Breed of Envy (The Breed Chronicles, #02)

by Jordan, Lanie

  “Okay, we’re about ready here.”

  I looked over my shoulder. “If the machines take over the world, I’m blaming you.”

  She crinkled her nose. “What?”

  “Never mind.” I walked over to her. “I still don’t know why you sent Linc away. You could have tortured him, too,” I added hastily, trying to make it sound like that was why I’d wanted him around. It was probably pointless, though. I was pretty sure everyone knew I liked having company for the medical stuff.

  “There’s one last thing…”

  “What?” I glared. “If you tell me I have to get naked or something, I might hurt you. And then run away. Ask Peter, I’m really good at it.” If anyone would know, it’d be him, since I ran from him the first day I met him. The day I’d met Greene and he’d offered me the chance to come here.

  “No,” she said carefully, “not naked. But you do need to wear a special gown.”

  “Tell me you’re joking.” That wasn’t her I’m-joking face, though it was hard to tell it apart from her I’m-serious face. “Crap.”

  “Sorry, afraid so.” She reached down for something and walked out from behind the console. She handed me the gown.

  I unfolded it and frowned. It felt weird. Almost plasticy but silky at the same time.

  “The material is designed to be ignored by the scanner, so it’s either this or you will need to be naked to get the best results. The better the baseline scan, the quicker the future scans will be and the less time you’ll have to spend here.”

  “Less time is definitely better, but I still think you’re upping your levels of torture here.”

  Doc didn’t respond, only pointed to a door behind her.

  Scowling, and muttering some not-nice words under my breath, I went to the room. It was the size of a small closet—smaller than mine—and changing inside was problematic. I ended up hitting my elbows three different times.

  “Are you okay in there?” I heard Doc shout.

  I said something else not-nice, this time loud enough for her to hear.

  She laughed. “Just hurry up. You can’t hide in there forever.”

  I shoved the door open and stormed out. “That room is too dangerous to hide in.”

  Doc just rolled her eyes. “Go on.” She pointed to the scanner.

  I glared and walked over to it. It was even scarier up close and personal. It stood probably seven feet high and six feet wide. I stepped up onto a small round base of glass tiles. They were cold against my bare feet and lit up as I moved.

  “In the middle, Jade.”

  I stood in the middle. The tiles beneath me glowed purple now in the same shape of my feet.

  Doc came over and attached the electrodes to me. She put some on my chest, just slightly below my collarbone, and at my temples. I probably looked like an under-dressed alien. Maybe Linc not being here was a good thing after all—he’d never let me live the look down.

  Doc came into the tube. “I’m just going to put the IV in.” I didn’t say anything, just let her work. If I didn’t watch her, I could pretend I didn’t know what she was doing. Otherwise, I would’ve stared at it until my head spun. When she was done, she went back to the console and pressed more buttons. “It’s going to close around you, so don’t panic.” As she spoke, the doors pulled in and circled around me until I had no escape.

  I closed my eyes, but I could still see the flash of lights and hear the buzz and hum of the scanner.

  “You might feel some heat from the scan. It’s normal.” There was a pause. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Well, you need to keep your eyes open, at least until the face scan is completed.”

  I reopened my eyes and waited. I could tell the scanner thing was moving, because my head heated. A second later, a dull red light moved over my eyes. It wasn’t as bright as I’d expected it to be.

  “Okay, you can close them again.”

  Instead of re-closing them, I watched the lights move down my body. Once they reached the bottom, they made their way back up, slower this time, until they reached the top and stopped moving. They did this about a dozen more times, moving a little slower each time. When they reached the top of my head the last round, the machine stopped buzzing.

  “You’re done,” Doc said as she released me from the Terminator Tube. She unplugged the electrodes, removed the IV.

  “Where’d the blood go anyway?”

  She pointed behind me, to a small shelf-like thing attached to the scanner. There were mini containers (almost like miniature vials) with blood in them. “This thing would be a vampires dream.”

  Doc laughed. “Probably. Now, out you go,” she said, gesturing me to move. “I need to get the results and clean the tube. I’ll see you next Friday.”

