Breed of Envy (The Breed Chronicles, #02)

by Jordan, Lanie

  Linc shook his head and turned to me as Tasha strode off, fussing with her already-perfect hair. “You game, Hall?”

  “Sure. But if he does get us kicked out, then I’m kicking his ass.”

  Linc grinned. “I’ll hold him down so you can get the first punch.”

  That’s another thing I liked about Linc; he knew the way to my heart. “Deal.”

  We followed Tasha and Chris—who was dressed as a zombie and carrying a tablet—down to the first floor and then outside to the pool. It was only seven, but it was already getting dark out, and since everyone else seemed to be enjoying the whole costume-wearing thing, there wasn’t anyone swimming.

  Chris knelt down at the deep end, beside the ladder, and started typing on the tablet. He had some weird stuff on his face that looked like flesh falling off, and when he bent over, it sort of jiggled and made me squirmish.

  I eyed his hands to keep from looking at his jiggling fake-flesh any more than necessary. “Do we need to move or go some place that isn’t near you so we can have some deniability?”

  Chris just chuckled and shook his head. “Nope. The director knows about this. He asked me to set it up.”

  Still, I took a step back. Chris seemed to like fireworks and smoke bombs. I had no idea what he had planned, but even knowing Greene was okay with it didn’t make me feel any better.

  He looked up to Tasha. “Time?”

  “You’ve got…ten seconds,” she said, then started counting down with him. When she reached one, Chris pressed a button the tablet.

  I winced preemptively, but nothing happened.

  Chris shook the tablet, then turned it over and slapped his hand on the back of it. He flipped it back, typed something else. “Come on! Work—”

  His words cut off as the pool edge lit up in blue and green flames. I jumped back. There were cheers and startled gasps. I glanced around, noticed that the pool wasn’t the only area with flames. The track, and both sets of bleachers, had the same thing. On the bleachers, there were people clutching their chests like they’d been scared. Heck, they probably had been. I was expecting something and still had a brief moment of what-the-heck.

  “Cool, isn’t it?” Chris asked, setting the tablet aside and getting to his feet. “They’re not real flames—just holograms.” He pointed off to the distance. “Check it out.”

  All over the property, things started to light up. Across the lawn, there seemed to be creatures and ghosts moving around. More holograms, I decided, seeing that I could, well, see through them. I believed in demons—I didn’t think I believed in ghosts. By the hedges, there were holographic tombstones with hands clawing their way out of graves. Orange and white spotlights circled the ground.

  I had to admit, it was cool. Very, very cool.

  Beside me, Linc walked up to the pool edge and stuck his hand through the holo-flames. “Feels weird,” he said, turning to face Chris. “How’d you set this up?”

  “Charlie’s been working on some holo tech to help hunters. Things to give distractions or throw demons off if the hunters are outnumbered—stuff like that. This is the old equipment he had, so he and Director Greene said I could use it for the Halloween party.” He grinned like a big kid. “I think he did it so I didn’t do anything else.”

  “It’s awesome,” was Tasha’s comment.

  I nodded my agreement. “It is.”

  If possible, Chris’s grin widened. “We’ve got zombies, ghosts, bats, and…more. There are demons—both real and fake. The ones that are based on real demons are from actual demon footage. There’s even a witch that’ll fly around. It’s going to be off the hook.”

  As I watched, a group of people started chasing what looked like a werewolf on steroids. The thing was huge. It ran from the Prospects, then stopped and turned. The fur on its back rose. It bared its big teeth, growled, then went after them. There were whoops and laughs, even as they all ran in the opposite direction.

  “There are sensors everywhere,” Chris explained, “so some of the holograms are interactive and programmed for certain actions. Just keep watching. It should—there it goes!”

  The werewolf disappeared and then reappeared in front of the group. It growled again, turned into a bat, and circled their heads. Even though it was fake, the Prospects started swinging their arms in the air, trying to knock it away.

