If his visions from so many years ago were still valid then, he was pleased to say, he had a pretty good idea.
How puzzling it had been when he’d first located Alex Parker in her Bay View home three years earlier. How vexing it had been that, in the three years since, she’d yet to show a single sign of possessing an ability despite having not one, but two Variant parents.
He had a fair idea of what had happened, of course.
At some point during his pursuit of young Alexandra all those years ago, the toddler had been given the VX-1.
There would be no manifestation of telekinetic abilities inherited from her father. No unexpected jumps on account of her mother.
Alex Parker had been utterly stripped of her Variant abilities.
And by her own mother, no less.
Damn that stubborn woman. Even in death, she manages to defy me.
Thanks to the actions of Nora Parker, her child’s DNA had been permanently altered. Genetically speaking, the girl was now little more than human.
So how was it, then, that some other version of Alex Parker had materialized on the sidewalk today, just in time to save his life?
Again, he had his theories.
And if he was correct in his assessment, then he needn’t worry so much about the VX-2. A breakthrough was almost certainly just around the corner.
He smiled at the thought.
One day soon, his trials would prove successful—and that new serum would be instrumental in resurrecting Alex’s Variant nature.
Very soon, Alex Parker was going to become something more than she ever dreamed possible.
And then, one day, Samuel Masterson would ensure that she returned the favor. He was going to make certain she found herself on that precise street, on that same Seattle morning.
Alex Parker was going to save his life. After all, one good turn deserves another.
Fourteen
“Where the hell have you two been? I just spent two hours driving all over the damn city looking for you,” Nate grumbled. “And why aren’t you answering your cell?”
“Yeah. About that,” said Aiden. “I threw it in the Sound. Didn’t want anyone using its signal to track us.”
A pause. “Why would anyone be tracking you? What happened?”
“Trouble happened,” Aiden muttered. “The girl’s a freaking menace.”
“What happened, Aiden?”
Alex rested her forehead against the cool wood of the bathroom door, listening as the conversation between Nate and Aiden unfolded on the other side.
“What happened, he asks,” Aiden’s voice drifted closer, migrating toward his bedroom. As he passed the bathroom he added loudly, “Oh, just your everyday spectacle of multiple Variant abilities on a busy city street in broad freaking daylight.”
Alex turned on the sink, keeping up the pretense that she’d disappeared into the bathroom in order to throw some cool water on her face.
It also had the welcome side effect of drowning out Aiden’s voice.
The moment Nate walked through the front door, Alex quietly excused herself. She hadn’t wanted to be in the room when Nate found out just how royally she’d screwed things up this afternoon.
Aiden was right.
A public display like the one she’d just put on was probably the worst thing she could have done. If the Agency came looking for her as a result of this, she’d have no one to blame but herself.
“She did what?”
Alex sighed.
She and Aiden had spent nearly two hours driving aimlessly around town before finally parking the truck in a garage four blocks north and hiking back to the apartment. By the time they made it home, night had started to fall, and Nate had already gone out to scour the city in search of them.
They’d been at Aiden’s for more than an hour before he made it back.
Plenty of time for Alex to ruminate—and for Aiden to grumble.
“Alex,” Nate called through the door.
She didn’t reply.
He knocked lightly on the hardwood. “Come on, Alex,” said Nate. “We need to talk.”
Unless Alex planned on making Aiden’s closet-sized bathroom her new home, she’d have to face Nathaniel eventually.
Another knock sounded, but not at the bathroom door. At the front door.
Alex’s hand hovered above the doorknob.
“Never mind,” said Nate, more quietly this time. “Stay where you are. Don’t come out until we tell you to.”
She heard the front door open and the muffled sounds of conversation. Pressing her ear to the door didn’t help. Their voices were too low to make out what anyone was saying.
A long minute passed before she heard Aiden’s voice call out, “Hey, Trouble! Come out here for a sec.”
She opened the door and stepped cautiously into the short hall that led to the living area. It seemed that Aiden and Nate had invited the unexpected guest inside.
“Dr. Li,” she blurted, surprised. “How in the world… how did you find me here?”
The man arched a brow upon hearing his name.
Crap. That’s right. We haven’t actually met yet. Way to make things worse, Alex.
“I came to say thank you,” he said, smiling. “Although I’m afraid you have me at something of a disadvantage. You appear to know my name, but I’m afraid I don’t know yours.”
She bit her lip, weighing her options. He was going to find out eventually, anyway, one way or another.
“Her name’s Marie,” said Nate, at the same time as she blurted, “My name is Alex.”
Aiden and Nate both looked at her sharply.
Li’s gaze traveled between Alex and the boys, amused by the exchange.
“Well then, Miss Alex.” Li removed his gray newsboy cap and bowed his head ever so slightly. “You have my utmost thanks. If you hadn’t intervened this afternoon, I almost certainly would have died there on the spot.”
