His voice turned to a growl as he flung out his hand, lifting the others off their feet. “If any of you ever touches Lexus again, I swear to God I’ll kill you. Now, get the hell out of here and forget this ever happened!”
He slammed them back down to the ground, and they took off, scampering like frightened animals.
When the bathroom was empty, I turned in Jaxson’s arms and collapsed against his chest, sucking in air as if I was suffocating. My tears wet his shirt, stirring up the musky scent of his cologne, and I inhaled it like smelling salts, letting the soothing scent calm my nerves.
After a few moments, Jaxson laid a gentle hand on my head and started stroking my hair, his voice a soft murmur.
When my pulse and breathing settled, I pulled away, a confusing mix of positive emotions taking the place of the negative ones. I saw them all reflected on his face.
Jaxson stared hard into my eyes for a brief second before lowering his head. I knew what he was going to do, but I didn’t try to stop him. His skin was cool and dry, rough against my tender flesh as he brushed his lips slowly across mine before pulling them away.
“I’m sorry.” He shook his head and dropped his hands from my body.
I laid a hand on his chest and looked up at him. “Thank you, Jaxson,” I whispered.
He nodded, and turned away, heading for the door.
“Jaxson, wait!”
He stopped and turned his head, a cautious but hopeful look in his eyes.
A thousand different scenarios played through my mind, and my face contorted with one emotion after another. I opened and closed my mouth over and over again as I tried to find words for what I wanted.
“Please don’t tell Griffin and Phoenix,” I finally blurted.
Jaxson’s face hardened, and he nodded. “Don’t worry about it. None of this ever happened.”
I followed Jaxson out of the men’s room, but he didn’t bother to wait for me. His long legs strode down the hallway twice as fast as mine could. I didn’t want to be alone, though, so I hustled towards the cafeteria, anxious to find Griffin and Phoenix but nervous to face them after what had just happened with Jaxson.
Why had I let him kiss me? Was I just grateful for what he’d done, or did I have feelings for him? I knew Jaxson was dangerous, and I’d been afraid of him ever since he kidnapped me, but was he really a threat? I didn’t think he ever intended to hurt me; I was just a means to an end. The fact that he’d just saved me told me he wasn’t an enemy. Now that I knew his story, I actually had a lot of sympathy for him. Was that all I was feeling?
I caught a glimpse of Jaxson as I made my way through the cafeteria line. He looked at me, an expression on his face I couldn’t quite read. I stared at him for a minute, pondering, till I saw Phoenix looking at me. I quickly turned away, ignoring the fluttering in my belly, and headed towards the twins.
“What took you so long?” Phoenix asked, frowning and glancing repeatedly towards Jaxson.
“I had to go to the bathroom,” I mumbled, staring at my plate.
Griffin knit his eyebrows together and leaned over, trying to see my face. “Lexus, are you getting more flack about us?”
“It’s no big deal.” I shook my head, hoping he’d drop it, but to Griffin I might as well have been glass — he always saw right through me.
His crystal eyes clouded, and he cupped my chin in his hand, turning my face towards his.
“Yes it is, Lexus. I don’t like the idea of you getting bullied here because of us. I know you think they’re just words and they don’t really hurt but—”
I stiffened, and my reaction betrayed me. His beautiful face pinched with worry.
“It wasn’t just words, was it?”
I gave a tiny shake of my head, my eyes pooling as the fresh memory splashed across them. Griffin instantly reached for me, engulfing me in his strong embrace.
Phoenix growled behind me, pounding his fist on the table, rattling his tray as he jumped to his feet. “Lexus, what happened? Tell me who messed with you, and I’ll take it out on their face. Was it Jaxson? I swear, I’m gonna rip that bastard a new one—”
“No!” I yelped, turning to face him and wrapping a hand around his wrist to stop him.
Phoenix jolted, and his head swung back to glare at me, his wrath suddenly stunted like a bottle rocket with a defective fuse.