  I waved bye and ran before she could stop me for…anything. Before I reached the door, I stopped and stole a quick look over my shoulder. Doc was sitting down at the console again with a smile on her face as she pressed buttons. A holographic image appeared in front of her and her smile widened. (Because of the angle, I couldn’t see what she was seeing, and after a split second, I decided that was probably for the best.) Another hologram popped up, this one text. I watched her sigh. She looked like she was in heaven.

  Shaking my head, I made my escape.

  Yup. That scanner was going to be the downfall of humans, because any machine that made Doc smile that much had to mean the end of the world.

  *~*~*

  As promised, Linc helped me study later that night. Unfortunately, when he’d offered, I didn’t take into account the fact we’d only had two classes, so he basically volunteered to throw me around for two hours. Payback would be mine, eventually.

  Wednesday meant Weapons class. Like the others, we just did a basic review of what we’d gone over last Phase. When Mr. Elliot mentioned staffs, Linc shook his head and glared at Tasha. But Mr. Elliot eased his fears when he told him he wouldn’t be Tasha’s partner because someone else had already volunteered—Chris Stevens again (which only further proved my he-likes-her theory)—so he’d be safe from Tasha. Probably. (The teachers apparently gossiped like the rest of us, so they all knew about the Linc-Tasha-staff thing. Who knew?)

  Demonology (which was just weird on a Thursday instead of Monday) was pretty much the same as usual. We started with a two-hour review, then read the first chapter in class. Because I was actually studying with the class this time, instead of playing catch up, I actually got to see Mr. Sheldon use the blackboard some more. It turned out some of the upgrades included the blackboards, because now it had voice commands. If activated, anytime Mr. Sheldon spoke, whatever he said would appear on the screen. I was impressed—Linc thought it was cheating and made Mr. Sheldon’s job too easy.

  At the end of the class, Mr. Sheldon gave me a list of assignments, saying he figured I was—or would be—ahead sooner or later and would need something to do. I told Linc, and apparently sounded too pleased about it, because he frowned and called me a nerd again.

  That Friday was the first one in five months that I hadn’t had an appointment with Doc, but since Linc always went with me to mine (except for the scanner one, which I was still slightly bitter about), I went with him to his. Doc didn’t use the Terminator Tube on him, didn’t try to torture him or even pretend to, so it made his appointment less fun for me.

  On the weekend, Linc, Tasha and I all studied together, which basically meant Phase Two was exactly like Phase One, except the pace was a lot slower. Though, with the scanner thing and other appointments I would soon have, it was going to be a lot more torturey.

  By week two, I still hadn’t decided if the slower pace was a good thing or a bad thing. Good, in a way, because it meant I hadn’t gotten into trouble and thus talked myself into finishing in a crazy time frame that left me no time but to study, sleep, and eat (when remembered/reminded). And then it was bad in a way because I wasn’t sure how to handle my Demonology class. It was, again, my easi
est class, and if I got too far ahead, I’d end up bored out of my skull.

  We were only into the second Demonology class of the Phase and I was already a few chapters (okay, four and half) ahead. And either our new tablets alerted Mr. Sheldon whenever we finished a chapter, or he had some way to check, because each time I finished one during class, he’d look up, smile, and shake his head at me.

  Or maybe he was just psychic. (I was really hoping that wasn’t the case, but around the CGE, you could never be too sure.)

  When I finished the fifth-ahead chapter, I tried to move on to the sixth. I pressed the button and nothing happened. I closed the text, reopened it, and tried again. This time a message popped up. Please see your instructor to continue. I snorted to myself. I was not going to see my instructor.

  Sighing, I set the tablet down and, careful to make it look casual, glanced up. Mr. Sheldon wasn’t watching me this time. Good. If the tablet wasn’t going to let me work anymore, then that was fine. Linc’d kill me if he knew how far ahead I was already (though he probably suspected, and if he didn’t, he was getting seriously slow).

  It was better this way. Class was about over anyway, so I’d just talk to Mr. Sheldon about it if I still had problems next week.