She shrugged, hugging herself tightly around the middle as she spoke. “I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to react in time, so I decided to intervene.”
“React?” Li echoed.
“You know,” she said softly. “Jump. I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to respond in time to teleport yourself to safety.”
Li’s brow furrowed for the briefest of moments before he seemed to recover himself. “Of course,” he said. “Teleportation. No, my dear. You’re right. I never would have been able to make the jump. I’d barely even registered the van in my peripheral vision before you saved the day.”
Nate cleared his throat and sent Alex a piercing look. “Dr. Li, here, works for the Agency.”
He was trying to warn her against giving away anything more, clearly afraid she might do or say something to incriminate herself.
“Actually,” said Li before Alex could reply. “To answer your previous question, my employment with the Agency is the only reason I was able to locate you. With my high level clearance, I was able to trace your movements through the city on my own, without the judicial department being any the wiser. You have nothing to fear.” Li smiled. “I wasn’t about to endanger my rescuer. I simply wanted to thank you in person. And I wanted to assure you that I will do everything in my power to keep the Agency in the dark regarding today’s events.”
Al
ex wasn’t sure how to reply. “Thank you,” she said a little uncertainly. “I really appreciate that.”
Li turned the cap he held over in his hands. “Although…”
The way Li dragged out the word made Nathaniel tense. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and darted a sideways glance at Aiden.
“Yes?” asked Alex.
“It’s just that… I really do have to ask,” said Li. “I saw something today that I’m not quite sure I know how to explain.”
Alex swallowed hard. “Oh?”
“Yes, you see,” he said, narrowing his eyes at her thoughtfully. “I had been staring at the exact point on the sidewalk where you miraculously appeared. And it was the most curious thing…”
It was Alex’s turn to tense. How odd it must have seemed to Li that afternoon when she appeared, quite literally, out of thin air.
“One moment I was staring at nothing at all, and the next there you were. I didn’t see a violet flash or a fading ripple of invisibility. Just a deafening crash of thunder, and a brisk chill in the air. It was as though you moved faster than my eye could perceive.”
Beside her, Aiden blew out a strangled exhalation. Alex could only imagine the creative monologue of swear words currently running through his head.
“But then,” Li continued, “that would be impossible, wouldn’t it?”
When Alex didn’t reply, the doctor smiled. She had the most curious notion that her silence had just confirmed his suspicions.
He knows, she thought. Or, at the very least, he suspects.
“Between that, the water, and the force it would require to telekinetically open the valve on that hydrant, it occurs to me that you might be one of those exceedingly rare individuals with more than one ability. Would I be correct in making that assumption?”
Alex froze.
Shit, shit, shit.
“You sure ask a lot of questions for a guy who just dropped by to say thanks,” Aiden said.
Li smiled again. “You’re right, Mr. O’Connell. ”
Aiden’s hands balled into fists at the use of his surname.
“I’m highly inquisitive. I’m afraid that’s just my nature. I forget, sometimes, that my desire for knowledge can read more like an interrogation. I apologize. Please rest assured that I mean you no harm. I’m simply curious.” He turned his dark brown eyes on Nate and Aiden, before adding, “Your friends seem quite protective of you, Miss Alex. But then, they’re right to be, if you’re even half as special as I’m inclined to believe.”
Dr. Li replaced his cap atop his shining black hair and adjusted it with a few gentle tugs. Once it was in place, he slipped a hand inside the lining of his trench coat and withdrew a business card. He held it out for Alex to take.
“Should you ever find yourself in need of assistance, Miss Alex,” he said, turning to leave. “Consider myself at your disposal. I’m forever in your debt.”
Alex walked behind him as he made for the apartment’s exit, holding the business card tightly in her fingers. And then Li was gone, the front door of the apartment sliding silently closed in his wake.
When she turned back around, Aiden and Nate both stood with their arms crossed over their chest, scowling at her.
Okay, then. Guess it’s time for a little damage control.
“It’s alright,” she said, returning to the living room and sinking down onto the couch. “Really. We can trust him.”
“You’re sure about that?” asked Aiden.
Alex hesitated. After the events of the afternoon, she’d been going over and over the facts, trying to work out what, exactly, had happened and what it might mean in the grand scheme of things.
She’d trusted Li once before and he hadn’t let her down.
Truthfully, he now appeared to be the mastermind behind her entire situation. If he hadn’t sent Aaron Gale to Bay View—if Li hadn’t been there to help her after she’d been taken by the Agency—Alex wouldn’t be sitting there now, on Aiden’s couch, in the not-so-distant past.
Dr. Li was a smart guy.
Smart enough to have already put two and two together and figured out some—if not all—of the truth behind Alex and her abilities. She wondered just how much of the truth she ought to entrust to him.
Had he orchestrated her trip back in time, merely to ensure that Alex would be there to save his life today? Had that been his intention from the start?