“Phoenix, it wasn’t Jaxson. He actually…” I floundered for the right words that would disarm his anger without causing him to explode. “…rescued me.”
Phoenix’s face twisted in confusion, emotions flashing across it faster than I could keep up. Eventually, he dropped back down into his chair and scowled at me. “Spill it, Lexus.”
11
Emotions I hadn’t let myself feel in a long time crashed through me, making my body vibrate with energy and need. What the hell was I doing trying to kiss Lexus? She already had two guys vying for her attention, the last thing she needed was another one trying to get a piece of her.
There was something about her, though, that called to me like a siren. Maybe it was that heady mix of raw power buried under innocent vulnerability. I craved her power; the high I felt whenever I worked with her intoxicated me. A few hits were all it took, and I was addicted. But I couldn’t ignore the desire to protect her, either. She was a fragile shell that threatened to shatter any moment.
The way she looked at me when I held her in my arms, like I was her savior — nothing I’d ever done felt more important. I tried to convince myself I didn’t have a chance with her; those Abercrombie dipshits were too much for her to handle as it was, but she let me kiss her, dammit! And the look in her eyes afterward told me she only regretted it because of them. Could she have feelings for me, or was she just emotional because of what happened? Besides, if she was okay with two guys, why not three?
My head rattled between my shoulders. What was I thinking? Did I really want to share a girl with the Bobbsey twins? Sharing wasn’t really my strong suit, but I knew I didn’t have a chance in hell of getting her to dump them for me. The best I could hope for was to get in on the action.
I couldn’t believe myself. I was the most powerful person I knew, and I was considering sharing a girl that threatened my status with two guys I wanted to pummel? What was it about her that made me so crazy?
I’d gone with some of the other girls around here, but none of them ever stirred me the way Lexus did. None of them ever challenged me like she did, either. I ought to be freaked out, or at least ticked off, that she was able to control me against my will, but instead, all I wanted to do was let her have at it, let her power course through me, taking over my body. It was a total rush.
And those big, hazel eyes, staring at me in appreciation, affected my body in a different way. All I could think about was touching her again, kissing her, running my fingers down the length of her hair. Man, I was a goner.
I stalked to the cafeteria and piled my plate with food, then dropped my tray at my usual table. The people there weren’t my friends. I didn’t really have any friends. They were more like my groupies; people who thought hanging out with me would raise their status. I tolerated them more than anything. A few of them started talking to me, but I didn’t hear a word they said.
Instead, I watched Lexus come in and grab a tray, her eyes darting over to my table. She stared at me, and I stared back, trying to express all my crazy emotions in one look. She frowned and turned away, heading towards the twins.
Right away, they started hovering over her, aware that something had happened. Phoenix gave me a scowl that made me want to punch his lights out and tell him how I’d been the one to rescue his girlfriend, but I’d promised Lexus I wouldn’t. By the way Griffin was staring at her and questioning her, I was pretty sure they were going to drag the story out of her, anyway.
I knew the minute my name came up because both of them turned to look at me with shock and something akin to gratitude. I smirked and wagged my eyebrows at them. They weren’t
the only ones who could protect Lexus.
I turned my attention back to my admirers and tried to put the incident with Lexus out of my mind, but thoughts of her in my arms, her lips touching mine, lingered — a tantalizing distraction.
An hour later, I flopped on my bed, grateful for a break in the middle of the day, a chance to be alone and try to control these crazy ideas that were bouncing around my head like pinballs. I was supposed to be tutoring the Easton twins during 6th period, catching them up to speed with the other Conduits our age, but I’d left them to teach themselves after the first day. Now, I used this hour to escape from the chaos of my own mind.
After all these years here, my room was my haven. Anders had given me free reign to make it my own, and I loved the sleek, black and silver color scheme and the intricate designs I’d painted on the walls. Especially now that my parents had disappeared, my room was the only home I had.
