Breed of Havoc (The Breed Chronicles #3)

by Lanie Jordan

  When something touched my shoulder, I nearly jumped and spun around swinging. I caught myself a split second before I would’ve punched Linc in the face.

  He eased back. “Easy.”

  “Sorry.” I tried for a smile. “Guess I was distracted and didn’t hear you.”

  “It’s good practice for me.”

  “Getting punched is good practice?”

  “If I get punched, then I get punched. It’s not a big deal. And yes, it is good practice, because I should be quick enough to avoid them, and if I’m not…” He shrugged and winked at me. “I’m used to you beating me up, anyway.”

  It probably shouldn’t have, considering everything else that was going on, but it brought back our fight and made me angry all over again. “But you don’t like that I can,” I said.

  His mouth opened, then closed. “I basically said that, didn’t I?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “You called it before when you said it was an ego thing. No guy likes knowing his girlfriend is stronger and faster than he is.”

  I’d always hated being so different from everyone else, and maybe I still did. Hell, in a way, I hated it even more now because of what had happened. But it’d helped a little, too, hadn’t it? I’d fought off the stupid demon they’d sicced on me. I’d managed to knock a few of Creeper’s people out and get away—with the help of Peter and other kickass CGE people. I hadn’t knocked out enough, I thought bitterly, but a few. The strength, the speed, the seeing sounds things—those had all come in handy. I wouldn’t have been able to do as much as I had without them. That demon could have killed me easily if I hadn’t had some kind of advantage.

  I’d said I was fine with my demon half before, and at the time, I thought I’d been being honest, but I hadn’t been, not even with myself. But now… Now I was. Being different is what had caused this whole thing, but it’d also saved my ass. It was time to stop fighting it. It was way past time to start embracing it, because it wasn’t going anywhere.

  “And is it still? An ego thing, I mean? Because I can’t change who I am or what I can do. As much as I love you, Linc, I wouldn’t do that, not even for you. Not even if I could, especially now.”

  He let out a long sigh. “No, not anymore. Last night, the driver called ahead to let us know they’d found you and were bringing you back. He said you were okay. Pissed and a little smokey, but okay. And in that second, I was thankful you were exactly who you are, because I know whatever happened, being who you are helped.”

  Being who I was is what had gotten me taken in the first place, but I didn’t mention that, because I’d meant what I said, too. Linc was right, being who I am is what helped me, and I was done being apologetic about it. I was done denying it was a part of me. “Are you sure? Because—”

  “I can’t take back what I said. I can’t take back how I said it or why I said it. I’m sorry we fought and that it was the last thing we did before… I’m sorry the last words I said to you weren’t nice ones.” He scowled at his feet for a second and released a loud breath. When he looked at me again, his eyes were dark and fierce. “You can be pissed at me about it. I get it, I understand it, and I know I deserve it. Yell at me, punch and kick me, I don’t care.”

  “Linc—”

  “I’m not done. If you need to break up with me for being an insensitive asshole, then I probably deserve that, too. But I want to get one thing straight,” he said, teeth clenched. He took a step toward me. “I am not leaving your sight. I said it last night, and I’m saying it again now. If you don’t want me in here with you, fine, I’ll sit outside your door. But you won’t be more than five feet from me at anytime, for any reason, until you’re okay. And you know what? If it comes down to it, I’m not going anywhere until I feel okay, because right now, I’m not either.”

  It was almost sweet, yet bossy in a Linc way, and made my eyes water.

  I didn’t answer him immediately, which he must’ve taken for a bad sign, because he frowned and grabbed my hand. “Okay, I lied about you breaking up with me. You can’t do that. I was being—”

  “I’m not breaking up with you. I’m busy trying not to be annoyed with you for ruining another perfectly good mad. They’re wasted on you.”

  “Don’t worry, the next time I’m an idiot, I’ll let you stay mad at me for a week. In fact, I’ll do something to annoy you now so you can—”

  I laughed my first real laugh in what seemed like days. “Shush.”

