Joel choked on his drink. “Where the hell did that come from?” he said, once his coughing subsided.
Way to blow it.
She shrugged one shoulder and tried to think of a believable lie. “It beat asking you what your favorite color was.”
She could tell he didn’t buy it. He watched her as he took a long pull on his smoothie, and she forced her eyes to stay on his.
“Can’t say that I have, and blue.”
“What?”
He put down his drink and reached for her. “You asked if I’ve ever been to jail, can’t say that I have. As for my favorite color,” he touched his thumb to the side of her eye, “it’s blue.”
Her pulse kick-started; she wanted to tell him blue was her favorite color too. Midnight blue. Heat pooled low in her belly and her breasts ached for him.
His hand dropped away. He went back to drinking his smoothie. “So tell me, have you ever been to the big house?”
She’d walked right into that one.
She should have expected him to turn the question back on her. It was only fair she reciprocate, but she wasn’t very proud of her past. Nathan hadn’t kept the best company in high school, and she’d hung out with the same crowd. She’d even dated one of her brother’s friends who she’d thought was different than the rest, but it only sucked her further down the rabbit hole. It wasn’t until he’d tried to force himself on her when they were both baked that she flipped her life around.
“I have a juvie record,” she admitted after a big gulp of her smoothie.
“Seriously?”
She stared miserably into the top of her drink. “It wasn’t my finest hour.”
“High school isn’t anyone’s finest hour, trust me.”
Something in his voice made her look up. She couldn’t imagine the man in front of her having any difficulty in high school. Stunning good looks, a rockin’ bod, and brains to boot. What was hard for him?
He must’ve read her thoughts. He gave a short laugh. “I didn’t look like this in high school, if that’s what you’re thinking. Cut my weight in half, slap on a ton of acne and a worse fashion sense. Oh, and add in my extracurricular activity of Magic: The Gathering and you got yourself a one-way ticket to Bully Bait, USA.”
“I like your fashion,” she said absently.
He stared down at the Batman symbol on his shirt and then swung his attention back up to her. He clearly couldn’t believe it. “I think that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Can I have that in writing so I can show it to Niella?”
Melanie laughed and gave him a playful shove.
He rolled with the movement, graceful as could be.
“You’ve certainly filled out now. Who used to bully you?” She couldn’t wrap her mind around the idea of someone picking on a younger version of Joel. He was probably the sweetest kid.
He shrugged one shoulder. “Jocks. They loved to pick on me around prom time ‘cause they knew I’d never have a date. Then one year the principal’s assistant asked me to be hers … the kiss of death.”
“I take it she wasn’t pretty?”
“She was fifty.”
Melanie cringed.
“It wasn’t my finest hour, to quote you from earlier. But I wouldn’t change it for the world. My two younger brothers were the party animals. I got to live vicariously through them, which meant I got to pick their drunk asses up when they were sick from alcohol and needed a quick getaway car when the cops showed up to the parties they were at.”
“I didn’t know you had two younger brothers.”
Another shrug. “Got one older one too.” He took a long sip of his drink. “What about you? You mentioned a brother. Just the one?”
“Yeah, Nathan. We’re only a year apart so we’re pretty close. He’s older, but that didn’t matter. I used to hang out with him all the time in high school. He didn’t have the best of friends, meaning they liked to pass needles and drink booze a lot. I steered clear of the needles, but I got into pot. I was caught with possession. My brother bailed me out and forged all the documents that needed to be filled out by my parents. He used to watch out for me all the time.”
She didn’t know what else to say after that. Nathan had been everything to her when she was growing up. They’d been made fun of in elementary school because their parents had strange accents and didn’t follow American customs. Her father was from the Czech Republic and her mother from Greece. It wasn’t until high school that they really branched out and made friends.
Nathan had been her rock for so many years. Now she was making her own path, trying her best to look after Nathan. She owed it to him.
“Hey,” Joel’s soft voice broke her thoughts. “Where’d you drift off to?”
She stared at Joel for a beat. It was easy to believe he knew all the answers. Joel didn’t show an ounce of fear when it came to his powers. He knew his course, and that drew her to him, made him the perfect companion for this chapter of her life. She, too, wanted to know her course.
“Melanie?”
She blinked. “I’m sorry, got lost in thought.”
“About your brother?” he hedged.
She wanted to lie. It was on the tip of her tongue. But again those eyes drew her in and she found herself sighing. “Yeah.”
“How’s he doing? You said he was a Dreamer, right?”
She reached for the leather band on her wrist and absently twisted it around and around. “Yeah, he’s … not doing the best.”
Joel reached out and intertwined their fingers. “Niella, the Dreamer for our guild, she’s not doing so great either. Sometimes I’m grateful for the powers I was given.”
“Do you ever wish you were normal?” she whispered.
He was silent a moment. “I used to. I think it happens to all of us. I don’t care who you are, when your powers first manifest, it’s the worst thing in the world to deal with. No one likes to be out of control.”