Her brow furrowed.
She didn’t think so.
Li had been insistent that she return to the beginning. That she prevent all of this from happening. That she focus on the big picture, and not just recent events.
He’d encouraged her to change it all.
It wasn’t his fault that she’d screwed things up at the last minute and sent herself so far off course. Li could have led her to believe that she could change everything merely by coming here to Seattle, in this time period.
He could have lied to her.
He hadn’t. Instead, he’d attempted to do the right thing. He’d tried to save everyone, and not just himself.
For now, that seemed reason enough to put her faith in him. And if she was right about the extent of his knowledge, he might even be able to help her find the answers to the questions today’s events raised in her mind.
She’d used an ability that wasn’t fresh in her system.
An ability that, by rights, she shouldn’t have been able to wield.
It was possible that Li could help her figure out how she’d done it. If she could figure out how to do it again, she might just have a way to get herself and Declan back to their own time.
Trusting Li might be worth the risk.
“Aiden said you knew him,” said Nate, interrupting her thoughts. “How?”
She shook her head. “I can’t tell you that.”
“Why not?”
She winced. “I’m still trying to figure out how to salvage this mess. Giving you the wrong details about what’s coming might end up making things worse for all of us.”
“Yeah,” said Nate. “And telling us too little could mean we won’t live long enough to find out if you’re right.”
Alex sighed. He had a point there.
She took a long moment to decide on what information she could safely give them.
“Li helped me,” she admitted. “He’s part of the reason I made this trip back in time. That’s all I can tell you.”
“So the guy sent you back in time to save himself?” Aiden asked, disgust in his voice.
She shook her head. “I told you, Aiden. This time wasn’t my original destination. Li encouraged me to think bigger. To go back to the beginning and make the changes there. Landing here was just a fluke.”
“A fluke,” said Nate. He and Aiden exchanged a doubtful look. “Right.”
Sighing, Aiden rubbed his forehead. “All this time travel nonsense is making my head hurt. Too many what-if’s to know anything for certain.”
Nate seemed to agree.
“Listen, we can sit here and argue his motivations all night,” said Alex, “but it won’t change anything. I’m here. Now. And I’m telling you that I trust him. That Li can be trusted. So, please, just trust me, okay? If Li said he’ll keep a lid on what happened today—that he’ll keep the Agency off our backs—then he meant it.”
Another knock sounded at the door.
No one moved.
“Open up, boys,” a soulful voice called from the other side.
“Go home, kid,” Aiden answered.
The voice countered with, “I’ve got your share of the profits from last night’s job.”
Those were the magic words.
As Aiden opened the door, Alex leaned forward on the couch to get a better look down the hall. Jezza stood framed in the doorway, her pink braids piled in a messy bun atop her head, two pizza boxes in one hand and a six pack of beer from a local brewery in the other.
Alex frowned.
The girl at the door was smiling, bu
t even from that distance, Alex could see that the smile didn’t reach her red-rimmed eyes.
She’d been crying.
A lot.
Jezza’s makeup had been carefully applied, but no amount of concealer and eye-liner was going to cover those dark circles or that red tinge to the whites of her eyes.
The revelations of the night before came back to Alex in a rush.
Jezza’s friend Sara had just been murdered. Of course she’d been crying.
“Funny,” said Aiden as the girl smoothly sidestepped his towering form and entered the apartment. “That doesn’t look like cash.”
“Who said anything about cash?” Jezza set the pizza and beer on the counter, then lifted one of the bottles from the six pack.
“He paid you in pizza?” Alex left her seat on the couch, lured by the enticing scent of melted cheese and toppings.
Aiden’s crazy detours that afternoon hadn’t included a lunch stop. She was starving.
“And booze.” Jezza twisted off the bottle’s cap. “Can’t forget the booze.”
“Wouldn’t dream of forgetting that,” said Aiden. He let the front door fall closed, looking more beleaguered than Alex had ever seen him.
The look Aiden sent Alex as she made her way into the kitchen assured her they’d be picking up their conversation again later. Nate, too, was still watching Alex appraisingly.
Jezza flipped open the box on top to reveal a still steaming pie topped with pepperoni and mushrooms. Alex’s favorite.
“Dig in, New Girl,” offered Jezza, pulling a stringy slice away from the whole. “You earned it. And you could clearly use the saturated fat. What do you weigh, anyhow? Like twelve pounds when you’re soaked? I swear, my Chi-Chi weighs more than that.”
Alex’s hand faltered halfway to the pizza box. “Your what?”
“Her chihuahua,” Aiden translated. He said the word with no small amount of disgust. Clearly, Aiden and Chi-Chi weren’t the best of pals. “Though I still have my doubts that it’s just a chihuahua. Pretty sure it’s part chihuahua, part Hell Hound. The thing hates everyone.”
“No, Aiden,” said Jezza. “He just hates you.”