  He pulled me close and leaned his forehead against mine. “God, I missed you. Your laugh, your smile. Just being able to see and touch you.” His eyes stayed locked on mine and he grabbed my hands, like he had to reaffirm his words with actions. “I love you, Jade Hall. And I’ll tell you that every night. It’ll be the last thing you hear before you go to sleep and the first thing when you wake up. No more fighting and walking away. Not after…” He trailed off and shuddered.

  “I’m fine. See?” I said, entwining my fingers with his. “You’re holding my hands. I’m not going anywhere, either.” I let out a breath. “Except to see Greene, I guess. I’d better get that over with. But first, a shower or ten.”

  He dragged his hand over his face, then his head. “I have one question, and I promise it’ll be the only thing I ask until or if you want to talk about anything.”

  “Yeah?” My stomach tightened and I held my breath as I waited for his question.

  “Are you really okay? You’re not hurt or anything?” Even as he asked, his eyes roamed over me again. He brushed his fingers over my face where the demon had clawed me.

  “I’m fine.” Physically I was. I knew there were a few bruises that hadn’t healed yet, and the scratches from the demon were still there. My knee still ached a little, too. But by tomorrow, there’d probably be no sign that I’d been in a fight with a demon or been in a burning building.

  Mentally was another story. He hadn’t asked about that, though I was sure it had been implied in his question. The truth was, I didn’t know how to answer it. And maybe I really didn’t want to think about it enough to answer.

  “Okay.” He let out a loud breath. “Okay.”

  “I’ll feel—and probably look and smell—a lot better after a shower.”

  “Yeah, of course. I’ll be here.”

  “Thanks, Linc.”

  He nodded.

  I gave him a smile and went to the bathroom. After my hour-long shower (where I ended up washing my hair three times), Linc and I went down to the first floor. He held my hand the entire time in a death grip.

  When we made it to the first floor, everyone who spotted me stopped in their tracks. Whispers and theories flew from almost everyone, but the theory I heard the most was that I’d been abducted by my ‘own kind’.

  For once, I really didn’t care. There was no tinge of guilt or sadness or annoyance. I simply didn’t care. They could think what they wanted to think. They could hate me for being part demon, for being different. It didn’t matter. I was what I was and I couldn’t change it. If they had to hate me for it, then fine, that was on them.

  “Y’all are a bunch of idiots,” I heard a familiar voice say.

  I turned and found Shelly standing a few feet to my right. She turned in a slow circle, glaring at everyone since they—including me—were all looking at her like she’d lost her head. “Y’all are seriously pathetic. What has she ever done to any of you?” When Rachel’s friend Leslie scoffed, Shelly whirled around to face her. “Did I say something funny?”

  “Yeah. You punched her in the face last year.”

  “So? You know what she did about it? Nothing. She could have, and probably should have because I deserved it, but she didn’t. She’s the one who kept me from getting kicked out.”

  A few people muttered Felecia’s name.

  Shelly laughed. “I wasn’t here when she got kicked out, but I’ve heard what the hunters have said about it, and sorry, but I’m taking their word over yours. And if you ask me, Felecia got wh
at she deserved—better even, considering Jade’s the one who almost died.” Her head tilted to the side and she laughed. “Funny, the only time anyone mentions that is when they’re saying she should’ve died because of it.”

  “Big deal. She’s still—”

  “What? Seriously, what’d she do to make y’all hate her?”

  “How about punching me last year?” Rachel stepped out into the hallway from the cafe court. Her hand was in a cast. ”And then, what’d she do this year? Oh, that’s right, she broke my damn hand!”

  Shelly rolled her eyes. “I punched her because you told me to, so don’t play that ‘she punched me’ card. You got your payback for that. About the arm…well, we all know that was an accident. We all saw the same video. The only difference is, you don’t care.”

  “Shelly, what are you talking about?” I said before I could think to keep my mouth shut.

  “Your meetings were recorded and Peter played the video for us.”

  She still made no sense, so I turned to Linc. “What is she talking about?”