  “I’ve got cameras everywhere, too, recording everything. I’m going to post the videos and embarrass everyone. It’s going to be epic.” He picked up the tablet from the ground. “I’ve got a few more things to set up, so I’ll see you guys in a bit.” He turned to Tasha. “You still coming?”

  She nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah.” She grinned at me, said, “Talk to you later!” and then walked off with Chris toward the track.

  I waited until they were both out of earshot before I let out a relieved sigh. “Well, that went better than I thought. No actual fires, no smoke bombs.”

  “No expulsion,” Linc added. “Come on. Let’s go see what else he’s done.”

  We walked around the grounds, checking out the rest of Chris’s work. It was seriously impressive. At the front entrance, on top of the guard shack, there were gargoyles. When one of the lights would get near them, their wings would fly out and they’d stand up and look crazy scary. As soon as the light was gone, they’d be still again. There were more wolves and bats than I could count. We even spotted a few zombies saying ‘We want brains!’ as they ran (or mostly stumbled) after people.

  When a monster sized spider dropped on my shoulder from out of thin air, I totally freaked, screamed, and ran. By the time I remembered it was fake, I came to a stop and glanced back at Linc. He was hunched over, laughing his ass off. He was practically out of breath when I reached him again, so I did what any good friend would do and knocked him over.

  He didn’t stop laughing.

  “Oh, shut up!” I tossed my hands to my hips and glared. “If it’d dropped on you, you would’ve done the same thing. Admit it.”

  “No way,” he said, his voice breaking because of the laughter. He was on his side, his head and entire body shaking. A foot from his head, a hand came up out of the ground and made a grab for him. “Oh, shit!”

  He practically fell on his face scrambling to get to his feet. He braced himself for a fight and put his fists up. The look of sheer terror on his face was priceless. I laughed until I cried.

  I could barely see through the tears, but I caught the change in Linc’s expression. His eyes narrowed and his lips thinned. I knew the look well. He was getting ready to attack.

  I took a step back and shook my head. “Don’t even think about it!” I said, trying to stop the giggles. “You started it, Flyboy.”

  “Flyboy?”

  I shrugged. “What? It fits.” I grinned. “You always go flying every time you try to attack me.”

  Were those my best choice of words at the moment? Probably not. But they were true and still worth it, even as Linc tucked his head close to his chest and charged me. I let out a sound that was part laugh, part yelp, and ran.

  I had no destination in mind, only the goal of getting as far from Linc as I could for as long as it took him to calm down. Running alongside the fence, I shot a glance over my shoulder. Linc was, as expected, still chasing me with a look of determination on his face. He gained on me a few feet, making my eyes go wide and a laugh bubble up. “You can’t catch me!”

  He was fast. But I was faster. I hoped.

  “Wanna bet?” he called back.

  I didn’t bother looking over my shoulder again to see where he was—I heard him. His footsteps were closer.

  Hooking a left, I cut across the lawn, headed toward the South Tower. A few feet ahead of me, a holo-ghost poked its head out from the hedges that spelled out CGE. My pace slowed for a half a second as I let out an eek and tried jumping over the ghost’s head. It reached up for me and touched my arm. Linc was right—it did feel weird, almost like a warm, dusty breeze.

&nb
sp; Linc laughed behind me.

  “Jerk,” I muttered, hoping a bat or a werewolf would bite him in the ass. It’d serve him right.

  I ran another few yards before risking a quick glance. My eyes widened when I realized he was only three or four feet from me. He looked ready to jump, so I took a sharp left, this time heading toward the track/pool area. Linc cursed as he hit the ground and rolled.

  He got to his feet quicker than I expected, because within ten seconds I felt his hands around my waist and then we were both flying to the ground.

  Linc grunted. I broke into a fit of giggles and a chorus of ows from hitting my elbow. But even when he grabbed my wrists and flipped me on my back, I kept laughing. I couldn’t help it. And his look of complete disbelief or determination (I couldn’t tell which) only made it worse. “You just chased me halfway across the property,” I said between laughing and trying to catch my breath.

  “I told you I’d catch you.”