  When class was over, Linc eyed me as he rose from his seat. “What, did you break your tablet already?”

  I frowned. “No. I just decided to take a break,” I half-lied. Technically, the tablet had decided I needed a break, but then I’d decided it was right.

  He pretty much shook his head at me the entire elevator ride down to the first floor. He hadn’t actually said anything since Demonology, but he was giving me the look. The one that said he was silently mocking me in his mind. “Oh, shut up,” I muttered under my breath and stepped off the elevator.

  Someone’s shoulder bumped into mine. I twisted around to see whom I’d hit and to apologize, but the words died on my tongue as I found four girls glaring at me. Felecia’s old friends, the ones I’d almost walked into last week. (Tasha had pointed them out to me again the next time we’d seen them and told me who was who.)

  The girl closest to me—Rachel Clarkson—tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder. She was a few inches taller than I was, had mean, dark brown eyes, and a pierced eyebrow. “Oh, look,” she drawled slowly, sneering at me. “If it isn’t Director Greene’s little pet Prospect who got Felecia kicked out.”

  The other three girls didn’t say anything, just snickered at Rachel’s words. Rachel was, apparently, their new leader or whatever.

  Leslie Howland was a Felecia look-alike, with her blue-eyed death glares and black hair. Kristina Ray had dark, auburn hair and green eyes that rolled whenever I looked at her.

  At the back, standing behind them, was the fourth girl—the P1 from my Orientation. I’d overheard someone talking to her, so now I knew her name was Amber Marshall. She was shorter than the others, pencil thin, and had pale blonde hair and dark green eyes. She looked unsure of her place and reminded me a little of one of the girls from The Pond—Jennifer. Jennifer wasn’t—or hadn’t been—all that bad when she’d first gotten to The Pond, but she’d wanted to fit in so much (or avoid getting her butt kicked) that she’d started to follow the others around without question, which meant she turned into a fight-ready snob.

  The Marshall girl didn’t look like she was a snob yet, but if she hung around Felecia’s gang for too long she’d turn into one. I almost felt sorry for her.

  Shaking my head, I said, “Yup, that’s right. I’m the one Felecia almost got killed twice, yet I’m the bad guy. I know you guys have to defend her honor or whatever, but it happened two months ago.” Actually, I was surprised they hadn’t started this sooner. Maybe after Greene’s no-second-chances speech, they’d decided to let some time pass. “And for the record, I didn’t ask for her to be kicked out.”

  I hadn’t, and probably wouldn’t have. The first time she almost got me killed (with the whole prank-gone-wrong demon-escape thing), I’d almost hoped for it. The second time had been…I didn’t want to call it an accident, but it hadn’t been like the first time. She’d acted stupid and, instead of almost getting herself killed, I’d been the one to pay the price by getting attacked by a vampire.

  Either someone forgot to tell these chicks that or they just didn’t care. Considering everyone here knew everyone else’s business, I was guessing the latter. Plus, they’d hung out with Felecia—obviously they had weird taste in friends.

  Beside me, Linc muttered something under his breath, grabbed a hold of my arm, and marched out of the elevator. He lost his grip when, instead of getting out the way, the girls moved in and blocked my path.

  “Just back off,” I said, resigned. Why did someone—or something—always want to fight me? The Sharphinx demon, Felecia, the Sharphinx demon again, Felecia again, vampires. And now more crazy-like-Felecia chicks.

  If I really was a magnet for trouble, how the hell did I get rid of the magnet part?

  “Look, I’m sorry your friend got kicked out, but it’s not my fault or my problem. And I’m the one who saved her from getting chewed on like a little vamp chew toy. Isn’t expulsion or whatever better than death by vampire?” I wasn’t mentioning the saving thing to sound conceited or anything. I only brought it up because had I not wanted Felecia around, I could’ve solved my problems right then and there. Of course, that would’ve been a slightly twisted and murderous way to go about it…

  Shut up, Jade, I said to myself. Sometimes I had a big mouth, even if it was an internal one.