“Got that right,” she muttered. She hated never knowing when her powers would activate, or what she’d do with them. What happened if she touched a regular person when her powers were activated? Could she harm someone without even knowing it? Their last lesson hadn’t worked out so well. She hadn’t been able to make her neck tingle. She’d sat there like an idiot, trying and failing to get her neck to do something—anything. She hoped it was a fluke, that she really wasn’t cursed with some ability she’d have to hide for the rest of her life.
Joel squeezed her fingers. “It’ll get better,” he promised. “That’s why I’m here. Every great superhero needs a mentor.” He waggled his eyebrows.
She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. “Aren’t you supposed to have a long, gray beard or something?”
He grinned. “I can grow one out for you if you’d like.”
She chuckled.
“What?”
She shook her head. “I just pictured you decked out like a Jedi with a gray beard. Somehow it doesn’t seem that weird.”
His gaze softened and his grin turned into something much warmer, more affectionate, and Melanie became intimately aware of their joined hands.
“How do you understand me so well?” he asked in wonder.
Because Nathan’s life, and happiness, depended on it.
Chapter 10
Melanie stared, unseeing, out the bus window as she made her way home. She couldn’t recall a night she’d had such a good time. She hadn’t wanted the evening to end—they hadn’t even had time to practice her powers—but suddenly it was late and she needed to get to bed.
She kept circling back to the way he looked at her, like she was a tall glass of water and he hadn’t had a drink in months. It made her warm all over, and she found a dopey smile shining back at her in the reflection of the pane.
She turned from the image.
What was she doing?
This wasn’t what Juliet meant when she said to get close to Joel.
She’d meant to learn all she could o
f her abilities from him. And Melanie’s own agenda seemed to be backfiring as Joel got more information out of her than she did of him. Not to mention it appeared that he hadn’t done anything criminal in his entire life.
She was grateful for that. She didn’t want Joel to be one of those power-hungry monsters she’d read about in Juliet’s database. He was just like her—an unfortunate cursed with an ability. But she’d return the favor—he was helping her and in return she’d make sure Juliet helped him.
She rested her head against the cool glass and watched the streetlights blur past. At home she slipped silently into her room and dressed for bed. She fluffed up her pillow and glanced at Nathan. His eyelashes fanned his cheeks and she stood over him, heart heavy in her chest.
She was his only hope.
She brushed the hair from his forehead and his blue eyes fluttered open. “Lanie?”
Melanie’s breath caught. Was he caught in the throes of a vision, or was he really seeing her?
She rested her hand on his shoulder. “I’m here, Nathan.”
His eyes swiveled around the room, as if he didn’t know where he was.
She pressed firmer against his shoulder. “You’re safe.”
He relaxed into the bed. “Still watching out for me?”
“Always.”
He suddenly squeezed his eyes shut, his whole body going tense.
“Nathan?” Her heart skipped a beat. Was he having some kind of panic attack? Withdrawal? Vision?
Her neck started to tingle in answer.
She gasped and slapped the hand over the back of her neck. But it was too late. The hand on Nathan’s shoulder was the only connection her powers needed.
She stumbled back from Nathan as images assaulted her. She was in a home, but she couldn’t make out the surroundings. It was as if the edges of her vision were blurred and she could only focus on the short-haired woman sitting in a wheelchair in the middle of the living room. An episode of The Bachelor played on TV; the finalists waited for their roses. The woman shook her head, clutched the notebook that rested in her lap, then suddenly wheeled herself from the room as if trying to escape whatever was bothering her. Her wheelchair hit against the table and her notebook flew from her lap. The woman kept going, up the ramp that led to her front door and out into the night. It was foggy, the marine layer coming off the ocean and into the streets; Melanie could smell the salt. The woman kept going, one of her hands intermittently coming up to her head, as if she could stop whatever went on in there. Her wheelchair dipped down a ramp at the corner of a street. The woman’s head swiveled as a car with no headlights came out of nowhere …
Melanie blinked furiously, her whole body trembling. She was in her room again, flat on her back. Nathan held her in his arms, muttering soothing words and rocking her. She stared up into his eyes and found them the clearest she’d ever seen.
She reached one shaky hand up to cup his cheek. “You’re up,” she said inanely.
Nathan’s smile was strained. “And you’re down. Lanie, what did you do?”
She massaged her temple, her heart still pounding furiously in her chest. Trepidation racked her body. Who had that woman been? Her stomach lurched as she remembered seeing the car hit her.
Melanie wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. It was clear the woman had been in some kind of mental distress. She’d been watching TV but not been paying it much attention. And that was when Melanie focused on what she was shown of the episode. Her aunt liked to watch The Bachelor, but there were way more contestants still on the show than what Melanie saw on that woman’s TV.
Icy cold fingers circled her heart.
She’d seen the future.
This woman, whoever she was, only had a couple more weeks to live. If that.
Melanie pressed the back of her hand into her mouth to keep herself from losing her dinner. “Oh God,” she whispered.
Nathan gripped her chin and forced her gaze to his. He searched her face. “Lanie! Talk to me. What just happened?”
She couldn’t open her mouth for fear of vomiting. She shook her head, tears pooling in her eyes.