  I jutted my chin out. “Maybe I just let you.”

  His head tilted to the side even as he narrowed his eyes at me. “You didn’t.”

  “Maybe I did. You tripped. I felt guilty and had to make sure you were okay.”

  “You’re lying.” But he didn’t look sure.

  “Maybe,” I said with another giggle fit. “But it did slow me down!”

  He rolled his eyes. “By half a second, maybe.”

  “That half a second was all I needed. Flyboy.” I took a semi-not-really-calming breath. “And, for the record, you just proved my nickname right. Again.”

  He growled.

  I snorted, which had him chuckling. “Don’t laugh at me!”

  “You snorted.”

  “I did not!” Liar, liar. “I always make that sound at you when you’re crazy.”

  “Yes, you do make a sound like that. But this was a snort snort, not one of your usual ones.”

  “Shut up.”

  “Smooth, Hall. Smooth.”

  I tried wiggling my arms free to hit him but he held them firm. “Let me go.”

  “Yeah, right. Then you’ll just punch me.” When I opened my mouth to argue (read: lie), he said, “And don’t try lying. I know you better than that, and you know that.”

  I let out a huff of air. “Fine. But you totally deserve it.”

  He just shook his head and shot a save-me look to the sky. “Don’t punch me.”

  “Scared of a girl, Stone?”

  There was a tick in his jaw. I was half a second away from another giggling fit and had to bite my tongue to keep it at bay.

  “Promise me, or I’m not letting you go.”

  “Fine.”

  He shot me a get-real/I-know-you-better-than-that look. “Say the words.”

  “Fine. I promise I won’t punch you.”

  With a sigh, he released my arms. I gave him a friendly (okay, semi-friendly) jab to the stomach.

  “You lied,” he said through a groan.

  “I did not. I promised not to punch you, which I didn’t. I jabbed you. There’s a difference.” Take that logic, Lincoln Stone.

  “Fair enough,” he said after a minute, then he nodded. “I’ll give you that one.”

  I smiled, and in a prim tone said, “Thank you,” and then I started laughing again, though I had no idea why.

  “I like that sound.”

  “Hmm?”

  “You laughing. It sounds good. And you’re smiling. I like that, too.”

  “Yeah, I guess that’s what happens when someone chases you around like a goon.”

  “Hey, I told you I’d catch you. If nothing else, I kept my word.”

  “Fine. Point to you. We’re even now. Happy?”

  “Just about,” he said quietly, his eyes darkening.

  I frowned. “You okay?” I started to reach up to him, but I didn’t realize until just then that, while he wasn’t exactly holding me down, his hands were still on my wrists.

  He looked down, like he realized where my thoughts were. His grip tightened slightly and his thumbs rubbed the palm of my hands. After a second, his head tilted and he gazed down at me. One of his hands went to my face and brushed hair from my eyes. “I know this is probably really bad timing, but…”

  “What? What’s wrong?” Starting to panic a little, I pushed up so I was resting on my elbows. I didn’t have much room to move, so it was as far as I could go, and Linc didn’t seem to be in a hurry to give me more room.

  “Sorry.”

  “Linc, what’s going on?” I frowned. “You can talk to—”

  He leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine before I could finish my sentence. But then it didn’t matter because I completely forgot what I’d planned on saying.

  His lips were soft and warm, and I could taste hints of chocolate in the kiss.

  He put one hand at my hip and the other at the back of my neck, wrapping his fingers in my hair. I must’ve made some sound, because he deepened the kiss and I felt his tongue brush against mine. I could only think, He’s kissing me!

  But this wasn’t like last Phase when he’d given me a quick kiss for luck, or when I’d given him one. This was stronger. More…something. Everything.

  I lost all coherent thought and just hoped I was…I didn’t know. Okay at it? It wasn’t like I’d had a lot of practice.

  Both of his hands went to my hips and he pulled me closer to him, holding me tight against his body. He deepened the kiss even more. Now I was breathless, suddenly more lightheaded than I’d ever been in my life, and I didn’t care.