I grabbed a sketchbook and started doodling random patterns, hoping the mindless activity would chill my body out long enough to let me get my head sorted. The next thing I knew, someone was pounding on my door. When I looked down at my notebook, I realized I’d drawn a stylized version of Lexus’ name, decorated with hearts and flowers like some damn, lovestruck middle-schooler. I closed the book with a smack and tossed it on my dresser before yelling at whoever was knocking to come in.
“You should really keep your door locked, Jaxson. You never know what kind of riffraff might come barging in.” Phoenix smirked at me and grabbed my desk chair, spinning it around and sitting in it backwards, his arms crossed on the back of the chair.
Griffin frowned at him. “Lexus told us what happened in the bathroom, Jaxson.” For a moment, I thought they meant she told them about the kiss, and I stiffened, assuming they were here to start a fight, but Griffin continued. “We just wanted to say thank you for looking out for her. We know that probably could’ve got you in trouble, using your powers like that. But we’re glad you did; we’re glad you were there for her.”
His gratitude was sincere, and the words cracked through some of the thick ice I kept wrapped around my heart. I heard myself saying, “Yeah, well, I guess I owed it to you after what happened at my parents’ house. I really am sorry about that.”
Griffin nodded and gave me a look that said he would try to forgive me, and even Phoenix gave me a solemn nod. Of course, they probably wouldn’t be so willing to make up if they knew I’d kissed her, but hopefully that secret would stay between us. I swallowed a lump in my throat as I thought about it again.
“She’s pretty amazing, isn’t she? You’re lucky she likes you…” My voice wavered a bit as my feelings tried to escape, but I sucked them back in and changed the subject. “…I sure as hell can’t see why.” I smirked, and Phoenix and Griffin both rolled their eyes.
“Cuz we’re not asswipes like you are, Jaxson,” Phoenix said, climbing out of the chair and slugging me in the bicep.
I grinned, glad things were pretty much back to normal. The twins weren’t the worst people I could hang out with; at least they were honest about their feelings. We might not be friends, exactly, but at least we weren’t enemies anymore.
12
Our motley crew gathered outside the door to Anders’ office at 7:15 on Thursday morning — me, my brother, the girlfriend we shared, and our sworn enemy turned uneasy ally — a group of too-powerful teenagers on a mission to uncover the secrets behind our missing parents. We were giddy with adrenaline and drawing the stares of the few people who were in the hallways that early in the morning.
“Jaxson and I will go in and snoop around. Phoenix, you and Lexus stay out here and keep a look out,” I directed.
Phoenix crossed his arms and pouted. “Why can’t I go in, too?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Because it will look weird if only one person is standing outside the door, doing nothing. If you and Lexus are out there together, you can talk, pretend you just stopped there to have a conversation.”
He opened his mouth to argue, probably wanting to suggest Jaxson stay out there instead, but then thought better of it. Neither of us wanted to leave Lexus alone with Jaxson, and besides, I might need Jaxson to help me figure out what to look for. He knew a lot more about Anders and our kind than I did.
When the coast was clear, Lexus flaunted her ability to control us without our knowledge and unlocked the door without asking for help. I cracked open the door and waited, listening, then eventually crept inside, Jaxson at my heels.
“That was way too easy. Either Anders has nothing in here to find or he totally underestimates his students,” I said.
“That, or he’s got this place booby-trapped, and we’re about to be caught in his web,” Jaxson murmured.
I’d anticipated that, too, and sure enough, I spied a tiny, inconspicuous camera mounted in the corner of the office. I hadn’t turned on the lights yet, and I doubted it had night vision, but just in case, I’d worn a hat that I’d pulled down low enough to hide my face. Jaxson had one, too.
I’d copied his all-black style for the mission, borrowing some of Phoenix’s clothes. I’d encouraged Phoenix to dress like me today, just to avoid any questions, and I’d cracked up at the sight of him in a button-down shirt and khakis. We used to trick people all the time when we were little, but we hadn’t done it on purpose in years. We were just too different to pull it off very well.