  “With what happened with Rachel, and then Brian, there were rumors popping up left and right about you. Someone,” he said with a sharp look at Rachel, “started saying you’d attacked them both without any reason. Well, Peter got tired of hearing it, so he had most of the Prospects in the auditorium to watch the thing with Rachel. He played it to shut them up about it.”

  “Only it didn’t work very well, did it?” Shelly bit out. ”Because most of the people in this place are idiots. Y’all say what you want, keep thinking she’s the bad guy.” She tossed her shoulders in a shrug. “It doesn’t matter if she’s part demon or all demon. And you know why? Because she’s still a better human being than ninety percent of us, myself included. Some of you should think about that the next time you open your mouths to say something about her.”

  I gaped at her. Beside me, Linc nodded, then he ushered me away. “I kinda like her. She’s been on a rampage since…you know. She’s kind of like Tasha.” His head tilted to the side. “Actually, she’s scarier than Tasha, now that I think about it. You still should have punched her last year—and Tasha would agree wholeheartedly—but I like her.”

  “Why does it seem like everything changed overnight?”

  Linc shrugged. ”A lot has happened in five days.”

  I nearly tripped and stopped in my tracks. “Five days?”

  “Yeah. It’s Sunday and you’ve been gone since Monday night, so…five days, or six if you count Monday and last night.”

  Days? I’d been gone for days? They’d knocked me out a few times, but… How could they have kept me under for so long? I’d only woken up groggy one time—the other times I’d woken instantly, almost like no time had passed at all.

  “What’s wrong?” He grabbed my arm. “You’re ghost white now. Are you sick? Talk to me, Jade.”

  “It’s nothing,” I said, lying unexpectedly. I didn’t know why I wasn’t telling him the truth, and I knew I wouldn’t tell Greene, either. I couldn’t decide if it was better or worse that I didn’t remember those days, that I could only actually remember a few hours of my time away. “Sorry. I just—” I cleared my throat. “It doesn’t seem that long.”

  “No? Because it was the longest five days of my life. We were all in the auditorium when the people broke in, and those who weren’t already there were brought in by agents, guards, and teachers—anyone available. I never saw you. I didn’t think anything about it at the time. I just figured you were in your room, wishing me bodily harm.” A faint, dark smile raised his lips.

  I touched his face. ”Does that sound like something I’d do?”

  “In a heartbeat.”

  When I laughed, he took my hand again. “Greene came and found me about twenty minutes after the lights went out, asking if you were with me or if I’d seen you. Even as I said no, that I hadn’t seen you in a while, I still didn’t think anything of it. And then, about thirty or forty minutes later, he pulled me aside and told me he couldn’t find you. I think he thought you were hiding somewhere and I was covering for you, otherwise I don’t think he would have told me that much.”

  Knowing Greene, he probably wouldn’t have. Considering he’d sworn us to secrecy when someone had followed us—or me, I thought bitterly—in New Orlando, that was probably the only reason Greene had told Linc anything.

  “We searched everywhere for you,” he continued. “Greene didn’t want me to help, but I told him I’d sneak out if I had to, so he might as well let me because at least then he’d have some control over where I went and what I did.”

  “Ever the rebel, my Linc.”

  “I think he’s pretty much figured out that, where you’re concerned, he can’t keep me away.” He let out a deep breath and the misery in his eyes had my heart breaking. “We couldn’t find you. Anywhere. I looked on and off the property and you were just gone. Even after Greene came to the conclusion that you must have been…that you weren’t here, I kept looking. I looked until daylight. I couldn’t find you.”

  When his voice cracked, I pulled him close. His arms went around me and I just held him closer. “Shh. I’m here. I’m in one piece.” I didn’t say I was okay. I couldn’t say it again, because I wasn’t sure it was true, and I didn’t want to add more lies to everything else. Not where Linc was concerned. But I was here, I was in one piece. I felt his harsh breath at my ear and rubbed my hand up and down his back, like he’d done last night. I didn’t know how else to comfort him.

  “You’re here.”

  “I’m here,” I repeated.

  He took my face in his hands and stared at me. His eyes were still dark and almost unrecognizable from their normal color. He leaned in and gave me a long, soft kiss. ”I’m probably going to do that a lot for a while.”