  His heart thundered against my chest and it made my own heart go into overdrive to match the pace. When my hands went around his neck, the kiss went from almost playful to hungry. The muscles in his arms quivered.

  Just when I thought I’d melt into a puddle of nothing, he moved away, resting his forehead against mine. His breathing was hard, ragged.

  I just sat there, stunned into silence.

  His fingers brushed my face. “Wow. So didn’t plan that.”

  Trying to catch my breath was harder than I thought it’d be. It took me two tries before I could get words to form, and even then, all that came out was, “Oh.”

  “That was bad timing all around, I know. I should’ve…I don’t know.”

  “Linc.”

  “I know. Bad timing. But you were smiling and laughing and…I just had to.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him. “You just had to kiss me?”

  “Yeah.” He ran a hand over his head. “Sorry.”

  “You’re sorry you kissed me?”

  “Yes. No.”

  I gave him my best stern look but wasn’t sure I’d pulled it off. “Well, which is it?”

  He let out a harsh breath. “I’m not sorry I kissed you. I’m just sorry I picked now. Tonight. When things weren’t exactly right.”

  I fought a grin. He was so cute when he was flustered, and it rarely happened so I wanted to bask in it for a while. Plus, I needed time to recover. Every cell in my body seemed jittery, like they’d each had a dose of caffeine. “So, when would things be ‘right’ exactly?”

  He didn’t say anything, just gave me a blank stare that worried me. I bit my lip and looked away, unable to meet his gaze. “Was it a pity kiss or something?”

  “A pity kiss? What the hell?”

  “Well, you’re acting like you regret it, so now I’m not sure what to think!”

  His hand went to my face and he made me look up. “I don’t regret it, Jade. At all. Not even for a second. Like I said, I just thought it was really bad timing. I stopped thinking and just reacted.”

  “Well, whatever. I’m not sorry, so you’ll just have to suck up the guilt and deal with it then.”

  “I know. I already said I was—wait, what?”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “Did you hear any complaints from me?” My only complaint would be that he stopped the kiss. Nothing had felt so right in a long time. This had been one of the hardest weeks I remembered having (even harder
than the dying-not-dying thing) and he’d done everything in his power to make it better. What could I really complain about?

  He eyed me warily. “So, you’re not mad?”

  “No.”

  “Oh. Okay.” He nodded to himself. “That’s good.”

  I was torn between bafflement and…nothing, actually. I was just baffled. I scratched my head. “So…are we good then? Can we get past this awkward moment?”

  “Yeah.”

  I bit my lip. “Good. But I have a question.”

  “Shoot.”

  “Aren’t there rules against this type of thing or something?” I hadn’t really given it much thought before now. Maybe Greene didn’t want Prospects making out or getting together. I hadn’t seen any rules about it in the paperwork he’d given me, but maybe he’d mentioned it during the parts of my Orientation that I’d missed.

  “Not really. I mean, if you think about it, they’d prefer us together with other Prospects. Less lying and less chance of important information getting out. They have a stricter policy against dating outside the CGE than they do in.”

  I nodded. “Okay. I guess that makes sense.”

  “Yeah. So…” He gave me wicked grin. “Wanna make out some more?”

  Chuckling, I said, “Maybe.” My gaze went upward and it took everything in me not to scream like a girl. “But maybe we can get away from the creepy thing first?”

  There was a holo-ghost hovering above us, staring down with empty eyes and a weirdly sad expression that was almost human.

  “The what?” Linc’s head whipped around. “Shit. Come on. That is creepy.”

  He pulled me to my feet and we jogged away from the holo-ghost. Thankfully, it didn’t follow us.

  Unthankfully, we ran into Tasha and Chris. Tasha waggled her eyebrows at us while Chris looked over us, like his gaze was fixated on the ghost. Obviously they’d seen us making out in the grass.

  “Enjoying yourselves?” she asked in a laughing tone.

  I wanted to bury my head into the ground to hide the blush I felt.