  I hadn’t really expected my words to have any effect on them, which was good, because they didn’t. They were still in full-on glare mode. Well, most of them. The fourth girl, the one who’d looked unsure what to do before, now she just looked scared.

  Behind them all, Linc looked ready to fight (or probably defend, since I didn’t think he’d hit a girl (except me), even if one of them hit him first). Or, worse, he looked ready to go get a teacher. I sighed and, instead of saying anything else to the girls and wasting even more of my breath, just shoved by them.

  For two and a half seconds, I thought they’d be smarter than Felecia and not try to attack me when my back was turned, but I heard their footsteps and whirled around. I saw Peter walking up, shaking his head. A slow smile curled my lips.

  They didn’t know he was coming, so Rachel thought I was trying to be cute or something. It was really petty, and probably kind of stupid, but I almost hoped one of them would throw a punch.

  Peter stopped when he reached us. There was a moment’s pause, like he too was trying to see what they’d do. Most of them looked ready to throw a punch but none did.

  “Is there a problem, ladies?” Peter asked, his tone laughing.

  All the girls jumped. Quickly, Rachel whirled around, and in a sweet tone, said, “No. No problem.”

  I rolled my eyes. Linc did, too.

  Peter locked gazes with me. “Jade?”

  “There’s no problem.” It wasn’t a lie…exactly. Right now, there wasn’t a problem, though I was willing to bet there’d be one soon. If not today, then tomorrow, or next week.

  Rachel and her group stormed away in the opposite direction. They made it a few steps before they all—minus Unsure/Scared girl—glanced over their shoulders. One of them flipped me off. I just shook my head.

  Peter turned around long enough to look for the girls, but they were already gone, probably off planning their next attack.

  CHAPTER 04

  “Do you look for trouble, or do you have some invisible tattoo somewhere that asks for it?” Peter said.

  My jaw dropped open. “I don’t ask for trouble! I’m nice.” I tossed my hands to my hips. Linc snorted, so I proved my I’m-nice theory by slugging him in the shoulder. “See?”

  “Then what’s going on, Jade?” Peter looked down at me and I could see concern in his eyes.

  I made a face but didn’t answer immediately. Linc, either thinking I was taking too long (true) o
r that I wouldn’t answer at all (also probably true), said, “They’re Felecia’s friends. They blame Jade for getting her kicked out.”

  “I didn’t get her kicked out,” I mumbled. Why was that such a hard concept for people to understand?

  “Sorry. For her getting herself kicked out, then,” Linc corrected in a you’re-a-pain-in-my-butt-Jade tone.

  Peter nodded. “I see.”

  “It’s not a big deal. I’m used to bullies.” Heck, compared to the girls from The Pond (aka The Tadpoles, as I so aptly named them), the girls here were downright pleasant. Mostly, anyway.

  “Do I need to talk to Director Greene about this?”

  “Only if you hate me.”

  Peter blinked, as if my words hadn’t sunk in yet, and then his brown eyes lit up and he laughed like it was the best joke of the century. “Thanks. I needed a good laugh.” His gaze moved away from me for a second, then back. “Look, I’ll make you a deal. We won’t talk to Director Greene about this now, but if they get worse, come find me and tell me. We’ll keep the director out of it if we can, since I’m sure it’d only make things worse.”

  “It would. Greene tried talking to Felecia about her crap last Phase and it only pissed her off more.”

  “So, do we have a deal?” He held out his hand.

  I grabbed his hand and shook it. “Deal.”

  “Good.” His gaze went to Linc. “Keep her out of trouble.” He winked, waved, then walked away.

  Linc moved in front of me. He tilted his head to the side and shot me a wicked grin. “You know, I think that was basically permission to boss you around some more.” He latched onto my arm and started to drag me away. “Let’s go.”

  I didn’t argue or resist—what would’ve been the point?—or even point out his use of some more, like he’d been given permission for it before, because he hadn’t. He didn’t wait for it.

  If he would’ve been a jerk boss, in the I-control-you type way, I would’ve kicked his ass. He only got away with it because he actually meant well and only bossed me around when I forgot to eat, or, you know, sleep.