  “Well, if it makes you feel better, I suppose I can suffer through it for now.”

  Finally, he laughed. The sound lifted me up and made my heart feel lighter. “It will, so I guess you’ll to have suffer.” He kissed my forehead. “But for now, we better go see Greene, if you’re still up for it. Tasha and Chris will want to talk to you. They wanted to last night, but I asked them to wait. I wanted to see you first, and I didn’t want anyone asking you questions.”

  “You haven’t asked any,” I said, realizing he hadn’t except for the one.

  He shrugged. “You’ll tell me if and when you’re ready to. You’re back and that’s what matters most to me, so I can wait for the rest.”

  “Thanks, Linc.”

  He slid his fingers through mine again and just nodded. “Ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be.”

  Greene’s secretary, Mrs. Matthews, met us outside his office. Before either of us said anything, she rose from her chair and led us inside without bothering to knock.

  Greene stood from his desk immediately and looked over our shoulders. “Thank you, Mrs. Matthews. Please make sure we’re not disturbed. Direct any calls to Mrs. Barnes.”

  Mrs. Matthews nodded quickly, shot me a soft smile, and pulled the door shut behind her.

  Gesturing for us to sit, Greene retook his seat. “Miss Hall.” He glanced at Linc. “Mr. Stone.”

  “I’m not leaving,” Linc said in a raised voice.

  Before we’d gotten here, I wasn’t actually sure I’d wanted him to stick around for the retelling. But now that we were here, I didn’t want him to go anywhere.

  Greene merely smiled. “I wasn’t going to ask you to leave,” he said, glancing at me. “As long as you’re fine with his presence, that is, Miss Hall.”

  Linc turned to me, as if to ask my permission, and grabbed my hand. “Your call.”

  His eyes were partially narrowed, like he expected me to say no. I expected me to say no, or at least I had, but I couldn’t. It would be bad enough telling this story once, and even if I didn’t necessarily want to tell Linc today, I’d have to tell him eventually. “Stay.”

  “First, I want to say, again, that I’m glad
you’re back where you belong, Miss Hall.”

  I nodded.

  Greene let out a sigh. “I wanted to give you more time before I questioned you about what happened, but Miss Jones mentioned something. She asked that you be the one to tell me, because she was, I’m sure, afraid to break your confidence. I understand if you need more time. However, if you know anything that could potentially affect the CGE or the Prospects, I’d like to hear it.”

  Linc dropped my hand and jumped to his feet. “She’s been back barely twelve hours and already you’re trying to guilt her into talking about what happened? Give her some damn time! Someone kidnapped her, for crying out loud, right under our noses. That doesn’t just affect the CGE or the Prospects—it affects her!”

  I stared up at him. “Linc—”

  Greene shook his head. “It’s fine. Mr. Stone has made his position very clear in your absence. And he’s not wrong, though I wish he were. I’m glad he’s upset by this, because he should be. We all should be. What transpired is something that has never happened before, and it should not have happened now. Outsiders should never have been able to get onto the property, let alone into any of the buildings. They should never have been able to leave with one of our people.”

  “Yet they did,” was Linc’s steely comment.

  “Yet they did,” Greene agreed. “It won’t happen again.”

  “Great, but that’s not the only thing.” Linc glanced down at me and fire shone in his eyes. “You don’t have to do this. Not now. Not yet. It’s only been a few hours—”

  “I don’t want to,” I said, looking from Linc to Greene, then back to Linc again. “But he—you both, I guess—need to know a few things.”

  “I’m sorry that I can’t give you more time. Part of me wants to, on a personal level, Miss Hall—Jade,” he corrected softly. “And part of me, for the very same reasons, can’t afford to do that. I’m torn between protecting one Prospect—even one of our best—and looking after the whole of the CGE, which includes everyone who works for us. I hope you understand if there was another way around this, I would take it and give you the time I’m sure you need. I don’t want to question you about something you can’t be ready to discuss yet.” Greene’s eyes flickered to Linc. “But it wasn’t my intention to guilt you into anything. I believe you both know that.”