I ripped a piece of painter’s tape off the roll in my pocket and stuck it over the camera lens so we could work without worrying then turned on the lights. Later, I’d search his computer for the video footage and see if it needed some creative editing.
I sat at his desk and powered up his computer, facing the first challenge when it prompted me for a password.
“Try 2014CamaroZ/28. He’s obsessed with his car.”
Considering how little effort it’d taken to get into his office, I took a chance and hit the Enter button instead. The Windows desktop opened up before us like a blooming flower, and I chuckled. Anders arrogance was working in our favor.
I smirked when I saw his wallpaper was a picture of him in his car. In fact, every photo he had was him with a car of some kind, no other people at all. Weird.
Jaxson snooped around the rest of the office while I dug through the computer.
I found the camera files and was pleased to see that the images it took before I taped over it were too dark to make out any incriminating details. I quickly edited the video, removing any suspicious-looking frames.
Next, I checked out the rest of the computer files. All the installed programs looked standard — nothing I hadn’t heard of before, and the list of documents looked pretty basic as well. Only one stood out to me — “Christmas gift ideas.”
“Jaxson, does Anders have a family? A wife? Kids?”
“Nope. I told you, he’s in love with his car.”
“Does he give his students Christmas presents?”
Jaxson laughed loudly, the sound echoing and sending a shiver of tension up my spine. “Definitely not. Why?”
I pointed to the file name and clicked to open it. It was a spreadsheet full of names, hundreds of them, but there were no gift ideas for them. Instead, there were addresses, phone numbers, levels, and a strange classification system I couldn’t immediately decipher.
“I don’t know what this is, but it’s not a shopping list.”
Jaxson leaned over my shoulder to look at the screen, a little too close for comfort. “Search for the name Merritt.”
I heard his jaw clench and saw his Adam’s apple bob as the names Mark, Lucinda, and Jaxson Merritt appeared. Jaxson’s old house was listed under “last known address,” but the final column was more interesting. I cracked Jaxson’s code easily — MVA for Magna Virtus Academy, followed by the date of his enrollment. But his parents’ code was less clear, and more chilling — POW.
“What the hell does that mean?” Jaxson snarled, pushing my hands off the keyboard so he could take over. He scrolled
through the list, checking out other statuses.
I didn’t comment. I was pretty sure the question was rhetorical.
“CO MIA?” He looked genuinely confused by that one.
“CO usually stands for commanding officer. MIA means —”
“I know what MIA means, but that doesn’t make sense. This isn’t the army. We don’t have officers,” Jaxson argued, but his face told me he was suddenly questioning everything he knew about our kind. I sighed and rubbed my face with my hand.
Jaxson scrolled through the list some more, but when my own name flashed across the screen, I slapped a hand on his to stop him and leaned forward. “Hold up.”
My parents were listed, along with me and my brother. The last name was listed as “Foster/Easton” which I assumed referred to our status as wards of the state, but it seemed a little odd to put that detail in the last name column. My status was the same as Jaxson’s, just with a different date, but my parents’ code was different — CO POW. And the date was ten years ago, the same year they disappeared.
My stomach clenched at the last three letters. POW. Prisoner of war. Did that really mean what I thought it did? Had our parents been captured and held prisoner? Who would do that, and why? Was it Anders, or was he just an insider in an underground world of secrets we knew nothing about?
I scrolled through the list again, looking for any more familiar names. The name William Wren caught my eye. Was that Lexus’ father? His status said Parole and a date two years ago.
My insides twisted as the cortisol levels surging through my body threatened to overwhelm me. Jaxson didn’t look much better. “We gotta get out of here. We’ve been here too long already.”
I pulled a flash drive from my pocket and shoved it in the computer, and five seconds later the file was in my possession. I copied the rest of his documents as well, just in case there was anything else important buried in the minutiae. I could scrounge through it all later.
Taking Flight (Teen Paranormal Romance Series) (The Caged Series Book 3) Page 6