Nathan’s eyes softened in sympathy. “You had a vision,” he said it matter-of-factly.
She could do nothing but nod.
Nathan swore under his breath. “You took my vision. I could feel it coming on, it was right there, and then suddenly it was gone.” It was his turn to shake his head. “How the hell is that possible?” He looked down at her with such fierce protection. “Somehow they transferred to you. I can feel it, they’re gone. I … I haven’t felt like this in so long. I’m so sorry, Lanie.” He pulled her close and rested his chin against her head.
She didn’t know how long she stayed like that. Until the tremors stopped, that much she knew.
“It won’t last.” She spoke into her brother’s neck when she could.
He leaned back. “What?”
“Your powers, they’ll come back. It won’t last.” Her heart tore when she saw the look in her brother’s eye.
“I knew it was too good to be true,” he mumbled. Then louder, “How did you take them in the first place?”
Melanie extracted herself from his embrace and together they got up and sat on their respective beds. It reminded her of when they were younger and used to talk all the time. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed it until that moment. She felt sick all over again at the thought that this might be one of the last times she’d be able to do this with her brother. Her throat clogged with unshed tears.
“Lanie?”
She cleared her throat and wiped furiously at her eyes. “Sorry. It appears you weren’t the only one in the family that got some kind of power.”
“Son of a bitch,” Nathan swore.
“I can … ” She took a deep breath and told herself it would get easier the more she said it. “I can take another person’s powers, temporarily.”
Nathan swore again, his hands balled into fists. “I’m so sorry, Lanie.” They were both silent for a few seconds. “I guess when it came to the talent part of our genetics, we got the shit end of it, huh?”
A small chuckle bubbled up from somewhere deep within her. “Yeah, it looks like the curse on the Vyntra family continues.”
Nathan stared down at his white knuckles. “This is so fucking unfair. We never wanted these. We never asked for them.”
“I know.” Melanie tried to console him.
He turned on her. “No, Lanie. You don’t know, and that was the whole point. You shouldn’t know. You should never have to go through what I do. You think I haven’t been aware of what my condition is doing to this family? I can see how tired you are, the circles under your eyes, the dust building on the college applications you keep under your bed. You’ve put everything on hold to help the family because my life decided to take a shit on me. You put your career of becoming a community center coordinator on hold because of these damned powers. And now it’s sucking you in too.” He threw the closest object near him, which thankfully turned out to be a pillow. It bounced off the wall harmlessly. “When does it end? Huh?” His eyes burned into hers, but she knew he didn’t expect an answer. The harsh lines of his face softened with his voice. “Are we to go insane together, Lanie? Is that our fate?”
She bristled at the mention of fate. “No,” she said fiercely. “I found people who can help us. Seriously help us,” she clarified when she saw his dubious expression.
Nathan wasn’t fooled for a second. “What do they get out of it?”
“Me.”
Nathan shot to his feet.
Melanie held out her hands. “It’s not like that,” she said hastily. “They know of my ability and they want to use me to get close to some other people with powers.” She sighed and rubbed her tired eyes. “It’s one big complicated mess that I still haven’t wrapped my head around yet.”
“Do you trust these people?”
“For now.”
He sat back down, was quiet for
a moment as he glanced around the room. “Do we have any alcohol in here?”
“Nathan … ”
“I know,” he cut in. “But I can’t help it, you said the respite wasn’t going to last.” His gaze latched on to hers. “I’m afraid, Lanie. I’m sick of seeing the faces, I’m sick of all the death and destruction. I want it to stop, and this is the only way until I get that help you mentioned. I know what I’m doing is weak, and I hate it. But … please.”
• • •
Joel sat with his laptop in the middle of Syd’s clinic. He was busy answering emails, trying to keep his mind off Melanie and how he wouldn’t see her for another day, while Syd and Luke cleaned up. Cali and Niella were at the reception desk computer, looking through wedding stuff while they waited for Merrick and Felix to arrive.
“What do you think of these flowers? Normally I don’t go for flowers, but I think this would look sexy in the front pocket of Felix’s suit or pinned to the front. Whichever.”
Joel shuddered.
Cali noticed. Her dark head of hair popped up over the computer and her onyx eyes narrowed at him. “You can’t even see the flowers from over there, so shut it.”
“I didn’t say anything,” he protested, then mumbled under his breath, “Bridezilla.”
A dog biscuit hurled through the air and smacked him in the side of the face. A big dog biscuit.
“Hey!”
Cali’s face was the perfect expression of innocence.
Joel rubbed the side of his face but refrained from mumbling under his breath. With a Silencer it was useless. Cali would able to hear everything; it was part of her gift to heighten her own ears and manipulate how others perceived sound. “When’s Felix getting here?” he asked instead. “All this estrogen is choking me.”
This time he was prepared for the flying biscuit. He ducked and it sailed harmlessly over his head.
“He’ll be here soon,” said Cali. “But don’t think just because he gets here the wedding talk will stop. He has to weigh in on the flowers, too, you know.”
Locked Out of Love Page 7
